Threads of Steel (Bayou Cove) (16 page)

Marrying Ronnie had elevated her status with her classmates. That is, until she found out he’d been running around on her for almost their entire marriage. How could she not have known her marriage was falling apart right before her eyes?

She tried to push all that aside and concentrate on her golf game, but by the Eighteen Hole, she knew she’d ruined Doug’s day on the course. Her score was embarrassingly high. She’d lost balls and ruined her shoes in the mud.

Doug looked over his shoulder at her as he slid off the seat. Instead of going around the cart to pull out his driver, he leaned into the golf cart. “What’s wrong?”

It crossed her mind to blurt out all she was feeling, but then she only had to look at this man who was neither an old friend nor a partner. He was a golfer who happened to be stuck with her during a bad week of her life. Even though Anna Marie wanted to get to know him better, she knew he didn’t deserve to hear her grumble.

She smiled and shook her head. “Maybe I’m feeling a little confused and a lot discouraged. I think I need to rip up the score card.”

Doug laughed. “Is that all?” He reached for the card on the steering wheel and ripped it in two.
“Now.
That was easy. What else is bothering you?”

“Doug, that was your score too, and if I figured right, you were way below par.”

He shrugged. “Not a big deal.” He slid back onto the seat and faced her. “Anna, you’ve had a lot dumped on you today. You can’t expect your body to ignore what’s on your mind. Golf is a game of concentration. You can’t concentrate on that little golf ball when Miss Ellie’s wishes are shouting for attention.”

A lump of emotion clogged her throat. Surprised at her reaction to his understanding, she didn’t try to speak.

He turned the key on the cart. “Let’s go sit in the clubhouse. I think all the old men are gone for the day. We’ll have it to ourselves.”

She placed her hand on the key and turned it off. “Let’s play this last hole. I’ll hit from this tee. Maybe I need to let the frustration out.”

“Okay, but don’t take your frustrations out on this poor guy if you don’t hit that ball.”

With a chuckle, he slid off the seat once more, and again she had to swallow. She wasn’t sure why his kindness affected her so deeply, but she was determined not to let her state of mind ruin the rest of the day for him.

She followed him to the back of the cart and pulled her club head off her driver.

“You want to go first?” he asked and glanced at her over his sunshades.

“Yes, I’d like that.” She turned to look down the fairway, knowing that if her balls hadn’t gone straight and long from the women’s tee that this ball certainly wouldn’t miraculously fly from the men’s tee.

Again she felt him looking at her. “Doug McCall’s first rule of thumb: Don’t defeat yourself.”

He stepped next to her. “I’ve been watching you. You have a lot of strength and drive in your swing. Let’s direct it.”

He stepped up on the tee. “If you don’t bop me on the head with that club, I’ll give you a few pointers.”

She smiled. “You’ve been watching me, huh? Think I need some help, do you?” She laughed. “Well, you’re right. We should’ve started the day with a few pointers.”

She stepped up on the tee, placed her back to him, and took a deep breath. The hole was a par four, over three hundred and fifty yards away, much too long for the way she’d been hitting today.

“What did I just tell you? You’re already seeing that ball bounce off the side of the fairway and land in the grass instead of going straight, aren’t you? You’re supposed to visualize it flying over the fairway until you lose sight of it by the green.”

She was about to tell him she didn’t rely on fantasies, but at that moment he reached around her body and pulled her close to him. She closed her eyes. When his hands slid down her arms and settled on her hands holding the clubs, all thoughts left her mind. She stiffened. Maybe she
was
in a fantasy.

“Relax, Anna Marie. You can’t hit the ball if you’re uptight.”

How did he expect her to relax? She let out a long breath and tried hard to concentrate on the course and not on the hard body that touched every part of her backside.

“First, you need to address the ball. Make sure your shoulder is facing where you want your ball to go.
”

He turned his body just slightly. She turned with him, forcing herself not to turn completely around and throw herself into his arms.

“You might not think a fraction of an inch would make a difference,” he said, probably completely unaware of what he was doing to her, “but when you add distance to it, that fraction becomes inches and sometimes feet.”

She looked at her left shoulder, then up the fairway
.
Sure enough.
She was pointing directly to the flag
.

“It does make sense. Yes, it feels a lot better.”

But not as good as your arms around me.

“Now, let’s work on your body.”

Anna Marie said a prayer of thanks that he couldn’t see her face at his choice of words.

His hands slid up her arms, took her shoulders and gently positioned them again, this time straightening one and letting the other relax. Then his hand ran back down each arm. He was doing nothing more than any golf instructor would do with a student, but his touch sent heat radiating throughout her body.

She squeezed her eyes tightly and demanded her mind to concentrate on the golf club and the course in front of her.
Concentrate. Forget the big hands and hard arms that are touching you.

It was easier said than done, but she forced herself to listen.

“Keep both of your arms straight, especially the left one and when you swing, follow through with your shoulders.”

He was so serious about her game. How could he not know what he was doing to her?

“How’s that feel?”

His question almost made her choke. “Good. It feels good.” She lied. Her stance felt good, but what he was doing to her felt great, awesome, fantastic.

“Okay, take a practice swing.
”

Again she squeezed her eyes,
then
looked at the ball.
Concentrate
.

Placing his hands over hers, he swung with her.

“Now, doesn’t that feel better?”

“I think that little bit of adjustment might get me somewhere.”

“Ready to try it?”

“Yes, I’m ready” – but when he backed away, she wanted to lean back into his embrace.

Glancing back at him, she took his smile and nod as approval of her stance. She wasted no time. With her head down and eyes on the ball, she swung, following through with her club.

“
Woohoo
.
Look at that ball go.”

His words gave her the go-ahead to look up just in time to see the ball land almost in the middle of the fairway. With a nice bounce, it rolled straight for several more yards.

“Yes!” she whooped, then turned and threw her arms around Doug’s body. “Thank you.”

“No, thank
you
.
”

With her arms still wrapped around his body, she jumped up and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, but as soon as she realized what she’d done, she jerked her arms back.

For a second, she thought he would comment about her action, but he didn’t. Instead, he looked in the direction of the ball. “Good job. I knew that strength was there.”

He stepped up to the tee, took his quick glance at the fairway and hit his ball in his usual straight path.

His manner was calm. His motions smooth. How could he possibly be so collected when her insides felt like a hive of swarming bees?

She blamed her state of mind on all she’d been through today and not on the fact that her body had reacted so fiercely to his closeness or especially to the fact that he hadn’t even noticed that she’d kissed him. How embarrassing. Obviously, it had been much too long since she’d been this close to a man.

She took a long calming breath before talking. “How do you do that so consistently?”

“Practice.
Like I said, I have way too much time on my hands.
”

He smiled when he said it, but Anna Marie was afraid there was too much truth behind his words.

“And in my world, I don’t have enough time to do anything that doesn’t involve the business. Some days I pray for a couple more hours to finish a project.”

“Never a happy medium, is there? Come on. Let’s get those balls to the green. I’m ready to relax in the clubhouse.”

CHAPTER
10

“Stephen, I’ll be home Wednesday. I promise.” Anna Marie talked to her partner as she walked across the hospital parking lot. “When I leave here, I’m swinging by Nancy’s. She and I need to talk,
then
tomorrow I have to meet with the attorneys again.”

It had taken all morning for Anna Marie to locate
Doti
. When no one answered the number she’d given her, she called
Doti’s
parents and found out she was back in the hospital. And then she found out a lot more.
Doti’s
cancer was not improving. Her chemo wasn’t helping, and with a sob, her mom told her the doctors didn’t give her much hope. Her parents had taken her back to the hospital last night after she’d become horribly sick.

Once again, Stephen didn’t yell or gripe. In fact, he seemed to understand her need to know how to handle what Miss Ellie had left them and a former friend who was dying.

She hung up before entering the hospital lobby. With her mother’s illness and her dad’s accident, she hated hospitals, but this visit wasn’t something she could put off any longer. She had to see
Doti
and actually talk with her before she went back to New Orleans.

“Lord, help me,” she said under her breath as she tapped the elevator button. For some reason Anna Marie thought about the day of her divorce.
Doti
had been at the courthouse, but hadn’t made her presence known while they were in front of the judge, but as Anna Marie left the chamber alone, she saw
Doti
walking down the stairs holding Ronnie’s hand.

She remembered slumping against a huge column at the entrance of our building. Even today she could remember the cold, rough concrete as she leaned her face against it. Uncontrollable and unwanted tears streamed down her face as she watched the man she thought she’d spend the rest of her life with drive away with her once best friend. Her world had shattered into a million pieces in a matter of a few weeks.

As Ronnie’s truck turned the corner, Anna Marie swiped her hand across her face to get rid of the tears. Never again would she give herself so totally to anyone.
Doti
and Ronnie knew everything about her— her feelings, her motivations, her likes and dislikes. They knew her so well that they could make her believe they were loyal to her love and to her friendship.

The sting of betrayal still hurt
.

Now she was heading up to a hospital room alone to face the woman who’d torn apart her life.

The elevator door opened and she squeezed in with several other people. In the usual elevator manner, no one spoke. A frail lady leaning on a walking cane whispered to a middle-aged woman, who was probably her daughter, but even she only nodded, as if speaking out loud would be disrespectful.

Finally, Anna Marie was the last to remain on the elevator so when it stopped at her floor, she didn’t feel a need to hurry out. She held out her hand to divert the doors when they tried to close
.

The longer she remained in the elevator, the longer she would put off their talk.

Everything had seemed so right just a few minutes ago as she talked with Stephen and when she talked with Doug and Nancy. But now, reality came crashing down on her like the elevator door bumping against her hand.

Did she have the nerve to walk in and talk to
Doti
?

She wished Doug were with her. She could use his steady manner and positive attitude right
now because she felt anything but steady or positive.

Letting out a low groan, she stepped out before the doors hit her.
“You weakling.
This is insane. You could’ve ignored
Doti’s
idea of talking with you, but no, you can’t tell a dying woman no—even though it’s
Doti
.”

Guts.
What she really needed to do was to send
Doti
a message that she didn’t want to see her again, ever.

But as soon as that thought slipped into her mind, she knew that coming here today was the right thing to do— no matter how uncomfortable it would be.
Doti
was dying. There might be another time to talk with her or maybe not. In reality, she knew the strong possibility that she wouldn’t have this opportunity again.