"Now, don't be nervous." Don called behind him, "the horse will sense it and act ornery."

Blanche clung to the reins and clenched the saddle with her knees. "Uh, sure, okay!" She squealed as the horse moved a little faster. "This is a lovely way to spend an afternoon."

"I love horses." Don said. He fell back next to her. "You probably spent plenty of time around them growing up in Atlanta."

"Sure." Blanche said. "Plenty of time."

"So, tell me, how did you spend your time while we were apart?" Don asked.

"Oh, well," Blanche began, she started laughing, "well, actually, its really funny. So, I entered a contest at the movie theater for tickets to Burt Reynolds dinner theater with a meet-and-greet with Burt Reynolds after. But, we were having the house fumigated so I got a hotel on the beach so we could make a real weekend out of it. I didn't realize the hotel was actually, basically, a brothel."

Don laughed loudly. "A brothel?"

"And, we ended up getting arrested in a sting." Blanche continued. "We were loaded in the paddywagon and taken to lock-up. Ooh, and I very nearly got in a fight with a hooker."

"You should have called me to come get you out." Don said cheerfully.

"Well, we had called Sophia to bail us out but she came and took the tickets from us so we didn't get out for another hour. She ended up hobnobbing with all sorts of celebrities." Blanche continued. "And, then, just as we were lamenting the whole thing, who rings the doorbell but Mr. Burt Reynolds himself!"

"So, you got to meet him after all." Don said with a smile.

"Just for a moment but he was just delightful." Blanche said.

Don chuckled. "I bet. Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, at any rate." He led her horse through a thicket of trees. "I've arranged a picnic for us."

"Oh, how nice." Blanche said, touched. "I love picnics."

They settled on the blanket. Don opened the basket and took out a bottle of white wine and two glasses.

"We have some sandwiches, some charcuterie, dessert."

"What's the sweet?" Blanche asked hopefully.

"Chocolate cheesecake." Don said, showing her.

"Ooh, you know me too well." Blanche said happily.

Don fed her an olive. "I do know you. I remember everything you've told me about you, and your life, and your roommates. I want to know every detail of you like I want to know every detail of your body. Every freckle, every scar, ever curve."

Blanche turned red and looked away with a smile. "You're such a charmer, Don Bennett."

"You make it easy, Blanche Devereaux." Don said adoring. He fed her a piece of prosciutto.

"Keep feeding me like that and I'm gonna get real big and fat." Blanche warned. "Then you won't like me anymore."

"Blanche, you could weight eight hundred pounds and I would still think you're the most beautiful woman on the planet." Don assured her. "I'm going to find out just how beautiful tonight."

Blanche felt dread settle in her stomach but forced a smile. "Let's eat, I'm famished."

XXXXXXXXXX

"...like that time we were in Switzerland and you broke your leg." Susan said.

"What were y'all doing in Switzerland?" Blanche asked.

"Tracking an investor." Don explained. "He was instrumental in a great portion of our hedgefund but he was also notorious for shirking meetings for leisure activities. So, we followed him. He was so impressed that he invested more than he originally promised."

"How did you break your leg?" Blanche asked.

"I wish I could say I was doing something impressive and daring but truthfully," Don explained with an embarrassed smile, "I tripped over one of the investor's dogs."

Blanche laughed behind her hand. "Oh, that poor dog."

"He was fine," Don assured her, "went back to licking himself."

"We were supposed to go back to New York after two days, we ended up staying for a week." Susan added. "He was holed up in a designer hospital for all of those days, and me and Tony learned how to ski."

"My late husband always wanted us to learn but we never did." Blanche said. "I still want to learn."

"I'am actually a great skier." Don chuckled. "We can go sometime."

Blanche smiled at her plate. She turned to Susan. "This was an amazing dinner, I've never been much of a cook."

"I took to it late in life." Susan said. "My mother always employed cooks and housekeepers. I didn't even know how to do laundry until I was in college."

"Where did you go to college?" Blanche inquired.

"I went to Vassar for my undergrad and Wellesley for my graduate." Susan said. "Where did you go?"

Blanche's mouth opened and she tried to speak but the kitchen door opened and the cook brought out a beautiful cake that was for dessert. "That cake looks beautiful."

"Its rum spice, you'll plotz." Susan said brightly. "Give Blanche her slice first." She smiled. "I made that myself, the guys love it, but they're too nice. I want to have an honest opinion and you look like you have good taste."

Blanche scooped a piece onto her fork and ate it slowly. It was one of the most delicious things she'd ever tasted. "It's wonderful, Susan. One of the best cakes I've had."

Susan beamed. "I owe the boys an apology for being a skeptic."

"To that I offer a hearty 'we told you so'." Tony said. He turned to Blanche. "Don tells us you work at a museum. That must be interesting."

"Oh, it is." Blanche said, happy to be on a subject she knew about. "I'm the director's executive assistant so I'm basically in charge of everything. I handle everything from acquisition to events. Its a fabulous job."

"We'll have to come to the city and take a tour." Susan suggested. "I love museums. My favorite one is in Paris."

"You've been to Paris?" Blanche marveled. "I've always wanted to go."

"Tony and I are prolific travelers." Susan said. "We're almost irritating. I know the passport office hates us. We're always requesting new passpirts, we stamp ours so much."

"One day we plan on retiring and staying right here in Florida." Tony said. "I hardly see my horses."

"Tell me about them." Blanche requested. "It must be a difficult job."

"Oh, those are our children." Tony said. "I adore them. Each horse has its own personality, has different parenting needs. Its wonderful."

"No human babies?" Blanche asked.

"We decided our careers weren't conducive to having children." Susan explained. "I'm not remotely maternal."

"Me neither." Blanche admitted. "I had a nanny for my children. I sort of regret that now." She laughed weakly. "Oh, well, they're all smart and educated so that's what matters."

"Blanche is just modest; I'm sure you're a better mother than you claim." Don said.

Blanche smiled uncomfortably. "Its nice of you to say."

Fortunately the conversation shifted and Blanche was spared any further conversation about motherhood and she.

XXXXXXXXXX

Blanche sat on the window ledge and stared out at the dark trees in the distance.

She knew what was coming and she knew that she wanted it but she was nervous. It had been a long time since she had been nervous about making love to a man.

She didn't like the changes her body was undergoing. The weight had gone to her hips, her thighs, her backside, her belly. She looked dumpy, not pregnant. She felt dumpy.

She heard the bathroom door open and shut. A moment later Don put his hands on her shoulders and kissed the top of her head.

"What are you think of?"

"Hmm? Oh, enjoying the view." Blanche smiled back at him. "Its beautiful, even at night. I love trees, always have. My friends and I were in court recently with our neighbors trying to stop the city from tearing down a 200 year old tree on our street. The tree was on the property of a neighbor who was not the most sociable lady. She wanted it torn down. Unfortunately she died and my friend, Rose came up with an ingenious way of keeping the tree from being torn down."

"You have an interesting life, Blanche." Don said into her hair. He took her by the hand and led her to the end of the bed. "If you're tired...".

"No, I'm fine." Blanche assured him.

"I want to see you." Don requested.

Blanche held her robe shut. "Or, we could just get in bed with the lights off."

"Blanche, I want to know everything about you." Don requested gently. "We're going to be married one day, we have to be totally comfortable with each other." He took her hands. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes." Blanche said softly. Even though I haven't given you that trust.

"I'll let you see me." Don said. He opened his robe and lay it on the bed. He unbuttoned his green silk pajama top and slid it off, keeping his eyes on Blanche's the whole time.

He stopped and let her look at him. He tended towards portly but had a nice chest and muscled arms. A light dusting of black and grey hair covered his chest. He was just fine.

Blanche smiled and nodded.

Don untied his pajama pants and pushed them down. He put them with his robe and top and spread his arms. He did a turn. "Well?"

Blanche smiled and felt that familiar stirring. "You look fine, Don." She took a deep breath and let it go. "Fair is fair." She took her robe off and lay it aside. She stepped out of her maribo heels. She turned red in the face as she slid one strap down her arm and the the other. She let her silk gown fall to the floor and stepped out of it.

She stood before him, as bare as he.

Don took his time looking her over. Blanche was uncomfortable at first but as he looked her over and she watched his desire for her grow she felt emboldened. No man has ever made her feel so beautiful. It was like he couldn't stop looking at her. Like she would be taken from him so he'd never see her again and he was trying to remember everything.

When he finally reached for her they fell in bed and joined each other in an evening both passionate and emotional.

XXXXXXXXX

"Hello, girls!" Blanche greeted, letting herself in the house. She set her luggage down. "I'm home!"

Dorothy, Rose, and Sophia came from the kitchen.

"Blanche, did you have a good time?" Dorothy asked happily.

"It was wonderful." Blanche said brightly. "It was a beautiful place we went to. We went swimming and riding and hiking through the Southern Glades. We had a great time."

"And, did you...?" Dorothy asked.

"We did." Blanche said with a coy smile. "It was wonderful." She sat down on the sofa. "How was y'all's weekend?"

"It was wonderful." Rose said happily. "We went to the music fair in the park and Dorothy let me have an ice cream cone."

"It was my good deed of the week." Dorothy said sardonically. "I only gave it to her because she wouldn't stop singing along and I couldn't hear the music."

"Well, if she knew the lyrics and it was a music festival." Blanche remarked.

"It was a celebration of jazz," Dorothy added, "there were no lyrics." She smiled broadly. "Oh, I heard from my friend, Jeanne, she's coming for a visit soon. Her partner, Pat, passed away a year ago and she's finally ready for a little vacation. She's going to stay in my room."

"That'll be lovely." Blanche said. "Is this your college roommate, Jeanne?"

"She is." Dorothy said. "We were always so close. I adore her. She's one of the only friends I had that Ma never really found anything to complain about."

"I can't wait to meet her." Blanche said. She smiled. "Well, I'm happy to be home and I'm going to go unpack." She took her suitcase to her bedroom.

"I'm so excited about Jeanne, I haven't seen her in so long." Dorothy said. "Pat was sick for the last couple years and Jeanne was busy playing nurse."

"I always liked Jeanne." Sophia declared. "She was always a good girl."

"Dorothy?" Blanche called from her bedroom. "Could you come here, please?"

Dorothy went to Blanche's room. "What is it, honey?"

Blanche looked over her shoulder from the bed. "I'm bleeding."

TBC