The Devine Doughnut Shop(79)

“I’m not sure how smart that has to be,” Grace answered.

“Every summer we hire an intern for the think tank. Some high school graduate who shows signs of being able to compete with our first-floor kids. We pay minimum wage, with a bonus at the end of the summer, and expose them to the world of looking out for corporate opportunities. Lucy, our supervisor in the group, was like Raelene,” Travis said.

“Hey, Mama.” Audrey came over to the blanket. “Aren’t you going in the water?”

“Not this time. I’m going to watch y’all.”

“Will you take pictures for me?” Audrey held up her phone.

“Of course,” Grace answered.

Audrey tossed her phone onto the blanket, and then she and Raelene headed for the edge of the water, with Julie right behind them, giving them instructions about the masks and snorkels.

Grace picked up the phone and turned to Travis. “Were you asking me if I thought Raelene would be interested in interning for you?”

“Yes, I was, but that’s not all. I also hire an intern to work with Delores and her assistant, and she’s been on my case to find one for her this summer. She says she’s going to retire in six years, when she gets to be eighty, and she needs to be training someone to take her place,” Travis replied. “Maybe Audrey could work out as she grows up. As she learns more and more, Audrey might be a big help to her and eventually step into more responsible positions.”

“Sweet Lord!” Grace gasped. “Are you serious?”

“I have a vision, and I believe those two girls are going to grow up to be just like me and Calvin—best friends who want to work together,” he answered. “Just think about it. I won’t even make either of them an offer if you don’t think I should. But when someone works out in my think tank, or if Delores finds her own protégée, it also means a full scholarship to the university of their choice. The only string is that they have to come work for the company in the summertime. Except for Lucy, all the employees on that floor were interns.”

“Are you that good at judging people?” Grace asked.

“I make a mistake every now and then. Remember, I am divorced,” he reminded her.

Grace’s mind went into overdrive. If Audrey had a job working for the same company as Raelene this summer, she could learn responsibility, how to take orders, and the value of a dollar. Seeing her family run a shop hadn’t done that so far. If the girls liked those corporate jobs, they wouldn’t move a thousand miles away from Devine, and Grace could see them both often.

Her mother’s voice popped back into her head: That’s selfish.

Yes, it is, but I’m not taking it back, Grace thought.

“You’re already weighing pros and cons,” Travis said, “and you are wondering if I’m offering this just to ingratiate myself to you. I assure you that I am not. I’m not that kind of man, and you aren’t the type of woman that would do anything other than what is right for your family. I trust your judgment, Grace.”

Grace picked up the phone and snapped a couple of pictures of Beezy and the girls watching Julie demonstrate how to use the masks. “That’s quite an opportunity—but don’t most interns work for free?”

“Some do, but I always pay mine minimum wage,” Travis answered and pointed. “There’s the first dolphin, coming in close enough that they can touch him.”

Grace quickly took a picture of the girls with the dolphin. Her thoughts weren’t on summertime or the money the girls would make; they went way beyond that. She found herself wishing that Justin would have stuck around and been a husband to her and a father to Audrey, and that as a family, they could have gone on vacations like this.





Chapter Nineteen


Sarah picked up a pretty shell and slipped it into her tote bag, then wandered off away from Macy and several other groups who were scattered along the beach. More people arrived by the minute as boats came in to drop folks off in the shallow water close to the shoreline and others gathered up their passengers and left. The traffic reminded her of the streets during the five o’clock rush in San Antonio. Of course, here on the island, folks were rushing off and onto boats rather than driving cars. Everyone wore bathing suits and floppy hats, and most of them had something in the way of a bag to use for gathering up shells.

She had left the sandy area and wandered back to where the sea oats grew wild when she heard something that sounded like a child weeping. She passed it off as bird sounds, thinking that maybe one was fussing at her for getting too close to a nest. She picked up another nice-size shell that she could use as a ring holder on her dresser and then heard the noise again.

“That’s not a bird,” she whispered.

“Daaadddy, I’m scared.”

This time Sarah was positive that she had heard words, not just sobbing.

“Hello?” she called out. “Where are you? Are you hurt?”

A little girl stepped out from behind a clump of sea oats. The ocean breeze blew the strands of hair that had escaped from her thick black braids across her face, and her big brown eyes were filled with both fear and relief.

“I want my da . . . ddy,” she moaned, drawing out the last word into a whine that had several syllables. Then she crossed the distance and threw her arms around Sarah’s legs. “Help me find my daddy.”