Chapter 32 #3
The ball soared high, tracing a flawless arc against the bright blue sky. All eyes followed its path as it descended onto the green, bounced twice, and rolled directly into the hole.
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd, followed by instantaneous cheers and wild applause.
“Unbelievable!” Benjamin’s caddie exclaimed.
“Shut up,” Benjamin snarled at the guy, who backed up with raised hands.
“A hole in one, Dad!” Calista squealed and then slapped a palm over her mouth, as if realizing too late what she’d called Gavin out loud.
Gavin tipped his cap, his smile easy and unassuming as he walked toward the green to retrieve his ball.
Reid stepped into frame, excitement in his voice as he narrated the moment. “And just like that, Gavin Gonzales delivers a flawless hole in one. Talk about rising to the occasion! This eagle shot puts Gavin in the lead!”
Athena clapped along with the crowd; she was happy for Gavin, but scared of what her father might do.
“Lucky,” Benjamin muttered under his breath, the bitterness dripping from each word. He didn’t applaud, gluing his hands at his sides, his neck tendons straining.
A few heads turned his way, but he ignored them, his focus fixed on Gavin, who was now accepting congratulations and high fives from the gallery.
Athena felt a fresh prickle of unease. Benjamin’s anger wasn’t new to her, but this level of restraint was. Usually, he wielded his emotions like weapons, cutting down anyone in his path. This simmering was different. More dangerous.
“Guess some people can’t stand not being the center of attention,” Reid murmured at her elbow.
Athena let out a soft breath, her chest achy. “It’s not over yet.”
Benjamin spun on his heel. He wasn’t looking at anyone, his eyes fixed on the bag as though it might offer him some way to claw back control.
For a moment, she thought her father might explode.
His face flushed red, a vein pulsing at his temple, but then, as quickly as it appeared, anger vanished behind a brittle smile.
A transformation Athena had witnessed countless times—the whiplash of rage to charm in seconds.
After the twelfth hole, scores were unchanged.
“Ready for lucky thirteen?” Reid asked, turning the camera back to Benjamin. “Your chance to come roaring back, Mr. Dempsey.”
“Of course.” Benjamin flashed his teeth. A row of the best veneers money could buy. “We wouldn’t want to hold up the game with Gavin’s grandstanding. This is all about Demetra, after all.”
Then it finally happened on the fifteenth hole.
Despite his best efforts, Benjamin hadn’t been able to overtake his nemesis. Gavin was still one ahead and Athena had caught up to her father, leaving them tied. Calista was two behind them, but she didn’t seem to care.
The dogleg par five demanded strategy and accuracy to birdie. Benjamin’s turn came first. He teed up. His swing was powerful but a little sloppy. He was rattled. The ball veered left, catching the edge of a sand trap.
Reid, ever composed, reported for the camera. “A tough break for Benjamin Dempsey. That trap’s going to test his recovery game.”
Benjamin shot Reid a glare that could curdle milk.
Athena bit her lip. Calista, who stayed rigidly at her side, darted her gaze between Benjamin and the sand trap.
Gavin’s shot sailed straight down the fairway. Athena’s ball landed not far behind.
Then Calista stepped up to take her turn. Athena sent her positive vibes. Fly it to the moon, Lissy.
Calista slammed the ball, and it shot into the air as if propelled from a cannon, flying far past Gavin’s ball in yardage, so long it had to be a first for her. At least three hundred and fifty yards. Gobsmacked, Athena’s jaw unhinged.
Reid let out a long, low whistle.
A cheer erupted from the crowd. Athena joined in, clapping enthusiastically as Calista’s face lit up with pure, unguarded joy.
“A perfect shot,” Gavin said. “That’s my girl. Well done, sweetheart.”
Reid, camera in hand, added, “And there you have it—Calista Dempsey, showing everyone why she’s still a force to be reckoned with. Is a comeback in her future?”
Benjamin glowered at Calista, hatred in his eyes, his lip curled in a snarl. In a flash, he snatched the club from Calista’s hands.
The sudden violence jolted Athena.
“You think you’re so special. You ungrateful little bitch.
You owe me the one million dollars you cost me!
” He growled low in his throat, all pretenses gone, his face twisted in fury.
He hurled Calista’s club to the ground with chilling force.
The metallic clang echoed across the green, and nearby players gasped and froze in shock.
“Benjamin!” Gavin’s voice cracked like a whip. “Stop it!”
Benjamin was too far gone, lost in his rage. He ranted and raved, spittle flying from his mouth.
Athena leaped without thinking, planting herself between Benjamin and Calista. She felt her sister trembling behind her.
A sense of déjà vu hit Athena. They’d been here before many times. Benjamin attacking Calista or Demetra and Athena—the good girl, the golden child—stepping in to soothe him.
She could do it too. Tell him he’d been horribly wronged, that he was the victim, that he was the greatest golfer of all time, and everyone knew that and anyone who said otherwise was just jealous. All the greatest hits to calm his childish ego.
But no more. No more placating the monster.
He jabbed a finger at them, looking like a deranged traffic conductor on the world’s worst acid trip. “You’re ungrateful! You’re all ungrateful!”
Athena’s blood boiled hot lava. She opened her mouth, years of unsaid comebacks jostling on her tongue.
And then a gentle hand touched her shoulder. The young caddie, nodding behind her. Athena turned to see Eloisa, Cantu, and Paul arriving in a golf cart. Cantu was at the wheel. He parked while Paul got out and offered his arm to Eloisa.
The elderly woman strolled over, the picture of self-control, and picked up the damaged club, bent at an odd angle.
Flanked by Cantu and Paul, she straightened.
They looked like the world’s most unlikely superhero team, ready to save the day armed with nothing but sensible shoes and stern expressions.
“That’s enough of that behavior, Benjamin,” Eloisa said, her voice steady as a surgeon’s hand. “I gave you an opportunity to redeem yourself and you failed. You need to leave. Now.”
His head whipped around so fast Athena thought it might unscrew from his neck.
“You think you can tell me what to do, old woman?” Benjamin ground his teeth.
“You will not turn Demetra’s memorial into The Jerry Springer Show Golf Edition.” Eloisa’s smile turned deadly. Cantu and Paul, hands clasped in front of them, stepped forward, a silent warning.
For the briefest of seconds, just the span of a heartbeat, something flickered in her father’s eyes.
Regret? Shame? Gas? But he snuffed the emotion like a candle and replaced it with his default setting.
Righteous indignation. Benjamin harrumphed and tossed his head, lifted his haughty nose in the air.
As Paul motioned Benjamin to the awaiting golf cart, and Cantu blocked him from getting to the others, he let out a string of curses, saying every foul word Athena had ever heard.
“We don’t tolerate that kind of language on Hobby Island.” Eloisa made shooing motions. “Your luggage is waiting for you on the dock and the ferry will be along shortly.”
Benjamin stormed to the golf cart and shot them all both middle fingers as Cantu and Paul whisked him away.
Athena turned to Calista. A watercolor of emotions painted her sister’s face, fear bleeding into relief, anger swirling with a desperate kind of sadness.
“You okay?” Dumb question. Of course Lissy wasn’t okay. None of them were.
Calista nodded, then shook her head, then laughed. It was a sound caught between hysteria and relief, like someone had crossed the wires of her emotions. “You didn’t give in to him, Attie. Finally, you didn’t play the peacemaker.”
“I did stand up to him, didn’t I?” Athena puffed out her chest, damn proud of herself.
Calista hugged her hard and then Eloisa was hugging them both. And Gavin got in on the act and they waved in the woeful caddie who seemed grateful to be included in the group hug. Because, of course, he’d been a victim of Benjamin’s abuse too.
After the hugging, as they stood there surrounded by their makeshift family, Athena felt something loosen inside her, and for the first time, she genuinely believed healing was possible. Because anything was possible as long as you had the ability to love and be loved.