Mulligans

4. Fore!

Nathan couldn't help but smile when he caught the first glimpse of the Porsche as the garage door opened. It was a vintage convertible in mint green, a collector's dream. Nathan was a regular at auto shows, but just as an appreciator of classic cars. He'd never actually bought one before. This spring he'd begun going more regularly. He enjoyed the time away from the house on Saturday mornings mindlessly strolling between the cars. He'd never been a grease monkey, but he did appreciate the lines of a beautiful car and wasn't a stranger to the adrenaline rush achievable with a powerful engine. He enjoyed talking with the other men at the shows and had found an unspoken comradeship there. This was still a male-dominated zone, one that, if not completely understood, was at least tolerated by the women in their lives.

Eventually, the temptation to not only admire and touch one of the iron beauties on the show floor but to also own one became too great. He knew the cliché: he had recently had his thirty-sixth birthday, so maybe the purchase of a sports car was the official mile marker that middle age was upon him. The purchase was worth every cent. When he was in the driver's seat, he felt young again, in control of the future and the road ahead, and it seemed that life and its possibilities were limitless.

"A Porsche! Mint!" Tyler said. "Holy shit, do I get to inherit this?"

"Watch it. I'm not dead yet. So you like?" Nathan asked, watching Tyler and Chase excitedly taking in the car.

"Yeah, Dad. Sweet car," Tyler commented, jumping in the driver's seat. "I never thought you'd actually break down and buy one. I thought your Saturday morning excursions were just an excuse not to have to sit through Birdy's ballet classes."

"So who's up for eighteen holes?" Nathan asked, grabbing his golf clubs from a corner of the garage and tossing them in the trunk.

"Let's do it. Chase and I should stop by the pro shop to check in with Marty anyway. He'll probably want us to start working at the course tomorrow."

"You play golf, Chase?" Nathan asked, realizing that he didn't know a lot about Tyler's friend.

"Does Putt-Putt count?" Chase asked with a shrug.

"Prepare to get schooled," Tyler informed him with a shot to the ribs. "When's tee time?"

"About an hour," Nathan answered. "Why don't I show you guys the guest cottage? I finally got the shower installed."

"Nice work, Builder Bob," Tyler kidded. "Good timing on that too, not that I didn't love having to share a bathroom with Birdy since she rocketed onto the planet."

"Come on, smartass." Nathan laughed at his son's ribbing as he led the boys to the guest cottage. He and Tyler had always shared a sarcastic sense of humor, and Nathan prided himself on the fact that he had maintained the respected boundaries of a parent relationship while simultaneously enjoying a genuine friendship with his son. Of course, their relationship had grown from the unique beginning of Nathan stepping into fatherhood at the age of sixteen. He'd been a boy raising a boy in many ways. It certainly hadn't always been easy, and finishing high school with a baby posed a lot of challenges, but he and Stacey had made it work. When he looked at his son's face now, he couldn't imagine it happening any other way.

Tyler opened the door to the guest cottage and threw his bags on the floor. "Work in progress, huh?" he noted. Nathan watched him take in the unfinished ceiling and walls. Tyler was right, but nevertheless, it did have a certain charm to it. Two twin beds with matching nightstands and lamps split the room. A couple of surfboards, a pair of water skis, and a yellow go-cart rested against the far wall. An old library apothecary cabinet stood out on the opposite wall. Tyler walked over to it and paused to look up at Nathan before opening one of its drawers. "Still have all my football trading cards?"