Chapter 5

It was still early; the sun was setting in the sky. The sky was misty and very cloudy. The start of this day was as gray as Michaela's thoughts. She was curled up in bed watching the fog passing by. All night she was asking herself, "Did I misread the signs so completely? Why did he hold my hand? Was I mistaken about the way he looked at me?"

It was true, she didn't have experience with boys, let alone with romance. Love at first sight? Was it possible? She never thought it could happen, but why was she feeling this way? If it was not love it shouldn't hurt that much.
A tear rolled down her cheek and she turned around trying to get some more sleep.
It seemed like she only had slept for minutes when she heard a soft voice. "Mike, it's almost eleven." Rebecca sat next to her on the bed, wiping a stray of hair out of Michaela's face. She opened her eyes. "Hey little sister, what's wrong?"

Michaela stretched and returned to her fetal position. "Nothing, just catching up on some sleep."
Rebecca knew there was something troubling her but didn't want to push her.
"Mrs. Cooper rang and asked if you could come a bit early. This way the children could get to know you and she would like to show you around first."
"Oh dear, I almost forgot. I think it will do me some good. This way I will have some distraction," Michaela said.
"Do you want to join me to get some groceries? The boys are eating for four lately," Rebecca chuckled.

Michaela turned on her back and squinted her eyes because of the light. While stretching again she nodded. Rebecca kissed her forehead and walked to the door. "Take your time, breakfast isn't going anywhere."

"Thank you," Michaela said. Not just because of breakfast but she knew, her sister didn't want to push her into talking.

Rebecca just smiled. "See you downstairs."

After having a good breakfast and sitting with the whole family, Michaela felt a little better. Also the prospect of baby-sitting made her mood cheerful again.

As she was walking around in the supermarket she wasn't aware of being in Abigail's parents' store. Suddenly she heard a squeal. "Mike! Cool to see you here. Sorry I wasn't around anymore but my mom needed some help."

Michaela's mood became a bit darker again. "That's ok," she mumbled.

How could she act like nothing had happened? She was falling for Abby's boyfriend. She couldn't face her right now.

"Are you alright?" Abby asked.

"Yes, sorry. I was lost in thoughts."

"Maybe we can meet later today. Are you coming to the club with us tonight?" Abby said happily.

"No, I can't, have to babysit," Michaela replied.

"That's right, it slipped my mind. They are good kids, not much trouble," Abby continued while packing cereals onto the shelf. "Next time you must join us; there are a lot of nice looking guys," she winked.
"Abby, can you help me?" Her mom called from the back of the store.

"Coming!"
"See you on Sunday," Mike told Abby.

Nice looking guys? Michaela knew only one, and he belonged to Abby. She shook her head. Why did he crawl back into her mind again? He's taken, he's taken, he's taken, she tried to tell herself. It didn't work, her mind started rambling again. Was Sully joining Abby to go to the club? She said there where cute guys, what does she need more guys for if she had Sully? "I bet she was referring to me. Pfff, I don't need a boyfriend," she told herself.

"Do you need those peas?" Rebecca asked, and Eric was adding, "Aunt Michaela are you coming?"

Her thoughts were still lingering on Sully when she replied. "Yes, sorry."

The afternoon flew by and before she knew it Michaela was on her way to the Coopers. The house wasn't that far so she decided to walk. Nearing the house she saw there was a small boarding house attached to it. It looked real cozy. In the garden stood a middle-aged woman with dark hair.

"Good Afternoon", Michaela said carefully so as to not startle her.

"Hello, you must be Mike."

"Uhm, yes."

"Don't worry dear, Kaitlin told me your nickname. I'm Charlotte."
Michaela hadn't noticed the boy who was playing behind the washings. He looked up. "Mike is a boy's name," he said and made a funny face, got up and went to his mother's side. A little shyly he observed her. "You don't look like a boy."
Charlotte ruffled the boy's head. "This is my youngest, Brian. He's four. There comes Colleen, she's seven."
"Hello, nice to meet you," Colleen admired her. "Wow your hair is long! I'm letting mine grow, too."

Brian was still hesitating about this stranger but Colleen could see a potential new friend. "He'll come around", Charlotte winked.
Colleen grabbed Michaela's hand, "Come on, I'll show you around." Charlotte and Brian followed.

"Matthew will be here soon," Charlotte said.

Michaela looked back, "Okay, how old is he?"

"Eleven," Colleen answered before her mother could reply.

After the tour around the homestead and boarding house they all went into the kitchen. Michaela was taking a lot of mental notes but also wrote some down. She didn't want to mess up. Three children and a boarding house were a lot of responsibilities. Luckily, Mrs. Cooper wasn't expecting more guests.
Sitting with the children in the kitchen while Charlotte made herself ready to go, Michaela felt like she belonged here. Although it was the first time she'd ever been here, it felt good.
Brian melted a bit, too. Michaela found out a four year old was full of questions, but she didn't mind answering them at all.
The backdoor opened and a blond-haired boy entered.

"Hello," he eyed the stranger. "Who are you?"

Michaela stretched out her hand. "I'm Michaela."

"We call her Mike, she's going to babysit," Brian said.

"I thought Abby was coming?" Matthew asked.

Charlotte walked in, "She had other engagements."
Michaela's cell phone rang. Excusing herself she went to the living room, never noticing someone else walking into the kitchen.

When she entered again she was frozen to the spot. No! What was he doing here? Brian jumped to her side, demanding, "Who was that?" Snapped out of her freeze she answered absentmindedly, "My mother." Brian took her hand, "When mom leaves, will you play with us? Sully, will you stay, too?"
Sully sat with his back toward them, he was expecting to see Abigail but saw Michaela instead. His whole face lit. "You are not Abby, what are you doing here?"

Michaela saw the smile on his face but couldn't accept his presence yet.

"What does it look like?" she said angrily.
The children had no clue what was going on.

Charlotte came back from getting her handbag.

"Mrs. Cooper, I think there is a misunderstanding. It seems like you already have a babysitter," Michaela stated.

"You mean Sully? He just dropped Matthew and has dinner here because his mother is at work. He'll be gone soon."

Sully nodded but was wondering why Michaela acted like this.

"Sully you promised us a game of twister, please stay," Colleen put on her puppy eyes, echoed by Brian. "Mike wouldn't mind if you stay for a while, please?"

Sully looked at Michaela for approval but never got it.
Charlotte noticed some tension. "Do you two know each other? Sorry, I haven't introduced you."

"No problem Mrs. Cooper, we met a few days ago," Michaela assured.

They heard a honk from the cab. "I don't mind if you both stay but I'm only paying one of you," Charlotte winked.
"It's ok Mrs. C. I'll be on my way soon," Sully quickly said, taking another look at Michaela.

"No, you've got to stay!" Colleen and Brian protested immediately.
"Suit yourself, I'm off. Children, be good," Charlotte ordered before turning to Michaela, "and don't let them stay up too late".

Everyone nodded when they waved Charlotte goodbye.
"Would you mind if I stayed?" Sully addressed Michaela.

"It's a free country," she replied curtly.

He could see in her eyes that she was hurt. By him? What had happened between yesterday and now? He thought they were getting along well. Why was she so distant?

"Mike, you wouldn't mind if Sully stayed, would you?" Brian's voice was pleading.

Matthew held him back. "It's Sully's choice, you can't force him".

Sully crouched down next to Brian, "Okay little man, one game."
While Colleen and Brian were searching for the game, Matthew went for his laptop and sat down in a comfortable chair.

Michaela made herself a cup of tea, just so as to avoid talking to Sully. He on the other hand was thankful for a minute alone with her. She was even more beautiful than he remembered.

"Everything alright?" he eventually asked. "Did something happen yesterday, did my brother say something wrong? I can talk to him and say you don't want to work there anymore."

"No! I would love to work there, and your brother was very polite."

Then why was she acting like this? Sully couldn't help but wonder. "You seem different," he at last said.

Michaela wanted to ask him if he was dating Abigail, but she just couldn't.
"Nothing is wrong, Sully." She took her cup of tea and walked to see what the children were up to.
Sully didn't know why she was like this today. Yesterday had just been perfect. When he held her hand she hadn't backed away; when he touched her she hadn't minded. He really thought she felt the same as he did. Was he so mistaken? He wasn't one to fall in love easily, but from the moment he saw her it was as if she crawled into his heart and never got out.

"Ready!!" Colleen came running in, interrupting his thoughts.

When Sully entered the living room he saw Michaela sitting on a high chair. She volunteered to spin the arrow. Brian and Colleen disagreed. They wanted her to play with them. So it came that eventually Colleen and Brian were ready to start and stood next to each other at one end. This way Michaela had to stand close to Sully at the other end. Matthew would be the one to spin the arrow, although his mind wasn't on the task as he pronounced the first challenge. "Left foot on red!"

"This isn't hard," Colleen giggled.

The game went on for a little time, and all were laughing and trying to keep their balance. Then it got more difficult and Brian lost his balance. He was a bit mad but took the arrow from Matthew and cheered on the others.

"Left hand, yellow!"

Michaela and Sully reached for the same dot. Quickly Michaela took her hand away, but their eyes met and both could see they didn't mind the contact. After a few more spins Colleen also fell.

"I want something to drink," the little girl said.

"I'll help you," Michaela volunteered.

"You can't, you must play on so we'll have a winner." Colleen got herself something to drink.

Brian span the arrow again. "Left hand on blue. Right foot on red."

Michaela lost her balance and bumped into Sully who softened her fall. She was sitting in Sully's lap, his hand around her waist and their heads close together.
"Oh no, now we don't know who won!" Brian exclaimed.

"I did." Sully looked Michaela straight in the eye, and she couldn't look away. Trying to get up quickly she didn't succeed and fell again.

"It seems I keep rescuing you," he grinned.

Brian and Colleen giggled.

Matthew looked up from his laptop and shook his head. Finally standing, Michaela smoothed her clothes and said, "I think we can all use something to drink now."

Sully stood close behind her. "Yes, I could use a cold drink, too."
Sitting in the living room a cell phone rang. Brian knew exactly whose it was. "That's yours, Sully."

Colleen grabbed it from the table and looked at the screen. "It's Abby." She handed it over to Sully.
Again Michaela was reminded that Sully was taken by her roommate. There had been a few moments during the past hour that she was just enjoying his company and not thinking of Abby. She noticed that he just read the text but didn't answer.

"Shouldn't you reply?" she asked.

"Nothing important, they want me to join them to a club."

"Are you going?" asked the four-year-old.

"Brian, that's none of your business. But no, I'm not," Sully set the little boy straight.

"Maybe you should let her know that," Michaela hinted.

He sighed, he knew she was right, he just didn't want to spend his time with texting stupid messages. Michaela eyed him and saw him typing just one word. She rolled her eyes. She would tell him something if he were her boyfriend.

"What are we gonna do next?" Brian was getting bored.
Michaela brought some DVDs and gave the children a few choices. Brian voted for Cars and Colleen for The Little Mermaid. While they squabbled about which movie it would be, Michaela asked Matthew if they were always like this. Matthew just nodded and rolled his eyes.

"What would your mother do?" Michaela wondered.

"She would decide," the older boy replied dryly.

Michaela watched the two a moment longer. "Okay, okay settle down. I'll pick a number between one and ten. The one who guesses it right can choose the movie."

"That's not fair, you're a girl so you'll say Colleen got it right!" Brian complained again.

"I won't," Michaela promised. "Sully, can you help me? Brian, I will tell Sully the same number so we all know I won't cheat."

She whispered the number into Sully's ear, but all he noticed was how good she smelled. He blushed. Michaela didn't even notice and Brian began with a number. After a few guesses Colleen won and was joyous.
Michaela put in the DVD while Colleen was whispering with Sully.
"Colleen are you coming?" Michaela called her. "We're first gonna put on the pajamas and brush your teeth."
Both kids ran upstairs. Michaela wanted to follow but Sully held her back for a moment. "Do you mind if I stay a bit longer? I promised Colleen a bedtime story. But if you mind I can come back later."

Michaela had to admit it was good to have him around. "I don't mind and the children seem to be very fond of you," she told him, blushing.

The movie was almost over. Brian fell asleep on Michaela's lap. Colleen was still watching but was more focusing on keeping her eyes open. Matthew went to his room; he wanted to watch something else. Michaela didn't mind but checked on him from time to time.
"Shall I bring him upstairs?" Sully asked, pointing at Brian.

"Yes, that would be nice." Michaela was very thankful he had stayed. "And I think this young lady could use some sleep also," she added when she saw Colleen's eyelids droop.

"No, I wanna watch the end," the little girl protested.

Michaela knew the movie was almost over and didn't argue.
"Sully promised me a story," Colleen added.

"He did?" She acted surprised.

Colleen nodded with a wide grin. "He always keeps his promises."
"Okay, let's get you into bed and see if Sully is done with putting Brian to bed."
While Colleen went to her room, Michaela checked on Matthew again. She saw he had fallen asleep. So she turned off the TV and covered him with the quilt.
Meanwhile Sully had entered Colleen's room. Michaela didn't want to interrupt and wanted to go downstairs. When she slowly passed the door she couldn't help but overhear the story he was telling and was intrigued.
"The prince walked by and saw the princess fall. He rushed to her side and helped her up. The prince saw she was hurt and took her in his arms and put her on his horse. He gently took off her shoe and looked if it was bad. When he looked up, the prince saw the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen. One green and one brown. They were as special as the princess herself."

"Just as Mike has!" Colleen was excited.

"Shh, do you wanna hear the rest?"

The girl nodded and Sully went on. "The princess also had the longest hair in the whole Kingdome. They talked and got to know each other. It felt good."

Sully saw that Colleen had fallen asleep and added whispering, "The princess and the prince spent a lot of time together and lived happily ever after."
He then turned off the light and sneaked out of the room.

Michaela didn't notice the darkness; she was lost in thought. The story, it was her he was talking about, their meeting. Was he thinking of her as much as she did of him? Suddenly Sully bumped into her because he was walking backwards. Both jumped a bit.
"Sorry, didn't know you were standing here," he apologized.

Michaela blushed and Sully understood. She had heard his story.

He looked at her, "Don't think the story was that interesting, Colleen fell asleep.''

"I think it was beautiful," Michaela disagreed.

She didn't dare to look up, but did it anyway. What she saw in his eyes confirmed her suspicion about the story. Both smiled.
"I will leave now, I'm sure you'd be happy with some peace and quiet," Sully announced.

"Okay."

He saw the disappointment in her eyes. "I can stay if you want."
Looking up she saw he was sincere. "One more drink?"

"Sure."
Michaela was making coffee while Sully sat at the counter, watching her. She felt his eyes on her back but it didn't make her feel uncomfortable. As she turned around she was considering if she should ask.
"Sully, may I ask you something personal?"
"Depends what the question is. Just ask and I see if I'll answer."
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
"If that's your question, I can answer. No I don't." He looked deep in her eyes. Did he just say no? Michaela didn't believe her ears.
He repeated the question to her, "Do you?"

Michaela hadn't expected this return, she averted her eyes and shook her head no.

"Good," Sully said.

She looked up surprised and her eyes already sparkled. Yet there was still one thing she needed to know. "What about Abigail?"
"How do you know Abigail?" he asked surprised.

Michaela's mind raced, he hadn't said that she wasn't his girlfriend. She told herself to stay calm before she replied, "She's my roommate."

He avoided her gaze and Michaela concluded that he did have a relationship with Abby. But why was he lying?
"Abby and I know each other since kindergarten; we've been trough a lot together. But we are just friends," Sully eventually explained.
Michaela let out her breath she subconsciously had held in. She looked a bit confused.
"Why? Did she say anything about me?" Sully asked.

"Not exactly, they were just talking about you in a way I thought you two had a relationship. I think I drew the wrong conclusion."

"Well, we don't have a relationship," Sully stated.
He contemplated Michaela and Abigail as roommates. This could get interesting, Abby loved to party and never liked school. Michaela on the other hand was very driven to become a doctor and loved to study.
"Let's go to the living room," Sully suggested.

Without answering Michaela led the way. Both sat down on the same couch. Sully poked Michaela's side, "Ya ok?"

She nodded, "Just thinking." At last she posed the question she was curious about, "Why don't you use your first name?"

"Now that is too personal," Sully laughed. "The name is just embarrassing."

He rolled his eyes. "When my mom was expecting me, Lord Byron was one of her favorite poets. My brother was lucky."

"I like Byron."
"I'd prefer if you stick with Sully," he turned his upper body and put one leg on the seating.
Yet Michaela wasn't done asking yet. "Why is your brother in a wheelchair?"

Sully tensed and rose quickly. "Don't wanna talk about that."

Michaela wanted to kick herself; sometimes she just talked and didn't think. She got up and walked towards him. "Sorry," she said, laying a hand on his shoulder. "I didn't mean to be nosy, I'll check on the children."

As she wanted to walk away Sully took her hand in his. "Please stay." He didn't know why but he just had to share this with her. Still holding her hand he turned around.
"Alex just loved horses as a child. All day long he was drawing and talking about horses. One day there was this exhibition of old carriages. Of course there were also horses. Alex just had to go and made my parents crazy about it.
There was this nice couple who let him sit on one of the horses. He was so happy and proud. Suddenly the horse got spooked by a loud noise and ran away. My father tried to stop it but with the carriage behind he got caught in the reins. Alex fell off the horse and was immediately paralyzed from the waist down. My father got dragged for God knows how long. He didn't survive."

Michaela had tears in her eyes. While Sully was talking she had taken his other hand. She let her tears fall freely. What could she say? Nothing. He saw her crying and took her in his arms. They both comforted each other. He knew it was good he'd shared this with her; it was as if she was his haven. He could share anything with her.