Chapter 7 #3
“Just you.” He brought a bottle of good French wine anyway, an Haut-Brion he knew she loved, and she was pleased when she saw it and thanked him with a hug.
“You look well,” she said to him. “You’ve got a great tan.
” He looked better than she’d expected and very handsome and healthy, better than he sounded and said he was.
He said the holidays had been brutal without Helen, which was understandable, and to be expected.
“The wind was good and we sailed a lot. It was the evenings that killed me. I miss her so much.” He looked devastated and she hugged him again and he held her tight.
She felt sorry for him, and was upset that he wasn’t recovering better.
She kissed him on the cheek, and served him the simple dinner her housekeeper had left them, and they each had a glass of the wine he brought. It was exceptional.
They sat in the living room after dinner, and he sat next to her on the couch and put an arm around her.
“You don’t know what it means to me to see you, Isabelle.
You’re my lifeline.” She smiled at him and gently touched his cheek.
She wanted to help him but didn’t know how.
And as she looked at him, he leaned toward her and kissed her, tenderly at first, and then passionately, and gently touched her breast. She was shocked at first, and didn’t know what to do.
She hadn’t been involved with a man since Steve had died, and she was comfortable alone, surrounded by her friends.
But John’s searing kiss suddenly struck a chord of memory, and she found herself kissing him back and responding to his touch.
He gently picked her up off the couch, walked to her bedroom and laid her gently on the bed, and before she knew what was happening, they were making love.
He was an artful lover. He awakened feelings in her that she had long forgotten and no longer missed, but suddenly it was all back.
He was a wonderful lover, and she lay at peace in his arms afterward, wondering how it had happened.
She realized that his loneliness had overpowered him.
She had been Helen’s closest friend, so she was a link to Helen in John’s mind.
He looked at Isabelle tenderly with an air of confession.
“I’ve been in love with you for years. I could never do that to Helen, but I’ve wanted you for as long as I can remember.
And she and Steve are no longer here. You were all I could think of during the holidays.
” It was flattering and she was touched, but it came as a surprise.
She enjoyed John as a friend and didn’t want to spoil it.
He had advanced far into unexplored territory and Isabelle wasn’t sure what to do now.
She wasn’t even sure what she wanted herself.
He was opening doors she had closed a long time ago and she was comfortable with having closed.
“We need to think about this,” she said gently. “It’s a big step, and I don’t want to upset Gabby.”
“I think she’d be pleased. But you’re right. I think we should keep this quiet for a while.”
“I agree. John, are you serious about this? Or are you just lonely? I don’t want to start something complicated we’ll both regret when you’re feeling better.
I haven’t wanted a man in my life since Steve died.
But this is different, we know each other so well as friends.
” It was like an extension to their friendship, an added dimension.
“It is different,” John agreed. “It’s a dream I never thought would come true, and now it has.
” She smiled at him in the soft light of the lamp next to her bed.
She was still beautiful at sixty-five, and he had wanted her for a long time.
That much was true. Being with her was like being with Helen again, they were so similar.
“I won’t ever regret this,” he said, looking emotional.
“And I hope you won’t either. What are you doing this weekend?
” he asked her, lying naked in her bed. He was a handsome bull of a man, and Helen had commented a few times that he was very sexual.
Isabelle knew now that was true. He was already aroused and wanted to make love again, and this time Isabelle wasn’t startled and knew what to expect, and was a more willing and sensual partner than the first time.
It had all come back to her very quickly, faster than she expected.
But the situation with John had surprised her.
She had never been attracted to him as a man.
It had never occurred to her before. She loved Steve, and John was her best friend’s husband, which she respected, even now.
“Do you feel guilty toward Helen?” she asked him afterward.
“No, because I’ve wanted you for so long.
It’s taken me this long to get up the courage to tell you.
I couldn’t hold back any longer. It was all I could think of in St. Barth.
Will you come to the Hamptons with me this weekend?
There’s no one out there this time of year.
No one will see us, if we’re going to keep it quiet for a while. ”
“I think we should, out of respect for Helen,” she said solemnly. “At least we should wait until the one-year anniversary before we share this with our friends. It’s only another two months,” she said respectfully.
“We can stay at my place in the Hamptons if you want,” he offered.
“Or mine.” She smiled at him and he kissed her, unraveled himself from her sheets, and stood up next to the bed, in all his naked glory. She went to put a robe on and tied it around herself as he smiled at her. It was a pale pink satin dressing gown that flowed down her body.
“God, you are so beautiful,” he said, admiring her.
No man had said that to her in ten years.
It was an adjustment. She had never considered John lustfully, and it was a huge change thinking of him that way now, but not an unpleasant one.
It was just new and different, and she needed to give it some careful thought.
He had taken her by surprise. His passion was completely unexpected.
“What time do you want me to pick you up tomorrow?” he asked her, and she thought about it.
He acted as though their being together was totally normal and a given now.
Full speed ahead, like the force of nature he was.
“Eleven,” she answered, still ambiguous about it.
“Perfect,” he said, and kissed her, and then he dressed and she walked him to the front door. There was an unreal feeling to the entire evening.
“I’m not sure if I should be saying hello or goodbye,” she said, teasing him, and he laughed.
She wondered if Helen would have been upset about it.
She wasn’t sure. Helen had adored him, but he was right that both Helen and Steve were gone and he and Isabelle were both very much alive.
She showered, thinking about him after he left.
She wasn’t sure how she felt about it yet, but suddenly the thought of a weekend with him in the Hamptons added new excitement to her life, so maybe it was a good thing.
She got a huge bouquet of red roses from him at nine o’clock the morning after they slept with each other, and a card that said, Thank You.
I Love You, J. He arrived promptly at eleven to drive her to the Hamptons.
She was wearing a sable parka and Chanel jeans, a beige sweater, and brown suede Hermès boots.
She was always exquisitely chic and it excited him to be with her.
They talked and laughed all the way to the country, and decided to stay at her house because his hadn’t been used in so long, nearly a year, and the water had been turned off.
His property manager and a cleaning crew had been taking care of it ever since Helen became too sick to go at the end.
John hadn’t been there since then. Using Isabelle’s house would be easier, and she had her property manager get the house clean and have the heater turned on for the weekend.