A/N Thanks so much, you guys surprised me with your response. We're about to find out some interesting things about our girl Beth, and so is Rick. I hope you enjoy...

He pulled into the laundromat lot and parked his Jeep Cherokee next to her car. He quickly got out and went around to her door, opening it and offering her his hand. Then he walked her to her car, and asked for her keys so he could unlock the door for her, that seemed to present a challenge. She dug around in her purse and said, "Oh I just know I put them in here Rick, I know I did. Here, let me just make sure," and she set the purse on the hood of her car and began emptying it, there were no keys. That's when he looked in her car window, there were the keys on the back seat, next to the quilts.

"Well Beth, I've located the keys," he smiled.

"Oh no, not again, I was sure I put them in my purse, darn, well my brother has an extra set, I'll just call him."

"That's okay, I'm the Sheriff, I have a little something that will solve this," and he retrieved the slim jim from the back of his vehicle, stashed in the spare tire well. He slipped it down between the window and the door frame and pulled up, the lock immediately released.

"Oh wow Rick that is so cool, I need one of those, I'm forever locking the keys in the car. Thank you so much!"

He took the keys and opened the driver's door for her and held it while she got in, then handed her the keys. "I'll see you at 6:30 Beth. You have a nice rest of the afternoon, and I look forward to seeing you later," and he tilted his head slightly and smiled.

"Thank you Rick, you have a nice day too. You're my hero!" and she smiled the biggest smile he'd ever seen as she fumbled to get the key in the ignition.

And he got in the Cherokee asking himself: "What the fuck are you doing Grimes? You're 13 years older than this girl, and as beautiful and sweet as she is, there is something a little odd about her, something I can't quite put my finger on. And what are we going to talk about? She's college age, I've been working my whole life, I've been married, I've got a 14 year old son. And besides, I'm not looking for love, I'm just looking for someone to have a little fun with a couple of times. So, one date, and that's gonna have to be it, because there's just no way this has any chance of being anything but a disaster."

But damn, he couldn't stop thinking about her. Yeah, she was a little odd, but certainly not in a bad way, just something about her told him she was different, but she was also a lot of fun, sweet as could be and just so genuine. He couldn't think of one "plastic" or phony thing about this girl. And as much as he didn't want a relationship, he couldn't help but think he'd like to get to know her a whole lot better, and not just in a physical way.

Beth was on her way to the farm, trying very hard to stay focused on her driving, but couldn't stop thinking about Rick Grimes. He was without a doubt the most handsome man she'd ever met. Those eyes, my gosh, when he looked at her she was sure she was melting. And she loved his thick, wavy hair. She smiled thinking about his slightly bow legged swagger, and beyond all of that very appealing physical stuff, he seemed very caring, the way he helped her lift and carry things, opened doors, helped her in and out of the car. The only other men she knew who did that were her father, her brother, and Otis.

But the most important thing of all was that she found him interesting. There was more to Rick Grimes than just good looks and manly swagger, there was something deep behind those blue eyes and she wanted to know what it was.

She ran to Maggie the minute she got home, almost tripping on the stairs on the way to her sister and Glenn's room. "Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, GUESS WHAT?!" She squealed.

"What Bethie, what?" Maggie couldn't help but smile at her very special little sister.

"I have a date Maggie, a real date!" Beth's smile was ear to ear. She'd never gone out with anyone. She'd always said she wasn't going to waste her time on anyone who didn't interest her, and no one had interested her yet. And they all knew there was no point in arguing with Beth when she made up her mind.

"Really Beth, oh my gosh, that's great, who's the lucky guy?" Now Maggie was smiling ear to ear.

"His name is Rick Grimes," she was still smiling.

"Wait, Rick Grimes the Sheriff Rick Grimes? Holy cow Beth, he's HOT," Maggie was impressed.

"Maggie Rhee, do you want me to tell Glenn you said that about another man?" Beth was teasing her now.

"You can tell him, but he won't believe you, he knows I only have eyes for him," Maggie winked and the sisters laughed.

Then it occurred to Maggie, "I thought you were working for Stookey tonight, how can you go on a date?"

"Rick is so nice Maggie, he offered to drive me there, and he's going to watch me perform. I should be finished up by 10:30 at the very latest, so we'd still have time to chat and stuff," Even Beth's eyes were smiling.

"I hope it all goes real good Beth, I do, I'll say a prayer, okay?" Maggie smiled widely at her little sister.

"Maggie you would have been so proud of me, I didn't tell him exactly how many peaches we picked, exactly how many each individual picked, the average weight of each peach and the amount of waste on the yield, I just used your expression, that we'd picked two gazillion. I didn't tell him how many times the dryer went around in one twenty minute cycle, and I didn't tell him how many steps it would have been from the laundromat to the diner. I just kept it all to myself."

Beth knew she had a few quirks, they didn't bother her, she didn't even notice them anymore, but she knew they seemed odd to other people. Her family just accepted her.

Maggie smiled at her, "We'd better tell Daddy and Mama and Shawn, they'll be excited, plus, Mama will want to have dinner ready early so you can eat before you leave."

It had all started when she was a tiny girl. By the time she was three she could count forwards and backwards, and she counted everything: The number of stairs, the number of canned goods in the pantry, the number of steps from the house to the barn. She didn't have to physically count them, she just had to look, or hear. And it did transition to her school life. By the time she was twelve she had completed all math courses for grades K-12. And she also excelled in all other curriculum. She became bored with High School her freshman year and took college entrance exams. She was accepted into several, but chose The University of Georgia because she didn't want to be too far from home.

At her parents insistence, Maggie moved with her and they got a small studio apartment near campus. Maggie worked at the local Vet clinic, and Beth went to school on a full academic scholarship. They came home every weekend, and of course, every holiday.

She met Glenn in one of her computer science courses, she just knew he was perfect for Maggie, and she'd introduced them.

Now she and Glenn were developing computer programs for business and education. They had several contracts and were close to completion on three programs.

However, in everyday life, the most mundane things could present a challenge for Beth, besides the cords, wires and tiny chains, the tendency to lock her keys in the car and her counting, there were other mostly harmless things, but there was something else, she was way too trusting. Despite having six years at University with two degrees, she just wasn't wise to the ways of the world, in fact, she was almost painfully innocent. She tended to focus solely on the good and the positive, and that's what worried the people who loved her, and they may be just a little overprotective.

xxxx

Rick dressed in dark blue denim pants, a light blue denim shirt, buckskin cowboy boots, brown leather belt, and dark tan sport coat. He could see the gray starting to come through in his beard and was thinking maybe it was time to shave it. But she had to have seen it too, and she'd still wanted to go out with him. He really could hardly believe it.

He arrived five minutes early and before he could knock her Daddy opened the door. Rick noticed the man was missing the lower half of his leg and used a crutch, "Hello Sheriff, welcome to our home. I don't know if you remember me, Hershel Greene, I'm Beth's father." And he extended his hand to Rick.

"Hello Mr. Green, very nice to meet you," Rick gave him a slight smile and a firm handshake.

"Please, call me Hershel, we're not that formal around here. Beth's not ready quite yet, please, have a seat with me in the den."

And Rick was thinking, oh shit, here it comes. But to his surprise, it didn't go at all the way he thought.

"So, you're a bit older than my Beth, Rick. That's good, Beth will be better off with a more mature man."

Wait, that sounded like he thought this was already a serious relationship, it was barely a real first date. "Sir?"

"You must be something very special Rick, you're the first man Beth has ever agreed to date."

What? "I'm sorry, what?" Rick was confused.

"My Beth, she's never accepted a date, she always said no one interested her, but she meets you in the laundromat, and at 23 years of age, she's finally going on her first date. I guess you're an interesting fellow Rick." Her Daddy actually smiled at that.

Rick couldn't help letting out a small laugh, "Well that's new to me, and I have to say, I'm more than a little surprised, a beautiful girl like Beth, I would think the men would be lined up at your door."

"It's not that men haven't tried, it's that Beth has never said yes, until now." The older man looked him in the eye.

"My Beth, maybe she's just a little too smart." Hershel smiled a kind of melancholy smile.

"Too smart sir?" Rick had no idea what the man was talking about.

'Oh, she didn't tell you? Well then I've let the cat out of the bag. Beth has a master's degree in Applied Mathematics, and one in Computer Science. And she also has more than a few idiosyncrasies. She said you untangled her earbud wires, and rescued her keys from the car, so I guess you've seen some evidence of that. There are more, we're all used to it around here, it's just part of the package. What has always worried me more is, she's a little different than most folks, she's a little too sweet, a little too trusting, and well, you'll see."

What the fuck had he walked into? The wires and the keys were no big deal, but she was 23 years old with two Masters and had never been on a date? The whole thing was just strange. But he caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and there she was, and his breath caught in his throat.

She had on a dress with thin straps at the shoulders, it had a "V" at the bust, but it was definitely modest, leaving everything to the imagination. It was tight at the waist, with a flowing skirt that had some kind of uneven hem. She was wearing ankle boots, her hair was in a sort of off center ponytail, and she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

"Hi Rick, sorry I wasn't quite ready, Maggie, my sister, was helping me, oh I'm not going to fib, there were some issues with my necklace and bracelets being tangled, well, you've seen me in action," and she smiled that beautiful smile and in that moment, he just didn't give a rats ass about anything else.

"No problem Beth, I had a nice conversation with your father. Are you ready? We can leave anytime ," He smiled at her and it just made her feel warm all over.

"Yes, I guess I'd better get to my job. Good night Daddy," and she hugged her father and then, to Rick's surprise, she took his hand and walked him toward the door.

He opened her door and held a hand out to her as she got in the car. They hadn't even driven to the end of the driveway when she said, "I'm so sorry Rick, I haven't been completely honest with you, and I'm just not comfortable with that."

Okay, now she was going to tell him some awful truth, he knew she'd been too good to be true. "What is it Beth?" He tried to sound nonchalant.

"I knew exactly how many peaches had been picked, and it certainly wasn't two gazillion, gazillion isn't even a real number for goodness sake," she was talking a mile a minute, and she told him every bit of information about the peaches, in terms of numbers, including how many quarts they'd canned.

He wanted to laugh, but he worked hard at maintaining his cool. "I'm just different Rick, there's no getting around that. I have a strange ability with numbers, I've had it my whole life, who knows why? Anyway, I like to be honest with everyone, it's very important. I also didn't tell you that besides working for Daddy, and working at Horvath's, my brother in law, Glenn and I are writing computer programs for some large manufacturing firms, and also for the State of Georgia Department of Education. I apologize for not being honest with you earlier." She was so serious, and he was biting down hard on his lip, trying not to laugh.

"That's okay Beth, I'm not at all upset, in fact, I'm very impressed. How did you come about this skill with numbers?" He truly was curious.

"I was born with it, just a gift from God I suppose. I like having it, but other people get a little overwhelmed having to listen to me, so I've learned to keep most of my numbers to myself. You know, like how many steps it would have taken us to walk from the Laundromat to the diner," She shrugged a shoulder and damn, she was so cute, and so serious, and how the fuck could she possibly know how many steps it was?

"Well I think it's fascinating Beth, I really do. I have to say though, why are you working at two other jobs, when you could be working on your computer programs?" He glanced at her.

"I don't sleep too much, the counting sheep or counting anything else, doesn't work at all for me," and she laughed, "My brain just never wants to stop. So I'm usually up working on the programming by 3:30, but then I take a break, go to work, that's when Glenn really gets in there and does his thing, he's a daytime person. I guess you could say we have a system."

"I see, and I understand why you'd work for your Daddy, but what about Horvath? And surely your more qualified than 'assistant' bookkeeper," He really was intrigued by this whole thing.

"I've never been one to have friends, I certainly never had any popularity, I was kind of an outcast. But I have had one wonderful friend, he just accepts me for what I am, and I have always accepted him for what he is, his name is Aaron and he's an accountant now. He suspected someone was embezzling from Mr. Horvath, and he asked me to go in on a ruse and see if I could find out. It's been very difficult for me, I have to be honest, it's kind of a compulsion, but Aaron and Daddy both pointed out to me I'm not really the one lying, I'm trying to help catch someone who's stealing from a man who has worked hard his whole life to build a small business. I'm sure I've figured out who it is and how they're doing what they're doing, so you'll probably hear from Aaron in the next few days," She seemed sad.

He didn't understand why she would be, "Are you sorry the job is ending?"

"No, I'm actually very relieved, it has been so hard for me to live that lie. What's bothering me more though, is that someone would do that to another person, steal from them. It can be just awful, the way people treat one another. I don't understand how someone can be that way."

"Beth, I see it every day, the world is a harsh place. You may just be too nice for such an ugly place," and he reached over and squeezed her hand, before he even realized what he was doing.

She smiled at him and said, "Maybe I should make it my mission to make it a better place."

And he smiled back and said, "You could probably get that done Beth."

And he was so pissed off at himself because he knew he'd let it happen, dammit, he was all wrapped up in this woman.

A/N Well there it is, and yes, the first date continues in the next chapter, I'll have it up as soon as I get it down, no more than two days. Thank you for reading and reviewing xo