The Devine Doughnut Shop(74)

“Ready and getting hangrier—as the kids call it—by the minute,” Beezy said and led the way outside. “Where are you parked?”

“Right across the street, in front of the laundry,” Travis answered as he and Grace brought up the rear so she could lock the door. “I’m glad you’re hungry. I’ve never eaten at this place, but several folks from my company have, and they recommend it highly.”

“Honey, if they’ve got good shrimp scampi, I’ll be a happy camper,” Beezy said and looked back over her shoulder. “The black SUV?”

“No, the limo,” Travis said. “I decided that I would rather sit and visit with all y’all than drive, and we would be really crowded in the SUV I have rented.”

Grace heard Macy suck in air, and Sarah giggled under her breath. Audrey and Raelene whispered all the way across the narrow street. So much for two teenage girls coming up with an opinion of Travis based solely on his attitude and kindness.

“Too much?” Travis asked in a low voice.

“Not at all,” Grace answered. “This is quite a treat. I know Audrey has never ridden in a limo, and I’m pretty sure Raelene hasn’t, either.”

“And you?” Travis asked.

“Nope,” Grace answered.

“Well, well, well!” Beezy said when the driver opened the door for her. “I’ve got to take pictures to send to Mavis—that’s my sister back in Devine. She’ll never believe this.”

“It’s just a rental car,” Travis said.

“To you, that’s what it is,” Grace said just above a whisper. “To all of us, it’s something way out of our experience.”

“I hope you don’t feel like that about me,” Travis said.

“I don’t know you well enough to know how I feel about you,” Grace told him.

That’s a lie, the niggling voice in her head said loudly. You like him, or you wouldn’t be wasting time with him—especially on your first-ever real vacation.

No sense in letting that cat out of the bag right here at the first, she argued.

“Well, I sure hope I can remedy that through this next week,” Travis told her. “Looks like your girls are having a good time, and that makes me happy.”

Audrey had her phone out, snapping pics of the driver and the stretch limo and making sure she got several selfies of herself and Raelene. No doubt the pictures would be all over social media long before they reached the restaurant.

When they were all seated and the door was closed, the driver got in behind the wheel and reminded them that there was champagne, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic, chilled and ready to pour, and a tray of fresh fruit for them to have on the way.

Grace leaned in close to Travis, who was pouring champagne into five stemmed flutes, and whispered, “Thank you for all this, and that getting to know each other works both ways. You might decide that you aren’t a bit interested in a woman who’s just part owner of a bakery shop.”

“I kind of doubt that,” Travis answered as he poured nonalcoholic champagne for the girls. Then he held up his own. “A toast to a good vacation that is long overdue for us all.”

Beezy was the first one to touch her glass to his. “Hear, hear!”

“I know how Cinderella felt,” Raelene said as she clinked her flute with the rest of them.

“Me too,” Audrey said. “Does this thing turn into a pumpkin at midnight?”

“Have no idea, but after supper, we could ride around in it until then and find out,” Travis answered.

“For real?” Audrey asked.

“Sure,” Travis said. “We can go anywhere y’all want to go.”

Grace glanced down at her dress and smiled. She was wearing a five-dollar thrift store dress, but she was riding in a modern-day golden chariot, and she had to admit that the excitement bouncing around in the back of the limo was contagious. The champagne warmed her insides, but not as much as Travis’s shoulder pressed against hers heated her up on the outside. She wondered if the rest of her family could feel the electricity. That she was attracted to Travis couldn’t be denied—but she still couldn’t be sure he wasn’t playing her by being nice to her family just so he could get what he wanted.

“So, Audrey, what do you want to be when you grow up?” Travis asked.

“I have no idea,” she said, “but Raelene is going to help me get enrolled for some concurrent college classes next semester. I wish she wasn’t going off to Oklahoma for college, because she is really good at explaining things. She should be an algebra teacher instead of a nurse, anyway. She’s so smart in all things that have to do with math that it’s not even funny.”

“I may not go to Oklahoma,” Raelene said with a shrug. “After the trouble we got into, those folks might withdraw their offer.”

Grace knew how important it was to Raelene to be independent, but she would see to it that the girl went to college, no matter the outcome with the one in southern Oklahoma. Raelene was too smart to not have the opportunity to further her education.

“You’re good in algebra?” Travis asked. “What else do you like?”

“I like learning new things and figuring out things,” she answered.

“She’s going to be the valedictorian of her graduating class this year,” Audrey said in a bragging tone.