Free FATHER IN TRAINING by Susan Mallery Page B

all. But until Jessica, there hadn't been a girl born into the Haynes family in four generations."
    Sandy set the casserole on the counter. "I didn't know that."
    "That's a chicken-broccoli thing," Elizabeth said, motioning to the covered dish. "Just heat it in the oven at 350° for about a half hour and it will be fine."
    "Thanks for bringing the food. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness. So will my kids when I'm too tired to cook. After a week of living in a motel, even they're getting tired of take-out for dinner every night."
    Elizabeth stared at the piles of boxes. They filled the large space, with several pushed up against the wall and a few on the kitchen table. "Where should I start?"
    "You don't have to help."
    "That's why we're here, Sandy . Kyle put the word out. He's been there for us, so we're happy to help one of his friends."
    Elizabeth didn't hesitate before saying the word friend but even so, Sandy wondered what Kyle had said about her. Or what he hadn't.
    She looked at the boxes, then at the empty cupboards. How on earth was she going to get this house in some kind of order? "Feel free to open whatever box strikes your fancy," she said. "I've pretty much decided where everything should go."
    "Sounds good to me." Elizabeth reached for the one closest to her and drew open the flaps. "Canned goods," she said, peering inside.
    "The pantry cupboard is right there." Sandy pointed to the closed door on the other side of the double oven.
    Elizabeth carried the box over to the counter closest to the pantry and started unpacking. "Kyle said you just moved to town. What made you decide on Glenwood, if you don't mind my asking?"
    "My husband died a couple of years ago. After everything settled down, I decided I didn't want to raise my kids in Los Angeles . I'd lived in Glenwood for a few years when I was a teenager, so when a job teaching at the junior college opened up, I moved us here." She wrinkled her nose. "So far, it's not a popular decision with the family."
    Elizabeth smiled. "It will get better. I moved here from L.A. , too, although I wasn't a widow. So your husband passed away two years ago?"
    "Yes."
    "And you've recovered?"
    Sandy paused. Recovered wasn't the word she would have chosen. That implied an emotional bereavement. She missed Thomas, but she hadn't mourned him as the lost love of her life. "I'm making a fresh start, if that's what you mean."
    "It's good enough."
    "How long have you lived here?" Sandy asked.
    "Three years." Elizabeth placed the last can in the pantry and turned the empty box over. While she worked the bottom free so the box could lay flat, she stared off into the distance. Her brown eyes took on a dreamy expression. "I met Travis the second day I was here. He pulled me over for speeding."
    Sandy stared at her. "That sounds really romantic."
    "Oh, it was." She laughed. "I know it doesn't sound like much, but I had appendicitis, and he rushed me to the hospital. While I was there, he took care of Mandy, and when I was released, he insisted I stay with him while I recuperated. I didn't know a soul in town, I had a new job I wasn't going to be able to start and he was just there. My own personal knight in shining armor." She picked up another box and looked inside. "Glasses," she said, rustling the tissue they'd been wrapped in.
    "Cupboard next to the sink," Sandy said, pointing.
    Elizabeth carried the box around the piles in the center of the floor and set it down. " Jordan says the reason Jessica is the first girl born to the Haynes family in four generations is that we're the first couple to be in love and faithful to each other." She pulled out the first glass and set it on the shelf. "I think it's because my mother is one of four girls and her mother is one of six girls. All the relatives on her side of the family only ever have girls. Maybe our body chemistry only likes girl sperm. Of course, I would never tell Jordan that and ruin his theory."
    Sandy cleared her throat. She