Coming From Behind Ch. 05-06

"I still can't get over how fast this is happening," she said.

"When opportunity knocks you've got to move fast. Not carelessly but quickly to take advantage of the situation. If the bank forecloses on Norman, that will be the end of Valley Investments. Norman Fears will have to start all over again and at his age ... well ... I wouldn't envy him. If he can escape with his skin still intact he might be able to survive. All we're going to do is offer him his skin."

"I know I shouldn't say this ... but this is scary fascinating. Is this what it was like in your other life?"

"Yes and no. It was much more high pressure because the stakes were much higher. The other thing was that it wasn't my company. I did the boss's bidding so he set the rules. They weren't always the best rules in my opinion, but it didn't matter. The boss is still the boss so you do what you're told."

"Until you don't want to anymore," she said, looking at me carefully.

"Yeah," I agreed, nodding.

"Come in, Mr. Monahan. I'm John Fortrand and I'm senior loan officer at Western States Savings and Loan.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Fortrand. This is Catherine Walston, my associate."

"Nice to meet you too, Ms. Walston. Won't you sit down? Can I offer you some tea, coffee, or water?"

"No thank you," I answered with Catherine following suit.

"I understand you're here to talk about the Bending Willows property. Are you considering purchasing it?"

"Possibly. It would be quite a project but I have the capital backing to put it back into an operating condition so it might be a good investment. In the meantime, I need to convince Mr. Norman Fears that I should buy the property from him and relieve him of that problem. From what I can tell he must be bleeding cash and a fairly steady rate."

Fortrand said nothing but I could see in his expression that I wasn't wrong in my assumption.

"What is your background, Mr. Monahan? Have you been involved in golf course ownership before?"

"No, not at all. My background is mergers and acquisitions at Halverson & Clifton in Chicago. I spent ten years there, five of them as team leader. You can check my credentials with Mr. Brant Gooding, senior partner. However, I have an interest in acquiring my own business and since golf is one of my passions, this opportunity to rebuild a failed business and make it into the kind of golf club I would want to belong to is almost too good to pass up. Almost," I grinned.

"I understand. Well, what can we help you with?"

"I have secured some low cost venture capital to allow the purchase if I can negotiate the right price. Also, we would want to do business locally with a bank of good standing. So we would consider being a customer."

"Well, we would welcome new business, of course. About the first matter, I gather you're not seeking a loan for this purchase?"

"No, but we might want to establish a line of credit for emergency purposes. I'm thinking of weather related or other unexpected problems prior to insurance settlement, that sort of thing."

He nodded. "If I can be so bold, would you tell me what you will pay for your loan to acquire the business?"

"Prime plus one."

"That's remarkably low and far lower than I could provide. You have a very generous lender," he smiled.

"He benefited from several referrals I made for small and medium sized business who were in the acquisition mode. He's returning the favor."

"You can consider yourself well rewarded then. That will make your burden a lot easier to carry. Good luck to you. Is there anything else I can do for you today?"

"If it's not breaching a confidence, I'm wondering just how short a string Mr. Fears is on. I think he's at the stage where if he doesn't sell to me he may find he no longer owns the property. Then I suspect you and I would be trying to forge an agreement. If that happened, I'd like to be first in line."

He nodded. "Assuming it happens, and I'm not saying that would be imminent, but assuming for a moment, I would be happy to entertain a reasonable bid to take said property off the bank's hands."

"Excellent. Then we have an agreement. Now it's up to me to convince Mr. Fears to take the best option ... mine."

"Good luck, Mr. Monahan, and feel free to call on our services at any time. I'm sure our bank will enjoy doing business with Bending Willows once more as you bring it back to the land of the living."

"Thank you and thanks for your help. I'll let you know how I make out with Valley Investments."

We shook hands and Catherine and I headed out of the bank toward my car.

"He wants to do business with you ... he made that plain," she said.

"Yes, and frankly, I liked his attitude. He didn't violate any confidences but I do have an agreement that we would have first call on the property if it does default into their hands. I can't ask for more than that."

"So now what?"

"Now it's time to put pressure on Mr. Fears. We wait. I'm guessing he'll be calling me today or tomorrow at the latest to see if we intend to make a bid. It just may be that we might get some help from Mr. Fortrand if he should choose to call Mr. Fears and ask about when he might see payment on the loan, reminding him of his obligation. We'll soon know."

"You set him up, didn't you? I mean, Fears. You want the bank to call him and up the pressure."

"Now how in the world did you get that idea?" I smirked.

"I'm learning fast. This is what you could call a crash course in skullduggery."

"I'm offended, Ms. Walston. Do you really think I would do such a thing?"

"Hah. You already have. And I sat there and watched it all happen like I was a spectator at a play. Is it always this ... sneaky?"

"Nope. Sometimes sneakier, sometimes not so much. Are you bothered by it?"

"No. I guess not. That Norman guy gave me the creeps this morning. And did you see his suit. It looked like he slept in it. Not exactly the picture of success."

"That's very good. See ... your powers of observation are sharpened when you're in this environment. And you noticed the secretary's desk as well. He wasn't going to put one over on you either."

"I think you're leading me astray, Terry Monahan. I don't know whether I should trust you after what I saw and heard today."

"What?" I said, my hands pleading innocence. "I just introduced you to the first steps in saving and resurrecting Bending Willows Golf Club. That club might want to feature an established young woman LPGA member. I hear she might be available," I kidded.

"Bribery will get you nowhere," she laughed, then turned serious. "Don't kid about stuff like that, Terry. That's too close to home."

"I wasn't kidding. A club with a tour player has something to promote itself with. Even a former tour player."

"That's a tall order. You'd have to recruit one and convince them it's a good deal."

"Yep. Not simple but with a legitimate touring pro as a partner and resident it might not be so difficult."

"You got it all figured out, haven't you," she said, with a raised eyebrow and a somewhat disdainful look.

"No ... not really. I'm running on adrenalin right now. I'm hyped by the idea that I might be able to own and run a golf club. That's a charge-and-a-half. I can see all kinds of things I want to do and want to have when it's up and running. I want prospective members lined up for memberships. I'm not interested in some high-rent course that caters to the rich. I want something aimed right at the middle-class golfer and his family. Something they can afford and are proud to belong to. Maybe that sounds crazy, but that's the dream."

Catherine smiled as we drove back toward her apartment. She must have been thinking about what my ambitions for the club were. Perhaps to her it sounded like pie-in-the-sky, but to me it was real and I wasn't going to compromise if I could possibly avoid it.

Chapter 6 Getting to the End Game

Catherine would be back at Ghost Creek the next day, playing a practice round for a local tournament that she had entered. The prize money wasn't tour quality. It was the competition that she craved. It was a chance to show herself that she still had the ability to compete. She promised to call me and let me know how she did. In turn, I told her I probably would have heard from Norman Fears by then so I'd let her know that as well.

I had dinner at a chain restaurant that evening, trying something a little different than meat and potatoes once more. The seafood platter looked good so I ordered that along with a beer. When I was done I went back to my room and went over my notes from today's events. Things were going along just the way I hoped they would.

I wondered about Catherine. My decision to include her seemed like a polite gesture at first, since she had led me to Bending Willows. But afterward I realized she was easy to be with, bright and a good foil for my ego. She asked the right questions and forced me to think about my reasons and actions. Besides all that she was attractive to be with and I was still craving some companionship, even if this wasn't the intimate kind.

Why was I so sure I was right about buying this course? Was I walking into a trap? Was I kidding myself that this derelict place had potential? Was I moving too fast? I'd pretty much convinced myself that I was in control and everything was going just the way I wanted it to. I was so sure ... wasn't I?

Shit, this was just one more risk, that's all. That's what I did for a living, take risks. Make deals, put enemies together and have them work side-by-side, make little companies into bigger ones, make little men into bigger men. It was all a gamble. Roll the dice and see what came up. Well ... maybe load the dice in my favor now and then. That's what they paid me for. That's what I was good at. Now ... this time ... it's just for me. The risk and reward was all on me. Isn't that what I wanted?

Sleep came fitfully that night. I was rushing into a venture that didn't yet have a form or a decent business plan. I'd never have put up with that in my old job so why was I allowing it to happen now? I tossed and turned until I dozed off, only to wake a couple of hours later with my mind still working full speed.

I got up at five thirty, knowing I wouldn't go back to sleep. I pulled on a pair of running shorts, a floppy-loose t-shirt, my running shoes and headed for the exercise room. I used my room card to get in, flicked on the lights and mounted a stationary bike. I was ignoring my fitness again and that had to stop. It was time to get back into a routine.

I rode the bike for twenty minutes and according to the little computer, I traveled over five miles and burned a hundred-and-seventy calories. My legs were burning a bit but it could have been worse. I sat on the rowing machine and spent the next ten minutes pulling at a steady thirty per minute at medium resistance. I took a rest, wiped the sweat off my face and neck with a towel, and took a long drink of water from the bottle I'd brought from the room. Finally, I pulled a hundred pounds on the Nautilus twenty times and called it a workout.

I'd probably pay for my over-exuberance later that morning but I had to start somewhere. A week of this routine would put an end to the pains in all likelihood. I just had to get back into the habit. It was also time to think about my diet. Restaurant food was no recipe for fitness or good health, despite what the menu claimed. It was time to get back to some good habits instead of my collection of bad ones.

I showered and dressed in what had become my latest uniform: polo shirt, khakis, loafers and, when necessary, a blazer. I thought maybe it was time to find somewhere else to stay. I went down for the buffet breakfast and avoided the eggs, sausage and hash browns, settling for juice, dry cereal, a bran muffin, and coffee. My legs were telling me that perhaps I'd overdone it this morning, but nothing I couldn't live with.

I called Catherine and found her on the sixth tee, waiting for the group ahead.

"How are you doing?" I asked.

"Pretty good, actually. I hope I can keep it up for the tournament."

"I'm sure you will. I've seen your game. You'll be fine."

"Thanks. Is that why you called?"

"No ... I just wanted to make sure you had my cell phone number."

"No problem, I've got caller ID and I'll save it right away. In the meantime I've got to go. Talk to you later," she said, ending the call before I could wish her good luck. Damn.

I called John Fortrand and gave him my cell number and he made a note of it. Next it was Norman Fears.

"Mr. Fears, I called to let you know my cell number. I can give it to you, if you like."

"Yes, thank you. I wanted to call you anyway. I was wondering if you had decided to put in a bid on the Bending Willows property?"

"I probably will but I haven't had the opportunity to get all the information I need to make an appropriate offer. I should have it by the end of the week however," I said, grinning to myself.

"I'm not sure I can guarantee that the property will still be available then, Mr. Monahan. Are you sure you can't provide a bid sooner than that?"

"I have to do my due diligence, sir. That's my protection as I'm sure you realize. I'll do what I can to get the package ready as soon as possible. That's the best I can offer. If you do have a solid offer in the meantime I'll understand if you choose to accept it. No hard feelings."

"I see. Well, do what you can to prepare something as soon as you are able and I'll try and hold off the other bids. I'll look forward to hearing for you."

We signed off and I smirked as I hung up. There it was right in front of him. If he really did have another hot offer it would be gone by the weekend. But I was dead certain he didn't and his game was as transparent as glass. I'd know soon enough.

Catherine phoned just after three o'clock.

"Hi, Catherine. How did it go?"

"Good and bad, Terry. I shot one under par and I felt good. I'm ready for tomorrow. Unfortunately, my caddy had an accident and sprained his ankle. I don't have anyone to replace him."

"Is there no one else who can take his place?" I asked in ignorance.

"Not really. I could hire some kid, but I wouldn't have anyone who knew anything about my game or me for that matter. It wouldn't work out."

"Well," I said, thinking fast. "I don't see any alternative then. I'll have to caddy for you."

"What? Are you serious?"

"Yes ... absolutely. First of all we know each other ... at least a little bit. And, I've played two games with you which gives me some clue about your game. On top of that, I have the time and the willingness to do it. So ... what do you say?"

"Are you sure about this, Terry?"

"Damn sure. What time should I pick you up tomorrow?"

"Uhhm ... eight o'clock I guess. My tee time is ten-oh-eight. I want to spend a few minutes on the practice tee."

"Great ... this is really going to be interesting. I'm looking forward to it."

"Are you really sure about this?" she asked again.

"For Pete's sake, Catherine, I said I would and I meant it," I said, feigning irritation.

"Okay, okay, I get it. You're hired," she laughed.

"Good, that's settled then. I'm going to be a big help, I promise."

"I'm sure you will be. I'll see you in the morning. Thank you, Terry. I really appreciate it. Bye."

"Bye. Get some rest. Take care."

I hung up with a very good feeling about tomorrow. I was looking forward to my first caddying experience and it would be with Catherine, someone I genuinely liked being with.

I stopped at the shopping centre grocery store and picked up some Sushi and noodle take-out, a bottle of orange juice, a couple of bananas and a package of English muffins. That would look after tonight's meal and tomorrow's breakfast. I headed back to the Embassy Suites, knowing my room had a microwave for the noodles and a small refrigerator to keep the Sushi.

I watched some TV in the evening and went to bed early, just after ten. I slept well, unlike the night before. I woke at my usual time, six, and headed down to the exercise room. I repeated my exercises from the day before, surprisingly without any after effects from my efforts of either day. Perhaps I wasn't in as bad a shape as I had thought.

Catherine looked terrific in her outfit for the first round today when I picked her up. A pale blue top, white shorts, long white socks and white shoes. She had a dark blue visor that she wore only when playing. Her bag was fairly big but I'd seen bigger and when I hefted it into the Audi I didn't think it would cause me any problems carrying it.

When we got to the course Catherine went through her routine. She checked her bag for the number of clubs and made sure she had her rain gear even if it didn't look like rain today. She counted the dozen or so balls that had been marked with her distinctive sign. The mark was a little :-) "smiley face" that I assumed was unique to her. I was impressed that she was thorough and very dedicated to her pre-game routine.

Next was the practice range. She didn't have to buy any balls ... they were supplied for the competitors. The course was closed to all but the players. I watched her go through most of the clubs in her bag, carefully setting up and striking each ball with a purpose. I saw her work on shaping shots to show a draw or occasionally a fade. As I stood there, I realized she had all the skills. Now it would be down to competitive ambition and nerves.

We reported to the starter well in advance of her tee time, making sure they were aware she was on the premises. She would be playing in a threesome and while I didn't recognize the name of her competitors, she knew them and wasn't concerned. I could see her beginning to focus on her game and hers alone. It was that competitive instinct that took over with true athletes and it was something I had seen before in businessmen. I was among them, I was told.

When we were called to the tee, I handed her the driver. "Good luck. I think you're going to do well today."

She smiled back at me but said nothing. She was already in her zone.

She hit her first drive and it was almost a replica of the drive she hit when I first played this course with her. She wasn't the longest but it was in perfect position for her second shot. Again, her second was just like the one I remembered from a few days ago. Right at the pin and short, but rolling up within ten feet for a birdie try.

I was tempted to applaud but remembered my role and gave her a big smile and a "lovely shot" murmured as I handed her the putter. I got a nice smile in return. She stood over the putt after having surveyed the break, pulled the club back and smoothly stroked through. The ball tracked unerringly into the center of the cup. She was one under after one. A perfect start.

By the end of the round Catherine was two under par, with three birdies and one bogey. Her putting had saved her from any more bogeys and her drives and mid-irons had kept her on or near the green. When I checked the card, she had hit ten of thirteen fairways and those she missed were in the first cut of rough. She hit fourteen of eighteen greens in regulation, so all in all, it was a very well played round. When I checked the leader board she was in third, tied with four other golfers.

"I'm really impressed, Catherine. You played that round perfectly. You keep doing that and you'll be in contention for the win all the way."

"Yes, thanks, Terry," she smiled as we enjoyed a drink after the game. "I felt good today. Very few missed shots and made a lot of putts. I'd be happy with three rounds like that. How did you make out? It looked like that bag was getting pretty heavy near the end of the game."

"I've developed a new respect for professional caddies," I admitted. "I'm just glad it wasn't a hot, humid day. That would have been tough. We were out there almost five hours."