For the next few weeks Blanche avoided returning Don Bennett's calls. She wasn't sure she could handle talking to him knowing she was going to have to end things with him.
"Morning, Blanche." Dorothy greeted as Blanche swept into the kitchen in a long silk robe. "How did you sleep?"
"Like a rock." Blanche said. "I hit my pillow at nine pm last night and don't think I woke up once until just this moment." She poured a cup of coffee, took a sip, and ran to the sink to throw up. "I guess coffee is out."
"Where did it go?" Rose asked innocently.
"To Disney World, Rose!" Dorothy exclaimed in annoyance. She turned back to Blanche. "I remember when I was pregnant with Kate, I couldn't sleep at all. Whether it was the heartburn or the frequent trips to the bathroom, but I was so exhausted."
"When I was pregnant with my kids I was working on the farm." Rose said. "I'd hardly lay down before it was time to get up again. And, we were hatching chickens. I'd sit on the eggs all day, then I'd go babysit the calves while the heifers went to work. It was exhausting."
"You would 'sit on the eggs'?" Dorothy questioned.
"That explains a lot." Sophia remarked.
"I've had so much energy lately." Blanche admitted. "I've never cleaned the house so much."
"You've never cleaned the house ever." Sophia stated.
"I even cleaned the baseboards." Blanche added. She sighed wistfully. "This is the longest I've ever gone without male company."
"See what you can accomplish if you get your head out of bed?" Dorothy remarked.
The doorbell rang and they all looked at the kitchen door in surprise.
"Who is that this early?" Dorothy questioned. "Ma, you're dressed, go find out."
She and the girls went to their bedrooms while Sophia went to get the door.
"I hear you, I hear you." Sophia said as the bell rang again. She opened the door. "Yeah, what'dya want?"
"Hello, Mrs. Petrillo." Don Bennett greeted. "Is Blanche is here?"
Sophia's eyebrows short up. "Blanche? Uh, yeah, sure. Come on in. I'll see if Her Majesty is presentable." She went down the hall to Blanche's bedroom and knocked. "Blanche, Ashley Wilkes is here to see you!"
Blanche wrenched the door open. "What?"
"He's here." Sophia urged. "He's in the living room."
Blanche groaned. "Take him to the lanai, Sophia, and get him something to drink. I'll be out in a moment." She shut the door and ran to her closet. "I have nothing to wear!"
She'd filled out a noticeable bit over the last few weeks but her pride had kept her from going shopping for larger clothes.
In the end she threw on a teal skirt and a white blouse and stepped into a pair of low heels. Her feet started hurting the moment she did and she realized they were tight.
"My ankles are so fat." She sank on the edge of the bed and put her face in her hands.
Her bedroom door opened quietly and Dorothy and Sophia came in.
"Blanche, Ma says Don is out on the lanai." Dorothy said.
"I know." Blanche said with dread. "I can't go out there. I can't face him."
"Sweetie, you have to." Dorothy said gently. "It isn't fair to keep him waiting like you've done. You need to go out there and be honest with him."
Blanche waioed quietly and covered her face. "Oh, I just can't hurt him. He's a good man, a decent man. It isn't fair."
"Its for all those reasons you need to." Dorothy said.
"Blanche, let me tell you a story." Sophia said. She sat down on Blanche's make-up chair. "Picture it: Sicily 1919. I was a beautiful young woman with a backside you could crack walnuts on and breasts like two mounds of fresh mozzarella. Anyway, there was a young man, Pietro Gianelli, who was sweet on me. But, I had met my Salvadore. Pietro proposed to me. So did Sal. I didn't know how to break Pietro's heart. He was a very kind man and he adored me. I couldn't tell him I was marrying Sal so I never did. I married Sal and moved to America and I never told Pietro. He sat there in his father's house for the next forty years waiting for me. He grew fat and a beard and developed a drinking problem. Then he died. And, I never apologized or gave him peace. I'll always regret that."
Blanche nodded slowly. "You're right, Sophia. I'll go out there and do the right thing." She stood up and clapsed her nervous hands. "Wish me luck."
"Good luck, Blanche." Rose said importantly.
Blanche clacked out to the lanai and smiled apprehensively. "Hello, Don."
Don rose from a chaise. "Blanche. You haven't returned any of my calls. Its been a month."
"I'm sorry, I know." Blanche said softly. "I'm sorry. I wasn't sure how to talk to you."
"Your mouth would do." Don joked. He came to her. "Blanche, please, don't end us before we began."
"Don, you don't understand." Blanche insisted. "I can't be with you now."
"I understand that your husband will always have first place in your heart, my wife will always have first place in mine," Don urged, "but, surely we have room for each other." He took her hands.
"Its not that." Blanche said shakily. "I mean, I'll always care for George, but he's not the issue."
"Look, I might be impetuous but at my age you have to be." Don said. He took a box out of his pocket. "Blanche, will you marry me?"
Blanche laughed softly, nervously. "Don, we hardly know each other. How can we get married?"
"Blanche, I work in finance so I know a thing or two about risky bets and we aren't one." Don said. "I haven't felt about a woman the way I feel for you since Dianna died. I want to experience this for the rest of my life."
Blanche looked at the ring and inhaled softly. She smiled sadly. "Why, yes. I'll marry you."
Don grinned slid the ring down Blanche's finger. "I plan on making you very happy, Blanche." He gave her a crushing hug.
Blanche stared over his shoulder in bewilderment. "I hope I make you happy, too."
Don took a step back, his smile wide. "I have to go out of town for a few days to New York City but when I get back I've got a trip planned for the two of us to my friends' horse farm."
"Sounds grest." Blanche said brightly. She looked away and then back at him and smiled. "I'll miss you. I've missed you these last few weeks."
"I've missed you, too." Don said. "What happened?"
Blanche stared at him with wide eyes. "Where? Oh, uh, I was so confused about how I felt about you so I was staying away."
"Oh, Blanche." Don chuckled, giving her a hug. "You are the sweetest." He kissed her cheek. "I have to go, I'm on my way to the airport. I'll call as soon as I'm back from New York."
"Okay!" Blanche said brightly. She walked him to the front door. "Well, I'll see you when you get back." She wavef him off from the door and came back inside.
"So, he took it well?" Dorothy asked.
Blanche turned and smiled broadly. "He sure did. He isn't at all uncomfortable with it."
"I told you he wouldn't have a problem if you just told him." Dorothy said cheerfully. "See, doesn't honesty feel good?"
"It sure does." Blanche laughed nervously.
XXXXXXXXXX
Don's friends, the Hoffmanns, owned a beautiful horse farm outside of Florida City and Homestead with a beautiful view of the Everglades.
"Don, it's stunning here." Blanche said, peering out of the car window. "Its like a whole different world."
They went through a tall iron gate. On either side of the driveway were long stretches of green pasture. Horses dotted the field, grazing and running around.
"Oh! Look at the darling things!" Blanche cooed. "Oh, aren't they beautiful?"
"Wait until you see Gherbera, Tony's prize-winning stud." Don said.
"Stud?" Blanche asked, whirling around. "He a jockey or something?"
Don laughed happily. "He's Tony and Suzanne's horse. He's worth three million dollars. Everytime he studs they get twenty grand for him."
Blanche's eyebrows shot up. "How much would you say it costs to buy and care for a horse?"
"Oh, between two hundred and seven hundred." Don answered.
"Oh, well I could swing that, even seven hundred dollars a year isn't terrible when you think of the profit I could net." Blanche said brightly. "I could earn back what I spent with one studding."
"Oh, hundred 'thousand', Blanche." Don added quickly. "Between two and seven hundred thousand."
Blanche blanched. "Good God." She looked behind them and counted. "Don, they have at least seven horses!"
"They have ten total." Don informed her.
Blanche's eyes went wide as she did the math. "Don, that close to five million dollars a year for all this! Not to mention the land, the taxes, the vet bills, food!"
"Susan works in finance, too." Don said. "She's got her claws in just about every fund that exists. She's the Tiger Lady. I always turn to her for financial advice."
"Oh, how nice." Blanche said simperingly. "What does Tony do?"
"He runs the ranch." Don answered. "He raises the horses and the kids."
"A man raising kids? How progressive." Blanche remarked.
"I wouldn't mind it." Don said, parking beside a Mercedes, a BMW, and an old farm truck. "I didn't get to spend nearly as much time with Daniel as I would have liked."
"Oh?" Blanche asked hopefully. "You'd be a stay-at-home dad?"
"I've had a whole lifetime of working." Don said. "I've got more money than a man should have. I'd give it all up to do something good with the rest of my life."
Blanche smiled at her hands. "That's sweet."
Don came out and handed her out of the car. "Welcome to the Glade."
They stood before a large Spanish-style villa with balconies and porches, flowers and vines creeping up the stucco walls. It seemed to go up and on and on for miles.
"The house is beautiful." Blanche marveled.
"I've always loved it here." Don agreed. "If I didn't need to be in the city or I'd go crazy I'd move out here in a heartbeat."
"Oh, I know." Blanche said. "Why, I don't know what I'd do with myself if I weren't near a Neiman-Marcus or a Jordan Marsh."
Don put his arm around her waist and escorted her to the house. "You're going to love Susan and Tony. They're great people." He rang the bell.
"Well, you've talked about them in glowing terms, so I'm sure I will." Blanche said affectionately.
The front door opened and a beautiful woman, absolutely stunning, with mile-long legs and bright red-gold hair piled atop her head, greeted them with a smile. Her apple-green eyes sparkled. "Donnie-boy!"
"Suzie!" Don greeted back.
They hugged warmly.
"How are, you old bastard?" Susan questioned with a wide, white grin.
"I'm even better now." Don said happily. "Where is Tony? He forget his manners?"
They heard clomping behind them and snorting. "Hardly."
Atop a huge black horse, the biggest horse Blanche had ever seen, even bigger than a Budweiser Clydesdale, was a tan man with a thick mustache with a cowboy hat.
"The Marlboro Man." Blanche breathed.
"Tony, get down here and say hello to Blanche." Don said laughingly.
Tony jumped down off the horse and held the reins in one hand and extended his free hand. "Tony Hoffmann."
Blanche shook his hand with a charming smile. "Its a pleasure, Tony."
Tony and Don hugged tightly.
"Good to see you, Don." Tony said warmly.
"Blanche, this is Gherbera." Don said, rubbing the oversized animal fondly. "I've known him since he was the size of that goat over there."
Blanche smiled and touched the horse apprehensively. It snorted and tossed it's head and she jerked her hand away with a nervous giggle. "How sweet."
"Well, we'll get you two settled in your rooms and then we can lunch out on the patio." Susan said.
She led them upstairs to two bedrooms connected by a bathroom. Both painted white with dark-stained molding and trim, with large wooden beds across from tall French doors from which hung long white curtains.
Blanche took her shoes off and dug her toes in the deep white rug. "Oh, my." She heard a chuckle and turned. "Oh, haha."
Don leaned against the bathroom door, smoking a cigar. "The rugs are the finest alpaca."
"This house is gorgeous." Blanche said. She pointed at the painting on the wall. "That is stunning."
"Its a real G. Whitman." Don said. "They have great taste in art."
"Yes, they do." Blanche agreed.
Don came and put his arms around her. "This is the perfect place to relax and be together." He kissed her neck.
Blanche snickered as his breath tickled her neck. "Don, stop, that tickles." She clung to him. "That tickles."
Don pulled away with a smile. "We have plenty of time to be alone later."
Blanche's eyes went wide at the prospect. Of course he was hoping they'd share a bed and intimacy during their trip. She just wasn't sure if she was ready.
TBC
