Chapter 34

Bailey smiled and looked at the floor for a minute before her eyes met mine. As soon as she did, all thoughts of Sophie Montoya flew from my mind.

"I hope you believe me when I tell you I'm not the least disappointed to hear that again," she said.

Sophie looked back and forth.

"Uh, I guess you two already know each other," she said and then recognition dawned. "Oh, Lord, I saw that video so many times when I was still in juniors. I get it now. I get the whole thing with Amelie, too. Why didn't you say something?"

I thought she was talking to me but Bailey answered.

"R.J. was my first love and my first lover," Bailey said and then she looked sad. "And he was the first heart I ever broke. It's a portion of my life I don't like to dwell on."

Sophie looked up for my reaction.

"It was a few months and it was five years ago, Bailey," I said. "There's no reason to revisit the history. We all have parts of our lives we wish we could change. There's no reason we can't be friends now."

Bailey's face was a puzzle; her look alternated between angry and hurt.

"It was much more than a few months to me," she said finally. I could only nod. It had been a long time since I had spoken to Bailey and I didn't want her to know how much I had missed her.

Sophie gracefully excused herself to look for Catalina, leaving me alone with Bailey.

"It was more than that to me, too," I said when Sophie had left. "But I guess now isn't a good time to talk about it."

Bailey's gaze returned to the floor.

"I have so much to say," she started before she faltered. "So much I didn't want to say in a phone call. So much I have to say to you. But I guess you're right. This really isn't the right place."

I made a snap decision.

"I have plenty of room," I said. "You and your parents are more than welcome to stay. Amelie Robinson calls my place her home away from home."

She told me her mom and dad weren't traveling with her anymore.

"Dad's back went out again," she said. "They come to most of the tournaments, but they said they weren't coming to this one. I have a sneaking suspicion why.

"But if you're sure, I wouldn't mind staying there. In fact, I think I would enjoy it very much. Amelie and I haven't gotten to know each other very well, so it sounds like fun."

My ability to think failed me again, so I returned to the nod. I always say: If something works, stick with it.

"I hope we can take some time to visit, too," Bailey said almost in a whisper.

"Why didn't you call?" I wondered aloud. "Not a single call in almost five years!"

I saw tears form in Bailey's eyes.

"Short answer: At first, I didn't know what to say," she said. "Then I worried I waited too long. For the last two or three years, I was ashamed of myself for the way I treated you."

"There is nothing to feel bad about," I said with a shrug. "What happened, happened."

Bailey sighed deeply.

"I know," she said. "And I think it had to happen. I was so naïve to so many things. I was so childish and self-centered. I hurt you. I never meant to hurt you but looking back, I can't see how I possibly could have thought I wouldn't."

Bailey was shaking her head fiercely.

"After all you went through, I pull that shit," she said. "Instead of standing beside you and helping you, I thought only of myself. I can't believe I did that."

That made two of us. But there was no reason to beat her over the head with it.

"Can we talk later?" she asked with a rueful smile. "I need to compose myself a little before the sponsors roll in."

"Of course," I said. "We can talk about it later if you want or we move forward starting now."

Bailey shook her head again.

"No," she said. "You have to know that I've grown up before we can even be friends.

Before I wandered away for the night, I also invited Sophie and Catalina to stay at the house with the rest of us.

Sophie asked if she could talk to her sister before she made a decision.

A few minutes later, Sophie re-appeared with a slender girl in tow. I assumed correctly it was Catalina.

"We've talked it over and we'd like to see where you live before we make any rash decisions," Sophie said. But Catalina rolled her eyes.

I turned to Bailey.

"Do you want a tour, too?" I asked. Bailey said no.

"I follow your career pretty closely," she said with a blush. "If it's half as nice as your old apartment, I think I'll be fine."

I told her it was bigger than Ferguson Manor.

"Sophie, just plan to get your stuff and head over with us," she said. "You don't have to worry about the accommodations."

The women had a players' meeting scheduled, so I called Jill and asked her to lay out some steaks and fire up the grill.

"It looks like we're going to have a little shindig," I said with a laugh.

The pro-am was scheduled for Wednesday, giving players a chance to familiarize themselves with the course on Monday and Tuesday. The tournament provided cars for any player who needed one, but I told them I had a couple of spare ones if they just wanted to wait until Wednesday to pick up a vehicle. I wouldn't need a car except for a couple of times during the week and my garage was packed full of crap so I figured if just one player got a car, we'd be set. If worse came to worst I could walk to the events and I'd considered it because of the problems the tournament had last year with parking.

We managed to fit all the women's belongings into my SUV. It was a tight fit and I was pretty happy I hadn't brought the Fiat. When we turned into my driveway, I heard Catalina mutter, "Oh, my God!"

My mind flashed back to my drive into Ferguson Manor when I was about Catalina's age. Amelie was in the pool, with her very large tummy sticking out of the water when we walked into the back yard. Because she was so tiny, and the baby so big, Amelie's back hurt most of the time, so she stayed in the water because it helped to ease the weight.

Amelie's face broke out into a huge smile when she saw us standing there.

"You have accumulated quite a group," she said. I thought she had quite a gift for understatement...

When we got everyone inside and took a tour of the house I asked about tee times for the next day's practice rounds. Sophie and Catalina were playing in the early morning so they wanted to ride in together but Bailey wasn't playing until 10:30 a.m.

I led them to the garage and told them they could take the SUV in the morning if they wanted or I had a smaller car that would fit everything the wanted to take. Bailey told me I knew what she'd want to drive — the Fiat.

"When I saw the SUV I wondered if you still had this," she asked. "I should have known you would."