Heaven, Texas (Chicago Stars #2)(112)

“Will you stop that! She didn’t dump me. Haven’t you figured out by now that we were never really engaged! It was just a ploy to keep everybody off my back while I was in town.” The fact that Terry Jo was making a joke out of this hurt in a way he couldn’t express.

“Of course you were engaged. A blind fool could see the two of you love each other.”

“We do not! Well, maybe she loves me, but…I care about her. Who wouldn’t? She’s about the best kind of woman there is. But, love? She’s not my type, Terry Jo.”

Terry Jo gave him a long, steady gaze. “It’s amazing. You don’t know any more about women now than you did in high school when you threw me over for Sherri Hopper.” She regarded him sadly. “When are you going to grow up, Bobby Tom?”

Without another word, she walked away from him. He stared at her back with a combination of resentment and misery. Why did she act like this was his fault? And when had his life gotten so screwed up? Until recently he’d thought it was the day he blew out his knee, but now he wondered if the real catastrophe hadn’t struck the night Gracie showed up at his house with her striptease.

Natalie walked up to him with Anton, who was carrying Elvis. As he greeted them, he thought what a beautiful woman she was. Nice, too. He’d seen her buck naked, kissed her for hours on end. She’d leaked on him, wrestled with him, shot at him, and just yesterday they’d had to jump in the river together. He and Natalie had been through a lot, but he didn’t feel close to her, not even half as close as he felt to Gracie.

The three of them chatted for a couple of minutes, and the next thing he knew he was holding Elvis so his parents could dance. The baby grabbed for the brim of his Stetson, and when he couldn’t reach that, settled for sucking on one end of the black silk scarf Bobby Tom had tied around his neck. Although he’d always been particular about his clothes, he couldn’t work up enough energy to rescue it. The baby smelled sweet and clean, and he felt a queer ache deep inside.

The sex trophies were coming toward him, but he pretended he didn’t see them and ducked behind one of the outbuildings just so he could have a few minutes to pull himself back together. Elvis started sucking on his shirt collar. As he emerged near one of the food tables, he saw his mother standing about ten yards away. She was dressed in a long dark skirt and a prim white schoolmarm’s blouse fastened at the neck with his grandmother’s old cameo brooch. He stiffened as he watched Way Sawyer approach her. At the same time he noted that Way looked like the real thing in faded jeans, a beat-up hat, old boots, and a flannel shirt.

His mother acted as if she were about to jump out of her skin when she saw Sawyer. He put his hand on her shoulder, and Bobby Tom tensed, ready to spring to her aid until he noticed that her whole body had gone slack.

For a moment, he had the sickening feeling she was going to lean against Sawyer, but then her back stiffened, and she walked away.

Way stood there without moving. When he finally turned, Bobby Tom saw such raw despair on his face that he knew he would never forget it. He tightened his hold on the baby and felt himself start to sweat. What was wrong with him? Why did he feel as if he and Way Sawyer were suddenly brothers?



“You’re breaking Bobby Tom’s heart,” Terry Jo hissed, as she drew Gracie from the table where she’d been selling raffle tickets and continued the lecture that had begun some minutes earlier. “How can you walk away from him like this?”

Although Gracie was seldom sarcastic, the three willowy blondes who were once again hanging on Bobby Tom’s arm had breached her defenses. “He certainly looks heartbroken.”

“He doesn’t care about those bimbos, and you know it. He cares about you.”

“Caring is a long way from loving.” She watched as one of the beauties tipped her beer cup to his lips. She didn’t know which was more painful: watching him earlier when he had been holding Elvis or seeing him now with those incredible women. “It just hurts too much to stay around him any longer.”

Terry Jo showed no sympathy. “Anything worth having is worth fighting for. I thought you had more grit than this, but I keep forgetting you’re a Yankee.”

“I don’t understand why you’re so outraged. Everybody’s been telling me from the day I got here that I’m not his type.”

“That’s true. But it’s like Bobby Tom kept saying, ‘There’s no accounting for the mysteries of the human heart.’”

“He was putting people on when he said that! Surely you know that most of what comes out of his mouth is a complete fabrication.”

Terry Jo got huffy. “It is not. Bobby Tom Denton is one of the most sincere people I’ve ever met.”

“Ha!”

“For somebody who’s in love with him, you sure are critical.”

“Just because I love him doesn’t mean I’m blind.” She drew away. “I’ve got to get back to the table.”

“No, you don’t. Suzy’s bridge club is taking over for the rest of the evening. You get out there and have a good time. Show him he can’t manipulate you like this because that’s what he’s doing, and everybody knows it.”

As if Terry Jo had commanded it, Ray Bevins, one of the cameramen from Blood Moon, appeared at Gracie’s side. “I’ve been waiting all evening for you to finish up so we could dance, Gracie.”