Page 39 of Belle Amour

“Isn't she in her sixties?” Francesca asked, curiosity and disbelief warring on her face.

“Turns sixty-one in November.” Mirabelle nodded with a smile. “Pole dancing is a great workout, and she’s still in great shape.”

“I've always wanted to take a class!” Eleanor jumped in excitedly. “Will you go with me, Mira?”

“Eleanor!” Francesca looked like she was about to pass out at the thought of her daughter pole dancing in any capacity.

“Sure.” Mirabelle laughed at Francesca's horrified face. “If you want, come to Dallas with Bast and me in November and do a class with her. She taught me a few years ago.

“You should come too, Mother.” Eleanor teased Francesca, who was looking scandalized by the conversation. “Father's birthday is in December, and I bet he would love a pole dance from his wife.”

“You two are terrible.” Francesca shook her head hopelessly as she ushered them into the spa.

“That wasn't a no,” Eleanor smirked at Mirabelle.

“You're right. It wasn't.” Mirabelle agreed.

“It's not a yes either.”

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Flagpole

Bastian thoroughly enjoyed his afternoon golfing with Robert, Victor, and Wyatt. He loved any time he got to spend on the golf course, but he also genuinely enjoyed Robert and Victor's company. They played with the right amount of seriousness and lightness, which made for a relaxing time on the course despite the difficulty. Wyatt, on the other hand, was hit or miss. His frustration was never directed at anyone, but he would visibly get upset when he didn't hit well, and it would bring the whole mood down until he managed to hit a hole either at par or under, and he would relax again.

When they finished and returned to the club, Bastian was delighted. He came in just two strokes over par for the course, which was excellent, in his opinion, as he'd never played it before. They thanked Wyatt for a great afternoon; Bastian and Robert changed back into their jeans and button-downs and met Victor at the car. “Thank you for this.” Bastian leaned back in his seat with a smile. “That was amazing.”

“I'm glad you enjoyed it. Victor smiled at him as he settled into his seat, looking tired but happy. “I was impressed; you played very well.”

“Golf is one of my passions.” Bastian leaned forward, pulled three bottles of water from the fridge, and passed them out. “I rarely turn down a chance to play, and as much as Mira and I love to spend time together, we know each other well enough to be able to tell when the other needs space. I love golf, and while she will join me occasionally and is a good player, she is a water nymph. She loves anything she can do in the water, so I brought my clubs to spend a day on a course because I knew she'd want a day in the pool.”

“It's important to spend time apart.” chuckled Victor, accepting the water with a nod of thanks. “Francesca and I have mastered knowing when we're irritating the other. She does this subtle little mouth quirk that's adorable but lets me know I have overstayed my welcome.”

“How long have you been married?” Bastian asked curiously. He knew they were both in their mid-late sixties and that Eddie and Eleanor were both older than him and Mirabelle, but he had no idea of their actual ages.

“Forty-two years this year,” Victor answered, and Bastian could tell he was incredibly proud of his wife and marriage. “My family had made a large donation to some cause and received two tickets to a gala as a thank you. I ended up attending for my parents, who had a prior commitment and brought a girl I was casually dating at the time. I’m ashamed to say the moment I was introduced to Francesca, I forgot all about my date, and we’ve been practically inseparable ever since. We were married on the second anniversary of our meeting.”

“That's incredible.” Bastian shook his head. His parents were coming up on that, but they pretty much ignored each other as far as he knew.

“What happened to the girl you were dating?” Robert asked curiously.

“I found out later that she went home with some singer.” Victor frowned as he thought about it. “I can’t remember his name now. He had a song that was rapidly climbing the charts at the time, but he was a one-hit wonder. Isabelle later married a good friend of mine and holds no resentment. She still likes to make fun of me by making the face I made when I first saw Francesca.” He shook his head, his cheeks faintly pink. “If she’s telling the truth, I’m fortunate Francesca gave me the time of day.” Both Bastian and Robert laughed as Victor demonstrated the face for them, going slack-jawed, wide-eyed and becoming foolish-looking.

“Mira said you and Eleanor met at Mardi Gras, Robert?” Bastian said when they stopped laughing.

“Yeah,” Robert nodded as he took a drink of water. “I was in New Orleans to work on the Contemporary Art Museum and was actually flying back to New York the next day. I noticed them signing up for a tour. They both caught my eye, but Eleanor held my attention, so I signed up for the tour, thinking I could use it as an excuse to talk to them and at most, I’d be out an hour and ten bucks if she wasn’t interested.’

“We started talking, and I didn’t want to stop. I invited them out for dinner, and Mirabelle sort of grilled me about myself. Then she said she wasn’t feeling good and went back to their hotel after we ate, leaving Eleanor and me to get to know one another. I ended up extending my stay in New Orleans and crashed the rest of their trip. I have to say, Mira was very gracious about everything and encouraged Eleanor to spend time with me.”

“Yeah, Mira loves love.” Bastian chuckled as Robert confirmed his theory on what had happened when they met him. “I don’t remember her talking about your wedding, though.”

“We never had a wedding. About six months into our relationship, I had to go to London for four months for work and asked her to join me because I couldn’t stand the idea of being apart from her for that long.” Robert cleared his throat, looking a little guilty as he glanced at Victor, who was shaking his head. “We were joking around one morning about how well we got along and handled being together on a different continent for three months just six months into the relationship. The next thing we knew, we were looking up requirements for marriage in England and making appointments. We were married by a judge in London just before we came back.”

“And never told anyone until after Eddie and Mirabelle were married, and someone asked when they were going to make it official.” Victor huffed, looking put out.

“We’re both pretty low-key people.” Robert shrugged when Bastian gave him an inquiring look. “We didn’t want the fuss and or to plan a wedding. There’s no such thing as a small wedding in either of our families and while we have some regrets about not inviting our parents, we have no regrets about how we did things. We had a small dinner party afterward to celebrate and let Victor and my mom have their dances with us. Why did it take you and Mirabelle so long to get together?

Bastian knew Robert wanted to head off Victor, who looked like he was about to say something and smiled. “There was a bunch of things. When I was younger, I wanted kids, for what I can admit now were some very selfish reasons, whereas Mirabelle has always been very against having them. I met my ex-wife at university and got married after we graduated, wanting to start a family, and you know how that ended. I knew I needed to work on myself and my issues after that, and I did start therapy almost immediately after, but I said something toMirabelle that made her give up on me, and she started dating Eddie.”

“What did you say?” Victor leaned forward slightly, clearly distracted from his earlier issues with Robert and Eleanor's wedding.

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