The Devine Doughnut Shop(54)

“What’s so funny?” Grace asked.

“I guess Macy and I were digging in the dirt, so to speak, when we let those scumbags Joel and Neal into our lives,” Sarah said.

Grace’s frown deepened the few crow’s-feet around her eyes.

“You’d have to be in my warped state of mind to understand all of what I said.” Sarah wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her shirt and then dropped back to her knees. “But, like you said a few days ago, we are going to check any man out thoroughly before we fall in love. And that means Travis Butler. Now, on to another subject: Can you believe that Audrey is in there helping Raelene? I figured there would be an ice storm in hades before she ever became Raelene’s friend, especially after that first day when I brought her to the house.”

“That’s easier than visualizing the two of them sitting together in the library and Audrey asking Raelene to help her,” Grace said. “You remember how gossipy girls were in school. Technology has changed the world, but human nature and teenage girls are the same. By the end of the school day, all of Audrey’s friends had probably realized that she has been hanging out with Raelene for the past couple of days. It’s not a matter of whether the nuclear fallout will hit. It’s more a matter of when, because Audrey is baiting a bear. I just hope that she’s really becoming friends with Raelene and not just using her to get back at those other two.”

Sarah slipped the last petunia plant into the flower bed and sat down beside Grace on the porch step. “Think Audrey will do something stupid?”

“You can bet the shop on it,” Grace said with a nod.





Chapter Twelve


Grace was in that state between being almost awake and not yet fully asleep on Friday evening when her phone pinged. She fumbled around on the nightstand and read the text message with one eye open: Had a wonderful time at lunch. Looking forward to next Wednesday.

“Uh-huh,” she muttered and tossed the phone on the end of the bed. She closed her eyes, but she couldn’t go back to sleep. Her thoughts went from worrying about Audrey’s temper when she was pushed too far and Raelene putting up with bullying to keep her scholarship to what she was going to do about Travis and the date on Wednesday. Somewhere in the middle of all the flipping from one side to the other, fluffing up her pillow half a dozen times, and cussing Travis for waking her up with a text, she realized that some folks didn’t go to bed as early as she did. But then, they didn’t have to be at work at three in the morning, either. That should be an omen that she didn’t need Travis in her life—not even their sleeping schedules matched.

Morning came way too soon. She’d only had a few hours of sleep, and she’d dreamed about Travis the whole time and woke up cranky. She dressed in her usual jeans and T-shirt with the Devine Doughnut logo on the back. As she brushed her blonde locks up into a ponytail, she noticed a gray hair and groaned.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Gray hair is earned, so own it and be proud of it, the voice in her head that sounded so much like her mother said.

“I’m entitled to whine a little. I have a teenage daughter,” she muttered.

She heard both Macy’s and Sarah’s bedroom doors open and close as she walked out into the hallway.

“Mornin’,” Sarah muttered and covered a yawn with her hand.

Macy agreed with one word: “Yep.”

“Sounds like y’all didn’t sleep any better than I did,” Grace said and followed them through the living room and then outside. The moon and stars usually brightened the path to the shop, but that morning, another round of dark clouds covered the sky. The air felt heavy, as if rain were on the way, and way off in the distance, Grace heard a faint rumble of thunder.

Sarah opened the back door into the shop. “If you tossed and turned half the night, then you’re right, where I’m concerned. I kept thinking about Audrey.”

Macy followed her inside and turned on the lights. “If she will take punishment for her friends like she did with the cigarettes and booze, then what will happen if those mean girls bully Raelene in front of her at school?”

“It won’t even be as pretty as when you tried to kick Neal into a bloody mess,” Grace answered. “Remember when she made a believer out of that kid in kindergarten for putting dirt on her new shoes?”

Macy set the usual large bowls up on the counter. “She was the smallest kid in the classroom, and that boy was the biggest, but she didn’t think twice about tying into him.”

“Yep, the storm isn’t just coming from the sky,” Grace said. “She’s always been quick to sass yet fairly slow to anger. But when the pot boils, it comes right out over the top and spreads everywhere.”

Macy added warm water to three bowls and commented, “Just like Sarah.”

“Hey, now!” Sarah objected as she added yeast and sugar to each bowl. “Grace is just as bad—and you’re one to talk after what we saw you do to Darla Jo and Neal.”

“I’m quick to anger and, most of the time, quick to cool down. You two . . .” Grace paused. “Are the ones that let something fester until it explodes. Which reminds me, what would each of you do different about Joel and Neal now that time has passed?”

“The Bible warns us against killing,” Macy answered.