Miracle on the 17th Green Read online

  Back to the subject… I’ve lost twelve pounds.

  After all…

  I want to be able to fit into my wedding gown.

  Anyone who’s fainted should please get up off the floor. And don’t start telephoning one another until this video is over.

  Yes, you heard right. I said wedding gown. As in wedding. As in bride. As in wedding in our barn.

  You’re looking at the bride right now, and she’s actually smiling. She’s happy. Very much so. You know I don’t complain, but there was a long, dark time after your father died and I’m finally out of that black hole.

  You’re probably wondering who the lucky groom is. Well, as you used to say when you were just little brats, that’s for me to know and you to find out.

  Everybody is coming home to Stockbridge for Christmas. Claire, Emily, Seth, and Lizzie. You and your children, your spouses, your lovers, dogs, cats, whoever and whatever. We haven’t been together as a family since your dad died.

  So it’s Christmas in Stockbridge.

  Then you’ll find out who the lucky man is. Till then. I love you. And I’m so happy I almost can’t believe it.

  See you at Christmas… when all will be revealed.

  CLAIRE AND HANK

  CLAIRE DONOGHUE, Gaby’s eldest daughter, had just finished her mother’s video, and, well, wow. Go, Gaby! For the moment, though, Claire was paying her household bills, and bill paying was kind of like playing “I love you, I love you not” with hand grenades. Sooner or later, Claire knew, one of them was going to blow up in her face. In everybody’s face.

  “I love you, South Carolina Electric and Gas,” she said, placing that bill in the stack she intended to pay.

  “I love you not, emergency root canal.”

  It was as good a system as any for deciding how to parcel out their slim income to pay the usual fat stack of bills. It was only during the luckiest of months that Hank’s money from construction work, and Claire’s income from tutoring, covered most of the bills. This was not one of those months.

  Claire sat at a small, wobbly oak table in the chilly sunroom. She wore two Shetland sweaters in two different shades of dark blue, white painter’s pants, and fingerless woolen gloves. She called her style cheap cute. And, in fact, Claire was cute. Even after three kids, she was still holding her own—pug nose rather than spreading pig nose, smattering of freckles, short reddish-brown hair, “girlish” figure.

  The truth was, though, she felt anything but cute; she felt tired and run-down. She felt like total crap, and nobody knew it, and nobody much cared.

  James Taylor was playing softly on Claire’s laptop. She liked James okay, always had.

  I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain.

  Claire knew what he was singing about. She gazed out of the sunroom and although their house was three blocks from the beach, she could see a sliver of the gray December ocean. The sand was cold and the horizon lifeless. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was a summer hot spot, but for Claire and Hank Donoghue it was their year-round home. That meant that when the tourists left and the cheesy concession stands closed down and the splintery boardwalk was deserted—well, that meant that Claire and Hank were left with each other. And that wasn’t always a good thing. Not for the past few years. And definitely not today. Hank just kept getting worse and worse and worse.

  “Hey, babe,” she heard him call from his downstairs den. “Can you bring me a big coldy-oldy tea and maybe-baby some Eyetalian crackers?”

  Claire knew he was asking for an iced tea and Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies. She also realized, from his ridiculous language, that he was stoned out of his mind.

  “In a minute,” she called. She did not want a fight today. Or any day, really. She couldn’t stand his blowups, but she didn’t know what to do about them. The kids loved Hank.

  She stood up, but she couldn’t stop obsessing about the video from her mom—the one that had knocked the wind out of her. So, Gaby was getting married. That was pretty terrific. But her mom wouldn’t say to whom. Just when and where. Christmas Day back home in Massachusetts at their farm. Gaby loved her mysteries.

  “Hey, Claire, where’s the grub?” Hank shouted again.

  Claire rolled her eyes and headed for the kitchen. She couldn’t help thinking that her mom would never, ever fetch coldy-oldies for her father—and her father would never have asked, certainly never have shouted up from the basement.

  Keep the peace, Claire, she reminded herself. Only twenty-four days until Christmas.

  BUT THIS CRAZINESS with Hank had to stop real soon, Claire was thinking. She could suck it up until the new year, for better or worse, for poorer or poorer, but then Hank had to get his act together and find a real, full-time job. No more excuses; no more softball games, flag-football games, or golf with his buddies three times a week.

  Claire’s overarching worry as she carried the snacks down to the den was that she might get a contact high from inhaling the gauzy clouds of weed that Hank had already generated in there. She also marveled at what a multitasker her husband was. He was resting on a faded foldout couch watching a Falcons-Saints game while listening to Radiohead blasting from speakers on the bookshelf. Oh, yeah, and he was occasionally glancing at an article in Wired.

  She studied Hank for a moment, trying to be objective. Talk about cute. In spite of the dirty matted blond hair, the two days of stubble, and the emerging potbelly, you couldn’t miss the handsome farm boy hiding not too far underneath. Even the wardrobe was perfect: worn jeans, work boots, a worn-out blue-and-green-patterned flannel shirt.

  “God, Hank, I don’t know what smells more—you or the pot smoke,” she said with a forced smile, setting a bag of Milano cookies and a huge glass of iced tea on the floor next to him.

  “I was playing Sunday football, you get… you know… just get off my ass, will you… Like… just get…,” he said, working hard to put together a coherent string of words.

  “I have some good news,” Claire said.

  “You won the South Carolina lottery?”

  “No. That’s not it.”

  “Then why do I care?”

  He was clearly in one of his sonofabitch moods, but she was determined to tell him her news. It had brightened Claire’s day, actually, made her laugh out loud.

  “I got one of those videos from my mom…”

  Hank immediately began a bad and mean-spirited imitation of Gaby: “Oh, I’m so busy. I’m finding a cure for leukemia. I’m saving the rain forest. Me and my friends are feeding twelve-grain toast to the homeless of western Mass—”

  “Stop it. That’s totally unfair,” Claire said. “Can I talk for a second here? Can I talk?”

  To her surprise, Hank stopped. Maybe she’d confused him by interrupting his rant.

  “My mom is getting married.”

  Hank chuckled.

  “Who’s the lucky fella? I know, what’s-his-name—Mark Harmon, right? Tom Cruise?”

  “You’re hilarious. Mom says she’ll tell us at Christmas when we all go up there.”

  Hank’s face fell, but not in a funny way.

  “Yeah, well, I’m not snowplowing my way up to Massachusetts the day before Christmas,” he said.

  “My mom is getting married on Christmas.”

  “It’s just some trick of hers to get everyone together at her farm. One big happy family.”

  “Maybe that is part of the plan. So? It’s been almost three years since my dad died. The family hasn’t been together since the day we buried him. My mother was in a dark place for a few years.”

  Hank tried another approach.

  “C’mon, if you’re up in Stockbridge for Christmas, who’s going to tutor those colored kids you’re so involved with? The retards that you spend so much time with?”

  “First of all, two of the kids are white. Two are black, and those African-American children are classmates of our children, you asshole. I help them because…”

  “What did you call me?” he yelled
. Then he stood up unsteadily. Claire didn’t like this. His face was so ugly now, and turning red.

  “I’m just trying to explain, to get it through your…”

  “What did you call me?”

  “I called you what you’re acting like—an asshole.” And suddenly he lifted his right hand and slapped her face hard.

  Claire brought her own hand to her cheek. She rubbed the spot where he’d struck her. When she looked at Hank, he looked hurt, as if he had been the one who’d been assaulted. Hank reached out to her.

  “Claire, I’m sorry. That was the weed talking…”

  She turned away, lowering her head, not wanting him to see her cry.

  He tried to touch her.

  But Claire hurried toward the door. Before she walked out, she turned and spoke: “You are an asshole.”

  BOOKS BY JAMES PATTERSON

  FEATURING ALEX CROSS

  Kill Alex Cross • Cross Fire • I, Alex Cross • Alex Cross’s Trial (with Richard DiLallo) • Cross Country • Double Cross • Cross • Mary, Mary • London Bridges • The Big Bad Wolf • Four Blind Mice • Violets Are Blue • Roses Are Red • Pop Goes the Weasel • Cat & Mouse • Jack & Jill • Kiss the Girls • Along Came a Spider

  THE WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB

  11th Hour (with Maxine Paetro) • 10th Anniversary (with Maxine Paetro) • The 9th Judgment (with Maxine Paetro) • The 8th Confession (with Maxine Paetro) • 7th Heaven (with Maxine Paetro) • The 6th Target (with Maxine Paetro) • The 5th Horseman (with Maxine Paetro) • 4th of July (with Maxine Paetro) • 3rd Degree (with Andrew Gross) • 2nd Chance (with Andrew Gross) • 1st to Die

  FEATURING MICHAEL BENNETT

  Tick Tock (with Michael Ledwidge) • Worst Case (with Michael Ledwidge) • Run for Your Life (with Michael Ledwidge) • Step on a Crack (with Michael Ledwidge)

  THE PRIVATE NOVELS

  Private Games (with Mark Sullivan) • Private: #1 Suspect (with Maxine Paetro) • Private (with Maxine Paetro)

  OTHER BOOKS

  Guilty Wives (with David Ellis) • The Christmas Wedding (with Richard DiLallo) • Kill Me If You Can (with Marshall Karp) • Now You See Her (with Michael Ledwidge) • Toys (with Neil McMahon) • Don’t Blink (with Howard Roughan) • The Postcard Killers (with Liza Marklund) • The Murder of King Tut (with Martin Dugard) • Swimsuit (with Maxine Paetro) • Against Medical Advice (with Hal Friedman) • Sail (with Howard Roughan) • Sundays at Tiffany’s (with Gabrielle Charbonnet) • You’ve Been Warned (with Howard Roughan) • The Quickie (with Michael Ledwidge) • Judge & Jury (with Andrew Gross) • Beach Road (with Peter de Jonge) • Lifeguard (with Andrew Gross) • Honeymoon (with Howard Roughan) • Sam’s Letters to Jennifer • The Lake House • The Jester (with Andrew Gross) • The Beach House (with Peter de Jonge) • Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas • Cradle and All • When the Wind Blows • Miracle on the 17th Green (with Peter de Jonge) • Hide & Seek • The Midnight Club • Black Friday (originally published as Black Market) • See How They Run (originally published as The Jericho Commandment) • Season of the Machete • The Thomas Berryman Number

  FOR READERS OF ALL AGES

  Middle School: Get Me Out of Here (with Chris Tebbetts, illustrated by Laura Park) • Maximum Ride: The Manga, Vol. 5 (with NaRae Lee) • Witch & Wizard: The Fire (with Jill Dembowski) • Witch & Wizard: The Manga, Vol. 1 (with Gabrielle Charbonnet, illustrated by Svetlana Chmakova) • Daniel X: Game Over (with Ned Rust) • Daniel X: The Manga, Vol. 2 (with Ned Rust, illustrated by SeungHui Kye) • Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life (with Chris Tebbetts, illustrated by Laura Park) • Maximum Ride: The Manga, Vol. 4 (with NaRae Lee) • ANGEL: A Maximum Ride Novel • Witch & Wizard: The Gift (with Ned Rust) • Daniel X: The Manga, Vol. 1 (with Michael Ledwidge, illustrated by SeungHui Kye) • Maximum Ride: The Manga, Vol. 3 (with NaRae Lee) • Daniel X: Demons and Druids (with Adam Sadler) • Med Head [Against Medical Advice teen edition] (with Hal Friedman) • FANG: A Maximum Ride Novel • Witch & Wizard (with Gabrielle Charbonnet) • Maximum Ride: The Manga, Vol. 2 (with NaRae Lee) • Daniel X: Watch the Skies (with Ned Rust) • MAX: A Maximum Ride Novel • Maximum Ride: The Manga, Vol. 1 (with NaRae Lee) • Daniel X: Alien Hunter (graphic novel; with Leopoldo Gout) • The Dangerous Days of Daniel X (with Michael Ledwidge) • Maximum Ride: The Final Warning • Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports • Maximum Ride: School’s Out—Forever • Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment • santaKid

  For previews and information about the author, visit JamesPatterson.com or find him on Facebook or at your app store.

  Praise for James Patterson’s

  Miracle on the 17th Green

  “A hopeful little gem—and you don’t even have to like golf to enjoy it!”

  —BookReporter.com

  “There are many among us who see golf as a healer of the soul, and Miracle on the 17th Green is a wonderful example of how uplifting that belief can be.”

  —John Feinstein, author of Moment of Glory

  “James Patterson and Peter de Jonge apparently possess some kind of sorcery, for I know nothing about the game of golf, nor do I care. Somehow, I found myself pulled along in this story of Everyman Travis McKinley…. Knowledge of golf is clearly not necessary here. Just a willingness to believe, for the duration of the story, that, given the right circumstances, anyone has a shot.”

  —ca-reviews.blogspot.com

  “A fast-moving golf fantasy.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Miracle on the 17th Green is… where miracles can happen to those who learn to dream again.”

  —Chris Nelson, Calgary Sun

  “Even if you don’t know a birdie from a putter you can still enjoy this sweet tale.”

  —Nichol Ruth, Evening Post (Wellington)

  “Entertaining.”

  —Kirkus Reviews

  “A reader always knows that when he/she picks up a book by James Patterson and Peter de Jonge that it will be a good one. Done deal. And that’s the case with Miracle on the 17th Green…. It’s a delightful story with a big heart.”

  —bookloons.com

  “A cross between It’s a Wonderful Life and… Sleeping Beauty.”

  —Library Journal

  Contents

  Welcome

  Dedication

  Part One: A Little Noise from Winnetka

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Part Two: The Miracle Tour

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Part Three: Miracle on the 17th

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Chapter Thirty-six

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  Epilogue: Post-Miracle Happenings

  An Afterword

  About the Authors

  A Preview of The Christmas Wedding

  Books by James Patterson

  Praise for James Patterson’s Miracle on the 17th Green

  Copyright
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  Copyright

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Copyright © 1996 by James Patterson

  Excerpt from The Christmas Wedding copyright © 2011 by James Patterson

  Cover design by Karen Horton; photograph © EJ Carr/Corbis

  Cover copyright © 2012 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  Little, Brown and Company

  Hachette Book Group

  237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017

  www.hachettebookgroup.com

  www.twitter.com/littlebrown

  First e-book edition: May 1999

  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

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  ISBN 978-0-316-02224-8