“Yes. Of course,” I say.
The other guy goes back to practicing but Leo walks toward me, his golf club still in his hand. There’s a bright green grip at the top, which sort of surprises me, but I don’t know why.
A million things run through my head.Please don’t tell anyone I’m here! If you mention you saw me, you’re a dead man. I’m not Olivia, but I get that all the time!
“I didn’t know you’d be out here. Do you work here? No one mentioned it.”
And there it is.
“Yeah, no one mentioned you’d be out here either,” I say, ignoring his question.But I would have prepared if they had! I would have been on a constant lookout for you.
“Yeah, I’m playing in tomorrow’s tournament. Hoping to get a spot on the LSU team for the fall.”
He must be pretty good to even have a shot at an SEC school team. I don’t know much about Leo since he moved away. Did he play golf before he left? No idea! All I know is he lives in Baton Rouge but still sees the Evil Joes on the regular, since there have been several holidays (minor ones like Memorial Day weekend and the Fourth of July) they’ve missed being with us because they were with Leo’s family. I guess he’s staying with Aunt Maggie Mae while he’s in town for the tournament.
“Oh, good…Good luck….” I fumble for something witty to say, but I really need to just get it over with. “Look, no one in the family knows I’m working here this week and I’d like to keep it that way, so would you please not mention it to anyone?”
One eyebrow rises, so I match him by raising one of mine. He smiles and his whole face brightens.
“Not even the other ones know?” he asks.
“What other ones?”
“The other ones in your little group.” He squints as he looks up at the bright blue sky. “What does Mary Jo call y’all?”
I can’t help flinching. “She has a name for us?” Which is the dumbest thing I can say or be surprised about because we have a name for ourselves—the Fab Four—but I’m sure that’s not the one he’s trying to think of. And we obviously have a name for the Evil Joes.
I can tell the second he remembers. “The Fake Four! That’s it!”
Fake? How are we fake? “That’s a stupid name,” I say. Wait until I tell Charlie.
“So do any of the Fake Four know you’re here?” he asks.
I raise that one eyebrow again. “Don’t call us that.” I wait a second before I continue. “And yes, Charlie, Sophie, and Wes know I’m here, but that’s it.”
He gets serious. “Why don’t you want anyone to know you’re here?” He looks around the course. “It’s not a bad thing to be here.”
I take a deep breath. “It’s my business why I’m here, and it’s important to me. Can we leave it at that?”
He studies me for a moment. “Sure. It will be our little secret.”
Oh, I’m not sure I like the way he sayssecret.
“Excuse me,” a golfer from down the line yells to me. “Where can I get some range balls?”
Half of the other golfers tell him to shut up.
“I gotta go,” I say, and walk away before Leo can say anything else.
This is officially the worst day ever and it’s only eight thirty a.m.
Phone Duty:Sophie
Charlie warned me Aunt Lisa would text a bunch, but it’s no joke. Though I don’t get why he was complaining so much. It’s easy when you get the hang of it. Aunt Lisa likes to talk, and as long as you give her some sort of answer, she’s all good. She’s like my mom at warp speed. We’ve texted back and forth a few times and she was actually pretty helpful reminding me what I should bring for Olivia to wear to the party, since Olivia didn’t leave any instructions. I had totally forgotten about that cute turquoise sundress she got when we were shopping in Dallas last month. Oh, and those gold hoop earrings will look great with it, especially if she pulls her hair up.
But then I remember there is a hat to go with this. Need to find the hat.
The dress is sleeveless, so I throw a razor in the bag in case she needs to shave under her arms. I’m as familiar with Olivia’s room as I am with mine, which makes it easy to find all the things I’ll need to bring her.
