Read Online Heaven, Texas by Susan Elizabeth Phillips - Free Book Online

stoop-shouldered on the front porch at Shady Acres that she took a sip before she remembered she didn't drink. Setting the bottle aside, she glanced at a clock advertising Jim Beam. In half an hour, she would tell Bobby Tom they had to leave.
    The waitress appeared, and Bobby Tom insisted on ordering for her, telling her she hadn't lived until she'd tried Whoppers' bacon triple cheese jalapeno hamburger with a double order of jumbo deep-fried onion rings and a mountain of sour cream cole slaw. As he forced the cholesterol-laden food on her, she noticed that he ate and drank very little himself.
    An hour passed. He signed autographs, paid for everything anyone ordered, and, unless she had misunderstood, loaned someone money for a jet ski. She ducked beneath the brim of his Stetson and whispered, “We have to go.”
    He turned to her and spoke softly, pleasantly. “One more word out of you, sweetheart, and I'm personally calling the taxi that's gonna deliver you to the airport.” With that, he headed over to the pool table in the corner.
    Another hour passed. If she hadn't been so worried about the time, she would have been thrilled by the novelty of being in a seedy bar with so many colorful people. Since she was too plain to be of romantic interest to Bobby Tom, the other women didn't regard her as a threat. She enjoyed a lengthy conversation with several of them including Ellie, a flight attendant, who turned out to be a fount of information on the male sex. And sex in general.
    She noticed Bobby Tom giving her several covert glances, and she grew increasingly convinced that he planned to slip out when she wasn't looking. Although she very much needed to use the rest room, she was afraid to let him out of her sight, so she crossed her legs instead. By midnight, however, she knew she couldn't postpone the trip a moment longer. Waiting until he and Trish were deeply engrossed in a conversation at the bar, she made her way to the rest room.
    The first flutters of panic settled in her stomach as she emerged a few minutes later and couldn't find him. Skimming her eyes over the crowd, she searched frantically for his gray Stetson, but didn't see it anywhere. She began making her way through the crowd to the bar, her stomach churning with anxiety. Just as she was about to acknowledge the fact that he'd gotten away, she spotted him standing with Trish in a shallow alcove next to the cigarette machine.
    She had learned her lesson and had no intention of letting him get too far away from her again. Easing around the partition that divided the alcove from the front entryway, she wedged herself into a small space next to the wall phone. As she examined the telephone numbers and studied the graffiti written on the wall, she realized there was a slight echo effect. Although she hadn't intended to eavesdrop, she had no difficulty hearing that familiar Texas drawl.
    “You're about the most understanding woman I ever met in my life, Trish.”
    “I'm glad you trust me enough to confide in me like this, B.T. I know how hard it is for a man like you to talk about your past.”
    “Some women I don't mind leading on, but you're a real sweet lady, Trish, and I couldn't do that to you, especially not when you're still vulnerable from your last divorce.”
    “I guess all of us have wondered why you never got married.”
    “Now you know, honey.”
    This was clearly a private conversation and Gracie knew she should find a more distant vantage point. Firmly repressing her curiosity, she began to step away only to pause as Trish spoke again.
    “Nobody should have to grow up with a mother who's a— Well, a mother like that.”
    “You can say it, Trish. My mother was a hooker.”
    Gracie's eyes widened.
    Trish's sultry voice was filled with sympathy. “You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to.”
    Bobby Tom sighed. “Sometimes it helps to talk about things. You might not understand this, but the worst wasn't having her bring men