The Devine Doughnut Shop(75)

“And Audrey is a far cry from the teenager who didn’t want Raelene to live with us,” Sarah whispered in Grace’s ear.

Grace nodded. “We’re very proud of her and of all the hard work she’s done for us and in helping Audrey bring up her grades.”

“Valedictorian, huh?” Travis seemed to be thinking about things. “Are you going to have that honor when you graduate, Audrey?”

“Damn . . . ,” Audrey stammered and blushed. “Dang straight. I can’t let Raelene do better than me, but I’ll have to work hard because I did some stupid stuff this past year, and it’ll take some time to get my grades back up.”

“Sounds like I’m riding with a couple of very smart girls,” Travis said.

The limo maneuvered down a narrow street and parked behind the restaurant. The driver got out and held the door open for them again. “Y’all have a good time. I’ll be right here when you are ready to leave.”

“Thank you,” Beezy said as she put her hand in his and allowed him to help her out of the limo. “You make an old woman feel like a princess.”

“You’re not old, ma’am, and it’s my pleasure.” The driver flashed a smile.

Grace and Travis followed along behind everyone else. Audrey took pictures of everything again, including more selfies of her and Raelene. The two of them were certainly showing their tourist colors, but Grace didn’t care. Maybe when they had been here a dozen times, it would be old hat—as her mother used to say—but today, this was their first ride in a limo, and this place was gorgeous. Huge pots of green plants lined the short alleyway between two buildings. A gentle breeze from off the nearby ocean blew the girls’ hair back and away from their faces, making for the perfect picture.

“Oh. My. Goodness!” Beezy giggled when she turned the corner. “Girls, come quick and let me take a picture of the two of you kissing the pig.”

“I love you, Beezy, but I’m not . . . ,” Audrey said and then turned the corner right ahead of Grace and Travis.

“It’s not a real one.” Raelene pointed to a concrete pig sitting on a stand by the door.

“They’re having so much fun,” Travis said. “I’d forgotten what it was like to be that happy with something as simple as a limo and a nice restaurant.”

Grace nudged him with her shoulder. “You’ve done something special. We spend more than enough time in a restaurant setting at the bakery. They’re used to that, but I’m still glad that they’re not embarrassing you.”

“But you really wouldn’t care if they were, because you like to see them having fun, right?” Travis ushered her past the pig and the outside tables, then into the restaurant.

“We’re not eating outside?” Audrey asked. “This is what I imagined it would be like to eat outside in one of those cafés in Paris, France.”

“I’m sure they already have a table ready for us inside, but I could arrange for us to have dessert out here,” Travis answered and then held the door open. “There’s a small gift shop inside that you girls might want to check out for a T-shirt between our meal and dessert.”

Audrey and Raelene were the first ones in the restaurant; Beezy, Sarah, and Macy went in right behind them. All five were looking at T-shirts and souvenirs when Grace and Travis made their way inside and to a small counter to the right.

“Butler, party of seven, right?” the girl behind the desk asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Travis said, “and we would like to have dessert outside when we finish dinner.”

“We’ll get that set up.” The girl smiled up at him. “This way, please.”

Grace wondered if Travis walked into the restaurant and asked to buy the place—like he had her doughnut shop—whether the owner would agree to sell on the spot.

“Okay, girls. We are being seated. We’ll get shirts before we leave, I promise,” Macy said. “This is really an interesting place. I love the decor and all the antiques. Whatever made you decide to bring us here, Travis?”

“The company has a beach house not far from the motel where you are staying. One of the benefits of working at Butler Enterprises is that if our employees want to come to Florida for vacation, they can claim it for a week. My close friend, Calvin, told me if I came back to this area, I should make a point to eat here,” he answered as he seated Grace first and then the rest of the ladies.

“Man, I’d like to work for you, then,” Raelene said with a sigh.

“Me too,” Audrey agreed. “Just think, Raelene—if we both worked for Travis, you could take a week in the spring and I could take one later, and we could come down here two times in a year.”

“Looks like I’ve got the prospect of new employees.” Travis chuckled.

Sarah, Grace, and Travis were seated on one side of the table while the other four sat across from them. Sarah leaned over and whispered to Grace, “Can you believe this is the same kid that we were about to send to a convent a few weeks ago?”

“It’s a miracle,” Grace said out the side of her mouth.



The clock on the stove said that it was midnight when Macy and Sarah slumped down on the sofa in their motel unit. Beezy eased into an upholstered side chair, kicked off her shoes, and propped her feet on the coffee table. Audrey and Raelene started to make their way across the room toward their bedrooms.