"You've met my daughter Lindsey before, right?" Tim asked as the beautiful brunette stopped at the table.
Roger was mortified. The woman that he had been so enthralled with the past week was his best friend's daughter.
Roger had never met Lindsey before. Most of Roger and Tim's interactions had been left to the golf course; and while Tim talked about Lindsey and the rest of his children, Roger hadn't gotten the opportunity to meet anyone other than Tim's oldest son. Even when Roger and Emily were married and attended parties at the Martin's house, their children were never around.
"No, I don't believe I have," Roger responded, with a slight crack in his voice, "I'm Roger, it is nice to meet you Lindsey."
"Lindsey, Roger is my golfing buddy. He is the one who is always subsidizing my beer intake," Tim laughed.
"You look really familiar," Lindsey said, straining her cute face trying to recall where she had seen him, "Oh, do you live in Cedar Creek? I think I saw you the other day on my run."
"Oh yeah," Roger exclaimed, as if he hadn't made the connection, "That is where you have probably seen me from."
"So, like I was asking before, where are you headed?" Tim said to Lindsey.
"A couple of my friends from the soccer team want to hang out so I'm going to visit with them for a while. Don't worry I won't be gone long."
"Just make sure you get back in time to help us clean up all the mess from the party. Your mother will be pissed if you are not around to help."
"Don't worry, daddy. I'll be back," Lindsey said giving her father a quick kiss on the cheek, "It was nice to finally meet you Roger. Always good to put a name with a face. Keep my dad out of trouble."
"I'll do my best," Roger joked as Lindsey headed away from the table.
Roger stared as Lindsey walked away.
"Kid has a great head on her shoulders," Tim said as he searched through a cooler looking for another beer, "I think she is going to do great things in life."
Roger left the party not long after Lindsey had gone. He was tired of babysitting Tim, and knew that his drunkenness was only going to become more difficult to handle. It was better if he left before he got pinned with the responsibility of Tim's actions.
The house was quiet, as it usually was when Roger arrived home, but today he happened to notice it more. Roger flopped onto the couch, still trying to process the revelation from the party. How could he not have known that the girl he had been gawking at was his friend's daughter? It made sense now; Lindsey definitely had a resemblance to Kim. Yet, he felt like he couldn't blame himself. The only family photos Roger ever saw of Tim's family were old, probably from at least six or seven years before, when Lindsey would have still been in elementary school.
Is it wrong to be attracted to a friend's daughter? Roger couldn't decide. His conscience seemed to be telling him it was wrong, but he couldn't help noticing the young woman's beauty. Lindsey was an adult now, almost 19 years old. Why couldn't he appreciate the beautiful woman she had become? Roger wrestled with this question the rest of the night, eventually justifying his actions enough to find the peace to fall asleep.
Sunday mornings were one of Roger's favorite mornings. With the exception of the day he got to go to the office, getting the Sunday paper was his favorite day. As much information as the daily newspaper had, the Sunday paper had nearly twice as much. Roger would spend most of his morning and evening going through the paper, only interrupted by his 36 holes of golf with Tim.
Roger headed to pick up his paper. As he walked down the driveway he heard the smacking of shoes coming down the road that he had looked forward to hearing all week. However, this time Roger wasn't sure if he should be excited, still struggling with the realization of the previous day.
Lindsey quickly came into view, as she again ran at a fast pace. Regardless of whether it was right to be excited or not, Roger was thrilled when he got a glimpse of her. Lindsey began to slow down as she approached Roger's driveway.
"Hey, Roger!" Lindsey said through heavy breaths.
"Hi, Lindsey!"
Lindsey stopped at the foot of the driveway, as Roger approached. She pulled out her headphones and wiped a few beads of sweat from her brow.
"Tough run?" Roger asked.
"Yeah, it is a little warm. Have to keep working hard though. My soccer team needs me in-shape for the start of season, so these eight mile runs are necessary."
"Wow, eight miles? You must be in incredible shape already. You move quickly for someone on an eight mile run."
"Thanks," Lindsey laughed, "Hey, I wanted to ask you a question. If it isn't something you don't feel comfortable answering, just tell me and I'll understand."
"Okay," Roger responded nervously, wondering what possible question could be coming.
"I know that you and my dad are really good friends. How has he been doing since I left home for college? Are he and my mom getting along alright?"
"Oh, well, your dad seems to be doing okay as far as I can tell. I mean, he has mentioned wanting to get out of the house a little more often, just because he needs some space. I think the transition to empty nesters may have been a little tough on your dad, just because he does enjoy time to himself and your mom is so sociable."
"I see. Well I have gotten the feeling since I have been home this week that my parents have been a little stressed out with me gone. They both seemed very relieved to have me staying back in the pool house. My mom especially has been pestering me to hang out more than ever. I know that I am their baby girl, but it has been a little weird being back home with them."
"I wouldn't worry about it," Roger reassured her, "I really think they are doing alright. They are just probably excited to have you back home. I know your dad was bragging about how great you are doing in school and with soccer. I think they have just missed you."
"I hope that's all. I appreciate you being candid with me. I had been wondering about this since I got back last week, but didn't know of anyone to ask. I am glad we met so I had an opportunity to get that off my chest."
"Anytime. Try to enjoy the rest of your run," Roger said, picking up the newspaper.
"I'll try to do that," Lindsey laughed, putting her headphone back in.
Lindsey took off up the road. Roger tried his best to refrain from staring, but still couldn't help but appreciate her beauty. His time with Lindsey had been limited, but she seemed like a really sweet girl. Coupled with her beauty and her brains, she seemed like the total package.
Sundays were surprisingly quiet at the country club, with many of the older members tied up at church. Roger and Tim loved having the course to themselves, where they could play quickly and get in two rounds of golf.
The round started poorly for Tim, who couldn't seem to find the fairway on his first five holes. Frustration was mounting as he quickly fell behind on the scorecard.
"What's up with you today?" Roger asked, as Tim slammed his driver back into his golf bag.
"I've got a massive headache," Tim said, plopping down into the passenger side of the golf cart, "Hungover from yesterday."
"How'd the rest of the party go?"
"I don't really remember much after you left. Everything was kind of a blur. The only thing I really remember was Kim going down on me after we got done cleaning everything up. Man, no way I could forget that."
"Well, I actually had fun for the time I was there," Roger said, hoping to stray away from hearing about the Martin's sex life, "It was nice to meet your daughter, too."
"Oh, yeah! She is a great kid. Couldn't be more proud of the young lady she has turned out to be."
"You all happy to have her home?"
"Of course! Love when my sweet girl is back home," Tim said, getting out of the golf cart trying to find his ball, "I wish she was around all the time. She and Kim spend a lot of time together, which really gives me time to myself. Where the hell did my ball land?"
Roger returned home, happy to have won two rounds of golf, thanks to Tim's poor play. He knew that the hangover would wear off by the morning, so he likely wouldn't be as fortunate tomorrow.
The week rolled on and Roger's life carried on as usual. The highlight of his mornings was getting the paper and waving at Lindsey as she passed by in her tight running outfits. She was cute and friendly. Roger found no harm in enjoying the sight of his friend's daughter, just as long as he didn't act on his attraction. It was all a moot point, since he assumed his advances would be rebuffed.
Thursday morning was dreary, as dark clouds loomed in the sky. Roger awoke to a text from Tim cancelling their golf outing for the day because of the chance of bad weather. Roger retrieved his newspaper before it had an opportunity to get wet by the impending rain. He returned inside and enjoyed his coffee and his morning news from the comfort of his soft leather chair.
Rain droplets began to fall as they created a dull roar smacking against the concrete on his back patio. Within a matter of minutes, the light rain turned into sheets of rain coming down, accompanied by claps of thunder. Roger took extra time reading the paper, knowing that this was likely his only entertainment for the day. Normally he skipped over articles he found boring, but today he planned to read every last one.
Suddenly, to Roger's surprise, the doorbell rang. In the five years since Emily had left, there were only two different reasons that his doorbell had rung. The first was when he was served with divorce papers. The second was when a package arrived.
Roger walked across the living room and opened the front door. Standing under the front porch was Lindsey, soaking wet from the rain. Water dripped from the end of her wet ponytail, as her tank top clung to her body.
"Roger, I'm sorry to bother you, but can I come in for a little bit?" Lindsey said, shivering.
"Of course, come on in! Let me get you a towel to dry off," Roger responded, heading to the linen closet to grab a towel for her.
"Thank you so much! I thought I could get my run in before the rain came. I made it about a half mile past your house and it started pouring on me. I still had another couple of miles to get back home and knew that it was going to be dangerous for me to keep running. I knew you lived close, so I was hoping that you'd be home," Lindsey said, grabbing the towel and rubbing it over her face.
