The Devine Doughnut Shop(87)

“I’m not cooking doughnuts until Monday morning,” Sarah declared.

“How about we just make one batch at home?” Macy winked at Audrey. “Just to be sure we haven’t lost our touch.”

“Maybe,” Sarah said and covered a yawn with her hand. “But not today. We’ve got to unpack, and then we have to go vote on the preacher.”

“We should either get a bite of lunch in San Antonio or else make a stop by the grocery store in Devine and eat at home,” Grace said.

“My sister is picking me up, and I promised to feed her for coming to get me. You are all welcome to join us,” Beezy told them as they began the descent to the runway.

“I just want to go home, but you have to promise to tell us all the gossip after church tonight,” Sarah said.

“I’m old and forgetful,” Beezy said with a chuckle, “but I’ll take notes if it’s something really important. You can bet that my sis won’t miss a single thing, and she’ll tell all while we’re eating our lunch.”

“Can we stop at the burger shop and get takeout?” Audrey asked.

“Sounds good to me,” Sarah said. “I’ll volunteer to do our grocery shopping this afternoon.”

Home!

The vacation had been wonderful, and Sarah wouldn’t have minded booking a flight to go back as soon as they were on the ground in Dallas, but her own bed in her own room surrounded by her things sounded really good, too. Too bad she couldn’t have both in one place, she thought.

Macy nudged her shoulder. “You had a smile on your face when you were sleeping. What were you dreaming about?”

“I was on Shell Island again. That little dark-haired girl and I were picking up shells together, and she called me Mama,” Sarah answered.

“What was her name?” Macy asked.

Sarah sighed and shook her head with a twinge of sadness. “Her name is Angela, but I called her Angel in my dream, which may be the closest I will ever get to having a daughter of my own.”

“Hey, don’t give up,” Macy told her. “It’s not like you’re over the hill just yet. Your dream may be an omen.”

“I won’t give up if you won’t,” Sarah told her as the captain began his “thank you for traveling with us” speech.

“It’s a deal,” Macy agreed, “but I’m having ornery boys, not little angels.”



Grace was so tired by evening that she just wanted to curl up in front of the television and binge-watch old episodes of Justified. Instead, she had to do her spiritual duty and vote on the new preacher. She would have gladly sent her vote with Macy, but that wouldn’t have been right. Beezy had made her listen to part of James O’Malley’s sermon from the previous Sunday on the plane. Grace had checked his credentials—six years at a small church in Alvord, Texas; three in Breckinridge; and three in Waco. He had said he felt like he had a divine calling to leave the big churches and come back to a smaller one. Grace didn’t think the older folks would pick up on the subtle divine/Devine joke, but she appreciated it in a sermon.

All three of them were quiet on the ride from their house to the church that evening. They filed into the sanctuary, and Grace stood to the side and let Macy and Sarah sit down first, then took her place at the end of the long oak pew where the rest of the committee already waited. The president of the hiring committee stood up, cleared his throat, and began to talk to them about the new preacher.

Grace wondered why she had let Beezy talk her into sitting on this committee ten years ago and vowed that as soon as she helped hire the new man, she would resign. Holding someone’s future in her hands wasn’t something that she enjoyed. The president went over all James O’Malley’s credentials and then told them a little about James’s personal life. He had been born and raised in Post, Texas—a small town in the Texas Panhandle—had gone to seminary on a basketball scholarship at Oklahoma Baptist University, and had begun his ministry at the age of twenty-two. His grandparents and his family still lived in Post, where they owned a cotton farm. Then President Henry passed out copies of letters of recommendation from the three churches where James had ministered.

“I’ll give you a few minutes to scan these, and then, for those of you who weren’t here Sunday to hear James preach, we are having a little meet and greet in the fellowship hall so everyone can visit with him. After that, you can cast your vote on the way out, and I will send out a group text to let you all know the result,” he said.

Grace leaned over. “Thirty-four or thirty-five years old and unmarried?” she whispered to Macy.

“Sarah is that age, and she’s not married,” Macy reminded her.

“Touché,” Grace said with a nod. “Do you think he goes by James or Jimmy?”

Macy glanced over the raving recommendations, stood up, and headed out of the sanctuary. “That’ll be the first thing I ask him as soon as we get to the fellowship hall. And after that, I’m inviting him to Sunday dinner. There’s no telling what rumors he’s heard about all of us, so maybe if he gets to know us before he hears the gossip, he’ll see that we are good people.”

“Brave little soul, aren’t you?” Grace followed her, thankful Macy’s back was turned to her sudden smile.