Passion in James County XII
The Widow
By D.C. Roi
Chapter seven
Fran Martin looked across the conference room table at the man sitting across from her. His name was Brian Danielson and he was the assistant principal of a high school where her company was negotiating a contract to provide employee assistance services. He was a big, bulky man, probably in his fifties. He had gray hair and a receding hairline, and his glasses looked fairly thick. They had been meeting all day, hammering out details of the contract and, for some reason, she found herself attracted to him.
"He sure isn't anything like Brent," she mused. Brent, the man she'd just broken off with, was an aspiring actor; a buff, blonde man of twenty-five she met while attending a gym where he was working as a personal trainer.
"The personal trainer gig is only until I can get my acting career going," he told her the night of their first date, when they were lying in each other's arms sweaty and exhausted after having some of the most athletic sex Fran ever experienced.
"Well, Fran," Brian said, "I think that last item just about does it. I'm sure I can convince the superintendent to recommend your company to the school board, which means your contract will almost certainly be selected."
The man's comment snapped Fran out of her reverie about the buff blonde stud who'd fucked her silly then broken her heart by moving to California. "Fine, Brian," she said, smiling. "I'm glad we could reach agreement on this." She looked at her watch. It was almost five-thirty. "God, I promised Joanne I'd try to get home early," she thought. "Look at the time! She's going to think I've abandoned her."
Brian saw her looking at her watch. "Fran, I'm sorry I kept you so late," he said. "I suppose you have to get home, right?" There was just a tiny trace of disappointment in his voice.
"That's all right, Brian," Fran replied. "I suppose I should get going. What about you? Won't your wife be wondering where you are?" Even though she had been meeting with him daily for almost two weeks, she knew very little about his family. He had mentioned children and grandchildren a couple of times, though, which made her assume he was married. He hadn't mentioned his wife at all, though, and she wondered about that.
"I'm a widower. My wife passed away four years ago," he said.
"Oh, Brian, I'm sorry, I didn't know," Fran responded, feeling embarrassed.
"That's one of the reasons I tend to work late more often than I should," Brian replied. He smiled. "You may find this presumptuous of me, but as a way of making up for keeping you this late, could I offer you dinner?"
Fran wasn't sure why, but she found that she really did want to accept his invitation. He was totally unlike any man she'd ever gone out with before, but she found him both enjoyable to be with and intriguing. His invitation was almost too tempting to turn down.
"Now, there is one other thing that might affect your decision," Brian said. His face reddened a little. "Would it be all right if we ate at my place?" He looked at her hopefully.
Fran hesitated a minute before replying then she decided having dinner with him at his home would be all right. After all, they were both adults, why couldn't they have dinner together?
Brian seemed very pleased that she had accepted his invitation. They cleared off the table they were working on, then he locked up his office and led her out to his car.
"How long were you married?" Fran asked Brian as they drove toward his house.
"Twenty-five years," he replied. "I used to tease Lorrie that I'd been with her longer than I was with my parents."
"What happened to her, your wife, I mean?" Fran inquired.
"Uterine cancer," Brian replied.
"Oh, God, that's horrible," Fran said.
"It was pretty rough near the end," Brian said. "But we managed. She wanted to die at home and she did."
"What was she like?" Fran asked. She wondered about his wife. She could tell from the tone of Brian's voice that he had cared for his late wife very much.
Brian drove for a while, looking thoughtful, and didn't reply. "You know, I've never tried to put what Lorrie was like into words," he said at last. "It's funny, the answer to your question popped into my mind the minute you asked it, but it was all images, not words. Lorrie was perhaps the most self-assured person I ever knew. She understood people better than anyone I've ever met, was caring and very giving, and was very self-contained."
Fran looked at Brian while he talked. His eyes, and his voice, told her how deeply he had cared for his wife.
"That wasn't all," he continued. She was also a marvelous lover."
Fran was startled that Brian would talk about this side of his married life so openly, and without being asked. His openness unnerved her.
Brian, looking a little dreamy, almost as if he was unaware of Fran's presence, continued to talk about his wife and their love life. It was as if he needed to talk about this for a long time and, once he started, couldn't stop. "She had a level of sensuality I never encountered before I met her," he said, "and haven't since."
He paused a minute and looked at Fran. "I hope you aren't offended by my saying this, but there are times this past week when we were working together that you reminded me of Lorrie. I find you an incredibly sensuous woman."
Fran felt herself blushing. She didn't know what to say. She had a feeling Brian had paid her a very high compliment, yet she found that compliment, and the fact that he'd given it to her, disturbing. Why had he brought up the topic of sex? Was it just that he was a very open person, or...
She decided it would be best to steer the conversation away from sex. "How many children do you have?" she asked. "You mentioned them several times this week."
Brian smiled and nodded. "Two," he said. "Our daughter Amy lives in New England. She's married. The granddaughter you heard me bragging about is her gift to me. My son Bill lives in the Midwest. He's a computer consultant."
"Is he married?" Fran asked.
"Not yet," Brian replied. "But he tells me he's working on it." He chuckled. "I keep telling him he has to settle down with one girl if he plans to get married, but..." He shrugged. "...he keeps telling me I should take my own advice."
"Oh," Fran said. She fell silent, lost in thought. She found herself growing more and more anxious the closer they got to his home, and began to fear she'd made a mistake in accepting his invitation.
Brian turned onto a side street a few miles from the center of town. The neighborhood looked as if people who were quite successful populated it. He drove down the block and pulled into the driveway of a huge colonial mansion, pushed a button on the sun visor, then drove into a bay of the three-car garage attached to the house, and shut off the motor.
"Well," he said, "we're here."
"Yes," Fran said. "You have a beautiful house. I'm impressed. How can you afford something like this on what the school district pays you?"
"I was in business before I decided to get into education," Brian replied. "I've only been an educator for about six years. I owned my own company and I was very successful. But it was too much when Lorrie got sick, so I decided to sell it. I managed to make enough profit to allow me to stay home and take care of her, and it still allows me a few luxuries."
"No wonder you're such a cut-throat negotiator," Fran said. She smiled at him. "The school district sand-bagged me, sending you to negotiate the contract."
Brian smiled and shook his head. "I'm not so sure about that," he replied. "You didn't exactly cave in to my demands, you know. Shall we go in and eat?"
"Sounds good," Fran said. She swallowed hard. Now what? She was still disquieted by his comments about her potential sexuality and very nervous about being alone in his house with him.
They got out of the car and Brian led Fran through a breezeway, into the house.
The interior of the house was even lovelier than the outside. The furnishings were either real antiques or very good reproductions, and the home was obviously well cared for. It looked very comfortable.
Fran looked around and began to relax a little. She noticed wonderful cooking smells. "Something smells delicious," she said. "Who's cooking?"
"I have an excellent housekeeper and cook," Brian said. "I called her and asked her to make something for us. I'm sure whatever she made for us will be fabulous."
"You have a housekeeper and a cook?" Fran asked.
"Only one person, who fills both roles," Brian said, grinning. "And in case you planned to ask, she doesn't live here. I'm a real slob, and I don't cook very well so, as far as I'm concerned, the expense is worth it. Mildred is a fantastic cook and keeps my house from looking like a landfill."