Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. The rights to those characters and to the show belong to the creators of the show, to CBS, The Sullivan Company and to A&E.

The Places to Love

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"I can't believe you'd agree to meet her without talking to me first!" Sully shut the pantry door much louder than necessary, his anger showing through.

On the other side of the kitchen island, Michaela's eyes grew large. She'd never quite heard Sully yell at her like this. "Sully, she showed up at my office… what did you want me to do?"

"Talking to her and inviting her to lunch are two entirely different things." He leaned back against the counter, his jaw firmly set with his arms folded over his chest.

"You know what? I don't have to explain myself to you. I wasn't about to be rude to her and I couldn't talk to her today because I was due in surgery." Michaela met his angry glare with one of her own.

"That doesn't change the fact that you should have asked me first!"

"Why? So you could tell me you didn't want me to meet with her? You're the one who is always going on about people deserving second chances – why can't you give her one?"

The words smarted as they hit Sully and for a minute his outside façade crumbled. "I'm trying to Michaela but I got to do this in my own way. You know I met with Max today." His voice was softer now, his eyes pleading for understanding.

"Did you make a decision about seeing her again?" Sully looked down at the floor and shook his head. "That's just what I mean, Sully. I understand that this isn't easy for you but you aren't being fair to everyone else involved here. You can't leave people in limbo indefinitely. Either she's in your life or she isn't."

Sully knew she was right but he was unwilling to admit it. He felt backed into a corner and with that feeling the anger returned. "That doesn't change the fact that this isn't your concern!" The words were harsh and jagged, more so than he intended for them to be. Instantly he regretted his tone but was unable to say anything more as the backdoor opened and their house guests breezed in.

"What's for dinner, sis?" Marjorie asked looking at the empty stove expectantly.

Daniel caught the expression on Sully's face and then looked at Michaela. "Perhaps we should go out to dinner," he said to the redhead whose arm was wrapped around his.

Marjorie nodded but couldn't help having a little fun with this. "Trouble in paradise?" she asked looking between her sister and brother in law with raised eyebrows.

"Marjorie," Daniel whispered and tugged at her arm but Marjorie pulled away momentarily.

"I knew this wouldn't last."

"Marjorie, shut up," Michaela growled in an uncharacteristic remark. "No one wants to hear what you think."

Looking deeply offended, Marjorie blinked rapidly. "Touchy, aren't we and such language. Really Michaela, I am surprised."

Daniel stepped forward. "Come on. I'll take you out tonight."

Marjorie nodded and walked towards the door with him. "Don't worry, we'll leave the couch free for you Sully," she called over her shoulder getting in one more good jab before leaving. There was the sound of the door shutting and then of the screen door banging closed. Michaela was watching her husband who was purposefully avoiding her gaze.

"I'm gonna go out for a bit," he finally said. "I need some time to think."

"Fine," Michaela replied with anger in her voice. She never noticed that Sully looked at her apologetically because she had already started for the stairs.

"Michaela?" he called after her softly.

"Just go!"

With that, Sully felt his anger flare back up and he walked to the back door, slamming it behind him.

The morning was tense. Around midnight, Sully returned home to find Michaela asleep or at least pretending. In fact, neither slept much that night so that when the first rays of the sun crept through the cracks in the curtains, both of them rose. Going about the business of getting ready for the day, neither of them spoke and besides a few furtive glances they avoided eye contact as well. An apology was on the tip of both of their tongues, yet both were too stubborn to go first.

Sully felt the beginnings of a migraine as he climbed into his truck to begin the day. He really hoped that it would pass as his schedule was very full today but he knew that wasn't usually how his headaches worked. This one was definitely due to tension and a lack of sleep the night before, things that would not be remedied by medicine alone.

Michaela pulled away from the house moments after Sully feeling just as miserable. They had fought before but not like this since they were married. She felt like having a nice long cry and feeling sorry for herself but she knew her schedule would not permit that and it wouldn't do much good anyway. There had been a moment when she met Sully's eyes in the kitchen and she had almost given in. Now she wished she had, knowing it would preoccupy her all day. If Sully had taken the time to apologize, she would have respected his desires and cancelled the lunchtime meeting with Kat but instead she decided to keep it out of her own stubbornness.

Kat was right on time, knocking on Michaela's office door at exactly twelve fifteen. Michaela greeted her and then led her through the maze of the hospital to the cafeteria. Neither spoke again until they were seated with their food at a table tucked back into the corner. It was Michaela who spoke first.

"Kat you should know that Sully would prefer me to not meet with you today."

Kat's eyes grew large at this statement. "I guess that means he's made up his mind." She frowned as she finished speaking.

"Actually, he hasn't. I'm not quite sure why he was so opposed to us meeting. We fought about it last night but unfortunately I never quite understood his reasoning."

Kat grew sullen and then looked up at the doctor. "I didn't mean to come between you two. I suppose it was wrong of me to come see you but I just feel… so… desperate."

Michaela reached over and covered the older woman's hand with her own. "Kat, you have to understand how hard this is for Sully. Losing you and then losing his first wife and child were very hard on him." Kat nodded in agreement with her brow furrowed. "He won't talk to anyone about all this. I really think it would help if he did but he wants to work through it on his own. That was a fight between us before we were ever engaged."

"His father was stubborn too," Kat said with a smile.

"See this is the sort of thing Sully would like to know. While Snowbird and Cloud Dancing remember his father, you really are the best link he has to him."

"This is really their fault…" Kat began but Michaela interrupted her.

"I know you feel that way Kat but they just did what they thought was best for Sully. You were strung out."

"But I wasn't always… they never gave me another chance."

"I'm not sure that was intentional. I mean, that simply doesn't seem like something the two of them would do. I think they traveled around a lot as their way of life, not as a way to keep you from Sully."

Growing silent, Kat considered the doctor's words. Truthfully she had always blamed Cloud Dancing and Snowbird and it wasn't until this moment that she took a moment to decide whether this was fair or not. "Perhaps I've been a little rash," she whispered.

Michaela gave her fingers a light squeeze. "Perhaps we all have." Their eyes met and they both could see something bigger than themselves. This was a beginning of some kind, though neither had a clue how it would go on from here. Still it was a beginning.