Chapter 21

Morgantown, West Virginia is not that far south of the Pennsylvania state line and it was an unchallenging two-day run from New Hampshire.

I concentrated on driving the RV and Tess kept her distance, puttering around in the interior. We never had done that much talking while I was doing highway driving, and we both listened to NPR a lot, so the silences didn't seem all that unusual.

Except when we stopped for the night.

The RV park had a coin laundry, and I pointed it out to Tess. "Maybe this would be a good place to wash the sheets," I said. "Then I could sleep tonight in Kim's bedroom, and you wouldn't have to worry about Lover Boy's detecting signs of my presence in the Master Suite."

She just clouded up, like she was going to bust out crying again. Only she didn't. She just said, "You son of a bitch! Sleep wherever you want to!"

Somewhere in central Pennsylvania, I did sleep alone that night, up in the little front bedroom. Kim's sheets, also unlaundered, smelled faintly of Kim. I slept on my left side. It was a nice change.

Tess never did wash her bedding that night, however.

We hit Morgantown around lunchtime Tuesday, and since Tess had no plans to visit The Pines Country Club, where that week's tournament was to be held, until Wednesday, I just got her settled in at our latest RV park and then told her I was going to get lost for awhile.

The park was in a semi-rural area, reasonably close to The Pines, but not very close to much of anything else. I walked a quarter-mile to a convenience store and called a cab from a pay phone. The cab took me to a large shopping center near the University of West Virginia campus, and I found a multiplex, where I saw three different mediocre movies, in three different theaters, without ever leaving the building.

After emerging into dusk, I found a cafe, had my first meal of the day (not counting popcorn) and, finally, took another cab back to the RV park. It was about 9:30 Tuesday night, and I'd been gone since shortly after noon.

"I thought maybe you were gone for good," Tess said.

"I'm gonna check into a motel," I told her. "Who knows when your boyfriend might show up?"

"He won't be here until sometime tomorrow," she said. "There's no reason for you to leave tonight, even if you want to be gone when he arrives."

"Tell you what," I said. "I'll take a cab to the golf course in the morning. I've already unhitched your car. You drive it to the course tomorrow for your practice round, and I'll meet you there. By the end of the day, if you know when Whatshisname is arriving, or if he joins you during your day there, I'll go back to my motel in your car, and you can come and go with him, in his car."

"What's this 'Whatshisname bullshit?" she said. "You know damned well his name is 'Hal.'"

"Who? Oh, you mean your boyfriend?"

"You're such a bastard!"

"No kidding, Tess, if I was you, I'd change the bedding, back there. Might still be some semen stains or something. And check your bathroom. I think I got all my stuff out of there, but, jeez, you can't be too careful. He shouldn't find anything of mine, back there in the love nest."

"Fuck you."

"Been there, etcetera." I gathered up most of my clothes and toilet gear, packed a suitcase, and used Tess' cell phone to call another cab.

Wednesday morning at 9 a.m., I found Tess where I expected to find her, registering for the tournament at the Club's utility building. The signs pointed the way.

I was on the job now, so I tried to be cheerful and professional. "What's the plan?" I asked.

"I've already made arrangements for a practice round with Kim and two of her friends," she said. We're teeing off at 10:15. If you want to skip it, I can hire a caddie."

"I'm fine. What do you hear from -- Hal?"

"He'll be here today, sometime mid-afternoon. He'll be looking for me around the practice areas."

"OK."

"I'll -- introduce you to him. He's a nice guy."

"OK."

"He doesn't... know anything except that you're my caddie."

"Right. And your driver."

"Yes."

"And your back-rubber."

"Well. He knows you... stay with me in the RV."

"I guess maybe we shouldn't talk about the back rubbing thing, then," I said.

"Are you going to be... Are you going to be civil, to Hal?"