He grew so many of them...white, orange, yellow, pink, lavender, and long stemmed reds. There was also a 49er; red and yellow in color. The one that particularly caught her eye was a red, yellow and white one. This tri-colored rose stood out among the rest. Although she had never grown them, she did know a bit about the flowers.

He seemed to have just the right touch. She had never seen roses like his anywhere...they were magnificent. Their perfume floated throughout the neighbourhood. Each morning as she was leaving for work, it was the first thing she smelled.

She lived up the street from him, and would often see him outside on the weekend, puttering around in his yard...pruning the roses. She assumed he wasn't married because there was no sign of a wife or children...he was always alone.

She kept to herself, not really getting to know anyone on the block. After a couple of bad relationships, she was more reluctant about getting involved in another one. She was happy with things the way they were...but, after watching him for a few weekends, she knew she would like to meet him.

He'd seen her leave her house on numerous occasions, and was very curious about her. There was never anyone else coming or going from there. She'd get into the GTO convertible parked in her driveway and he envied her. That was his dream car...his baby...a 64 midnight blue one. There must be some way to meet her and check this car out. Maybe she'd go outside into her yard one day and he'd stroll over and........meet her.

Roses were his passion, and he had a real green thumb for growing them. He spent hours working in the yard, enjoying every minute. It was a release...his way to work out the tension from a busy week.

The last ten years since his divorce had been long lonely ones. There hadn't been anyone since her. Oh, he had gone out with ladies, but it never got to the point where he was ready to settle down again. The few that he had dated, he'd met on bowling night. That was something he really enjoyed...but the ladies were just friends.

Now, there was this lady with HIS dream car, and he was thinking about meeting her. But how to go about this was another thing. He didn't want it to seem as if the car was his ulterior motive.

She was building enough courage to go and ask him about the roses, since she was planning to try to grow some herself. She waited until Saturday morning, casually going out for a walk, slowing down once she got to his fence. He was in his yard as usual, taking care of the white rose tree. She stopped and watched for a minute. Now would be as good a time as any to ask him why they didn't open as well indoors as they did on the tree she thought.

Her hands started to feel clammy, so she turned to leave. Then she heard this wonderful, deep voice. He asked her if there was someone she was looking for, or something that he could do for her.

She was petrified to turn around, but knew she had to. She turned and looked into the most incredible green eyes she had ever seen...she could not look away. They flickered with mischief. She smiled to herself...her kind of guy. His smile had a devious smirk hidden behind it. She looked down at her hands...they were shaking a little...did he notice? She quickly clasped them behind her back, and looked up at him, smiling. She noted that his hair was medium brown with streaks of grey weaving through it.

He looked closer at her eyes...fawn brown...and it was what he saw in her eyes that got to him. Weakness gripped him, slowly moving from his brain down to his toes, then back up again. She was petite, nicely put together and had this long, reddish hair, down past her shoulders. Her skin was tanned, giving her that exotic look.

As they introduced themselves, she held out her hand to shake his. He held her hand, and it was as if an electrical current passed between them. They both pulled back at the same time, smiling at each other.

She stammered as she asked about the white roses. He told her they had to have plenty of water and light. The white ones could open more inside, but flourished better on the tree. When she asked about the red, yellow and white one, he told her it was a Betty Boop rose...they laughed together about the name. He said it would be in full bloom in a week or two, and she was more than welcome to come and see it then.

The ice was broken, and now she felt a bit more comfortable. She smiled when he told her that he wasn't married, that he was divorced, and had no children. He made a mental note when she told him she was single and had never been married. He knew she wasn't past thirty. She guessed he was maybe in his late thirties...looking more closely...possibly early forties...a very handsome man.

He wasn't ready to ask about the car. It was on his mind as they made small talk. They discovered that they shared common interests in bowling, music and even some foods. He grinned widely when he asked if she might like to go bowling with him one night. She accepted, and they made a date for the following Wednesday.

She thanked him for the information about the roses and walked back up the street to her house. He smiled, knowing that she had partially used the roses as an excuse to meet him. He could tell.

She giggled as she turned into her yard, then looked across the fences to see him watching her. She blushed and waved as she went into her house.

He went back to pruning the roses, not realizing that he had cut most of the white ones completely away...his mind was elsewhere. He had just met her and already, she was getting to him. He began to feel nervous...as if this were going to be his first date. It would be the first real one for a long time...planned...not just a meeting somewhere...dinner, then bowling; although the dinner part hadn't been arranged.

He looked at the mess he'd made, scooped a few of the flowers up, then glanced down the street towards her house. A huge grin spread across his face thinking that he would take the salvaged flowers to her the next morning, and also ask her to dinner.