Chapter 3

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"How's your spaghetti?" Andy asked.

"Delicious, as always," replied Sharon. "And yours?"

"Great, just great."

They talked small talk — work, their kids, and more work — until their meal arrived, and then it was time to get down to the matter at hand.

"Was the Lieutenant right about us?" Sharon asked, searching his eyes.

"He was right about me," Andy nodded. "Sharon, you're all I think about sometimes. I'm sorry, I just didn't want to scare you off. You make me want to be my best, and yeah," he sighed knowingly, "that makes me love you."

Her heart skipped a beat. "He was right about me, too. The thought of being in a new relationship terrifies me. And yet," she paused, "I can't imagine my life without you, Andy."

Both Sharon and Andy considered what they had said.

"I don't know if I can be 'just friends' for much longer, Sharon," Andy explained in a troubled voice. "It's making me crazy."

A pressure built in Sharon, but it wasn't from Andy's words. It came from her painful past, begging Sharon to let it go. It came from her inner child, telling Sharon she was tired of being hidden away and wanted to come out and play… with Andy. Without warning, tears streamed silently down Sharon's face.

"Aw, Sharon," Andy watched her, "don't cry."

"Can we go, please?" she asked him.

Andy summoned the waiter and paid the bill.

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"Andy, would you please take me home?" she asked him in the parking lot. She neither specified, nor cared, to whose home he would take them.

"Sure, let me help you in." Andy held his car door open, and once inside, Sharon made arrangements for patrol to pick up her car from the restaurant and take it to LAPD headquarters.

They rode in silence. Sharon considered the reality she was finally facing after years of disappointment, betrayal and loneliness. Rusty was a great kid, and he kept her life busy; but he was in college and would be out of her home in four years or fewer.

So what was Andy to her? A pet? A diversion? No! A thought hit her hard: He's my best friend, and I'm falling in love with him. Falling in love?! Conflicting thoughts bounced around her head like a child's super ball in an interview room. To say it was going to be hard for her to knock down the walls of the fortress she'd built around her emotions was an understatement. It took her decades to build them and to reinforce them. They keep me safe, she thought, and they keep me lonely…

Andy watched her think. Sharon had stopped crying, but he could sense a wealth of emotion within her. He decided to drive her back to her condo, knowing the kid would be concerned if she didn't return.

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"Hi, Sharon. Hi, Lieutenant Flynn," Rusty greeted them. One look, and he knew they wanted to be alone. "I was just going to take some homework back to my room before I turn in. Good night."

Rusty hoped he'd been polite enough. He did not want to be in the middle of Sharon's dating life.

"Good night, honey," Sharon replied.

"Night, Rusty," said Andy.

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"Can I get you some water?" Sharon offered Andy.

"As usual," Andy grinned and nodded. "Thanks."

Andy was sitting on the couch when she brought the glass to him.

"I'm sorry about leaving the restaurant so suddenly," she apologized.

"It's okay," assured Andy. "You wanna talk about it?"

Sharon settled sideways to him on the couch, resting her elbow on the back cushion and propping up her head with her hand.

She shrugged her shoulders and shook her head slightly. "I'm not sure," she replied honestly. And then she had the craziest idea. It popped out of her brain and into her mouth before she had the slightest chance to consider it.

"Andy, would you kiss me?"

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