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64 of childrearing has denied them.“Ben Wagner,” Mrs. Stevenson says, narrowing her eyes andpointing a finger through the glass, “Ben Wagner, there. Who is he with?That isn’t Lillian, is—”“Certainly not,” Mrs. Molona interjects. “Lillian is muchyounger. That is—”“Does she belong here?” Mrs. Stevenson blinks, leaning to geta better view of the couple teeing off. “I don’t think she’s golfing.” Thegirl watches the boy make the first drive—a swift, high-arched effort—and then the two get into the golf cart and drive down the fairway out ofsight.•Ben reaches the seventh hole and sweat is already soaking thewaistband of his shorts. The day is sweltering. He hates warm weatherand he hates to sweat. He parks the cart roughly—his hand is loose onthe wheel and it causes them to bounce on the narrow asphalt path.Marla stands up from the cart seat, the back of her legs peeling fromthe plastic. The sound does not attract him. He watches her eyes grazeover the course’s landscape, at the expansive tailored green and thickfringes of pine. The shorts she is wearing, deep navy blue, are too shortfor the club. He had thought of making her change and then had thoughtit wasn’t worth the trouble for a Monday afternoon. Plus, Marla wouldhave been offended. He knows, although she has not said it, that shethinks the club is snotty. He resents her haughtiness, just because herfamily doesn’t belong to a country club. Ben hates the way her browsraise on the subject. She comes, he knows, only out of interest.“Oh, curious,” she had said over the phone, pausing, a heatrising almost audibly in her voice. He’d imagined her sitting inside herhouse—of which he’d only seen the outside—draped over an armchair,blushing. She had such a strange way of talking and he never coulddecide if it was an affectation or genuine strangeness—either way, itfailed to hide what she felt, which in this instance was nervousness.“The club, uh . . . yes. Yeah. I will come, definitely. Hold on—” Anotherpause, as if she were gesturing to a third party nearby, although he hadno idea who such a person would be. He knows, for example, that shehas no sisters. “Hold on, give me a few minutes, to get ready.” Fifteenminutes later he’d appeared outside her house and she’d emerged in