I was sitting on my porch in North Denver enjoying a cup of coffee when I saw her again. A new neighbor with a small dog she walked around the block.
She looked to be in her mid-50s, maybe early 60's. She had a petite but attractive body, pretty face and short, nearly all white hair.
As she passed by, I spoke up and said, "Hi."
She answered with her own "Hello," so I approached her and introduced myself.
She told me her name was Patty and that the dog's name was Flower.
We made small talk and I told her that if she needed any help moving in to just ask. She thanked me and said she looked forward to seeing me again soon.
Over time Patty and I got to be friends. I learned she was single, retired from government work and into hobbies ranging from golf to good books to cooking and many more things in between. Almost by accident we started spending time together. I was really surprised she was single.
We weren't dating exactly, but we'd share dinners or go out for drinks. Once she got tickets to Red Rocks and we saw one of Tom Petty's performances just before his unexpected death. It was a fun date, but afterwards we kissed goodnight and it ended.
The more time I spent with Patty, the more attracted I was to her. But having screwed up too many relationships in the past, I simply satisfied myself with her wonderful company. But that was getting harder to do. In spite of myself, Patty would make me hard whenever she was around. And I would get hard thinking about her when she wasn't. I started thinking Patty was getting me excited on purpose, but then I decided that I was wishful thinking.
One day she called me and said, "I want to go have some drinks."
I replied, "Sounds good. Where do you want to go?"
Her response floored me as she said, "Your house. It isn't safe to be in public after drinking, so I should plan on spending the night."