Caddy for Hire

"I did see the interview, and I'm really glad you called."

"No. It's my pleasure. I hope you don't mind, but I did a little checking real quick and saw your very respectable finish at Sea Island. Congratulations. That's huge."

"Oh, thanks. I uh, I got pretty lucky on a couple of putts and several drives took a good bounce."

"Maybe so, but you don't finish that well without talent. Sure, we all need a break here and there, but you obviously have serious potential."

"Thank you," he told her, liking everything he'd heard so far.

"So...are you looking for a caddy?" she asked, biting her lip as she did, hoping she wasn't pushing too hard, too fast.

"I am. My brother broke his leg skiing, and our dad filled in this weekend, but as much as I love my dad, that was...."

Marc laughed before saying, "Pretty awful."

Relieved, Renee laughed, too, and told him she understood.

"Listen. I...I'd uh, I'd like to meet with you. If you have time."

Renee tried not to laugh because all she had was time.

"I'd love that! Just say when and where and I'll be there."

"With bells on?" Marc said before feeling embarrassed for just blurting out someone so childish.

"Hey, if you like bells, I'll wear them!" Renee replied with that laugh he already loved.

"I'm playing 18 holes on Tuesday at Woodcreek. I have an 8:30 tee time. If you can make it, you can caddy for me, and we'll see how well we work together. I'll pay you a hundred bucks for the round if that's okay," he suggested, almost making it sound like a question.

Woodcreek is an 18-hole course that is 7,205 yards in total length and one of the best courses in Columbia. Since finishing 10th in a PGA tournament, Marc was again able to golf there for free. As a teen, he'd worked there in exchange for free tee times. Now, the only catch was that they were allowed to use his name, image, and refer to him as "Woodcreek's pro", a deal he was happy to make.

"Are you kidding? I wasn't expecting to even be paid, so thank you, and I'll definitely be there. With bells on!" she replied, trying not to sound too excited in spite of being thrilled.

"Okay, then. I'll uh, I'll see then."

"Yes. And Marc? Thank you. Thank you so much!"

"Oh, sure. My pleasure...Renee."

"Bye!"

Marc hung up his phone too stunned to speak. Renee hung up hers and squealed so loudly that Lexi came running.

"Mommy? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, sweetie! I...I might have a job!"

"Really?" her daughter asked, a sad look on her face that made her mother stop smiling.

"Well, yes. Isn't that wonderful?"

"I guess."

"Honey? What's wrong?"

"I...I don't want you to go away," her little girl said.

"Oh, Lexi. Mommy's not going anywhere, honey. I'm just going to carry someone's golf clubs for a few hours. And you can stay with Grandma. Is that okay?"

"You promise?"

Her mom bent down, kissed her daughter's forehead, then crossed her heart as she promised.

"Okay!"

Lexi thought for a moment then looked up at her mom.

"Do you think Daddy helped you get the new job?"

Renee was so happy that even the mention of her late husband didn't bring her down.

"You know what? That might just be true."

"See! Daddy IS watching, huh?"

Renee hugged her daughter, and with that, Lexi skipped out off and went back to playing in her room while her mom went back to her laptop and read everything she could find about Marc Hardison.

There wasn't much to find, but she felt like she almost knew him by the time she got finished. Renee hadn't even thought of dating since losing her husband, and while Marc was a very handsome young man, he was also very...young. He'd only just turned 26 while, to her chagrin, she had recently hit the big four-oh.

"Forty, no job, no money, and no honey," she slowly and quietly said out loud, feeling sorry for herself for the first time in several weeks. But it only lasted a few minutes as she turned her attention to the possibility of not only having a job but doing something she loved again.

Renee was so excited she barely slept that night. She was up at 5:30, showered, got dressed, ate breakfast, then double and triple checked to make sure she had everything she needed. Satisfied that she did, the only thing left to do was wait for her mom to drop by. She would get Lexi up, feed her breakfast, and take her to school so that her daughter could focus on this new, potentially amazing job offer.

She was at the first tee by 8am and waited nervously for Marc to arrive. She saw him walk into the clubhouse at 7:50 and felt her heart flutter. It couldn't have romantic. No, it had to be pure, unadulterated excitement fueled by hope.

When he walked out and headed toward her she smiled and waited for him to see her. He was wearing a very nice, three-button, blue, collared Henley shirt and white pants with white golf shoes. Were she not so nervous Renee would have noticed that, but she was focused on one thing and one thing only. Being the best caddy she could.

Marc, on the other hand, did notice her. Renee was wearing a short-sleeved pink shirt, white shorts, white tennis shoes, and a white visor. Her long, blonde hair was pulled into a flat ponytail, and she was wearing just enough makeup to make her pretty face look even nicer than he'd remembered from her TV appearance.

As Marc walked up to her, she was still smiling, and he couldn't help but notice the perfect, white teeth and her bright, blue eyes that went amazingly well with her hair.

"Good morning!" she said cheerfully as she stuck her hand out.

Marc shook it, smiled back, then said, "Pardon me for saying this, but you don't look like any caddy I've ever seen."

Still too nervous to know whether he was being polite or maybe even flirting, she only laughed and thanked him for the compliment.

She finally noticed what he was wearing and said, "And may I say you look quite dapper yourself."

Marc also laughed and thanked her, too.

"So. Are you ready?" he asked.

She pulled out a yardage book for Woodcreek, opened it to the first hole, then told him she was.

"I'm impressed. Does that have the latest changes in it?"

"It does," Renee assured him. "It has the changes on six and on fifteen."

"Great. In that case, let's rock and roll!"

"I'm ready! And this is the last time you'll ever carry your clubs," she told him pointing to the bag he carried out of the clubhouse. "If you hire me."

He smiled at her and said, "Deal."

She handed him a tee and a ball and watched where he placed it. The first hole was a par 4 and 425 yards. It had a dogleg that favored a draw for a right-handed player in order to avoid a small bunker, and she agreed with his placement.

Marc needed to test her knowledge immediately, so as he sized up the hole, one he'd played so many time he no longer needed a yardage book, he asked her what she thought.

Without hesitation Renee said as she pointed to the book, "You've got 235 yards to the fairway where we want to land the ball. A nice draw with the driver will get you there plus another 15-20 yards if we get a good bounce. That sets you up for a perfect approach with a pitching wedge. What do you think?"

"I think I like the way you think," he told her as he reached for the driver.

His first shot didn't draw as much as he wanted, and he ended up just ten feet from the rough on the right side of the fairway. Renee took driver from him and strapped on the bag and began the first of many walks.

"You've got 183 to the tee, but we need to get up and over the little knoll."

Just to see what she'd say, Marc suggested an 6-iron.

"You could hit a soft 6, but I think a hard 7 is the better choice to get the roll we're looking for."

She had no idea he'd already decided to do just that nor that he was still testing her. She was also unaware that she was now two for two with her new boss.

"I agree."

She pulled out the 7 iron, wiped the face, then handed it to him. That kind of attention to detail was expected from any caddy and should be second nature. Seeing her do that only added to her credibility.

Marc's second shot was nearly perfect. It landed just on the fringe, bounced once, and rolled onto the green and stopped about seven feet from the hole.

"Tweet, tweet," she said, indicating his birdie opportunity, a happy smile on her face.

It was an easy putt with just a slight left-to-right break, and Marc dropped it into the center of the cup.

"One under and heading to the second tee," his caddy chirped as Marc recorded his score on the card the clubhouse provided while she did the same in her book.

By the ninth hole, Marc was three under par and very impressed with his new caddy.

As she handed him a 6-iron for the par-3 hole, he said, "I'm liking what I see, Renee."

A feeling of happiness washed over her as she thanked for this compliment, as well.

"I uh, I was referring to your caddying abilities," he then said, causing her to have to think for a moment.

She got and laughed.

"Right! I mean, it never entered my mind you were talking about me."

She laughed again as she said that, but when Marc answered her, she stopped laughing.

"I wasn't, but what I said is equally applicable to how you look as well as how you caddy."

Because he was so handsome and so young, it still didn't occur to her that he could be flirting. She knew she wasn't unattractive, and were someone to press her, she might even admit she was still a good looking woman for someone who'd just turned 40. But men Marc's age didn't look at women her age that way--even if they were still beautiful 'for their age'. Or if they did it wasn't because they were interested in a relationship, and she had no interest in hook ups or any kind of casual affair.

Those and several other thoughts zipped through her brain in the course of a few seconds which gave her time to process what he'd said. The only thing she'd missed was the way Marc also stopped smiling when she did. Renee had no idea he thought he might have offended her because she hadn't been offended in the least. She'd only gotten serious because his words surprised her so much. He, on the other hand, assumed they had made her feel uncomfortable, and his tee shot reflected it.

The second hole was a short par 3, and he was trying to get the ball up high with backspin so it would hit near the pin and not keep rolling. But his concentration was off just a tad, and he didn't get under it enough. When the ball landed it not only didn't stop, it rolled on for another 30 feet and ended up a good five feet off the green in the first cut of rough.

"No worries," Renee said just as cheerfully as before. "That's a makable putt."

"I just didn't get under it," he replied as they walked.

"It looked like you lost focus," Renee said without being critical.

Marc glanced over at her as they walked and said, "I did. I knew I offended you with my...comment...and that was on my mind when I hit it."

Renee stopped walking, and when Mare noticed, he stopped, too.

"What...comment?" she asked, a look of genuine confusion on her face.

Now Marc was equally confused.

"About...how nice you look."

She'd already completely forgotten about it and was totally focused on his tee shot along with trying to make a second birdie on the hole.

"Marc. I...I wasn't offended. I...I had no idea you were being serious. I just thought you were, you know, being nice."

A sense of relief flooded his brain, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Whew! I'm really glad to hear you say that."

"Or course. It's no bid deal. Besides, it was just...talk, right?" she said in a cheerful way.

"Yeah. Right. Just...talk," he said as he looked at her a little too long before quickly looking away and heading toward the green again.

As they trudged along, he couldn't help but think about how his brother would have been the one to actually say something like that. Only...something not as tactful or as nice. It was just one more of many things that separated him from his brother.

Marc deeply respected women while Tyler saw them as something to be conquered. At 26 and just getting his career going, Marc wasn't planning on settling down anytime soon, but were the right woman to come along, he wouldn't pass up the opportunity just because of his age. Tyler, on the other hand, probably wouldn't even consider marriage until he was at least 40, and it was quite possible he would never tie the knot.

Marc's first putt came up three feet short, and he settled for par on what should have been a birdie hole. But at least Renee didn't think of him as some kind of crass, cocky...player. When that word came to mind it made him laugh because he actually was a player. He just wasn't a...player.

Each hole proved that Renee not only knew golf, she seemed to know Marc. She not only had the right club ready for him on any shot, she was holding a water bottle in her hand before he could ask her for a drink. He didn't mention being hungry, but on 14 tee she handed him a small bag of trail mix she'd put together, and that impressed him even more.

"How'd you know?" he asked when he took it and began munching before offering her some.

"I try to pay attention," she said politely and in a way that made him look at her in a whole new light.

She was definitely very attractive to him, but attractive women were everywhere. Now that he had some very small amount of notoriety, he even had had a few golf groupies, a term that made him laugh. But they were there at every hole smiling, waving, and occasionally slipping their number to his caddy. Tyler, of course, knew his bother would never call them, so after showing him the note, he would call them himself later that evening, assuming he found them attractive enough. Two of the three women told him they didn't 'date caddies' but one of them invited him over after the third round of the tournament. The fourth day had been along, hard slog for the caddy who woke up with a hangover and a smile on his face.

He finished the snack, washed it down with some more water, then hit a beautiful drive that went 273 yards, landing in the middle of the fairway, his best drive of the day.

"Now that's what I call puttin' the wood to it!" Renee called out when she saw how good the tee shot was.

Neither of them picked up on the alternate meaning of 'wood', but had Tyler been there....

Marc birdied the final hole leaving him seven under par for the course.

"Nice," Renee told him as they headed into the clubhouse.

"I should have been eight under, but yeah. Not bad."

Renee was dying to ask him what he thought of her caddying skills but decided to wait for him to tell her. She rechecked every club, wiped them all down, and locked up his bag then returned the key to its owner who was now talking to someone behind the counter.

"So this is your new caddy, huh?" the heavyset man of about 55 said as he smiled at Renee.

"I don't know. Am I?" she asked as nicely as she could.

"Are you kidding? You're amazing!" Marc told her.

"So...so does that mean....?"

"Yes. The job's yours if you want it. Oh. And the hundred dollars."

He fished out five twenties and handed them to her, thanking her again for her superb work. Renee's brain flooded her body with a dozen different chemicals, all of them pleasant, and the combined effect caused her to throw her arms around her new boss as she then thanked him profusely.

She barley noticed that he briefly put his arms around her waist before she pushed back and apologized.

"Oh, my goodness. Marc. I am SO sorry!" she said as she glanced over at the other man who was smiling, an embarrassed look on her face.

But the man's face was anything but embarrassed.

"No worries! What I wouldn't do to be in Marc's shoes right now!" the man said with a laugh.

Because of his age and the fact that he was an average-looking guy at best, Renee knew he was kind of flirting, but it was harmless, and when she saw Marc laugh, she laughed, too.

"Don't apologize," Marc told her much more quietly than she'd been. "That was actually...really nice."

Marc kind of had a look on his face now. This one was a little...sheepish. It told her that he actually might be flirting with her, and when she realized that could be true, she found herself staring at his handsome face. She had no idea she was staring until he broke eye contact and looked down. She then wondered if he thought she was crazy--or worse--for staring at him as though he wasn't just kidding around--again.

So once more, Renee told herself that she'd misread him, and now she wasn't sure what to say or do.

"I...I'm very thankful for the opportunity, Marc," she finally said, hoping to reestablish a more professional tone between them.

"And I'm extremely grateful to have found such a qualified caddy."

Whatever emotions she'd just experienced quickly leveled off as she felt like things were okay between them and once again right where they should be.

"If you don't have anything else for me, I should probably head out. My daughter will be home from school pretty soon, and...."

"How old is your daughter?" Marc asked before she could finish.

The proud mom smiled then said, "Lexi is six. And sweet as can be."

Renee still wore her wedding ring, and although Marc had noticed it earlier, it hadn't had any meaning because she was there to 'interview' for being his caddy, not a date. But he suddenly felt a little depressed but did his best not to let it show.

"Do you and your husband live nearby?" Marc asked innocently enough.

Renee stopped smiling so fast it made him think he'd really stepped in it this time.

"My...my husband. He passed away...."

Before she could say how long ago Marc told her how sorry he was to learn that.

"Thank you. It hasn't been easy, and it's been even harder on Lexi. She was only three when it happened, and how can someone that young possibly understand?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Marc felt the need to say something.

"I...I don't know. I honestly don't know. And I can't even imagine how awful that's been for...both of you."

Renee didn't want to appear weak in front of Marc, so she put a smile back on her face and said, "Life goes on, right? We either adapt to the changes it throws at us or we...die along with the loved one we lost."

She was no philosopher, but her words made a deep impression on him because he'd believed that for quite a few years. In his mind, life really was all about change.

People changed. Things changed. Relationships changed. In fact, everything in the universe was in a constant state of change in terms of both time and space. Change was the norm, but even so, people did their best to create a sense of stability in an ever-changing world where the only certainty was the ultimate change from life to death. Taxes were considered certain, too, and based on the amount he'd paid for his first 'win', Marc had to agree they were probably right.

"Okay. I was going to suggest maybe getting a bite to eat, but you have someone a lot more important than me to get back to, so maybe some other time?" Marc told her, a smile now back on his face, too.

"Um...I...I had no idea you were even thinking about that," she said almost apologetically.

"I was, but I didn't know you had a daughter; a daughter who'll be missing her mom if she's not there."

Renee almost said, "Right," but didn't.

"When we play tournaments. Sorry. When you play in various tournaments, I'll have to be away for a day or two sometimes, so I don't think another hour or so will matter. Besides, my mom's there, and she loves spending time with her granddaughter."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Definitely. We can grab a bite," she told him, a twinkle in her eyes that Marc noticed and liked very much as he tried to get a read from her the way he did from the green on a hole.