Chapter Elyse
ELYSE
That Sunday, Drew and I had our normal Sunday morning tee time at the club.
When we pulled up to the first tee, the starter let us know that the other twosome had not shown up yet, and we were able to go out on our own.
This was a rare occurrence, and something that I very much treasured, because it allows us four and a half hours of uninterrupted time with one another.
Our weekends on the golf course were so important to us.
He traveled so much during the week, and a lot of what happened during our day-to-day lives was missed during our nightly calls.
So these weekend dates on the golf course were crucial in helping us catch up.
"How are things going with the new kids area at the store?" He asked after catching me up with the meetings he'd had during the week.
"Oh, it's going great. Adam came in this week and measured out the space for the stage that he's going to build."
"Boy, he sure is a handy fella, isn't he?"
"He is. He has proven himself to be quite useful to our group, and he's a kind person on top of that. Seems like he and Jenna are getting a little cozy as well."
Drew pulled up to the eighth tee box and looked over at me with a stern expression. "You need to stay in your lane, Elyse. Don't go meddling in their friendship. Let things happen naturally."
"I'm not meddling in anything," I said, suddenly feeling defensive. "I'm just saying that it would be nice to see her experience a healthy relationship. They've been friends for so long, it'd be easy for them to fall in love."
"Just let it happen naturally if it's going to happen is all I'm saying."
I turned in the cart to stare at him. It was like he didn't know me at all; meddling was what I did best.
"Things seem to be going well at the bakery," he said, changing the subject as he got out of the cart and pulled his driver out of his bag.
"Oh, yeah, people are coming into the bookstore all the time with her purple bags," I said as I followed him to the tee box.
"Some people have multiple bags, and I let them store everything behind the counter.
I'm going to need to set up a shelf for people to check in their Flour Shoppe bags while they browse. "
"I'm so happy to hear it. No one deserves it more than Jenna.
She's been through so much and has proven herself to be so strong and resilient.
I love to see her succeeding, and with such grace.
It's not easy starting up a new business, but every time I see her, she has an enormous smile on her face. "
This was true. I had never seen Jenna smile more than I had in the months since her bakery opened.
She had become a ray of sunshine in our group, and we'd all been so thrilled to see her hit her stride, not just with the bakery, but with everything in her life as well.
She had become more active in our group, contributed more during book club, and spent more time focused on herself and her social life.
She had even gone to yoga a few times with Paige.
"You know who else is killing it lately?
Allison. She's doing such a great job at the cafe.
Every time I talk to Cat, she has some story about how Allison went to the next level for a customer, or different ways that she's been able to find even more efficiencies at the cafe. Things Cat had never even thought of."
"Leave it to a single mom! I'm so happy to hear that things are working out so well for her. She's such a strong young lady, and considering all she's been through, she really seems to have her head screwed on straight. That's another one I'm really cheering for," said Drew.
"She's such a great mom too," I said. "That Noah is something else. Did I tell you what he said to me when he was helping me at the bookstore this week?"
"No."
"Well, let me just tell you, he's such a cutie pie. We were moving the books around and I was trying to find the best way to organize the kids' space when he asked me, 'Do you have time for a quick fact?' I turned around and couldn't believe that that had come out of a four-year-old's mouth."
"He's one smart cookie," said Drew, then swung his club and watched his ball sail down the fairway. "Can I ask what the quick fact was?" He asked as he turned back to face me.
"Oh, sure, of course. He asked me if I knew that the Chinese invented toilet paper."
Drew laughed as we climbed back into the golf cart. "Well, there's a quick fact anyone would have time for."
"I was gagged," I said.
Drew turned and looked at me, almost running off the cart path.
"Aren't I hip with my new word?" I asked him.
"No, I'm actually kind of embarrassed for you."
I swatted him with my golf glove. "I heard a teenager say it when a group of high schoolers came in to look at the Invincible graphic novels I just got in."
Drew chuckled. "Maybe that's a piece of their vernacular you should just let them have."
I shrugged, undeterred.
As we rounded the corner at the turn between the ninth and tenth hole, we saw Grace and Paige.
Grace was, of course, dressed to the nines in Lily Pulitzer golf.
Paige's golf outfit was slightly more reserved.
She had on a red skirt with white polka dots and a black top.
She looked a lot like Minnie Mouse, and the distinctive white stripe in the front of her hair stuck straight up from her red golf visor.
They were cackling like hyenas, and Paige was bent over trying to catch her breath.
"What's going on with you two? You both look like you're up to no good."
Paige stopped laughing for a moment and looked up at me. "Grace mustache you question... or actually she mustn't."
I was confused until I saw Grace's blush.
"She went and got her mustache waxed," Paige said in her loudest stage whisper.
"Ooh la la! What does this mean, Grace?" I teased. "Is there a potential love interest on the horizon?"
Grace rolled her eyes. "My lips are sealed."
Paige and I stared at each other, dumbfounded.
"Let me clarify. I don't have anyone on the hook just yet, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared."
Before I could press her for more details, Drew came back with our burgers and drinks.
He said hello to the ladies, and within a minute, we were off.
I wondered why he was in such a hurry to get back out on the course, but it seemed he just couldn't bear to wait any longer for his next topic.
I was hoping we could get through the round without it coming up. No such luck.
"Have you given any thought to what we talked about the other day regarding your extracurricular activities?" he asked after we'd both hit our ball.
"I have."
Drew's face looked hopeful. "And what did you decide?"
"I haven't decided anything concrete," I said. "But I can promise you that I will be careful. And that I will start telling you where I am, just in case."
"So if you're being safe, why would you need to do anything just in case, Elyse?"
"I don't expect to ever need you to come rescue me. I'm just trying to make everybody happy."
"You're never going to make everybody happy, Elyse, especially in a situation like this where you're doing something that you don't need to do and putting yourself in danger.
You're making everyone who loves you worried sick for your safety.
You just don't seem to care about that and I don't understand why.
If you know how much it bothers me, why are you so insistent on continuing? "
"I don't know, Drew, I just know that I love you very much, but I'm not willing to say that I'm not going to do this anymore. It's something that I feel very strongly about, and it's important to me. Doesn't that matter to you?"
"Of course, if it's important to you, it matters. But your safety matters most."
"I'll be fine," I said, my tone a little more sharp than I had anticipated.
Drew seemed to pick up on the fact that the conversation wasn't going to go the way he hoped.
Once we reached the tenth hole, he got out to hit his ball.
When it flew into the woods along the left side, he swore under his breath and that was the last he spoke for the rest of the round.
We drove home in silence. We ate lunch in silence.
He cooked dinner in silence. No matter how much I tried to draw him out, I didn't get more than one word answers from him.
This was a rare occurrence. Drew was one of the chattiest people I knew and very rarely held a grudge or stayed upset with anyone (especially me) for very long.
I figured I would just need to wait him out and hope that he would realize that I meant it when I said that I would be safe.
A month later, it would all come to a head.