The Devine Doughnut Shop(6)

“Whoa!” Grace said. “Wait just a minute. Don’t go yet. Let’s talk. Want some doughnuts and milk?”

Raelene shook her head. “No, ma’am. I’m not looking for a handout. I need a job.”

“You come with me.” Sarah motioned toward one of the tables to the left. “Sit down and tell me what’s going on since your grandmother passed away.” Even though she’d never been as desperate as Raelene, she could feel her pain, and she patted the girl on the shoulder.

Raelene didn’t argue. “Yes, ma’am,” she said and pulled out a napkin from the dispenser to wipe her wet cheeks.

“Did you walk all the way from your house down here? That’s four miles, at the very least.” Sarah eyed Raelene.

She looked a lot like her mother, whom Sarah heard had left town a few weeks ago with her current boyfriend. At eighteen, Raelene was even shorter than Grace, had thin brown hair that she’d pulled back to the nape of her neck in a ponytail. Her clean but well-worn jeans—no holes in the legs—were a little baggy on her, and her T-shirt was slightly frayed around the neck.

“Tell me what’s going on,” Sarah said. “Your mother and I graduated together. We didn’t stay friends, but we knew each other pretty well back in the day.”

“My mama and her new boyfriend moved to California and left me behind. The rent has run out on the house we live in. The food is all gone, and . . .” She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and went on, “And I’m a straight-A student, and . . .” She opened her eyes and nodded toward Audrey, who had just emerged from the kitchen, her hair wrangled into a sloppy bun perched atop her head. “I figure if she’s working here, then I don’t have a chance.”

“Whether we hire someone or not doesn’t have anything to do with Audrey,” Sarah said. “What happened between you and her, anyway?”

“She told me that in order to run with the popular crowd, she couldn’t be friends with me or any of the little group we’ve been a part of since we were all in elementary school.”

“I see,” Sarah said with a nod. “I’m going to get you a glass of milk and a couple of doughnuts to eat while we talk about a job for you. I can tell you right now that you won’t make enough money at your age to pay rent and utilities on a house.”

One of Raelene’s thin shoulders raised in a half shrug. “I’ll figure out something if I have a job. I’ve got a scholarship for the fall, but I have to get through graduation first. I’ll sleep in the park, if I have to. The weather is getting warmer, and there’s showers in the bathrooms for the campers.”

“Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be back in five.” Sarah crossed the room, picked up two glazed doughnuts from the case, put them on a disposable plate, and poured a tall glass of milk.

Audrey rolled her eyes when Sarah came around the counter. “What’s she doing here?”

“Looking for a job,” Sarah answered.

Audrey gasped. “You can’t hire her! I’d be the laughingstock of the whole school if my friends find out she works here. Crystal and Kelsey will turn their backs on me.”

Grace frowned. “Why?”

“She’s weird, and a tech weenie,” Audrey whispered.

“And what is that?” Grace asked.

“It’s what you old people would call a nerd,” Audrey said with another of her pitiful sighs.

Sarah turned away from Audrey and lowered her voice. “Grace, she’s got three months until she graduates, and she’s a straight-A student. We heard that her mother had moved, but I had no idea she had left Raelene to fend for herself. The rent has played out, as well as the food.”

“Mama, please! Don’t do this,” Audrey begged.

“I will not turn away a kid in need, especially one of your former friends,” Grace said. “Sarah, you do whatever you think is best.”

“Mama! I’ll work harder, but please . . .” Audrey’s hands went into the prayer position.

“We’ve got an extra bedroom in the south wing,” Sarah said. Her niece needed to crawl out of the hole she was digging for herself, and having someone like Raelene around might be just the answer.

“No! Good Lord!” Audrey’s hands went to her cheeks. “She can’t live in the same house as I do.”

Sarah patted her niece on the shoulder. “If you needed a home and food, I would hope someone would help you out.”

“Speaking of you . . .” Grace turned toward Audrey and pointed to the tray on the counter. “Take those three cups of coffee to those guys who are getting settled at their table, and get their doughnut order.”

Sarah carried the milk and doughnuts she’d gathered over to where Raelene was waiting. She put them on the table and then sat down across from her. “I’ve got a deal for you. We have an extra bedroom at our house. The school bus runs right out here on the road every morning at seven thirty, so you can catch it and make all your classes, not just the afternoon ones. We don’t really need any help here at the shop, but we do need someone to help with housework and laundry and general cleanup jobs at the house. We can pay you a little bit and give you room and board until you graduate.”

Raelene took a sip of the milk and then bit into a doughnut. “Why would you do that for me?”