Sweet Tea at Sunrise by Sherryl Woods

about the local news. When I mentioned the radio station the other day, it was the first he’d heard that Travis McDonald was settling here. Anyway, it turns out Ty knows him, or knows of him, I guess I should say. He says he had a real reputation as a ladies’ man when be played for Boston. A couple of Ty’s teammates have known Travis ever since he played in the minors. He called me tonight to fill me in on all this.”
    Sarah’s mouth gaped. “Travis played for the Boston Red Sox? You’re kidding me!”
    “You didn’t know that?” Maddie asked, looking surprised.
    Sarah shook her head. “He said he’d played ball for a while. He didn’t say anything about playing in the majors. I figured he was maybe on some farm team for about a minute.”
    “It was a little longer than a minute, according to Ty,” Annie said. “It was long enough to make an impression on a lot of women in a lot of cities.”
    “Well, so what?” Sarah said, even though she wasdisconcerted by the news. “It’s not as if I’m going to date him. I’m just going to work for him. Besides, maybe he’s reformed and wants a chance to start fresh. Ty did.”
    Annie winced at the reminder of her husband’s well-publicized exploits with women. He’d wound up with a son during that wild phase of his life. Trevor, in fact, was living right here with Annie while Ty was on the road with the team.
    Before Annie could respond, though, Jeanette breezed in. “Sorry, I’m late. Are you talking about Travis? He just told me he’d hired you, Sarah. Congratulations!”
    Maddie, Dana Sue and Helen turned on her.
    “Just how well do you know him?” Dana Sue asked, radiating suspicion. “I know he’s Tom’s cousin, but you’ve never even mentioned him.”
    “Haven’t I?” Jeanette asked with a shrug. “He’s been staying with us. He wanted us to keep it quiet when he first got here. He’d had his fill of publicity.”
    “Did you know about the radio station?” Helen asked.
    Jeanette nodded. “Of course.”
    “And you never said a word,” Maddie said with a shake of her head. “What kind of Sweet Magnolia are you?”
    Jeanette chuckled. “One who can keep her mouth shut,” she suggested.
    “Which is not a recommendation, as far as I can tell,” Helen said. “We’re supposed to be up on all the big news in town.”
    “And now you are,” Jeanette said readily. “So, what’s the emergency? Why are we all here?”
    “Because some of us think Sarah’s nuts for taking this radio job, especially to work with a man with the kind of reputation Travis apparently has,” Annie told her. “No offense.”
    “None taken,” Jeanette said. “But how can he possibly have any reputation when he just got to town a few weeks ago?”
    “Ty,” Maddie said succinctly. “Word on the road is that Travis was a real player with the ladies when he played ball in Boston.”
    “Oh, so what?” Jeanette said, dismissing the assessment as unimportant. “Sarah’s an intelligent woman. She’s not automatically going to fall under his spell. Besides, if you want an opinion based on personal observation, rather than gossip, I think he’s kind of sweet.”
    Sarah tried to reconcile that impression with her own. It didn’t fit. Now Travis as a player? That fit him perfectly. But fair warning ought to be enough.
    “Okay, I suppose I could back out,” she told them. “But the truth is that I want to do something that stretches my limits, something fun. Waiting on tables at Wharton’s doesn’t qualify. And, if I’m being totally honest, neither does the idea of teaching kids their ABCs. I majored in education because it was a solid, safe career choice.”
    Raylene, who’d been silent up until now, nodded. “I think she should go for it. Sarah needs to prove to herself that she is so much more than that little Stepford wife Walter and the Prices wanted her to be.”
    “Amen,” Sarah said.
    Annie still looked concerned, but eventually she nodded,