“I do?”
“Will you look at that,” the man said, coming to his feet—which wasno easy task given his girth and the fact that his chair had wheels. He reached for Harrison’s hand and held it tight, giving such a hearty shake that Harrison worried a bone in his hand might break. “I saw you win the Houston Open a few years back!”
“That was more than a few years,” Harrison said, grinning. “At least ten.”
“Yeah, it’s been a while.” The man let go of Harrison’s hand and put his hands on his waist. “Haven’t seen you in the clubhouse a lot since then, though.”
Meaning, he hadn’t seen Harrison win. Were the sports fans in this part of Texas determined to remind him how he’d faded in the last few years? It was entirely unnecessary, because Harrison remembered quite clearly how many times he’d finished out of the money. “I’ve been rehabbing an injury.”
“That’s right, you were in a car accident,” the man said. “Drunk driving?”
“No. Wet night.”
“You coming back to the tour?”
“That is…that is certainly the hope,” Harrison said, but was aware he didn’t sound too convincing.
“Well, I hope you do. You had a pretty swing.”
And last but not least, the reference to a swing he used to have. A little bit of him crumbled inside. This was exactly what Clay had been warning him about—a has-been at fifty.
“What brings you around here?” the man asked.
“Just taking a break before the tour starts up in January.” That was a lie. Oh well. “I just need something small. You know, to collect myself.”
“All I’ve got is a cabin,” the man said.
A cabin? Harrison felt a little thrill in him. “A cabin would be perfect.”
“Don’t know about that,” the man said. “It’s around Armadillo Point. There’s not much over there, as the shore is pretty rocky. The cabin doesn’t have any water access other than sticking your feet in the lake.The owners took it off the list because they could never rent it, but recently put it back on.” He shrugged. “It hasn’t been occupied in a while.”
“How big is it?” Harrison asked.
“One bed, one bath. I’m telling you, no one wants to be on that side of the lake. Anyone who comes out this way is looking for luxury rentals.”
“Not me. It sounds perfect.”
“I don’t know if the heat is on. It’s got a fireplace, but once you’re up on that hill, you won’t come down till the snow melts.”
“They’ve been talking about snow all week and we haven’t seen a thing.”
“Yeah, well the snowtastrophe is on its way. Suit yourself, my friend, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He sat down and grabbed a manilla folder. He took out a paper rental agreement. Technology had not reached the outer bands of Texas.
When it was all said and done, Harrison drove around to take a look at the cabin he was not to get excited about. The instructions took him off the county road onto a pitted dirt road. He bumped along the steep drive to the cabin. He pulled into the one-car spot and got out and looked at the cabin.
He felt a smile spread across his face. “Perfect,” he said.
24
Amy was still in her studio and had just responded to Jonah’s latest text.
I’m out of underwear
What did that even mean? How was someone “out”?
Do some laundry.
No, I mean like I can’t find them.
