She'd thought about it all weekend. She'd thought about it for most of the week, and here it was, Friday, and she couldn't stop thinking about it, this date with Andy, the sheriff. Andy, this man who had appeared in her life and just seemed so kind.

She burst into the coffee shop after dropping off Evie at school and after stopping by the hardware store in hopes of finding him there. After buying an extension cord she really didn't need because, well, she had to buy something, to get out of the store without it looking like she was looking for HIM, she put her own detective skills to work and found him at the coffee shop. Honestly, in this town, there weren't many places to hide. The very small sheriff's office, he had told her, wasn't his favorite place to work. His deputies liked to play loud music, and he preferred a different vibe.

"Hi," she said, as she slowed her pace. She tried to casually approach him instead of flying toward him the minute she'd spotted him from outside. He had a stack of paperwork, a coffee cup that looked empty, and an empty plate alongside his laptop where he was working away. He took off his glasses and smiled at her.

"Morning," he said. "I haven't seen much of you this week. Care to sit?" Andy gestured to the table, and Sharon thought about it as she clasped her hands and messed with her fingers. She was nervous and felt like she needed to get this off her chest.

"I'm not sure going out tomorrow evening is a good idea," Sharon told him, deciding that she had to just go for it right now before she lost her nerve. She did like him, but it was just too complicated.

"Umm, okay," he said, with a confused look on his face. He gestured again to the chair, "Can you sit for a minute so we can talk about this? I mean, if you aren't interested in me, I get it," he chuckled. "Sad case here," he nodded and pointed to himself.

"Oh, it isn't that," she said, now blurting it out as she sighed and shook her head. She glanced around, and thankfully, the coffee shop wasn't busy. The Christmas music overhead and the bright lights made the atmosphere perfect, almost out of a movie. She looked to the chair and decided to sit; she owed him that.

"The thing is," she started to explain as she took off her leather gloves and shifted in her chair to look at him, "things with me are just a mess, too complicated."

He nodded as he listened, and then he sat forward, resting his elbows on the table. He closed his laptop lid to give her his full attention. He watched as she fidgeted, and then he gestured to her, "Can I ask you a couple of questions?"

"I suppose," she shrugged and finally put her gloves on the table. She gave him a small smile.

"Are you still married? You mentioned he's an ex, but I know that can often be a murky situation," he eyed her.

"No, I am not. What I told you is true," she told him. "I legally adopted Evie after I was granted custody of her from the accident. That took time, and honestly, even more time because initially Jack and I were both on that paperwork, but she's mine alone. Not married."

"Okay," he nodded as he gathered his paperwork and moved it so he had more room. He glanced to her, "You're not a felon or we wouldn't have hired you to teach. You are a police officer, as you said, correct?"

She chuckled and looked down as she answered, "Everything I told you is true."

"Great," he clapped his hands together. "Another question-did your childcare fall through?"

"No," she said, still looking down as she eyed him quickly. They locked eyes for a brief second before she looked down again.

"Hmm," he said as he nodded, deep in thought. He ticked off his fingers, "Not married, not a felon, has a great kid and childcare for her, not repulsed by me so she says," he thought aloud. He glanced to her again, "What's the problem?"

She bit her lip, took a deep breath, and she finally sat forward and spoke quietly, "I'm just not sure, I mean, people might talk. I just don't know."

"Oh, this town?" Andy waved and chuckled. "They talk either way. If we don't go out, they will talk and assume you're horrible, and I'm some jerk. If we do go out, well, they will talk about that, about two great people enjoying an evening. Another question," he nodded to her. "If you aren't ready, that is, if you are still in love with your husband or still getting over everything-"

"No, good grief, no," she shook her head. She made eye contact with him, "I have absolutely no romantic feelings for my ex, really only feelings of disgust and loathing him. I would like to say I hate him, but I'm working on that in church. Nothing of the sort," she stated with a firm nod.

"Okay," he said to her. He stood, and she looked up, now confused. "I'm going to get another cup of coffee, and I'm going to get you one too. You can sit here and think of other reasons we shouldn't go to dinner while I'm gone," he said and stepped around her. As he did, he squeezed her shoulder. She started to protest at his proclamation, but before she could, he leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"I thought of another reason you might come up with today, that we work together, and we really don't. We are not in some same chain of command. Our paths cross where you work and the safety I provide there. So, I'm squashing that idea before you have it," he said, stood, and walked away. Sharon, who now couldn't think of anything other than it was just totally freaking her out to go on a date after all this time, watched him as he walked to the counter. She quickly turned back to the table before he spotted her watching him. This man, he definitely had her interest. That was almost the problem. She wasn't sure how she'd proceed with caution because she hadn't felt like this in well, maybe forever.

She had a few minutes to regain her composure, and when Andy returned, he had a small tray with him. Sharon looked up to see what he had brought back with the coffees.

"It's really cold outside, and they have fantastic soup here. It's a little early, just 11:00 right now, but I thought we could have some soup to warm up and just talk," he told her.

She looked to the tray and pointed at it, "I'm not sure if you are aware, but those look like cookies, not soup."

"Oh yeah," he grinned and gestured to the tray as he started to put the food onto the table. "They make the best gingerbread cookies here at Christmas. You've got to try one, and it pairs nicely with the soup."

She nodded and couldn't help but to smile as she did. She watched his hands arrange the food on the table and then sat. He let out a sigh once he was seated again.

"Whew, I'm hungry, hungrier than I thought. I hope you enjoy the soup. Today they had Minestrone. Oh," he frowned. "I didn't ask if you had any food allergies or issues."

"Nothing to report," she said waving her hand. "This was very kind. Thank you. I didn't eat much breakfast, actually no breakfast, just the last bite of bacon Evie left on her plate. The coffee sounded perfect, but this is even better."

"Excellent," he grinned. "That's what I wanted to hear."

The two spent a few minutes sipping on coffee and their soup. Sharon finally cleared her throat, wiped her mouth, and then she looked over to him.

"I'm not one who dates much, at all, honestly," she told him. "That's another reason this probably isn't a good idea."

He listened, thought, and then he said, "Why is that, I mean, the no dating? Any reason?"

She pursed her lips as she thought, almost as if no one had ever asked her that question. She gave him a small shrug, "I just haven't dated. It's silly, really. I met Jack the second day of classes my freshman year of college. We broke up a couple of times in college, nothing serious, and I went on a few dates here and there, but it's always been Jack. We got married after I graduated. He is a year older, and he was a couple hours away for law school. The fall of my senior year, after we were already engaged, he started law school, and the plan had been for me to go to school as well, with him. Foolish me, I let him talk me out of it. He was dirt poor, and he was taking out loan after loan. As we talked about our future, it just seemed ridiculous at the time to take out even more debt for me to go to school too. My parents had paid for my undergrad degree best they could, but I had some loans too. They couldn't help with law school, so Jack and I came up with a plan. I graduated and went to the LAPD while he went to law school. It worked for us, except that now, I'm a 33-year-old divorced mom to my amazing niece, without family, and I just don't date."

Andy listened again, gaining more and more knowledge of this exceptional woman each time she felt she could open up to him. He sat back in his chair and gave her a small smile.

"Your daughter isn't the only amazing female in the family, you know? You don't give yourself enough credit. I just wanted to take you to one meal, one meal. I wanted to see how that would go. I hope you will still consider it, especially considering one thing." Andy sat forward at that last bit and winked at her.

"What's that?" Sharon finally asked him.

He pointed to their empty bowls and gave her a warm smile, "We just had a meal together, uninterrupted, out in public, and you know what-that's a date in my book, and I enjoyed myself. Going out this weekend, well, that's just another date. The first one is over, and I'd say we both had a good time. You decide though," and he winked again as he sat back and picked up his coffee to sip on it.