Shut In

"That makes me very happy, Nicole."

"You don't think I'm a desperate, old widow trying to reclaim her youth by dating a man who's so much younger?" she asked with genuine concern.

"You can't possibly think that," he replied.

Nicole looked down for a moment then said, "I've stopped worrying about how old you are—or...aren't—and started worrying about how old I am and wondering if you'll realize that and..."

"Hey," Eric said gently, cutting her off. "Stop that, okay? Have you already forgotten how beautiful I think you are? Can't you see how much I enjoy being with you?"

He reached out and touched her pretty face then said very quietly, "Or that I'm falling in love with you?"

When tears welled up in her eyes, Eric assumed he'd pushed too far.

"Nicole. Please. I wasn't trying to make you feel uncomfortable. I just wanted you to know how I..."

"Stop that, okay?" she said using his words. "I'm not uncomfortable. I'm...I'm falling in love with you, too."

Eric smiled the happiest smile of his life as he said, "Do you want to maybe get out of here?"

"I would definitely like to do that," she told him with a happy smile of her own.

"Your place or mine?"

"You choose," she told him.

"I live in a bachelor pad, and while Zeus can make it without you being around all the time, it might be best if we went back to your place."

Nicole agreed and less than an hour later they were sitting very close together on her sofa sipping a glass of wine.

"Isn't this about the time you normally get on your bike?" he asked when a wall clock struck eleven.

"Um, somewhere around now," she told him. "But I don't want to ride my bike tonight."

Eric was going to change the subject when she said, "But that doesn't mean I'm opposed to doing something...physical."

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow then smiled.

"Physical, huh?"

"Well, only if you want to," she said, again feeling old and insecure again all of a sudden.

"Of course I want to," he told her. "I just want to make sure that's what you want rather than what you think I want."

"I want that," she said very sweetly.

She put a hand on his face then kissed him softly.

"I want that very much."

Neither of them heard the clock strike twelve, and that was most likely due to the soft moans and loud groans coming from the bedroom where they made love not once but twice.

"Was that okay?" Nicole had asked after the first time.

Eric smiled at her and said, "I've heard stories about how, you know, older women are amazing, but...wow! All I can say is that in your case those stories are absolutely true."

She smiled back, climbed on top of him then said, "True enough to verify them?"

"Oh, right. Yes, we should definitely verify that. We need more, not less, data."

Nicole laughed happily and literally squealed with delight at having found someone so funny, so intelligent, so handsome, and so...big. She'd never been 'filled' like that in her life, and Eric was so deliciously thick it felt like she'd died and gone to heaven, and not even that thought caused her to feel sad. All she felt was happiness, pleasure, and...love.

It was just after two when neither of them could give or take any more, but Nicole didn't want him to leave.

"People will talk if I stay," he reminded her.

"They're already going to talk," she reminded him.

"Ah. Good point," he replied with a smile.

Eric was up early and slipped out without Nicole hearing him. He did, however, get her coffee ready and left a handwritten note for her that made her heart sing when she read it. It made her feel sixteen again. She felt like the cutest boy in school had just asked her to the prom when she thought how the best-looking man in the town or maybe the entire state, had asked her to dinner and spent the night in her bed.

For the briefest of moments she felt a twinge of guilt for feeling so happy, but then she realized that's the one thing both Tim and Matt would want her to be.

She grabbed her phone and sent Eric a text.

"Hi! I just read your note, and I can't stop smiling. Then again, I'm still smiling from last night—one of the most wonderful nights of my entire life. I can't wait to see you again. Love, Nicole."

She hit send then turned on the coffee pot and laughed when her phone dinged.

"Same here. I have this permanent smile glued to my face, and it's because I've fallen for the most beautiful woman I've ever known. And I can't wait to see you again, either. Love, Eric."

Nicole's feet spontaneously did a 'happy dance' before she spun around in a circle and said out loud, "I am so happy!"

Zeus came lumbering over and barked, and that made her laugh.

"Hey, buddy! You ready to eat?" she asked.

She got another loud, deep bark and a tail wag in response.

She crushed up a Carprofen tablet then poured in some water and heated it up a little in the microwave to make sure it would get into his system before adding the food. Zeus wolfed it down in seconds while Nicole watched, and she realized that everything seemed interesting and enjoyable again in her life.

And she knew it was because she was falling in love with this handsome, younger man.

"I'm in love, boy!" she told her dog. "Yes, I am! Isn't that wonderful?"

The way she was talking made Zeus tilt his head then bark again, and that made Nicole laugh. She quite literally flitted around the house all day until Eric texted her and let her know he'd be there in a few minutes once he was off work.

When he told her how beautiful she was again when she was in jeans and a sweatshirt, she knew it wasn't dependent on what she was wearing or how her hair was done or whether or not she was wearing makeup. She was beautiful to him, and for the first time, Nicole allowed herself to believe that.

He stayed with her again that night, and by the time they were walking around hand in hand at the Fall Festival, everyone in town knew. What Nicole loved the best, other than Eric, was that every person they met told them how happy they were for them or that they made a very cute couple.

"I have to agree," Eric said to Nicole after the third such comment.

Nicole smiled when he said it then told him, "I love being with you."

Eric smiled back then said, "And I...love you."

Nicole couldn't decide if she should laugh or cry so she threw her arms around him and said, "I love you, too!"

A week later, Nicole 'introduced' Eric to her mother via FaceTime after finally warning her mom that her new boyfriend was 'a bit younger' then her. Expecting a lecture, Nicole nearly cried when her mother said, "Oh, honey. I don't care about that. As long as you're happy, I'm happy."

She heard her dad call out, "Me, too, sweetie!" and that did make her cry.

"You love this guy, don't you?" her mom asked as her daughter dried her eyes.

"Yes. Very much," Nicole told her.

When her mom saw him for the first time she gasped even though she'd been warned he was very good looking. She apologized for the overreaction then explained why, and when Eric laughed, Nicole's mom laughed and said, "I am so happy to meet you, Eric. And I can't tell you what a relief it is to know our daughter's found someone who makes her so happy."

"Well, she does the same for me, and I'm very glad to meet you, as well, Anne," he told her sincerely.

"Maybe you could talk my daughter into bringing you out here for a visit sometime," she said to Eric before looking at Nicole to see if she was scowling.

"You know what? That might be possible. I've always wanted to see the west coast so we'll discuss it."

They not only discussed it, they made plans to fly out during the spring. Hank and Sarah agreed to care for Zeus who was still going strong for the two weeks they'd be away, and feed the chickens and gather their eggs.

And after spending the first of those two weeks with Nicole's parents, Eric asked her father for his blessing to propose after dinner one night.

He gave it immediately and said, "I love my little girl more than anything. She was very fortunate to meet someone like Tim, and we loved him dearly. But we were both talking just last night about much we also like you, Eric. So, yes, you have my blessing."

The following evening they all went out to dinner, and at one point, Nicole's father offered a toast.

"To love," he said. "My wife and I have been married for 45 years, and I still love her just as much today as I did when we said 'I do'."

Eric then raised his glass and said as he looked at Nicole, "And now, I'd like to...propose."

When he stopped talking and reached inside his jacket for someone, Nicole's hands started shaking.

"Eric. Honey. What are you doing?" she said even though she knew.

He got down on one knee, opened the small box then said, "Duh. I'm...proposing."

Her parents laughed while Nicole cried as she held out a trembling left hand.

Eric hadn't gotten another word out when she started saying, "YES! YES! YES!" causing every head to turn as people applauded and wished them well.

Within days of returning home to Maine, Eric said, "I really like the Seattle area."

"Yes, it's very nice, isn't it?"

"You get snow once or twice a year, and that's it. I've never really minded the rain, and I could get a job with a police department out there."

He turned to his fiancé and asked, "So what do you think?"

"I like it a lot, but...this is home to me," he said, not sure how she'd react.

"You mean here? In this town? In this house?" she asked.

"Where exactly we live is up to you. As far as I'm concerned anywhere is fine as long as you're my wife."

"You'd be willing to stay here, in this house?"

"If it isn't too difficult for you," he told her.

"No. It's filled with pleasant memories and love, and as long as you're here with me, there'll be many more wonderful memories created."

"And it will always be filled with love. I promise you that."

Nicole tried not to cry as happiness and joy overwhelmed her. To have found that kind of love in life once was something. To have found it twice was nothing short of miraculous.

Her only sadness came two months after their wedding when Zeus could no longer walk. She'd had months to prepare but it still made her cry when she said her final goodbye.

Her sadness was short-lived when her handsome new husband surprised her a month later by bringing home another Great Dane puppy they named Thor after watching him thunder around the house for a couple of days.

Just when Nicole thought it was impossible to be any happier, she learned she was pregnant, and when Eric was overjoyed when she told him, she realized there was always room for more happiness.

And that was proven true again when their beautiful daughter, Aubrey Anne Burns, was born the following year.

Nicole sat there in their home one day thinking back on how she had nearly lost all hope and almost become a shut in. And then one day this amazing younger man, her new sheriff, stopped by to introduce himself. And because he had, she'd found happiness a second time in her life; a life that once again seemed perfect.