“You don’t get to drop that bombshell on us and then leave,” Macy whispered to her back so customers wouldn’t hear.
The group of women sitting at the table to the right had left, but Lisa and Carlita came in right behind them and settled down at the only clean table in the shop. Macy rolled her eyes toward the ceiling but called out, “Good morning. What can we get you?”
“Hot tea and half a dozen doughnuts with chocolate icing,” Lisa said.
Grace nodded, filled two mugs with hot water, and added a tea bag to each one. She rounded the end of the counter, wishing the whole time that she had made chocolate icing with an unhealthy dose of laxative in it. “Might as well get this over with.”
“I heard that Travis Butler was in here this morning and asked you out on a date. You need to be careful. He might be playing you just like Neal did with Macy,” Lisa said. “He’s probably nice to you just to get you to sell him this shop, and like I told you before, our husbands”—she glanced over at Carlita—“could get you a better deal than you can get selling on your own.”
“And faster,” Carlita said. “You might even be able to move before the end of the school year.”
“When I want your advice, I promise I’ll ask for it,” Grace said.
“I suppose it would be a good thing for jobs, but I like our little town just the way it is,” Carlita said with a sigh. “Just think of all the riffraff a factory would bring in. Trailer parks would probably pop up everywhere, and our girls would be going to school with...”
“With kids like Audrey, who isn’t good enough to be friends with your daughters?” Grace fought the urge to spit in their mugs and set them down on the table.
“You’re unusually rude this morning,” Lisa snapped. “I don’t know why we even try to visit with you.”
“Because you want to see if we’ll spill the tea on the latest gossip,” Sarah answered from behind the counter. “We’re all out of chocolate doughnuts. What else can I get you?”
“Glazed is fine,” Carlita said.
“Coming right up.” Sarah put six in a box and took it over to them, then grabbed a broom to sweep up the floors for the third time that morning.
Lisa pointed across the narrow room toward Macy. “Grace says she won’t sell this place. What about you? It’s evident that you aren’t a very good judge of character, but would you go against your cousin?”
“Are you just trying to stir up trouble?” Macy asked. “What we decide or don’t decide with this place is a family matter that we will never discuss with anyone. But you can go out there and tell all your nosy friends that we aren’t selling the business or our recipe. As far as my character judgment—you better be careful not to throw stones from inside your glass houses.”
From Lisa’s expression, it was obvious that Macy’s comments about their husbands had not landed. “If that’s the case, why is Grace going to have lunch with Travis Butler?”
“Again, none of your business.” Grace tried to keep calm, but even she could hear the edge in her voice.
Grace turned and headed toward the kitchen. She sent up a silent prayer:Lord, please send some more customers in here.If there’s a lot of people, then maybe those two won’t be so brazen and nosy.
“He’s not as sexy as Justin was, but he’s not bad,” Carlita said.
“Whew!” Lisa fanned herself dramatically with her hand. “I still get hives when I think about Justin.”
“Why’s that?” Grace stopped at the end of the display case.
“Honey, you have to know that several of us spent a little time with him before he took off,” Carlita answered.
“You were both already married before he left town, so you know what that makes you. And you have the audacity to say what you did about Audrey,” Grace growled. “And FYI, I’m not the marryin’ type—and if I was, it wouldn’t be for money.”
“And that’s why you’re still stuck in a joint like this,” Lisa said. “You’re not old yet, but you will be someday, and what will your prospects be then?”
Grace turned back and snapped, “Maybe I’ll come up with a new topping for doughnuts when I get really old. Something that old folks will love, but it will choke all gossiping hussies to death.”
Finally, Lisa and Carlita left, tossing their hair in one last insulting flounce, and even though there were a dozen doughnuts of various varieties still in the case, Grace locked the door. “We’ll take what’s left home. The girls will enjoy having some for their after-school snacks. I sure wish those two would realize they aren’t welcome here.”
“They think they’re on a pedestal, and we’re just here to wait on them,” Sarah told her.
“Amen!” Macy said with a nod. “I sure wanted to kick the legs out from under Carlita’s chair, so it’s a good thing we are closing.” She got three bottles of sweet tea from the refrigerator and led the way to the cleanest of the four tables. She sat down and propped her feet up on an empty chair. “Now, let’s talk about Travis—or better yet, let’s talk about Justin. Do you believe what those two hateful women said about him?”
Grace sat down, propped her feet on the same chair as Macy, and told them about her plans to have pizza with Travis. “I wouldn’t have believed anything those women said a few years ago.” She twisted the top off one of the bottles and took a long drink. “But right now, nothing would shock me. It just makes me more determined to shun relationships.”
“Let’s see.” Sarah used the final few inches of the chair for her feet. “A couple of weeks ago, you said that you couldn’t date now because any man would run if you introduced him to Audrey.”
