The Devine Doughnut Shop(86)

Tears streamed down Raelene’s face, dripped off her jaw, and left wet spots on her Perfect Pig T-shirt. “Yes,” she whispered, “but are you serious? I could go to school at the University of Texas right there in San Antonio and live at home?”

“Halle-damn-lujah!” Beezy pumped her fist. “Hilda would be so proud of you.”

“This is a dream.” Raelene reached for a tissue on the bar and wiped her eyes.

Audrey let out a squeal and pumped her own fist. “You won’t have to leave and go all the way up into Oklahoma if you get that internship. This is the best news ever. Take that, Crystal and Kelsey!”

Grace pointed to Audrey. “And you might have a chance to be that intern with Delores, the person that Travis swears knows more about his company than he does. You’ll both have driver’s licenses by then, so you can take my car and go to work each day. But, girl, you will have to take orders and learn what Delores has to teach you from the ground up.”

Audrey sucked in air and let it out slowly. “I would count paper clips or file papers all day to get a job like that. Would I get a scholarship, too?”

“Yes, you would,” Grace answered.

“I’ll start concurrent classes in business as soon as I can,” Audrey whispered.

“Can you believe that we would be working in the same building?” Raelene asked.

“This is the perfect ending to our vacation.” Audrey slid off her barstool and hugged Raelene.

“No, it’s not,” Beezy said. “The ending won’t be until we watch the sunrise one more time. We’ll tell the beach goodbye and promise to come back at Christmas for a few days. But right now, we need to go buy suitcases for all five of you. And then we’re going to lunch. After that, we’ll get all packed up and ready to leave by seven in the morning because we board our plane at ten. One more thing, we’ve all got to be at the church at seven thirty tomorrow night to vote on whether to hire the new preacher or not.”

“How are you going to vote?” Macy asked.

“I listened to his Sunday sermon on the phone earlier this week,” Beezy said, “and my sister snuck a picture of him so I could see what he looks like. He’s thirty-five and never been married. He’s not a big man, but . . .” She pulled her phone from her shirt pocket and hit a few icons. “Take a look—but remember, we’re not hiring him based on his looks. If we were, I wouldn’t vote for him. He’s kind of generic looking. But let me tell you, when he presented that sermon, I was on the edge of my seat. So I’ll be voting for him.”

Macy took the phone from her. “What’s his name?”

“James O’Malley. That red hair and green eyes say he’s Irish as much as his name does,” Beezy said.

“If he can stir your spirit that much,” Grace said, “then he’s got my vote.”

“Yep,” Sarah agreed with a nod.

Grace wondered if Travis would be the kind of guy to go to church with her or if he would want to continue to go wherever he went in San Antonio.

That’s silly, she scolded herself. Two or three kisses does not mean wedding bells or three-tiered cakes.





Chapter Twenty-Two


It’s hard to believe that we are on a plane in Florida and will be home in time to vote on our new preacher tonight,” Macy said as she fastened her seat belt.

“Or that Raelene and I will be in school on Monday morning,” Audrey said from across the aisle.

“Excited about that idea?” Sarah asked from the seat behind Audrey and Raelene.

“It’ll be a whole new experience,” Raelene answered. “I just hope that what happened to Crystal and Kelsey put some fear into the other bullies.”

“If it didn’t and we have to fight them off us, do we get to go back to Florida?” Audrey teased.

“Not until Christmas break,” Grace answered.

“Is Beezy going with us?” Audrey asked.

“Anytime you pack your suitcases, I’ll get mine ready to go,” Beezy answered. “This has been the most fun I’ve had in years. Not even that cruise could compare to these past few days.”

Once the plane was in the air, Macy stared out the window at the land beneath them getting smaller and smaller. Each plot down there was no bigger than a postage stamp. In the grand scheme of things, that’s the way her anger over Neal and her jealousy about Grace looked. She should let them go now before they grew into acres and acres and consumed her.

Macy sighed and turned around to find Sarah sound asleep. Audrey and Raelene were deep in a whispered conversation, most likely about the possibility of their summer jobs with Butler Enterprises. Grace and Travis had been in communication every day since he left, so she would be glad to get home to see him. Beezy, bless her heart, would get right back to whatever gossip was going around town.

Macy glanced back over at Sarah. Just me and you, darlin’ cousin, who have nothing to go home to but the same old routine.



Sarah awoke when the plane began to circle Dallas. “Are we home?”

“Nope,” Audrey answered. “But we’re close. We’ve got an hour layover here in Dallas, and then a quick flight home. We should be there by noon—and this might sound crazy, but I’m starving for doughnuts.”