“Hole in one,” announced Nadine triumphantly as her neon-green golf ball dropped into the hole. Exhausted from a dawn-to-dusk day of searching, they’d decided to leave the house and all Dot Voline mystery talk behind to let their subconsciouses work on the problem over dinner. When they’d passed the mini golf place on the way home, Nadine had insisted they stop.
Wes looked at the scorecard. “How are you so good at this?” She had come in at below par or whatever it was called at each hole.
“My parents liked to go to the same place on vacation every year so they could see the same people, eat at the same restaurants, and play at the same mini golf course.” She bent down to retrieve her ball, the stripes of her dress glowing a dull purple.
It was the most calming thing in this entire room. Wes had never played mini golf before and doubted a glow-in-the-dark course was the best introduction. He was lost in an eye-aching neon hellscape, but Nadine was happy, which meant Wes was happy.
He put his own ball down on the most used section of the tee, assuming it must be the best place to putt. “Did you play a lot?”
“So much. My goal was to get a hole in one for every hole.” Nadine stopped talking to let him tee off. “Oh, close.”
It was close, Wes saw with satisfaction, and all he had to do was tap it in. “Did you do it?”
“All but the hole six windmill. I must have tried it dozens of times. Maybe hundreds.”
“You’d think statistically one would have gotten in by chance.”
“I know!” she exclaimed. “It’s like I beat the system but not in the positive way.”
He swung his putter and swore as the ball swooped around the edge of the hole and off to the side.
Nadine laughed and slid her arm around his waist to kiss him on the cheek. “Almost.”
There was a difference between a hot sex kiss and the warm, honey-sweet, affectionate one she’d given him. The kiss felt natural and real. He could hear Caleb and Amy telling him to stop overthinking and enjoy it for what it was—a lovely gesture from a woman he loved spending time with andwas in a relationship with.
However, was a Wes who didn’t overthink things even Wes?
He watched as she lined up her next shot, eyes narrowing as she checked the distance, and realized he was having more fun playing this appalling game than anything he could remember. She made it fun. He cheered absently as her ball landed near a set of concentric hi-vis orange circles.
“Wes?” Nadine’s teeth glowed when she smiled at him. “You ready?”
“Sorry.” He gave the ball a tap, and Nadine threw her hands up, her shout rivaling the kids behind them.
“Hole in one!” She jumped over a garish pink curb and hugged him. “I knew you could do it.”
Wes held her and kissed the top of her head, feeling strangely grateful when she smiled up at him. What an odd feeling to have at glow-in-the-dark mini golf. Or any mini golf probably.
***
Nadine put on the wipers to clear the dust from her windshield when she heard Wes click his tongue. She glanced over. Surely he wasn’t upset at being utterly demolished at the game.
No, he was staring at the gas station up ahead. “Can you turn in there?”
“Why? I have enough gas,” she said.
“Please, I beg of you.” When she saw him holding his hands in a prayer position, she laughed.
“Fine,” she said as she pulled in. “Who am I to deny you some gas station snacks.”
As she was deciding between the sour cream and onion or BBQ chips—which would leave her with worse breath, and did she care?—Wes came up with a receipt.
“What’s that?” she asked, holding the chips.
“Your car is very dirty,” he said.
“Oh yeah.” She decided on the BBQ. “It gets like that.”
“As the loser of tonight’s mini golf game, my punishment should be to get it washed.”
