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The man behind the desk gestured them through.

Doug led the way down a hall and through a dining room surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the golf course. They passed through a door and out onto a perfectly manicured green. Every blade seemed to know its place, not a hint of clover or dandelions to be seen.

A skinny boy with glasses and a well-worn cap appeared as if by magic next to them.

“Timmy!” Doug greeted the boy as if he was his long-lost little brother.

“Mr. Brown, it’s good to see you again,” the boy exclaimed with equal enthusiasm. His voice cracked between high and low in the most endearing way. Poor kid was just on the cusp of all the troubles that came with adolescence.

“How’s that little sister of yours?”

“Much better. No more chicken pox.”

“And how’s school? You doing any better at math?”

“Yes, Mr. Brown. Much better. Thanks so much for tutoring me.”

“When I golf alone,” Doug explained to Jack, “I give Timmy a little math lesson while we make our way around the course. He’s got a good head for numbers when he applies himself. Don’t you, Timmy?” he said, turning to the boy.

“Yes, Mr. Brown,” Timmy replied dutifully.

Such a considerate man, Doug was. Exactly the sort who Constance should marry. Jack’s stomach clenched, and his forced smile tightened.

“Let’s go golfing, shall we?” Doug handed Timmy his clubs and nodded toward the course.

“After you.” Jack gestured with his hand.

Golf was not Jack’s game. Really any game involving a ball was not his game. He’d never managed to be more than moderately proficient at most of the sports at which Ernie excelled, and he only ever got asked to join teams because Ernie wouldn’t play without him. Jack’s saving grace with ball sports was that he was the fastest runner in the neighborhood. That and his modest capacity for strategy. But there was no running in golf, and how could you be strategic when you couldn’t hit a ball straight?

Three holes in, the chasm between his skills and Doug’s could not have been more apparent. Doug had managed holes one and two at par and sank hole three with a birdie. Jack, on the other hand, took so many swings he’d stopped counting. Timmy was keeping score on a little scorecard, though, and looking at him with increasing concern.

Doug couldn’t possibly have been more annoyingly patient and affable.

“You should have seen me when I first started,” Doug said, looking on as Jack made his seventh attempt to putt the ball into the damned hole. “You’re much better than I was.”

“Maybe you should try this,” Timmy said gently, offering another putter when Jack missed the shot. As if that would fix anything.

The ball was now two feet from the hole. Surely, he could finish this off. He gripped the club with fearsome force.

“Try to relax, Mr. Thompson,” Timmy said in a quietly encouraging voice. “You can do it.”

Jack gritted his teeth and tapped the ball. By some miracle, it finally went in.

Doug and Timmy clapped at his sad accomplishment.

Oh God, this was torture.

He was doing it for Constance, he reminded himself. She wanted to marry this man, and he had to make sure Doug was worthy. So far, he couldn’t find a thing wrong with the man. Except that he hadn’t proposed yet. And he was kissing Constance. Badly, by the sound of it. But Doug seemed to be a genuinely nice guy, much to Jack’s dismay.

As Jack trudged behind Doug and Timmy to the next hole, Doug commented, “It’s so peaceful here, isn’t it? I find it so calming. I think that’s why I fell in love with the sport.”

Grinding his teeth, Jack bit back an honest answer. “Very peaceful,” he mumbled, after forcing himself to take a deep breath. It would be bad if he murdered Doug out here in the middle of the golf course, right?

“So, I hear you’re thinking of opening a flight school,” Doug asked with a friendly smile.

“Yes, I have.” Contance must have laid the groundwork for him. It was kind of her. “I have my eye on a property out in Bayport that would be perfect. I just need to save up enough to buy it.”

“Have you considered investors? There are plenty of folks who would love to get a foot in the door with aviation these days, myself included.”