“Make an honest woman out of her. And, if I could putt better, don’t you think I would?”
“That’s not how golf works.”
Ruby rolled her eyes and finally tapped the ball into the hole. She leaned down to pick it up.
“An honest woman?” Topper said with a cough-cackle. “We’re a smidge late for that, I’m afraid.”
“Don’t be a worm.”
“Surely you’re not implying that I should propose?”
“And why not?” Ruby asked. She set her clubs down with a huff. “You and Hattie get along magnificently and you’re beautiful together. She’s smart and athletic, in addition to being drop-dead gorge.”
“Ah, Red. Hattie’s a doll and you’re spot-on with all of it. But I’d say a few bang-up physical and personality traits aren’t enough to start a marriage by.”
Ruby was confused. Weren’t those the precise things you started a marriage by?
“You know Daddy worries about you,” she said. “He thinks you’ll never settle down. If you’re so certain he’s sick, you could make him a happy man.”
“He does worry about that,” Topper said with a nod. “But there’s nothing I can do about someone else’s stress. Anyhow, if I did propose to Hattie, she’d sock me in the chin.”
“See? You’re a perfect match!”
“Sweet girl, I know you want the best for me. And for Hattie. But a hasty engagement is as far from ‘the best’ as you were from the fairway on hole five.”
“Hey!” Ruby gave him a jolly punch to the arm. “That was uncalled-for.”
“The truth hurts, eh?”
“And I especially didn’t relish you snapping a picture of my failure.”
“No one would believe it otherwise,” he joked. “Come on, a foursome is approaching. We don’t want them complaining about a girl on the course.”
“I know those old toads and could beat any of them on my worst day.”
“So, today then?”
Ruby growled at him.
“The man with the pipe has a fifteen handicap,” she said, “but likes to think it’s five.”
Topper chortled and hoisted his golf bag onto his right shoulder. Then he swung it behind him, holding on with both arms. He looked like the exact kind of person Hattie Rutter should end up with. Thanks to the war, people were getting married brashly these days. Why couldn’t those two join the trend?
“Her birthday’s coming up,” Ruby said as they approached the eleventh hole. “Hattie’s.”
“I think she mentioned something along those lines.”
Topper held a hand over his eyes and scanned the fairway.
“I was thinking we could throw her a party. Next Friday night is free. Wouldn’t that be a gas?”
“Sure, why not? I’m always game for a fiesta.”
“I expected a tick more enthusiasm.”
“I’m not sure what you’re searching for, Red,” he said, squinting at her, “but you should do it, if you want.”
“But I…” Ruby started, though she had no real way to finish. She sighed. “Okay, maybe I will. You’d better show up.”
“Of course I’ll show up.”
Topper removed a ball from his bag and spun it a few times before placing it on the tee.
“There’s a chance, though?” Ruby said as he set up for the shot. “I mean, one day. If you keep dating and everything continues on this path?”
“A chance for what, exactly?”
“That you could propose.”
“Geez-aloo, what a question.”
Topper closed his eyes and waited a big thick while before finally looking at Ruby again.
“I hate to tell ya, Red. I know you have your sights set on this. But as to whether there’s a chance we’ll get married … I’m sorry, I just don’t think there is.”
*
Hattie seemed embarrassed by the fuss. As Ruby had never seen the gal rattled by a darn thing, it was a disconcerting situation.
“Do you not want a birthday party?” Ruby asked, tentatively, a few days prior. She was scared of the question, and the answer, as the wheels were already in motion. “You’re twenty-five. A real milestone!”
“Lord, don’t rub it in,” Hattie responded and took a deep suck of her cig. She then inspected Ruby for a minute, sizing her up and a little bit down. “You know what, Rubes? Let’s do it. A party sounds keen. You’re fab. Absolute aces.”
So there they were, on a Friday night, the orchestra playing, guests scattered across the lawn. They’d invited the Grey Ladies, as well as Hattie’s friends from town. The Hulbert Avenue girls were surprised to find such grandiosity all the way in Sconset. Forget the artists and fishermen, on its cliffs stood a bona fide estate, albeit an estate built mostly with “new money,” so it almost didn’t count.
The party took off in a flash. The guests danced and drank champagne and told stories from college and finishing school. At one juncture a gaggle of those rabble-rouser Kennedys showed up and incited a mêlée with some of Topper’s friends. Hattie managed to break the whole thing up with a slap or three. During her time in London, Hattie had known some of the boys, and one girl or another, though there was little difference between the genders in that family.
Around midnight, the evening began to wind down, though plenty of good-time gals were still jitterbugging on the patio. Couples held hands near the cliff’s edge, whispering promises as they stared out across the forever. Ruby was plumb exhausted and had decided to pack it in herself when she realized Hattie was AWOL.
“Huh,” she said, inspecting the grounds. “Is that her?”
She craned her neck to make out the identities of two girls roller-skating on the tennis court. Upon closer inspection, neither had the curves to suggest the birthday girl.
“Looking for someone?” Sam asked, and slipped in behind her.
“Yes. Hattie seems to be missing,” Ruby said with a frown.
“She probably turned in.” Sam gave her a hug. “You put on one hell of a shindig, baby. Everyone had a snazzy time.”
“Oh … thanks.… Don’t you think she should’ve stuck around? Until the last guest left? It is her party after all.”
“Hmm. Perhaps. Though I’m not up on the latest etiquette and anyway this island has its own rules.”
“Yes it does,” Ruby said. “Nonetheless, I’m going to find her.”
She was at once chafed and fighting the creeping suspicion that the party was destined for ruin, though it was mostly over. Forget decorum, the only people left would be lucky to remember their shoes.
“Are you coming?” Ruby called over her shoulder.
Sam opened his mouth as if to speak and Ruby’s heart wrapped right around the sight of him. His hair was mussed and starting to curl from the briny air. He hadn’t shaved since morning and so his stubble was thick and dark. Ruby smiled at her husband. Sam was too dang handsome, calamitously so.
“I love you so much,” Ruby said, blurted really, as the feeling nipped at her very soul. “I’m so lucky to be your wife.”
“Ah, Rubes, I’m the lucky one.”
She smiled and listened as the waves broke on the shore below. Maybe this was why Hattie wasn’t notably enthused by Topper. Ruby’s baby brother was handsome as the sun was bright but he had nothing on Sam.