Searching For Treasure - By L.C. Davenport Page 0,36

jumped up. "Sister!" she said with a hug. "Grace, we've got to get this girl in the club."

"Hey, what about me?" Josie pouted prettily.

"Sorry, hon. When you get old enough to realize how much fun it was to be your age, then give us a call."

"Do you still do all that stuff?" Josie asked.

"Sure,”admitted Dana. "I figure you only start to get old when you think you're too old to play with toys. Just last year, Jack bought me an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas."

"Why?"

"Because I never got one when I was a kid. I think I had more fun making those tiny little cakes and cookies now than I would have if I'd gotten it when I was ten." She didn't add that part of the fun had been Jack trying to help her and making a mess instead. They had laughed and chased each other trying to smear batter on their faces. Dana smiled at the memory.

"Which brings me back to my original subject,”Rose interjected slyly. Dana cut her a glance, but said nothing. "Come on; don't give me that fish-eyed look. The best part of this weekend has been watching the two of you trying to figure out what the hell was going on."

"Really?" She added the finishing touches to Josie's face. "Better than Henry?"

"All right, all right, you'll show me yours if I show you mine, huh?"

"Or we could both gang up on Josie and quiz her about Noah."

The teenager blushed through her makeup. "Hey, I'm just sitting here minding my own business. Why are you picking on me?"

Relentless, Rose continued. "I get the notion that this is all pretty new for you two."

Dana sighed in exasperation. "Don't you ever give up?"

"Nope."

Dana laughed quietly. "Sometimes I wonder how new it actually is. I have a hunch it has been going on for a while and I just haven't bothered to notice."

"On his part?"

"No, on mine. It's really kind of confusing. If a few days ago, someone would have asked me if I loved Jack, I would have said sure and not thought anything about it. I mean, he's my best friend, of course I do. But now if someone was to ask me, I'd have to stop and think. Not because I don't, but now I don't know what I would mean by my answer. Does that make any sense?"

Mulling over her comments, she didn't wait for an answer. "In a lot of ways, nothing has changed. Does that mean I've always been in love with Jack and I’m just now noticing? What kind of moron wouldn't notice a thing like that? Or does it mean I still just love Jack as a friend, only with the added element of physical attraction now suddenly there, between us?" She looked at her companions helplessly. "Do you understand? I heard a line in a movie once that said men and women couldn't be friends because sex always gets in the way."

"When Harry Met Sally,”said Josie.

"That's right. I've known Jack for almost twenty years and sex has not once been an issue. Not once. But, now, what if it messes everything up, what if it does get in the way? But as scared as I am that this is a mistake, I still have every intention of making it again. Do you see why I'm confused? I want it to mean more, and I know Jack expects it to mean more, but what if it doesn't? What if I'm ruining our relationship because suddenly I've got an itch only Jack can scratch?"

Rose looked taken aback at the serious turn of the conversation. I guess I asked for it, she thought. Having no sage advice to offer at the moment, Rose awkwardly patted Dana on the shoulder. "I can't answer that for you. That's just something you'll have to figure out on your own. You and Jack."

"Yeah, if we bothered to talk about it. Jack and I have never had a problem communicating, until lately. Half the time, I don't know what he means. And since this…this thing has happened, we seem to do everything but talk. We look at each other, we banter, we tease, we argue, we smile, we touch. But we don't talk."

"You're forgetting how the movie ended." Noticeably silent throughout this discussion, Grace paused in her fanning for the first time. "Harry and Sally. They were friends. Then by the end of the movie, they fell in love."

It wasn't long after this that Grace declared herself