Chapter 7
Michaela was so angry with herself that her usually smooth brow was wrinkled when she stopped to find out where she was. In her hurry to leave she hadn't read the signs. Obviously she had taken the wrong path and needed to turn around.
The moment she pivoted she saw them.
This time, Wolf behaved like a well-trained dog. Looking up at his master he waited for approval before he took off in Michaela's direction. As he raced towards her without slowing down, she quickly put down her bags and anticipated the dog with open arms. It looked as if she wanted to lift him high into the air like one does with a small child.
Approaching them slowly, Sully watched how Michaela and Wolf were reunited as if they hadn't actually parted just minutes ago. Realizing that this was his clue to his solution of how to handle the situation, he waited patiently until they both directed their attention towards him. Not wasting one moment, he suggested, as she had so many weeks ago when it looked like their very first meeting would turn into a disaster, "How 'bout we start over?"
Michaela remembered, too and her eyes lit up, giving him the courage to go on. "How come ya're here?" he asked, his tone soft this time.
"It was my turn to accompany the paramedics today," she explained calmly, "We had an emergency call but didn't have to take the boy to the hospital. My shift was over, and I've never been here before, so..." Michaela shrugged, her voice trailing off because the rest was obvious.
All Sully heard though was that she was free, which meant she didn't have an excuse to turn him down. And thus he offered, "I could make us dinner tonight so we can catch up."
His gaze full of hope made her pulse quicken, but she instantly turned him down nevertheless, "I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why not?" Sully didn't understand. "What's wrong with eatin' and talkin'?"
"Well, nothing…" Michaela hesitated in order to find the right words without offending him. "It's just… I don't feel comfortable with telling strangers about my personal affairs," she admitted at last.
Sully silently reminded himself that it wouldn't help things if his temper rose again. Thus he tightly folded his arms before his chest trying to stay composed.
"Maybe ya're right seein' me as a stranger…" he acknowledged, looking down at his feet.
After all, they hadn't yet spent more than an hour in each other's company. It simply didn't feel that way to him.
"Oh," Michaela interposed, recognizing the defensiveness in his face, "It's not because of you."
Relieved, Sully relaxed, letting his arms drop. Yet he was confused and when she didn't offer any further explanation he at last grasped what she must be thinking.
"She won't be there," he assured her eagerly, "It'll be just us." He cocked his head to one side, searching her gaze as he added, "And Wolf."
Michaela smiled despite herself. Yet undeterred by his making light of the situation, she didn't give in, "Sully, I just interrupted your date. I don't consider it appropriate to meet you for dinner. And I hope you don't mind my saying this, but it is not very polite that you are talking with me here and have left your friend behind."
"I'm not having a date," Sully immediately refused the idea, "It's just a picnic after work. And she understands, I told her 'bout you."
"You did?" Michaela could hide neither her astonishment nor the curiosity that was arisen by this revelation. "But why? We barely know each other."
Sully watched, amazed, how her expression changed when she forgot to keep up her guard. Not only did her brow smooth out but her eyes started sparkling as well. His heart changed its rhythm as he became unable to tear his eyes away from her beautiful face.
He couldn't help it; he just needed to see her again and the only way was to tell the truth, "I didn't care what happened to me or the world around me till I met ya at Hank's. Thanks to you I have a reason to get up every day…"
As he saw that his words made her blush furiously, he took a bit of the seriousness out of his words, "… after all, Wolf needs his mornin' walk."
There was that smile again, and Sully felt safe enough to add, "Believe me, I just wanna talk to you. I ain't havin' any dates. I ain't ready yet."
Michaela wondered why this confession caused a sudden pang in her heart. She wasn't interested in Sully that way. However, she'd really like to see Wolf again and so she eventually agreed, "Alright. Where and when?"
………………………………………
If Sully had known Michaela would need a cab to get to his house, he would, of course, have picked her up. Well, he could still give her a lift home, and as a nice consequence he would find out where she lived. He had insisted that she didn't bring anything, but her bag was bulging when she approached the house. He didn't have to wonder for long though because Wolf, who hadn't been given any command that bound him to one place, was already spurting towards her. After their mutual greeting, Michaela pulled a teddy bear out of her bag which the dog accepted without having to be asked twice. Eagerly, he took his new toy to his master, and Sully could swear that Wolf grinned at him triumphantly before he turned and ran back to Michaela who was closing the distance to the porch.
"Good evening, Sully," she said unusually shy as she reached him.
Oddly enough, this soothed Sully who was quite nervous as well. Although Cloud Dancing had visited him a few times, the Cheyenne couldn't be called a guest. So this was a premiere for him tonight, and although it had been his suggestion, he was getting qualms. What if she didn't like what he'd cooked? What if they didn't find enough to talk about?
However, her insecurity made him feel that he needed to be the strong one, and in order to ease the situation for her, he showed her inside.
Astonished, Michaela noticed that Sully didn't lead her to the entrance but to a back door. Once inside, it became quickly obvious to her that he used only two rooms in his house: the kitchen and a room with an old, large wooden table in the center. The chairs around it were antique ones, too, and not one resembled any other. The wall opposite was covered with shelves full of books, arranged around another door, and against the right wall stood a bed which looked rather like a cot. At its foot stood a big armchair; the dark brown leather looking somewhat worn but soft and shiny. Beneath the sill of the bay window to the left was another shelf; this one filled with carved figures. However, every item in this room radiated coziness, and Michaela began to feel more comfortable.
The table was set for two, and Sully pulled out a chair for her to sit down. The knot in her stomach loosened as Wolf lay down next to her, and when Sully put a plate with roasted chicken, potatoes and peas before her, it vanished completely.
"This smells delicious," she smiled at him as he took his seat across from her.
"Good," he smiled satisfied, "let's hope it tastes the same."
Sully watched her taking her first bites, yet all his anxiety from earlier was gone. As she looked up at him, raising an eyebrow in appreciation, his smile turned into a grin, and he started eating as well.
They ate in comfortable silence. Michaela hadn't been aware of how famished she'd been and her plate was empty rather soon. Although she was spoilt by Grace's cooking she couldn't remember when she had last enjoyed a meal so much. "It was wonderful. Thank you, Sully," she said, sinking against the back of her seat.
"Glad ya liked it," Sully returned, still eating. Truth to be told, he was searching for a way to learn more about her yet he didn't want to seem nosy. So it was Michaela who spoke again, patting Wolf's head, "It's so quiet here."
Relieved that he could do something again, Sully straightened on his chair offering, "I can turn on the radio. I have some CDs, too…"
"Oh, that's not what I meant," Michaela bent forward, touching his hand next to his plate so as to hold him back from getting up.
As if they had a silent agreement, neither of them showed a reaction on the outside to what this simple gesture caused in the inside of them both. Sully wanted to prolong the sensation of feeling her fingers on his skin, and for Michaela it was as if the connection sent a current up her arm.
Maybe she was a bit too quick when she withdrew from the touch, yet she immediately went on with her explanation, "I mean you can hear no cars here, no sirens are wailing… I'm just not used to this kind of silence; I always lived in the middle of town."
She had composed herself again and was able to produce a smile when she added, "Although you can't count The Gold Nugget to lying in the center of Colorado Springs, but there is still always some kind of commotion. Either drunken guests who sing at the top of their voices in the hallway or…"
Astonished, Sully chimed in, "Ya still livin' at Hank's?"
"Yes, I am," Michaela affirmed. "The original plan had been that I work at the Memorial Hospital Central only as long as Dr. Cassidy needed to recover from a heart attack, which meant three months at the longest. Hank offered a special price since a permanent resident is good business for him. So I stayed. Yet having a permanent contract with the hospital now, I guess I should look for an apartment pretty soon."
Sully hadn't interrupted again for he was happy that he'd finally learned something about her, yet now he eagerly suggested, "I could help ya find one."
"That would be nice," she accepted the offer. "I'm still a stranger here and have no idea where to start. I haven't seen much of the town yet. I was simply happy that I could finally work where I was needed…"
As her voice trailed off, Sully could tell that it wasn't pleasant thoughts that brought back the wrinkles to her brow. Yet he wanted her to have a nice evening and thus he thought up a way to distract her. Without really thinking it through, he suddenly asked, "Wanna see the house?"
Shrugging off her worries, Michaela looked at him with surprise easily recognizable on her face, "You would show it to me?"
Of course she was curios to see it, but she would never have asked, knowing a little about the history of the house from Maud. The ground had always belonged to the Sullys; it had been an old family property since the nineteenth century. Yet when Sully had decided to build a house here, only a shack had stood on the land. He was already taking odd jobs so as to finance his art study at the Colorado University, but for the house he needed to work even more so he could start building a home for his family with Abigail. When it was finally done, his young wife died along with their child. She had never come to live in this house that Michaela thought stunningly beautiful.
For her, it was a heart-breaking story, and she had long forgiven Sully for his strange behavior when they first met. She understood that living here must be hard for him. Yet since he refused to sell the homestead, he had no choice. He couldn't afford to rent an additional apartment to live in.
To her astonishment, Sully didn't use the door in the room in order to reach the others. First, he led her into the yard again, pointing to a small barn on the left, "That's where I stock my wood, and when it's warm enough I work in there on my carvings."
Eager to explain, he turned back to the house, "The porch's directed to the south so ya can enjoy sittin' there even in early spring or when it's already fall."
Admiring the building, Michaela simply nodded, already trying to picture the rooms on the upper floor. When she was a child, she had had a small chamber for herself in her grandmother Quinn's house. She had loved to sleep there; she always imagined that the walls under the sloping roof bent over her to protect her in her sleep. She couldn't remember having any nightmares there, on the contrary to when she slept at home.
Sully at last led her up the few steps onto the porch, opening the front door. Much to Wolf's joy, his master gave him a sign that he was allowed to follow, which had happened only once before. Inside of this forbidden place were such exciting corners and dark recesses…
This was what Michaela noticed first, too. Almost all of the first floor was occupied by a large room that was divided into smaller areas by posts and wooden partitions. She instantly loved it. Yet it was something else that captured her attention even more: the room was crammed with all kinds of old furniture.
Sully suddenly felt embarrassed that he showed her such untidiness. As he turned to her though in order to apologize, he held back the words. What the place looked like didn't seem to matter to her. Walking between shelves, cupboards, tables and chairs, she ran her fingers over their surfaces, openly admiring them.
"What do you plan to do with them?" she asked, not considering that it might be too curious a question.
Michaela didn't notice how he swallowed because her attention was on a particular beautiful old cupboard. It had three doors, the middle one made of glass, meant for storing books behind. Her father had had a similar one. When she at last looked at Sully to hear his reply, his features didn't give away any of his emotions. He had wanted to decorate the house with all these things, yet Abigail hadn't approved. This was one of the few things they hadn't agreed about, and he still felt bad storing them. However, he had started collecting old furniture before he met his wife, and a part of him still clung to the memories that were attached to each item.
"I think I'm gonna sell some," he replied after a long pause.
Michaela didn't ask why, assuming that he needed the money. "If you ever sell this one," and her fingers lovingly followed the fine carving on the wooden frame around the glass, "Would you please tell me?"
"Sure," Sully responded, keeping his tone neutral. "Wanna see the upper rooms, too?"
It was obvious to Michaela that he wanted to change the subject, and thus she grew insecure again. She wasn't certain whether he really wanted go on, and that was why she tried to hide her interest, "It was already nice of you to show me all this. I don't want to…"
Sully recognized his mistake and simply said, "Ya don't. C'mon, up here."
The stairs that led to the upper floor had a wooden banister that still smelled as if it had come from the woods only yesterday.
Sully preceded his guest, opening all three doors so she could look everywhere. To his puzzlement, she only glanced into the master bedroom and the bathroom but instantly went back to the chamber next to the latter.
"I love this one," she at last admitted giving him a shy smile. It was exactly like the room from her childhood.
Out of the blue, an idea hit Sully and his heart started to race over the prospect that it might come true. Before he could have second thoughts he said, attempting to sound casual, "Ya could move in here. Ya need an apartment, and I have one to rent. What do ya think?"
