I noticed her immediately, of course. Before they even made it in the door. Tall, slender, long brown hair and that facial bone structure that my wife has come to call my "type." My automatic response was to think "oh, wow."

My partner didn't notice, of course, his back to the door. It was late, and at that time we were the only occupied table in the restaurant. In seven hours we'd be on the road, driving over 90 miles before sunrise on a bitter cold January day so we could help wrestle bighorn sheep on frozen, windswept ground.

But all thought about that impending excitement disappeared when the hostess seated the young couple in the booth next to ours, the gorgeous brunette facing me. Her muscular escort/boyfriend/fiance was on crutches, and after considerable shuffling to get himself seated, suddenly decided he had to move and sit alongside the beauty on her bench. At first I thought they were just being romantic, but the reason soon became apparent as they were joined by an older couple, presumably his parents. A first meeting, it would seem, by the introductions made.

Our steaks arrived, and I spared only a few furtive glances at the stunning woman just a couple meters away. Each and every time her eyes immediately caught mine. There was no shyness there, nor any arrogance or irritation. Just the simple acceptance of a beautiful woman who has been looked at most of her young life. I tried not to stare.

Somewhere through our dinner the busboy dumped an entire iced tea on the elder gentleman's lap. I have to wonder if his eyes, too, were distracted.

As we waited almost interminably for our checks, each wasted minute cutting into the limited hours of sleep we would get that night, I overhead one snippet of conversation from the next table...

"It's almost exactly like the Junior Miss competition..."

And so, I was not surprised when I logged on this afternoon and spotted her face smiling back at me from this screen...

The Miss USA representative for our state.

"No," the wife later told me, "she didn't win."

But take it from me...

She is much more stunning in real life. Without all the gaudy stage makeup.