The Devine Doughnut Shop(88)

Sarah fell in behind Grace. “Hide that grin. I wouldn’t mess with her—not after seeing her go all Kickboxing Queen on Neal.”

They were the first ones in the fellowship hall, and Grace was surprised to see that the picture she had seen of James O’Malley did not do him justice. To begin with, he was only a couple of inches taller than Macy, who was the tallest of the three of them at five feet, five inches, and to end with, he looked like he lifted weights every day. His biceps stretched the sleeves of his dark green knit shirt, and his thighs filled out his jeans really well.

She thought of how surprised she’d been when Travis shed his shirt at the beach and she had seen how muscular he was. In some cases, a picture was not worth a thousand words.

He crossed the room and held out a hand to Macy. “Hello, ladies. I’m James O’Malley, but my friends and any members of my past congregations all called me Brother Jimmy.”

“Macy Williams, and these are my cousins, Grace and Sarah,” she said. “And before everyone else gets here, we would like to invite you to dinner after services on Sunday.”

“If I’m your new pastor, I’ll be glad to accept,” Brother Jimmy said with a smile.

“Even if you aren’t and you are still in town, you are welcome,” Sarah told him.

“That’s even better, and thank you so much.” Brother Jimmy patted Macy’s hand and then dropped it. “Excuse me while I go meet these other folks. There’s refreshments on the table. Please, help yourselves. Electing a new preacher is hard work, and you might be thirsty or in need of a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie. I made them myself.”

Sarah nudged Macy’s shoulder. “I’m reminded of that old country song about somebody knockin’.”

“The one that says the devil has blue eyes and wears blue jeans,” Grace whispered. “And then there’s something about having a heavenly night. His red hair is almost the same shade as yours. His eyes aren’t the same color as yours, but hey, he might still be knockin’. Can’t you just imagine little redhaired boys running around the church sanctuary?”

“Oh, hush!” Macy hissed at them. “I’m not preacher’s-wife material, even with all that Sunday school teaching. Remember, I was at the top of the gossip-vine list not all that long ago. Brother Jimmy would never be interested in me.”

“You are so right,” Sarah told her. “He would want a sweet, submissive little wife who wouldn’t try to kick a man’s ribs into pieces small enough to pass through the eye of a needle.”

“Amen!” Macy said and headed over to the refreshment table.

Grace had just finished marking her ballot in favor of hiring Brother Jimmy and had slipped it into the ballot box when her phone rang. She fished it out of her purse, saw that the call was from Travis, and answered it. “Hello, how was your day?”

“Hectic, but productive,” Travis answered. “Delores came back to work today, and my first-floor kids are all back at their jobs, but Calvin is going to need another day and the weekend to fully recover. But I didn’t call to talk about my day, other than to say that I missed you horribly all week, and I’m so glad you are home.”

The tone of his voice meant as much as his words.

“Thank you, and I’ve missed you, too. Today was also pretty hectic for me. We barely got home when we had to come back to the church to vote on a new preacher, and now I think I may have some jet lag,” Grace said. “Are we still on for dinner tomorrow night—just the two of us?”

“Yes, ma’am, but I can’t wait that long to see you. I’m on my way to Devine—just passing the city limits sign. Think we could go get some ice cream when you get finished with your meeting, or are you too tired for that?” Travis asked. “If you get sleepy, I’ll be glad to let you sleep on my shoulder.”

“We’re just finishing up here at the church. First one on your left as you come into town. I’ll be waiting on the porch for you,” she told him and tossed the keys to her SUV to Sarah. “Travis and I are going for ice cream. Don’t wait up for me.”

Sarah caught them on the fly. “There’s a motel in Hondo, if you want to be discreet.”

“I said ice cream,” Grace told her as she was walking out the door.

“You might need some ice cream to cool down,” Macy teased. “And remember, you are not like Cinderella. You won’t turn into just a doughnut maker at midnight, and we will watch over Raelene and Audrey until you get home.”

“Thanks,” Grace said as she closed the door behind her.

The parking lot didn’t have many vehicles in it, but even if it had, Travis would have been hard to miss. He had turned on his headlights, and when she stepped off the porch, he got out of his SUV and started toward her. She didn’t care if she seemed too eager as she met him halfway and walked right into his open arms.

“I have missed you so much,” Travis whispered into her hair. “Miz Grace Dalton, I think I could fall in love with you.” He tipped up her chin, looked deeply into her eyes, and kissed her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into his body. The kiss said as much as—or more than—his words. “Me too, but . . .”

“No buts today, darlin’,” Travis said. “We can take it slow and be sure.”