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“I didn’t mean to,” she said faintly.
“I know that. Are your feelings for Sawyer going to change the way you felt about Dad?”
“Oh, no. Never.”
“Then don’t you think it’s about time you found your backbone?”
He could almost see her pulling herself taller. “Yes. Yes, I think it is.” For a moment she didn’t do anything, and then she gave him a fierce hug.
He glanced around and shifted their position on the dance floor. She squeezed his shoulder. “You are the most wonderful son any woman could ever have.”
“Let’s see if you’re still saying that after I embarrass you to death.” Letting go of her hand, he reached out to tap Way Sawyer on the shoulder as he and his partner swung by. The older man came to a stop and regarded him quizzically.
Bobby Tom spoke. “Are you going to monopolize Miz Baines all night, Sawyer? She and I have a few things to talk about, don’t we, Miz Baines? How ’bout we switch partners?”
Sawyer looked so dumbfounded that, for a moment, Bobby Tom thought he was going to let this golden opportunity slip by. He quickly recovered, however, and nearly knocked over poor Judy Baines in his eagerness to get his hands on Suzy.
Just before she slipped into his arms, Sawyer’s gaze met his own, and Bobby Tom couldn’t ever remember seeing so much gratitude in another man’s eyes. Suzy, in the meantime, had a combination of excitement and panic in her expression.
Bobby Tom took Mrs. Baines’s hand. Realizing he loved Gracie had tossed his whole world upside down, and, to his amazement, he found he was actually enjoying himself. He gave Sawyer his best outlaw’s squint. “My mother’s a respectable woman with a reputation to uphold in the community, so I’ll expect you to do right by her. And don’t take too long about it, either, because if I hear of any hanky-panky going on before the ceremony, there’s going to be some big-time hell to pay.
Sawyer threw back his head and laughed. At the same time, he looped his arm around Suzy’s shoulders and swept her right off the dance floor.
Judy Baines craned her neck to watch as they disappeared. She turned to Bobby Tom and clucked her tongue. “I think he’s taking her behind the barn.”
“Hanky-panky, for sure.”
“You gonna do anything about it?”
“Give the bride away, Miz Baines, and hope for the best.”
Way and Suzy couldn’t stop kissing each other. He had her backed up against the side of the barn with the shirttail of her prim white blouse pulled out and his hand up underneath it. They were both breathing heavily, and Bobby Tom’s silly warning had left them with a giddy sense that they were getting away with something.
“I love you, Suzy. I’ve been waiting for you all my life.”
“Oh,Way . . .”
“Say it, sweetheart. Tell me. I need to hear the words.”
“I love you, too. You know I do. I’ve loved you for a long time. And I need you so very much.”
Way kissed her again, then voiced the question that had to be asked. “What about Hoyt? I know how much your marriage meant.”
She brought her hand from the back of his neck to cup his jaw. “I’ll always love him, you know that, but Bobby Tom made me understand something tonight that I should have been able to figure out a long time ago. Hoyt would want thi
s for me. He’d want you for me. I guess I’ll always believe that somehow he gave us his blessing tonight through his son.”
Way stroked her cheek. “This has been hard on Bobby Tom. I know the way he felt about his dad.” For the first time since he’d started kissing her, he looked troubled. “It’s no secret your son doesn’t like me, Suzy, but I promise you that I’m going to do my best to change that.”
She smiled. “He likes you a lot; he just hasn’t figured it out yet. Believe me, the two of you are going to get along fine. He would never have turned me over to you if he hadn’t already made up his mind about that.”
He looked relieved, then he began taking tiny nips out of her bottom lip. At the same time, his thumb found her nipple. “Sweetheart, we’ve got to get out of here.”
She drew back and gave him a mischievous grin. “Bobby Tom said you were supposed to treat me with respect.”
“I am. First I’m going to get you naked, then I’m going to treat you with respect.”
She pretended to think it over. “I don’t know if we should. He was awfully intimidating.”
