by Jen Talty
“It matters to me. She threw it in my face, on more than one occasion.”
“Okay, wait a second.” He rubbed his forehead. “Let’s back this up a second. When did she tell you I first slept with her?”
“For months before you married her. I made the mistake of telling her I had a crush on you, and she, in turn, shit on me by telling me you and she were hot and heavy under the sheets. She even went as far as to describe a few things for me.”
Jack laughed, but it wasn’t a funny kind of laugh, more like painful choking on one’s own curses. “I’m sorry she did that. She used our relationship to her advantage in more ways than one.”
“Of course, she did.”
“When I first started talking to James, she’d tell me what a crush you had on me. Told me it bordered on obsession and I should be careful.”
“You should be careful? Of me?” Courtney asked. “That’s ridiculous.”
“I know. But she also pointed out your age and that if one person even thought something was happening with us, it could cause me a lot of problems. I know we’ve always been close, but at the time you were only seventeen.”
“All true, but that still doesn’t answer my question.”
“I slept with her only once before I married her. And that was two months after your father’s birthday. I had a little too much to drink and didn’t have a condom.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she mumbled. “Jesus. Once out of the gate and she’s knocked up. Same thing with me and Tom.”
He laughed. “Only with us, there was never a baby.”
“Shit, Jack, I’m so sorry.”
He jumped to his feet and held out his hand. “So was I. Now let’s get this shopping shit over with.”
10
The following morning, Jack sat on the edge of his bed and toyed with one of his new golf shirts and contemplated his past and his present, but he wasn’t sure what his future would hold. In less than twenty-four hours, he’d be on an airplane to his next tournament with Courtney by his side.
Dreams about the night Courtney had told him she loved him and subsequently kissed him had haunted him for years. It was a kiss like no kiss he’d ever had before. And it amazed him he could remember it so vividly. He touched his lips.
But Wendy had told him she was pregnant. He had to do right by his baby. Too bad Wendy had never really been pregnant. Her way to make sure he walked away from Courtney.
A moment he will always regret almost as much as having to take Courtney’s money. He needed to win a tournament. Even a small one. He wanted to pay her back.
He pulled one of his new shirts over his head, tucking it into his pants. Rudy wanted him practicing every morning by sunrise. Nothing new there.
Quietly, he made his way down the stairs and out to the range.
“Good morning.” Rudy smiled, dumping a bucket of balls on the mat. “I have a job for you.”
“Huh?” Jack stopped in the middle of his swing.
“A job, ya know one that pays,” Rudy said playfully.
“I don’t want your money.” Jack leaned against his club.
“That’s why I found you a job.”
“I don’t understand.” Jack rubbed his clean-shaven face.
“I know how hard this has been for you. I want you to be happy, and golf makes you happy. But you need money to do that.”
“I’m sorry, Rudy. I didn’t think about what your situation… Courtney’s situation would be like.”
“Money’s not an issue. But your pride is. I can tell by the way you have been hitting the ball.” He narrowed his eyes.
“What’s the job?”
“Helping out in the kids’ program and giving private lessons at the club.”
“Excuse me? Me teach?” Jack’s eyes flew from their sockets. He had to blink to bring them back in. “I can’t teach.”
“Yes, you can. I think you taught Courtney more about golf than I did.”
“What about the schedule? I’ll be in and out a lot.”
“I’ll make your schedule, since I know when you’ll be gone. Also, we’re gonna start training a new caddie.”
Jack stopped his stretching and glared at Rudy. “I want Courtney.”
“For a while, but she needs to be here with Bri. I can’t have her gone every weekend.”
Jack took in a deep breath and started swinging. Rudy was right. But he didn’t like it. “Larry?”
“Hopefully.”
Jack nodded.
“It might take a while, but I suspect once he’s finished with Burke, he’ll sign on with us. I want you and Courtney to start playing a round or two a week. Maybe more if I’ve got a caddy for her to look at until we can get Larry.”
Rudy placed a ball on the mat.
Jack swung. “Ahhh, shit.”
Rudy took Jack by the shoulders. “I’m proud of you, son. You came up from a dark place. I don’t know what happened. Honestly, I don’t care. I’m just glad your back. Neither Courtney nor I will turn our backs on you. But you have to pull it together under pressure or your career will be null and void.” Rudy gave him a good shake.
His insides continued to tremble as if he were coming off a three-day binge. “I spent the last two years trying to figure out how to come back.”
“Here? Or golf?” Rudy moved Jack’s club with him. “End the backswing here,” he added then stepped back.
“It’s not just about golf. I want my life back.” Jack addressed the ball, but it didn’t feel right. He swayed left and right before steadying his body and refocusing on the ball. “Before I let Wendy and her father ruin it.”
Rudy gave him a fatherly glare.
“Okay, I ruined my life the day I married that woman.”
“So, let’s not go making any more mistakes like that one. No women when you’re on the road.”
Jack stepped up to the ball. “Not sure I’d know what to do with one.”
Rudy laughed. “Keep it that way.”
The practice went uphill from that point. Jack was finally starting to relax. He hit for another half hour, then Rudy called it quitting time.
Rudy slung his arm over Jack’s shoulders as they walked toward the house. “You and Courtney are gonna play this morning. Then I want you to help her with the kids’ program.”
Jack swallowed. “Christ, Rudy. I know I agreed to do things your way.”
“My way means you do what I say in every aspect of your life.”
Jack stopped and turned to face his mentor. “What the hell do I know about teaching? And kids?”
A slow smile drew on Rudy’s face. “First, you’re really good with Bri. These kids are no different. Second, this is more about you than them. Trust me.” Rudy left Jack standing in the walkway.
“Trust you,” Jack muttered, shaking his head. Bri was unique. And easy to be around. But a whole group of kids? And teach them the game? Jack didn’t think he could do it.
He didn’t think he wanted to.
“Would you lighten up?” Courtney gave her bag to one of the bag boys.
“Easy for you to say,” Jack said under his breath.
“Come on, Jack. They’re just kids. They don’t bite. At least none that I’m aware of.” She couldn’t believe how uncomfortable he was dealing with a group of pint-size adults.
“Hi, Courtney!” A bubbly little boy skipped down the cart path.
“Hi, Steven.” Courtney waved to the boy and his mom.
“Can I hang with all the moms?” Jack whispered. “She’s cute.”
“She’s married.” Courtney couldn’t help the surge of jealousy that passed through her system, making her cheeks heat. The young woman that Jack currently stared at was a beautiful, lonely trophy wife who she suspected banged every young man she could get her hands on.
“It was a joke,” Jack said.
A few more children came running along the parking lot, as did one of Courtney’s least favorite mothers...well, stepmother.
“Hello, Andrew. How are you?” She patted the young boy’s head. He couldn’t help who his father remarried.
“I’m good. Who’s that?” He pointed to Jack.
“The name is Jack, and I’m helping out Courtney today.”
“Cool.” Andrew raced over to where all the other children had gathered.
“Jack Hollister?” Mrs. Wellington took her big black designer shades off and stuck them between her big fake boobs. “Is that really you?”
Jack pushed his sunglass on the top of his head. “Oh, hello, Lucy. How are you?”
Courtney knew that the beautiful and slutty Mrs. Lucy Wellington knew Jack. She’d been going after golfers for years but decided that older rich men were more stable, had more money, and were easier to cheat on with the pool boy.
“Mrs. Rivers—” Lucy started.
Courtney adjusted her visor. “It’s Wade, but I’d prefer if you called me Courtney.”
“Of course,” Lucy said as she curled her fingers around Jack’s biceps. “How long has it been?”
“Years,” Jack said.
“What brings you back?” Lucy asked. She ran her perfectly manicured fingers up and down his arm as if he were a kitten needing to be brushed.
Courtney wanted to roll her eyes. It had been all over the news that Jack Hollister was making a comeback.
“I thought it was high time I take Tom Rivers down a few pegs.”
“Last time you tried to do that didn’t you land yourself in jail?” Lucy dropped her hands to the sides.
“So, married with kids, huh? That’s a twist.”
“You sound so surprised.” She folded her arms and tapped her stupid high heels.
“Considering the last time I saw you, I sure am.” Jack plopped his glasses back to his nose. “Of course, I’m sure he’s a real gem. And I mean that in the sense that he can keep you covered in them.” Jack tipped his hat and strolled toward the putting green and the children.
Courtney swallowed. If she spoke like that to any of the members, her father would have her hide.
“Looks like he hasn’t changed.” Lucy pushed her left hip out. “You better teach him to behave. or the membership is going to have all of you fired.”
“I apologize for Jack, and I’ll speak to him.”
“You do that, or I’ll be having my husband bring it up to the board.”
Courtney smoothed out her pants, took a deep breath, and headed for Jack and the kids.
“Okay, kiddos,” she said. “Let’s start with practicing some putting. Hillary, will you please work with them for a few minutes. I need a word with Jack.”
“Sure thing,” Hillary, one of the assistant pros, said.
“I get the feeling that I’m about to be lectured.” Jack stuffed his hands in his pockets.
“Damn right you are,” Courtney said. “What the hell was that about?”
“That chick’s bad news.”
“Mrs. Wellington—”
“Cut the formalities,” Jack said. “Lucy has always been a gold digger with a cocaine habit.”
Courtney gasped. She’d heard a lot of stories about a lot of different members, but she tried to ignore them, especially when they had a connection to her past life. She’d seen Lucy back in the day hanging with Tom, Wendy, Jack, and the rest of the gang, but Lucy seemed to be more on the peripheral edges of the group.
“It doesn’t matter what she was or what you think of her now,” Courtney said. “Her husband is one of the most powerful members on this golf course. She’s not the woman you want to go pissing off.”
“I’ll work on my delivery next time, but if she touches my body again, all bets are off,” he said. “Are we done?”
“What is your problem?” Courtney asked.
“Nothing. I think we have kids waiting for us.”
Courtney peeked her head in her daughter’s room. It physically hurt her heart that she was going to have to be away from her little girl for a few nights. She smiled at her sleeping Bri. Everything Courtney had been through had been worth it because of Bri.
She heard the door close in the kitchen.
Jack. She needed to get this over with. It would fester and drive her wacko if she didn’t. So she headed for the kitchen.
Jack stood in front of the microwave with his hands on his hips. She shook her head. His backside made her want to rush over there and squeeze the Charmin. “You shouldn’t stand so close. That thing is really old.”
“Yes, mother.” He smiled over his shoulder and shifted to the left. “Want some popcorn?”
The popcorn bounced about inside its bag as the smell filled the kitchen. Her insides jumped about in the same manner. She could feel her pulse buck and pop. She shook her hands out. “I’d like to talk to you if you don’t mind.” She pulled out a bowl and two wine glasses, then poured some of her favorite white.
“Sounds serious. Can I pass? I just got my ass chewed out by your father.” He poured the popcorn in the bowl.
“You deserved it.”
“I’m well aware,” he said flatty. “Shall we take this little party outside?”
She glanced toward the door.
“Come on.” He picked up the bowl and one of the glasses. He breezed by her without looking.
“You’re in a mood.” She grabbed her glass and followed. His mood meant this conversation could go south real quick, but perhaps that would be for the best. She needed to deal with Tom so that she and Bri could have their lives back without constantly worrying that Tom would swoop in and destroy it.
The night sky lit up like the Fourth of July with all the stars. The moon was almost full, and a warm breeze did nothing to keep her insides from burning.
“I feel like I’m seventeen again,” she admitted once they settled against the tree that held the tire swing. A spot where they had shared many nights talking together in the past.
“Why is that?” He tossed some popcorn in his mouth.
“While I’m not going to profess something totally outrageous like I did that night, I do find myself with all those same feelings.”
“So do I,” he said, sipping his wine.
“What exactly does that mean?” She felt a jab to her heart.
He gave her a pointed look. “It means we, my dear, are in the same predicament.”
“I doubt that.”
“Really? Let’s test that theory.” He leaned closer to her and cupped her chin.
Her pulse quickened, and her gaze diverted to his lips at the precise moment he licked them.
She licked her own in anticipation. He pulled away. “Like I said, same damn predicament.” He turned his gaze toward the sky.
“You’re attracted to me?” she asked, even though she knew the answer, her insecurities reared their ugly heads.
“Ya think?” came his sarcastic response.
She tossed a kernel of popcorn at him.
“Sorry. I’ve always hated it when you put yourself down. You’re a beautiful woman. How can you not know I’m attracted to you?”
“Okay, so maybe I get that today, but you never told me you thought I was pretty or that you saw me that way back then.”
“Did too.” He tapped his index finger against the center of his chest.
“You so did not,” she said. “I think your exact words were that I was growing into a beautiful woman but wasn’t quite there yet and needed to find a ‘boy’ my own age.”
“Same thing.” He shrugged.
“I want us to be friends. But nothing more. I can’t. Not now and maybe never.”
“Why?”
She rubbed her sweaty palms on her pants. “There are lots of reasons. But mostly because right now I have to concentrate on getting Tom out of mine and Bri’s life for good.”
“I can respect that.”
“Friends?”
“Always.” He took her hand and held it. “I never meant to hurt you. I was scared and confused, and Wendy lied to me.”
“She lied to everyone.” Courtney desperately wanted to yank her hand from his.
He shook his head. “She told me she miscarried two days after we married.”
“Jack, I’m sorry.” Courtney touched his cheek, then pulled back. “My timing couldn’t have come at a worse time that day.”
“I wish it came about two hours earlier,” he muttered.
She blinked. “It wouldn’t have changed anything. You didn’t feel the same way about me. And you would’ve still married her.” She looked down at the bowl of popcorn. “And I never really felt that way. It was a crush.”
“Oh, my God. Stop backpedaling. You cared for me back then, and you still care just as much for me now.”
She scowled. “You just said you understood.”
“You’re killing me.” He tossed back half his wine. “I understand that getting involved with anyone, me included, while dealing with this Tom shit isn’t a good idea right now. And I’m going to be out on the road a lot with golf. Not an ideal way to start a dating relationship, but I’m learning to be a patient man when I want something.”
“Patience isn’t a strong suit for either of us, and even when I’ve gotten Tom out of our lives, I will need to move out of this house and into a place on my own.” She held up her hand. “All on my own.”
“You told me you were in love with me that night, and if we’re being honest here, I already knew that before you told me.” He pressed his finger against her lips. “And now here’s a really heavy dose of reality for you. I’m pretty sure I was in love with you too.”
“I was a teenager. That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it?”
“You loved me then, and you feel something for me now,” he said. “And I want to explore what I feel for you.”
“I find you hot and wouldn’t mind a roll in the hay,” she said. “But that would just be wild animal sex, and it would destroy our friendship. I’ve missed you too much to risk losing you again.”
He polished off his glass and leaned closer. “I don’t want to have sex with you. I want to make love with you.”
She swallowed her breath. “How much have you had to drink tonight?”
