Heaven, Texas (Chicago Stars #2)(97)

Gracie had just finished unwrapping the last of the white china souvenir ashtrays shaped like the state of Texas. They had a pink Cupid marking the location of Telarosa and a red script legend that read:

HEAVEN, TEXAS

A PLACE IN THE HEART

The question about the key chains had come from Toolee Chandler, the chairman of the Bobby Tom Denton Birthplace Committee and the wife of the town’s busiest dentist. Toolee stood at the counter of what was now a small gift shop, but had once been Suzy and Hoyt Denton’s sun porch. The transformation of Bobby Tom’s childhood home into a tourist attraction wasn’t yet complete, although Heavenfest was only three weeks away.

Suzy and ‘Hoyt had disposed of many of the house’s original furnishings years ago when they’d moved, but the committee had scoured basements and secondhand stores for pieces that were similar, and sometimes even managed to come up with the original one. Much of the house was decorated in the avocado green and gold popular at the time, but Suzy had used bright accents of apple red, unconventional then, and they gave the house a definite charm even now.

Even taking on the responsibility of handling the travel and accommodations arrangements for the celebrity athletes left Gracie with too many free hours. Since she and Bobby Tom had quarreled nearly three weeks ago, she had spent most of her evenings at Arbor Hills or working here to help Terry Jo and Toolee get the birthplace ready.

Now she eyed the key chains dubiously. Like so many other things in the gift shop, they bore Bobby Tom’s likeness, even though he hadn’t given permission for its use. A fluorescent orange plastic disk showed him in action: feet off the ground, body curved in a graceful C, arms extended to catch a pass. But the blue-and-white uniform of Dallas had been badly superimposed over his Chicago Stars uniform, along with the brightly printed words, “He should have been a Cowboy.”

“Maybe you could hang them behind the postcard rack?” Gracie suggested.

“Oh, I don’t think so,” Toolee said. “Nobody’ll be able to see them there.”

That had been Gracie’s hope. She wished Bobby Tom would put a stop to this unlicensed merchandise, but she wasn’t going to broach the subject when there was already so much tension between them. They spoke politely, and when other people were nearby, he’d slip his arm around her waist for show, but they spent very little time alone together, and every night they retired to their separate bedrooms.

As Gracie carried a stack of ashtrays over to the shelves and began to arrange them, Terry Jo came in from the living room with a pencil stuck behind her ear and a clipboard in her hand. “Has anybody found that missing box of mugs?”

“Not yet,” Toolee replied.

“I probably stuck them someplace crazy. I swear, ever since Way Sawyer announced he wasn’t closing Rosatech, I’ve been so distracted I haven’t been able to think straight.”

“Luther’s making him honorary chairman of the whole festival,” Toolee declared, as if they hadn’t already discussed this fact several times. Way Sawyer’s announcement had left everyone in town giddy with relief, and he had gone from being Telarosa’s enemy to its hero.

“Things are finally looking up for this town.” Terry Jo smiled and gazed around at the glass shelves that stretched across the windows. A display of refrigerator magnets directly in front of her bore the legend, “I raised a little hell in Heaven, Texas!” “I remember the summer Mr. Denton built this sun porch. Bobby Tom and I used to play checkers out here and Suzy’d bring us grape Kool-Aid.” She sighed. “Having this house restored has been like a trip back to my childhood. Suzy says she feels as if she loses twenty years every time she walks in the door, but I think it’s hard on her coming here because Mr. Denton’s not around to share it. I don’t know. She hasn’t seemed like herself lately.”

Gracie was also worried about Suzy. Every time she’d seen her since that afternoon in San Antonio, she looked more fragile. As she set the last of the ashtrays on the shelf, she decided this might be a good time to broach an idea that she’d just that day mentioned to Suzy.

“It’s a shame the house will be empty so much of the time.

“There’s not much we can do about it,” Toolee said. “Tourists’ll only come around on the weekends and for special events, like Heavenfest.”

“Still, it’s a pity to keep it closed up the rest of the time, especially when it could be used to help people.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve noticed that Telarosa doesn’t have a senior citizens center. This house isn’t large, but there’s a rec room and the living room’s comfortable. I was thinking that it would be an ideal place for the older people to get together for cards or crafts or to hear an outside speaker once in a while. Arbor Hills isn’t far away. They’re really cramped for space over there, and maybe they could transport their more mobile residents here for activities a few times a week.”

Toolee splayed her hand on her hip. “Now why didn’t I think of that?”

“It’s a good idea,” Terry Jo agreed. “I’m sure we could find some volunteers to staff it. Why don’t we start a committee? I’ll phone my mother-in-law as soon as I get home.”

Gracie breathed a sigh of relief. The film company would be finished here in a few weeks, and it made her feel better to know that she might leave some small mark on this town she had grown to love and would miss so very much.