He had that brand new washer and dryer at his place but they were no good for washing that big bulky sleeping bag. That's how he came to find himself at the Laundromat when he would have been a lot happier being just about anywhere else.

Then she walked in. She was small and cute as could be, no, she was beautiful and he was taken by her.

And damn the luck because he felt so old, and she was young.

She put some big quilts in the oversize washers, and he was more than surprised when she came over and sat down in the seat next to him.

She didn't even act as if she noticed him. She was just sitting there in her shorts and her tiny t-shirt. It wasn't like she knew she had 'it', hell, it was like she was completely innocent to the fact that she had 'it'. But damn, to him, all he could think was, this girl has 'it'. Shit, I think she has me.

She opened a small case and pulled out a tiny IPod, but the ear buds were giving her trouble, the cords were all tangled up, she was trying and trying to untangle them, but it was only making matters worse. Finally he could take no more. He held out his hand to her, palm up. She looked at his hand, and then in his eyes, it was like she was questioning him, so he just nodded.

She placed the tangled mess in his hand. He made short work of it, got it all untangled and handed it back to her.

Then she spoke, "Wow, thank you, I seem to have a lot of problems with any kind of cords or wires. Or necklaces, you know those tiny chains? Oh they give me a fit. All cords, wires and chains take one look at me and tangle themselves right up. It seems that I spend half my time fighting them," and she laughed the sweetest little laugh he'd ever heard.

Damn this girl could talk, and damn, he could listen to that sweet voice all day long.

And he couldn't tell you why but he just said, "My name's Rick, what about you?"

"Oh hi Rick, thank you so much for untangling those, I'm Beth," she smiled and damn if she didn't hold out her small hand to shake his.

She was so sweet looking and so young looking, and he felt like a crusty old bastard, but for some reason he couldn't begin to understand, he said, "Just how old are you Beth?'

"I'm 23 years old, and just how old are you Rick?'

She got him with that and he laughed, "Touché Beth, I'm 36, just an ancient beast."

And she was thinking he didn't look old to her, not at all. He looked handsome and sexy, he looked strong and masculine, and he looked a lot like someone she wanted to know.

And again, he found himself going there, even though he knew he probably shouldn't, "We've got it rough don't we? Having to come to the Laundromat on a Saturday morning when we could be at the park or having a coffee somewhere."

"Well wouldn't that be nice?" she smiled, "Mama and I have been canning peaches for two days. First we all picked two gazillion of them, that was a job. I told her I'd bring the quilts to wash them for her because she was looking so tired. Did you know they don't fit in a regular washer? Isn't that stupid, shouldn't the washer be big enough to fit a quilt? Gosh, that's just dumb," She shook her head.

He wanted to laugh at how she went on, but instead he asked, "You're 23 years old, are you still living with Mama?" He wanted to know what he was up against here.

"No, I have a ridiculously small place in town, but I go out to the farm all the time to help Mama and Daddy."

"I see. You must be a very good daughter. And I know what you mean about the washer, I have the same problem. My sleeping bag won't fit in my washer at home," he was desperately trying to keep this conversation going.

"See what I mean Rick? It's dumb, that's all there is to it," But she smiled at him.

"So your folks have a farm around here, huh? What's your last name?" He knew most everyone in the area, either personally or through reputation.

"It's Greene, we live out off the county highway down Peachtree Lane, that's fitting isn't it? That's one of Mama and Daddy's cash crops, peaches," Damn, he wished she wasn't so pretty.

"Is your Daddy named Hershel?" Shit, Rick knew who her Daddy was. Way back in the day he knew her old man had been a big drinker, he'd heard a lot of stories about Hershel Greene when he first went to work for the Sheriff's Department. He knew the man had sobered up and gotten religion. He knew Hershel's boy, Shawn, and he knew the older girl, Maggie, so Beth was obviously the younger girl he'd heard about. Oh he'd seen her way back when, but man, she'd changed.

"Yes! Do you know my Daddy?" She was all big beautiful smiles now.

"I've met your Daddy on a couple of occasions, but I wouldn't say we actually know each other. Your Daddy's a vet, and he does some preaching, is that right?" Rick figured her old man would shoot him for sure if he ever showed up at the door to take her out. But he was quickly getting to where he'd risk getting shot, if it meant getting to spend just a little more time with her.

"Oh yes, Daddy's a wonderful preacher, preaches at our church every Sunday, he knows the Bible backward and forward. And he's not all hellfire and brimstone, Daddy is more about God's love. He preaches and I do the singing. It's just wonderful," and she looked right in his eyes and smiled that smile.

And all Rick could think was, he should drop this right now, just back away from this young woman and forget he'd ever met her. But he just couldn't make himself do it.

She wasn't even his type. Since his marriage blew up he was only looking for the occasional hook-up, but this woman, she was the kind of woman you kept around, the kind you got serious with, and he didn't know that he'd ever want to risk that again.

The machines were done and he helped her lift the big quilts into one of the oversized dryers, he put his sleeping bag in the other.

"When we finish up here, can I take you somewhere, maybe for coffee, or whatever you'd like?" He was going to give it a shot or he'd never forgive himself.

"Well I'm not much for coffee, but over at the diner this time of year they have limeade freezies, would that be alright with you?" And if she would have said she wanted to drink motor oil he would have said 'okay'.

"That sounds great Beth, I'd love to take you for a limeade freezie," and he smiled like he knew what they were and liked them.

"I just love them!" She seemed excited just thinking about it.

She couldn't believe he wanted to take her somewhere. She was kind of scared, kind of excited and she just felt well, kind of tingly.

Their laundry was done and he helped her carry her quilts to her car, went back in and retrieved his sleeping bag, and then took her to his car. He opened the door, held out his hand to her as she got in, smiled to himself and walked to the driver's side.

Everyone at the diner knew him, for gawd sake, he was the county Sherrif, he was in there five days a week either having coffee, lunch, looking for someone, or just checking that everything was okay.

The hostess, Jessie, just eyeballed the two of them, and then seated them right in the nosiest section. Jessie had been one of his hook-ups. He'd been honest with her about what it was going to be for him, but later she had been upset. He guessed she thought she'd change his mind. Anyway, he figured she was paying him back seating him next to a table full of noisy kids.

They placed their order, and then he asked her, "So what is it you do for a living Beth?"

"Well, I really haven't settled on a career yet so right now I help Daddy at the Vet Clinic two days a week, and the other three days I work for Dale at Horvath's Hardware, I'm the assistant bookkeeper. That mostly means I just do whatever the bookkeeper tells me to do." And she smiled at him and he swore that smile could light up half of Georgia.

Then she asked, "What do you do Rick?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Beth, I guess I just assumed you knew, how arrogant of me. I'm the county Sherriff, Rick Grimes," and he smiled back at her, but he was a little embarrassed, and he wasn't really sure why.

"Really? I guess I never put two and two together. I suppose we've just never had occasion to meet," She had those big blue eyes trained on him.

She seemed so genuine, and damn, she was making every part of him want every part of her. After what had happened between him and Lori, he'd had a very tough time trusting anyone, especially women. But this woman, she didn't seem to have any guile. She just seemed sweet and unpretentious.

So he took a huge chance, what the hell, it's not like he had anything to lose, "Beth, I'd really like to get a chance to know you better. Do you think I could take you out tonight? Anywhere you'd like to go."

"It's so nice of you to ask Rick, and I really would like to see you, but I promised Bob Stookey I'd sing two sets at his club tonight, do you know the place, The Country Palace? If you want, you could come see me perform, that would be nice," she wasn't usually so forward, but she was definitely taken with this man, and she did want to spend time with him.

"Oh, so you don't just sing at church. I've been to Stookey's club on a couple of calls, but I've never gone there off duty, I'd love to come see you," he smiled and she could have looked at that smile forever.

"Oh I know, it's not really my kind of place either, but the patrons seem to like my music, and they tip well," she smiled back.

"I'd be pleased to pick you up at your place and drive you there, no sense both of us taking a car," He smiled at her.

She was surprised and excited, my gosh, he must like her at least a little bit, "That would be very nice, thank you."

Well, he was in this now, right up to his elbows. His mind was racing wondering how this was going to play out. Did he really have any business doing this? But he'd always been the cautious type, and how had that worked out for him? Not very damn good, that's how.

He played it by the book and his wife left him for his best friend and took their son with her. In fact, he'd always played it by the book and the book had jumped up and hit him hard more than once. He decided he was going to run with this as long as she'd let him.

Then she dropped a little bomb on him, "Oh, I'll be out at the farm though, I'm gonna take Mama's quilts back, and I keep my stage clothes there. My place is just so small."

Well shit, but he was already committed so he just said, "Oh sure, no problem." And they exchanged phone numbers.

He was not looking forward to a face to face with "Daddy."

A/N Thank you for reading, please review xo