CHAPTER 7 – God Moves in Mysterious Ways
"You run pretty fast for a big guy," Sully joked as his heart rate began to return to normal.
"You move pretty fast yourself...for a short guy," Miller added, chuckling when Sully flashed him a look. "Just kiddin'," he added as he ran a hand through his hair and wiped the sweat from his face, beginning to relax.
Looking around at their surroundings, an old school bus, now dirty with oil and grease from the parts of old cars being stored on its seats and in the back where a few seats had been removed, Miller wondered aloud, "What now?"
"You got your cell phone on ya?" Sully asked, turning to look out a window at his connection to the world lying in the dirt.
"I ain't got one," the other man admitted, a trifle sheepishly.
"Oh...sorry," Sully murmured, not having intended on embarrassing the man.
"Forget it."
"Well...Michaela knows where I'm at. I left her a note. She'll wonder when I don't come home, and she'll come lookin' for me," Sully stated, both for his own benefit as well as the other man's, though silently wondering what she would do when she saw the yard was closed up and locked.
"Yeah...but when'll that be?" Miller asked, trying to shift to a more comfortable position on the hard seat.
"Shouldn't be more than a few hours," Sully offered hopefully.
"Great," the other man muttered. Just then, the dogs began another barrage of barking and jumping right outside the window he was leaning against. "SHUT UP OUT THERE!" he bellowed. They only got louder.
Sully chuckled. "Gettin' mad ain't gonna help, Miller."
"Oh yeah? You got any BETTER ideas?" his reluctant partner snapped.
Sully sighed softly and rolled his eyes, turning his head to look out the front window. "Not at the moment."
Just then, both men heard the unmistakable sound of Sully's cell phone ringing, a distinctive ring, which was a 40 second clip of the song, "When I Close My Eyes".
"That's Michaela," Sully murmured as he jumped up and went to the door, intent on somehow rescuing his property, and hoping all three dogs were at Harv's window on the other side.
"Make some noise over there to distract 'em!" he encouraged on the way.
As he looked through the glass, however, he saw one of the dogs sniffing the phone as it 'sang.' After a moment, it started licking the devise.
"Oh swell. I think one of the dogs just fell in love with my phone."
The other man burst out chuckling. "Terrific. What else is new?"
Harv turned and began beating on the wall and the glass on his side, the other two dogs going ballistic in response. Sully pushed on the door a bit and it emitted a rusty squeak. Interrupted from its inspection of the strange musical device, the dog's head snapped up, eyes meeting Sully's before it launched itself at the door, barking viciously. Sully immediately slammed the door shut, wedging a piece of pipe against it for good measure, and then backing up from the ferocious attack.
"So much for that," he muttered as he took his seat again.
"Don't they feed those animals?" Harv muttered, not expecting an answer.
"Don't seem so," Sully murmured, watching as the third dog went back to his phone and curled its body around it protectively. Sully rolled his eyes and sighed.
OOOOOOOOO
"Where's Daddy?" Brian asked as the family sat down to dinner.
"I'm not sure, sweetheart. He didn't let me know where he went...and he's not answering his cell phone," Michaela admitted softly, thinking about the fact that she had already tried it three times.
"I hope he's all right," Colleen murmured, glancing at her mother worriedly.
"I'm sure he is...I don't...have the feeling that anything is wrong with him," Michaela replied, intentionally omitting the moments of 'terror' she had felt earlier.
Matthew glanced her way, beginning to get an inkling of what his mother was thinking.
"You don't think he's just stayin' away, do ya? I mean..." he stammered to a stop when he saw the reaction flicker for a moment in Michaela's eyes. It was similar to the expression she used to wear after she and David had been at it, and he had stormed out of the house, only to be gone for days.
"Mom, Dad wouldn't do that. Besides, he was fine when he left..." he hastened to reassure her.
"Yes..." she began, pausing when the kitchen phone began to ring.
"I'll get it," Matthew murmured, rising and answering.
"Matthew?" Robert E.'s voice asked.
"Yeah, Robert E. What's up?"
"Oh not much, everything but the right thing, you know," he joked softly.
Matthew chuckled and nodded. "Yeah."
"Your Dad around?"
"Well...no, matter of fact."
"Hmm, you mean he ain't back from the junkyard yet?"
Matthew's eyes flew to Michaela's. "He went to a junkyard?"
"Yeah...I called him, oh, before lunch and told him about R.J.'s gettin' in an El Camino they were savin' for me..." he paused, wondering about Matthew's reaction.
"Man, he didn't leave a note or anything – or call Mom and let her know where he was goin', so we didn't know where the heck he went!" Matthew exclaimed, glancing at his family as every member sat still and watched his exchange with their friend.
Robert E. looked at his watch. "It's already past six, and they close at five..."
"Yeah..."
"You call his cell?"
"Yep, he ain't answering."
"Okay...I'll take a drive over there and see what I can find. I'll call ya back."
"All right. Thanks, Robert E.," Matthew replied, before pushing the 'off' button and relaying the message to the rest of the family.
Nodding and emitting a soft sigh, Michaela extended her hands to Brian and Hannah on each side, indicating she wanted to say grace. The others connected hands around the table, Matthew and Colleen spanning the empty space at the end usually occupied by their father, glancing across at each other before shutting their eyes.
Michaela prayed for the meal, for a quick resolve to this puzzle – and for safety for her husband.
OOOOOOOOO
"Man, it's gettin' dark," Harv murmured as he stared out the front window of the bus at the sun just about to disappear over the horizon. "I thought you said that wife of yours would come lookin' for ya," he groused softly.
"Yeah..." Sully murmured, straining to see his watch in the waning light and disturbed that it was already after 6:30. He wondered what was going on at home, but determinedly tamped down 'imaginings' so he wouldn't drive himself crazy.
"Hey...won't somebody be lookin' for you?" he suddenly asked the other man.
Shrugging sheepishly, he averted his eyes, murmuring, "Nah...I, uh...don't make it a habit to tell the wife where I'm goin'."
At Sully's furrowed brows, he added self-deprecatingly, "It's always been kind of a...macho thing...like it ain't none of her business..." Shaking his head disgustedly, he added, "Boy though, after this, that's gonna change!"
Sully's mouth curled in a half smile and he shook his head, softly chuckling.
Staring out his window toward the direction of the front gate, he blinked his eyes and refocused, thinking he might be seeing things. It looked like headlights reflecting off the solid metal fencing.
"Hey...somebody's here!" he shouted to Harv as he turned on his seat, struggling to lower the rusty and corroded window. Harv jumped to the seat behind Sully, struggling with that window also as they both began to yell.
Finally the windows crashed down and both men yelled at the top of their lungs, "HEY!" "SOMEBODY!" "ANYBODY!" "WE'RE STUCK IN HERE!" "HELP!"
To their dismay, they could see the lights fading as the vehicle backed up to turn around. They increased their volume, although the dogs had joined in, nearly drowning out their cries and jumping up to try and reach the open windows as their captives made aggravatingly loud noises.
After a few moments, the lights were gone and the men were left alone again with acres of old rusting cars and three hungry dogs – one of whom was having a love affair with Sully's cell phone, which as if on cue, began once again to sing.
Both men watched in frustration as the dog curled up around the device and began to groan and whine along with the music.
OOOOOOOOO
The phone in the kitchen rang, and Michaela wiped her hands on a dishtowel and answered it as the children hurriedly made their way near.
"Hello?"
"Dr. Mike?" Robert E.'s voice came back.
"Robert E., did you find him?"
"Nope. I went to R.J.'s, but it was locked up tighter than a drum. Even went to the office door, but nobody was around, big padlock on the yard gate. I didn't spot his truck anywhere on the way. I got no idea where the heck he is."
"Oh Robert E...where could he be?" Michaela murmured, lowering herself into a chair, one hand unconsciously moving to cup and protect the tiny life inside her as she wondered where its father was at that moment.
"I don't know, Dr. Mike," the man returned softly. "He didn't say anything at all about goin' anywhere? Somethin' you guys needed? Somebody he needed to go see?" he asked, grasping at straws as he now had become concerned about his friend.
"No. I haven't even seen him since this morning..." she hesitated, wondering if she should tell their friend that the last words she had with her husband were argumentative. "Matthew saw him when he left, but he said he didn't appear angry or upset or anything..." she added, her voice rising slightly as she fought off worry.
Robert E. could hear the fear in her voice, and he hastened to reassure her, "Well...I'm sure he'll turn up. I'll keep lookin' though. Call me if you hear anything or he comes home."
"I will. Thank you, Robert E."
Pressing the 'off' button, Michaela met her children's worried eyes, and they all gathered around her in a family hug.
OOOOOOOOO
"Da**it! We're gonna be stuck in here the whole f***in' night!" Harv exclaimed after the headlights had disappeared, throwing himself back onto the hard bench that had become his home away from home.
"Would ya mind not cussin'? That don't help nothin'," Sully murmured, raising the windows up again to keep out the cold, then settling down onto his bench, but leaning forward to relieve his still healing back.
"Well 'scuse me, Mr. Perfect."
Sully silently fixed his eyes on the other man, watching him fidget and grumble as he tried unsuccessfully to find a comfortable position.
"I never said I was perfect," he murmured quietly.
Harv's eyes snapped to his. "You Sullys have always been uppity. Always thought your crap don't stink. Always actin' like you know better'n everybody else about everything," he griped, allowing himself to roll back into the familiar ditch he had occupied his whole life.
Sully pressed his lips together, his mind running back over the years – to his father and his brother – and himself as a boy and teen. "No we didn't," he finally countered. "And besides that, Dad, Brandon and I tried over and over to end this...this feud. But you Millers always seem to want to keep it goin'. What I want to know is...why? Does it give you some kind of pleasure to hate me and my family, Miller? I want to know – cause I'll tell ya flat out – I'm fed up to here with it," he added, smacking the bottom of his chin with the back of one hand.
Sully's blue eyes stared into the other man's brown ones for several minutes, but Sully's were free of anger or accusation – merely containing curiosity.
Something about that, added to the words of his wife, his son, and the preacher several days before, caused the crack in the walls around Harv's heart to suddenly widen. Swallowing thickly, he drew in a breath through his nose and clamped his teeth together.
After a few more moments, he dropped his eyes from Sully's and shook his head, feeling a bit like the froth on a boiling pot of water that someone took off the fire. "Nah, at least, not any more," he admitted softly.
Sully remained quiet and still, hoping the other man would continue. A few moments ticked by, and Harv raised his eyes again, now devoid of the anger. "To tell ya the truth...I don't know why - why the Millers always hated the Sullys. I asked my dad once, but he just shrugged and said somethin' like, 'Cause we do, that's all.' He'd always say, "Them Sullys got everything, and we got nothin'."
Having heard that generalization hundreds of times, Sully nodded but didn't argue, silently encouraging the other man to continue.
"It just...was somethin' we did, you know? Like...like puttin' on our pants everyday. By the time I was grown and married...it was a habit set in...in concrete..." he stammered to a halt, shrugging uncomfortably.
"I know what you mean," Sully replied softly, seeing Harv Miller almost as if for the first time. Looking at the man now, he truly felt sorry for him. Though the same age, he looked ten to fifteen years older than Sully. Harv's hair was already salt and pepper, his face lined with anger and worry, his mouth edged with permanent 'frown' lines.
"Yeah?" the other man breathed, staring back at him.
"Yeah. I'd gotten into a habit of negative thoughts toward you myself...but Michaela made me see things different. She...she made me hope and even believe that things could change. Because of her...I started prayin' for some way to resolve things between us..."
The other man gazed at him, in truth totally amazed at his confession.
"Then...Jared 'borrowed' the ATV and got hurt..."
"So that was God's solution? Hurt my boy?" the other man instantly reacted.
"No, that ain't what I mean!" Sully immediately countered. "God didn't 'cause' that to happen...but I think He made use of it afterwards. Cause...Jared started comin' over and bein' with us – and he saw that we weren't...well...as bad as his father had always said."
The other man clamped his lips together, but stayed quiet. Sully went on, "When I saw Jared changin' – and him and Matthew becomin' friends - it gave me hope that at least the feud would stop with our generation, and that the next one would be free of it."
Harv drew in another breath, mulling Sully's words over in his mind. He remembered back to when he had been a child, trying to understand why his own father had hated people for no reason – the Sullys weren't the only ones he targeted. He couldn't remember when he had slipped into his father's 'shoes'; it seemed to happen gradually.
Suddenly, he realized he was just as sick of it as Sully had said he was. As a wry grin slowly worked its way to his lips, he responded, "And now...maybe God locked them gates and set them dogs loose...for a reason?"
Sully laughed out loud. "Well, I don't know that HE did it, but I bet He wants us to make good use of the time together."
Pausing a trifle awkwardly for a moment, the two men cleared their throats and glanced into each other's eyes. Then Sully put his feet on the floor and leaned toward the other man, his right hand extended.
"Harv Miller, I ask you right now to forgive me for every mean thing I ever said to you, every mean thing I ever did, and for years of dislikin' you. I ask you to be my friend."
The man sat there looking between Sully's hand and his serious blue eyes. Then nodding with decision, slowly lowered his own boots and leaned in, taking the proffered hand in a firm shake across the aisle of the bus. Going one step further, he said, "And I ask you the same – and on my end there were tons more. Byron Sully...from this day on...I'd be proud to call you my friend."
OOOOOOOOO
Several hours later, Brian was asleep in his bed, but the girls and Matthew were sleeping sprawled in various positions on the living room couch and chair.
Michaela had spent a good thirty minutes on the web cam filling their Indian friends in on Sully's mysterious disappearance and asking them to pray for his return. After Cloud Dancing had left the room, Michaela had quietly confided her thoughts and fears to her best friend, confessing about her sharpness with her husband that morning. Snowbird, of course, had immediately assured her that Sully would not have chosen to stay out all night because he was 'miffed' at her. No, the Indian woman had assured, whatever was keeping Sully away from home had nothing to do with her.
They had ended their conversation with Snowbird confirming she and Cloud Dancing would be leaving first thing in the morning to make the eight hour trek to Colorado Springs for their weeklong holiday visit, assuring Michaela that they would all be laughing at the reasons for Sully's mysterious disappearance.
Now, Michaela paced slowly back and forth in front of the living room's bay window, her arms across her chest. She hadn't been able to make herself go up to their room yet, alone, and climb into their bed without him.
Earlier, they had called the hospitals, of course to no avail, and she had rang and rang his cell phone, hoping on the off chance that he might just pick up...
Stopping in front of the window, she stared up at the moon shining down so brightly. Tears filled her eyes as she realized it was a 'full' moon...and her thoughts went back momentarily to one awesomely romantic 'full moon' night when they had been trying for a baby...the baby she was now carrying within her body.
Sighing softly, she mused, Where are you, Sully? Are you all right? Are you angry with me? Are you staying away to teach me a lesson? No. That's not like you at all. Something must be keeping you from coming home or calling. But if you were hurt...I'd KNOW it. I don't feel pain or fear at all...and that almost frightens me...if you were...dead...I would know that...wouldn't I?
Staring unseeing at the dark barn across the way, she remembered a passage in the old journal they had read together a month before...
May 21, 1871
Sully and I spent the night of our first anniversary holding our tiny daughter and reminiscing about the journey our love has taken us on since that first unforgettable day we met in Loren's store, and he told me something he hadn't shared with me before.
I had known that the night of our wedding rehearsal, General Custer had held Sully prisoner in the woods far from Colorado Springs...but last night was the first time Sully told me details about that miserably long night. How the General's men had kept his hands tied tightly behind his back, cutting off the circulation in his arms. How they had grilled him over and over about Cloud Dancing's whereabouts, but he had told them nothing. How the soldiers had punched him in the stomach repeatedly and threatened other kinds of worse torture, and gave him neither food nor water as they kept him tied all day and into the night. How the General himself threatened to kill him and just be done with it, until he unexpectedly let him go – albeit without his horse, forcing Sully to have to travel on foot almost twelve hours to make it back by noon the next day.
I, in turn, told him how I had spent that night, first at the rehearsal with everyone staring at me in pity, and then at the dinner, where everyone was miserable as we waited in vain for him to arrive. I told him of my confession to Rebecca about our spat and that I was truly afraid he had left for parts unknown after I had let mother barge in and take over our wedding...that I feared I had made demands on him that he may have found impossible to accept...that I wouldn't have blamed him if he had changed his mind about marrying me...if he never came back at all. I told him about how I had spent the remainder of that night pacing the floor, crying, worrying, and praying he would come back to me – and the decision I had made that if he did come back, we would just run off and elope, that all I wanted was to be his wife and for him to be my husband. I told him I truly hadn't felt that he was injured or hurt that night...just that for some reason he couldn't or wouldn't come back.
When he heard my admission, he turned to me, and in spite of his injured shoulder and broken leg, took my hand in his, and looked deeply into my eyes, wanting me to see his sincerity as he spoke from his heart. He said, "Michaela, I swear to you on my honor and my love for you, that I will always return to you. Unless there's no more breath in my body, unless I'm bound so strong it's impossible to break or my body is so broken that I can't at least crawl back, I'll always return. I can't live without you...without your love – and nothin' you could ever say or do will change that fact. Like I told ya before...I will love you all my days..."
Michaela knew her Sully felt the same, and somehow, some way, she knew he wasn't physically injured. What the problem was, however...what force was holding him prisoner, she couldn't imagine.
OOOOOOOOO
Sully sat staring out the window of the bus, gazing up at the moon - a 'full moon'. Smiling to himself, he closed his eyes as his thoughts drifted to his gorgeous wife and the hot 'baby making' love they had enjoyed together several full moons ago. He allowed his mind to relive those moments, the images stirring sensations within his body.
He could feel Michaela's angst that he wasn't home - her worry tugging at his heart, pulling at him... begging him to call her. But what he didn't understand was why someone didn't check further about the junkyard. He told her that's where he would be.
Suddenly, his eyes popped open. Could somethin' have happened to the note? Could one of the kids have accidentally thrown it away...I didn't put anything on top of it to weigh it down...if it somehow blew off the table...but Robert E. knew where I was goin'...
"Man, I just can't sleep in here. I'm cold, and da...dang hungry," Harv complained, having seen that Sully's eyes were still open, and he wasn't asleep.
"Yeah. Me too," Sully agreed. "I'm used to sleepin' in a soft, warm bed...snuggled up to..." he stopped, realizing that he was about to 'brag' about his "perfect" life.
"Snuggled up to a dang beautiful woman?" Harv supplied.
Sully looked over at him, though he could barely see him in the darkness of the bus – the moonbeams streaming in the windows the only light.
"Now don't get all riled up," the other man interjected. "You think other men don't see she's just about the prettiest woman around? It was a compliment, that's all," he added matter-of-factly.
"Ellen was pretty, too," Sully returned, quickly amending, "Is."
"Aw, I know. She was cute when we first got together, but she's...she's had a hard life with me, and it shows on her. She always was too good for me," he added self-deprecatingly.
"That ain't true," Sully argued gently. "You deserve good things. Your life...is whatcha make it, Harv. You just gotta...play the cards you're dealt and beat the devil at his own game."
"That's easy for you to say!" the other man reacted, but immediately dialed himself back down, adding with a sigh, "Sorry."
"Man, my life ain't been 'perfect'. Think about it. My parents died when I was eighteen, directly because of my 'crazy' girlfriend, my brother died just months later – those two about did me in. Took me two years to scrape myself back up off the ground after that. Then I come home and marry somebody who turns out to be the 'wife from Hades'. The only thing good that came from that was Hannah. Then I spent the next nine years of my life lonely and wishin' I could find a woman that would love me," Sully ended his narrative, realizing it was the first time he had ever put it all together that way – and also realizing again just how much Michaela had blessed his life.
"Yeah...I guess I never thought about all that before, Sully. I...I'm sorry...really," the other man offered sincerely, determinedly trying to form new habits and ways – namely extending himself to understand others.
"But I'll tell ya what I did do during all that," Sully continued. "I just did my best. I was the best Daddy I could be to Hannah, I tried to treat others fair, I worked hard, and I hoped and prayed that someday God would smile on me and...grant my wish. Then one awesome June night...He did."
The men lapsed into silence for several minutes, each one deep in thought.
Finally Harv offered quietly, "You're right. I just was always too stubborn to admit it...but most of the bad stuff that's happened to me has been my fault."
Sully stayed silent, just letting him talk.
"I got in trouble all the time in school, but always blamed the teachers, the other kids...even the principle – never myself. When I asked Ellen out and she said yes," he paused, remembering the moment. "I nearly fell over. At first, I treated her good and stuff – though I didn't really know how, seein's how my dad always yelled at my mom, and even hit her sometimes. After we married and I went in the service...I looked around at other guys that seemed to have 'more' than we did, and I just couldn't seem to be happy with what we had." He paused a few minutes, thinking and remembering. Sully knew no words were necessary on his part.
"Then, after Desert Storm, I thought I'd make a career out of the army...but...I messed it up with my drinkin'. Blamed everybody else for it too, like you said before." Stopping for a few moments, he pulled his jacket tighter around himself, pressing against his empty stomach to keep it from growling.
"But through it all, Ellen's stuck with me...gave me three great kids...made do with what little I provided to run the house on...made her own clothes and some of the kids', too. And what do I do? Come home every night, grab a beer, and flop down in the Lazy Boy to watch TV," he answered his own question in a disgusted tone.
"But...I want to do things different, now. I'm sick and tired of bein' sick and tired...ya know? I...I want my wife and kids to be proud of me and happy...like yours are..." he added quietly, confessing things to his previous nemesis that he had never even admitted to himself.
"Well...I'd say you've made a good start, Harv, just admittin' stuff to yourself – and to me," Sully softly replied. "And I'll tell you somethin'...God will help you with this stuff, He really will. If ya ask Him."
"I been thinkin' a lot about that, too," the man replied softly. "Every word that preacher said in that sermon was true...and it seemed like he was talkin' right to me...yet I knew he don't really know me."
Sully grinned, having had that experience himself many times. "He don't...but God does...and He was speakin' thru 'im. That same kinda thing has happened to me, many times."
The other man was silent for a few minutes, mulling over Sully's words.
"I think...when we get outta here, if we ever do," Harv added jokingly. "I think I'll...go talk to that preacher."
"Givin' your heart and life to Jesus is a decision you'll never regret, man. Take it from me...that was the best decision I ever made...with askin' Michaela to marry me comin' in a close second," he added with a chuckle.
Harv chuckled, too, glad Sully had lightened the conversation a little. "Yeah, man. Just how did you get a beauty like that to say, 'yes' anyways?" he joked good-naturedly.
OOOOOOOOO
Michaela awoke to the sunrise just peeking in the window. She turned her head, bloodshot eyes trying to focus on the clock and read the time. Seven thirty. Turning her head back to the pillow held tightly in her arms, she breathed in the scent from it again – Sully's scent. The wonderful scent of his hair and skin that never failed to make her feel as if she were floating in heaven.
She had cried herself to sleep – not from worry, but more from loneliness. She missed Sully so much - she ached for him. It had been much worse than when she had been in Boston the week before Halloween. At least then, she'd been able to talk to him and say goodnight, to know that he was warm and snug in bed. Unable to even hear his voice and know that he was all right before she tried to sleep made his absence nearly unbearable.
Rolling slowly to her back, she stretched her legs out, her hands coming to rest on the small mound that was their child. Once again, she missed her husband, as it had become his habit to sleep with his hand curved protectively around their tiny child, and upon waking, to lean down and speak sweet things to it before they rose to start the day. Tears filled her eyes as she thought about him doing that very thing just the previous morning.
Sitting up and swiping at the tears, she told herself, He'll be home soon. Whatever kept him out last night will be rectified this morning, and he'll be home as soon as he possibly can. And when he does...I'm going to give him my word that I will not allow 'pregnancy' mood swings to make this into a not so happy home!
Swinging her legs out of the bed, she determinedly set about changing her clothes from the ones she had slept in, then went down the hall to wash her face and begin the day. She had a Thanksgiving dinner for eleven people to begin 'day before' preparations!
OOOOOOOOO
Sully awoke to the sunrise just peeking in the bus window. He blinked slowly, realizing he must have just dozed off, since he and Harv had passed the night away talking of their respective childhoods, dreams, aspirations, heartaches, triumphs, and hopes for the future.
He glanced across the bus to see that his companion for the night had also slipped into a fitful sleep on the uncomfortable seat, and he knew the other man would likely be very stiff upon waking. Testing his limbs, he found what he expected, an achy body, his bottom numb from having slept in a seated position.
He closed his eyes for a minute, trying to picture his beautiful wife just now waking. Somehow, he knew she was. He pictured her clearly in his mind – she was lying on her side in their bed, hugging his pillow to her chest – dressed in the clothes she had worn all day. He winced as he realized she had spent most of the night awake, probably pacing and worrying. Oh, how he wished he could have called her! The first thing I'm gonna do when I get home, besides kiss and hold her, is make her come upstairs with me and take a good long nap!
He saw her in his mind's eye stretching as she woke, and placing her hands on the mound where their baby grew. He longed to be there next to her, kissing her awake, leaning down to kiss and talk to the baby in its warm, safe cocoon. Maybe I've been taking my happiness for granted lately...if so...this night has sure taught me a major lesson!
Just then, he heard Harv begin to stir, the same sunshine that woke him also waking his companion.
"Mornin'," Sully greeted when he saw the other man open his eyes and yawn.
"Mornin'," Harv grunted, slowly sitting up and leaning to rub his achy body and numb bottom. "What time is it?"
Sully focused on his watch. "'Bout seven thirty."
Just then, the dogs roused and began barking – and running toward the main gate. Sully levered himself up and gazed out the window, watching as the large metal gate began to swing open and a man stepped inside, affectionately petting each dog and scratching them behind their ears. Sully chuckled at that – who would have thought? They sure did their job of keeping 'intruders' pinned down for the night!
He watched as the man bent over and took something out of the mouth of one of the dogs, gazing around as if he was looking for something.
"C'mon Harv. Our pardon has just been granted by the Governor," Sully joked as he hauled his tired body up and released the pipe wedging the door shut.
"Hallelujah. I can't wait to get home and gorge myself on one of Ellen's good breakfasts," Harv stated emphatically. At Sully's pointed look, he amended, "That is...after I pick her up and squeeze her and kiss her, tell her how much I love her, and tell the kids how much I love them, too."
Sully winked his approval and chuckled, levering the door open and stepping down into the brisk November morning air.
The man at the gate saw them, nodded as if he'd spotted what he was looking for, and began heading their way. As the men began to move toward him, Harv put his hand on Sully's arm and paused their progress.
At Sully's raised eyebrows, the other man cleared his throat and declared, "I...uh...meant what I said last night. The feud's over. And I gotta say...I'm glad God locked that gate and released them dogs."
"Me too...for that reason, anyway," Sully returned with a grin.
Harv stuck out his hand with a grin and Sully took it firmly in his, then on impulse, pulled the larger man into an impromptu one-armed man-hug, albeit wincing when Harv clapped Sully affectionately on the back.
"Your back sore there, Sully?" he asked in concern.
"Yeah...but I'll tell ya about that some other time," he returned with a grimace.
Just then, Bob, the owner of the yard reached them, the dogs bounding around as if house pets, every ounce of aggression gone in the presence of their master.
"Hey guys, I am SO sorry! I just got Robert E.'s message! Is this yours, by the way?" he asked, holding up Sully's much 'loved' cell phone. "It looks like Delilah here took a liking to it," he added with an apologetic grin.
"Yeah...I noticed," Sully grimaced, gingerly holding the item sticky with dog slobber.
OOOOOOOOO
Thirty minutes later, Sully pulled tiredly up to the house and turned off the truck's motor, extremely glad to be home. As he dragged himself out of the pickup, the front door to the house flew open and five people came running down the porch steps, yelling at once, "Where've you been?" "We were worried!" "Where were you all night?" "What's all the stuff in the back of your truck?" and one final voice, "Oh Sully...I'm SO glad you're finally home!"
Sully hugged each one to his chest before stepping up to his wife and folding her in his arms.
"God I missed you!" he whispered against her hair.
"Where were you all night? I was so worried..."
Pulling back, he murmured, "Let's go inside and I'll tell ya. I'm so hungry I could eat a bear – raw!"
The family laughed and went together up the stairs, each one trying to stay near their beloved father as he and Michaela ascended the steps in each other's arms.
Twenty minutes later, as Sully feasted on a stack of blueberry pancakes, bacon, eggs, and a large glass of milk, with five pairs of eyes watching his every move, he very amusingly told them the whole story. A story that wasn't funny while happening, but now had everyone in stitches – especially "Delilah" being in love with his cell phone.
"So that's why you couldn't answer it!" Michaela realized.
"Yep," he answered, taking a big drink of his milk. "Bob the owner said the dog is crazy about music. I tried every way I could think of during the night to get it away from her, but I couldn't fool her. And every time it rang – you shoulda seen her," he added, rolling his eyes and acting like Pepé Le Pew with the cat in the old cartoons, at which they all erupted in laughter.
"And I'll tell ya – after the abuse it took during the storm, and now this, I think I'll retire that one and get a new one – maybe one like yours," he winked, referring to Michaela's expensive touch screen phone.
"But why did they close early?" Michaela wondered a few minutes later after he had eaten more of his meal.
"Well, Bob wasn't there when I came, only his wife – and she'd been on the phone a lot and didn't see who had gone in or out. They got a phone call that their grandchild had been taken to the hospital, so they panicked, released the dogs from their kennel, locked the gate and barreled out of there. They forgot I was in there, and the truck was hidden from view," he explained, pausing to eat several large bites of his breakfast.
"What were the dogs' names again, Daddy?" Hannah asked, giggling.
"Sampson, Delilah, and Goliath, and believe me, I didn't want to tangle with any of 'em. Then when Bob got there, they were actin' like lap dogs!" he added with a chuckle.
"So, whatdya do all night? Were you lonely and scared? I woulda been!" Brian asked, planted on his knees near his father, just barely giving him room to eat.
"Actually no...I wasn't alone," Sully answered with a grin, taking a large bite of his eggs.
"You weren't?" Hannah asked curiously.
"Who was with you?" Colleen asked.
Locking eyes with Michaela, he grinned over top of his milk glass as he took another drink, swallowing and clearing his throat before he murmured, "Harv Miller."
Michaela's eyes popped open and she chuckled. "You're kidding!"
"Nope. And you know what else?"
She shook her head.
"We spent the night talkin' things out. We told each other things we never dreamed we'd say to each other. And now...we're friends."
"Oh, come on. Harv Miller?" Matthew repeated skeptically.
"Yep. And you know one thing he said? He said that God locked those gates and set the dogs loose – so we'd be forced to spend the night together and work out our differences."
"He said that?" Michaela asked in amazement.
"Words to that affect," he answered with a grin, gulping down several bites of pancakes.
"Miracles still happen..." she murmured softly as she lovingly watched her gorgeous husband wolf down his food as if he hadn't eaten for a week.
"Yep...'specially when you're involved," Sully replied lovingly, leaning over to press a sticky kiss to her lips.
"Me?" she responded, chuckling as she wiped her mouth.
"Mmm hmm. You made me think there was hope, so I been prayin' about it. Since I did, He brought it to pass. All I ever did before, seriously, was 'complain' about it and talk about it – to everybody but God."
"Well...it was a miserable night to live through...but since that was the result...I'd say it was worth it," Michaela commented softly.
OOOOOOOOO
Later, snuggled together in their bed for a long nap before they would get up and start the preparations for the Thanksgiving feast the next day, Michaela said softly, "I did a lot of thinking last night."
"Yeah?" Sully asked sleepily.
"Mmm hmm. And I told myself I would say this to you. I'm sorry. I apologize for allowing myself to act out bouts of angry aggression because of my pregnancy. I vow to you that I'm going to try very hard from now on to keep this a 'happy home', and I give you permission to turn me over your knee if need be," she added cheekily.
When he didn't answer, she turned slightly and saw that his eyes were closed and he had fallen completely asleep!
She chuckled softly and snuggled closer, closing her eyes and sighing in complete bliss at being back in her husband's loving arms.
As she slipped off to a comfortable sleep, her last thought was, "Thank You, Lord, for answered prayer, and that the only casualty of the night was a cell phone that received too much affection."
