Listening intently to his story, Marti hung onto every word.  She had never been so intrigued by a man before.  Jeremiah didn't talk of his late wife, in any detail.  For that, Marti was glad, and she sensed again, that he was over her.  All Marti knew, was she was right where she wanted to be, here in paradise, with this handsome man, listening to his soft drawl, tell her about his children and grandchildren.<br/><br/>As they walked along the beach, holding hands, Marti's heart beat just a little quicker, at just that small connection.  She was, by her own admission, falling in love with this man.  He was everything that she wanted in a man.  Funny and smart, kind and considerate, gentle and tender.  How could she<em>not</em>fall in love with him.  Marti was shocked when he said he was 59, she thought him to be much younger than that, early 50's perhaps.  Age was just a number, and the nine year difference in their ages didn't bother Marti at all.  She smiled to herself, as most of the men she had dated in the past, had been younger.  She decided at that very moment, she liked someone with more maturity, some life experience, like herself.<br/><br/>They stopped, and looked out over the beautiful, vast expanse of water, that was the mighty Pacific Ocean.  The white caps of the water, rolling into the shore, crashing there, and then gone, only to be replaced by another.  Marti, had never seen anything so majestic, so powerful, so moving, in all her life, and her breath caught, just as Jeremiah uttered, "Breathtaking, isn't it?"<br/><br/>Marti turned towards him.  She had the uncontrollable urge to be in his arms, here and now, like this.  They were together, and alive.  Marti hadn't felt this alive, in many years.  She put her arms around him, and drew him to her body.  "Thank you, for showing me this beauty!  Thank you for being here with me."