The Devil You Know

Halfway through lunch Roni was relieved to see Patricia on the last hole of the golfing green. When her friend finished the game, she stripped off her gloves, spotted Roni and her group, waved madly, then came over. Roni had told her to look for them.

The three men stood.

“Please, gentlemen, keep your seats,” Patricia told them. “I just stopped to say hello to Roni. We were roommates in college. She got me through those awful computer courses.”

“Patricia corrected all my English papers before I turned them in, or else I would still be trying to graduate,” Roni said, returning the implied compliment.

Adam invited Patricia to take his chair and pulled another over from an empty table. The day was sunny, so they had opted to sit on the dining terrace. Roni introduced her friend to the Masterson family and to Adam.

“Upjohn?” Charles repeated the last name. “There’s a Thomas Upjohn who lives in the area.”

Patricia wrinkled her nose prettily. “My father. I work in the loan department at the bank. Since he has no son, he’s decided I need to learn the family business.”

“She’s a whiz at it,” Roni said loyally. “She arranged the loan for my house and got me through all the paperwork. Even Seth approved of the transaction.”

She had to explain Seth was her brother and an attorney and that he reviewed all the family legal affairs.

“I know him,” the older Masterson told her. “He brought a suit against my company for a client and won. It was a business matter,” he added with a smile. “No hard feelings.”

Roni nodded.

Patricia ordered a glass of iced tea when the waiter came over, then settled in to chat with them. Roni felt more at ease with her friend there. She’d been to the country club with Patricia on other occasions, and it was nice to have reinforcements, so to speak.

Not that everything wasn’t just fine, at least as far as she was concerned, she mused when attention shifted away from her. There was tension between Scott and Geena. She thought the brother and sister didn’t like each other very much. Geena had probably bossed Scott around when they were kids, the same as her brothers and cousins had always tried to do to her.

She’d hated being ordered about. Except by Uncle Nick, of course. He was the undisputed boss of the Dalton gang.

Her heart warmed as she thought of the relative who’d taken the orphans in and given them shelter and a loving home. That aspect of him had never changed, not even when his own heart was aching with the loss of his wife and child not quite a year after the orphans had come to live with him and Aunt Milly and Tink.

With only a few months difference in their ages, she and Tink had become fast friends. It had been so nice to have another girl to play with. Then Tink was gone, leaving another hole in her heart…

She realized the others were looking at her. “I’m sorry. What was the question?”

“Shall I see if we can get a tee time for this afternoon?” Geena asked. “There may be a cancellation.”

“I don’t play golf, but you three go ahead.”

“We don’t mind helping you,” Geena offered graciously. “It’s easy to learn.”

Roni grimaced to herself. It looked as if she was going to have to join them.

“Actually,” Patricia spoke up, “Roni has played a few rounds with me. She’s not bad for a beginner, but watch out for her wicked slice.”

Roni couldn’t recall if a slice meant she hit the ball to the right while a hook went to the left or vice versa.

Geena rose. “Then it’s settled. I’ll check with the pro and see if we can get a slot.”

Roni had a feeling she wasn’t going to enjoy this game at all. “When did you learn to play?” she asked Adam.

“I used to caddy when I was in high school. Sometimes I was asked to fill out a foursome.”

“I see.”

Charles and Danielle apologized and left them shortly after that. Patricia gave Roni’s arm a squeeze and said she had to run. She was in charge of a political dinner that evening for her father, for whom she often served as hostess.

Growing up without a mother had been an immediate bond between the two girls when they’d shared a room their freshman year at school, then an apartment thereafter. Patricia came from a wealthy banking family, but she was friendly and candid and casual about her background.

Scott saw a friend and excused himself, leaving her and Adam at the table. Roni sipped iced tea and observed the next group of golfers at the eighteenth hole.

“Scared?” Adam said.

“Of what?”

He shrugged. “Of looking like an amateur on the golf course. You Daltons don’t like to lose.”

“Well, I hate to have Geena show me up,” she admitted, bringing an unexpected smile to his face, “but I’ll live through it.”

“Good.”

A funny feeling invaded the pit of her stomach at his approving nod. “Uncle Nick said we should try new things as long as it wasn’t drugs or something illegal. Geena is probably an expert,” she added a trifle glumly.

His smile became a chuckle. “Probably. Just relax and try to enjoy it. Don’t worry about the score.”

“That’s easy for you to say.” She sighed loudly. “The grounds are nice here. If nothing else, I can admire the landscape while I’m hacking my way down the fairway.”

“Right.”

Her attitude lightened as he laughed again. Maybe she would get through this with her dignity intact. She vowed to do her best.

When Geena returned and reported they were scheduled for four o’clock, the problem of shoes came up. Determined not to be outdone by the other woman, Roni bought a pair of golfing shoes at the club. She carefully concealed her shock at the sticker price and put the cost on her credit card. She hoped Uncle Nick didn’t find out what she’d paid for them.

“They’ll last a long time,” Adam said, falling into step beside her as they went to the car where Scott waited.

“They’d better,” she said wryly.

Geena, on the other side of Adam, looked amused. “You can play in sneakers, too. Some people do.”

Her tone implied that those who did were social wash-outs. Roni smiled brightly. “It’s time I learned to play. Patricia loves it and is always after me to join her. Maybe I’ll get good enough to show her up.”

“What’s her handicap?” Geena wanted to know.

Roni hadn’t the foggiest idea. “Five.”

Geena looked surprised, then dubious.

“Maybe six,” Roni said, trying to look as if she knew what she was talking about.

“We’ll have to invite her to play sometime,” the other woman decided, a competitive light in her eyes.