Chapter Sixty-Six
V ickie made her way up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, hoping no one would notice she was a couple minutes late. At least she wasn’t scheduled for a ranger program. This afternoon, she’d be on hand to answer visitor questions, but that was her only duty.
She made it to the top step and Chris waved to her from the far wall. He walked over to where she stood. “Did you have a nice lunch?” he asked.
A smile escaped her lips. “Very nice.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Man, you are smitten.” He laughed. “But it’s nice to see. Even though I’m sad it isn’t with my cousin.”
Vickie laughed. “I’m sure he’ll find a very nice girl who is perfect for him. But as for me, I think I’ve found a pretty great guy.”
“Good to hear.” He paused. “Uh oh. Looks like something is going on.”
She turned to face the plaza. At the bottom step a young man was holding up a sign with the letter “i” painted on it. She glanced at Chris. “Do you think it’s going to be some kind of demonstration?”
“Not sure.” He pulled out his radio. “Let’s keep an eye out, just in case.”
A young woman emerged from the mingling crowd and pulled out a sign identical to the one the man held. Her sign had a red “u” painted on it.
“This is plain weird.” Vickie murmured to Chris. They don’t look like demonstrators.” As she spoke, an older man stepped from the crowd holding an “l” and fell into line with the others. In a moment, people from all directions, each bearing a sign descended upon the spot where the sign holders stood. Vickie watched, speechless, as right before her eyes, the signs began to make sense and spell words. Will You Marry Me?
As soon as the final letter was in place, Thatcher stepped from behind the sign holders, grinning broadly. She’d been watching the signs form and hadn’t even noticed him in the crowd.
Chris gave her a little nudge and she numbly made her way down the steps. It seemed like the entire mall had stopped. A hush had fallen over the crowd and most people had paused to watch what was happening. Vickie finally reached Thatcher, who immediately dropped to one knee.
She gasped. Even though the letters spelled it out, it hadn’t sunk in until she saw him kneel.
He took one of her hands. “I didn’t even realize my life was missing anything until I met you. I was just going along, living a sort of half-life.” He grinned. “I will forever be thankful that we were sent on that wild goose chase. But I’d like to think that even if Clark hadn’t done that, we would’ve somehow found each other.” He gripped her hand tighter. “When I thought I’d lost you, I felt like I’d lost part of me. And now, when I think about the future and all I can see is you and me together, and hopefully starting a family of our own.” He took a breath. “Vickie Harris, will you marry me?” he asked softly.
Vickie threw her arms around him and choked back a sob. “Yes. Yes, of course I will marry you.” She leaned forward and met his lips with hers as the crowd cheered around them.