Searching For Treasure

chapter 6

She had barely made it two feet into her bedroom before Jack was at the door. She felt as if he had been laying in wait. "I ought to turn you over my knee."

Dana grinned and said, "Kinky."

Her attempt at humor fell flat on its face. Jack had clearly passed cranky right into furious. "What the hell did you think you were doing? You knew you weren't supposed to be up there. But you couldn't resist, could you?"

The adrenaline in her system had not completely abated and Dana felt her own temper start to sizzle from it. "No, and neither can you. If you had been with me, we both would have been going up those steps. So you can lay off the parental tone."

"This isn't about me." He then put lie to the words by adding, "You took five years off my life."

"Well, it wasn't any picnic for me, either," she said shouting, practically nose to nose with Jack. "So you need to back off and calm down! You don't have the right to be angry with me!"

Putting her hands on Jack's chest, Dana shoved futilely in helpless frustration, trying to push him out of the room.

Jack grabbed her wrists, pulled her roughly against him and kissed her fiercely with all the anger, all the fear, all the longing that boiled inside of him. Everything went into that kiss. All the years of hiding what he felt, all the years of waiting for her to feel the same, all the years of desire, of want, of need–poured into that kiss. When he broke away, it was hard to say which one of them was the most shaken.

He looked down at her, her face white with shock, her lips bruised from his kiss, her eyes dazed from the power of it. "Now tell me I don't have the right,”he ordered hoarsely.

Behind him Noah cleared his throat. "Uh, guys?" He edged into the room cautiously, like one might approach a spooked horse. "Everything all right?"

Jack released her slowly, never breaking eye contact. Dana cleared her throat. "Yes,” she said quietly, her eyes troubled. "Everything's fine." Liar, liar, lair!

Without a word, Jack spun on his heel and left the room. Dana sank onto the bed and pressed her hands to her face. The skin under her fingers felt hot.

Noah closed the door and sat down beside her. "That was pretty intense. What's going on?"

"I only wish I knew,” she whispered. Liar! Dana looked at her brother and smiled faintly. "Don't look so stricken. This isn't the first time Jack and I have had an argument."

"I know, but-" Noah suddenly sounded very young, "I don't like it when you fight."

"I know." She touched him briefly on his cheek. "Neither do I."

Noah hesitated as if he wasn't sure how much to say. "The two of you, there's something different…"

Dana looked at him sharply. "What do you mean?"

"I don’t know…different. For one thing, I've never seen him kiss you like that before."

Unconsciously, Dana rubbed her fingers across her lips. "That's because he never has." She was still awed by the emotions that had swirled over and around them in those few seconds. The foundation of her life, in which her friendship with Jack was such a huge part, had trembled with that kiss. This went beyond the warm glow of physical attraction she had been trying to get used to earlier in the morning, which now seemed like such a long time ago. This was something more, something infinitely more dangerous and frightening.

This feeling inside of him, this feeling inside of her, held within it great risk, the risk of losing everything they were to each other for a chance at something new. Is it something better than friendship? It appeared that Jack had the courage to take that risk. Did she?

"Maybe you could go talk to him?" Dana said nothing. She just shook her head rather sadly.

Noah watched his sister for a moment as she stared off into space, lost in her thoughts. He had wondered for quite some time why Dana had never tumbled to the fact that Jack always seemed too busy for girlfriends but had plenty of time for her. And why Jack couldn't see that Dana continued to pick boyfriends that just didn't get her the way he always had, making them destined to fail.

Noah had had plans in mind when he agreed to take this trip with them. He had intended to try his hand at a little matchmaking, to try and get them to open their eyes and realize that they were perfect for each other. But it didn't turn out quite the way he had expected. For one thing, Josie had distracted him. Now it appeared that they were opening their eyes all on their own, with little help from him. Except things between them had become tense and intense, and now they were mad at each other.

Noah left Dana's room and headed down the hall to stop and knock softly on a different door. "Hey. Can I come in? I need your help."

*****

Dana spent the rest of the afternoon in her room, feeling the after-effects of her time on the roof. She allowed herself a long, hot shower, letting the water run over the soreness in her arms, in her neck and across her shoulders. Her back felt like one long bruise where it had been yanked and pulled.

Dana basked in the sensuous warmth of the water flowing over her, letting it ease the stiffness already forming. Normally, she would have asked Jack to give her a back-rub, but she doubted that at the moment he would be receptive to the request. Often, one of their little adventures had resulted in tired and achy muscles and they would take turns working out the kinks with ointment and gentle fingers.

One Christmas, Noah had surprised them with a joint gift, a book of therapeutic massage techniques. They had attempted to try them out only to end up laughing and tickling each other breathless. Dana smiled at the memory then felt tears spring to her eyes. This was the first time she'd felt unable to ask Jack for anything.

Dana decided to put off thinking about it. Everything in her body and in her heart hurt too much right now. She took a couple of pills and slept until dinner.

The few hours rest did wonders and Dana's mood was much improved by the time Noah knocked on the door to announce dinner. Surely, Jack had calmed down by now. This hope was dashed when she walked into the dining room to find him still sullen and sulky. Already seated at the table, he glanced up at her briefly then without a word went back to pushing his food around his plate.

Dana felt an unfamiliar pain pierce her heart. She jumped slightly when Rose walked up from behind and touched her sleeve. "Hey, kiddo, how you doing?" The look she gave her was full of understanding and Dana felt that Rose wasn't asking after her health. Apparently, Noah had not been the only one who had heard her and Jack shouting at each other.

She shrugged and gave her a smile. "I'm fine."

Grace walked up and patted her shoulder kindly. "You hang in there." She clapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes appalled. "That didn't come out right."

Dana laughed and then kissed them both gratefully on the cheek. "Thanks, I needed that."

The Cook, or rather Mrs. Babineaux, Dana corrected herself, had laid out another stunning spread, but was once again nowhere to be seen. The theme of the meal this evening was fried: fried oysters, fried frog legs in cream sauce, fried catfish filets, fried crawfish tails, deep-fried hush puppies, pan-fried hominy, fried dill pickles and French-fried sweet potato chips. The only relief from all this greasy goodness was a sweet and tangy tartar sauce and bowls of green tomato pickles and pickled okra. Tall glasses of ice-cold milk accompanied the meal. A golden-brown pecan pie awaited them for dessert.

Henry was already deep into a story. "Here he was only a freshman and already leading his division in blocked passes. But that game he actually caught one." He slapped Mark on the back. Breaking open a hush puppy, the boy seemed embarrassed yet proud of his grandfather's praise. "Ha! For a second he seemed shocked, like he couldn't figure out what the ball was doing in his hands. Then he took off down the field running heel over elbow, with two other kids hanging on him like he was playing flag football and they were the flags. It took three more to bring him down. Boy, I did some whooping and hollering that night. I was happier than a jackass eating bumble bees."

Caught by an uncontrollable burst of laughter, Noah, who had been chewing at the time, shot food halfway across the table. Red-faced and mortified, he quickly cleaned up the mess. Rose poked Henry with her elbow and announced to the table at large, "I do love the way this man talks." Henry surprised everyone by turning a bright pink.

Without bothering with dessert, Brett and Austin finished their meal and left the table without as much as a word to anyone. By this time the others were used to the idea that these gentlemen weren't here to socialize. As soon as they were out of earshot, Josie looked across the table. "Dana, is Noah lying to me?"

Not having heard what Noah had said, she wasn't sure how Josie expected her to answer the question. But seeing the glint in her brother's eyes, her own narrowed in suspicion. "Probably," she said, "Why, what did he say?"

"All I was telling her was that this past spring they put up a bungee jumping tower at the Holiday in Dixie festival and you and Jack were one of the first ones to jump off."

Grace squealed with delight. "Did you really? I've always wanted to do that."

"Not only that," Noah continued dramatically, "but they went off the tower together. They had them trussed up like a package and they both jumped at the same time."

A little bell of warning rang in Dana's head and she began to have some inkling of what her brother was up to. "Noah," she began warningly.

Ignoring his sister, he looked around the table gratified to see that he had everyone's interest. "They are always doing crazy stuff like that. Boy, I could tell you stories."

"Why don't you not,”said Jack in the first words he'd spoken since dinner began. The tone was curt, but Dana could see a thawing in the look he quickly cast her way.

But with an appreciative audience, Noah continued undeterred. "For example, last year they watched this documentary about the guy who made the first cross-country road trip. Next thing I know, Jack and Dana have loaded themselves down with maps and are flying off to San Francisco, planning to rent a car and recreate the route he took."

Rose looked at Dana with admiration. "You go, girl."

"Now they're saving up to someday walk the Camino de Santiago." Noah turned to Josie to explain, "That's a famous road in Spain. People come from all over the world just to walk it."

Henry nodded his head, clearly impressed. "I knew you two were my kind of people."

"And you wouldn't believe some of the stuff they put each other through. Jack works for our local paper and part of his job is restaurant and movie critic. If you only knew how many lousy meals and rotten movies he has dragged Dana to throughout the years. But she never complains, does she, Jack?"

"Actually she complains about it all the time," Jack said.

This comment gave Noah pause for only a second. "Well, maybe, but you know she doesn't mean it, because she still goes." Noah cut a quick look at his sister, trying to gauge her mood. Whatever he saw must have reassured him because he went on. "And trust me, she's just as bad. Dana has never met a recipe she didn't feel the need to tinker with. Some of them turn out really great, like a pie she made once that was both apple and cherry. In the same pie! But some stuff I wouldn't eat even on a dare. Not Jack, he has tried every one of her experiments. Hasn't he, Dana?"

Knowing that nothing short of murder would stop Noah now, Dana looked down the table to where Jack was sitting. Jack, his eyes warm with memories, looked back at her and smiled. "Yes," she agreed softy, "He has."

Noah and Josie traded expressions of relief. They had spent the afternoon with their heads together trying to figure out how to get them talking again. Once one idea after another had been looked at and discarded, Josie had suggested reminding them what great friends they had always been to each other. To Noah that had sounded too simple, too basic. But it seemed to be working. Still, Noah hadn't brought out the big guns yet.

"Yeah, for nearly my entire life, Jack has been there for her. Dana, remember that night at Mrs. Chance?" he asked, referring to an old family friend. Noah shook his head and frowned. "You really scared us that night." Addressing the others he said, "One minute she's fine, the next minute she's screaming and crying from one of the worse ear infections the doctor had ever seen. Jack rushed her to the hospital, stayed with her the whole time they checked her out, took her home, gave her the medicine the doctor prescribed, put her to bed and then sat up with her all night to make sure she was going to be alright." He turned to her. "Remember?"

Dana, her eyes suspiciously bright, could only nod, her eyes never leaving Jack's face.

"Of, course, that wasn't even the first trip the two of them had made to the emergency room. Mr. Hudson, I know you said Rose was great in a crisis, but you should've seen my sister. Jack was outside cutting some boards with a power saw and somehow almost cut his hand off." He demonstrated with a short chopping motion across his left palm. At Josie's gasp, he amended, "Well, maybe not almost off, but he cut it pretty bad. Dana heard him yell, asked him what was wrong and he told her he needed to get to the hospital. Do you know what she said? 'Let me get my shoes'."

He shook his head in wonder. "Blood everywhere,”he added with youthful relish, "and she's calm as a cucumber. She wraps his hand in a towel and we all drive down to the hospital. She never left his side until they had him all stitched up and the doctor convinced her to go get some coffee. That's where I found her, sitting in a corner and shaking like a leaf in a thunderstorm."

Noah leaned back in his chair, looking first at Dana and then at Jack, who only looked at each other. He leaned toward Josie and whispered. "Well, they're at least looking at each other again. And they are smiling. That's good, right?"

Josie smiled happily. "That's very good." She whispered back. "Now comes Phase Two." Aloud she said, "Uncle Oscar, can we do karaoke tonight?"

Oscar, who had watched and listened to Noah's performance silently winked at his niece, but merely said, "Well, I hadn't planned to do that tonight, but I don't see why not. If everyone is finished with dinner, why don't we all go out to the courtyard?"

Everyone got up from the table and filed out of the dining room. Jack moved up behind Dana and without looking at her, bumped her with his shoulder. Dana smiled to herself. This was an old game, dating back to when they first met at the age of twelve. She bumped him back. He bumped her again with a little more force. She bumped him back. Changing the rules of the game a bit, Jack hooked Dana under her knees, threw her over his shoulder and carried her out of the room laughing helplessly. Noah, who had been watching their byplay with much interest, grinned as they approached him.

"Smart aleck,”she muttered as Jack carried her past Noah.

The courtyard was set up exactly as it had been the night before, the only exception being the lack of a live band. Jack deposited her on her feet, tweaked her nose affectionately and then headed over to check out the karaoke machine Oscar was setting up. With a small frown Dana realized that he still had not spoken a word to her since he'd left her room this afternoon.

Grace was practically bouncing on her toes from excitement. "I just love to sing!"

Rose looked heavenward in a give-me-strength expression. "We know, Grace, but why don't you give some of the others a chance?"

"Hey, Mr. Hudson!" yelled Noah, who along with Josie, had muscled out Oscar and Jack for control of the karaoke machine, "I bet you know this one." He popped in a disk and Henry laughed uproariously as he heard the distinctive first few bars of a familiar song.

"You bet I do, boy, I'm not as old as you think." He took Rose by the arm, much as she had his arm the night before, and said, "Come on, R, I dare you!" Giving no reaction to the shortening of her name, Rose good-naturedly allowed herself to be pulled forward. Dana thought Noah's grin would split his face when he gave each of them a microphone and they began. What they lacked in skill they more than made up 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 it seemed his muscles had turned to jelly. Dana reached for his hand, tugged him up out of his chair and led him to the dance floor. They went into each other’s arms like they had a thousand times before. But this time it felt brand new.

Noah and Josie slapped their hands together in a low five and continued their song.

"I guess he thinks he's pretty clever,”Jack said.

"Actually,”Dana murmured, sliding her hand up his chest to bury her fingers in the hair at the back of his neck, "I think he's pretty clever myself."

The light in her eyes, the playfulness in her tone, warmed him in a way nothing had in years. He felt it all the way to the soles of his boots. "You do, huh?"

"Yes."

Jack looked into her eyes seriously, all teasing set aside for the moment. "D, I know you're scared. I'm scared, too. But I'd rather be scared with you than without you."

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut-up and kiss me."

"Yes, ma'am."

This kiss was gentler than the last, but no less powerful. Dana felt it speak promises to her soul. Promises of what she didn't know. But as she put her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, she found herself desperate to find out.

"Hey!"

Dana and Jack jumped away from each other guiltily but Noah was no longer watching them. Instead he was racing towards the back of the castle. "I just saw someone run past!" He stopped at the corner of the courtyard and peered around it. He saw nothing but the old water well.

"It was Just Cedric!" Grace ran to join him, looking around to see if she could catch a glimpse as well. "Oh, Noah, you saw him, too."

Rose snorted in disbelief and smirked at Oscar. "Come on, fess up. You hired someone to run around the castle at night, didn't you?"

Oscar merely cocked an eyebrow. "Did I?"

Rose huffed. "I hate it when he does that."