Miniature Golf

"I...I like my hair parted down the middle," Madison said defensively while knowing Gabby was right.

"Fine but you'll look absolutely stunning with a side part with maybe some wispy bangs. And I say we put in a soft, gentle wave and maybe a little inward curl at the bottom."

Gabby was 'checking her out' to the point of making Madison uncomfortable when she said, "I'm totally straight, but just thinking about you with that hairstyle in something sexy could almost make me switch teams!"

Madison's jaw dropped again, but as before, as soon as Gabby started laughing, Madison joined in. This time the laughter was more cathartic than anything else, and by the time they'd finished their lunch, Madison agreed. To both suggestions.

So just before they left, she got out her phone and typed, "You should consider a future in sales, Neil. I've gone from thinking 'no-way, no-how, not ever' to really looking forward to seeing you again. Just let me know when, okay?"

She showed it to Gabby who gave her a very disapproving look.

"What? What's wrong with what I wrote?"

"I don't see the word 'love' anywhere in there," he friend told her as she raised her eyebrows in mock disapproval.

"Wench!" Madison said as though she was upset. "I'm sending this."

"I actually love it," Gabby told her as Madison hit 'send'.

"Come on. Let's back to the salt mines so I can do your new 'do' at the end of the shift, comrade!"

Madison laughed and thanked her friend sincerely for both the advice and her support.

"Hey, that's what friends are for. And if Neil has a brother..."

"An older brother?" Madison asked as she tried not to laugh.

"Either/or," Gabby told her. "If this goes well for you, I may start cruising high schools for anyone over 18 interested in someone my age."

"Hah! Yeah, right," Madison replied as she realized her friend was almost crazy enough to possibly do something like that.

When Gabby finished with her hair late that afternoon, Madison was well beyond pleasantly surprised.

"Oh...my...God!" she said as she looked at herself once Gabby spun her around.

"See? Did I call it or did I call it?"

Madison tilted her head then turned it left and right as her soft, shiny hair moved with her.

"You totally called it. It...it looks amazing, Gabby."

"Yeah, I know," her friend said as she blew on her curled fingers then rubbed across the top of her smock.

When Madison stood up, the new style looked even more amazing, and once she finally stopped staring at herself she checked her phone and realized Neil had responded to her text.

"Let me see!" Gabby said when she saw Madison turn away after picking up her phone.

"Shhh! Hush already!" she told the gawking Gabby who kept trying to sneak a peek.

"What'd he say? Tell me!"

Madison turned around and handed her friend the phone. Gabby smiled, took it, then read the reply.

"Oh, my. This...this is...great!" she said as she hugged her friend.

When Madison let go, she got serious.

"Gabby? Thank you. For everything."

"Hey, you shared your budding romance with me, and that's the closest I've gotten to anything remotely connected to intimacy in, let's see here..."

She started counting on her fingers, and Madison felt terrible knowing it had been several months since the last guy who cheated on her broke her heart. She felt even worse knowing he'd been the last guy...period.

"Come on. Let's get out of here," Madison said as she took her friend's arm and walked outside with her where they hugged again.

"Keep me posted?" Gabby asked, a hopeful look on her face.

"I will," Madison promised.

"Okay. Then...good luck!"

"Thank you!" Madison said as she got in her old car and headed to the school where Kenny stayed in 'aftercare' each day until she could get there.

"Mom!" he said as soon as he saw her. "What happened to your hair?"

Crestfallen, she told him Gabby had just cut it.

But her mood changed immediately when her son shyly said, "You look like a movie star, Mom."

"Ah! You sweet boy! Come here!" she said as she grabbed him to give him a hug, forgetting a couple of other boys were still there.

When he pulled away she realized why and said, "Sorry! I...I know better than to do that."

Kenny smiled so his mom leaned down and said, "In public, anyway."

As soon as they got outside, Kenny took her hand and asked about Neil again.

"Funny you should ask, Augie my son, my son," she told him using a line from a very old cartoon called Augie Doggie, before letting him know what they were doing.

"For reals?" he asked, almost too excited to speak.

"For reals. Tonight. So we'll have to go home and get ready quick like bunny rabbits, okay?"

"Yes!" Kenny said as he dipped down and did some kind of celebration thing with his free arm that made his mother laugh.

When they got to the car Kenny said, "You can hug me now if you want to."

"Oh, really?" she said, pretending like she might not still be interested. "What if one of your buddies is still watching?"

"I don't care. I'm so happy, I'd let you hug me inside!" he told her, causing her to laugh for reasons her son didn't understand as she bent down and hugged him.

"You look really pretty, Mom," he told her again.

"Thank you, honey. When my best guy tells me that, it makes me very happy."

Kenny ignored the kind reply and said, "Can we go now?" causing his mom to laugh yet again.

"Yes, we can go now," she told him as she chuckled and continued doing so off and on the whole way home.

Neil was taking them to a place called the Boundary Bay Brewery and Bistro, a restaurant that advertised itself as an 'expansive, unfussy brewpub serving locally sourced pub grub and craft beer'.

After that, they were going to the Spark Museum of Electrical Invention, an educational place that covered the the dawn of the electrical age from the 1600s through the golden days of radio and up to the present. It was both educational and fun, and Kenny couldn't wait to go there. Not because he was overly interested in electricity, but because Neil would be there with him.

And after talking to Gabby, Madison was no longer fretting and hand wringing about going out with someone...Neil's age. Or more to the point, with Neil Monroe himself.

It would be whatever it might be, and she would do her best to think of it as a kind of springboard for maybe taking more of an interest in dating. She had to look at it that way, because were she to think of it as anything more, it had the potential to be a setup for huge disappointment somewhere down the line.

So for now, anyway, she'd have fun, not take things too seriously, and talk with Kenny about keeping his own expectations realistic.

As she got ready, Madison was well aware it was September, and so far at least, the weather hadn't yet turned cold. It wasn't exactly warm outside, but it also wasn't cold, and for this time of year, that was a very unexpected treat.

She had a blue print dress with cap sleeves she hadn't worn in at least a year. It was nice enough to be dressy but still casual enough to wear nearly anywhere. The print pattern consisted of white stars on the dark-blue material, and once she saw herself in it again, she remembered why she liked it so much.

The hem fell to maybe two inches above her knee, and still able to wear a size 6, it looked perfect on her. But as much as she liked the dress, she couldn't stop looking at her new 'do'.

"Gabby? You're a genius," she said as she looked at her shiny, silky mane.

"Wow, Mom! You look even prettier than before," Kenny told her when she came out wearing the dress.

"Do you really like it?" she asked.

"Uh-huh. And Neil's gonna like it, too!" her son assured her just as the doorbell rang, startling Madison.

"I'll get it!" Kenny yelled as he ran for the door.

Kenny flung the door open and before Neil could speak or move, Kenny threw his arms around him.

"Hey, dude! How are you?"

"I'm good. How are you?"

Madison was at the door by then and mouthed, "Sorry!" but Neil just smiled and shook his head.

"Do you know where we're going?" Kenny asked, as though Neil wasn't the one who'd decided.

"I don't know. You tell me," Neil said as Madison gently moved her son out of the doorway.

As Kenny rattled off the two places, Madison smiled at him and said, "Hi."

He said it back then gave her a quick once-over and shook his head.

"Just...wow!"

"Really?" she asked, hoping he meant it.

"Uh...yeah. Are you kidding? And your hair is...gorgeous. No, you're gorgeous."

"Isn't my mom pretty?" Kenny said, not caring that Neil hadn't really heard him explain where they were going.

Then, just as quickly, he changed subjects again and asked, "Can we go now?"

"Kenny!" his mom said but not too sternly.

"Sorry," he said bashfully. "I'm just so excited!"

"Me, too, buddy," Neil told him. "But if you are ready..."

"Yes. Let me just get my purse and a sweater, and I will be," Madison told him.

"Love the dress!" Neil said as she walked away.

Smiling happily, her back to him, she said, "Thank you!" as she grabbed her things.

"Here. Let me help you," Neil said as he took the thin cardigan and held it out for her. "It's not bad outside right now, but it'll be a little chilly very soon."

Madison thanked him again and then once more at the car, a ten-year old Toyota Camry he'd recently bought from his dad when he bought the Cherokee which had less than a thousand miles on it.

Neil knew his dad was 'loaded', but money wasn't something his parents ever discussed. They bought a fairly nice, brand-new home when they moved back to Bellingham, and Neil knew his parents had paid cash for it just like his dad had done for the SUV. Keith didn't bother trading his car in. He offered it to his son at well below Blue Book value, and like most Toyotas, it was still going strong with over 100,000 miles on it.

"I like your car," Madison said as Neil held the door open for her.

The car was older but had been extremely well cared for, and the inside looked very nice for a car with much wear and tear on it—especially the leather seats.

"Oh, thanks. I bought if from my dad a few months ago. I think driving it around made him miss my mom too much," he said. "He almost never mentions it, but when she passed away, my dad just kind of fell apart."

Neal's comment caused Madison to stop getting in, and out of nowhere she hugged him.

"I am so sorry. I had no idea you'd lost your mom," she said as the warm, sincere hug ended.

"Thank you. It was hard on both of us."

"I can only imagine," she said as she stood there just looking at him and genuinely feeling sorry for him. "Both of my parents are still alive, so no, actually...I can't."

"Let's get going, shall we?" Neil said in an upbeat way.

"Oh. Yes. Of course," Madison replied as she smoothed her dress and got in.

She wanted to ask so many questions, but Kenny seemed to have even more. And when he wasn't asking a question he was making a comment.

"I guess it's obvious my son really likes you," Madison said during a rare moment of quiet, so quietly Kenny couldn't hear her.

"Well, I like him, too. And his mom," Neil told her.

Madison smiled but didn't say anything so Neil added, "So that means everyone likes everyone in this car with one possible exception."

"Hey! That's not fair," Madison told Neil. "I never said I didn't like you."

"And I never said you said you didn't like me," Neil came back with.

"Wait. What?" Madison asked, thoroughly confused until it came to her.

Once it did, she said, "Well, maybe I do like you then."

"I'll take a maybe," Neil told her with a smile. "For now."

During dinner, Kenny continued peppering Neil with questions even after his mom asked him to give Neil a chance to eat. He barely slowed down, but what touched her heart was the way Neil answered every question, and not just with 'yes' or 'no' answers. He took the time to explain something when needed, and asked Kenny questions about the topic in return. At one point, Madison was so caught up in it, she realized she hadn't touched her food. And then she realized she was on the verge of tearing up.

As they walked back to the car Neil said, "You've been awfully quiet tonight."

"I haven't said a lot, but I've definitely been paying attention."

"Yeah?"

"Uh-huh. And based on what I've seen and heard, I suppose it's at least possible that I maybe...do like you," she said rather coyly.

"Oh, really?" Neil asked.

"Yes, really," she told him with a smile.

Somehow, Kenny was paying attention just then and heard what Neil and his mom had just said. He'd been walking in between them holding both of their hands when he looked up at them, smiled, then moved a step back and put their hands together. His mother gave him a funny look, but when she let Neil take it, he let out a very happy, "Yes!"

They still had over an hour before the Spark Museum closed, and that was more than enough time to see everything.

"Kenny? Do you like science?" Neil asked as they headed to their next destination.

"Uh-huh. I love science. Do you?"

Neil made a face Kenny couldn't see, but Madison saw it and laughed.

"I'm more of a social sciences kind of guy," he replied.

"What's that?"

Neil explained what kinds of things were included in the social sciences and that he wasn't all that great in math or science.

"At least not after the 8th grade. I could never figure out what the 'X' stood for in algebra, so I've only taken as much math as I had to to graduate."

Kenny had no idea what any of that meant, but his mom did ask a question.

"So will you be graduating at the end of this year?"

"I will," Neil told her.

"Any idea what you'll be doing once you finish college?"

"Actually, yes," he said as he turned her way and smiled.

"And?" Madison asked as she smiled back.

Neil went to answer, but before he could, Madison said, "Wait. Let me guess."

She sat there and looked at him for a few seconds then said, "Got it. High school psychology teacher."

Neil laughed but quietly so then told her, "Not quite."

"PE teacher?"

"No again. No teaching."

"Oh. I really thought I had this," she replied as she pretended to study him a little more before saying, "I give up."

"I'm going to be an officer in the Marine Corps. Just like my dad."

The way Madison looked at him made him wonder if she was possibly anti-military. The entire western half of Washington and Oregon were largely politically liberal and many of them weren't overly fond of the military. That didn't mean they were anti-military, of course. Many liberals supported the troops but opposed the wars and massive spending that went to the Pentagon. True or not that was Neil's first thought.

"You don't approve?" he asked after Madison didn't say anything.

"No. It's...it's not that," she replied.

She'd been looking at him and smiling, but she'd turned away and seemed suddenly distant the moment he revealed his future plans.

"Then I'm confused. Your body language tells me you're not very happy with what I just said."

"I'm sorry, Neil. I guess I just assumed you'd be staying here. In Bellingham. Or maybe going as far away as Seattle or something."

Just as suddenly it all made sense to Neil. He'd been gradually winning her over in spite of his youth, but now she was thinking there was no real use in getting any more involved with him when he was only going to go away a few months down the road. And not just to Seattle or even Portland.

"My dad graduated from Western, too," Neil told her.

"Oh. I see," Madison quietly replied, still not looking at him.

"Yeah, he and my mom met here. Locally. And they fell in love and...moved away. Together."

Neil knew he was up against another formidable mental obstacle in Madison's mind and tried planting a seed that might help her see there at least was a path to a future with him were she so inclined to seek one.

"And I'll still be here for the next nine months or so," he added. "Which is quite a bit of time to get to know someone."

Kenny was mostly zoning out in the backseat, but he noticed the change in his mom and asked her if she was upset.

"No. Not at all, honey. I guess I just didn't really think things through."

Neil knew that was directed at him, and it hit home pretty hard.

"Did you want me to take you, you know..." he said very quietly.

"No. I don't want to upset..."

She pointed toward the back seat and that was all that needed to be said.

"Are you guys talking about me?" Kenny asked.

"No, honey," his mom said, hoping a white lie wouldn't be as bad as the truth.

"Hey! There it is!" her son said as the sign came into view.

Madison barely said two words again as they walked around, and this time Neil knew it wasn't because she was looking to see how well he and her son were getting along.

One of the most popular exhibits demonstrated the effects of static electricity, and Kenny couldn't wait to put his hands on the metal ball so his hair would stick out like everyone else's who'd touched it.

He waited his turn then asked if everyone was ready. When he got two nods, he slowly moved his hands toward the sphere, and his hair began to rise. He moved his hands away and it fell back in place. He did that three more times before suddenly slapping his palms on it which caused his hair to stick straight out.

Madison finally laughed, and Kenny asked Neil to try.

"I don't have much hair, but okay," he said.

Because it was so short, there wasn't any noticeable difference so Kenny asked him mom to try.

"Oh, no. No way," she said. "I'd look like Medusa!"

"Huh?" Kenny asked.

Neil grabbed his phone and found an image of the Greek Gorgon with snakes for hair and showed it to the boy who cracked up laughing then started begging.

"Please, Mom???"

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," Neil said, hoping she might at least smile at him again.

"Easy for you to say, Mr. Short Hair," she said, a little smile appearing at the edges of her mouth.

"Mom! Come on. Just do it, okay?" Kenny begged.

"It'll ruin my hair, honey," she protested.

"But you can comb it back tomorrow, and Neil will still like you!" he said.

"He's right, you know," Neil told her very authoritatively. "I'll like you no matter what your hair looks like."

Madison knew her reaction to Neil's choice of career of was selfish, but she'd been justifying it because of the effect it would have on her son even though she had no way of knowing whether the effect would be positive or negative, let alone whether there'd ever even be an effect.

"Okay, okay!" she said as she moved a little closer to the ball.

"Will it shock me?" she asked, stalling for time.

"No. It doesn't shock you, Mom. It just makes your hair stand out," her son informed her.

"Oh. Well, okay then. I guess," she said as she gritted her teeth and raised her hands.

Her long, silky hair began slowly coming up all at once and all around her head as she mimicked what Kenny had initially done.

"Cool!" Kenny said as the hair settled back down.

Madison then moved her hands in and out several times real fast until Kenny was laughing. Neil was standing behind him with his hands on Kenny's shoulders, and he was laughing, too.

"You guys ready?" she asked.

"Yes!" both of them replied just as she stuck her hands on the silver globe and her hair shot out in all directions to its full length.

"Get a picture!" Kenny said, barely able to breathe.

"Don't you dare!" his mom said as she dropped her hands. "Don't even think about it!

Madison stepped away in spite of Kenny's second request for a picture, and when she got closer to Neil he said, "You're still just as beautiful, Madison."

She couldn't explain it, but some kind of...switch...or something had just been thrown, and it no longer mattered that Neil wasn't planning on living in the local area. She had nothing but respect for the military, and although she didn't know a single person who'd served, she knew that what they did required great sacrifice and courage.