Wow! We finally did it!
This story is a collaboration of several of us who regularly gather in the Pax TV chatroom on Saturday nights...Jean got us started on this story in October 1999, and I finished it up in April 2000...a story that spans three centuries!!!
Anyway, it's been an absolute blast writing with this team! I hope to share more tag team fanfiction in the future...but for now, I'd like to introduce:
The Boston Story
by
Jean, Sandi, Barb, Lori, Julie, Vicki, and Sandy
Jean's Part:
Descending the grand staircase with grace and poise
came easy to Michaela
Quinn. It was as if she had never left the stylish
mansion to seek her
future as a woman doctor in the western frontier.
No
one knew how much she
actually missed the silk gowns, the elegant dining
with fine china and
clear, perfect crystal.
No one but Michaela Quinn,
that is. She had never
revealed this side of her not even to her husband or
her family.
She had
always tried so hard to hide the fact that the dusty
streets and
unsophisticated manners of the townspeople of Colorado
Springs, were at
times, more than she could bear.
This may have added
to the confusion about
her decision to once more return to the big city way
of life as well as the
passing of her mother.
So many had been disappointed
in her choice to move
her family to Boston.
Her husband, Byron Sully had gone along with most of
her daring and
outlandish ideas but this one was going to be a
challenge, even to him.
How
could he survive being trapped in the stone walls of
the city. He was used
to being free.
Free to come and go as he pleased and
dress in the manner in
which he was accustomed to. Here he must masquerade in
clothes that were
foreign to him.
He must pretend to be someone he was
not. But his love for
Michaela and her tears of pleading, forced him to give
in to her once more.
He would try it, as promised and both had agreed that
if it became more
than he or any of the family could stand, they would
head back to the west.
Sandi's Part:
Sully met Michaela at the bottom of the stairsteps
and she took note
of his appearance.
The fashionable suit from the
previous night had
been replaced with his usual attire of buckskin pants
and an open-necked
shirt. She smiled to herself.
"Mornin’."
In response to his greeting, she planted a light
kiss on his lips.
"You’re up early," she said. "Ready for
breakfast?"
He shook his head. "I already ate."
She raised her eyebrows in surprise and he
elaborated. "Earlier,
but I’ll join you for coffee."
He put a hand under her arm and guided her toward the
dining room.
Annette Laurent had studied him for days now, ever
since Michaela
Quinn arrived home with her family in tow.
Sully
looked completely
out-of-place in this prestigious setting.
Last night
in the dining
room, he’d practically squirmed in his chair, pulling
at the tight
collar of his shirt from time to time.
It was a
testament to his good
nature when he tolerated the disdainful stares
Michaela Quinn’s two
sisters threw in his direction throughout the meal.
Once, when Sully
seemed lost over which fork to use, Annette approached
him.
Picking up the fork quickly, before anyone else at
the table noticed,
she said quietly. "I believe you dropped this, sir."
Sully flashed her a grateful smile. Everyone else
in the room was
fooled by the pretense, seeing Annette’s actions as
part of her
‘duties’. Taking care of such matters was expected,
part of a good
maid’s daily routine.
For the rest of the evening, Annette couldn’t erase
the man’s intense
blue eyes or his warm smile from her mind. She went
to bed thinking
about him, picturing his attractive face and muscular
physique and
cursing herself at the same time.
"You’re a fool, Annette!" she whispered into the
darkness.
This morning, when Annette awoke at dawn, the man’s
image still
flooded every corner of her mind. She trudged down to
the kitchen and
silently began breakfast preparations.
The other
servants remarked on
her sullen mood but all Annette could do was tell them
she’d slept
poorly and leave it at that. She wondered if she was
still in bed and
dreaming when Sully stuck his head around the kitchen
door.
The other servants looked startled as well and the
cook was cautious,
no doubt assuming that Sully was there to complain
about something.
Instead, Sully looked slightly embarrassed and
asked, "Mind if I join
you’all in here? I like bein’ with regular folk."
As he sat at the small kitchen table to eat his
breakfast, Sully
talked about the west and his hometown of Colorado
Springs. She noticed
the distant look in his eyes and the wistful tone in
his voice.
Annette
busied herself with her chores but she was never far
away from him and
she made certain that she heard every word he said.
The truth was, in spite of her efforts to appear
aloof, Annette was
thanking the powers that be. Maybe, just maybe, she
stood a chance with
him after all.
Barb's Part:
Sully guided Michaela into the dining room and
seated her at her place at
the large table.
This table was usually filled with
family members but this
morning it was rather quiet. As Michaela prepared to
call for the maid, Sully
stopped her.
"I'll go get your breakfast, besides I'll be
needin' a cup to join you
for coffee." With a smile he turned and headed for
the kitchen.
But once
out of hearing range he found himself muttering about
needing to be able to
do something to feel useful.
Sully slipped quietly into the kitchen. As he
approached Annette he
noticed that she was busy preparing fresh coffee on
the tray in anticipation
of Michaela's rising and need for breakfast.
As Sully
neared Annette he
reached out and touched her arm as he said, "Do you
think we could have some
of that in the dining room?"
His voice and touch startled Annette out of her
daydream. As she quickly
turned toward Sully the fine china cup in her hand
struck his arm and fell to
the floor breaking into pieces.
The cook turned to see
what had happened and
Annette was near tears. One of the fine china cups was
destroyed. She
wondered it he would be upset?
Kneeling down quickly she began to pick up the
broken pieces. Sully could
see she was upset and tried to assure her. He spoke
softly as he knelt down
to help her.
"Don't worry, it's only a cup. I'm sure
it can be replaced."
Sully's hand covered hers as they both reach for the
last broken shard at the
same time.
Annette had never felt this way before. This new
feeling was radiating
throughout her entire body. His touch was warm and
tender and his eyes were
soft with understanding.
With a small smile on her
flushed face she couldn't
help but stare into those wonderful mesmerizing blue
eyes.
Wondering what was taking so long Michaela chose
that instant to entered
the kitchen. All she saw was her husband and the maid
kneeling on the floor
smiling and staring at each other and what? Holding
hands?