Luther whacked Jimbo Thackery in the arm, forcing him to take another step backward. “Have you lost your mind? What in the sam hill do you think you're doing?”
“Bobby Tom!” Suzy screamed her son's name as she ran down the blacktop with Way Sawyer at her side.
Thackery glared at Luther. “He broke out of jail. And she attacked me. I'm arresting them both!”
“Like hell you are!” Buddy cried in outrage.
Luther shoved his index finger into Thackery's chest. “You couldn't be satisfied with being an amateur asshole, could you, Jimbo! You had to go and turnpro on me!”
Thackery's face grew florid. He opened his mouth, then snapped it shut and took another step back. Suzy rushed forward only to have Way detain her as he saw Gracie's arms wrapped protectively around his future son-in-law's chest.
“Everybody get away from him!” Gracie shouted, her copper hair glinting in the sunlight, her expression as fierce as an Amazon warrior. “Nobody touches him, do all of you hear me? Nobody touches him!”
Bobby Tom, his wrists still cuffed behind his back, looked down at her, his expression faintly bemused.
The fact that he no longer seemed to be in imminent danger didn't make Gracie relax her vigilance. Anyone trying to hurt him was going to have to get through her first.
She felt his cheek press against the top of her head, and he began to murmur the most wonderful things in a voice so low that only those close to them could hear.
“I love you so much, sweetheart. Tell me you're going to forgive me for last night? Everything you said about me is tight, I know; I'm insensitive, selfish, egotistical, a lot of other things. But I'm going to change. I swear it. If you marry me, I'll change. Just don't leave me, because I love you too much.”
Someone must have unfastened his handcuffs because suddenly his arms were around her. 'She looked up into his eyes and saw that even the swollen one glistened with tears. He meant every word he was saying, she realized with a sense of wonder. This outpouring of love had nothing to do with injured pride or getting even. He was speaking to her from the bottom of his heart.
“Tell me you're going to give me another chance,” he whispered, cupping her cheek in his palm. “Tell me you somehow still love me after everything.”
Her throat squeezed tight with emotion. “It's my weakness.”
“What is?”
“Loving you. I love you, Bobby Tom Denton; and I always will.”
She felt his chest convulse. “You'll never know how glad I am to hear that.” For a moment, he squeezed his eyes shut as if he were gathering his courage. When he opened them again, his lashes were moist and spiked. “You're going to marry me, aren't you, sweetheart? Tell me you're going to marry me.”
The uncertainty she heard in his voice made her love him all the more, and her own eyes filled. “Oh, I'm going to marry you, all right. You can bet on it.”
For a few moments, they forgot everyone around them. They were alone at the side of the Texas highway with a bright sun shining down on them and a brighter future shining ahead, one filled with laughter, children, and an abundance of love. He kissed her with his poor, swollen mouth, and she kept her lips gentle against his. Suzy finally ended their embrace by touching her son's battered face to make certain he wasn't badly hurt, while Way hugged Gracie as Bobby Tom released her. Gradually, they all grew aware of the car doors that continued to slam as more of Telarosa's citizens drew up to block the highway and witness Bobby Tom's jailbreak. Gracie spotted Toolee Chandler and Judy Baines, along with Pastor Frank and Suzy's bridge club.
Jimbo Thackery had moved off to the side, where Connie Cameron seemed to be giving him a piece of her mind. Luther looked suspiciously pleased with himself as he eyed Bobby Tom, who was once again holding on to Grade.
“I'm going to give you a couple of hours to straighten yourself out with Gracie here, and then me and you are going to have a nice long meeting with Judge Gates. They don't call him the hanging judge for nothing, B.T., and before this is over, I can just about predict that you're going to find yourself faced with a heap of fines and a real expensive community service project. This escapade is going to cost you a pretty penny, boy.”
Gracie couldn't resist peering across Bobby Tom's chest to offer her own opinion. “The senior citizens center could use a bus with a motorized ramp.”
Luther gave her a proud smile. “Excellent idea, Grade. How 'bout you come along to that meeting in case me and Judge Gates need some inspiration.”
“I'd be happy to.”
Bobby Tom's eyebrows rose in indignation. “Whose side are you on, anyway?”
It took her a moment to respond because she was envisioning all the good work the Bobby Tom Denton Foundation would be doing in the future. “Since I'm going to be a citizen of this town, I have a duty to the community.”
If anything, he looked even more indignant. “Who says we're going to live here?”
She smiled all her love up at him and thought that, for an intelligent man, he could certainly be obtuse. She wondered how long it would take him to figure out that he would never be truly happy anywhere else.
“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.”