Searching For Treasure - By L.C. Davenport Page 0,26

for in enthusiasm.

Dana tried to avoid karaoke machines as much as possible, so she fished a soda out of the ice-filled washtub, and sat down next to Mark, who looked as if he couldn't understand why the adults were getting so excited over what amounted to a high tech music box. He was studying his grandfather as if he was a strange creature he had just been given to dissect. With a grin, Dana jerked her head towards the pair. "I guess he likes to do more than just dance, huh?"

"I reckon." Mark smiled at her shyly. "I didn't get a chance to tell you earlier, but I'm glad you're al right, Dana."

"Thank you. I'm glad I am, too."

"You and Jack aren't still mad anymore, are you?"

Dana sighed. Does everyone know about it? "No, we're not mad anymore."

"Then how come he's sitting over there and you're sitting over here?"

Dana had been wondering the same thing. After losing interest in the karaoke machine, Jack had settled in a chair out of the way from everyone else. He was looking more cheerful than he had a dinner, much more like his old self, yet he was still keeping himself distant. Henry and Rose had finished their song and Grace was giving her all.

"We must be the non-singers in the group." Oscar joined them, pulling up a chair. Grace hit a high note. "Or at least the only ones willing to admit it,”he said wincing. Oscar studied Dana for a moment, still watching Jack with a puzzled frown. "I gather things between you two have become complicated." Dana looked at him. "Not that it's any of my business."

Dana sighed again. She seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. "I guess complicated is as good a word as any. To be honest I'm scared to death. I'm afraid of what might happen if things change."

"All things change. Everything must grow and change or they die. Everything: plants, people, and relationships. You said you are afraid of what might happen if things change. Haven't they changed already?"

He was right. The genie was out of the bottle and there was no putting him back in again.

"My guess is,”Oscar observed, "that you fear losing him if you push beyond the limits of the friendship you have enjoyed for so long. Maybe you should ask yourself if it's possible you'll lose him if you don't."

Dana felt a cold knot settle in her stomach at his words. She hadn't thought of that. Briefly, she tried to imagine her life without Jack's almost constant presence and was unable to. In her imagination, all she could see was a big black hole where he used to be.

Noah had thought everything was back to normal when they had started goofing around in the dining room, but now he was confused that Dana and Jack were still sitting at opposite sides of the courtyard. Flipping through the disks hurriedly, he found a song that was a special favorite of theirs. After a whispered conference with Josie, he inserted it into the machine and they began to sing.

She knew he could feel her watching him. She waited until finally he looked at her, a long solemn considering look, his whole heart there in his eyes for her to see if she wanted to. Dana's own heart pounded painfully in her chest. He was waiting for her to make the next move, she realized. He had laid his cards on the table earlier when he had kissed her with such raw passion. He had taken his risk. Now he was waiting for her to take one, too.

Jack watched her walk toward him. Every muscle in his body was tense. He couldn't read her expression. He couldn't read her intent. He had chosen to be patient, something he was well practiced at. He had begun to hope this weekend that his patience was beginning to pay off.

Yesterday he realized that she was becoming more aware of him as a man rather than just‘good old Jack’. He'd had every intention to use that awareness to coax her, to entice her, to seduce her, to try and bring her closer to feeling for him what he felt for her. But he had let his fear-fueled temper get the best of him. He had taken such a gamble today. Was he about to lose?

"Do you want to dance?" Dana asked Jack.

At the look in her eyes, Jack felt such a surge of relief pass through him that