Page 16 of Putting Out
“Hey, asshole, this is private property. Get back in your car and move it…” Kenny stopped his tirade short when he spotted Luke.
“Does your grandmother know you have the mouth of a truck driver despite all her best efforts?”
Kenny beamed. “She knows. There’s nothing she can do about it. She’s running out of soap. Thank God you are here! Sanity at last.”
“You are counting on me for sanity? Now I know you’re in trouble.”
Kenny walked up and took the duffle bag Luke had slung over his shoulder. It was an occupational hazard Luke supposed that Kenny could never let anyone carry his own bags.
“She won’t listen to me. Now she won’t even let me talk to her about it. She says she needs to think. Says she needs time to make a decision. Have you ever heard such ridiculousness in your life?”
Luke smothered a smile and realized he was going to have to walk a fine line. Kenny was one of his oldest and truest friends.
Reilly was… Reilly.
There was no title created that fit what she was to him. He wasn’t going to be able to take sides. Although he doubted he would have to. In the end there would be only one conclusion.
“She’s spinning it out. Going for the dramatic announcement,” Luke suggested, although despite Reilly’s flair for owning the moment, it wasn’t like her.
Yes, she tended to command attention when she was around, but he’d never known her to crave the spotlight.
“That’s the thing! I don’t think she is. I think she is seriously undecided and I can’t figure out why.”
“She hasn’t given you any reasons?”
Kenny scrunched up his face.
“Aw, she’s saying stuff like she doesn’t want to be a torch bearer for the women’s movement or a late-night joke and shit like that. I think she’s just worried about stinking it up, but who cares? She’s not going to win. She knows that. It’s about being able to say she played in the American.”
Luke chewed on that. Reilly competing in an event she knew going into it she couldn’t win. No, that wouldn’t sit well with her.
“You have to talk to her, Luke. You have to convince her to do this.”
“I’ll talk to her,” he promised. It was why he came. Part of why he came. When he saw the ESPN broadcast announcing the new ranking system, he’d been in his LA home signing his third set of divorce papers. This divorce had hurt. Not losing his wife. He was more than grateful to be rid of her. It was failing again which gnawed at him. That and knowing going into this last marriage it was bound to end, but doing it anyway.
Three divorces. It made a man take stock of his life. Then he looked up and saw the announcement on the television and it all made sense. For the first time since he made the decision to leave competitive golf behind, he knew where he was supposed to go. It was good for a man to have direction.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know. Down by the lake maybe, hitting balls. Moping. Giving me gray hair.”
Luke nodded. “Anything else going on? How is Grams?”
“Baking like a fiend, which means she’s anxious. I don’t know if that’s about Reilly or about her slowing down. She’s got the walker, but the bottom line is eventually she’s going to need a wheelchair. When that happens I don’t know if it makes sense to hold on to the house.”
“They’ve got to keep the house,” Luke said, then stopped himself. “Sorry, not my call. It’s just… this house.”
“Yeah, I know. We all love it. We’ll see. We’re not there yet. Pop is the same except he’s not saying anything to Reilly, which he should be.”
“And you?”
“I want her to play. Other than that I sort of have a … well, I guess you could call her a ... sort of…”
“Kenny, are you in love?”
“No!” he rallied. “Not in love. In like-like.”
Luke shrugged. “That’s more than I’ve been in with any of my wives. Who is it?”
