Free Sweet Tea at Sunrise by Sherryl Woods

Sarah was not getting so much money in alimony and child support that she could afford not to consider a higher-paying job. It was just that this particular job was so far out of her comfort zone, it scared her to death. Since her marriage, she’d been even less likely to take chances than she might have years ago.
    Which is all the more reason to say yes, a voice in her head nagged. Do something outrageous for once, something risky and new. Find out what you’re really made of.
    “I was hoping to start teaching in the fall,” she said, clinging to the one last objection that made any sense.
    “Well, I suppose if this doesn’t work out the way I think it will, you could always do that,” Travis said. “Unless, of course, you’ve already made a commitment to the school.”
    She shook her head. “No. I don’t even know if there’s going to be a position available.”
    “Then why trade a sure thing for something that might not happen?” he asked, then leaned a little closer and coaxed, “Come on, Sarah. Think how much fun the two of us can have starting this together.”
    He made it sound tempting and far more intimate than any job offer that had ever come her way. Helen would probably have a lot to say about the legalities of mixing business and personal agendas, but Sarah wasn’t sure this really qualified as any kind of potential sexual harassment when right this second it felt so good.
    She lifted her gaze to meet his sea-green eyes and slowly nodded, even though her heart was climbing into her throat and her palms had turned clammy. Unfortunately, she couldn’t be entirely certain if that reaction was due to fear about the job or pure terror at being drawn into the world of Travis McDonald, who seemed to do disconcerting things to her common sense.
     
    Raylene had dinner on the table when Sarah got home. The kids were in the backyard playing catch withWalter, who appeared to be showing admirable tolerance for Libby’s ineptitude.
    “He’s making progress,” Raylene noted after handing Sarah a glass of sweet tea. “I hardly had to do any arm-twisting at all today to get him to include Libby. The way she toddles around after him, hoping for just a tiny bit of attention, breaks my heart.”
    “I know,” Sarah said. “Has he said anything about his plans? When’s he going back home? He’s never hung around this long before.”
    “He hasn’t said anything to me,” Raylene told her. “I get the feeling he has something on his mind, though. Maybe you should find out what it is.”
    “My mind’s on overload as it is,” Sarah said, sitting down at the table with her glass of tea. “I don’t think I can take on Walter’s problems.”
    Raylene regarded her worriedly. “What’s wrong?”
    Sarah shook her head. She needed to absorb all the implications of this agreement she’d made with Travis before she laid it all out there for everyone else to pick apart. “I’ll tell you later. I don’t want to bring it up while Walter’s around.” Heaven knew what he’d think of the crazy idea of her going on the radio. He might be okay with it, but she could hear his mother raising a ruckus about how unseemly it would be. She hadn’t been able to completely eliminate the strident criticisms that came no matter how hard she’d tried to make peace with the woman.
    “You sure?” Raylene asked.
    “I’m sure. Let me get those three in here and cleaned up for supper.”
    She walked to the back door and called out to them.At the sound of her voice, Walter glanced up and gave her an unguarded grin that reminded her of the way he’d looked at her back in college whenever she surprised him by stopping by his dorm or, later, his fraternity house. It was a sexy, all-male smile that had once made her heart catch. Now her reaction paled in comparison to what the most innocent glance from Travis did to her. Not that many of Travis’s glances were all that innocent, when she thought about it.
    When Walter came