Mulligans

26. Crossword

Nathan paused in the doorway to the kitchen and watched Stacey, Tyler, and Birdy sitting at the dinner table, laughing and poring over a crossword in the newspaper.

"Honestly, at this rate we'll never get to eat breakfast!" Tyler complained, leaning back in his chair with a groan.

Birdy shot a reprimanding look at her brother. "We can't eat until it's finished."

"Birdy, I have no idea. Just because I go to college doesn't make me smart."

Stacey looked up to see Nathan standing in the doorway. "Your father will probably know. Should we ask him?" she suggested, escaping to the kitchen to bring in breakfast.

Nathan gave a practiced smile as he walked in and sat at the table with his family. "Ask him what?"

"Dad! What's a ten-letter word for bond?" Birdy asked, flashing the crossword in his direction.

Nathan considered as he stirred cream into his coffee. "Hmmm... investment?"

Stacey returned with hot plates of pancakes, sausage, and eggs Benedict as Birdy tried the word in the empty boxes, her pencil dancing over the paper. "Investment doesn't work."

"Where's Chase? We're gonna be late for work," Tyler said, grabbing a sausage from the stack and taking a bite.

"Tyler, use a plate, please," Stacey said, trying to hand him one, but he waved her off, making a pancake-and-sausage sandwich and heading out the door.

"What are you doing today, Daddy?" Birdy asked, momentarily setting aside the crossword to fill her plate.

"I'm going to do some paperwork and then play a round of that game we're not allowed to mention."

The lapse in focus didn't last long as Birdy again turned to the newspaper. "I still need a ten-letter word for bond."

Nathan reflected for a second and then replied, "Try commitment."

"I've changed the rule," Stacey interrupted, finally sitting down to her own food.

"C-O-M—is there one M or two Ms?" Birdy asked, looking up at her father.

"What's this?" Nathan asked Stacey before turning to Birdy. "There are two Ms, kiddo...."

"I-T-M-E-N-T," Birdy said, filling in the letters. "It works! You got it, Daddy!"

Stacey smiled at her daughter as she cut into her eggs Benedict. "I've changed the rule. We can all talk about golf. As much as we want."

"Golf, golf, golf... balls, balls, balls!" Birdy sang, turning her attention to the next crossword clue.

"I've been thinking, maybe it would be good for you to spend some time with Chase," Stacey suggested. "He's going through some—"

Birdy looked up suddenly and announced, "He's gay."

Nathan nodded thanks to Birdy for the information. "I know, Tyler told me."

"Did you talk to him about it?" Stacey asked between bites. "I mean, while we were away?"

Nathan pushed his food across the plate mindlessly. "A little."

"Well, I just think he could use all of our support right now," Stacey advised.

Nathan took a long sip of his coffee. "Okay, yeah, I'll talk to him."

Birdy looked back down to her crossword and contentedly sang, "Golf, golf, golf... balls, balls, balls!"

The weed whacker whirred as Chase worked his way around the sand trap directly behind the sixth hole. He was glad for the distraction. Between the buzzing of the gas-powered lawn groomer and the music pumping through his iPhone, he was almost able to drown out his own thoughts. He jumped when one of his earbuds was pulled out of his ear.

"Hey!" he said, spinning around, thankfully keeping the weed whacker on the ground, destroying the grass rather than his surprise assailant's face.

Nathan stood smiling with his golf bag slung over his shoulder, looking like a perfect model for an Arnold Palmer catalogue. "Where's Tyler?"

Chase pulled out his other earbud and turned off the weed whacker. "Working on the back nine. We need to talk."

Nathan gave a flirty shrug and smiled, which would have played better on a high school junior than a thirty-six-year-old. "We're talking right now."

Chase could tell this was going to be more difficult than he'd hoped. "You know what I mean."

Without another word he turned and led Nathan into the thick trees between the sixth hole and the seventh tee-off box.