Susan Mallery - Already Home

“Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help,” Robyn told them both. “Even if you just want to pop over and have some coffee to get away from the craziness.”

“Thanks,” Violet said. “We will.”

Robyn ducked out. Violet closed the door behind her and laughed.

“What an adventure. I can’t wait.”

Jenna thought about how she’d spent the past couple of months feeling like a total failure. This was a new beginning for her. A chance to prove herself.

“I can’t wait, either,” she murmured. This time, everything was going to be different.

Jenna arrived at her new rented townhouse a little after six. After pulling into the garage, she climbed the stairs to the main floor, only to find her father squinting at a power drill. He checked the mark on the wall, then carefully drove in three screws.

She waited until the drill was silent.

“Hi, Dad.”

He turned and grinned at her. “Hey, kid. Your shelves are just about done. Give me a sec and you can help me put the brackets in place.”

The shelves were decorative metal with hooks for all her pots and lids. While the townhouse had plenty of room for the average cook, Jenna traveled with a lot of cookbooks, notes and equipment. Extra storage space was required.

Her dad winked at her. “I checked with your landlord, to make sure adding the shelving was okay.”

“I’ll bet that was a tough conversation.”

“He saw my side of things.”

As the man who owned the entire complex was a close friend of her dad’s, she wasn’t surprised.

Marshall put down his drill and held out his arms. “You okay, Jenna?”

She stepped into his embrace and allowed herself to get lost in her father’s familiar strength. “I will be.”

“I’m sorry Aaron turned out to be such a jerk.”

“Me, too. I wanted what you and Mom have.” Growing up, she hadn’t thought it was too much to ask. Now, looking back at her failed years with her ex-husband, she knew finding the right man wasn’t as easy as it looked.

“You’ll get there,” her dad told her. “But do me a favor, kid. This time fall for a Texas boy.”

She grinned. “You think they’re that much better?”

“I know they are.”

“What if he’s an Aggie?” she asked in a mock whisper. Her father had gone to the University of Texas. Aggies—those who graduated from Texas A&M—were the enemy.

“Better an Aggie than someone from California.”

She laughed. “I’ll do my best.”

“That’s my girl.” He kissed the top of her head and released her.

She stepped back and watched him finish putting up her shelves.

Maybe this wasn’t exactly where she’d thought she would be at nearly thirty-two, but she could still make it okay. She’d failed at her marriage. People did that and recovered. Many of them thrived. She could thrive, as well. She could figure out how to make starting over the best thing that ever happened to her.

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