Gift of Life

"Yeah. I like the sound of that. And this."

As she got off her bike, Renee asked when he'd like to go look shopping.

"How about after lunch?"

"Lunch. Right. You did mention that."

Eric mounted his bike on the rack while Renee did the same, and once he was done, he turned to face her.

"I did. And I believe we said that would be our first date," he reminded her as he took off his helmet.

"Um...no. You said that would be our first date," she reminded him.

"So it's not?" he asked as he moved a little closer.

"I didn't say that, either," she told him rather coyly as she removed her helmet then shaking out her silky, blonde hair which looked amazing.

"We could consider our bike ride a first date," Eric suggested as he moved to within inches of her body.

"I suppose we could, but why would we want to do that?" Renee asked, her heart now beating faster.

Eric gently touched her hands to see if she'd pull them away, and when she didn't, he took them in his and said, "Because if that was our first date, then it would be reasonable for me to...do this."

He leaned down, and as he did, he saw her eyes close. When they did, he closed his, too, and softly kissed her for the first time.

"I like the way you think," Renee whispered when the kiss ended.

"So does that mean this was a date?"

"I'd think I like the sound of that, too," Renee told him as she held his hands back.

"That was easy," Eric said, just like the Staples commercial, with a smile.

Renee smiled back, slowly let go of his hands, then said, "Just don't get any ideas about...me...being easy, okay?"

She turned away as she spoke, and Eric knew it was all playful. Even so, he knew that Renee was the first and only woman he not only couldn't think of that way, he wanted it to be true. He wanted her to be someone he would be willing to wait for, and the thought of waiting not only didn't bother him, it made him want her even more. But the wanting was far more than just wanting her in bed. How much more he couldn't yet answer, but he also couldn't put a limit on it, either, and that was just fine with him.

"So shall I follow you or should we ride together?" Renee asked after turning back around.

"I'm not sure how safe your bike would be out here, so it might be best if we both drove," Eric suggested.

"Oh. Duh! I hadn't even thought of that," Renee admitted, feeling a little foolish.

"Have you ever been to Sharks?" Eric asked, without comment on the bike security thing.

"Don't they serve Jamaican food there?" Renee asked, thinking she'd heard of it but not quite sure.

"Jamaican and American. Chicken and fish mostly. I love it."

"Then let's do that!" Renee happily agreed.

An hour later, and some of the best spicy chicken she'd ever eaten, they drove to a nearby bike shop where Renee offered her opinion on mountain bikes.

"Just don't spend too much until you're sure you're going to enjoy it," she cautioned as they discussed pros and cons of the various models.

Eric was amazed at the seemingly endless number of choices in terms of brand names, capabilities, and price. In the end, he settled on something called a Shimano Gravity, a very basic mountain bike that only set him back $350 plus tax. Renee assured him it was more than adequate for anything they'd be doing together as he put it on the two-bike rack Randy had loaned him and reminding him he could always sell it if it wasn't much fun.

When it was securely in place, he turned to Renee then said, "So this bike will be a part of anything we'll be doing, huh?"

It took her a second to recall her own words, and once she did, she laughed another one of those cackle like laughs.

"You're terrible!" she told him, as she moved closer toward him. "Cute but terrible. And all I said was it would be 'adequate', okay?"

"You think I'm cute?" he asked immediately, ignoring the rest.

"Maybe. A little," she replied as seriously as she could.

Eric gently ran his hands up the backs of her upper arms as she said, "You are definitely not cute."

"Oh?" Renee replied with feigned indignation, knowing there was more to come.

"Uh-uh. Definitely not cute. Beautiful? Yes. Lovely? Sure. Charming? Definitely. Classy? Oh, yeah."

He smiled at her then just before kissing her again he quietly said, "But definitely not cute."

When their lips parted, Renee said just as quietly, "I can live with that."

Neither of them wanted to part company, but both of them felt like they had to do so, even though neither of them could have explained why.

"I had a wonderful time, Eric," she told him sincerely.

"Me, too."

"So will you call me and let me know when you want to get your brand new, pretty bike all dirty and messy?"

Her smile was so amazing, Eric found it hard not to stare.

"I will," he told her.

"Then I guess I should be going," Renee told him. "But not before..."

She put her arms around his neck and kissed him this time; a kiss that lasted for several seconds.

"Wow," Eric said as she let him go. "That was very nice."

"Yes, I agree. That was nice, wasn't it?"

Eric opened her door, promised he'd call, then waited for her to leave.

As she drove off, he stood there watching the car until it was out of sight then said, "You are in deep, Rust. Really deep."

He laughed then 'answered himself' by saying just like Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, used to say on Get Smart, "And...loving it!"

Renee was back home and still bubbling with excitement when her phone rang. Ben was calling, and even though she felt terrible about it, she wasn't very excited to talk to him. But she bucked up and as cheerfully as she could answered, "Hello there!"

"Renee. Hi. I just wanted to touch base with you, and let you know that my ex just called and asked me to keep the kids on Friday and Saturday."

"Ben? That's okay. I understand," she told him, feeling bad that she was feeling so good about not going to dinner with him. "That's not a bad thing, right?"

"No. Any amount of time I get to spend with them is great," he told her before suggesting brunch on Sunday.

"Yes. Sure. That...that sounds nice," she forced herself to say.

"Yeah? Okay. Well, I'll text you tomorrow as to when and where, and again, I'm really sorry about having to postpone our date."

Renee blanched at the word 'date' and was grateful they weren't Facetiming. She assured him it was just fine, then hung up to find a text from Eric that appeared while she was talking.

Her mood changed just as quickly when she saw it, and after she read it, she felt even happier.

"I had such a great time today I really don't want to want wait until we go mountain biking to see you again. I'm working tomorrow and Friday, but I'm off on Saturday. So I was wondering if I could take you to dinner."

Renee knew the way she was feeling made no sense, but it had been so long since she'd felt like this, all that mattered was keeping this going. And since that feeling was directly connected to seeing Eric again, she was happy to accept his offer.

"I'd love that, Eric!" she replied. "Please just let me know how to dress. It doesn't matter where we go, but I wouldn't want to dress for Burger King only to have you show up in a suit and tie or something."

She added some smiley faces then hit 'send'.

"First, there's no way we're going to a fast food joint. Second, you looked just as beautiful today in in your bike stuff as you did in that very sexy dress you wore to Starbucks, so you'll look great no matter what you wear. And you are sexy, Renee. VERY sexy."

He added a couple of devils with horns then sent his reply.

She laughed another loud laugh and thanked him for being so sweet.

"No. I'm being HONEST!" he told her, causing her to keep smiling.

"If you say so."

"I am."

"Then it must be true."

"You're learning," Eric wrote back.

"You know. Old dog. New tricks."

"Except that you're neither old nor...that other word. You're...hot!"

They kept up the friendly banter that got pretty close to 'spicy' for over an hour before they both ran out of steam and agreed on a time for Eric to come pick her up on Saturday after giving him her address.

After work on Friday, Eric stopped by his parents' house, and they were thrilled to see him. His mom never asked about work. Not because she disapproved, she just couldn't stand to listen to the kinds of accidents her son responded to, and when they involved children...

"You want a drink?" his father, Jonathan, asked.

"No thanks, Dad. I guess I just needed to talk to someone."

"Anything serious?"

"Serious. It's funny you chose that particular word," Eric said as they all sat down together.

"So...is it?" his father asked again.

"Well, it involves a woman, and the truth is, I don't know."

His mother, Lyla, sat up and looked right at her son.

"Are you getting serious with someone?" she asked, her voice filled with hope.

Eric took a second to answer then said, "I don't know. Maybe?"

She was sitting beside him on the couch and reached for his hand.

"Well, in that case, tell us all about it."

Neither parent interrupted even after learning this woman was widowed. After all, it was possible to lose one's spouse at any age, so they listened patiently until their son mentioned she had a daughter in college.

It got so quiet the proverbial pin dropping would have been audible.

"I see," his mother said.

"How much older?" his father asked.

Not sure what else to do, Eric fished out his phone, found her pic, then showed his mom.

He watched her face as she looked and then do what he'd done by turning the phone left then right then upside down and right side up again.

Eric's father came over and sat next to his wife and said, "Let me see that."

Lyla turned to keep looking and finally said, "She's very pretty."

He looked for a few more seconds, then gave the phone back to his son and said he agreed before asking, "So what does she want?"

"Wait. Want?" Eric asked, not sure what that meant.

"Well, yes. Why would a woman her age want with a handsome, younger man like yourself?" his mother said.

"And one good job and full benefits," his father added.

Eric was so surprised by their reactions, he missed the fact that his dad had just said something complimentary about his 'little job'.

"She doesn't want anything," he quietly told them both.

"She must be dreadfully lonely," his mother suggested.

"Are you saying she couldn't possibly like me for me?" he asked.

"Eric. She's got an angle," his father said, answering for his wife. "Be smart. She has to. No woman that age wants a...boy."

The look his son gave him caused him to rethink his choice of words, but all he said was, "You know what I meant."

"Why would you want to...throw your life away on a woman that old?" his mother asked, even more concerned than ever.

"I wasn't expecting you to embrace this with open arms, but I didn't expect to be attacked, either," Eric said, trying not to sound overly defensive.

"No one's attacking you, son," his father told him. "We're just...concerned."

"Yes. Very concerned," his mother added. "And what about children? She won't be able to have them if she's..."

She stopped talking then looked right at her son and asked, "Just how old is she?"

"I've never asked," Eric admitted. "It hasn't come up, and I don't really care."

"Don't you think you should at least find out?" his father asked in a much more measured tone.

"I will. At some point, I'll ask her, but for now, I guess I just wanted to tell the two people I love the most that I've found someone I actually want to be spend time with."

"It's just...infatuation, honey," his mom assured him.

"Yeah, except that it's not," her son quietly replied. "I suppose I can understand how you both feel about this, but what I can't understand is why I feel the way I do about Renee."

"Is that this older woman's name?" Lyla asked.

"Sorry. Yes. It's Renee Johnson. And I gotta tell you, she's the most interesting, amazing woman I've ever met."

His father's eyes opened wide as he moved back to his recliner.

"I'll tell you this. I've never heard you say that about any woman before."

"We just don't want you to get hurt, sweetheart," his mother said, the way only a mother can.

"So are you seeing her again soon?" Jonathan asked.

"Tomorrow for dinner."

"You're old enough to make your own decisions, Eric. Just don't get too involved too quickly. Especially with a woman old enough to have a child in college," his father advised, signaling that was the end of the discussion.

They talked for another half hour or so before Eric said he needed to get going, and on the way back to his place, he couldn't help but wonder if his mom and dad had a valid point.

By the time he left to pick Renee up on Saturday, he found himself unable to shake his parents' concerns and was seriously questioning what he was doing. Maybe this really was just some phase or fantasy he was going through.

What he didn't know was that Renee had had another talk with Desiree who demanded to know how old this younger guy her mother was seeing actually was. She told her she hadn't asked but would find out. After getting an earful about needing to be sensible and very careful about being taken advantage of, she was seriously second guessing herself where Eric was concerned.

But when Renee opened the door to let him in, Eric had a very hard time staying concerned about things that suddenly seemed very trivial.

"Eric. Please come in," she said, hoping her doubts weren't showing through.

He didn't come in, though. He stopped at the threshold of the door and mostly just stared.

"I know I said you'd look great in anything, but I had no idea you could look this great."

She was wearing a different red dress, but one that was no less stunning than the one she'd sent him. And for the first time, he saw her with her hair worn up, and he couldn't believe how beautiful she looked.

"You look very nice in a jacket and tie yourself," she told him truthfully as she recalled just how attracted to him she was. Physically, yes, but she was also attracted to him on a deeper level, and that was what allowed her to at least try and put Desiree's concerns aside.

By the time he did step inside, neither of them were anywhere near as concerned as they been as Eric politely passed on her offer of a drink and suggested they get going.

On the way there, they were both fairly quiet.

"Everything okay?" Eric asked.

"Oh. Sure. Fine. You?"

"I think so. It's just that I had a very interesting discussion with my family last night," he told her without offering details.

"About?"

"Us."

"That's interesting. I talked with Desiree for quite awhile, too. And I'd say our conversation was also rather interesting."

"Mind if I ask how so?"

"You first?" she suggested.

Eric was able to faintly see her thanks to the oncoming headlights and the glow of the dashboard, and again, he couldn't get over how beautiful she was. The dress was amazing, but mostly it was just Renee, a woman who was the opposite of everything he'd ever wanted. She was elegant and refined, and he couldn't help but think that those traits were somehow far better than anything he'd ever fantasized about where women were concerned. Skimpy suddenly seemed sleazy while Renee was just...wow.

He explained how the talk with his mom and dad went after telling her how it began. She listened carefully letting him share as much as he wanted before discussing her call with Desiree.

"What the people we love think matters, but in the end, the only people who get a vote are you and I," Eric said as his way of summing it up.

She looked over at him and wanted to tell him she agreed.

Instead, she asked point blank, "Eric? How old are you?"

"Ah, the $64,000 question," he replied with a little laugh. "I'm 30."

Renee was struggling to understand why hearing the number was so much worse than imagining it, but after hearing him say it, she was definitely having a hard time dealing with it.

"Do you want to know how old I am?" she finally asked.

"Not really. I do want to know everything about you, Renee, so eventually, I'm sure we'll..."

"I'm 45, Eric," she said before he could finish his thought.

"So...should I turn around right now?" he asked without smiling.

"If that's what you want," Renee replied, now feeling like her daughter was right and that she was the epitome of a fool by being an 'old fool'.

"But I don't want to," he told her. "So the question is, 'Do you want me to'?"

Renee looked over at him and realized age mattered. But she also realized there were things that mattered more. Her brain wasn't ready to make a list, but it knew age wasn't at the top.

"No. I don't want to turn around," she told him.

Eric looked over at her, smiled, then reached for her hand.

"I can't tell you how happy that makes me."

She squeezed his hand and told him she felt the same way before sharing some of her thoughts.

"I never set out to meet, let alone get involved with, a man so much younger than me. But even when we first met outside of Starbucks I felt this incredible connection with you, Eric. I thought maybe it was just that you were a kind of last connection to Phillip, but the more I got to know you, the more I realized it wasn't just that."

He squeezed her hand back then said, "You know my history with women. I've never really even had a girlfriend before. And the truth is, I never wanted you. And then you...walked into my life, and now I can't imagine it without you."

He looked over at her again as they got ready to turn into the restaurant and said, "And before I met you, there's no way on earth I'd have ever said anything like that or even close to it to any woman."

"So what do we do?" Renee asked as he pulled into a spot and parked the car.

"We have dinner. After that we go mountain bike riding. From there I'm sure we'll think of other things we want to do together."

"I'd like that very much," Renee told him. "But what about our families?"

He shut the engine off then took her hand again and said, "They'll either come around or they won't, but my sense is that once my mom and dad meet you, they'll like you as much as I do."

Eric smiled then said, "Just in a very different way."

"What kind of different?" she asked with a smile of her own.

"Well, they won't want to do this," he replied as he leaned over and kissed her slick, red lips.

"No. They definitely won't," Renee agreed. "And while Desiree has been pushing me to date more, she just didn't imagine I'd meet someone..."

"Like me?" he offered before she could say 'so young'.

"Yes. Like you."

"You ready?" Eric asked.

"Not yet. I...I want to tell you someone else."

"Okay," he said as he turned her way the best he could.

"The word 'dating' reminded me, and I don't want there to be any secrets between us."

"I agree," Eric replied nervously.

She told him about Ben stopping by, their relationship back in high school, and about her brunch date the following morning.

"Then you should go. You made a promise, and although I'll admit to having some pangs of jealousy, I know that I'm not the controlling type, and you need to do this."

He hesitated then said, "But I can't help but be a little concerned about the competition."

Renee smiled when he said that then took his hand and told him, "There isn't any competition, Eric. Ben is a very sweet guy, but I don't have those kinds of feelings for him anymore."

Now she hesitated then said, "Like I do for you."

His smile warmed her heart, and when he leaned over again, and just inches away asked, "You have feelings for me?"

"I do," she told him very sweetly.

"Yeah? Well, as it turns out, I have feelings for you, too. Very strong, very new-to-me feelings. Feelings that scare me and that also make me very happy."