As she looked upon the scene, Baylor’s mood changed. She was tempted to wallow in self-pity. For nearly a full minute, she sat there feeling sorry for herself. Then other emotions kicked in—first jealousy, then anger. The anger was a feeling she could really wrap her teeth around.


Those bitches. They’re acting like I’m not even alive. I don’t believe I ever thought Hobie was such a sweet girl. That tramp’s letting

Jules put her paws wherever she wants. Unbelievable... and I thought Jules was my best friend. Shit! She knew how I felt and she’s still all over Hobie! Some friends...they’re both sluts!


A plan formulated in Baylor’s head at that instant. Later that evening, she looked back and realized that perhaps the plan hadn’t been the best of ideas. However, sitting there in her car, she could think of only one thing to appease her jealous nature. She would follow the two women. She would listen to their conversations, watch their behavior, and confront them. She would confront the Jezebels and throw their own actions into their faces. Baylor would see that, like Hester Prynne, both women ended up with a scarlet A on their chests.

“Treat me like a fucking idiot. We’ll see about that!” Baylor roughly shoved the gearshift and followed the white pickup. “Careful...no need to hurry or lose control,” she said aloud.

If she could have seen herself, Baylor would have stopped the car and turned around or laughed hysterically at her own ludicrous behavior. Instead, like a character in a poorly written spy novel, she followed a short distance behind Hobie’s truck, intent on catching the two women at something.



“Okay, let me get this straight,” Juliana said as she rolled up the sleeves of her blouse. “Up the ramp, bank into the clown’s mouth, then it will roll right down the giraffe’s neck?”

“Exactly!” Hobie clapped. “Give it a shot, come on.”


“Hey, just you try and keep up, hotshot. Three iron,” Juliana ordered as she held out one hand.

“Three iron.” Hobie slapped the handle of a golf club into the other woman’s hand.

Juliana bent her knees and tested the club’s swing before actually hitting the bright orange golf ball.

What in the holy hell are they doing here? Baylor asked herself as she slipped into the brightly lit park. She passed under the sign that said “Ana Lia’s Fantasy Island: Putt-Putt Golf.” Either they’re trying to make this look innocent, or they’ve both slipped a gear or two.


“Like this, right?” Juliana asked.

Hobie smiled at the blonde. Tall and muscular, Juliana had a look of concentration as intense as any Nancy Lopez might have conjured up.

“Wait a minute. Make sure you line it up with the clown’s right eyeball. Here...” Hobie put one arm around Juliana’s waist and ran her right hand along Juliana’s arm and down to her wrist. She didn’t even realize how closely she had her body pressed against Juliana’s back. “Aim right along there.”


Oh, yeah. Tramps on parade. Baylor slipped behind a ten-foot ice cream cone and watched. One date. One fucking date and she’s all over her!


Juliana felt the other woman’s body against her, but even if she had wanted something to happen between them, even if she hadn’t thought of Hobie as Baylor’s girl, she was having too much fun to spoil it with sex or innuendo. She couldn’t resist one little tease, however. “You know, I can’t ever remember having this much fun with my clothes still on.”

Hobie’s laughter rang out. “Absolutely incorrigible. Come on, sexy, let’s see if you’re all hot air.” She smacked Juliana across the backside and stepped away.

“Oh, baby, now you’ve got me fired up.” Juliana pulled her arms back and swung the golf club with a gentle force.

The ball sped up the red-carpeted ramp and bounced against one of the octagonal borders. The ball shot into the clown’s mouth, and the women watched as it spiraled down until it eventually reached the giraffe tunnel that was its destination. The ball circled gracefully and dropped with a resounding plunk into the metal cup.

“Oh, yeah. I’m good!”


Both women doubled over in laughter. Juliana swept Hobie into a hug and placed a quick kiss on her cheek. “Thanks to my excellent caddy,” she said to more laughter.

Baylor watched the two women walk away, now arm in arm and still laughing. She turned to discreetly follow and tripped over an oncoming golf ball.

“Hey, dude, you playin’ or peepin’?” Three young men now stood before her.

Baylor arched an eyebrow and put on her most intimidating look, which wasn’t hard considering the mood she was in. “Do I look like a dude?”

“Uh, matter of fact, yeah!” The three boys laughed.


Baylor took a step closer to the young man who had spoken. She towered over him. “How’d you like to have a ten-foot ice cream cone shoved up your ass, funny man?” she demanded, glancing up at the statue beside her.

He swallowed hard and backed away until he stood with his friends. Baylor walked off after Hobie and Juliana. “Sometimes it’s good to be king,” she said with an evil smile.

“Okay, all I have to do is ace this one hole and I will be the undisputed putt-putt champion of the world.” Juliana waved to an imaginary crowd.

Hobie laughed. “The whole world may be pushing it. Let’s just say Ana Lia. Besides, that one’s harder than it looks.”

Ten minutes later, Juliana was still trying for the same hole, swearing profusely. “Goddamn it! It did it again!”

“You know this is supposed to be fun, remember?”


“I am having fun,” Juliana said as she ground her teeth together. “Can’t you tell?” She finally looked up with a sheepish grin. “It’s that stupid hippo. Every time my ball gets close to going into his mouth, those stupid teeth pop out and knock it out of the way.”

“Okay, quit pouting, it makes you look like Noah. Step aside.” Hobie gracefully pushed Juliana to one side of the green. “It’s all in your timing and the wrists. Are you watching?”

“Oh, yeah.” Juliana grinned as she crouched on one knee. Her unintentional stance afforded her a picture-perfect view of Hobie’s backside.



“Asshole!” Baylor muttered to herself. “Jules is doing exactly...well, what I’d do. Okay, I can’t fault her for sneaking a peek, but that is not going to stop me from beating the living crap out of her tonight.”



“Jules, I asked if you were watching my wrists, not my ass.” “No, as I recall, you said, ‘are you watching?’ You didn’t specify any particular body part.”


“Touché. How’s the view?” Hobie asked with a sly grin. “Bloody good, if I may say so without getting my face slapped.”


“You certainly may not!” Baylor hissed under her breath. “You certainly may. Say so, I mean, not get your face slapped.

As a thirty-eight-year-old mother, I’m happy to know someone still looks,” Hobie said. “Okay, here goes.” She swung the club in a gentle arc. The timing was perfect as the ball ricocheted off two chomping plastic teeth and rolled into the hippo’s mouth.

Hobie held her hand up to her mouth and blew on her nails, then polished them on her blouse. “What can I say?”

“Come on, Tiger, let’s see how you do over the water hazard. I’m taking a par for this hole,” Juliana said.

“Cheater,” Hobie cried out as Juliana dragged her away by one arm.

“Cheater is right,” Baylor said. She stood up from her place within the shadows where she had hidden behind a massive version of the birds that bob up and down to drink from a glass of water. She stepped away from the brightly colored bird just as a group of girls in Scout uniforms entered the green.

Baylor thought later that she should have moved faster, but at the time, she was intent on watching Juliana and Hobie walk away. She didn’t anticipate that one of the eight-year-old girls would get a hole in one.

“Ow!” Baylor cried out as the bird dipped and its beak hit her shoulder. She tried to move away, but the bird turned as she did and pecked her sharply on top of the head.

“Jesus Christ,” she screamed and punched at the bird, which only resulted in knocking the red bowler hat from its head. The hat fell to the ground with a clatter, but the bird succeeded in hitting Baylor two more times before she could anticipate in which direction its head would move next.

Baylor could feel something—was it blood?—running down the side of her face, but she couldn’t stop the attacking bird long enough to check. Unfortunately, at the precise moment she finally achieved her bearings and could duck the bird’s advances, her casted foot stepped directly into the open bowler. Unable to right herself, she spun around as the hat slid against the concrete.

“Motherfu—” The last thing Baylor remembered about the putt-putt golf course was the way her body felt as it flipped over the three-foot hedge surrounding the greens. She lay in the dirt, and right before passing out, she saw the bird’s face. Later she would swear that it had been smiling.



“What was that?” Hobie asked Juliana. The two women looked back in the direction from which they had come.

“Must be some bloke fooling around,” Juliana said as they walked toward the exit.



“I had a great time tonight, Hobie. In fact, I can’t even remember the last time I had that much fun,” Juliana said.

Hobie slipped an arm around Juliana’s waist and walked with her back to the guesthouse. “I had a great time, too, and boy, did I need one.”

They stopped at the bottom step to the wooden porch. “No offense, but I’m not going to try to kiss you good night,” Juliana said. They parted, but she retained her hold of Hobie’s hand.

“Well, there’s none taken.” Hobie smiled and her brow furrowed. “Mind telling me why not, though?”

“Please don’t take this the wrong way because I mean it as a huge compliment,” Juliana began. “It’s just that going out with you has been amazingly similar to going out with my sister. Don’t get me wrong, I love my sister. In fact—”

“Jules,” Hobie interrupted. “It’s okay. I don’t have a sister, but I think I know what you’re driving at. It was nice going out with a friend and having fun.”

“Spot on,” Juliana said in relief. “We’re in perfect agreement then?”

“We make great buddies and nothing more.” Both women chuckled.

“Want to sit for a while?” Hobie asked, indicating the porch swing.

“Yeah, sounds good.”

“Can I get you anything to drink, maybe a glass of wine?” “Only if you’re having some.”

Hobie quickly returned with two glasses of pinot grigio and lit the bamboo torches.

“Thanks. It’s beautiful out here. I didn’t realize this place was that close to the water.”

“It’s only about two hundred yards. When it’s quiet like this, I love to sit here and listen. You’re right, it is beautiful. Hot, but beautiful.”

They talked for a while about nothing of great consequence, just relaxing and enjoying the evening. Juliana was amused by how often Hobie brought Baylor’s name into the conversation. It was always something interesting or funny that Baylor had said or done. What made it so amusing was that Juliana was sure Hobie had no idea she was doing it. She wavered regarding her next move, but she couldn’t resist.

“So,” she turned and put her arm on the back of the chair, “tell me about Baylor.” She cupped her chin in the palm of her other hand.

“B-Baylor? Tell you what about her?” Hobie suddenly felt a warmth creeping up her neck that had little to do with the tropical evening.

“Tell me about you...and her.”


“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.” Hobie chuckled to make light of the question that had already affected her deeply.

Juliana directed a knowing look toward Hobie.


Hobie tried to laugh again, but no sound would come. She rolled her eyes and turned her head as if she could play the whole thing off as a joke. Juliana’s perceptive expression halted her ruse.

“Do you want me to tell you about me and Baylor?” Hobie set her glass of wine on a small mosaic table. She stood and began pacing. “The woman is certifiable.”

Juliana lowered her head to hide her smile.


“I turn around and she’s there. She’s like some little puppy, nipping at my heels. One minute she hates me, the next minute she does something so…so, well, so wonderful and sweet that it makes it nearly impossible not to—” She stopped abruptly, but apparently Juliana knew how to finish the sentence.