“What is different about you?” she whispered to me. I responded by curling my left arm under her legs and my right arm behind her back. I lifted her from the chair and laid her on the ground beneath a nearby tree. I pulled off my jacket and covered her with it to keep her warm. All the time she was watching me. Not speaking, just watching.

After sitting down beside her, I answered softly, “I wonder the same about you, but somehow I just know… you’re the one.”

We looked at each other for a while without speaking. The sun was nearly gone now and it was very dark. She always had a blanket with her in her chair in case her legs got cold, so I went and retrieved it and laid it over the both of us. I wrapped my arms around her and she snuggled closer to me. We lay there for what felt like hours.

Finally she whispered, “Kiss me.” I knew she didn’t mean like before, so I leaned over and placed my mouth on hers. She responded slowly at first, then hungrily. We kissed until my lips felt numb. That was before…