The Devine Doughnut Shop(36)

“You should never believe everything you hear,” Macy said and then moved on toward the table where Lisa and Carlita were seated. “Y’all need a warm-up?”

Lisa nodded and held up her cup. “It’s good to see you feeling better. I’ve been worried that maybe all this misfortune and then having Raelene living with you might be causing your headaches. Lisa and I were just telling Grace that we’ve got some connections with a group home up in San Antonio that we could call in a favor and get her into.”

“Raelene pulls her own weight at our house, and she’s a blessing to have around.” Macy’s tone seemed to lower the temperature twenty degrees, but she didn’t care if these two never came back into the shop. “She actually helps heal my headaches with her oils.”

Carlita’s nose twitched in half a snarl. “Well, I suppose that you all would take in Geneva’s kid. Birds of a feather, and all that—”

Macy cut her off before she could say another word. “If I could ever be as gracious and as kindhearted as Raelene Andrews, then I would feel like I had accomplished something with my life.” She set the pot on the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down. “And if y’all don’t stop spreading gossip about me, my family, or Raelene, we’re going to take a little trip out back of this shop, and I’m going to kick your asses.”

“If that’s the way you feel, I don’t imagine we’ll be coming back anymore,” Lisa said.

“You’ve promised that before,” Macy said. “I’ll believe it when I see it, and I don’t think that losing your business will cause us to weep and moan and gnash our teeth.”

Dotty gave her a thumbs-up sign, and Claud winked from the other end of the room. Macy didn’t even bother cleaning up the table but headed right back to the kitchen. She slid down the back of the door and sat on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees.

“My Jesus spirit got tested again, and I failed again,” she said through clenched teeth.

Sarah sat down on one side of her and Grace on the other.

“Want to talk about it?” Sarah asked.

“I threatened to take Lisa and Carlita out behind the shop and whoop their asses if they didn’t stop spreading rumors about me and Raelene,” she answered.

“Well, halle-dang-lujah.” Sarah hugged her tightly.

“As mad as I am, I know I could take on both of them with one hand tied behind my back and blindfolded. How dare they want to send Raelene to a group home and to suggest that she’s the cause of my headaches?” Macy snapped.

“I’ll gladly help if you ever really take on that business of whooping them.” Grace made it a three-way hug.

“And like I said, I’m not hiding out anymore.” Macy stood up and marched right back out into the dining room.

Grace hoped that Macy used up the last bit of her anger to wipe the floor with Lisa and Carlita. If that happened, Grace would volunteer to clean up the blood herself. She didn’t even care if Macy kicked them through the glass windows.

Lisa raised her voice. “Macy, are you over your snit?”

Macy marched over to their table, placed her palms on the edge of the table, and leaned down and whispered, “No, I came back for a second round to tell you that if Audrey isn’t good enough to be friends with your daughters, then you aren’t welcome here as of this moment.”

“Well!” Lisa huffed.

Macy leaned across the table until she was nose-to-nose with Lisa. “And besides, Audrey was most likely covering for Crystal and Kelsey when they found that contraband in her purse. We all know who the bad kids are.”

Carlita jumped up so fast that her chair fell backward, sounding like a shotgun blast when it hit the tiled floor. “My daughter goes to church on Sunday, and she doesn’t smoke or drink.”

“Neither does Crystal,” Lisa hissed.

Macy straightened up. “You poor things. You’ve got your heads even farther in the sand when it comes to your kids than I did with Neal. I will pray for you.”

“They need more than prayers.” Grace rolled her eyes toward the ceiling.

Macy stormed across the room and went back to the kitchen again. “We all need a vacation. Not just a trip to the lake for a picnic.” She paced the floor. “We need to get away from this place for a week or two and catch our breath, or I’m liable to snatch those two out there plumb bald-headed.”

“We’ll get serious about taking the girls to the beach after Raelene graduates. There’s no way we can take them out of school,” Grace said.

“Serious about what?” Sarah said as she came through the door. “What were y’all whispering about out there when Carlita tried to break the floor tiles with her chair?”

Macy told the story as she continued to pace. “I was just telling Grace how much we all need some time away from Devine.”

“I’m ready when y’all are,” Sarah said. “Soon as the girls are out of school, let’s really do that trip to Florida instead of just talking about it. On another note, who was that man over at the table with Claud and the others? The dining room is empty now, but they all four had their heads together like they were plotting something before they left. And the man paid the bill for all of them, so he must be a friend.”