He came back to the cart, grinning widely at his excellent tee shot on 18. "I fail to see what’s so hard about this little course," he said smugly. "I see the pros out here every year just hacking away. I don’t get it."
Ryan laughed as his bravado. "This is the very rare day when the wind isn’t blowing, Conor. Add a 25 mile per hour wind, and this place can eat you alive."
"I don’t know, Sis. I think I’ve just got what it takes," he said with a grin.
When they finished their round, Chip made Ryan promise to tell Jamie that he was always available to help her with her game. He gave Ryan his card and wrote his home number on the back. "If her relationship doesn’t work out, I’d be happy to help her in other ways, too," he grinned.
Ryan promised to relay the message; ignoring the tension she felt building from her brother. They said goodbye to Chip and began to walk toward the clubhouse for lunch.
"The nerve of that guy!" Conor fumed. "Who the hell does he think he is, trying to horn in on you!"
"It’s okay," Ryan said. "He doesn’t know we’re together."
"Nonetheless, you shouldn’t go sniffing around a woman when you don’t know what the situation is. For all he knows, she’s going out with me!"
"I guess you do have a point there," Ryan agreed. "But if you were dating Jamie, you would have made a point to mention it at some time during the round. I’m not able to do that given our situation," she admitted.
"That just really makes me mad, Ryan. I don’t see what the big damn deal is. So you’re both women. So what! You show each other more love than any ten straight couples I’ve seen. Why can’t people just get over themselves?"
"Well, you know I haven’t spent much time in the closet in the last seven years," she said. "But Jamie’s not in the same place that I am with this. She needs time to figure out how and when to tell her parents, and the other people in her life. I’m afraid it’s going to take a while for her to be comfortable being fully out."
"I wish this were easier for you both, Ryan. It must be hard for you having to hide how you feel about each other. Actually," he laughed, "I don’t know how you do it. It’s so obvious how totally in love with each other you are, I don’t know how you fool a soul."
"We haven’t had to fool anyone besides Chip since we’ve um...you know," she blushed. "I do think it’s going to be a whole lot harder now than it was before."
"Yeah, you two have really turned up the volume," he grinned.
After they were seated they looked at the menu quickly. Ryan wanted two of everything, but she settled for a turkey club and a bowl of minestrone. Conor ordered a cheeseburger and fries. That sounded good to Ryan too, so she asked for fries also. After the server left Ryan asked, "Do you think it will be awkward having us around the house?"
"No!" he said emphatically. "Why would you even ask that?"
"I don’t know. I’m just afraid that it’ll upset our normal dynamic. Jamie and I touch each other every minute of the day, and I don’t want to make you guys uncomfortable with that."
"Ryan, we are all perfectly happy that you are a lesbian. Being happy with that implies that we’re happy about you sleeping with women. We’re all cool with it, honestly. Aside from the fact that we’re all jealous that you snagged Jamie, we want you to be happy, Sis. It’s obvious that Jamie is the best thing that ever happened to you, so why wouldn’t we want her in our home?"
"You know, Conor," she said as a tear threatened to leak out, "I don’t tell you nearly enough how much I love you and Rory and Brendan. I couldn’t have chosen better brothers."
"We did pretty well for ourselves too, Ryan. Plus the added benefit of having a little jewel like Jamie added to the family is just icing on the cake." He smiled broadly as he added, "Although, if I got to play Pebble Beach once in a while, you could date a jerk and I’d still be happy!"
Their food was delivered promptly, and they tore into it quickly, all conversation at a standstill until a substantial dent was made in the repast. When her hunger was sated enough for her to be able to speak, Ryan brought up their living situation again. "Do you think Da is really okay with us living in Berkeley during the week?"
"I think he is. Now, I’m not denying that he’s sad about it, but I know he understands your reasons."
"This really is going to be an adjustment for us, Conor. This is all so new for Jamie, I want her to be able to get comfortable with our relationship this summer. It’s so ideal having her roommates gone, I really feel we need to take this opportunity to get to know each other better."
"I understand, Ryan. But Da’s still upset about Brendan moving out. His ideal would be to have all of us married, all living in the house, with a bunch of kids running around."
"Well, Jamie and I are going to do our best to fulfill some of his wishes," she said with a grin.
"Wow! I assume you mean Da’s number one wish to have a bunch of grandchildren. Are you planning on doing that anytime soon?" he asked.
"Not soon, but eventually," she replied firmly.
"Do you.... um.... need any help?" His tanned face grew a little pink as he blushed at the implications of his offer.
Ryan gripped his arm and gave it a squeeze, reassuring him that she was comfortable with the topic. "It does seem a lot more real now that Jamie’s in the picture, doesn’t it?"
The relief showed clearly as Conor blew out a breath and nodded his head. "When we talked about this before it was so hypothetical," he agreed.
"It’s still pretty hypothetical," Ryan assured him. "But we discussed it a little bit this week. Jamie was kind of ambivalent about whether she wanted to bear a child or adopt one, but when I told her you had offered your services, she changed her mind immediately. She would love to have you be the father, if you were still interested."
"Do I get to do it the old fashioned way?" His leering face indicated that this was just the beginning of the teasing she would face.
"Yeah, no problem. We could have a three way!" she suggested, with a totally genuine looking smile on her face.
"Well, doesn’t that just take all the fun out of it." He made a sour expression that caused Ryan to laugh out loud. "You really know how to spoil a party."
"We’re a long way from taking that leap. We both want to go to graduate school, so it’ll be a few years. And you never know what could happen during that time. You might be with someone who didn’t want you to have a child by another woman."
"Not a chance of that, Ryan. I would never be with a woman who didn’t understand my commitment to my family. You and the boys will always come first with me."
"I hope that’s always true for all of us, Conor. That is one of the things that I found most attractive about Jamie, you know. She was crazy about all of you from the first time she met you."
"Just another indication of her excellent taste," he said.
"Speaking of taste, where’s our server? I need some dessert!" she decided.
On the way home Conor asked, "Are we going to take off now?"
"Not quite yet. I promised I’d do a little favor for Jamie’s dad. You could help me if you wanted to," she said.
"What’s the favor?" he asked suspiciously.
"He’s got some old cars that he needs me to drive. Are you interested?"
"Since I’m guessing that he doesn’t have a backyard full of junkers up on blocks, I’m definitely in!"
When they arrived back at the house, Ryan ran in to get all of the keys. Conor was walking around the yard when she returned, looking over the property. He pointed to Jamie’s tree house and asked, "Was that for Jamie when she was little?"
Ryan nodded her affirmation. "Pretty nice for a kid, huh?"
"I’ll say. I wonder if it’s big enough for an adult to fit in?"
Ryan blushed and replied, "Yeah, it’s big enough."
"Ryan! You two didn’t desecrate a child’s playhouse, did you?"
A guilty shrug was his only answer.
"Boy, she is a little live wire, isn’t she?"
"She’s all that and a bag of chips," she smugly replied. As they approached the garage Ryan said, "I’m not sure what we’re driving today. I was so overwhelmed by the first two cars that I drove that I didn’t have the strength to look at the last two."
"How many cars does he have?" Conor’s blue eyes were dancing with excitement, and Ryan was very pleased that she was able to share this with her big brother.
"I’ve been afraid to ask. He’s got three muscle cars down here and a new NSX, plus a Suburban. I know he’s got a seven series BMW and a Range Rover in the city. And you saw her mother’s CLK. But I have a feeling there are more cars that I haven’t heard about. Her dad is a real car nut."
"Why couldn’t our dad be a car nut?" he whined.
"Conor, if Da was a car nut, all he could afford would be magazines with pictures of the cars he wanted. Jamie’s dad can actually buy what he wants."
"Well then, why couldn’t Jamie’s dad be our dad," he amended his plea.
"I know you’re kidding, but you have no idea what you’re really asking for. Jamie really is the poor little rich girl, Conor. We’ve spent more time with Da this year than she has spent with her dad her whole life."
"What about her mom?"
"From what I hear she’s much worse than that. She took her to the opera and the symphony when she was three years old! Not that it’s a bad thing to have some culture, but she didn’t get to do any kid stuff. They never even took her to the zoo! They had all the money in the world, and she’s never been to Disneyland. They’ve traveled all over the world, but what kid wants to see the Louvre?"
"I’m 28 years old and I don’t want to see it. I can’t imagine being dragged through museums when I was little. Gee, Mama hated to take us to church, and it was a mortal sin not to do that!"
She stopped and looked at him for a minute, "I don’t remember that," she said with a somber look flitting across her features. "Tell me what it was like."
Conor truly hated that his sister had so few memories of their mother. The four-year difference in their ages gave him a much larger catalogue of impressions, and he did his best to share them whenever he got the opportunity. "I don’t remember going when I was real little, but when I was six or seven I was in charge of you during Mass. Da would sit on one end and Mama on the other. You’d be next to Mama, and she and I had to tag team you. Rory would be by Da, and he and Brendan would try to keep him quiet. By the time Mass was over, you’d be half undressed, and you would usually be next to Da since Mama and I had given up on you."
"Come on, I wasn’t that bad," she argued, unable to dispute Conor’s memory, but thinking it unlikely that she had been the little terror that he portrayed.
"You were worse than that!" he assured her. "You hated to wear dresses, but Mama always had a frilly little dress on you for church. You had those cute little ruffled panties on under it, and you loved to pull your dress up over your head and show everyone your underwear. You’d get your socks and shoes off in no time flat, and it was a constant struggle to stop you from throwing them at people. You had a gun when you were just a baby. I swear you could hit the back of someone’s head from six pews back!"
"Hmmm, Jamie’s always threatening to adopt so she doesn’t have to have a kid like me-- maybe she’s right."
"I wouldn’t have traded you for anything," Conor said sincerely. "You were wild, but you were always a ton of fun."
"Speaking of fun..." she said as she opened the garage door. Conor stood and stared in amazement at the condition of the Mustang, one of his all-time favorite cars.
"This car is a masterpiece," he said reverently as he walked all around it.
"Jamie said you can drive any of them you want," she informed him, unable to suppress a wide grin at the look of delight that sped across his features.
"I’m not worthy," he moaned, his eyes wide and unfocused.
Laughing at his reaction, Ryan moved to the next car. "Let’s see what else we have here and then you can drive…if you’re able," she added. He helped her take off the cover of a 1967 electric blue Chevy Malibu Supersport. "Wow!" they said simultaneously.
"This is soooo hot," Conor muttered. "I think I’m gonna try and hold out for those cousins of Jamie’s. It’s worth the risk."
"They’re on her mom’s side of the family, so I don’t know if they have the car nut gene," she warned him. "On the other hand, that’s where the dough is, so you could get them hooked on a new habit." She could nearly see the gears turning in his agile mind, and imagined that he was computing the minimum age at which he could make his move on the teenagers.
Next was a 1970 Pontiac GTO, in a brilliant da-glo orange. "This one is really rare," Conor said, walking around the pristine car. He looked like he wanted to run his hands over the paint, but there was not a smudge on the entire surface, and he didn’t want to leave a mark. "There are tons of Mustangs around but not that many GTO’s were sold. It’s hard to find one in perfect condition like this one." He walked around each car again, stopping to look carefully at each one from every angle. "Can I really drive them?" he asked somewhat tentatively.
"Jamie assures me that her father wants them driven, and that he wants some carbon burned off the plugs. You up for it?"