我打开车门，抓住绳子。在激流的水中，我滑倒了。“我过不去！”我喊道，并使劲拽着绳子。
“能，你能的。”他的声音很平静。
如果那时换成另外任何一个人，而不是艾·克，我想我根本无法做到。但我信任我的丈夫。我完全按他的指挥做，最终扑到他的怀里。“谢谢，”我说，然后靠在他的胸膛哭了，“我很抱歉，刚才跟你发脾气，那是”
“嘘”艾·克低声说，“现在好了，你没事就好。”
上帝提醒了我，艾·克完全懂得怎样照顾人。
高尔夫罗曼史
Golf Course Romance
佚名 / Anonymous
My husband, Roy, had always wanted to play golf.
I had heard the horrid Golf Widow stories and never encouraged the game. After quite a few years of marriage and raising three children, we were informed by our twin sons, Brad and Chad, now young adults, that they were taking up the sport of golf. Needless to say, they wanted their Dad to play with them. They begged and pleaded, but he had lost interest several years earlier.
Our sons surprised Roy with a set of golf clubs one Father's Day. During our vacation that year, the three of them played a round of golf. Since he had so much fun, he wanted to share the experience with me.
"Let's go to the golf course," he begged one Saturday afternoon.
"Why on earth would I want to play golf?" I asked.
"You can drive the cart," he replied. "Please." I saw a pitiful look on his face — just like a little boy with no money in a candy store.
My first thought was, "Sure I can, but I could also drive my car to the mall. It would be cooler and a lot more fun." I looked back at his sad face and finally agreed to go.
"Now how long will this take?" I asked, with a twinge of resentments in my voice.
"We will only play nine holes," he said. He whistled as he got his equipment together. We headed for the green grass of the golf course.
I moaned as I got out of the car and sat down in the driver's seat of a little white golf cart. This was not my idea of a good time. Before I started up the engine, Roy started trying to teach me the rules of the road.
"What rules?" I shouted, as I took off driving full speed.
"Slow down," he begged. I laughed and kept driving. "You can only drive in designated spots," he sternly informed me.
"And who is going to stop me? " I joked. I was already feeling rebellious.
When we reached the tee box at hole number one, he was shaking his head. It was clear that he was relieved to get off the speeding golf cart. He set up for his first swing while I watched, wondering why people think golf is so much fun. It looked mighty boring to me.
He hit the ball, but had no idea where it went. For the next fifteen minutes we searched for it.
Oh, this is fun, I chided him.
We'll just get another ball," he placated me, as he opened the pouch on his golf bag and pulled one out.
Back we went to the tee box. "This could take all afternoon," I grumbled to myself. When Roy hit the ball a second time, we found it down the fairways a little way. After quite a few strokes, the ball went into the hole. I can't remember the last time I saw my husband that happy. "What was the big deal?" I wondered.
The driving game was on. We were off and speeding to the next hole. I was driving the cart and he was walking. He said he needed the exercise but I knew he was afraid of my driving. He spent a great deal of time hitting the ball and then looking for it, while I watched the squirrels and rabbits play.
Something entirely unexpected happened by the time we reached the fifth hole. We were laughing, harder than we had in many years. The financial stress associated with putting three kids through college was gone. The strain of "too much work and too little play" was replaced by happy hearts and smiling faces. To my utter amazement, a golf course romance was born.
By the time we got to whole number six, I had fallen in love again. I felt like a young bride accompanying her prince charming. Suddenly, he looked so cute trying to keep up with that little white ball.
When we got to hole number seven, I sensed that he was watching me more than the ball. "Keep your eye on the ball," I reprimanded him.
"But I can't," he replied. "I like looking at you."
At that point, he decided that he would ride with me again. This time, he didn't get upset when I drove too fast. By the time we reached hole number eight, we were holding hands. I don't know if he was holding on for dear life or if he enjoyed holding my hand, but nevertheless, I liked it. It had been a long while since we last held hands.
The last hole, number nine, was the best hole of all. Before he stepped off the cart, he leaned over and kissed me. "I'm glad you came," he said. "I had so much fun."
"Can we come back next week?" I asked. A smile covered his face and mine.
"Yes, and next time we'll play eighteen holes," he asserted. He smacked the ball and it soared off into the woods. We both giggled as we drove off to find yet another lost ball.
This time, it didn't matter to me. My husband was happy. I was enjoying his company. Golf was just a good excuse to be together.
We were not only finding lost balls. We were finding each other again, too.
我的丈夫罗伊一直想打高尔夫球。
可怕的“高尔夫寡妇”的故事使我从不鼓励这项运动。结婚多年后，我们膝下已有三个孩子。正值青春年华的布à德和查德是我们的双胞胎儿子，从他们口中得知，他们迷恋上了打高尔夫。当然，他们希望爸爸也能参与。于是他们央求他一起去打高尔夫，但他的兴趣早在多年前就已经被扼杀了。
父亲节那天，儿子们给了罗伊一个惊喜，送了他一套高尔夫球杆。那年，他们三个人在假期打了一场高尔夫，罗伊玩得非常开心，便想让我也体验一下那种快乐。
一个周六的下午，他恳求我：“咱们去打高尔夫吧。”
“我干嘛要去呢？”我问。
“你可以开车，”他回答，“拜托了。”他那可怜兮兮的样子，就像一个没钱买糖果的小男孩。
“当然可以，但我还可以开车去商场。那会更好玩，更有趣。”可我回头看到他伤心的样子时，改变了主意，同意和他一起去。
“需要多长时间？”我问他，话语中带着几分怨恨。
“我们只打九个洞。”他说，他一边收拾球具一边吹着口哨。之后我们便开车前往高尔夫球场的绿草地。
我抱怨着下了车，然后坐到白色小型高尔夫球车的驾驶座上。我感觉一点都不愉快，开车之前，罗伊就努力在教我行驶规则。
“什么规则？”我喊道，并将车开到全速。
“慢一点。”他恳求我。我大笑着，继续开。“你只能把车往指定的地方开。”他严厉地对我说。
“能阻止我？”我开玩笑说，有一种叛逆的快感。
当到达第一个发球区时，他摇了摇头。他分明是为从超速行驶的球车上下来而感到放松。看着他挥起球杆打出第一个球，我心中暗自纳闷，人们为什么都喜欢打高尔夫呢，我觉得这实在是太无聊了。
他击中了球，却不知球飞向哪儿。我们花了十五分钟的时间去找这个球，可是没找到。
“噢，这真有意思。”我责怪他。
“我们可以再拿一个球。”他安慰我，然后打开装高尔夫球的小包，拿出一个球。
我们回到发球区，我自言自语地抱怨：“一下午又要泡汤了。”罗伊打出了第二个球，但球在滑道上没走多远。又击了几杆后，球终于进洞了。罗伊开心极了，我好久没看到他这么开心了。我想：“有什么大不了的？”
然后我们便上车驶向第二个洞，我仍继续着超速驾驶的游戏。而丈夫决定步行，他说他需要运动，但我知道他是嫌我开车太快。当他用很长的时间击球、找球的时候，我却在看松鼠和兔子玩耍。
当第五个球进洞时，一些意想不到的事情发生了。我们俩一起开怀大笑，很多年都没有这样开心地笑过了。供三个孩子上大学所产生的经济压力消失了，“工作过多，休闲过少”所造成的紧张情绪也随之而去，取而代之的是愉悦的心情和满面的笑容。更令我惊奇的是，我们又找回了浪漫的感觉。
