Heaven, Texas (Chicago Stars #2)(114)

The dance came to an end, and a terrible sadness swept over her. There was nothing wrong with her at all. She was the best person she knew how to be, and she was more than worthy of Bobby Tom Denton’s love. But he would never understand that, just as he would never understand the value of what he was throwing away.



Bobby Tom palmed the sex trophies off on a couple of the Phoenix Suns so he could talk to his mother. “I believe you’ve been saving this dance for me.”

“I’m sure I have it somewhere on my dance card.” Suzy smiled as he took her hand, and they walked out onto the wooden floor together.

They were both good dancers—he’d learned how from her—and for a while they moved without talking in the rhythm of the two-step, but he didn’t enjoy it as he normally would have. Gracie hadn’t stopped dancing with one man or another since Way Sawyer had kissed her. His jaw clenched at the memory.

Although it was difficult, he forced himself to set aside his own unhappiness for the moment and do what he should have done as soon as he got back from San Antone, what he’d secretly known he had to do last night when he’d seen how his mom and Sawyer had looked at each other at the country club.

“Mom, we’ve got to talk about what’s happening with you, and this time I’m not going to let you put me off with gardening tips and cruise brochures.”

Her spine stiffened under his hand. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

“You know, don’t you, that I miss him, too.”

“I know. He loved you so much.”

“He was a great father.”

She lifted one eyebrow as she looked up at him. “Do you realize by the time he was your age, he already had a fourteen-year-old son?”

“Uhmm.”

Her forehead creased in a frown. “What happened with you and Gracie? And why did you bring those dreadful women tonight?”

“Nothing happened. You know all that engagement stuff was phony, so don’t act as if the fact that we’re splitting up is some big tragedy.”

“I got used to thinking of the two of you as a couple. I guess I’d started to believe you really were getting married.”

He gave a snort to cover his discomfort. “Mom, can you honestly see Gracie and me married?”

“Oh, yes, I can see it quite easily. I admit I couldn’t at first, but after I got to know Gracie, I thought she was perfect for you, especially when I saw how happy she made you.”

“That wasn’t happiness. I was just laughing at her, is all, because half the time she’s so ridiculous.”

She looked at him, slowly shook her head, then rested her cheek against his chest for a moment. “I worry about you, sweetie pie. I really do.”

“Well, I worry about you, too, so we’re even.” On the other side of the dance floor, he saw Gracie glide by with Dan Calebow. His former coach seemed to be having a wonderful time. Dan’s wife Phoebe, in the meantime, was dancing with Luther Baines, who was trying hard to keep his eyes off her bust line. “Mom, we’ve got to talk about this thing with you and Sawyer.”

“His name is Wayland. And there isn’t any ‘thing’ to talk about.”

“That’s not what he tells me.”

Her eyes flashed. “Did he talk to you? He had no right to do that.”

“He wants me to play Cupid and get the two of you together.”

“I can’t believe he talked to you.”

“The two of us rub each other wrong, so it wasn’t the pleasantest conversation I’ve ever had. Still, I’m not the one who fell in love with him, so I guess that doesn’t matter.”

He waited for her to deny what he’d just said. He prayed her forehead would crinkle and she’d get indignant, but, instead, she turned her head away. “He had no right to involve you.”

His mother loved someone else. As the knowledge hit him, he waited for a rush of anger, but to his surprise, it didn’t hurt nearly as much as he’d thought it would.

He tried to pick his words carefully. “What if you were the one who died, Mom? And what if four years after you’d died Dad met somebody he cared a lot about, somebody who’d make him stop being so lonely all the time.” After avoiding this conversation for so long, it somehow finally felt right to be talking about it, and he had the queer sense that Gracie was holding his hand. “And what if he did the same thing you’re doing and shoved this person out of his life because of the way he felt about you. What would you want me to say to him?”

“It’s not the same thing.”

He heard the agitation in her voice and knew he was upsetting her, but he kept on. “Oh, it’s exactly the same thing.”

“You haven’t been through this! You don’t understand.”

“That’s right. I’m just imagining what I’d say to him, is all. I guess you’d want me to tell him to stay lonely for the rest of his life. To do what you’re doing and turn his back on this new person he’d grown to care about so he could spend the rest of his life lighting candles to your memory.”

“I don’t understand why you’re pressing me on this! You don’t even like Wayland. You admitted it.”

“No, I don’t, but I’ll tell you this—I sure as hell respect the sonovabitch.”