"Good then," her mother smiled knowingly. I got the distinct impression that her mom understood perfectly.

“I'm sorry but that so-called vacation was just horrid. I couldn't stand being there any Longer so we came home a little early.”

Amber's father rolled his eyes as if to say ‘I didn't have a problem with it'. But he managed to retain his dignified expression and commented, “Well, this may not have been how you were planning for us to meet your boyfriend, but we're all here now." He then turned to me.

“Now David, I'm assuming you planned to spend the whole day with my daughter?"

Mustering up all the confidence I could while delicately trying not to say the wrong thing, I nodded my head and answered, "Yes, sir."

“Well then, since you have the free time, I insist that you stay with us for dinner. But in the meantime, the sun is still out, thank goodness for summer. Do you golf, David?"

“Uh, no sir." It was a sport I always wanted to try, but $100 greens fees seemed a Little steep for a college kid's poverty.

“Really? You should learn. Tell you what, give me a few minutes to call the Country Club to get a tee time and arrange some clubs for you, and in no time we'Ll have converted you from hacker to proper sportsman."

I risked a glance over to Amber, who wide-eyed just nodded her head in a subtle indication to just go along with it.

“Sure. It sounds wonderful."

“Excellent. I'll just go make the calls." With that, Amber's father strode off to his study.

That left me standing in the living room with Amber and her mother.

“So... were you two having a good time?" her mom asked Amber.

“Well, yes, mother," Amber flustered for a moment as her eyes clearly gave away what we had been doing.

"Interesting..." her mother said speculatively, her eyes clearly evaluating me. Now over the years I'd gotten these looks before, usually from girls in high school or pretty co-eds at college. I had to admit though, as much as I enjoyed the attention, getting ‘the look’ from Amber's mother kinda freaked me out.

“Anyways, so sorry your father is stealing your boyfriend, dear. But at least it will give us a chance to catch up!"

Amber looked like she would rather melt into a puddle. But her expression was all honeyed smiles as she answered, “That sounds wonderful, mother.”

I have to say, I didn't do too badly. True, I'd never swung a golf club other than those cheap putters playing mini-golf. But I'd always been pretty athletic and by the third hole I could really let ‘er rip.

Of course, hitting for distance off the tee is one thing. Chipping with any accuracy is an ENTIRELY different game.

After the round, I massaged out the calluses forming on my hands from gripping the clubs too tightly while Amber's father and I hung out in the Lounge with a couple of cocktails.

“Not bad, David," he cheered me. "You'll be a regular Tiger Woods in no time."

“Thank you, sir," I said automatically in respect. But he raised an eyebrow at me.

“Er, Robert."

“So what are your plans now, David? Amber tells me that you've just graduated from University?”

“Yes, sir. I mean, Robert. I start at Beckman Engineering next Monday.