Worth the Drive (21 page)

Lizzie bowed her head, accepting his good wishes. He meant it, she glowed. Much like Katie did.
And w
ould even more so as she ripened with child. His child. Maybe.

“And congratulations to you too,
Darío
. We can’t tell you how happy we are for Katie. And you too of course.”

Congratulations. He’
d not heard the words before. Not about the baby. Binky had sensed he didn’t want to talk about it, and had wisely stayed away from the subject for the past
few
weeks.

When he’d spent a few days at his home in Spain while in Europe for the British Open, he’d fully intended to tell his mother, but never found the right words. He needed to be
able to answer more of her sure-to-
come questions before he could tell her about Katie.

The lawyer he’d hired to draw up the papers he’d brought to the Copper Country had offe
red no congratulations, but
, given the nature of the visit it didn’t seem like congratulations were in order.

Lizzie offering her congratulations was the first time someone other than Katie
and his lawyer
had spoken to him about his child, and he took a moment before speaking. In fact all he could do was nod back to Lizzie and murmur, “Thank you.”

The women seemed to take his silence as reluctance, Alison and Lizzie’s eyes darting carefully to Katie.
Darío
could see the protectiveness in their glances. He tried to put them at ease. Tried to alleviate some of their obvious fear for their friend. “Despit
e the…unusual circumstances, I’
m very pleased.”

That
seemed to work. Lizzie sat back in her seat. Alison picked up her drink – which was in a huge glass – and took a long swallow.

Katie brought him up to speed, that she’d explained everything they’d agreed on last night to her friends before he’d arrived. They ordered dinner and another round of drinks, though Alison was the only one really drinking,
Darío
choosing to have a soft drink.

Alison groaned when he gave his beverage order to the waitress. “You’re not going to be one of those expectant fathers who gives up drinking because his wife has to are you?” She shot a look to Katie
.
“Not that she’s your wife, but you know what I mean.”

Darío
shook his head. “I had
not thought to do such a thing
.” He turned to Katie, she was glowering at Alison. He placed a hand on her arm. Her skin was so soft, warm from the summer heat. “Is that something you’d like me to do?” he asked her.

She looked away from Alison and to him and his breath caught as she gave him one of her huge smiles. “No. Of course not. That doesn’t bother me at all.”

He nodded, but made a mental note to go ahead and cut out that one beer a night on Fridays and Saturdays.

“Okay. You gave us the broad idea, but just when are you leaving to go on Tour?” Lizzie asked.

Darío
waited for Katie to answer, still thrilled that she’d agreed to travel with him. “We’re leaving Monday for Denver,” she said.

“So you’ll be here through the weekend. Both of you?” Lizzie
ask
ed.

“Yes. I’m taking
Darío
to meet my parents tomorrow,” Katie said.

Alison chuckled. “Ooh, meeting the parents. Are ya nervous,
Darío
?”

Darío
realized that maybe he should be. Before he could verbalize that thought, Katie came to his rescue. “What’s there to be nervous about? They’ll be thrilled for me. They know how long I’ve wanted a baby.”

“Yes, but that was when you were married,” Alison offered.

The table was silent.

“Friday night pasty party at the Maki’s. And all those overprotective brothers. She did tell you about her brothers didn’t she
Darío
?”

“Al, stop. You’re scaring him.”

He hadn’t really thought beyond the arrangements he and Katie made last night after watching that poor girl at dinner with her father. Of course Katie’s family would have questions for him. But they’d be satisfied that he’d asked Katie to marry him, wouldn’t they?

And just what was a pasty?

“You
can
’t tell them that you asked me to marry you,” Katie said.

“Why not?” both he and Lizzie asked at the same time.

“I just don’t want them pressuring me to marry you just because they think I should for the baby.”

The “too” at the end of her sentence was left off, but
Darío
heard it clearly.

She was right. They’d agreed not to bring up marriage, or any other permanent arrangements, for three months. It might as well count for her parents as well.

“Well, KitKat,
they’ll
obviously bring it up. I wouldn’t put it past your dad to bring out his shotgun,” Alison teased. At least,
Darío
thought she was teasing.

“I’ll just tell them nothing has been decided for certain. And then I’ll try to distract them with talk about the baby and how happy I am.”

Darío
looked at her. He hadn’t known her long, didn’t know her moods or her nuances. But he guessed that right now was maybe the happiest she’d looked in years. Maybe ever. Her radiance was obvious. Surely her family would see it too.

Her friends seemed to agree with his unspoken thought. Lizzie reached across the table and laid her hand over Katie’s. “I know. It’s wonderful, isn’t it?”

“Oh geez, here they go again. I’m going to need another drink,” Alison said.
Darío
could see the warmth behind the sarcasm as Alison looked at her two best friends, both pregnant, both wearing huge grins.

“Hey. If
Darío
’s going to be in town this weekend, he could play in Annie Aid,” Alison said. Both Katie and Lizzie looked at her then at each other. Lizzie raised a questioning brow at Katie and
Darío
felt Katie shrug back
at
her friend. “Ask him,” she said to Lizzie.

“
Darío
, my company puts on a fundraiser for a needy child each year. Well, actually this is only the second year. But last year was a huge success and we’ve got even more professional athletes coming this year. There’s a golf outing on Saturday. Followed by a dinner dance. Would you play in the outing for us? You’d be the only pro golfer. We’ve never thought to ask any because there’s a tournament going on the same weekend.”

Ah, golf. That would put him back on familiar ground. On the course he was sure of himself. He needed that right now after the past twenty-four hours with Katie. She, and the situation, had made him more unsure of himself since he’d first taken up the game of golf. That he had mastered in three years. Would it take as long to get a firm handle on Katie? On fatherhood?

“I’d be happy to play. I have to make sure I can, though. I’ll call the PGA Tour offices tomorrow and make sure I have clearance.”

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot about that rule,” Lizzie said. “Listen, if you think it’ll be a hassle, forget about it. We wouldn’t have time to properly promote the heck out of you anyway.”

“What rule?” Katie asked. Her shoulder brushed
Darío
’s and he reached across her for a napkin that he had no use for to prolong the contact. When he brought his arm back, he kept it attached to hers.

Lizzie waited for
Darío
to answer Katie, but he was too preoccupied with finding a way to press his thigh against hers. “The Tour has a rule that you must get clearance if you are going to play in any other tournament other than the Tour tournament.”

“Even some rinky-dink charity thing in the U.P.?” Alison asked.

“Hey!” Lizzie chided. “Watch what you call my pride and joy.”

Alison nudged Lizzie. “You know I’m just kidding, Lizard. You’ve done a great job with Annie Aid, this year and last year.”

“Yes, even a smaller tournament,” he emphasized the word smaller for Lizzie, saw her nod her approval, then went on, “must have clearance from the Tour. I’ll need some details to give them, Lizzie.”

Lizzie nodded. “Sure. In fact, why don’t I go ahead and
fax
the information sheet to the Tour headquarters tonight when I get home, that way when you call tomorrow, they’ll at least have some idea of what you’re talking about. I’ve got their
fax
number because of Chad.”

“And exactly what am I talking about?”
Darío
asked. Though it really didn’t matter. If Katie thought it was a worthwhile event, he would play. He wasn’t going to do anything to break their tentative truce. At least he’d be on a golf course.

Katie explained what he’d just signed on for. “Lizzie’s stepdaughter, Annie, needed a very expensive operation around this time last year. This was before Lizzie had married her husband,
Finn
. Lizzie’s PR company put on a fundraiser up here, got in some of her clients for a celebrity golf outing, even got the Stanley Cup up here. It was a huge success. Annie got her operation, and is walking.”

Her voice turned ragged at the end.
Darío
watched as she dabbed at her eyes, then turned to look at her friend, Lizzie, who also had tears streaming down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry, I thought if
I explained it to him
, it wouldn’t be so emotional for you,” Katie said, holding her hand out to Lizzie. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
Darío
didn’t point out that Katie was crying as well.

Lizzie sniffled. “It’s okay. Pretty much everything makes me cry these days. Hormones, you know.” Katie nodded her head knowingly.
Darío
watched as Alison rolled her eyes at her friends,
but then shot him a playful wink. He shrugged his shoulders at her in a silent bonding of the only two not being led around by hormones.

He was being led around by Katie.
And a very different kind of hormone.

“Anyway,” Katie continued, “it was such a success, that Hampton PR is doing it again. But for a different child in need this year. Lizzie and
Finn
had Annie choose the child herself.”

“With a little help,” Lizzie said. “The Hannah Robbins Foundation found the candidates, all kids from the U.P., and we left the final decision to Annie. But she had to give us reasons as to why she picked that child. Otherwise, the kid who got help would probably be the one who most resembled
Justin Bieber
.”

“
Justin
who?” came from both Alison and
Darío
.

“Ah, you obviously live in households without kids,” Katie said. “He’s all the rage with the pre-teen set. My nieces adore him. This week, anyway.”

“Yeah, remember how fickle we were at that age? One week it was
Kirk Cameron
. The next week
River Phoenix
,” Lizzie said, her face serene as she remembered.

Alison smiled. “Except for Katie. It was
Patrick Swayze
from beginning to end for her, she never wavered.”

Katie lifted her chin, ready to defend herself. “Hey,
nobody puts Baby in a corner. Rest in peace, Patrick
.”

Darío
studied Alison while Alison studied Katie. “No, that’s no
t
it. It’s you, KitKat, once you make a choice, that’s it, no going back.”

Katie brushed Alison’s words aside with her hands, but Alison kept nodding and Lizzie looked at Katie with a questioning brow.

The words permeated
Darío
’s mind. He found himself irrationally hoping that Alison’s statement was true, and that it also included
Darío
.

Katie had only told her parents she was bringing someone for dinner, she’d given no details on who or why.
Darío
had been deeply amused to see the look on her family’s faces when they discovered
that
their dinner companion
was
Darío
Luna
. But that look had been nothing when compared with the dropped jaws when Katie explained to her family that she was going on Tour with
Darío
for a few months.

They were an intimidating bunch. Leo, Katie’s father, and her four older brothers, all with Kati
e’s white blond
hair and towering good looks.

But
Darío
had gone against
Phil Mickelson
in match play and won. A large Finnish family shouldn’t be intimidating to him. Right?

Most of the wives were also towheads and every last one of the many nieces and nephews also sported the stick-straight white locks.
Darío
took
a perverse delight in the thought that his child, surely with some of his dark coloring and hair, would break family tradition.