Spring had sprung, and it had been a long time since I had done something for myself.

I wanted Isabella to join me, so I asked her o drive home for the weekend the first weekend in March. What were we going to do? None other than shop until we dropped.

We would spend two days in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and two days in Charlotte, North Carolina, and she would return to Baltimore Tuesday and resume work on Wednesday.

The flowers we starting to think about blooming and I sat on the front porch. She arrived that Thursday night around 4:00 PM. I was excited to see her and the first thing we did was to put on a cup of tea. Sitting on Adirondack chairs on the front porch, we talked about her life in Baltimore. She was having a very successful working career to this point, and was happy. She would still be a "new" analyst for several years, but she was already making a large introduction with the fund managers. A few good picks over a five year run can make their career. And it was Belle's job to make that happen.

I was still not getting out. The prompt end to my relationship with Paul was like a karate chop to the throat. It made me not want to date. Surely men of my age would understand that I would not be willing to simply throw myself at them...or did they? The times had changed, and I wholeheartedly believed they were not for the better. I feared for Isabella and Liam; Belle more so, but each of them were young, but mature.

I had taken the time to make Isabella her favourite breakfast dish for in the morning. It was a recipe that I inherited from my mother-in-law and one that I will always have on file.

Isabella and I sat on the porch until 11:00 PM. We had watched the neighbors come home from work, the kids in the neighbourhood playing in the street, and had moved onto wine by 6:30 PM. A bottle from southeast Australia; a Viognier from Yalumba, was our first, and then a Cabernet from Mendoza, Argentina; Alamos, would serve as a nite cap.

The maiden voyage that we had taken so many times would start at 5:00 AM. We would be off to Pigeon Forge.