Table for five - By Susan Wiggs Page 0,84

people should know that. If his thoughts strayed a hairsbreadth, it was all over.

Cameron took his next shot and it was a good one, setting him up to hole out with one more stroke. Sean’s lead had been shaved to one, but he still felt confident that the last hole was his, and he would wind up keeping his twenty dollars.

“Uh-oh,” said Charlie, and Ashley mimicked her.

He’d somehow made another terrible putt, overshooting the hole. Now his ball lay a seriously long putt away.

Cameron hit in easily. He was too experienced a golfer to gloat, but his posture as he walked off the green clearly said, “I win.”

Not yet, you don’t, thought Sean. This would be a long and difficult putt, but if he could sink it, they would be tied and they’d have to play another hole. As he lined up for the putt, he heard Lily whisper to Cameron, “It’s only twenty dollars.”

Cameron whispered back, “It’s not about the twenty dollars.”

Then everyone got quiet. Even the baby was quiet, as though she had an innate respect for the proceedings.

Somehow, Sean’s thoughts strayed again. He found himself wondering what Lily looked like without her glasses, and why she was making him question what he had with Maura.

And he missed the putt.

“Oh, no!” Charlie jumped up and down. “Cameron wins by a stroke!”

Putting on his game face, Sean took out his wallet and handed Cameron a twenty-dollar bill. They left the Jurassic forest and turned in their equipment.

“I’m sorry, Uncle Sean,” said Charlie. “I was silently rooting for you.”

“Never be sorry. Cameron kept his game together and I let mine fall apart.”

“Why?”

“I blew my concentration.”

“Why?”

“I kept thinking about things that distracted me.”

“Like what?”

He caught the gleam of amusement in her eye. “Like nieces who ask too many questions and have to be tickled.” With an animal roar, he snatched her up.

She gave a squeal of fearful delight, then laughed helplessly as he attacked her most vulnerable spot—the hapless armpit. Ashley joined in with the laughter on principle and kept giggling even after the tickling stopped. Cameron swung her up on his shoulders as they headed for the exit.

Sean sensed Lily’s presence beside him and smiled. “All in all,” he said, “not a bad day.”

“I had no idea I was such a terrible golfer. I’m ashamed.”

“Don’t be.”

“How can something so simple be so hard?”

“Because it’s golf, that’s how,” he explained. “It wasn’t the real game, anyway. I need to teach you to play real golf.” He wasn’t sure why he said it. He wasn’t sure why he could still feel her in his arms.

“As bad as I am, I’m starting to understand why golf is so delicious to so many people.”

It was the last thing he expected her to say. Maybe that was why he was so intrigued. Just when he thought he had her figured out, she surprised him.

“Cameron! Hey, Cameron!” a feminine voice called out, then a tall girl in an oversize Jurassic Park T-shirt came running toward them.

Sean and Lily exchanged a glance. He grabbed Charlie’s hand to keep her from interfering. They watched as the girl, long-limbed and coltish, approached Cameron near the exit. She was about his age, with brown hair in a ponytail, silver braces and glasses.

Cameron did not look thrilled to see her. “Hey, Becky,” he said, lifting the toddler off his shoulders.

“Here’s the photograph you ordered,” said Becky, handing him the eight-by-ten in a cellophane bag. She flat-out worshiped him, that was clear enough. “I was so surprised to see you here. I wanted to deliver this personally.”

“Thanks.” Cameron took the picture from her. “We just stopped in as a treat for my little sister. We’re on our way home now.”

“Oh.” She bounced on the balls of her feet, smiling at the baby and then at Sean, Lily and Charlie as they approached. “So is this your family?”

“No,” Cameron said. “I mean, well, this is Ashley, and that’s my other sister Charlie, my uncle Sean and Lily.”

“I’m Becky Pilchuk.” Her face lit up with unabashed delight.

“Do you work here?” Charlie asked.

“Yep. In the restaurant, every weekend.”

“Boy, are you ever lucky,” said Charlie.

“I think so,” Becky agreed.

“We should get going,” Cameron said, clearly chafing under her adoration. “See you around.”

She darted her gaze nervously at the main building of the complex. “The snack bar just opened for lunch,” she suggested. “It’s not too bad, that is, if you’re hungry.”

“I’m starved,” Charlie said dramatically. “Starved.”

“Me, too,” said Ashley.

“That settles it, then,” Sean said. “We’ll eat