“How long has this been going on?” Grace asked.
“Weeks, maybe months,” Macy admitted. “I didn’t want to say anything because Audrey is in the class, and I didn’t want to get her in trouble.”
Grace gave Macy a quick hug. “Well, today’s the day she’d better be on her best behavior, or she might not get her phone back until summer. Meet you at the car in ten.”
Later, Macy and Grace met in the living room at the same time and were heading out the door when Audrey yelled, “Shotgun!”
“Too late,” Grace told her when she reached the porch. “I’ve already reserved it for myself.”
“But that means . . . ,” Audrey sputtered.
“It means you and Raelene will have to ride in the back.” Grace led the way to the car, where Macy was sliding in behind the wheel and Raelene was in the back seat.
“Mama, why are you being so mean to me?” Audrey whispered, but the chill was there, as clear as if she’d yelled.
“Be careful, my child,” Grace warned her. “I won’t tolerate you being hateful.” She wrapped her arm around Audrey’s shoulder and gave her a hug all the same. “I love you too much to be mean to you, darlin’ girl. Did you ever think back when Raelene was your friend? Didsheever ask you to lie for her?”
“I’ve chosen different friends—true friends, thank you very much,” Audrey said out the corner of her mouth, “and Raelene will never be my friend again. I have to sharemybathroom with her and let her live inmyhouse, but she’s just our maid.”
“That is enough. If I hear you say she’s just a maid again, you will be very, very sorry,” Grace cautioned her daughter. “And be forewarned, if you go to school and bully her because she works for us, there will be consequences.”
“I’m not a bully, but I won’t sit with her on the bus or be all sweet to her at school, either. My friends and I don’t like her kind.” Audrey stomped her foot.
“Seems like that was about what Crystal’s and Kelsey’s mamas told you—they didn’t likeyourkind. You might remember that they feel about you like you do about Raelene these days. Now, go get in the SUV and quit arguing with me,” Grace told her.
“Crystal and Kelsey will never feel like that, no matter what their mamas say,” Audrey hissed under her breath, then crawled all the way back to the third seat to avoid sitting beside Raelene.
She looked out the side window all the way from the house to the church parking lot. As soon as the car stopped, she bailed out of the vehicle and practically jogged across the parking lot to where a group of her friends had gathered.
Macy looked up at Raelene in the rearview mirror and said, “Come on with me and Grace. We’ll take you inside and show you around. This church is a little bigger than the one where you and Hilda went.”
“I miss my granny so much,” Raelene said.
“I know you do. I still miss my mama, and she’s been gone for years. Your granny was one of her dear friends,” Grace answered. “This is a small town, sweetie. Everyone knows everyone, and there’s a lot of folks who loved Hilda.”
“That’s the problem a lot of times, isn’t it?” Raelene whispered.
Macy looped her arm through Raelene’s. “Or the blessing. It all depends on how you look at it.”
Bright sunshine came through the window of Travis’s penthouse apartment on Sunday morning. He laced his fingers behind his head and stared at the ceiling. He had no doubts about buying land for a housing development in Devine. The houses would probably be sold before they could finish building them. Folks—especially those with children—were looking for smaller towns that weren’t far from San Antonio. A thirty-minute commute wouldn’t be much different from going home during rush hour when they lived only across town.
But the idea of owning a doughnut shop? Even if Grace Dalton would sell him the shop and her recipes for what had to be the best pastries he had ever eaten... He sat straight up in bed and grabbed his glasses from the bedside table.
“What if I went really big with it?” He always talked to himself when he was plowing through a problem. “What if I put in a factory and turned out her doughnuts in mass production and shipped them all over the United States?”
She said very emphatically that she would not sell,the annoying voice in his head reminded him.
“Everyone has a price,” Travis argued as he got dressed and called his best friend and CEO, Calvin.
“Are you coming to church with us?” Calvin asked.
“Not this morning,” Travis answered. “I’m going to open up the office and work on some figures about a business opportunity. I just wanted to let you know that I wouldn’t be there.”
“Maggie will be disappointed. She invited a really sweet woman to go to lunch with us,” Calvin said.
“Sorry about that, but I’ve told you both time and time again that I’m not interested in dating,” Travis said.
What about Grace Dalton? Would you go out with her?the voice in his head whispered.
