Flirting with Temptation - By Kelley St. John Page 0,51
that my other granddaughter, Babette, moved into that apartment.”
“Babette, the one you said was so much like you it scared you?”
What a memory he had. She laughed. “That’s the one.”
“Well good. I’m glad that they’ve been taking care of you,” he said, then grimaced. “That isn’t what I meant. I know you can take care of yourself. I’m just glad that you have them here, in town and nearby, for companionship.”
“I knew what you meant,” she said softly. He’d been in the same position, losing Emily, so he understood.
“What brings you back to Mirror Lakes? You haven’t been here since, well, everything.”
“I was thinking of taking lessons.”
Unfortunately, he was a bit slow on the uptake of disguising his shock. His eyes practically bulged with surprise. “Lessons?”
“Golf lessons,” she said, as though there were any other kind of lessons taught here.
“No, I know that,” he said, then made a little half-smile, half-frown thing with his mouth that didn’t really let Gert in on what he thought about it. But then he told her. “It’s just that you never really cared all that much about the game itself. Unless I totally misunderstood, I thought the reason you came was to be with Henry and to ride in the cart.”
Paul never held his punches; that’s what Henry had liked about him. Good thing Gert liked it too. “That is why I came, but I need to—want to—take lessons now and learn to golf,” she said, then added, “I think.” Looking out at the span of rolling hills, lakes, trees, sandy dunes—was that the right word, or was it sandy pits? sand pits?—anyway, she began to have second thoughts. She was supposed to hit a tiny little ball in all of that? And she’d planned on talking to Henry and having him give her answers throughout the journey. How would that happen if she couldn’t even find her way through the course, much less knock a tiny ball through it?
“Gertrude, if you aren’t careful, your face will stick that way, or that’s what Emily used to always say.”
She realized that her face was, indeed, squished up like she’d eaten a persimmon as she pondered whether she’d made a colossal mistake coming out here and expecting to start golfing in a day. A day!
Henry was probably laughing at her right now, and she didn’t blame him.
She relaxed her face, forced a smile.
“Gert, why are you thinking it necessary to take golf lessons? You don’t look all that excited about it.”
“I need answers,” she whispered.
He took an audible breath and then indicated a black wrought iron table nearby. A large green canvas umbrella shaded the table and also gave it an air of privacy, even though it was in the middle of the traffic from men going to and from the course. “Why don’t you sit with me and tell me what’s going on?”
She nodded, followed him and sat down, placing her bag on top of the table. Dear God, don’t let me cry. “I bought golf shoes.” There was no doubt that wasn’t what he planned to talk about, but that’s what she wanted to say. Anything else would make her whimper, and she was pushing her gumption to the limit by even coming here; she didn’t want to ruin it now by losing it in front of Paul.
He remained silent for a second, and then he nodded and peeked into the bag. “Want to show them to me?”
Her gratitude was instant. He knew that wasn’t what she was thinking about, but he didn’t question her, and he really did look interested in seeing her new shoes. She smiled, reached into her bag and withdrew the rectangular box. “I wasn’t certain what kind was best, so I trusted the salesperson at the sports store at the Galleria.”
He lifted the top from the box, pushed the white paper aside. “They’re pink.”
Gert nodded proudly. “I like pink.”
He smiled, and Gert, once again, admired the effortless way he smiled. Paul was an easy guy to talk to, and to sit with; no wonder he and Henry had been so close. “They suit you, Gert.”
“Chintz rose,” she said, looking at the beautiful shoes again. “And that trim is full grain leather.”
“I can tell.”
“And the kilties aren’t attached, so I can remove them to have a totally different look. Oh, and they’re water resistant, and very flexible.”
“I guess all you need now is to wear them,” he said teasingly, and unfortunately, Gert knew he was right.