Free Searching For Treasure by L.C. Davenport Page B

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