This story follows on from Jen's Family Four Years On Ch 01, which itself followed Jen Finds Jeopardy! and Herself, 1 through 4.
Jen and Christine are happily married, Jen's sister Jackie has come out as lesbian too, and is involved with a girl from university, and now shares a dorm room with her. Jen's mum. Meg, widowed about a year ago, spent a weekend with Christine's Mum, Sandra, and was introduced to lesbian sex. She has since started a relationship with the Vet who bought her husband's riding and stable business, and now she and Yvonne are partners who have offered jobs to Jackie and Betty. After discussing with Yvonne and Meg, Jackie and Betty have decided to accept in principal the offer of shares in the company and fiscal management jobs when they finish university. At the beginning of this story, they are headed back to the stables to work there for the summer.
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Betty and Jackie were, as to be expected, sharing Jackie's old room at Meg's. Meg had treated them to a new queen-sized bed, and they were getting accustomed to living with Meg and Yvonne. Betty was learning to care for horses - for her a totally new experience - and involving a lot more physical work than she expected, or had previously experienced. The result was that she had shed a few more pounds and tightened up a lot of muscles, and was now a very shapely young lady.
Both her and Jackie were extremely attractive, self-confident, intelligent young women, and they naturally attracted a lot of attention when they went out, of course, mainly from young men. Those approaches were normally cut off before they could really get started. Betty's riding was coming along, and although she wasn't up to jumping brick walls, she could generally ride well, and was improving her jumping in the practice ring. Jen had agreed to let Betty ride the Colonel when she wasn't there, so he would get regular exercise, and so the Colonel Mustard and Doctor Spock were seen around the neighborhood regularly.
One Monday, as it was a quiet day for bookings, they had ridden the two horses for a good long work-out, and were all, both girls and horses, thirsty. They decided to stop at a pub called the Highway Man a couple of miles from the stables which had outdoor tables and, strangely enough, a hitching rail purportedly dating back to the days of highway men who would rob unsuspecting carriages. Because it was an English country pub, well used to accommodating animals such as dogs and horses, there was a water supply, and a couple of buckets they could use to water the horses. The girls sat at a picnic table where they could see the horses and shared a bottle of white wine and a ploughman's lunch each.
As they were eating, two young women, slightly older than Jackie and Betty, pulled up in a car and came into the beer garden. They walked towards the girls and asked "Does the waitress come out, or do we have to go in to order?" and were told the waitress would be out shortly. They sat at the next table. On seeing their riding hats on the bench, one girl asked "Are they your horses, or did you rent them?"
"They're ours. We live and work at the stables," said Jackie.
"Thought you looked familiar, especially your sister. You took our money last weekend when we rented a couple of horses to ride in your field. Not brave enough to ride the trails yet."
Betty smiled. "Nice of you to remember me, but we're not sisters. Jackie's my girlfriend."
"Ah," said the one who was asking questions. "Is that girl friend in one word or two?"
"One" said both Jackie and Betty together.
"I'm Helen, and this is Eve, and we're getting married next summer hopefully."
"Same here," said Betty. "Want to join us?"
The two women switched tables and ordered a wine each and a round of sandwiches to share. They chatted away for a while, swapping comments and experiences on publicly coming out as lesbians, especially now lesbian marriage was legal.
Finally, Jackie said, "We must be off, need to get the horses back and rubbed down. Been really nice meeting up with you."
Eve looked at Helen, who nodded, and then said to Jackie, "Do you want to meet at the Swan this evening and have dinner together? Food's good and not too expensive."
Betty looked at Jackie and nodded, so Jackie said "Sure, around 7?" And so it was agreed.
Once Jackie and Betty were home and had the horses put away properly, they went up to their room. They had told Meg and Yvonne about going out for dinner, so they just had to rest up until it was time to get ready.
Betty looked at Jackie, as they lay side by side on the bed in their bra and panties.
"Question?" she said.
"Let me guess," said Jackie, "You're wondering if those two were coming on to us, aren't you?"
"My, you're good. Got it in one. Can you use your skills at predicting the future to choose lotto numbers?"
Jackie laughed. "I don't know if they are coming on to us, so my predictions are worthless. I was just wondering the same thing myself, and what my reaction would
be if they are. Remember, it was your question I predicted, not their actions."
"Well, to be honest, and nothing to do with not loving you, but I think I am interested, but only if you are. I enjoyed playing with Martha and Muriel down at Sandra's, and I figure we still have things to learn about being grown-up lovers to each other. But it's both of us or not at all, and we stay together, no separate dates."
"Well, they were both quite good-looking. Their figures were a little fuller than ours, but they're not fat..."
"You mean they look like I used to?"
"Maybe, except that isn't you now, and they don't know you as anything but what they've seen. What I mean is I could be tempted to play with them if, for example, we were meeting them at Sandra's. I just think we have to be careful tonight - not to push it, let them make the running."
"Yeah, with you there. Well, let's dress a bit sexy and see what happens."
So they had a shower together, and dried each other's hair, one of their simple pleasures together. Each girl chose a blouse that showed off the curves of their breasts, and hinted at a flimsy bra underneath. With lacy thongs, a short skirt and no pantyhose or stockings, they were ready. Each wore a light-weight jacket over their blouse.
The Swan was only a couple of miles away, and they had used it a few times, so they got a nod from the publican as they entered. Betty used to sometimes say "The benefits of alcohol, I can enter as the Ugly Duckling and leave as the Swan."
They looked around and saw that Helen and Eve had already taken a table in the more formal dining area rather than the bar side. As they approached, Helen said, "I thought sitting here might be quieter than the bar for us to talk." They all looked at the menu. Helen and Betty both chose the duck, while the other two both chose the lamb. Given the lighter flavors all had ordered, they also ordered a bottle of tempranillo, a nice lighter red that was not too heavy at all. The wine came and was opened with due ceremony and they clinked glasses. "To new friends" was Eve's toast, and they all repeated it.
It turned out that Eve and Helen had met at University. Both knew they were into girls before they met, and met at a Uni club for lesbians. They had just recently, with backing from their families, taken over a Bed and Breakfast place overlooking the sea about 10 miles away.
Jackie told the story of fighting off a boy in the Student's Union bar, then meeting a lesbian friend of her sister's for an eye-opening weekend, and then falling for Betty. She left out completely the Ugly Duckling story. When she finished, Helen said, "Well, I can understand why you went for Betty. You're very attractive my dear, and sexy," smiling at Betty as she said it. Betty blushed, and Jackie touched her finger to her lips to indicate "Don't say anything."
The food turned out to be good, and all four plates were cleared. The waitress asked if they had room for dessert. "I could share one," said Helen, and turned to Betty to ask "Do you like sticky toffee pudding?"
"Oh yes," said Betty with a grin.
"Then shall we share one?"
So Helen and Betty shared a sticky toffee pudding, with lovely thick custard on it, while Jackie and Eve shared apple pie with ice cream. Sitting with a coffee each, Eve asked Jackie "Do you two ever swing with other couples?"
Jackie looked at Betty, who gave the slightest of nod back to her, and said "We have been known to a couple of times, but only together. No splitting off into separate rooms or having meetings without the other present. Both or neither is our rule."
Helen and Eve both gave out a sigh of relief. "That's exactly our rules as well," said Helen. "We're in love, but recognize that physical sex can be enjoyed without necessarily being in love with the person you're having sex with, but if you are in a love relationship, it's essential not to go behind the other's back." They all four lifted their coffee cups in a mock toast to that.