Macy’s face lit up in a smile. “Neal did good when he picked it out.”
“Yes, he did,” Darla Jo said with a smug grin that sent Grace’s blood pressure soaring. They were right.
Macy picked up the order pad and started back toward the counter. “I’ll bring your order right out. You have a nice day.”
Darla Jo flipped her hair back over her shoulder. “Oh, honey, I will, and I’ll think of you when I’m living on the island.”
Grace bit back a smart remark and picked up the coffeepot. She crossed the room and topped off the three old guys’ mugs and whispered, “Guess y’all are all out of luck. She’s moving off to an island.”
“Don’t bother me one bit,” Claud said. “My wife told me that she would come up out of the grave and haunt me if I ever got remarried when she was gone. We been together more’n fifty years, and I believe her.”
“Got to admit,” Ira said, “that I’m scared of my dear Martha Jane. She lets me come to town and have coffee with these two, but she thought poor old Wesley and Henry had both lost their minds.”
Grace glanced over at Frankie and raised an eyebrow.
He raised both palms in a defensive gesture. “Honey, my get-up-and-go got up and went a long time ago. I’d have to buy a how-to book to even know what to do with a woman like that. I don’t imagine there’ll be a lot of tears shed when she leaves Devine. Could you bring us three more of them glazed doughnuts, please?”
“You betcha,” Grace said and carried the pot across the room to the table where Darla Jo was sitting with her sons. “Need a little warm-up?”
Darla Jo held up her half-empty cup. “Love one. How long have y’all had this cute little shop? I heard through the grapevine that y’all are about to sell it, maybe to some big corporation up in San Antonio?”
“My sister and cousin and I are the fourth generation to run this doughnut shop,” Grace answered. “Our great-grandmother built it right after World War II. It started out almost a hundred years ago as an office for the land management business that my ancestors had in this area, but then my great-grandmother turned it into a doughnut shop—and it’s not for sale. That’s just a rumor.”
“And this little bitty place supports all of you?” Darla Jo asked. “That’s amazing.”
Grace used the rest of what was in the coffeepot to top off Darla Jo’s mug. “Yes, it is, but then, we don’t have a lot of overhead. We all live together in the house where we were raised, and it’s not fancy.”
“Oh, Imusthave fancy,” Darla Jo said.
“So you’re going to have a mansion on your island, not a little grass hut?” Grace asked.
“Of course,” Darla Jo answered. “We’ve bought a huge furnished villa, and the staff has agreed to stay on. It’s my dream house.”
“Well, I hope you’ll be very happy.” A rock that was half the size of the one in Gibraltar was back in Grace’s chest, and she fought the urge to cross her fingers behind her back for telling such a blatant lie.
“Oh, I will be,” Darla Jo said. “I haven’t had such good luck with husbands, but maybe that will change with Edward.”
Lady, do you realize what nickname this town has given you?Grace wondered.You are a black widow. I bet you already had your second rich man picked out when you buried the first one. I’d be willing to lay a bet that they didn’t die of natural causes.
As if Darla Jo could read Grace’s mind, she blinked several times and her chin quivered. “You know how couples are. I loved Edward at one time, but we broke up, and I moved here for a fresh start. But bless him, he and I have worked toward this moment for a decade. Now it’s our turn to be together.”
A decade!
Those words added more weight to the heavy feeling in Grace’s chest. Macy was most likely just the tail end of a long line of cons that would end with Darla Jo and Neal on some island where they couldn’t be extradited back to the United States.
Grace turned around, slipped her phone from her pocket, and sent a text to Travis:It’s not true and it’s a con. Could we talk tonight?
The last dozen doughnuts went out the door at eleven thirty that morning, and Sarah locked the door behind their final customer. “We don’t have time to make more doughnuts, and we’re sold out. I’m going to run up to San Antonio for supplies. The restaurant-supply store closes at three, and we need flour, yeast, and sugar.”
“I’m going home to use some more of Raelene’s oil on my head,” Macy said. “It still feels like one big bruise. Neal is in the air, on his way to California, so we can’t talk until he gets there. I’ll be so glad when we get all this legal stuff done. Y’all are still going to buy out my third of the business, aren’t you?”
“Let’s give that some serious time when I get back,” Sarah said and then shot Grace a look across the room.
“A long nap is calling my name.” Audrey jerked her apron off and tossed it into the bin with the dirty clothes.
“Right after you gather up that load of aprons to take home, wash, and fold for tomorrow. When they’re all done and you’ve had your two hours of tutoring, then you can take a nap,” Grace told her.
“That’s Raelene’s job, not mine,” Audrey protested.
