It felt like they'd been under surveillance all afternoon.

"Hi, Sheriff," they both heard, and Sharon glanced to see the latest in town greeting Andy. It was a lot, having the entire town watch the two of them ice skating, and to be honest, it was making her a bit nervous and self-conscious. She never wanted to be any center of attention; Jack's mess the last few years had done plenty of that even in large-scale Los Angeles. Now, here, in small-town America, she felt like she was on display again just for being interested in apparently the most eligible bachelor in the area.

"You certainly seem to be popular around here," Sharon said quietly as they continued to ice skate. Andy's hand was gripped in hers, the two using each other as support while they skated around the town's ice rink. Evie was having a wonderful time, looking like a total natural, already off skating with some of her new friends from school. Sharon had watched her zip around the skating rink, and Andy had commented the California girl was certainly excited about her new sport.

"I just try to ignore it," Andy shrugged, giving her a quick glance. "Not trying to sound arrogant, but a lot of the women around here hit on me. I'm not interested," he glanced at Sharon and fumbled, "in them, I mean. I am sitting here with the person I am interested in seeing." As they came around the rink, he gestured to a spot to sit down where the town had put up some hay bales as benches. Sharon gave him an encouraging nod, glad for the break from skating. She was enjoying herself, mostly, though, because she was enjoying his company and not necessarily the skating part.

"Whew, that takes it out of you," Sharon said after they had both sat down on the hay bale, trying to not make their conversation any more awkward than his admission to her. She stretched out her legs and sighed as she did so. Andy chuckled and grinned as he glanced to her.

"So, you're probably not into hockey, then, either?"

She made a face and shook her head. He chuckled.

"Used to play in high school," he admitted. "Loved it."

"Well, that I might have wanted to see and maybe would be more interested in it now," she teased, a grin on her face as she glanced to him. He grinned back, and the two knew they must look ridiculous to everyone. They'd been grinning all afternoon, holding hands 'just because' Sharon didn't know how to skate. Now, though, they both let out a long sigh, enjoying the break from the activity.

"Hi, Sheriff," they both heard again, and Sharon watched Andy give another woman a smile and nod. She gestured to him when that skater had skated by.

"I'm just going to ask this, but is this,"she gestured between them, "something you do often?"

"You mean like a date?" He shook his head, "No, I think that's why I'm getting all this attention," he chuckled. "You too, for that matter, just they don't know your name. I've mentioned I rarely date, and when I have gone out with someone, it's been rare and for like a date. I think everyone is surprised to see us here together, and I'm really happy we are. I think the most I've seen someone since Melissa died was three dates, and at that point, it just wasn't feeling right. My philosophy is to cut someone loose then. It's not fair to just drag on, especially if you don't see it going somewhere. Causal dating," he shrugged, "just not my thing."

Sharon's eyes widened, and she found herself almost tongue-tied, as she tried to gesture with her hand, but with it stuffed into a mitten, it was hard to do so. "So, this," she tried to gesture between them, and Andy looked at her and gave a hopeful shrug.

"I'm having a great time, Sharon and would really enjoy to see you again. I'm not getting any sort of vibe that this should be over, but that's just me. I think we both have been down this road before, and we've both had plenty of heartbreak. I'm not looking for more of that in any fashion, so if you aren't interested, just say the word. I'll leave you be, but," he gave a slight smile, a hopeful smile and a shrug, "this has been really unexpected, really nice, and I really like you. I'm wanting to explore this more and see what may come of things, and I think you might feel the same way too."

"Mommy!" Evie came flying up to Sharon on her skates. Sharon put her hands out to catch her, because both she and Andy had noted today that Evie was a daredevil and while loved skating, couldn't stop very well. Sharon caught her with a grunt, and Evie started laughing loudly about her skating.

"This is fun, Mommy! I love skating."

Sharon grinned at her, and she looked at Andy when he started to laugh too, both nodding at Evie, "I'm glad you enjoy it. You're doing a great job," Sharon told her.

"Could I interest you two ladies in some hot chocolate?" Andy asked, and Sharon looked to him, sad that their conversation had been interrupted. She gave him a large smile and nodded at him. Evie clapped her hands and tried jumping, which was difficult in her skates, excited about the drink too.

"Yes, that would be great," Sharon told Andy, and he winked as he stood to go after their drinks. She reached for his arm before he left, and when he looked back at her, she gave him a slight smile and nod, "Yes, to both, I mean, the hot chocolate and," she took a deep breath, "seeing where things go."

Andy's face lit up with that, and she had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing when he almost skated over a little boy because he was still staring at her. He smirked at her and turned to pay attention to the task at hand.

Later, Sharon had a big grin on her face after putting Evie to bed. She found Andy in the living room working at her fireplace.

"I'm not sure that even works," she laughed as she walked up to him there, "and I don't know how to start a fire anyways, but I see you found the firewood stacked on the back porch."

"It works," he flashed a smile up at her and gestured back to it, "you're going to want to know how to use this all winter. It gets really cold, and this helps a lot."

She crossed her arms, smirking at him, "Really, so I suppose I should get someone to show me how to use it? Any ideas?"

He shrugged, "I could ask around, maybe Pop," he winked.

"I mean, you do seem pretty confident that it does work. Why should I trust that?"

"Well, ahh," he said, shaking his hands of the wood he'd just stacked in the fireplace and standing. Sharon saw a flash of uneasiness on his face, and it was confirmed to her when he started fumbling his words. "You see," his face redden, and he gestured, "you're renting my house. I mean, I own it and have used a property manager for years to manage it, ever since, I mean. I lived here with my wife."

Sharon's eyes widened at that, and she let out a long sigh, "Wow, I'm not even sure what to say."