Last week, I wrote a story to a prompt on my favorite writing site. The challenge was to write a story in which a couple meets for an “accidental“ first date, and are still going strong after forty years.

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Dani pedaled up to the address Katie had given her, dismounted, and propped her bike against the porch rail. She paced for a few minutes, drinking from her water bottle to cool off from the ride across town before knocking. The city bus system served students, not so much the townies, and riding in comfort was a luxury she couldn’t afford. She wet down a cloth she carried and wiped her face with the cold water, hoping to cool her hot cheeks.

What in the blazes did she think she was doing knocking on a stranger’s door? Didn’t her father warn her about that? Come to think of it, how much did she trust Katie, really?

Dani had only known the woman for a few weeks. They’d met at the local watering hole for the recreation sports leagues. She’d moved from California earlier in the year and hadn’t met many folks yet. Experience had taught her that if she wanted to meet those she had the most in common with, she’d have to check city recreation.

She’d always loved playing sports, and whenever she moved to a new city, the first item on her agenda—aside from housing, of course—was to check out the local recreational sports teams. Dani had grown up playing all kinds of games with her brothers, the rougher the better. By the time she’d reached high school, she lettered in every sport offered to the girls, which wasn’t much back then.

Katie was one of the first people Dani befriended in her new hometown, and she had no reason not to trust the woman.

A barking dog pulled her from her reverie.

The door to the house opened as Dani approached, finally ready to knock.

“Oh, hi,” said a cheery voice from the other side of the screen. “Bear, get back. I know you want to say hi, but don’t scare her away.” The woman had turned to talk to the dog. “You good with dogs?” she called over her shoulder.

“Oh, yeah,” Dani said, “I miss mine.”

“Come on in, then,” said the woman, opening the screen enough to let Dani slip inside. “I’m Jodi, this brute is Bear, he looks mean, but he really is a giant Teddy Bear.”

Dani held out her hand to Bear, a great big mixed breed with a definite lineage in Chow-Chow, to sniff.

“I’m Dani, Katie sent me over. Said you have room in your car.” She didn’t mention how miffed she was that Katie had pawned her off on this woman, Jodi.

“Well, I have a ride,” said Jodi, grinning. “If you like the band as much as I do, I’ll be glad to have you.”

“I cannot wait to see them play live!” said Dani.

“Katie didn’t tell you that we’re taking my bike down?”

“Your… bike?” asked Dani.

“Yeah, traffic will be a mess near the amphitheater if we’re in a car. I have extra gear for you. And I bet she didn’t tell you a bunch of us are staying in the city tonight, did she? You game?”

“Hells yeah! I haven’t been on a motorcycle since my dad took me ages ago.” The overnight arrangements took her for a bit of a loop, but what the heck, what’s the worst that could happen? She thought of a few things, but her intuition said this trip was a good thing.

“Get dressed while I bring Blaze around.”

“Blaze?” she asked.

“My bike. Be right back.” Jodi disappeared out the kitchen door.

Dani belted the chaps to her waist, then zipped the legs, tucking her shorts into the leather as deep as she could. She really wished Katie had warned her about this; she’d have worn better shoes. She looked down at her hiking sandals. As she pulled on the heavy leather jacket, she heard the bike engine roar to life from behind the house.

And that’s when she knew. Katie was a scheming little busybody who apparently read Dani like a book. This Jodi person was the woman Dani had dreamed of her entire life. Her dreams never showed the same face or form, just a particular feeling that she would know this person when they met.

That evening turned into the most magical ‘blind date’ Dani had ever experienced, and she wanted more. Before the concert began, the two talked about things Dani had never thought about. Jodi was so different, but so much the same as herself that she soon realized she didn’t want to live without this woman in her life.

The days turned into weeks. Those weeks turned into years. Dani helped Jodi raise her family when no one else was there. Before long, they saw that family grow with grandkids and great-grandkids joining the brood, and the years became decades.

“Ever thought we’d still be together?” Dani whispered in Jodi’s ear as Marie, Jodi’s eldest, toasted their 40-year union.

“Not even close,” replied Jodi. “I couldn’t have done it without you, you know.”

“We’ve always been a team, from the beginning.”

“We have, haven’t we?” she said with her beautiful smile.

“Forty years is a long time. Want to try for fifty?”

“You’re on!”