Shelley Galloway - Mommy in Training

Minnie glanced at his lips. Wondered what it would feel like to kiss him. Really kiss him.

He grinned.

Suddenly it hit her. Matt knew exactly what he was doing. He knew she had a weak spot for him that had everything to do with a crush that didn’t have the decency to go away.

She fought to remain aloof. To remember that his company was about to put her store out of business. “Not particularly. After all, you are my competition.”

He stepped back. “Minnie Clark, I can’t help it if you don’t like my job. Don’t be mad at me forever.”

Dear Reader,

Thanks for picking up Mommy in Training! While some books have seemed to come together pretty quickly, this one sure didn’t. Over the past eight years I’ve written and rewritten Matt and Minnie’s story. The only things that stayed the same were Matt and Minnie’s characters and my belief that their romance was worth sharing. I couldn’t be more pleased with how the story turned out.

I enjoyed writing Mommy in Training because it allowed me to think about Texas and remember everything I love about the Lone Star State. I grew up in Houston, and my husband and I spent the first five years of our marriage in a little town north of Dallas. Through Matt and Minnie, I got to go back to places where everyone knows each other, heat and humidity are nothing to take lightly and where a trip to the grocery store means putting on a fresh coat of lipstick.

So, though it’s cold outside, I hope you’ll take a little break with Matt and Minnie. Sip some tea. Imagine it being as hot as July, and remember that sometimes the best things just take a while to happen. But when they do, they’re certainly worth waiting for.

If you get a moment, I hope you’ll join me at my Web site, www.shelleygalloway.com, or at the Harlequin American Writers’ blog: www.harauthors.blogspot.com.

Happy reading!

Shelley

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Shelley Galloway loves to get up early, drink too much coffee and write books. These pastimes come in handy during her day-to-day life in southern Ohio. Most days she can be found driving her teenagers to their various activities, writing romances in her basement or trying to find a way to get ahead of her pile of laundry. She’s also been known to talk to her miniature dachshund, Suzy, as if she actually has opinions about books.

Shelley is the proud recipient of a Romantic Times BOOKreviews Reviewer’s Choice Award for her 2006 release, Simple Gifts. Shelley attends several conferences every year and loves to meet readers. She also spends a lot of time online. Please visit her at eHarlequin.com or at www.shelleygalloway.com.

To my editor Johanna Raisanen,

who was instrumental in making

Matt and Minnie’s story come alive.

And of course to Tom, who one day introduced me

to a man named Matt—and, well, the rest is history.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“Matt, you’re back,” Mrs. Wyzecki proclaimed, as though it was the biggest surprise of her life.

Matt knew better. After all, the elderly lady had called his cell phone at least eleven times over the past two weeks, just to double-check that he was still heading in her direction.

But there was no sense in reminding her of that. Surely things hadn’t changed all that much in the ten years since he’d lived in her house. “You’re giving me no credit. Did you really think I wouldn’t show up like I said I would?”

Wanda Wyzecki stepped back to allow him entrance. “It wasn’t that I didn’t think you’d come back…I just wasn’t sure you’d be able to.”

“Well, I was.” Matt carefully closed the door behind him, using the moment to steady himself. The Wyzecki home smelled exactly like he remembered—lemon-fresh Pledge, tart Pine-Sol, and underneath it all, Ivory soap. Mrs. Wyzecki had always been a big fan of crisp, clean scents.

And, for some unknown reason, him.

“You comin’ in or are you gonna stand there all day?”

Just so she wouldn’t realize how good it felt to be around her—and how guilty he felt about staying away for so long, he sassed her right back. “I knew it wouldn’t be long before you started ordering me around.”

She took his elbow and led him into the rear of the house, where the overlarge kitchen lay. Its space had nothing to do with gourmet cooking and everything to do with the number of people who could sit at the cereal bar.

Matt noticed that their pace was slower than he recalled, and Mrs. Wyzecki’s arm a little frailer than he remembered. He was glad things had worked out with SavNGo and he could return as promised.

“Have a seat, Matt. Would you like some water?” Before he could answer she was on the move again. “Sit down and let me get a glass for you.”

After she set the drink in front of him and he took a few sips, Matt supposed it was time to get to the heart of the matter. “So, you really are moving.”

Faded blue eyes told him a wealth of things her words did not. “It’s true.”

“You sure you’re ready to pick up and go? Jim died just a year ago.”

“It seems longer when everything here reminds me of him. It’s time, Matt.” Hopping up again to turn on her kettle, she added, “There’s too many memories around here.”

Memories were why he’d driven all the way from Philadelphia to Crescent View, Texas, in one shot. Some things were worth remembering. “Maybe after you let things settle in for a while longer, you’ll want to stay.”

She turned to him in surprise. “And not let you move in after I promised you could? I wouldn’t do that. That’s not who I am, Matthew.”

“I could find someplace else to live,” he said slowly. “I feel I’m pushing you out.”

“I asked to you to move here, not the other way around. You haven’t pushed a bit.”

“Well, if you change your mind, just let me know. A year isn’t all that long.”

“You’re one to talk. We both know worlds can change in a year’s time.”

She was right about that. His world had changed during his senior year in high school. In twelve months, he’d lost his father, moved in with the Wyzeckis and had applied and been accepted at a number of colleges far away from the only place he’d ever known.

Linking her fingers around the glass, damp and pearly with condensation, Mrs. Wy added, “I’m really looking forward to a new place. I went and visited one of those retirement communities. For a good price, I can have a condo near a walking trail. They even have a fully staffed dining room. I’ll be able to go out to eat whenever I want.”