Heaven, Texas (33 page)
“Why don't the two of you ride back with us?” Way said.
Bobby Tom was just about to follow that suggestion when Terry Jo pushed herself to the front of the crowd. “Not so fast!” The determined expression on her face made it apparent that she hadn't yet forgiven Bobby Tom for the damage he'd inflicted on her husband. “You've got a lot to answer for after what you did to my Buddy, and I'll be damned if we make this too easy on you.”
“Easy!” Bobby Tom exclaimed, keeping his arm firmly around Gracie as if he were still afraid she might slip away. “I just about got myself killed today!”
“Well now, that's too damn bad, because you almost killed Buddy last night.”
“He did not, Terry Jo.” Buddy looked discomfited. “Hell, me and Bobby Tom like to fight.”
“You just shut up. That's only part of it. There's also the fact that Gracie's my friend, and since it's obvious she's too lovesick to look out for her own best interests, I'm going to do it for her.”
Gracie didn't like the sparkle in Terry's Jo's eyes. It reminded her that most of the citizens of Telarosa, Texas, would be considered certifiably crazy if they lived anywhere else. It also reminded her that everybody here had peculiar tastes in entertainment.
“It's all right, Terry Jo,” she said hastily. “Really.”
“No, it isn't. You don't realize this, Gracie, but people have been talking about you behind your back ever since Bobby Tom first announced your engagement, and now that it looks like there's going to be a real wedding, the talk's only going to get worse. Fact is, a lot of people have noticed you don't seem to know too much about football, and they're saying Bobby Tom never gave you the quiz.”
Oh, Lord.
“Some people are even saying he cheated, isn't that so, Suzy?”
Suzy folded her hands primly in front of her. “I doubt that he would actually cheat. But there has been talk.”
Gracie stared at her. Until this moment she had always considered Suzy to be a model of sanity.
Terry Jo planted her hands on her hips. “Gracie, the truth is, even people who're at your wedding are going to secretly question your children's legitimacy if they don't know for a fact you passed the quiz. Tell her, Bobby Tom.”
She gazed up at Bobby Tom only to note with alarm that he was rubbing his finger over his eyebrow. “I s'pose you've got a point, Terry Jo.”
Every one of these people belonged in a loony bin, Gracie decided. Especially her future husband.
He set his jaw. “But I'm only giving her five questions since she's not from Texas and she didn't grow up with football.” He glared at the audience that had gradually encircled them. “Anybody have a problem with that?”
A few of the women, Connie Cameron included, looked as if they had a very big problem with it, but no one protested out loud.
Bobby Tom nodded with satisfaction. He let go of Gracie and stepped slightly back, letting her know she was on her own. “Here we go. Question number one. What do the initials NFL stand for?”
The crowd groaned at his ridiculously easy question, but he silenced them with a look.
“Uh, National Football League,” she replied, wondering where all this would lead and knowing, without a doubt, that she intended to marry him whether or not she passed his ridiculous quiz.
“Very good. Question number two.” His forehead wrinkled in concentration. “Every January, the two teams with the best records in each conference play each other in the most important football game of the year. The same one where the winner gets a great big ring,” he added, in case
she needed help. “What's that game called?” More groans from the crowd.
Gracie ignored them. “The Super Bowl.”
“Excellent. You're doing fine, sweetheart.” He took a short break to kiss the tip of her nose, then stepped away again. “Now this question's a little tougher, so I hope you're ready. How many goalposts—they're also called uprights—are at each end of a regulation football field?”
“Two!” she exclaimed, unaccountably pleased with herself. “And there are ribbons on top of each post, although I don't remember exactly how long they are.”
He clucked his tongue in admiration. “The length doesn't matter; I'm giving you credit for a fourth question just because you knew about those ribbons. Not everybody does, you know. That means you only have one question to go. Now concentrate, sweetheart.”
“I'm concentrating.”
“For the chance to be Mrs. Gracie Snow Denton . . .” He paused. “If you don't mind, I'd appreciate it if you reconsidered that hyphen.”
“I never said I was using a hyphen! You were the one who—”
“This isn't the place to argue, honey. No hyphen, and that's final. Your fifth and last question . . .” He hesitated, and for the first time he looked worried. “How much do you know about quarterbacks?”
“I know who Troy Aikman is.”
“That's not fair, Bobby Tom,” Toolee called out. “Gracie was talking to him last night.”
“I've heard of Joe Namath,” Gracie declared in triumph.
“You have?” He beamed. “All right, sweetheart; here's your last question, and it's a real challenge, so don't let yourself get distracted by these jealous women. To make sure all twelve of our future children are going to be legitimate, what New York City football team did Joe Namath play for?”
Gracie's face fell.
Lord.
Any fool should know the answer to this one. New York City. . . What football team was from New York City? Her expression brightened. “The New York City
Yankees
!”
A roar of laughter went up from the crowd, accompanied by more than a few loud groans. Bobby Tom silenced them all with a glare. At the same time, the glitter in his eyes dared any of them to contradict her.
When he was certain every person there understood his message, he turned back to Gracie and gathered her into his arms. With a tender look and a gentle brush of his lips, he said, “Exactly right, sweetheart. I had no idea you knew so much about football.”
And that was how every last person in Telarosa, Texas, came to understand that Bobby Tom Denton had finally and forever fallen head over heels in love
I would like to express my appreciation to the following people who shared their expertise with me as I wrote
Heaven, Texas
: Mary Lynn Baxter (and Len, too, for letting me steal a few of his lines), Katherine Johnson, Pamela Litton, John Roscich, Glenda Sanders, and Ron Struxness. I am also grateful to the National Collegiate Athletic Association for answering my questions. Thanks to my guys, Bill, Ty, and Zach; you always help me out when I need it. Special appreciation to both my editor Carrie Feron and agent Steven Axelrod. My biggest thanks go to my readers who share my books with their friends and write me such wonderful letters. To all of you, God bless.
Susan Elizabeth Phillips
www.susanephillips.com
Susan Elizabeth Phillips
is one of our biggest women's fiction stars soaring onto the
New York Times
bestseller list with D
ream a Little Dream
. She's the only four-time recipient of Romance Writer's of America's prestigious Favorite Book of the Year Award. Susan delights fans by touching hearts as well as funny bones with her wonderfully whimsical and modern fairy tales. A resident of the Chicago suburbs, she is also a wife and mother of two grown sons.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
HEAVEN, TEXAS
. Copyright © 1995 by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of PerfectBound™.
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MS Reader edition v 1. November 2002 ISBN 0-06-621221-9
First Avon Books printing: April 1995
20 19 18 17 16 15
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