Page 61 of You Know You Wanna

“It’s not unruly,” I grumbled. “It’s just not slicked back. What was that?”

“What was what?” he asked.

I jabbed the button to call the elevator and rolled my eyes at him. “That bonding session you were having with the old man. What was that, and why did it look like he loves you?”

Declan laughed as we climbed in together and started ascending up to the suite. “Don’t get jealous. Everyone loves me, bro. I thought you knew that by now. We were talking about the golf course.”

I narrowed my eyes as I glanced his way. “What golf course?”

“Next door,” he said. “Technically, it’s not part of the resort at the moment, but it’s on Alan’s property.”

“It is?”

“Yep,” he said. “He never had the money to operate it himself, but he wants to integrate it again now.”

“I thought the golf course was in town,” I mused out loud.

“It’s close enough,” he said. “It also only had nine holes.”

As he said it, he gave me a look, silently trying to convey what he meant. I frowned, wondering why he would only have a nine-hole course on a property this size, and that was when it dawned me on. “He has the land to make it eighteen.”

“Exactly, but he doesn’t have the funds to expand or to officially make it part of the resort. At this point, he’s leasing that land to someone else and that someone else is also operating and paying for the maintenance of the course itself.”

“This is our in,” I said, clapping him on the shoulder as a grin spread on my face. “Have you seen this course? What’s it like?”

“Not yet,” he replied as we walked into the suite. “I’ve been invited for a game with him tomorrow, though. The way he talks about it, it makes it sound like God himself would’ve put a golf course there. He says it’s idyllic, the perfect place for man and nature to unite.”

My face contorted. “Grumpy old man Alan said that to you?”

“Yep,” Dec said cheerfully, laughing. He dropped down on the couch and kicked off his flip-flops before he put his feet up and leaned back. “He’s not so bad when you get to know him. I have no idea what you did to piss him off so badly, man. Seriously. That dude doesn’t like you. At all.”

I ignored him. “When is the tee time? I’ll join you out there tomorrow. If this course is our in, I need to check it out as soon as possible. We’ll be able to get the ball rolling sooner that way.”

He gave me a pained look. “No puns, dude. And you’re going to have to check it out on your own time. I’m sorry. You know I would welcome you, but Alan specifically said you weren’t invited.”

“I’m always invited.” I pretended to be wounded by the notion.

Dec shook his head. “I don’t think so. Instead of Mr. Ford, he calls you Mr. Fraud.”

“What the fuck?” I asked, frowning. “I’m not a fraud.”

“Don’t shoot the messenger.” He shrugged. “I was giving you the heads-up.”

I rolled my eyes. “Well, this fraud needs a shower. I grabbed one this morning before I left the campground, but I feel like I need another. When I get out, we’ll talk more about how you managed to become Alan’s best friend while I’m enemy number one.”

He chuckled. “I’ll order up some drinks from room service while you wash the nature stink off you. Where’s Laurene?”

“They’re still on their way back from the trip. They were taking a scenic route back. They might’ve stopped for another swim. They should be back soon, though. If you’re going to be ordering drinks, grab us some food as well. She’s going to be famished by the time she gets here and I could do with like three steaks myself.”

“Steak,” he repeated back to me. “Got it. For Laurene?”

“Same,” I said. “With fries and salad. Maybe get some onion rings too. We earned some extra calories.”

I headed down the hallway, a little of cloud nine back under me. Not only had I just had some of the best days I’d had in decades, but now I also stood a chance at putting my money where my mouth was for Birdie’s future.

After she’d opened up to me the way she had about her siblings and what she’d been through as a kid, I was more determined than ever to help her not have to spend the rest of her life worrying about money. She’d had enough of that.

Feeling a lot more upbeat than before, I climbed into the shower and washed off the remaining dust and sweat of the trip. Then I put on clean clothes and headed back out. As I walked into the living area, Laurene came into the suite, filthy and visibly exhausted but smiling all the way.