Chapter 12 #2
Athena lifted her head. “I didn’t want to win like that, Lissy. I wanted to beat you fair and square.”
“I know. You care about golf. I just don’t, and that’s what made Benjamin so mad.”
“You have more natural talent than I do.”
Calista shook her head and bit down on her bottom lip. “Don’t sell yourself short. You’ve stayed at the top of the leaderboard for five years. We both know how rare that is.”
“If Reid told you this before gameplay, why didn’t you drop out then? Why play eighteen holes before you walked away?”
“I’m not proud of myself, but I wanted to keep Benjamin on tenterhooks. I wanted him to think he would make bank off me. I wanted an epic fireworks show, petty as it sounds.”
“Lissy, I get it. I truly do, but why did you leave completely? Why didn’t you stick around to watch him dissolve into a puddle of rage? Which was a spectacular meltdown, by the way. He never even congratulated me on winning. He was too busy ranting about you.”
“I can just imagine. I’m sorry you had to sit through my blowback.” Calista paused. “I hadn’t planned to walk away. I’d actually planned to keep hitting horrible putts so you would easily beat me, but then . . .”
“But then?” Athena echoed, hanging on her every word.
“I looked out at the crowd, and that’s when I saw her.”
“Her who?”
“Mom.”
“What?” Athena looked at her as if she were speaking a foreign language. “You saw Mom?”
“Demetra was watching us play, and I just dropped my club and went toward her.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Athena touched her cheek as if Calista had reached out and slapped her.
She looked away, unable to bear the accusation in Athena’s eyes.
“I made my choice to leave everything behind, and that included you. I’m sorry to say it, but you were too enmeshed with him.
The messages you left on my voicemail. The texts.
Begging me to come back and making excuses for our father.
You wouldn’t have understood where I was coming from, and I knew that.
Plus, I wanted to spare you the pain of knowing he bet against you. ”
“What about Mom? What happened to her? I’m so very jealous you got to see her.”
“But I didn’t.” Calista heard the abject sadness in Athena’s voice.
“That’s what jettisoned me away from the LPGA.
I went looking for her. I spent months trying to find her and nothing.
She had no social media presence and no family.
Finally, I convinced myself that I’d seen a mirage.
A ghostly Mamá sending me the message to strike out on my own. ”
“I wish you’d told me. We could have searched for Demetra together.”
Calista met her sister’s gaze. “I thought about it, but I knew you would have told him. I couldn’t risk it.”
Shamefaced, Athena lowered her gaze, a misting of tears in her eyes. “I admire your strength. I could never walk away from golf. It’s my identity.”
Calista quirked a smile. “Remember Mamá’s favorite quote?”
“Never say never.” Athena let out a sad half laugh.
“You were on the phone with Benjamin back in Crafters’ Corner,” Calista said.
“How did you know?”
“Who else would insist on contacting you while you were mourning your mother?”
“Touché.”
“Do you remember the time Dad made me practice putting for six hours straight because I’d missed an easy shot in a junior tournament?” Calista asked.
Athena made a noise of despair. “You were what, twelve? Your poor blistered hands!”
“Thirteen, and yeah, they were, but you know what I remember most about that day? You sneaking me Band-Aids and Gatorade when Dad wasn’t looking.”
A wan smile touched Athena’s lips. “I’d forgotten that part. I felt so bad for you.”
“I didn’t,” Calista said. “It was one of the few times I felt like . . . like we were on the same team, you know?”
“We should have been on the same team all along. I’m sorry I didn’t protect you.”
Calista shook her head. “You were just a kid, too, Attie. We were both just trying to survive. I didn’t blame you.”
“He wants me to come home right away and bring you with me,” Athena blurted.
Calista held her gaze. “That’s not happening.”
“I know.”
“I’m sorry you’re still under his control, but I get it. Leaving was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. There were so many lonely days and nights, and I wasn’t always sure I’d get through it.”
“But you did, and you’re thriving!” Athena dabbed at the tear rolling down her cheek. “I am so proud of you.”
Her sister’s kind words touched Calista’s heart. “Thank you for saying that.”
Athena reached across the seat of the golf cart and touched her hand. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” This time Calista was the one who choked up. They sat there looking at each other, united in their pain. “He’s never going to change, you know. His patterns are too ingrained.”
“I know.” A soft whimper escaped Athena.
“As long as you’re within his sphere of influence, you won’t be able to change either.”
Athena’s jaw clenched. “I know that too.”
“So, are you leaving tomorrow at his behest?”
“I told him Monday.”
“He’s probably already sent Cantu to pick you up.”
“I hope not.” Athena groaned. “What about you? Are you still leaving on Monday?”
“I was . . . but you know what? If you’re willing to stay and help me work on uncovering and healing our past, then so am I.”
“I . . . I . . .”
Calista studied her sister, really looked at her, in a new light.
She saw the worry lines around Athena’s eyes, the tension in her shoulders, the hope and fear warring in her expression.
She saw not the perfect golden child their father had always portrayed but a woman as scared and scarred as Calista herself.
“You’re too afraid to go against him.” Calista tried not to let disappointment creep into her voice, but she feared she failed.
“It’s all I know.”
“Sister, there’s a whole wide world out there of kind, loving, generous people you know nothing about. I know it’s hard to imagine from where you’re sitting, but it’s true.”
The expression on Athena’s face said she wished more than anything to believe that. “You have a good life in Denver?”
“Oh yes, and so many wonderful friends.”
“We didn’t have friends growing up. He ruined every friendship we tried to make.”
Reid crossed Calista’s mind, and she nodded. “Yes, he did.”
The fireworks reached their finale. The sky erupted in a kaleidoscope of colors.
But the real fireworks were happening right here in this golf cart parked outside the Lavender Lark.
Years of hurt and misunderstanding were finally being addressed, and while it wasn’t comfortable, it felt .
. . necessary, like lancing a wound to let the poison out.
“I’ll help you any way I can,” Calista said. “But I understand if you’re not ready.”
There was a long pause, and then Athena whispered in the tiniest voice, “I think I’m ready.”
Calista held out her pinkie finger. “We stay for the golf tournament on the Fourth of July?”
Athena hooked her pinkie around Calista’s and echoed, “Pinkie swear.”
“Already, you’re officially committed to this. I’ll call my boss in the morning and tell him I’m staying until after the Fourth of July to wrap up Mamá’s affairs.”
“Do it,” Athena said.
And for once in their life, they were united against Benjamin Dempsey.