CHAPTER 29

Daniel stood in the doorway of the clinic, his hand poised to knock as he paused to watch Michaela on her knees scrubbing the floor.

"Dr. Mike! Here, let me do that!" He fussed, hurrying over to her and bending to pull her to her feet. "You're just gettin' over the grippe...you oughtta be takin' it easy."

She smiled and swiped at her disheveled hair with the back of one soapy hand, leaving a puff of suds on her forehead. "Heavens, I can't believe how dirty this place got, and so quickly. I must get it back in shape, I could have patients..."

Daniel smiled and removed his jacket, tossing it onto a chair, and then he took the sponge from her hand. "You just tell me what needs doin' and I'll help ya." At her somewhat surprised look, he added with a charming smile, "Can't have the town's only doc havin' a relapse of the fever, can we?"

"I'm fine..." She shook her head in protest, although actually glad for the offer of help.

"Yep. And I aim to see ya stay that way," he interjected, taking her hand and trying to get her to sit in a nearby chair. He hunkered down and began scrubbing the floor as she had been doing.

Instead of sitting, however, Michaela moved over to the medicine cabinet, noting the key still in the door from earlier when Sully had made his mad dash to bring Maude the desperately needed powder. Remembering the scene afterwards, the four of them – she, Sully, Loren, and Maude – talking quite amicably, she slipped the key in her pocket with a satisfied smile.

As she turned around, intending to cross to her desk, she glanced down at Daniel only to see him pausing in his actions to stare at her, a playful smile on his face.

She raised an eyebrow and stared back, which only made him chuckle. Curious, she turned toward him, crossing her arms on her chest. "Might I ask what the joke is?"

He shook his head and rose from his knees, stepping close. Gazing down at her as she gazed up at him, he grinned and reached to wipe away the puff of suds she had left there moments ago. Bringing his hand down to show her, she chuckled and self-consciously reached up to give the area several unneeded swipes, murmuring, "Thank you."

He nodded with a mumbled, "You're welcome..." as he continued to stare down at her, thinking she was one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen. Unable to resist, he raised a hand to gently cup her cheek, on the verge of throwing caution to the wind and blurting out his feelings.

Daniel's show of affection, however, made Michaela uncomfortable. True, he was a handsome man, well mannered, gentle, and kind – but she thought of him merely as a friend, nothing more. Her heart yearned for Sully, even more now that he was back in her life again and had spent considerable time making sure she recovered from her bout with the influenza. The maddening thing was that she couldn't be absolutely sure of his feelings. What if he merely thought of her as a good friend...his best friend? What if he felt an obligation to her for the times she had saved his life? Perhaps he only feels a tie to me because of my part in helping him separate himself from a situation he found intolerable. But...he kissed me out there on the desert the day he saved my life. He kissed me, passionately, that night on the road to Bowie...he even kissed me the first night he came back...but then it was merely a brush of his lips on mine...could he be the type of man that gets carried away with a physical attraction though his heart is not engaged? Could those displays of affection have merely been reaction to undue stress?

It would be so much easier if she could fall in love with this man, a man who seemed uncomplicated, and easy to read. She enjoyed being with Daniel, playing chess with him, laughing at his anecdotes...but, his presence didn't give her that certain tingle, that surge of awareness that she had only experienced with one man...that feeling that made her want more of him, made her crave his attention – even if that attention was merely his electric blue gaze from across the room.

Sighing, she cleared her throat softly and backed away from Daniel's touch, turning toward the desk as she murmured, "Oh my, this desk, it will take me a full day to straighten it..."

Clamping his lips at her silent signal to back off, Daniel dropped his head and sighed softly before hunkering down again to continue his work.

Neither one had seen the figure watching through the window - the figure that had moved on quickly before Michaela turned toward the desk.

OOOOOOO

Sully stood next to the kitchen door of the boarding house, head turned and glaring toward the window of the clinic. He hadn't counted on this complication.

Daniel! After all these years, his one time best friend returned to his life – and now Sully wished he was anywhere but there.

The two had been friends since the age of ten, both orphans, eking out an existence on the docks of New York. They quickly became inseparable, closer than brothers, and the one person each could count on when the world turned cold and dangerous. More times than Sully could remember, they had fought their way out of scrapes and danger, standing back to back against all comers. For eighteen years until Daniel left for parts unknown, they had truly trusted each other with their lives.

When they had first arrived in Colorado Springs determined to strike it rich on Pike's Peak, they wandered together into Bray's Mercantile to load up on supplies – and immediately fell for Abigail Bray's youthful innocence and charm. Sully could still see her placing bags of flour on a shelf, and turning to see who had entered the store. Both men stopped dead in their tracks, nearly colliding with each other as they gazed at the beautiful young woman. Having been on the road, stopping in small town after small town, they hadn't seen a young, single female for months. Abigail Bray, with her long wavy black hair and big brown eyes, was the stuff of dreams.

Both young men were immediately smitten, but from the start, Abigail only had eyes for Sully. It was the beginning of the breech that would eventually part the two long time friends.

And now once again, the two men found themselves competing for the affections of a beautiful woman. Sully couldn't help but wonder, however, if this time the combination of Daniel's charm and money would tip the scales too far in his favor. The revelations he had received during his vision quest had unfortunately begun to evaporate from his memory.

At that moment, the door to Charlotte's kitchen opened and Brian ran out, nearly crashing into the man he considered his hero. Before Sully had suddenly left town two years prior, he had gotten in the habit of taking Brian fishing or hunting, teaching him things all little boys should know – things Charlotte couldn't. Sully had felt sorry for the fatherless little boy. Consequently, little Brian had been thrilled when Sully returned to town and was always excited to see him.

"Sully! Whatcha doin'?" Brian asked innocently, looking up into the man's face with his adorable crooked grin.

"Just restin', Brian," Sully murmured, looking toward the door as Charlotte neared.

"C'mon in, Sully," she offered, opening the door wide in welcome as she wiped her hands on a towel.

He pushed away from the wall and wandered inside. Noticing the woodpile next to the stove was low; he automatically crossed to the back door and brought in an armload of firewood, then another, making himself useful. Charlotte couldn't help but notice his frequent glances at the closed door to the dining room, and the brooding look on his handsome features.

"Brian, run along over to the telegraph office and see if I got any mail," Charlotte instructed her youngest. Glad for the important assignment, Brian skipped with glee to the door and exited.

When the door closed, Charlotte watched her visitor grasp a chair and turn it around, straddling it, crossing his arms over the raised back. His chin soon rested on his arms and he let out a brooding sigh, his blue gaze unconsciously aimed at the door again as he wished he could see through the multiple wooden surfaces.

"Wanna talk about it?" Charlotte asked softly, gently rolling dough for a pie.

Sully turned his head and met his friend's gaze.

"Nothin' ta talk about," he replied stubbornly.

She smiled and shook her head with a soft chuckle. "Still the same ain't ya," she stated knowingly. "Man of few words. Ain't you learned yet that sometimes words are needed?"

He shrugged moodily and looked away. "Words ain't gonna help."

"Oh, I don't know...you tell her how ya feel about her yet?"

He met her eyes again, on the verge of denying any such 'feelings' for the person they both knew she meant, but the straightforward look on his friend's face made him change his mind. He swallowed and ground his teeth together, picturing the scene he just witnessed, Daniel and Michaela seemingly 'gazing' at each other.

"Sully...a woman needs ta hear such things," Charlotte pressed, placing both hands on the table and leaning toward her friend, urging him to listen. "It's good that ya've come back, nursed her back to health, been hangin' around..." she paused as he flashed her a look as if he was about to say she was dabbling in things that were none of her business. She ignored the blue warning flames and pressed on, "But if'n ya wanna be more than just her best friend, you're gonna have ta tell her what ya feel in yer heart. Don't leave her wonderin'."

She could tell by the obstinate expression on his face that he was trying to let her words bounce off and not take them in. Men! Why are they always so stubborn?

"I'm just sayin'...you wait too long, she's liable to find a new best friend," she warned ominously, choosing not to tell him of her long conversation with Daniel when the man admitted he had fallen hopelessly in love with the lady doctor.

Over the years, Charlotte had seen more than one woman fall into the arms of a charming man while on the rebound from another, and she'd hate to see Dr. Mike take up with Daniel when she so clearly belonged with Sully... Dr. Mike's fiancé had only been dead a few months, and Charlotte knew the doctor wasn't the fickle kind of woman who would fall that easily for the first handsome man who would console her. She just hoped Sully's stubborn pride – and Dr. Mike's stubbornness - wouldn't wreck their chance at happiness.

OOOOOOO

"Sully!" Brian and Colleen called happily as he appeared in the doorway that evening.

Heeding Charlotte's urging, Sully had joined the family and boarders for dinner in the dimly lit dining room, though arriving late and making his 'entrance' after they had already begun eating. Matthew quickly grabbed his own plate and utensils and slid into another chair, leaving the seat on the left adjacent to his mother at the head, for their long absent friend. It was the spot that used to be his.

"Been a while since you ate with us, Sully," Colleen gushed, flinging a lock of blonde hair back over her shoulder, her brown eyes twinkling, as she harbored a secret schoolgirl crush for the incredibly handsome ex-miner. Sully and Abby had, of course, ate every meal with them when they had lived at the boarding house, and the young girl had missed their company after they had moved into their own home. Then mere months later Abby died – and Sully was gone. The girl was thrilled he had returned.

"Yeah. Good to be back...thanks for invitin' me, Charlotte," he answered, lowering himself into the vacant chair, which happened to be directly across from Michaela, who gave him a careful smile. Daniel, unfortunately, occupied the seat directly to Michaela's right.

"You're welcome anytime, Sully, you know that. Ya don't need no invite," Charlotte returned with a friendly smile, reaching forward to cut a slice of ham from the platter in the center, and scooping it onto his plate.

"Whatcha been doin' all day, Sully?" Matthew asked for conversation's sake, since everyone else at the table had gone silent. Prior to Sully's arrival, everyone had been talking animatedly about their day, about the town well on its way to recovering after the epidemic, and Daniel had just declared that he was thinking of staying and building himself a home on the outskirts of town.

Michaela had listened to his announcement politely, hoping that the looks the man was shooting her way did not mean more than what they seemed on the surface.

She was in a bit of a quandary, however, because she very much enjoyed Daniel's company. He had stayed with her all day, helping her get the clinic room and its adjacent recovery room clean from top to bottom. He had entertained her with stories of his and Sully's childhood and many years together, which was something she always enjoyed hearing, and had asked her opinion on a myriad of subjects.

This particular habit of his always made Michaela feel warm in a way that was hard to describe. No man in her life, save her father, had valued her opinion the way Daniel did...well, except Sully. But Sully was an enigma, and very hard to pin down. Daniel seemed to lay all his cards on the table, in plain sight for all to see. She never knew from day to day if she would see Sully or not – or indeed, if he was truly back to 'stay.' He still addressed her as 'Dr. Mike' and from what he had told her about his time with his Indian friends, she could tell he would be perfectly happy to go back and live with them.

She stared at him for a moment, wondering what he was thinking, and watching as he took a large bite of his dinner and reached for his glass to wash it down, glancing down the silent table at Dorothy and several unknown temporary boarders. "Um, been workin' on my homestead," he answered Matthew's question, his head tilted down, but eyes trained on Michaela's face as he fleeting pondered why she seemed to be acting a bit uncomfortable. He wondered what he had interrupted, as his eyes darted back and forth between Daniel and Michaela.

Daniel cleared his throat and wiped his mouth on a napkin. "Workin' on the homestead, huh, Sully? Thinkin' of stayin' around for awhile?" he asked, his voice projecting a tiny shred of sarcasm.

Sully met his eyes and shifted his gaze to meet Michaela's, who was now looking at him in rapt attention.

"Yep." His mouth turned up in a half dimpled grin as he correctly read the relief and – dare he interpret – joy in Michaela's eyes.

"Whadya gonna do for a livin'? Go back to minin'?" Daniel asked, stabbing a large bite of his dinner and shoving it in his mouth.

Sully took another bite also, noticing Michaela was merely picking at her food. If he didn't know better, he could swear she was holding her breath. What's she thinkin'?

"Nope," he answered his opponent. "Got some plans I'm workin' on," he added a bit mysteriously, glancing sideways at Charlotte and noticing the barely concealed smile as she chewed her food.

Charlotte was enjoying the tête-à-tête between the two men, knowing that below their polite questions and answers, a fierce competition was already in the works. She just wondered which of the knights in shining armor would win the hand of the lady fair.

The rest of the evening passed in easy companionship, well, at least on the surface, as the kids, especially Brian, entertained the adults with silly antics.

The two men played it smooth with each other, each one sweetly attentive to a flattered, but slightly puzzled Michaela.

Something told her there was much more going on between Sully and Daniel than met the eye – much more than simply trying to get her undivided attention. She debated whether to ask Charlotte about it – or maybe Maude – or to let them work it out between themselves. Since it wasn't in her nature to just let things be, she determined silently that somehow she would get to the bottom of it.

In the meantime, however, she decided to just sit back and enjoy the ride.