Common Interests

At seventy and single I've pretty much resigned myself to being celibate for however many years I have left. It doesn't help that I choose to live in a rural area with limited dating opportunities. Or that I'm an introvert who is also rather shy around women. No, not all introverts are shy and not all shy people are introverted. Two different concepts.

Anyway, I just go about my life. Sessions with a personal trainer twice a week, three trips to the gym for cardio three times, grocery shopping every Tuesday (three times the fuel points), and volunteering with Habitat every Wednesday. I'm financially comfortable so I have a housecleaning service in once a month, on a Thursday. Living alone in a small cabin and being naturally neat and clean is how I can get away with just once a month.

Oh, and I belong to a classic British car club. We have a luncheon meeting once a month and when someone volunteers to do the planning we try to have a drive once a month as well. The vast majority of our members are over 60 and there's only two women who own and drive classics, both married. The remaining women attend with their husbands.

At the moment the two classic British cars I own aren't roadworthy. I'm dealing with wiring issues on both of them, a subject I know little about so it's a struggle. I do have a late model Mini Cooper which entitles me to participate as it is still manufactured in England, despite being owned by BMW.

Last month we had our meeting at a restaurant about forty five minutes from my cabin. Getting there a bit early to chat with some of the members I've come to know, I spotted a classic Mini I'd not seen at our events before. I checked it out since one of my projects is a '93 Mini and this one appeared to be about the same vintage.

"She's a '94," a woman walking up behind me said. I turned to greet her and smiled.

"I have a '93 but it and my Morris are both inoperable," I explained. "I'm Todd."

"Kat, short for Kat," she grinned. "Nice to meet you. Have you belonged to the club long?"

"Yes, about four or five years. I take it you just joined?"

"Yup!"

"We're about to go in for lunch. You're welcome to sit with me if you like," I told her.

"That would be nice," she replied as we walked toward then into the restaurant.

We took an unoccupied four top and were soon joined by Brian and Alice, a couple I know. He's British and still has his accent, she's his second wife and American. He drives a 90-something Jaguar XJS. I introduced Kat and they assumed she was with me. I explained we'd just met outside and she was new to the club.

As he always did, Brian asked the status of my Morris and I had to admit I'd not made any progress with it. That led to questions from Kat so I explained the wiring issues on both cars. The more I said the more she smiled.

"I can help with the Morris for certain and most likely the Mini as well," she offered. "I'm actually very good with wiring issues. Where do you live?"

I explained where I lived and got another smile. "You and I must be the only Habersham county members of the club from what I've seen so far," she said. She explained that she lived in Demorest which is about twenty minutes from me.

The 'meeting' part of the luncheon consisted of the founder, Edward, making about three announcements of upcoming events. Maybe 2-3 minutes. As usual we waited forty five minutes for our food and then, once we finished eating folks started leaving in ones, twos, and occasionally fours.

"Why don't I follow you home. That way I can check out the cars as well as learn where you live," Kat suggested.

"Sure, but just in case we get separated let's swap phone numbers," I proposed. She rattled off her number and I entered it into my contacts. Then I texted her so she'd have mine and we got into our cars.

Nothing eventful happened on the trip to my cabin. When we arrived I punched the remote, and pulled into the garage once the door fully opened. Kat pulled to a stop right behind me, at the top of my driveway circle.

"Cool!" she cried as she got out of her Mini and got a good look at my cabin. "I love it!"

"Thanks, so do I. Let's check out the cars and then I'll give you a tour," I promised.

We spent about twenty minutes with me describing my challenges with the Morris and the classic Mini. After studying it closely she said "We can get the wiring in the Morris finished in a couple of hours. The Mini needs two things. First we have to repair the botched hot-wiring some PO did trying to bypass the immobilizer, then we have to bypass it correctly. Lucky for you, I know how to do that as the Previous Owner of my Mini also lost the fob."

"That's great. It's so nice of you to do this," I told her.

"No problem. Now, can the tour of your cabin start with me alone in the bathroom? I really need to go," she said, crossing one knee behind the other and wincing.

Laughing, I said "Sure, let's go."

After letting her into the main room I pointed to the hallway and said, "First door on the right," as she hurried off.

I heard her flush and then wash her hands before she came out. "Beer, wine, water, lemonade?" I asked.

"A beer would be great, thanks," she replied. I opened the fridge and pulled out two Guinness stouts and grabbed the church key to open them. I opened a drawer in my island and slipped both beers into koozies. Handing her one of them I showed her around, which took less than ten minutes. She asked numerous questions about the artwork I have and several knick knacks.

"So, I'm retired and assume you are as well?" she said in an inquisitive tone.

"I am, but I have commitments Monday, Tuesday, and Friday mornings and all day Wednesday. When would you like to come help me out?" I said.

"I'm not doing anything tomorrow afternoon. To be honest, I don't know many people having just moved here from Florida. I did just join Planet Fitness in Cornelia and plan to start working out mornings," she said.

"That's my gym as well, and where I go Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. I'll be there shortly after 8:30 tomorrow, right after my personal trainer session in Clarkesville," I told her.

"Great! That's about the same time I plan to go so I'll see you there! Now, tell me how to get back to Demorest, please."

I explained that there are two ways to get there from my cabin. One is a very twisty, and therefore fun, road while the other is a little bit shorter. She opted for the fun route and I explained the simple directions. I walked her out to her car and gave her a hug while repeating "Thanks for helping me!"

I poured myself a scotch and reflected on Kat. About 5'2" and maybe 105-110 pounds she was very much my type. I even prefer small breasts and was pretty sure her's were A or maybe small B cups. Her ass looked great in the tight jeans she was wearing. And the lack of a ring on her left hand, and no mention of a husband or boyfriend, strongly indicated that she was single. I'd have to see if I could learn more going forward.

The following morning I woke to my alarm at six, weighed myself and logged it, ate breakfast while checking email, and then shaved and showered, dressing for workouts. I left home at 7:30 and arrived at the fitness center five minutes prior to my session. My trainer put me through a varied routine that focused mostly on range of motion and strength training. I left a half hour later and made the ten minute drive to the gym.

Kat was already there using the stair stepper. Her yoga pants and sports bra with no blouse confirmed my earlier observations. Her butt looked delicious as she climbed the never-ending staircase. We exchanged pleasantries and I headed to the reclining bicycle, typically the first of the five machines I'd use before hitting the 360 area for some strength and stretching work.

Fifteen minutes later Kat saw me get off the bike and wipe it down with disinfectant. She quickly did the same on the stepper and then came over to me. "So, do you have a typical circuit," she asked.

"Yeah, assuming they're available I like to do fifteen minutes each on the bike, rowing machine, elliptical, arm bike, and treadmill in that order. Then I hit the back room for some brief strength training and TRX work, followed by some floor exercises and I'm done," I described to her.

"That sounds pretty good, did you think of that by yourself or did your trainer help," she said.

"Neither," I told her before explaining about the coronary event two years prior and cardiac rehab. "The exercise physiologist at rehab put me on four machines. When I moved here I added the fifth and standardized them each at fifteen minutes. I end up with 225 minutes of moderate to strenuous exercise each week which is higher than AHA and CDC recommend. Much as I hate cardio the idea of a full-blown heart attack is even less appealing."

"I hear that," she said. "Let's try to keep you healthy for many more years. Would it be okay if I tag along on your circuit?"

"Sure, but there's only one arm bike."

"That's okay, I'm not that interested in it. Going forward I'll do the stair-stepper while you do that. Do you always get here just after eight-thirty?"

"Only on Monday and Tuesday. My Friday session with my trainer ends at nine so I'm here about ten after," I explained.

"Sounds like we each have a workout buddy!" she declared, a huge smile on her face.

Both rowers where available so we sat side by side and did our fifteen minutes. While she was in good shape she seemed to struggle a bit, so I explained how she could dial down the intensity. I always set mine on the maximum, which is sixteen. Her machine had been on that when she sat down but now she dialed it back to about eight. A few rows later she paused and moved it up to eleven. She seemed comfortable at that.

We hit the ellipticals next and fifteen minutes after that she went stair-stepping while I did the arm bike. Finished with those we met up again on the treadmills and did our fifteen before heading back to the TRX area.

"I do combination goblet squats and bicep curls with a twenty pound weight, then calf raises with shrugs holding two twenties. Two set of twenty-five reps each," I explained.

She hefted a twenty then opted for a fifteen and after watching my first few joined in. After the weights I showed her the four TRX exercises I do and again she kept right up with me. After that we did both one- and two-legged bridges, some windmill squats, hamstring stretches and finally balanced on one foot for a ten count, doing each foot in turn.

"What's with the balancing?" she asked.

"Studies show that people over sixty who can't balance like that die three years sooner than those who can. It's mostly due to falls resulting in broken bones or joints and then complications," I explained.

"Can't have that, Fortunately both of us are able to balance pretty well," she said.

We both planned to use the restrooms and wash up before leaving so we agreed to meet up in the lobby. "I go out the back way to avoid the two left hand turns at traffic lights. They often get backed up. And I can show you part of the second way to get to Demorest from my cabin and vice versa," I told her. "But I don't have anything to offer you for lunch, so we should probably grab something here. Do you have a preference?"

"I saw a Jersey Mike's across the street. We could get a sub and take it back to your place since it's a bit early to eat," she suggested.

"Good idea. My car's right here so I'll drive us over," I told her as I hit the remote to unlock the doors then opened the passenger door for her.

After agreeing on an Italian and asking them to hold the oil and vinegar so it wouldn't get soggy on the drive I took her back to the gym parking lot and she followed me to the cabin. I unlocked the door, took out two plates and my bottle of oil and vinegar salad dressing. In response to my question she asked for water to drink.

Once we finished lunch and I cleaned up the dishes we both changed into our work clothes and headed out to the garage. Some of the wiring I had already thought I'd completed turned out to be wrong so it took most of the afternoon to finish up and test the Morris connections. The professionally rebuilt engine had never been started but that would have to wait for another day as the radiator had been removed and I would need to get hoses for it.

We first used GoJo to clean the grime off our hands then went into the cabin to wash them with soap, since the GoJo left a greasy feeling. She came out of the hall bath at the same time I exited the bedroom and we bumped lightly into each other, both apologizing and laughing.

"Can I ask you a personal question, Todd?" she said.

"Sure, although I may choose not to answer it," I replied.

"Fair enough. Are you single? Dating? In a relationship?" she wanted to know.

"Not in a relationship and I haven't had a date since Christmas," I answered. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because I'm single, its been far longer since my last date, and I find you very attractive. I'm not usually this forward but would you like to have dinner with me tonight?" she said.

"I certainly would. You're an intelligent, beautiful, engaging woman. But dinner has to be on me, partial repayment for your mechanical work today," I said.

Kat laughed and said, "Fair enough. You'll have to pick the place since I don't really know my way around much yet. Is there anywhere we can get decent pizza?"

"Two actually. One's in Clarkesville and the other is in Helen, which is about ten miles from here. Although that one, which I used to consider the best around, disappointed the last time I tried it. Seems they lost some staff during the pandemic and the new chef makes the dough differently. It wasn't terrible, just not as good as it had been. But we could try it out and see if they're back to normal if you're willing."

"Okay. We're not too dirty so we can go like this, right?" she said.

"Yup, but that means we have about an hour to kill. Would you like an adult beverage? Beer, wine, gin, bourbon, scotch?" I offered,

"Do you have tonic to go with the gin?"

"Yes but no fresh lime, I'm afraid. I do have a powdered lime that works well in a G&T."

"Sounds good."

"What type of music do you like," I asked.

"All types really except rap and hip hop. Blues and jazz are my favorites," she answered.

"Alexa, play smooth jazz please," I told the Echo device as I fixed the drinks.

"I really do love your cabin. I'm in an apartment for now. I sold my Florida house but wanted to learn my way around up here before committing to a specific place. Its only been a couple of months but I'm already regretting it. The people above me have three little kids who are always running back and forth, bouncing balls, and generally raising cain," she complained.

"I get that. I always hated apartment life for similar reasons," I told her.

Once we'd finished our drinks I drove us to the tavern. The pizza was good but still not as good as he remembered. I'll be switching to the place in town from now on. I drove us back to the cabin and told her the other way to get to Demorest since she had her late model Kia. She entered her address in the nav system and then scrolled through it step by step while I watched and confirmed that it was correct.

"Thanks for a great day, Todd," Kat said as she leaned across the center console and kissed me lightly on the lips. I kissed back but didn't press for more this soon.

"Thank YOU for all your help. When can you come back out for more?" I said.

"Tomorrow, after the gym?"

"After gym on Tuesdays I always do my grocery shopping. If you join ingles rewards program you get triple fuel points on Tuesday. With the price of gas these days it really helps. Every one hundred points gets you five cents per gallon off, up to twenty gallons," I explained.

"Okay, I'll put together a shopping list tonight and we can go together. I'll have to swing back by my apartment to drop mine off but can go out to your place then," she said.

One more light kiss and I got out of her car and waved her goodbye.

It would be disingenuous of me to fail to tell you that I beat off thinking about Kat that night when I went to bed. I adored everything about her, and hoped I didn't mess it up.

The next day we met up at the gym, went through our routines then headed to the auto parts shop for hoses and then the grocery store. Stopping first at Customer Service Kat signed up for the rewards program and received her card. I was thrilled to find that Kat shopped the same way I do - fast and intentional, never lingering to look at something. If its not on the list it doesn't go into the cart.

When we left the store we kissed again and went our separate ways. I arrived home and heated up a cup of soup in the microwave while I put away my purchases. An hour later Kat arrived, having fixed her own lunch at her place. We went out to the garage and filled the engine with oil, pulling off the valve cover and pouring some around the valve stems and lifters. Using a breaker bar I turned the engine over by hand to get the oil circulating enough to risk using the starter when we were ready. Then we mounted the radiator, cut the hoses to length and attached them, then poured in the water and antifreeze mixture.

We pulled the coil wire for safety and removed the spark plugs so the engine would have less resistance. Mentally crossing my fingers I ensured the car was in neutral and bumped the key. The engine turned over for the first time in years. I continued spinning it over for about five seconds each time until the oil pressure gauge showed normal pressure. We installed the spark plugs and connected the coil wire and this time the engine coughed. On the third try it caught. I let it run until it warmed up and the idle kicked down, then shut it off.

"Success at last! All thanks to you, Kat!" I exclaimed.

"You did most of the work, swapping engines and putting it all together. I just helped a bit with the wiring," she demurred. "What do you plan to do for an exhaust system?"

"I bought a performance kit but it was for the original engine. It won't fit this one because it has dual carbs. Clyde from the club is heavily into Austin Healey Sprites which use this same engine. He gave me an extra stock exhaust manifold he had hanging around. I'll take the car and the exhaust system I have to a muffler shop and I'm sure they can make it work," I explained. "I'll have to rent a car hauler trailer but that's not a big deal, my truck can easily tow it. And I can return the trailer the same day I pick it up, if you'll give me a ride to the exhaust shop when they get it done."

"Of course. Perhaps you can get an appointment and have it done while you wait. Then you can tow it home before dropping off the trailer," she suggested.

"I can certainly ask," I said.

"Tomorrow is your Habitat day, right?" she asked him.

"Yes it is, so the Mini will have to wait," I said.

"Is there a chance I could come along with you? I'd like to see what it's all about and maybe volunteer myself," she asked.

"Let me text Ron and make sure he brings a release for you to sign and then sure thing."

Ron confirmed that he'd have a release and I told him we'd be there by eight.

"I have to warn you, it's a pretty male oriented environment. Not as in lewd comments or that junk, just that women usually end up sweeping up, and painting, and so on. We have had a couple in the past who ran the chop saw, and once I tell Ron about your mechanical abilities hopefully you can do that kind of stuff too," I cautioned.

"No worries. I can outwork most guys my age."

"Why don't I pick you up around seven thirty and you can ride with me? Build sites are always muddy. Hopefully you have some work boots."

"I do, no problem. Okay, I'll see you in the morning," she said before kissing me and heading home.