"Why are you not in there discussing business with them?" Michaela asked Sully a little later when the men and Annabel went into the office to talk.

"I'm just the architect here, Annabel is the one taking over her father's business when he retires."

"I see…" she did not know what to say. The blue of his eyes was pulling her in.

Mrs Wilcox was there, though, drowsing off in the big chair by the fire.

"Why don't I show you the house?" She nodded, and he told Mrs Wilcox, so she wouldn't wonder where they went.

"It is a wonderful house, Sully, have you lived here long?" Michaela asked thinking it would be a safe topic for them.

He had shown her most of the rooms except his own room at the top of the house.

"So you like it?" he asked, and she smiled.

"I like the house, but I had never expected you to live like this".

He opened the door to the attic and let her in.

"Me neither" he admitted, and she looked around. It was a large loft with books and a sofa in the middle.

The walls were covered with artwork and drawings. In the middle of the room was a big desk.

"I always thought you'd prefer something like – this." She pointed around the room, and he nodded.

"I did… I do. I am not really into all those fancy things, but Annabel wants to keep up appearances."

He motioned for her to sit in the sofa and went to a cupboard to retrieve something.

"I know what you mean, Charles is the same. We have a large house, but I would really prefer a loft like this."

Their eyes met, and he handed her a picture.

"You kept this?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Why?" she did not know why she asked him this, she too had pictures tugged away.

"To remember…" his voice was soft and his eyes had turned that tender blue that she once loved so much "... to remember how it felt to be in love."

She ran her thumb over the picture. It seemed so long ago –they looked so young, smiling, and love radiating from the way they looked at each other.

"I remember William took this", she smiled handing it back to him.

Their fingers grazed each other, and she felt the heat spreading in her body from his simple touch.

"We better get back…" her voice trailed off, and their gaze locked each searching for something in the eyes of the other.

" 'Chaela…" he broke the silence and she bit her lip not knowing how to respond.

"If only things were different…" he brought the palm of his hand to her cheek, and she closed her eyes. "Yes, if only…"

His thumb caressed her brow, and she shivered looking at him.

It was almost unbearable –every fiber in her body was screaming out to him but she had to suppress that.

"We had a wonderful evening, right Michaela?"

Charles exclaimed shaking hands with Sully and leaning in and kissing Annabel on the cheek.

"Yes certainly." Michaela swallowed knowing that now Sully was required to do the same.

She tried to compose herself, as he also leant forward taking her hand in his and bringing his lips to her cheek.

"It was good to see you, too." He squeezed her hand lightly, and she smiled politely back, and heard Annabel say "we must do this again some time."

Charles was thrilled and immediately invited them over to their house for a barbeque.

"Michaela will get back to you –she's the one working odd hours at the hospital" Charles said,

and Annabel turned to Sully and said ´"Why don't you go by her office on Wednesday and find out?"

Sully did have a meeting with the hospital director at the hospital, so he simply nodded looking in Michaela's direction

"Is that okay with you?" "Yes, I should be available at lunch –unless there is an emergency."

Wednesday at noon she found herself fidgeting in her office.

She should be catching up on the last paperwork, but could not concentrate. Her mind strayed back in time:

"Come with me" he was out of breath from running up the hill to meet her.

Now he was holding her by the hand and they took off down the other side of the hill towards the big lake.

His eyes sparkled in the sunlight. "My uncle said I could borrow the boat" he pointed at a small boat with an engine.

"We can fish if, you want to…" They climbed aboard and soon they were out on the water sitting closely together fishing.

After a while their hands tentatively found each other and neither let go once they were linked together.

She had stopped fishing and was leaning on him.

Her hair was splayed over his thighs and she observed his features while he tried to concentrate on fishing.

"What?" he asked after a while.

"Just looking" she smiled and traced a finger along his arm. His skin was soft and tanned.

"Do you mind?" Their eyes met, and he smiled looking over the water.

"No, you can look all you want".

She suddenly felt bold saying "Do you think I'm pretty?"

He did not answer her but simply leaned over her face and placed a sweet kiss on her mouth.

She blushed feeling her body tingle when the softness of his tongue touched her lips.

He withdrew a little, but instinctively she grasped his neck and intertwined her fingers in his hair.

Slowly she brought her lips to his, opening her mouth a little more…"

"Dr. Quinn… Dr. Quinn – you have a visitor", her secretary tapped on the door, and brought Michaela back to the present.

"Ok, send him in," she composed herself, and pushed away any thought of the past when Sully entered.

He smiled at her, she looked pretty in her white coat and with her hair tied in a ponytail. "

I brought some lunch, I hope you don't mind?"

He handed her some water and a bagel sandwich in a brown paper bag.

"I didn't know how busy you were, so I figured we could eat it here or in the hospital park"

She opted for the park, really needing some fresh air and to be in public with him.

However, sitting on the bench near a small pond, it did not seem very public.

There weren't a lot of people around and they were speaking quietly.

Having finished the sandwich they were both just enjoying the sunlight and the company of the other.

Without really thinking about it their hands edged closer to each other on the bench, and soon their fingers were interlaced.

She knew she had to get back to the office when he said: "We have to arrange a day for the barbeque… and we need to talk about… ehrm this"

He caressed her hand, and she nodded and withdrew her hand

"Sorry…" she mumbled.

"How about Sunday at 12? I've got Monday off, and am working the night shift on Saturday."

He nodded in acceptance.

"I can't stop thinking about you" he admitted, and she sighed knowing they had to have this talk because she felt the attraction to him, too.

"I know…" their eyes locked and both read the longing in the eyes of the other.

"We can't…." she said, and he interrupted " I know…"

Their hands had found each other again, and they were leaning closer.

She felt her breath grow unsteady and her heart racing in her chest as the distance between them grew smaller.

She could feel the warmth of his body so close to her.

"Sully…" she squeezed his hand coming to her senses.

"We have to try and…" "just be friends." He finished her sentence, and they both sighed.

He got up and she followed him to the main building.

"I'll see you on Sunday then." She nodded, and he added

"I hope we can have lunch some other time? I'll be on the working site quite often once they start building."

That night she and Charles lay in bed.

She was listening to his heavy breathing which told her he was sound asleep.

He'd been pleased about the lunch appointment, and now her mind drifted.

She had been back for the summer in her final year of medical school when her mother asked her to sit down with her.

Michaela was not sure what her mother wanted, but she looked serious.

"Michaela… next year you graduate, and it's time to think about your future. A year passes by quickly, you know.

As you don't have a boyfriend, and don't seem interested in getting any…." Elizabeth paused for a moment, and Michaela grew more and more anxious.

She knew that it meant the world to her mother to ensure that her girls were well cared for, and she had a nagging feeling where this conversation was heading.

"There's someone I want you to meet."

"And if I don't want to?" Michaela said.

"Oh, you want to… he'll be here tonight, so do try and look your best –no jeans, please."

That was the end of that conversation. Her mother's tone clearly told her that she had no say, so Michaela left feeling sullen.

She looked across to Charles, and sighed a little. He was sweet and gentle in his own way.

He'd made clear from the beginning that he found her attractive, and he had courted her like a true gentleman.

He respected her as a physician and had always supported her career. She loved him, but she did not always understand him.

Maybe it was the age difference. He was 15 years her senior, and he had also made clear what he expected from her as a wife.

He was a gentle lover, but he did not stir her innermost feelings like Sully had.

She had told herself that feeling like that again was never going to happen, so she had settled.

Thinking about it she had settled in many ways.

She closed her eyes, and Sully's blue eyes appeared before her inner vision:

"Your eyes are very blue…" she had stated one afternoon when they had snook off to spend time under the large willow at the bottom of William's parents' garden.

The tree was old and tall, and its branches were thick creating a natural wall between them and the world outside.

She had told William where she was in case she was needed at the house.

"I'll tell them you're studying in the garden, if they ask. Just be back in time for tea in an hour," he'd said.

He'd watched how his best friend had fallen hard for Sully in only a matter of days, and even though he was surprised,

he had never seen her like that before, and he liked it. He wanted her to be happy.

Sully had been waiting with a book in his hand, and they had settled on the ground leaning on each other.

That was when she had made that comment about the blueness of his eyes, and he had laughed a little looking into her mismatched eyes.

He caressed her brow with his index finger. "I like yours… mine are just blue and boring." She had smiled back at him "not boring –special – like an azure ocean…"

Seeing him again had reminded her of that. Even now the blueness of his eyes was enthralling to her and almost poetic,

and here in bed Kate Chopin's description of the sea came to mind:

The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace.

How true that was. If Sully's eyes were the sea that was how he made her feel when looking at her.

Coming to think about it: when envisioning her future children they had always had those blue eyes –never Charles' green eyes.

Yet, that was before she gave up the dream of children.

She blushed at the thought of his eyes on her as they had been in his study only a few days before.