Worth the Drive

by Mara Jacobs

  “From Darío.” Katie gave Lizzie a questioning look. “When he brought you here. God, you were a sight, KitKat, thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, completely passed out. He was good enough to put you on the bed before he left. If you’d passed out on me in an elevator, I’d had probably left you there.”

  The fuzzy feeling rushed from Katie’s head, replaced with pure mortification. “Oh no. I passed out in the elevator? He had to carry me here?” As Lizzie nodded, Katie closed her eyes and moaned.

  Lizzie’s snicker was interrupted by a knock at the door. Good thing, or Katie probably would have kicked her.

  “That’s probably housekeeping. I put the Do Not Disturb sign on, but it’s getting so late they probably think we’re dead in here,” Lizzie said as she got up to cross the room.

  “Who’s to say we aren’t.”

  The nightmare continued for Katie as she looked up and saw Darío standing at the door holding a glass filled with green goop.

  Lizzie waved him in while Katie said a silent prayer of thanks that Lizzie had dressed her in a huge t-shirt last night. At least she was covered in all the important places. Except for her pride. That was naked and shivering.

  Darío didn’t seem to notice. He said a quick hello to Lizzie and moved past her to stand in front of Katie.

  “Ah, the Kat is more of a kitten this morning, eh? No roar left?” He smiled at Katie, his voice teasing.

  She forced a weak smile. “No more roar. If fact, I feel like I may cough up a hair ball at any minute.”

  He laughed, a deep, throaty chuckle that should have made Katie’s head ache more, but somehow it didn’t. She didn’t make any move to leave the bed, wasn’t sure she could stand up even if she wanted to - which she didn’t. She waved him to sit in the seat that Lizzie had just vacated, which he did. She eyed the glass he held in his hands. “Why do I think you come bearing gifts?” she asked, gesturing to the glass.

  “Ah, yes. I am correct in assuming that you two ladies will be following my – Chad and my – pairing this afternoon?”

  Katie was about to say no, that she couldn’t possibly walk the course in the blazing afternoon sun, but Lizzie piped in. “Of course.”

  Darío nodded. “Then I thought that perhaps Katie may need some…uh fortification before the round begins.” He held the glass out to her with both hands.

  Something about the way he held the glass. With both hands, arms extended, almost like he was holding a golf club. Something about that seemed so familiar to Katie. She looked from the glass to his hands, his arms and then to his face. He had a sly smile that Katie figured was some sort of private joke that she was supposed to know the punch line to. She didn’t, so she ignored his look. “What’s in that…fortification?” she asked, pointing to the glass of goop.

  “I think it best if you don’t know,” he said. “I called Binky this morning to ask him what he uses. He gave me the recipe. The staff in the kitchen was kind enough to prepare this for me. For you.”

  If the man was thoughtful enough to call Binky then get the hotel kitchen to whip this junk up for her, then she’d have to toughen up and drink it. Taking a deep breath, she took the glass from his hands and drank the concoction in one, long drink. She waited a moment to see if she’d need to make a mad dash to the bathroom after all, but was pleasantly surprised to find that it stayed down.

  “Thank you. That was very considerate of you,” she said, meeting his soft, brown eyes.

  “It is nothing,” he said as he rose to leave. “I will see you both later this afternoon.” With a quick nod to Lizzie he was out the door.

  Lizzie came back and sat across from Katie. She said nothing, only raised an eyebrow to Katie.

  “What?” Katie said.

  “What? What? That’s my question. Exactly what happened last night?” Lizzie asked, a mischievous smile on her face.

  “I told you everything that happened.”

  “Well maybe you left something out, ‘cause he’s definitely smitten, Kat.”

  Katie snorted. “He’s not smitten. He’s a good Samaritan, that’s all.”

  “If you say so. Hey, I say go for it. It’d be just what you need to get a little attention from someone like Darío Luna.”

  Katie sighed. “Lizard, there is no way the guy is interested. First of all I shake his crotch instead of his hand when we’re introduced. Then I get drunk. I fall asleep in his car and drool all over myself. Then I pass out on him in an elevator seconds after I tell him his arms are the…” That last missing piece of the previous night came flooding back to Katie. “Oh, God,” she moaned, curling back on the bed and putting the pillow over her head.

  “What?” Lizzie asked, sensing good scoop.

  “I told him. Oh God! I told him when he sets up over a shot, his forearms are the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  Lizzie sat down with a plop. “And do you?”

  “Do I what?” Katie said, the pillow muffling her reply.

  “Think his arms are the sexiest thing you’ve ever seen?”

  Almost a full minute went by until Katie slowly pulled the pillow from her head. “Yes. Yes, I believe I do.”

  He could do no wrong.

  The hole looked four feet wide and his putts went in effortlessly. He sank the long ones. He sank the short ones. He sank everything.

  But that wasn’t even the amazing part. His drives were straight and right in the middle of the fairway.

  And of course it would have to happen to him when he finally had a reason to want to walk near the ropes.

  Katie. Gata.

  She and Lizzie had been with his group from the start, and although Darío knew that Lizzie was there to follow Chad, he let himself believe that Katie was there to follow him.

  Not that it mattered, of course, but he did feel a small burst of pride knowing he was shooting close to a course record today while she watched.

  And she knew it too. She knew a truly good shot from just an okay shot. Much of the gallery would break into ecstatic clapping when he sank a long putt. But Katie would applaud a chip that didn’t even get to the hole but had been a bear of a shot because of the lie. She knew the difference and that pleased Darío.

  She was again dressed for maximum sun and Darío kept an eye on her glorious shoulders, worried that the sweltering afternoon sun might get through any protection she wore.

  On the thirteenth hole, a par three where players were forced to wait several minutes on the tee box for the green to clear of the group ahead of them, Darío watched as Katie licked her lips and grimaced. He had seen her do that several times, and remembered how tender and swollen her lips had looked last night.

  He had thought they looked like they’d been kissed and kissed well. Now he realized they were sunburned.

  He motioned for Katie to come to him, politely asking the fans who had glued themselves to the ropes for the entire day to let her through. They weren’t very happy about relinquishing their sought-after positions, but the request was so out of place that they moved to the side and let Katie through.

  She looked at him bewilderingly and with just a small touch of panic once she got to him. “What? What is it? Is something wrong? Are you sick? Is Binky?”

  Darío chuckled. “No, nothing is wrong.” He then pulled a Chapstick from his pocket and held it up for Katie to see. “You need to put some of this on your lips, Gata.”

  She stared at him. He knew she didn’t understand it. It was very unorthodox for a player to talk with the gallery during a round. Look at, sure. Possibly even make eye contact with. But rarely did a player lose his focus and talk to anyone but his caddy. Even polite chit-chat with the other players was usually confined to the first three or four holes until the players found their groove.

  He gestured for her to take the lip balm, but she stared at him, dumbfounded. Then she looked around the gallery and saw everyone staring at her and the most adorable flush rose up her neck and cheeks.

  Dar
ío figured they could stand like that for hours. Taking matters into his own hands, he uncapped the tube, gently held Katie’s chin between his thumb and forefinger and applied the balm to her mouth.

  Her lips, slightly swollen from the previous day, absorbed the balm at contact, and he made several swipes to build up a good coat. He took his time, enjoying the soft give of her mouth as the balm made contact. Enjoying, also, the feel of her soft skin where he held her chin. Finally satisfied, he looked from her tempting mouth into her crystal blue eyes.

  Big mistake.

  She felt the connection as well and it shone in her eyes. Darío took a step back, so thrown off guard. He nearly tripped over his golf bag and was caught by a chuckling Binky. Darío’s eyes never left Katie’s.

  He finally thought of something to say to break the connection, though he wasn’t sure he wanted to. “And are you feeling better this afternoon?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Yes. Thank you. Your remedy completely did the trick. Thank you for all the effort.”

  “It was no effort at all.” He knew he should turn back to the course. Others from the gallery seemed to be getting bolder, moving closer, yearning to hear the conversation he was having with this beautiful woman. He couldn’t seem to make himself move. “Are you enjoying the round?”

  Her head nodded enthusiastically. “Very much. Is golf like baseball where you can’t mention to a pitcher with a no-hitter going how well he is doing?”

  He was confused. “I am not familiar with that.” He quickly glanced at the green and saw that in the group ahead of him, one of the players was having trouble with the treacherous bunkers. Good, he thought, more time.

  “In baseball, if a pitcher has a no-hitter going, nobody talks to him in the dugout, or says anything to him, and they certainly don’t mention that he’s doing so well.”

  “Ahh, I see, a superstition?”

  “Right. No one wants to jinx him. Is it the same in golf?”

  He thought on that for a second. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Chad and Barclay standing to the side of him, watching. Barclay made a move to join him and Katie, but Binky cut him off with some inane question about Barclay’s balls. Darío assumed Binky was referring to Barclay’s golf balls, but with Binky, one could never be sure.

  “In golf, you really only talk to your caddy during the round. Some to the other players and caddies. Never to the gallery…” he stopped as Katie raised her eyebrows at him. “Very seldom to the gallery,” he amended. “But, your caddy does not see it as a jinx to mention how well you are doing.”

  “Oh, okay,” she said. Then her beautiful face lit up into a huge smile and Darío heard audible gasps of delight from the men in the gallery who were positioned well enough to see her. “In that case, you’re having a spectacular round. Keep it up!”

  He did.

  An unfortunate bounce on sixteen kept him from tying the course record, but he ended the round on Friday in the lead of the tournament. A position he hadn’t been in for years. He motioned for Katie and Lizzie to meet him at the ropes at the finishing hole.

  “We must celebrate, eh? Let me take you and Lizzie to dinner tonight. You two seem to be good luck charms for me.” He added Lizzie to his declaration, but his eyes were solely on Katie.

  Lizzie smiled. “Thank you, but I can’t. I’m having dinner with Chad and his parents this evening. But it would be great if you would take Katie, that way I wouldn’t feel so guilty about dumping her.”

  “You’re not dumping me, Lizard. I’ll be just fine alone,” Katie said.

  “But there’s no need for you to dine alone,” Darío added.

  He saw her chew on her lip, knew that she must be tasting the cherry flavor of his lip balm, had tasted it on himself throughout the day. It had given him a perverse pleasure to know she was tasting the same thing as he.

  Dios Mio, get a hold of yourself! It’s only lip balm.

  She still hadn’t decided. “I promise not to let you drink any Margaritas,” he cajoled.

  Katie laughed. “That won’t be a problem. Believe me, if I never see another Margarita again, I’ll be happy.”

  “Famous last words, luv,” Binky said. He had not been part of the conversation, but had walked by at that precise moment, dropped his one-liner, and kept on going toward the clubhouse with Darío’s bag.

  Katie smiled at his caddy’s comment. “Will Binky be joining us?” she asked.

  Good, she had accepted. Bad, she wanted Binky to come along as well.

  Darío had no illusions about dinner. He had expected to take both women. That he was only taking Katie in no way led him to believe that anything more than dinner would be happening. After the way she ranted in the car last night about her ex-husband, Darío knew that Katie was a long way from wanting to be intimate with a man. Any man, let alone one she had just met the previous day. No, it would just be dinner. A chance for him to get to know her better. But it would be just the two of them.

  “No. Binky spends Friday evenings playing poker with some of the other caddies. It is a contest, of sorts, to see which caddies are there on Friday nights and which are trunk-slammers.”

  “Trunk slammers?” Lizzie asked.

  “If a player doesn’t make the cut on Friday, he puts his clubs in the trunk of the car to go home. In theory, slamming the trunk door shut on a bad week. The caddies who are still around on Friday night are there because their players made the cut, thus their paycheck will be more than the usual salary that week.

  “A caddy is paid a weekly salary by a player, but if he makes the cut, then the caddy gets a percentage of the player’s winnings as well. The percentage goes up based on how high the player finishes.”

  Katie and Lizzie nodded their understanding. Binky would be in a good position at this week’s poker game.

  “So, Gata, shall I come to get you at your room at, say, eight o’clock?” he asked.

  Katie took a peek at Lizzie who seemed to be silently nudging her friend with her eyes. “Eight will be fine,” she said. “But I can meet you in the lobby.”

  Darío nodded, then turned to the autograph seekers who had been waiting, some patiently, some not so patiently, for him to sign their various memorabilia. He began with the children, as he always did, then worked his way to the adults. He watched over the heads of the fans as Katie and Lizzie walked away from the group, toward the parking lot.

  Chapter Six

  I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father.

  - Greg Norman, professional golfer

  “Boy, this is kind of like getting ready for dates at State all over again, eh?” Lizzie said as she nudged Katie’s hip with her own to allow herself more room at the bathroom mirror.

  Lizzie wore light cream slacks and a pale blue sweater set while Katie, wanting to show off the sun she’d gotten over the last two days, wore a sundress and sandals.

  Katie laughed. “Except there isn’t beer on the counter in front of us, and these aren’t anything near dates. But yeah, it does kind of remind me of back then.”

  “Do you want a beer? Take one out of the mini-bar, or I could order something from room service for you,” Lizzie, always one to please, offered.

  “Ugh. No. Just the thought of alcohol gives me the heaves, but you go ahead, Lizard.”

  Lizzie ducked her head, looking away from Katie. “Um, no, none for me.”

  “Oh right, never drink in front of a client?” she asked remembering Lizzie drinking only water the night before as well.

  “God, no. You don’t know how many clients I had to drink under the table to prove my worth. Thank God I’m a Yooper girl.”

  Lizzie put the lid down on the toilet and sat down so she could face Katie as she put the finishing touches on her makeup. “Kat, I need to tell you something.” She waited until Katie sensed the seriousness in her voice, and put down her mascara tube to turn to Lizzie.

  “I’m pregnant.” Lizzie said, watching Katie’s face for emotion
.

  Katie covered the flash of envy and hurt quickly. “Oh, Lizard, that’s wonderful. You are happy about it, right? I didn’t even know you guys were trying. How far along are you?” The questions tumbled out, and to get a hold of herself, she turned away from her best friend and once again began applying makeup. Her hand shook as she brought the mascara wand to her face and she steadied her other hand on the sink.

  “I’m ecstatic about it. We started trying the minute we set a wedding date, knowing it was going to be a very short engagement, and I’m no spring chicken. I’m just over three months, so we think it’s safe to start telling people.” Lizzie got up from the seat and stepped behind Katie, wrapping her arms around Katie’s waist, making her meet her eyes in the mirror. “Finn knows, of course, and the kids, but we haven’t told anyone else. I wanted to tell you first, KitKat, and yet, I didn’t want to have to tell you at all. Does that make sense?”

  Katie put the makeup down and leaned back into her friend’s embrace, allowing the hurt to now show on her face. She tried her best to answer Lizzie, trying to keep the tremble she felt out of her voice. “I understand, Lizard. And you do know that I really am happy for you, don’t you? And Finn too, of course.” Lizzie nodded and touched her head to Katie’s. Their hair melded into a strange zebra pattern, Katie’s so white and Lizzie’s so black. “It’s just….” Katie sighed.

  “I know, KitKat, I know,” Lizzie whispered.

  They stood that way for a minute before Lizzie said, “I have to get going. Are you going to be okay?”

  Katie stepped out of the warm embrace and pushed her friend to the bathroom door. “Of course I’ll be okay. You go out there and sign that client, Little Mama.”

  Lizzie gave Katie one last, questioning glance. Katie gave a bright, reassuring smile and waved her friend off. She heard the hotel room door click shut.

  The hurt came in waves, suffocating her. Lizzie would be a great mother, but she’d never cared about kids before getting together with Finn. Katie, on the other hand, had wanted children for forever it seemed. She slowly turned to the mirror, preparing to do her makeup all over again, as she watched the tears begin to roll down her face.