Free Treasure Uncovered (Bellingwood #3) by Diane Greenwood Muir Page B

serious?" Lydia asked.
    "I don't know," Andy's shoulders dropped, then she looked up and smiled, "But it sure has been fun! I feel like I'm in high school all over again. And maybe we have been sneaking around. I didn't want to say anything because then I might have to figure out where this relationship is going and so far, it's been fun letting it be what it is. We go down to Ames for dinner and sometimes to a movie. We even ended up out in the country on a back road one night talking and watching the stars."
    "Just talking?" Lydia raised her eyebrows.
    "Can't you let me get away with my version of the story?" Andy asked.
    "Okay, go ahead. So, you're not telling us, you're not telling your kids, who are you telling?"
    "She didn't tell me," Beryl's voice came up out of a fog and she raised her head. "Keep talking, girl."
    "I'm not telling anyone and I probably wouldn't have told you for a long time. This has been a bit unexpected." Andy responded. "We, well, maybe I, didn't want it to become a thing. I'm not ready to share this with the whole world. I don't want to go out on couple's dates with people, I don't want to have to take him places with me because I don't want people to look at us and wonder what old lady Saner is doing with a new man. So far, I've wanted to have fun getting to know him, all by ourselves."
    Polly nodded. "It's not easy having a relationship around here."
    "Will you marry the carpenter and shut up?" Beryl said.
    "Go back to sleep, you. Of all the people in this room, you're the last person I would expect to be pushing me into marriage," Polly said. "You, with all of your independent girl life out there."
    "When you're right, you're right," Beryl replied and dropped her head back down.
    "Is it nice having Henry back in town, though?" Lydia asked Polly.
    "It is. I did miss him. We went out on a great date Saturday night. I had tickets to a show at the Civic Center here in Des Moines and he took me to an Italian restaurant on the east side. He loves driving that car of his. I think it will be fun this summer when we can have the top down."
    "You know you just used the “we” word, don't you."
    Polly shrugged, "I know. I can't help it. We fit together nicely. I don't think I've ever felt so safe and comfortable around someone before. He treats me wonderfully; I can count on him to always be there. Today, when I couldn't think for myself, all I had to do was hear his voice and I settled down. And then, he came over and took care of everything so I could drive down with you two."
    "Sounds like marriage," Lydia laughed.
    "Please don't do that. I'm going to kick you out of the group if you do," Polly laughed. "Me and Andy. We want to enjoy the relationship, not plan our future, right Andy?"
    "Umm, sure. Right.
    "Wait, don't tell me you are planning the future." Polly demanded.
    "What? Oh, for heaven's sake, no!" Andy protested. "There's no future. There's only right now. Isn't that good enough?"
    "Yeah. Isn't that good enough?" Polly echoed.
    Lydia looked back and forth at the two of them and said, "Fine. If you don't want a future with a man, I don't care. Maybe it's better that way for you. My life is pretty good with my man, but I don't suppose it works that way for everyone."
    Polly said, "Sometimes I feel like I always have to make excuses for the fact that I enjoy being single. People always treat me weird, too. Women get all possessive around their husbands because the single girl threatens them. Single women are threatened by me because for some reason they think I must be attracted to the exact same person they’re hitting on. Single men are threatened by me if they aren't looking for a relationship and sometimes married men are lechers. They think they can leer at me and get away with it because they are safely married. It's not a fun world sometimes."
    She chuckled, "I had a boss at the library who took me into his office one day and sat me down to tell me we couldn't have a relationship because