Home At Last Chance (Last Chance #2)(23)
Author: Hope Ramsay

“Wow, what happened out here?” Sarah asked.

“They say lightning struck the propane tank and caused the explosion that damaged the water circulation system,” Hettie said as they started walking down the path. “I’ve heard Jimmy talking about it. My husband, and just about everyone else in town, thinks it’s a blessing that this old place has finally seen its last customer.”

Hettie turned and gazed down the path, her bright blue eyes softening.

“I used to love coming here with Daddy when I was a girl,” Hettie said softly. And then her eyes filled with tears that she dashed away with the back of her hand.

“Dammit. I’m an emotional wreck today. Funerals always do that to me. C’mon, I’ll show you the ark.”

It wasn’t really an ark, just a barn shaped like a big boat with a concession stand and an office.

“Elbert used to keep the petting zoo in there,” Hettie explained. “Since the lightning storm, the animals have been boarded out at Dash Randall’s ranch. Plenty of pasture out there for Mamie.”

“Mamie?”

“The longhorn.”

Sarah laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“The fact that you know the cow’s name. Does everyone know her name?”

“Uh, I don’t know. I see Mamie several times a week. I board a horse over at Dash’s.”

“Ah.” There was something very likable about Hettie. Somewhere behind that brittle façade was a real person. Sarah stepped past the shuttered sales counter and headed toward the first hole.

Eve, rendered in fiberglass and wearing fig leaves, stood beside the apple tree, reaching for a bright red apple. The fruit was being offered by a serpent painted to resemble a copperhead. It was a par-four hole that required a golfer to putt the ball through the roots of the Tree of Knowledge in order to reach the hole on the other side. Beside the tee box was a little plaque bearing the words:

The serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field.

Sarah read the scripture. “That’s from Genesis 3. Although, technically, Eve didn’t put on her fig leaves until after she ate the fruit. But I suppose having a nak*d Eve on a putt-putt place in the middle of the Bible Belt would be too shocking, huh?”

“I’ll bet Ruby just loves you to bits.”

“Huh?”

“You’re exactly the kind of woman I’d want looking after my son. A good woman who knows her scripture is worth a lot to a mother.”

“Do you have children?”

Hettie shook her head and turned away. Sarah silently followed Hettie’s gaze as she surveyed the golf course. Fiberglass statues spread before her in every direction. They ranged from David and Goliath to the resurrection of Christ. It was amazing. At once both campy and surprisingly artistic. But decay had crept in. The place needed attention and repair.

Sarah closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of the pines and something else. Something old and primal. There was magic here. She could feel it.

And then it struck her, like the proverbial thunderbolt.

Golfing for God was magic. The kind of magic people grew up and forgot about. Like Racer Rabbit or that simple faith Haley Rhodes talked about when she said her momma was up in Heaven with Jesus.

“This is where Elbert sees his angels,” she said.

“Please, don’t tell me you—”

“No, I don’t really see them. But I feel them here. Like a possibility. And it just occurred to me that we’re all in trouble if we lose our simple faith in angels. I know you don’t want to hear this, but Golfing for God matters.”

“You’re as crazy as Elbert.”

“Maybe I am. But admit it, Hettie, when you thought about coming here as a kid a minute ago, it brought tears to your eyes. Where does it say that we have to grow up and lose the fun of a place like this?”

“But it’s a joke, and not a very funny one.”

“See, you’ve grown older and you’ve lost the ability to believe in miracles. You know, if you want my advice, someone in this town ought to form a committee to resurrect this place. I mean it.”

Hettie looked aghast. “A committee to resurrect it?”

“Exactly. A committee of dedicated church ladies who would do a whole lot better for the town if they would quit trying to meddle in people’s private lives and get to work on something worthy, like helping people remember what it feels like to have simple faith. The world could use a whole lot more of that, if you ask me.”

“But I thought you wanted to help Tulane. Tulane would hate it if anyone formed a committee to save this place.”

“I’m sure he would. But he needs to grow up enough to embrace the innocence. Maybe all of us do.”

“What?”

“You heard me. A minute ago you said I was cynical, and you know what—you’re right. There is nothing cynical about this place. Hettie, open your eyes, and see it like a six-year-old.”

Chapter 10

Emotions were running high when Sarah returned to Ruby’s house later that day. The reading of Pete’s will hadn’t gone well, evidently.

Arlene was weeping openly. Elbert was missing in action, reportedly off somewhere riding his Harley. Jane and Clay were out in the backyard, arguing. Cousin Alex was sulking in one of the rocking chairs out front. Rocky was AWOL but had checked in by cell phone to make sure that the funeral arrangements were on track. Stone was missing, too, but that was nothing new.

The brigade of church ladies had vanished, no doubt heading home to make supper for their own families. They had mostly cleaned up after themselves, leaving only a small stack of dirty dishes that had not fit in the dishwasher.

Ruby, like some stereotypical steel magnolia, seemed unfazed by it all. She sat in her parlor, playing Chinese checkers with her granddaughters.

Sarah had nothing better to do, so she started washing the leftover dishes, her mind wandering back to the problems she would face on Monday. Deidre wanted a full report, and there was nothing Sarah could say that would please both Deidre and Tulane. She was stuck.

“Hey.”

The sound of Tulane’s voice jolted Sarah out of her thoughts. His body heat registered against her backside as he took the sponge from her hands. He stood just behind her, not touching, but making her whole body react to him in the most adolescent manner.

“You’ve been standing there staring out the window for the last five minutes without washing a single dish. Are you eavesdropping on Jane and Clay? I think they’re having their first argument as a married couple. Momma thinks it’s cute. I think it’s dumb.”

“They’re arguing about Golfing for God.”

“Yeah. Stupid thing to argue about. So, what have you been up to, besides flirting with the preacher, managing Pete’s funeral, and pretending to wash dishes?”

She snagged a dish towel from the rack above the sink and turned to face Tulane as she dried her hands. He stood just inches from her, and she had to c*ck her head back to see into his eyes. Her body began to hum the way it always did when Tulane got too close.

“To tell you the truth, I went out to see Golfing for God this afternoon with Hettie Marshall. And now that I’ve seen it, I’m at a loss as to why you—”

“You went out to Golfing for God? What the heck for?”

“I had to see the place.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Yes, I did. I have to know what I’m dealing with.”

“What you’re dealing with? How about what I’m dealing with.” His voice rose in pitch, and a muscle ticked in his jaw. “Did you hear what happened at the lawyer’s this afternoon?”

“No.”

“Pete asked me to help Daddy rebuild Golfing for God. Can you believe it?”

“Good for him.” Sarah draped the dish towel on its rack and then leaned back into the kitchen counter, crossing her arms.

“Good for him? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Sarah shrugged. “Look, I never met Pete, but if he thought rebuilding Golfing for God was a good idea, then I guess I agree with him.”

“Why? You saw that place. It’s an eyesore and a joke. Why should anyone rebuild it?”

“Well, I guess you and I see different things out there. I saw a place where kids could learn their Bible stories. I saw a place where angels just might reside.”

“Huh?” Tulane’s lower jaw dropped open, and he stared down at her like she was ready to be hauled away by men wearing white coats.

“Don’t look at me like that, Tulane. I’m not crazy. And I’m pretty sure your father isn’t crazy either. And to be honest, I don’t see that Haley’s angel is something to worry about. When I was her age, I believed in angels. Didn’t you? I believed in a lot of things, like Santa Claus and flying reindeer. Give her a break, for goodness’ sake. She’s seven.”

“Honey, you believing in angels and Haley seeing one are not the same things. You have no idea what my life or Haley’s life has been like growing up here. So don’t stand there and tell me how Golfing for God should be saved. I’m telling you, the best thing that ever happened was that lightning bolt hitting the place. Maybe if we buried Golfing for God, my family could move away from this town, and then things would be different.”

“Tulane, moving away is not going to change the past. Things won’t be different. Trust me on this. I have experience. Just moving away doesn’t change who you are.”

“You, experienced? That’s a laugh. You’re about as gullible as a six-year-old. That probably explains why you don’t understand the whole Golfing for God problem.”

“I wish you would quit doing that.”

“What?”

“Calling me nice and inexperienced. I’m not as nice as you think I am. Besides, nice people usually finish last.”

“Well,” he said with a grin, “if you’re really serious about wanting to be naughty, I can help. I mean, if you want, I could take you out this evening, and we could raise a little hell.”

She blushed. “What sort of hell?” she whispered.

“Oh, I don’t know. The usual kind. Last Chance, South Carolina, is a great place to raise hell. There are church ladies on every corner just waiting for a boy to slip up.”

He was daring her, wasn’t he? Trying to make a point about Golfing for God by suggesting that she was too childish to really understand the truth.

What would happen if she took the dare?

A whole range of emotions seized her. Excitement. Dread. Fear. Anticipation. Every cell in her body sprang to life.

“Okay,” she said, raising her chin and squaring her shoulders. “I’m in.”

The stunned look on Tulane’s face told her she had just surprised the heck out of him.

Good.

The dashboard lit up Tulane’s face in green. He focused on the road and floored the accelerator. Stone Rhodes’s Ford pickup might be beat-up on the outside, but there wasn’t anything wrong with the engine. It roared to life and took off, pressing Sarah back against the headrest.