More love stories

Kelly and Shannon Bell

Old school pictures show that Kelly and Shannon first met in second grade at Fremont Elementary School. But they don't remember meeting until middle school, when they ran in the same circle of friends.

By their sophomore year at Carson High School, the two were a couple.

"We had been flirting since junior high," Shannon remembers. "When we finally started to date each other, it was easy."

The two were inseparable. Every morning, Kelly would ride his bike from his house on Ponderosa Drive to hers on Robinson Street and they would walk to school together or get a ride from her mom. Every day, they ate lunch together.

After school, they spent afternoons into the evening at her house.

"He was a staple in our house," Shannon said. "He was always there. He just became the son my dad never had."

After dinner, he would ride his bike back home, sometimes as late as 9 o'clock.

"If it was bad weather, my mom would put his bike in the back of her Cadillac and drive him," Shannon said.

Still, both families were skeptical when the two decided to marry at 20.

"They about flipped," Shannon said. "They thought we were too young. But we had plan. We knew what we wanted out of life."

They always knew they would have two children, build their own home, run their own business and make their marriage and family their first priority.

And they've been able to check them each off their list. They still live in the house they built 22 years ago. They have two daughters Mackena, 22, and Kellcy, 16, and they run K. Bell Tile and Marble together.

Their greatest accomplishment, Shannon said, is keeping their family together. The two, both 44, will celebrate 24 years together in September.

"We're proud of each other for proving it's still possible," she said. "Does it mean the last 29 years have been easy? No. We've just been mindful that our marriage is not just about the two of us. It's about all four of us. And we made up our minds we would make it work. It takes commitment, and a lot of support and respect for one another."

They don't worry about the things they've missed by getting married so young.

"We feel lucky we've been able to experience everything together," she said.

Greg and Danielle Thurman

The first thing Greg and Danielle Thurman noticed they had in common was their laugh. Across the room from one another at a party, they coincidentally erupted into an outburst of boisterous chuckles at the same time.

"It was just about the same laugh," Greg recalled. "The whole party stopped. Then there was a howl of laughter after that."

He said he fell in love the moment he saw her.

But she wasn't available.

"She had promised her childhood sweetheart she would be with him," Greg said. "I didn't want to stand in her way."

So Danielle moved to Las Vegas and married the boy she had been dating since she was 12.

"If I see you again, I'll see you again," Greg remembers thinking.

A couple of years later, he got a phone call. It was Danielle. She said she had made a mistake and asked him to come get her.

"I said OK," Greg recounted. "I'll be right there."

There were no second thoughts, no resentments.

"We were just always meant to be together," he said.

Even when he saw her 1-year-old baby girl, he didn't hesitate.

"I fell in love with her right away, too," he said.

Married now for 18 years, after an 11-year engagement, the two have another daughter, 17, and two grandchildren.

Greg, 50, admits they've had their struggles, but says he would choose Danielle, 45, all over again.

"It's a lot of work, hard work," he said. "But the older you get, the more it's worth it."

Naughty & Nice

When you run a store like Naughty or Nice, said manager Marilu Royal, it's hard to say what the "average" customer wants.

"Everybody's different," she said. "Everybody's interesting. Everybody has a story."

Then she adds, "Some of it, I don't want to know."

So, in anticipation of the most romantic day of the year, the store was stocked with all sorts of gift ideas, from the playful candy hearts with messages like, "cute butt!" to the unspeakables tucked away in the back room.

"There is a lot of fantasy involved with Valentine's Day," Royal said. "Usually, people are looking for a combination of romantic and naughty."

She said women often come in knowing exactly what they want.

"Men always need help," she said.

The one-size-fits-most lingerie makes it a bit easier, she said, but sizes run up to 6X.

For the undecided, she said, she will direct them to ready-made gift baskets or a stack of suggestive playing cards.

As Valentine's Day approached, she said, business was on the rise, but she expected a rush Monday night as men came in for last-minute gifts.

"There's never a dull moment in here," Royal said.