[Saturday, November 19]

The Bears lost against TCU and Arkansas, but Eric made an impression in the game against Rice, which Baylor won 20 to 10. Baylor beat the Longhorns too, at the home stadium in Waco, by a mere three points. It was the last game of the season. There would be no bowl game this year.

Their old high school friends Joey and Sarah made the hour and a half drive to Waco for the game against their school's team, and afterwards, they all went to a party.

"I hate that the Longhorns lost," Joey told Eric, "but I love that you won. I'm conflicted, man. Conflicted."

Tami and Sarah snuck out of the party, walked across the backyard, and sat on a low brick wall to talk.

"You going home to Tyler for Thanksgiving?" Tami asked.

"Nah. It's a four hour drive, and I have to study. And you know I don't get along with my mom. Joey's going up to see his folks, though. You?"

"Yeah. We're all having dinner together, actually. My mom invited Eric and Mr. Taylor over. It could get weird."

Sarah laughed.

"What's it like having a guy for a roommate?" Tami asked her.

"Joey's a good roommate," Sarah said.

"So it's not weird, him being half in love with you?"

She shrugged. "It's only weird when I bring a guy over."

Tami raised an eyebrow.

"For dinner or to watch TV or something," Sarah told her. "I'm not giving it up just yet. Not until I'm dating someone seriously." She put her cup down on the wall. "Why don't you and Eric just move in together? Your roommate sounds a bit insane."

"Gretchen isn't a bad roommate. Just weird. And Eric doesn't get cash for housing he can take anywhere. They won't cover it if he's not in student housing, and I can't live there. Besides, I'm not sure he's ready for that level of commitment."

Sarah laughed. "Like hell he's not. Daily access to sex? He's ready for that. You're not ready."

"I kind of like my independence," Tami admitted. "I want it in college, you know? And my mother would freak if I lived in sin. And, honestly…I don't really want to live with a guy unless we're married."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. I feel like that makes it too easy for him."

Sarah laughed. "You like to make Eric run obstacle courses, don't you?"

"Eric likes obstacle courses."

"There they are!" came Joey's voice from the porch.

Eric and Joey made their way over to the wall. Eric was swaying a bit. He grinned at Tami, put a hand down on either side of the wall, and leaned in to kiss her. "I love you," he told her when he pulled away. "You're the dot in my i."

Tami laughed. "You're mushier when you're buzzed, but you're more eloquent when you're sober."

"Just a little buzzed," Eric told her. "Stumpy wouldn't let me get in any drinking contests this time. Neither would Joey."

[Thursday, November 23]

Thanksgiving dinner at the parsonage was somewhat awkward. Shelley had settled into life there, it seemed, but Tami still found it odd, her mother being married to the pastor.

Pastor John cast a suspicious eye on Mr. Taylor every time Mom asked him a question or laughed at something he said. The pastor was as polite as polite could be, but it was clear he knew that Mom found Eric's father to be attractive.

"Eric did decently this past season," Mr. Taylor said. "He had his ups and downs, but I think the coach will start him next year."

"Tami is doing well too," her mother said. "She's on track for dean's list this semester. Dean's list!"

Waco Community didn't actually have a dean's list, but Tami expected to earn all As and one B (in Pre-Calculus) by the semester's end.

"I did well," Shelley said, "I'm the head of the cheerleading squad now."

"Your grades have slipped, though, dear," Tami's mom said.

Shelley rolled her eyes, but she stopped rolling them when Pastor John spoke: "You're a very talented cheerleader, Shelley. Great at rallying others. You might make academics more of a priority, though. You don't want to have to play catch up at the last minute. I'm sure Tami can tell you that was difficult."

Tami smiled at Eric. She wouldn't have called her past tutoring sessions with him difficult. He smiled back, half looking at her, and half at his plate.

Mr. Taylor pointed to his plate with his fork. "I think this may be the most tender turkey I've ever had, Barbara."

Before Mom could answer, Pastor John said, "So, Garrett, I noticed you at the early service last Sunday. With Karen Jones." First Baptist had two services. Mom went to the late one, but Pastor John, of course, had to preach at both.

"Uh…yes. She invited me to go with her."

"Are you two an…what do the kids say today?" Pastor John asked innocently. "An item?"

Mr. Taylor glanced at Eric and then back at the pastor. "We're dating, yes."

"I don't know Karen well," the pastor said. "She attends sporadically. But she's quite the organizer. She got a church blood drive going last year. Took in a record number of pints for the Red Cross. Very competent woman."

Mr. Taylor smiled. "Yes, she's quite, uh….competent."

Pastor John glanced at Mom. "Every man could use a competent woman."

"Doesn't hurt if she's beautiful, either," Mr. Taylor said.

The pastor shot him a curious look, as though he was trying to figure out whether Mr. Taylor was talking about Karen Jones or Tami's mother. Finally, he replied, "I can't disagree with you, Garret."

As Pastor John, Eric, and Mr. Taylor retreated to the living room, Tami, Shelley, and Mom talked and did dishes in the kitchen. Mom washed, Tami dried, and Shelley put away.

"This is a stereotypical picture if I ever saw one," Tami said. "Men sitting on their asses watching football while we do the real work in the kitchen."

"Tami, don't be crass. Don't use that word." Mom handed Tami a dish. Tami had to think back on what she had to figure out which word her mother meant. "And I'll have you know John did the grocery shopping and peeled the potatoes and mopped the kitchen floor before y'all came. And I suspect Eric drove the entire way from Waco while you just kicked back and relaxed." It was true. He had.

"John's actually pretty egalitarian," Shelley said as she put a plate up in the cabinet. "I really didn't expect that. Thought he'd be all, wives, submit to your husbands."

"There's another half of that verse, Shelley, dear," Mom said. "John knows his whole Bible."

"Yep," Shelley said, "in Greek and Hebrew too. He's like…smart or something. Boring, but smart."

"Shelley!" Mom scolded. "Don't say such disrespectful things of your stepfather."

"I was complimenting him," Shelley insisted.

Eric and Mr. Taylor cheered from the living room.

"I bet John is bored out of his skull," Shelley said.

Tami was surprised by the easy, familiar way Shelley used his first name. Tami still called him pastor.

"Oh, he likes football," Mom said.

"He pretends to, Mom," Shelley told her. "Because he pastors a congregation of Texans. He has to pretend to like it." She slid a plate into the cupboard. "I think he's a little jealous of Mr. Taylor, Mom."

"Don't be absurd, Shelley," Mom said. "There's absolutely nothing for him to be jealous of."

After the game, Eric went home with his father, while Tami remained at the parsonage. Eric had tried to persuade her to stay at his house, where he knew his father would turn a blind eye if she snuck into his room, but Tami felt she needed to stay with her family.

It was interesting to her to see Shelley occasionally tease Pastor John, like she might a family member, and to see him respond with mild affection and consternation. The day might come when Shelley actually regarded this man as her father. It made Tami feel like a bit of an outsider.

That night, Mom, Shelley, and Tami sat on the couch watching TV and chatting on and off, while Pastor John sat in an arm chair reading a thick, hardback book of some kind, the dustcover missing.

A half hour later, Mom yawned and stretched and reported that she was going to bed. She came over to kiss Pastor John on the cheek. "Goodnight," she told him.

"'Nite. Love you, dear." He turned a page.

Mom walked a few steps and lingered between the hallway and the living room. "You're not coming to bed also? It's late."

Pastor John looked up, as though someone had just splashed a cold glass of water in his face to get his attention. "Oh," he said. "You…want me to?"

"It's late," Mom said.

He smiled. "Yes, you're quite right. It's later than I thought. I'll be right there after I lock up."

"He's a bit dense about some things," Shelley told Tami after he'd bid them goodnight and disappeared down the hall, "for a guy with three degrees."

"He has three degrees?" Tami asked. She'd never known that. It wasn't as though he went around calling himself Dr. Wilson.

"B.A. in Classics, M.A. in Divinity, Ph.D. in Theology."

"It's a weird match," Tami reflected. "Him and Mom."

"Mom's not stupid, and Pastor John's not dead."

Tami laughed. "It's funny to see you defending their marriage. You were so dead set against it."

"For the first time in years, Mom's not miserable. And you know, when mama ain't happy – "

" – ain't nobody happy."

Shelley grinned. "Exactly. She's chilled out this past semester."

"You've got to pull those grades up, Shell. You were on track. Don't screw around like I did. College applications come up sooner than you think."

"I'm just a sophomore." Shelley changed the channel on the television. "I have plenty of time to figure out if I want to go to college."

"IF!" Tami exclaimed.

A long discussion ensued, during which Tami sometimes felt like she was swimming uphill against a tide. She went to bed that night a bit worried about her baby sister.