by Melody Anne
“Hi, Fred. This is Daisy. I’m trying to convince her how wonderful golfing communities are,” Hudson said with a chuckle. Daisy shot Hudson a look before she smiled and took Fred’s hand.
“It’s very nice to meet you. I don’t think all golfing communities are bad. I just think we have enough of them in the world.”
Fred laughed. “Oh, I like you,” he said. “This place is one of the best, but of course, that’s because Hudson built it,” he added. That caught Daisy’s attention. She turned her attention back to Hudson.
“You built all of this?” she asked, looking around the room they were in again with new eyes. It was phenomenal with beautiful open beams, unique corners, and framed windows. Beyond the beautifully designed golf course, far to the right, some large homes could be seen.
“Yes, I put it all together, but I didn’t design the landscape or the buildings.” Fred cleared his throat and Hudson laughed. “Okay I put it all together and gave my input for which materials to use,” he added while trying to act as if it wasn’t that big of a deal. She was shocked to see him acting humble and trying to brush off what looked to be fantastic work.
“He did more than give input. He has a real eye for what will work and what won’t. The final buildings changed a lot from the first designs. He went to his brother and had significant changes made that I fully agreed with. It’s so much better than I ever envisioned it to be.”
“You’re the owner?” Daisy asked Fred.
“Yes, this is my first, but hopefully not my last. It’s been a great success and now I want to see what we can do next. Unfortunately, Hudson’s moved on so I might be stuck with this as my one and only.”
“I’m sure there are a lot of builders who’d jump at the chance to work with you, Fred. There aren’t too many owners who get as involved as you. It’s quite refreshing,” Hudson told him.
“I only like the best and the best is taken,” Fred said and laughed. “Lunch is on the house, of course. You two have a wonderful day. I won’t take any more of your time.” With that he left and moved around the room, greeting guests and checking on the staff.
“He seems like a really good man, very involved in this place,” Daisy said. Their food was brought out and they began their meal.
“He’s a great guy who started out without a penny to his name. He worked his butt off, just like I did, and finally got his dream place. He’s the reason I wanted to build my own course,” Hudson said. “I loved working on this project. I loved that it was so much more than just a single home, or a single building. You speak a lot about community, but that’s exactly what this is, it’s a community. The people who live here all share a love of golfing, but they also want to be with others they have something in common with. We all search for something in our lives that unites us, and I think we need a variety of people, in communities and in the world, to give diversity and perspective. I think we can have that if we’re open-minded.”
“Are you saying I’m not open-minded?” she asked with a smile. She’d been called stubborn a time or two in her life. And maybe, just maybe she could admit she was a bit of a reverse snob, not that she’d believed that truly existed until she’d met Hudson, but never had someone said she wasn’t open-minded. She was willing to give anyone a chance.
Hudson laughed. “Well, I think you’ve called me a snob on multiple occasions,” he reminded her. “The reality is that the second we judge an entire class of people, it makes those of us judging into the bad guys. It’s great that there are so many people out there with vast differences. The world would be boring if we were all the same. So maybe we should just appreciate that other people have different opinions from us and look for things that unite us instead of things to divide us.”
“In other words, you’re telling me to get off of my high horse,” she said with another laugh.
“I wouldn’t put it quite like that,” he said, smiling big.
“No, I don’t think you would. I’m discovering you’re a pretty honorable man.”
“Well, until I have a club in my hand. Then I’m competitive,” he warned her.
“You won’t need to be with me. I suck. I think you’ve proven your point. We don’t have to golf,” she said, crossing her fingers she could get out of it.
“No way. I haven’t golfed in a while. It’s on,” he said.
“Do we at least get one of those golf carts? I’ve always wanted to drive one.” She felt a tiny bit of guilt over the wasted fuel. There was no way she’d admit to Darla she wanted to take one for a spin, not when she’d lectured her bestie for a lot of years about the environment.
“Golfing isn’t golfing without a golf cart and beer,” he said as if the thought of going without either was a sin.
“Okay, then I guess this won’t be so bad,” she said. She still wasn’t sure though.
Hudson threw a hundred-dollar bill on the table, making her gasp. That was just the tip since their meal had been comped. She tried not to react, though, as he stood and held out his hand.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
She took his hand and joined him. “I guess so.”
“Finished so soon?” their waitress asked.
“Yep, I’m anxious to get on the course,” Hudson said. “Thank you, it was delicious as always.”
“Have fun,” the waitress said. And then Hudson whisked Daisy away.
Since she didn’t own any official golf clothes she was wearing her yoga pants and workout shirt. It would have to do, because she wasn’t wasting money on an outfit she’d never wear again. She did find the skirts quite cute, but people who wore them out in public looked sort of silly. She could wear it to play tennis but she had a feeling she’d hate that game as much as she despised golf. She just wasn’t that into sports. She liked running, but anything to do with balls and coordination didn’t attract her.
Hudson got them the golf cart, and she was overjoyed when she got to drive it. She took a few loops before they came to their first hole. “This might not be so bad after all,” she said as she laughed. He looked slightly green.
“If we live through the day,” he told her while he chugged a beer.
“Oh, come on. It wasn’t that bad,” she said.
“We were on two wheels around that last corner,” he reminded her.
She waived her hand in the air. “We were perfectly safe.”
“You made two people do a swan dive into the grass. I might not ever be able to come here again. They’re going to put a poster up with both of our pictures on it that says ‘If you see these two, apprehend them immediately.’”
“Nah, they were just dancing,” Daisy said. “I really like this golf cart.”
“Yeah you do, but I didn’t know you were Evil Knievel when I agreed to let you drive,” he said.
Daisy laughed. It stopped as they grabbed their clubs and moved to the first hole. She sighed as she looked longingly back at the golf cart. At least she had that to look forward to between each hole.
For the next two hours, she only smiled when she got behind the wheel of the golf cart again. Her game hadn’t improved in the last ten years . . . not even by a little bit.
She hit more balls into water traps, sand traps, and the shrubbery than she got onto the fairway. She managed to knock a woman’s hat right off her head, earning her a death glare from said woman, who in Daisy’s opinion was overreacting. It hit her hat, not her head. But she also hit three golf carts, knocked over Hudson’s bag — scattering his clubs and sending one into the water that he had to dig out — and then she smacked his shins with a club. He had a slight limp going forward after that.
“If you think any of this will make me give up, you have another thing coming,” Hudson said as he limped to the tee.
“I’m not doing any of it on purpose,” Daisy assured him before she fell into a fit of giggles. He glared at her. “I promise I’m not. I warned you how bad I am.”
“I don’t buy it. I think you’re purposely trying to sabot
age the game,” he said.
She laughed again. She wasn’t, but she could see why he was so suspicious. She couldn’t quit laughing every time something went wrong.
Hudson hit a perfect shot, his ball landing only a couple of feet from where the flag was sticking up. Daisy was going to try again. She wanted to jump in the cart and ride away, but he’d been a good sport about her plans for him, so she could suck this afternoon up. Besides that, his company wasn’t bad at all.
She set her ball on the tee, then spread her legs like he’d shown her, and really concentrated on the ball. She was going to get one good hit if it was the last thing she did all day. Maybe if she managed to get just one ball close to the hole she’d enjoy the game at least a little bit. She looked down at the ball, then at the hole in the distance, then back to her ball. Then she did about a dozen practice swings.
“There are other people waiting,” Hudson finally told her. She looked up to see him grinning at her.
“They can continue to wait. I’m getting this one right,” she told him.
“Then carry on,” he said. He was leaning against the golf cart as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
She started her routine all over again. She readjusted her grip on her club, putting her full concentration into the swing. She could do this. She was smart, talented, and didn’t take no for an answer. She could beat this stupid white ball and this ridiculously stupid game.
Finally, she swung with all of her might . . . and the sound of the club hitting the ball was beautiful . . . for about half of a second, until the momentum of the swing pulled her entire body with it. As the ball went soaring through the air so did she, her feet launching off the ground. She flew up before coming back down . . . hard.
Hudson was there in a second, dropping down beside her. “Are you okay?” he asked, worry etched on his face.
She’d landed on her butt, and it was throbbing along with her pride. Before she could answer, though, she heard someone cheering and calling out, “Hole in one!” She looked up, then jumped to her feet.
“Was that for me?” she asked, looking around, trying to find the person who’d shouted. Was he shouting for himself or for her?
Hudson climbed a bit more slowly to his feet, then looked ahead to where their flag was waving. A man walked over to it and held his thumb in the air, his grin coming through to them loud and clear even from two hundred and fifty yards away.
“Holy cow, you just got a hole in one,” Hudson said, sounding and looking utterly stunned.
“I did? I really did?”
“Yep, you did.”
She jumped up and down, turned in a circle, then did a dance, not even caring if she looked ridiculous. She was grinning from ear to ear.
“Hole in one. Hole in one. I got a hole in one. I’m the best, I’m the best. I got a hole in one,” she sang out as she continued doing a dance, a mixture of a football touchdown dance and the Staying Alive seventies classic.
“Impressive,” Hudson said as he held out his hand for a high five. She smacked her hand to his, then picked up her club, moved to the golf cart, and put it away.
“Heck yeah, it is. And I quit now. I’m ending on that note.” She climbed inside the cart and waited for him.
“We can’t quit. We’re only halfway through,” he told her.
“Nope, done, done, done. I’ll never get that hit again, and if you want me to have warm fuzzies about this place, I suggest you let the game end.”
He stared at her for a moment then burst out laughing. “I guess the game is over,” he said.
She put the golf cart into gear, then took off, throwing Hudson back in his seat. They collected their balls, and she took the long way back to the clubhouse, driving way too fast, and scaring a few more people — including Hudson. But she couldn’t quit smiling or laughing.
For a day she hadn’t expected to be fun at all, it had ended up being one of the best she’d had in a long time. She was riding on such a high as they left the beautiful golf course that she didn’t even care that she might be losing their battle of wills.
She’d have plenty of time to worry about that later. For a nondate, it had been a pretty perfect day. Maybe he was a pretty perfect man. Maybe she was falling for him, and maybe he just might win this battle they were locked into.
By the time he dropped her off at home she was more confused than ever. She didn’t know what was going to come next. She didn’t know what she wanted to come next.
She did know for sure that she wanted to see him again.
Chapter Twenty-One
Daisy sat in her best friend’s house, pacing back and forth. She was nervous. Hudson had managed to talk her into going to his brother’s house for a barbeque. At first the plan had been to go there and look at the chicken coop he’d created. All of a sudden it had turned into a big family event. She’d tried to get out of it, but he’d gotten her best friend involved, who was now joining them, and Darla was all excited to go to a party with the Andersons in attendance.
As a social worker, Darla loved to analyze people, and there was no family more intriguing than the Andersons. They weren’t what the public expected them to be. They were wealthy beyond most people’s comprehension, great looking, and had hearts of gold. Why didn’t they have a million skeletons in their closets? That’s why Darla was so curious.
“Daisy, you’ve been pacing for an hour. It’s time to get ready,” Darla said with a laugh. “I’m not letting you say you have a headache and you need to get out of it.”
“I don’t see why we have to go,” Daisy whined. “And I don’t have anything appropriate to wear.”
Darla looked her over from head to toe. “Your clothes are a definite problem. Come with me and I’ll hook you up.”
Before Daisy could answer, there was a knock on the door. They both turned. “Are you expecting someone?” Daisy asked.
“Not yet,” Darla said as she moved to the door. She opened it to see Hudson, looking spectacular as always.
“Well, hello handsome,” Darla said, flashing him a brilliant smile.
“Hello, Darla,” Hudson said before his eyes flashed past her and landed on Daisy. “Hi, beautiful,” he added, making her blush.
“You’re early.” She looked at the clock on the wall. “Way early.”
“I was in this area and was hoping to get a head start,” he said.
Darla opened the door wider and held out her arm. “Come on in,” she told him, which he did. She shut the door then grinned at the two of them. “I’m dang glad to see you’re still around, handsome. It’s great to see you,” She gave him a wink that had Daisy rolling her eyes.
“It’s a pleasure to see you too. I’m hard to shake off,” he told her, making her laugh.
“That’s a good thing since Daisy loves to chase people away. You can’t allow her to bully you.”
“Are you two seriously going to talk about me like I’m not here again?” Daisy asked, tapping her toe as she glared at both of them.
“We’re doing it in front of you so you can’t say we’re hiding anything,” Darla said as she blew Daisy a kiss. Then she looked at Hudson again. “We were just going to get ready so you’re welcome to wait if you’d like.”
“I have zero problems waiting while you ladies get ready. I’m all yours to take you to the ball.”
“I’ll get you a beer, and we’ll be ready in thirty minutes tops,” Darla said, looking far more excited than Daisy.
“A beer sounds great,” Hudson said as he moved to a comfortable looking couch along the back wall of the living room.
Darla grabbed Hudson a beer, gave him the remote for the television, then took Daisy’s arm and led her away. As soon as they were out of earshot of Hudson, Darla shut the door and pulled Daisy to the closet.
“I want you to spill all. What in the heck is that tension between the two of you? There’s some serious chemistry brewing!”
Daisy wanted to deny it, but she knew she
couldn’t. Whenever she and Hudson were in the same room it felt as if fireworks were going off. “We’ve been spending more time together than I’ve admitted to you, but there’s really nothing going on. It’s all about the property,” she finally said, not loving that she was lying to her best friend, and completely unsure what else to add. She was confused about what she was feeling.
“I’ve known you since kindergarten and I’m not buying it,” Darla told her. She began strumming through her clothes and she pulled out several dresses.
“I don’t wear dresses,” Daisy said as she eyed the bright materials with distrust.
“Too bad. You are today . . . and you’re wearing heels,” Darla said, glaring at her as if daring her to argue.
“Do you want me to fall on my face?” Daisy asked with horror.
“Don’t worry, I have some low heels you won’t even notice. You’re going to knock this man’s socks off. He’s as hot as hell and he’s totally lusting after you already. Just wait until he sees you all dolled up.”
“I don’t want him lusting after me,” Daisy lied.
“Yeah, I’m calling BS on that right away. Now try on these two dresses while I plug in the curling iron.”
“Ugh, I never should’ve come here,” Daisy said, a pout on her lips.
“Yep, cause now you’re all mine.”
Daisy groaned again. The one person she could never argue with and get away with it was her best friend. They’d never had a real argument, and they’d always had each other’s backs. But they also knew when to call each other out on their crap. And Darla was certainly doing that to Daisy right then and there.
She was stuck now because there was no running when it came to a best friend. And there was a part of her that did want to see Hudson’s reaction to her transformation. Would he approve? Did she want him to?
Yes, she wanted him to. She was soon going to find out. Darla began to work her magic, and true to what she’d told Hudson, they were ready within thirty minutes. When Daisy looked at the completed picture of herself all dolled up she was a bit shocked.
Darla hadn’t changed her; she’d simply highlighted a few things.