Their mother looked at them both and crossed her arms. “Bring them both to dinner and then a movie.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he and Katie echoed obediently. Then Sam said, “Do you know how old I am, Mom?”
She smiled and patted his arm. “It doesn’t matter. You’ll be sixty years old and still be my baby.”
He shook his head and Katie patted his other arm. “You and me both, bro.”
9
Bless Her Heart
Savannah smiled at Sam as he opened the door of his fancy Jeep for her. His smile in return melted some of the circuits in her brain.
When they were both strapped in, he turned to her. “You know how I said I’d decide where we went tonight?”
“Yes.” She studied him and his serious stance.
“Well, I have a secret to tell.”
“Okay.”
“My mother decided for me. She gave me a real Texas mom moment.”
“How bad can it be? Surely, she hasn’t chosen some really crummy place for us to go.”
“You don’t mind my mother choosing for us?”
“I have a real Texas mom, too, so I totally get it.”
He sighed. “She’s fixing a really nice dinner for us and some of the other family members, and then we’re having a family movie night.”
She sighed dramatically and shook her head. “I’m not sure Virginia will consider this a real date, what with the whole family around and all.”
“Or she’ll think we must really be serious,” he said with a laugh.
She widened her eyes. “Or that.”
He started the engine. “Don’t worry. None of my family bites. Not even the dog.”
“You must really want that house.”
Man, there were a lot of cars parked in his parents’ circular driveway. His mother had outdone herself getting family here.
He tightened his hands on the steering wheel as he pulled to the curb. “We don’t have to go in. It looks like there is going to be a really long wait for a table here. Let’s go to Diamondback’s or Portofino for Italian. Anywhere but Mom’s Diner.”
She placed a hand on his forearm and warmth sizzled at her touch. “I’m not afraid of your family.”
“You have one brother. I have several plus a feisty sister and it looks like they might all be here.”
“I can handle your family.”
He shook his head. “This has disaster written all over it.”
She laughed. “I never took you for a wimp, Sam Reid. Aren’t you the guy they call the Twister on the field because you can outmaneuver anyone?”
“Them’s fighting words, little lady.” But he relaxed somewhat. She was game to go in with him, so why not? “Okay, fine. I’ll put on my game face and take you in to meet my family.”
“Zeke told me your brothers are animals on the field and your mom is a fantastic cook. Let’s go.”
He came around and opened her door, then leaned in close as she stood so he was only inches away. “Let’s come up with a code word so when you say it, I’ll make up some excuse and we can go. A pulled muscle or something.”
“Maybe the code word could be,” she smiled at him impishly, “wimp.”
“You asked for it,” he said, and took her hand.
As they strolled up to the door, his heart raced. If anything could scare her away, it would be his stupid brothers. He’d punch any of them out if they caused him grief. After he took Savannah home, of course. At their next practice.
She pulled him to a stop, and turned to face him. “I’m not sure what you’re so worried about.”
The door of the home flew open and two of his brothers raced toward them.
“That,” he said, releasing her hand just before they tackled him.
Savannah tipped her head and studied her date, lying on the lawn. His two big brothers grinned up at her. “Hi,” the first one said, “I’m Knox.”
Rolling to his feet, the second said, “I’m Frank. I’m still single.”
She smiled at them. “Savannah Jackson.”
“Zeke’s sister?” Knox asked.
She nodded. “Yes, so I know how to take down big guys like you.”
“Yeah,” Sam said, standing. “Don’t give Zeke’s sister any grief. Seriously. He’ll mess you up.”
He brushed off his jeans and shirt. “Savannah, these are my two idiot brothers. Idiot brothers, this is Zeke’s little sister.”
“Welcome to family night,” Knox said with a nod of his head toward the house. “My wife is inside.”
“So is our brother, Bobby, and our little sister, Katie.” Knox grinned. “And her new beau.”
“So, I’m not the only one getting hazed tonight?” Savannah teased.
“Definitely not.” Knox shook his head. “We would never haze someone as pretty as you.”
“Do you all play football for the Wranglers?” Savannah asked.
“Bobby’s a tight end, Frank just graduated and is hoping to get drafted to the Wranglers, and Katie is graduating next spring from Baylor. She’s a cheerleader there and is trying out for the Wranglers cheerleader squad.”
“So, the answer to your question,” Sam said, “is yes.”
“A lot has happened while I was out of town.” Savannah smiled brightly. “Let’s go in and let the hazing continue.”
Frank grinned. “I like you.” He held out his arm for her to take, and then disappeared from her view. As she turned around, she saw Sam tossing him to the ground. Then Sam turned and held out his arm.
Savannah laughed. “It’s like being around a whole bunch of Zekes.”
“What a horrifying thought,” Sam said with a chuckle.
“Grab him!” a woman called out, and Savannah turned to see a real monster of a dog racing toward them. As Savannah swung herself behind Sam, the Great Dane slammed into him, sending them both to the ground.
That didn’t help. Now she was under both of them.
Laughing, his brothers helped her out from under the pile. “Sorry, Benji just really loves the knucklehead. He does this every time. Someone was supposed to keep the door closed.”
She lifted an eyebrow and said sweetly, “And then y’all went and opened the door.”
Frank laughed, good-naturedly. “Yeah. We kind of forgot to shut it behind us.”
The woman at the door shook her head, and walked back inside.
Sam finally patted the dog into submission, and stood. When the dog tried to jump up again, Sam firmly gave a command to sit. And the dog did. Wow. She guessed it was a good thing a dog that huge obeyed commands or even more chaos could ensue.
Sam told the dog to heel, then offered his arm to Savannah. The dog walked beside Sam, as if it hadn’t just raced out the door and pounced on him.
“Do you like dogs?” Sam asked with a quirk of his lips.
She looked from the dog to him. “Love ’em. Especially lap dogs.”
“Oh, Benji’s a lap dog!”
She chuckled. “I bet.”
A young woman met them at the door. “Mom made Texas Trash.” And then she looked at Savannah. “Hi, I’m Katie Reid. These derps are all my older brothers.”
“I can only imagine how that must be. I only have one big derpy brother and that’s bad enough.”
The woman was a petite blonde with a genuine smile. “Come on in and meet the rest of the family.”
“And her new beau,” Knox said.
Katie rolled her eyes. “You be nice.”
Knox raised his hands. “Amy’s here, isn’t she? She’ll keep us in line.”
The place was noisy with laughter and voices. Sam led her toward the kitchen, where his mother was tossing a salad.
“Hi, Ma,” he said, hugging her as Benji went around her and into the family room. When he pulled away, he said, “Ma, this is Savannah Jackson.”
“Zeke’s sister?”
Seems like everyone knew Zeke, which wasn’t unexpected. He was a big small-town football hero, after
all, and Texans love their football. And the Reids were a huge football family.
“Yes,” Sam said. “Savannah, this is my mother, Rebecca Reid. She’s a former beauty pageant queen.”
“Now stop that, Sam,” his mother said, pushing at his arm. “You just ignore him, Savannah.”
“I plan to, Mrs. Reid,” she said with a smirk at him.
“Please call me Rebecca, dear.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Savannah said.
Sam frowned. “Hey, wait a minute.”
“I’m just joking,” Savannah said, now smiling. “You’re kind of cute when you’re frowning.”
He scowled. “Don’t plan on provoking me.”
His mother said, “Knox, will you go help your father bring in the brisket. He felt like doing BBQ tonight.”
“Is he fixin’ to overcook it?” Knox asked.
“It’s your job to make sure he doesn’t.”
“Like I could stop Ace Reid from doing anything.”
Ace Reid, their father, had been the biggest, baddest football player around, winning a Heisman Trophy in college, playing spectacularly for the Waco Wranglers, and ending up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was a legend in the game, as Zeke often told her, awe in his voice.
Rebecca laughed. “Just tell him the timer went off and it’s time for him to bring it in and carve it. I’m starved.”
“Is there anything I can help with?” Savannah asked.
“It’s sweet of you to ask. The table’s already set, but you can carry the salad in for me. Then just meet the rest of the family.”
She lifted the large bowl with a tossed green salad with all sorts of extras — bacon, avocado, homemade croutons — and followed Sam and the basket of delicious-smelling rolls he was carrying into the dining room, where the rest of the family stood.
Yet another big man stuffed a chip with salsa into his mouth. A woman who she assumed was his wife said, “Daniel, that was a huge chip.”
After he swallowed, Daniel grinned and picked up another. “It’s because it’s a Texas-shaped chip. They’re bigger and they taste better.”
His wife leaned into him and looked up with love. “You’ve convinced me. See if you can stuff three of them in at the same time.”
Daniel chuckled, fixing a chip and handing it to her.
Their brother, Frank, told Daniel’s wife, “Remember the first time you were here for dinner and Knox dropped that big tray of chips and dip, and you just, quick as a whistle, said, ‘Oh, look — floor d'oeuvres’? You made me snort Dr. Pepper out my nose.”
Katie carried in a bowl of roasted vegetables that smelled divine. “And I got there just in time to miss the line, but to help clean up.”
A large man walking behind her could have been a Reid brother, but somehow Savannah sensed this was Katie’s new beau. The other hazee in the group.
The rooms in this home were spacious, and the dining room held a huge table. Which was good because there were a lot of people milling about who were fixin’ to sit at that table.
After a few instances of musical chair-type activity, they all took their seats. The man with Katie pulled out her chair. In fact, all of the men pulled out chairs for the women in their lives, even Ace Reid, who had proudly carried in a large platter with sliced brisket. Sam had done the same for Savannah.
After the blessing and amen, Rebecca said, “All right. As we pass the food around, let’s introduce ourselves to the two new people at our table.”
The man with Katie turned out to be Jordan Peters, not a football player at all, but an accountant. Knox and his wife, Amy. Bobby with his date, Jessica somebody. She’d missed the surname and didn’t want to ask Bobby to repeat it. It was highly likely she wasn’t going to remember half of these names, anyway. Besides, she didn’t know if she’d ever be invited back here, especially after the sale of Sam’s house went through.
Their oldest brother, Daniel, and his wife, Jessie, and their two children, Levi and Sofie, rounded out the family. Savannah was bad at guessing ages, but Levi looked to be six or seven, and Sofie was maybe three or four. They were both cute as a button. At least the gene pool here produced adorable children.
That shouldn’t matter, and of course it didn’t. But if she were the kind of woman who might want children, it would matter.
She’d always wanted children, but Rylan hadn’t. Of course, he hadn’t. If there were children or a pet, her attention would have been on someone besides him.
After the introductions, they ate BBQ and chatted like normal families. At least like normal Texas families.
During the course of the meal, subjects came and went: How much better the Wranglers were then either the Cowboys or the Texans, or even than the old Houston Oilers, who’d moved out of state and become the Tennessee Oilers and then the Tennessee Titans. Seceding from the United States. The weather. How the weird had increased in Austin. George Strait. Guns. How delicious Whataburger burgers were. And, speaking of food, how much better their dad’s BBQ was even than that served at Vitek's Market, their favorite in Waco.
When Daniel groaned and said, “Next time I won't eat as many chips before my meal,” everyone laughed. Apparently this wasn’t the first time he’d made this announcement.
Rebecca mentioned that she’d lined up the movie Friday Night Lights for tonight.
Savannah had seen the movie several times. After all, it was a movie about high school football set in Texas. But she smiled and said, “I’ve never seen it.”
Conversation stopped and they stared at her.
She smiled and said, “Just kidding. I’ve watched it with Zeke lots of times.”
Rebecca said, “Savannah, let me tell you a story about when Sam was young.”
Beside her, Sam groaned. “No childhood stories, Ma. None.”
“I was just going to tell her when you saved that little deer who was stuck in the fence.”
Sam turned to look Savannah in the eyes and whispered, “Wimp.”
She started laughing.
Sam watched Savannah as she laughed, leaning into his arm. He’d apparently tickled her funny bone by making fun of himself. That could be a bad trend. But his mother throwing out stories about him would be worse.
When she caught her breath, Savannah looked around and told the group, “I’m afraid we’re going to have to leave now.”
Sam chuckled. It was nice when a woman had his back, even if she hadn’t moved to stand.
His mother said, “Nonsense, sweetheart. We’re watching Friday Night Lights. Of course, you’ll want to stay.”
Savannah turned to him and shrugged. “I tried.”
He nodded. “You did. Thank you for that.”
He was still amused thirty minutes later, after they’d all helped clear the table and found seats in the theater room. The popcorn machine had been turned on and the delicious smell of freshly popped popcorn had them all reaching for a small bagful, even though they’d just eaten a huge dinner.
“This is why Daniel is gaining weight,” Frank said.
“Shut it,” Daniel said, “unless you want to get pounded.”
Frank just laughed.
He’d managed to get Savannah on the back row, and put his arm around her shoulders as they settled down into the comfy couch.
The lights were still on and the movie hadn’t started playing when Katie’s beau walked to the front of the room by the screen. “Katie, darling? Why don’t you come on down here?”
Katie laughed, but went down to join him. “What’s this about? If you delay movie night too much, you’ll get tackled.”
“I won’t delay at all.” Her beau, Peter Jordan, smiled and looked down at her, then dropped to one knee.
Katie gasped and put her hands to her mouth.
“Katie, darling, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
His little sister looked stunned, then finally said, “Yes,” and went into his arms.
His siblings clapped, and so did Savann
ah. She nudged him, and he clapped along. But this felt all wrong. Proposing in front of the whole family? Probably just him being stupid, but he imagined that when he proposed to Savannah, he’d do it in a much more private way.
Whoa! Slow down!
He wasn’t going to be proposing to anyone any time soon. He hadn’t even kissed Savannah Jackson, and if he did Zeke would kick his butt.
Savannah squeezed his arm. “Isn’t that so romantic?”
Hmmm. Maybe he would propose in front of the whole family. But not in front of her family.
And then he realized that he was worried about his little sister, just like Zeke was worried about his little sister.
The movie was half over when Savannah’s phone chirped. “Oh, darn,” she murmured, pulling it out, planning to send the call to call purgatory. Until she saw the name. “I’ll be right back,” she whispered to Sam. “It’s Virginia Wainwright.”
“I’ll go out with you.” They stood, and he said, “Excuse us. We’ll be right back.”
She dashed out the door and answered. “Hello, Mrs. Wainwright.”
“Virginia, dear.”
“Yes, ma’am. How may I help you?”
“I just learned from your brother that you and Sam Reid are not really dating. I’m so disappointed.”
“We’re on a date right now,” she said, turning on speakerphone. “Say hello, Sam.”
“Hello.”
“Where are you two at?”
Savannah exchanged a glance with Sam. What would the widow like to hear? “We’re watching a movie at his parents’ home.”
“That’s not a real date.” Virginia gave a snort of annoyance. “I’m not going to sell to him unless he takes you out someplace really nice.”
Sam spoke up. “Is One Thirty-Five Prime nice enough?”
That was one of the most expensive restaurants in town.
“If you order over a hundred dollars, it is. Dress up.” Virginia drew in an audible breath. “Let me know after you’ve taken her there and maybe we’ll talk about a sale.”
SAM: A Best Friend's Sister Sweet Romantic Comedy (Waco Wranglers Reid Brothers Book 3) Page 6
