The Devine Doughnut Shop(52)

Macy’s thoughts about not having the shop went two ways: One part of her wanted to have a reason to leave Devine and never look back. Another part was fine with staying right there in her comfortable little rut and never getting away from it—gossip, early rising, all of it. She saw Grace coming up the drive and went inside the house, got another bottle of water, and brought it out to the porch.

“It’s a beautiful day,” Macy said when Grace got out of the vehicle and sat down on the top step beside her. “Have some water. Sit down and tell us all about your slice of pizza and if we need to dig the bridal magazines out of the trash bin.”

Grace opened the bottle and took a long drink. “Well, it was a little more than a slice that we just took from a box . . .” She went on to tell them everything she could remember. “I don’t know if he’s playing me to get what he wants—we’re all three very familiar with men like that—or if this dinner date on Wednesday night is because he wants to get to know me. Whatever. I didn’t expect him to agree to it.”

“Maybe he’s as confused as you are.” Macy turned up her bottle of water and took a long drink. “He wants our shop and our land, but it could be that he’s not used to being told no on anything, and you intrigue him because you won’t let him have what he wants.”

Sarah shook her head. “As much as recent events have made me need to get away from Devine for a while, I don’t want to sell our land, and I sure don’t want to live next to a gated community of million-dollar homes.”

“We would begin to feel like the poor relations up next to those big fancy places, and I kind of like not having neighbors,” Macy said. “I don’t know why I ever thought I wanted to live in the city. We have to deal with people in the shop, so it’s kind of nice to come home to nothing but the sounds of birds and a few cows mooing off in the distance.”

“It’s the chance of a lifetime,” Grace said, “but I agree with y’all. The only way I’d think about selling our land is if we closed shop and moved away from Devine. I don’t want to live cramped up by that many neighbors, either.”

An image of a moving van flashed through Macy’s mind, and it didn’t make her sad. Quite the contrary. She was happy as she imagined herself getting into her car and following the truck out to the highway and heading south right behind it. Then she thought of the day when she had confronted Neal and watched him leave Devine. Tears welled up in her eyes at just the idea of leaving her family behind if Sarah and Grace went a different way.

“I may cancel,” Grace said. “We’ve made up our minds about the land. I can tell him that over the phone. Besides”—she nodded toward Audrey and Raelene coming up the path—“that way, I don’t even have to mention it to them. Audrey would sell the blue streak in her hair to get out of Devine, and she would drive us to drinking something stronger than sweet tea with her pouting if we didn’t move away.”

“And if she thinks you’re going out with Travis, she’ll have you married by the weekend,” Sarah said.

“How was school?” Macy asked when the girls reached the porch.

“All right,” Raelene answered and headed on into the house. “I’ll get the dusting done right after I grab a snack.”

“I’ll be in and help you in a few,” Audrey said.

Macy gasped and shook her head. “What did you say?”

Audrey slumped down in the swing and set it in motion with her foot. “I owe Raelene.”

“How’s that?” Sarah asked.

“She helped me with my algebra at noon today, and I made a ninety on the test this afternoon. And I’m out of real money until I get my allowance. I told her we were friends, and I’ve been steering clear of Crystal and Kelsey. But she doesn’t really believe me yet, so I have to help dust to pay for her lessons.”

When Raelene had moved into the house, Macy had worried that Audrey might push her around. She was glad to see that she had been wrong. “Sounds like a good deal to me, if you got that high of a grade.”

“Before I go do a job I don’t like to do—how did your lunch go with Mr. Rich Britches? Any chance I’ve got to deal with a stepdad in the future? If that’s the case, I need to meet him in the first stages of this romance. I’m not real interested in his money, but I want to know if he’s got a ‘love ’em and leave ’em’ attitude like my biological father had. And I don’t have to remind any of y’all about men right now. None of y’all have been real good at figuring that out, so I’m sure you’ll need my unbiased help.”

“Lunch went fine. I told Travis we aren’t selling the shop and that we aren’t interested in selling our land,” Grace answered. “And how did you know about that?”

“Mama!” Audrey rolled her eyes. “The gossip at school is just as hot as it is anywhere else. Crystal’s mama found out about y’all’s little visit and called her when we were on the bus. I guess they think they can get information out of me, but that ship has sailed.”

“I told you we should take her to school instead of letting her ride the bus.” Macy groaned. “I remember what went on when I rode the bus, and that was before we all had a cell phone. We heard more gossip on the ride home than some folks got on their landlines or over the backyard fences.”