Tessa and I lost the fight with Dad about golf, so I convinced him to let me play with him and his buddies. We all met at the clubhouse in time for breakfast. The hostess nodded as Dad and I passed her podium. I followed as Dad headed to a table with two gray haired guys deep in conversation. When they saw us, they barely looked up.
“Is that you, Mr. Sandoval?” I asked.
He stopped his conversation to check me out.
“This your boy?” he asked Dad.
“Yeah, he’s our fourth today.”
“You can’t be Trent. Trent’s a teenager with acne.” Mr. Sandoval laughed and looked at Dad and the other guy like he was waiting for their responses.
“I never had acne,” I said. I stuck my hand out and shook with the old guy. I turned to the other one and did the same. “Trent,” I said.
“Call me Mack.”
“OK, Nice to meet you Mack.” I sat, unfolded the napkin and laid it in my lap. “What’s good for breakfast?” I asked.
“All the stuff I can’t eat anymore,” Mr. Sandoval said. “You should get bacon. It’s thick and crisp here. If the wife finds out I order it, I’m in the doghouse for a week.”
“Sounds like she cares about you,” I said.
A waitress brought water for Dad and me.
“She’s taking all the fun out of my life,” Sandoval said. “Remember the time your school had that father/son game? You and Trey here, at this he indicated my dad, made a foursome with me and Manny. I played one of my best games that day. Manny, on the other hand, couldn’t hit the ball of the tee. He still refuses to play. Says tennis is his game.”
“I remember being worse than Manny. It was good of you to put up with us, Mr. Sandoval.”
“Call me Sandy. Everybody else does.” He drank some orange juice.
The same waitress from before took our orders. We talked about the old days. Sandy caught me up on Manny’s life. I learned about Mack’s rheumatism giving him trouble with his knees. Dad brought the guys up on Mom’s condition and bragged about me and Tessa coming down to visit. When we were satiated, we made our way to the course. While Dad teed off, I pumped Sandy and Mack for information. They shook their heads and agreed that he shouldn’t be playing in the heat, but neither were going to say that to him. I wouldn’t get any help from that quarter.
“Manny’s got two kids. Cutest little girls you’ll ever see,” Sandy said as Mack took out his driver and got into position. “You married yet? Got any kiddos?”
“No. Haven’t found the right woman,” I said. Mack swung and the ball sailed down the fairway.
“Nice shot,” Dad said. He was already in the golf cart. I was glad to see that he stayed in the shade as much as possible. I was up, so I made my shot and we piled in with Dad.
“I’ve about given up on having grandkids,” Dad said, “and don’t get Brenda started on that subject. She’s talking about adopting a rescue dog, so she’ll have something to make over.” He was laughing with his buddies, but I felt the jab.
My mind went to Samantha, taking me by surprise. I’d kissed her once, and the smell and feel of her was stamped on my brain. I hoped she’d call me by noon. I needed to apologize in person, but I wasn’t one to beg. I’d left my number with that kid at the shell shop. If Samantha had the slightest desire to find out why I hadn’t showed up, she would call. If not, I’d chalk the whole thing up to animal magnetism and get on with my life.
We made it to the 18th hole around noon. The sun was intense, and I was sweaty and tired of hearing about wonderful grandkids, rheumy knees, neck pain, back pain, falling asleep during ball games, and other such riveting subjects of conversation. I wiped my forehead with a towel and watched Dad carefully. He seemed to be doing about as good as I was. Maybe we were all worrying too much about his health.
“Let’s get something to drink at the bar,” Mack said. He slapped Sandy on the back and put his arm around Dad. “They’ve got a Heineken with my name on it.”
“I better get back to Brenda. She should be through with physical therapy by now.” Dad shook hands with Sandy and Mack. “Ready?” he asked me.
“Sure. It was good to see you again Mr. Sandoval, I mean, Sandy,” I said. He shook my hand with an iron grip. “Tell Manny hello for me.”
“Sure will. He’ll be happy to know you’re moving back down here.”
I wondered how much we could possibly have in common these days, but smiled and nodded anyway. It turned to Mack. “Nice to meet you. Good game.”
“Same here. You can play anytime Galloway can’t make it.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I said.
“That’s how it was meant. You take care, boy,” Mack said. He turned toward the bar, obviously more than ready for that beer. Sandy followed. I put my arm around Dad’s shoulder.
“You still play a mean game,” I said.
“Told you I was fine. Now, help me convince our women folk, OK?”
“I’ll do my best.” We got into the car and drove to the hospital. Dad was quiet on the way over, and that left time for my mind to wander.
“What’s it like to have a kid?” I asked out loud before I thought too much about how Dad would take a question like that.
“It’s holy hell and heaven rolled together. I remember when you were born. I could hold you in one hand. It scared me to death. Having the responsibility for another human being is daunting. I had no idea what I was doing. I relied on your mom. It wasn’t until years later that she let me know how terrified she had been. She’s good at acting brave. That’s why I’m worried about her now. I don’t know how much pain she’s in. She’d never admit any weakness.”
We’d see Tessa and Mom after they’d eaten, so we ate Whataburgers and had chocolate shakes. We promised each other that we wouldn’t tell the women for fear of lectures. All in all, it was a good morning with Dad. I felt a lot better about his condition. He didn’t do that standing and staring off into the distance like he’d done the first day Tessa and I got there. Maybe having Mom fall like that really shook him up. Or maybe he was getting better. I hoped it was a little of both.
He pulled into the garage, and we went in the house to clean up before heading over to the rehab center. That ended our conversation. I was glad he didn’t ask me why I wanted to know about having kids. How would I ever explain that I’d met someone a few times, had one good conversation with her, stood her up, and she probably hated me; but all I could think about when I considered a future was one with her in it? And I couldn’t tell him it was his and Mom’s fault that I’d stood her up. I wouldn’t put that on him along with everything else he was having to deal with.
On Friday, I took Tessa to the airport. We were both feeling better about the parents, and she was anxious to get back to her life in Chicago.
“I guess you are ready to get settled at the marina,” she said as we drove to the terminal.
“Yeah. I miss the water at night.”
“Did you ever hear from Samantha from the shell shop?” She checked her lipstick in the mirror on the visor.
“No.” I gripped the wheel tighter. “I think I really screwed that one up.”
“Give her time. She seemed pretty laid back. I caught her staring at you a couple of times. She likes you.” She flipped the visor up and watched for her airline check in lane.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence. It was great to see you. We need to do this more often.” I pulled to the curb and turned the motor off. We got out and she retrieved her bags from the back seat.
“Give me a big ol’ hug,” she said.
As we pulled apart, she placed a kiss on my cheek.
“You’re a good guy. I’m proud of you. Keep me posted on the parents and on that girl. I think good things are in store for you.” She wiped lipstick off my cheek then patted it. “Love you.”
“Love you, too,” I said.
She rolled her bags away as I stood with my hands in my pockets watching her. I sure hoped she was right about my future. I wasn’t nearly as sure as she was. I drove directly to pick up Killer. He would probably be ready to live up to his name by now. I hadn’t boarded him for more than a couple of days at a time before. I was ready to find out if he still felt loyal to me.