The Devine Doughnut Shop(51)

There, she thought. That should make him back down for sure.

“Sounds good.” He flashed another one of his brilliant smiles. “We’ll go to the Dairy Queen down on the Riverwalk. No talk of business. I promise.”

“I’ll meet you there,” she said and pushed back her chair. “I should be going. You’ll need to get back to work.”

“Why?” he asked. “I’d planned a two-hour lunch. We’ve still got an hour left, unless you have plans and need to get home.”

“Nope, I don’t have plans,” Grace answered and pulled her chair back up to the table.

He chose another doughnut from the box—a strawberry-filled one.

“Did you ever want to be anything other than a baker?” he asked. “Not that I’m complaining. These doughnuts are really good.”

“Nope. How about you?”

“I thought I’d like to be a rancher like my grandpa,” Travis answered. “Sometimes, I still do. I loved running wild on the ranch as a child, and helping my grandpa with the cattle and the chores, but I’m an only child, and the business needed me. I was groomed from a young age to take the reins, and by the time it was my turn, I had learned to love this as much as ranching.”

Silence settled around them, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Grace didn’t feel like she needed to fill the emptiness with words, so she finished her doughnut and refilled her glass with the last of the tea in the bottle.

“My biggest regret is that my folks haven’t gotten to enjoy grandchildren,” Travis finally said. “I always thought I’d get around to having a family, but . . . I’m in my forties. I wonder if that ship has sailed.”

Grace hoped she didn’t have chocolate on her teeth when she smiled. “Don’t you know that forty is the new thirty? You’re still young enough to start a family if you don’t linger much longer. And now, I thank you for the lunch. It was amazing, but I should be going.” She pushed back her chair and stood up. She had learned enough from Macy’s mistake to know that a man could worm his way into a woman’s heart by telling her about his hopes and dreams—and maybe not just Macy’s but her own experience with Justin and Sarah’s with Joel. Then, when he had her hooked, he would get what he wanted and leave her high and dry.

“I’ll walk you out to your car,” Travis said. “After that meal, I should walk around the block a few times, but I’ve got a meeting scheduled for three.”

He ushered her into the elevator with his hand on her back again, and tiny bursts of heat did their little dance up and down her spine. Grace was not a poor person, despite her appearance that day, but why would Travis be interested in her?

Stop it! her mother’s voice scolded. You are not the first woman to have a child without the benefit of a marriage license, and you won’t be the last. Get off the guilt wagon and quit being ashamed of your past. It is what it is, and there’s no changing it. You’ve been a good mother, and this man would be lucky to even be allowed to buy you a burger.

“Thanks, Mama,” she whispered.

And don’t let that man buy my recipe, your land, or your soul, her mother’s voice said loud enough in her head that she could hear it above the sirens only a few blocks away.

She reached into her pocket, brought out her car keys, and unlocked her vehicle when she was a few feet away. Travis walked her all the way to the driver’s-side door and opened it for her.

“Thank you for lunch,” she said. “I enjoyed it.”

“Me too, and thank you for the dessert,” he said. “I’ll see you on Wednesday. Seven in front of the Dairy Queen work for you?”

“That sounds good.” She fastened her seat belt and looked up to see Travis standing on the sidewalk, waving at her.

“Well, Mama, what do you think of that?” she whispered.

She didn’t get an answer, so she waved back and drove away.



Macy brought out two bottles of water and set them on the front porch. Then she eased down on the top step and watched Sarah plant flowers in the bed that reached all the way across the front of the house. “I’d help you, but if I touched them, they would die, and if I touched the dirt, it would be poisoned for at least a hundred years.”

Sarah dug a hole and slipped a lantana plant out of a pot. “Why do you say that? My mama didn’t have a green thumb, either, but your mama sure did. When I was a little girl, I loved working in the flower beds with her. You just didn’t want to. I wonder how Grace is doing.”

“Probably taking things very serious, like she has her whole life,” Macy answered. “She’s always felt like she had to protect me and you, and then be a perfect mother to Audrey when she was born. She needs to let go and enjoy herself.” Macy twisted the top off a bottle of water and handed it to Sarah. “I’m not wondering about that. I can’t wait until she gets home and tells us if he asked her out on a real date, and not just a slice of pizza in his office.”

“How can you even let those thoughts in your head after what we both just went through?” Sarah took a long drink of water, wiped the sweat from her forehead on her shirtsleeve, pulled off her gloves, and sat down on the bottom step. “Travis is probably just being nice to get what he wants. In this case, it would be the recipe or the shop. He might even try to find a loophole”—she threw up air quotes—“so that we could sell our business to him and still keep the shop. I wonder if he really wants it or if he just keeps asking so he can see Grace.”