We were heading back to the pool when Malinda stopped us as we crossed the lobby. “Hi, Becky, honey.” She touched my hand, still beaming at Becky. “Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials. I’m so happy for you and Adam.” She looked at me. “Sam, can I have a minute with you?”
“Uh, sure.”
Becky hugged Malinda before she went back outside, and my stepmother pulled me in the opposite direction Becky and I had just come from.
“What’s going on?” I asked her.
She didn’t answer, just increased her pace. She wound back outside, but we took a hidden path behind the pool. Palm trees and shrubbery blocked us from view. I heard raised voices, but couldn’t place them until we rounded a corner.
Standing in a small group outside an entrance to the country club’s tennis courts, with a bunch of golf
