Book Series: Stand Alone Title
Publishing Date: 2000
Author: Anita Stansfield
Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc.
Category: LDS Contemporaray Romance
Point of View: Third Person Limited: Shayne and Helen
Chapter Count: 9
Page Count: 179
For Cindy, Kim,
Dianne, LaRene, & Deanna
Happy Birthday!
Prologue
Provo, Utah
Shayne Brynner is not happy. Thanks to his high maintenance wife and her credit card debt, he had no choice but to sell their home. Apartment hunting is the next step. Margie blames it all on him and is refusing to take any responsibility. Shayne worries about their two children and how this upcoming transition will affect them. Reclining in her La-Z-Boy, Margie accuses Shayne of being cruel and insensitive before turning back to the TV. Shayne just sighs, not wanting to admit how big a doormat he is.
Chapter 1
Meet Miss Helen Starkey. She teaches third grade and is very single but she LOVES her job. (Teaching in Utah? Just wait a few years, Miss Starkey!) During silent reading time, Helen takes this opportunity to study her (overcrowded, underfunded) class. One of her little students, Scotty Brynner, has been showing signs of social and academic decline. Trouble at home, most likely. Helen can't help but be concerned and makes a mental note to call his parents (again) for more information so she can help. She's already aware that Scotty's family are all members of the state's predominant religion. Helen is also a member. Whatever happened in Scotty's life to bring about this sudden withdrawal can't be good. (While we can't believe Helen only has ONE such student in her classroom.)
Lunchtime! Helen's best friend at work is Carla: happily married with three kids and fellow third grade teacher from across the hall for the last five years. The two women get together often outside work to exchange recipes and hang out. Hard to believe their biggest classroom management problems in this public elementary school are chewing gum and rubber bands. (Teachers have such posh jobs!) Helen doesn't mind being called "Miss Star" subsequently making it the theme of her classroom with stars everywhere, including a "Star of the Week" bulletin board but would love to toss the "Miss" title. Helen is pleasingly plump with long, curly brown hair. She dated in high school and in college where she received quite a few marriage proposals, but none of them felt right, so she turned them all down. (Really, Helen?) She is now a successful, independent career woman who owns her own home near the school where she teaches. She also has a cat.
Scotty is not in school the following day. Fed up with all the unreturned phone calls and notes home, Helen decides to take the situation into her own hands by tracking down Scotty's address and finds herself knocking on the door of a run down apartment complex.
The TV is on. The kids are alone. After reassuring Scotty it's okay to let a trusted adult, like a teacher, (Helen also plays Sunday school teacher here, reminding Scotty his recent baptism and confirmation should also concur) into the apartment, she is finally admitted. Scotty doesn't say much, but his little sister, Tamara, a first-grader, is more than happy to report to Miss Star since the babysitter never showed, they've been home alone ALL DAY, watching TV and eating all the junk food. Because of health issues, Mommy went to live with Grandma and they had to move here. Daddy's still at work. Helen investigates the kitchen to find all the cupboards near empty along with the fridge.
While these obvious conditions of child neglect would prompt any responsible adult to inform social services, Helen isn't that kind of woman. This family has obviously fallen on hard times. After going over Scotty's homework and missed assignments with him, Helen steps into the kitchen and (miraculously) finds all the ingredients to whip up a Shepherd's Pie casserole. Unsure about trying a new dish, Helen tells the kids if they close their eyes and take at least three bites, it won't be so bad. She bribes them with the promise of cookies tomorrow if they obey. They do it.
Mr. Bryner comes home, surprised to find a stranger, (his son's teacher no less) babysitting his kids and serving them a hot meal. Introductions are made, the kids are sent into the other room to play so the two grown ups can discuss the situation.
Mr. Bryner is a very lucky man. After giving Helen a very brief run down of the family living situation, Helen tells him she is more than happy to take on the extra responsibility of taking the children every day after school, bringing them here to the apartment and having dinner ready when he gets home. She WANTS to help and refuses to take any money. (This woman is nuts.)
Helen enters her dark, empty house with only the cat to greet her; already looking forward to tomorrow as she plans to bake cookies and play house as a surrogate mother to two adorable children who desperately need her. Who cares about Shayne Bryner?
Hamburger Pie (better known as Shepherd's Pie)
Brown 1 lb ground beef (drain)
add the following to taste:
salt and pepper
minced onion
garlic powder
dried parsley
Worcestershire sauce (about 1/2 tsp)
Add: one can green beans (use frozen green beans instead, along with freshly chopped and cooked carrots-cook/drain the frozen green beans and carrots first before adding)
two 8-oz. cans tomato sauce
Spread in (9x13 Pyrex) casserole dish and spread hot mashed potatoes on top (leftover mashed potatoes from a previous meal works just as well)
Sprinkle with shredded cheese
Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melted
"Close your eyes and take three bites!"
(Author neglects to include bake time. We found 30-40 min to be sufficient. A favorite at our house, we recommend eating this with your eyes open. Enjoy!)
Chapter 2
Over lunch in the teacher's lounge, Carla and Helen speculate Shayne's wife must have some kind of cancer which explains why they are separated and so deep in debt. How sad. Carla tries to get Helen to admit feelings of attraction for Shayne but Helen doesn't want to go there. She'd rather focus on the kids and their needs and playing good Samaritan. This is temporary and besides, he's MARRIED!
That night, Shayne appreciates coming home to find children fed and homework completed. Helen offers to start doing the grocery shopping, if he'll compensate her.
Next day, Helen enjoys taking the kids with her to the store. Tonight's menu is chicken enchiladas. The kids hope there's no "icky green things" in it. Helen promises there isn't and they help her prepare the meal.
With the weekend off, Helen teaches her primary class and misses not having a family of her own to cook and care for and hang out with over the long two days. She is glad to return to her duties on Monday.
Helen discovers the apartment is two bedroom. Scotty and Tamara have their own rooms while Shayne sleeps on the hide-a-bed couch in the front room. She spends the week doing her own and the family's laundry at the laundromat, cleaning and organizing the kitchen, then making a chore chart for the kids so they can start helping out. For the most part, Scotty and Tamara are well behaved, polite children who are easy to tend. Helen adores them already and, for the kids, the feeling is mutual. Their mommy never paid this much attention to them, except to tell them to be quiet and watch TV until she could leave to go shopping. They like Helen. She's fun. She even helps them prepare a family home evening lesson the following Monday.
Tuesday is Halloween. When Shayne gets home, Helen has the kids all ready to go out trick or treating then she goes home to pass out candy, alone.
As November passes, Helen takes the kids on various outings to museums, the fire station and the library. She feels sorry for their sick mother whose health issues prevented her from spending quality time with these two special children.
Just before Thanksgiving break, Margie actually calls the apartment. She is terse and rather put out that a strange woman answered and that Shayne's not home from work yet. The kids take turns talking to their mother but the conversation is very one-sided as Margie does all the talking while the kids just grunt and nod. When Shayne gets home, he calls his wife back. Again, the conversation is tense and one sided as it becomes obvious this woman has no interest in being part of this family and, no, she's not coming to spend Thanksgiving.
After the table is cleared and the kids sent into the other room to play a board game, Helen asks Shayne for more information about his wife's health but he clams up. They'll be fine this weekend. Helen deserves some time off anyway.
Unable to fly home to Idaho for the holiday, (not on a Utah teacher's salary) Helen spends Thanksgiving with a family in her ward. Shayne phones early on Black Friday morning. (No one acknowledges it's Black Friday, either.) An emergency at work has come up and he's desperate for a sitter today and maybe tomorrow. Lonely Helen is only too happy to take the kids. He drops them off at Helen's where it'll be easier to feed them breakfast and entertain them. She fixes chicken enchiladas again that night. On Saturday, Helen takes them to one of the local malls (that'll be either University or Provo Towne Center) so they can see the Christmas decorations. The kids get a little hyper but Helen keeps them under control. Tamara comments what a good "mom" Helen is, so different from their own mom. Shayne is the only character with a cell phone (this is the year 2000 after all) while Helen has a landline and there's a message on her machine when they get home. Shayne regrets he'll be late picking up the kids tonight. The kids are asleep by the time he arrives and we finally learn what his occupation is-industrial construction worker, possibly plumbing, as the building they're working on had a pipe burst and flooding. He carries his sleepy children out to the car while Helen watches with obvious longing.
Children Friendly Chicken Enchiladas
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can milk
1 8oz carton sour cream
(For extra color and flavor, I added 1 can Ro-Tel MILD diced tomatoes and green chilies. No heat, I promise! And once it's mixed in, you can't even see the "icky" green chilies)
12 flour tortillas (six inch fajita tortillas work great)
Cooked chunks of chicken (about one-and-a-half cups)
Sliced black olives (one 2.25 oz can, drained)
Shredded cheddar cheese
Mix soup, milk, and sour cream. Spread a little soup mixture on bottom of 9 x 13 inch metal pan (I spray the pan with cooking spray first)
Spread some soup mixture down center of each tortilla. Add chicken, olives and cheese. Roll tortillas and place in pan.
(Here's my method for rolling enchiladas: in a small frying pan, coated with a little cooking spray, warm one tortilla, place on prep board, spread mixture down center, bring both sides up and fold over each other leaving the ends open. If mixture escapes, just push it back in. Place in pan and rotate until seam side is face down. Repeat until all 12 tortillas are prepared. You should be able to fit 8 across the top of pan with remaining 4 in two perpendicular rows.)
Spread remaining mixture over top (along with remaining olives) and then shredded cheese
Bake at 375 degrees until hot
"No need to pick out the icky green stuff."
(Again, author fails to give us a bake time. Since oven temps vary, 30-45 min should be sufficient)
Chapter 3
Shayne's POV-after tucking his kids into their beds, he sobs in the shower (he gets so lonely, he could die) and goes to bed. Too tired to kneel, he says his nightly prayer in his mind. If nothing else, he's most grateful for Helen Starkey.
As another two weeks pass, Shayne's dream of Margie returning a changed woman ready to be part of a family again, is fading fast. Although Margie says she's planning on coming for Christmas, Shayne is doubtful. Over Helen's meat ring (Apparently, if you bake it in a round pan, forming a hole in the middle of the meat, it won't dry out.) Shayne agrees he should come after school for that overdue parent-teacher conference, an appropriate setting where they can really talk.
Three days later, he's standing on the threshold of Helen's classroom, smirking at all the star paraphernalia and artwork. Helen sends the kids across the hall to Carla's classroom and they finally get down to business.
Here's Shayne's sad story: His wife was born with a heart condition and while doctors assured her she could lead a normal, healthy, productive life, her parents indulged her. He enjoyed dating and courting Margie but after their not-in-the-temple wedding, for reasons even he never understood, (Really, Shayne? You never mentioned serving a mission, that's kinda important too!) Margie became a changed woman after the honeymoon. She quit school, her job and turned into a demanding, petulant witch, who always played the heart condition card to get out of doing any cooking or housework. Shayne hoped having kids might transform Margie into a Molly Mormon, but she was just never interested in being a mom. Her only talents appeared to be maxing out credit cards at the mall and going binge shopping with her friends to cope with her debilitating health issues. Her idea of cooking was bringing home fast food. Since Shayne made enough at his job to provide for his family, he continued to let Margie walk all over him and spend all his money, but as the years passed, Shayne began to feel trapped in this dysfunctional marriage. When the credit card debt became so bad they had to declare bankruptcy and sell the house, Margie left him.
Helen wonders aloud if maybe Shayne should be telling all this to a family counselor. Shayne tells her his parents are currently serving a mission and he doesn't want them to worry. He's never been close to his siblings who all live outside the state. He doesn't have anyone else. His plan is to get all their debt paid off in a year, then maybe, just maybe, Margie will come back to him and they can be a family again. In the meantime, Shayne hopes he and Helen can be friends. Flattered, Helen says she'll keep praying for them. Scotty and Tamara are good kids, resilient, and seem to be handling it fine.
Okay, good chat.
Carla can't wait to hear all the juicy details. Helen reminds her Shayne is still a married man but both agree Margie is acting like a baby. Shayne and his children definitely deserve better.
Meat Ring--Not Loaf
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
3/4 cup oatmeal or cracker crumbs (I prefer bread crumbs or two slices of bread torn into small pieces)
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk
(I also added 1 8oz can tomato sauce, 1/4 tsp dried sage, 1/8 tsp garlic powder and 1/4 tsp dry mustard)
Mix all together and mold into round pan, leaving a hole in the center.
(What kind of round pan? I seriously doubt anyone could cram that much hamburger into a round cake pan and make it work. Best stick to traditional meat loaf)
Cover with sauce and bake 1 hour at 350 degrees
Sauce: 1/3 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon (prepared) mustard
Chapter 4
Over bacon-potato soup, talk turns to the excitement of Christmas. Helen noticed boxes in Tamara's room marked "Christmas" and offers to decorate the apartment with the kids tomorrow. For Helen, the holidays are one of worst times of the year to be single. Even when she goes home to Idaho, her married siblings and their children take precedence and she always feels left out but now that she has Scotty and Tamara in her life, it's the most wonderful time of the year for Helen.
She takes the children shopping so they can buy inexpensive presents for both their parents. Back at the apartment, they're right in the middle of baking and decorating cut-out Christmas cookies when the phone rings. It's Margie who found out Helen's name, thanks to her children who won't shut up about how wonderful she is. Hearing that, Helen wastes no time putting the children on.
Tamara becomes very upset when she learns Mommy isn't coming to spend Christmas with them after all. She screams that she hates Margie, throws down the phone and runs to her room. Scotty follows her and, after hanging up the phone, Helen does her best to comfort a still sobbing Tamara and sullen Scotty, telling them not to take it personally which helps them feel better. All are crying when Shayne enters the bedroom and learns about the devastating phone call. Helen preaches: God still loves them and they should all remember that Jesus is the reason for the season. Shayne reminds the kids Aunt Libby is still planning to come spend Christmas with them. The kids insist Miss Star join them.
It is decided Helen will come over for dinner at the Brynner's apartment on Christmas Eve (Aunt Libby will be doing the babysitting and cooking during the break) and she will host them at her house on Christmas Day which will include dinner and more gift exchange. Shayne thinks to himself what an amazing woman Helen is. Too bad he's married. Everyone can't wait to see Aunt Libby again. Helen's parents are also planning to visit sometime during the break and deliver gifts as well.
Great-Aunt Libby Brynner (Shayne's father's sister) turns out to be an older, never married, mid-single adult in her mid-fifties with blonde highlights covering the gray. She is tall, thin and bursting with youthful energy. She served not one, but THREE missions. We never learn what her occupation is but her satisfying and fulfilling career has allowed her the means to travel and indulge in eccentric activities. She enjoys serving others and learning new things which she then shares with everyone she meets. She loves spending time with her family, traveling often to visit her many nieces and nephews. Her life is rich and full, despite never experiencing temple marriage or bearing children, she's the happiest person Helen's ever met (and she's not fooling anybody).
Helen returns to her empty, lonely house, still in awe of this Sheri Dew and Mary Ellen Edmunds rolled into one amazing woman. She falls asleep with visions of living the Aunt Libby dream dancing in her head. Independent, incredibly happy, giving and serving to the very end. Who needs marriage? Who needs men?! From this moment on, Helen is not going to let her single status define her!
At 6:30am, Helen, still in her pajamas, returns to the apartment just in time to open and exchange presents with her new adopted family, also still in pajamas, even the grown ups. They have family prayer and Shayne wants everyone to name something they're grateful for before opening their first gift. Helen is impressed. She loves all her gifts: a new journal, a sweater and skirt set, a gift certificate to a kitchen store at the mall and a book. She is touched at all the trouble they went to.
Back at her house, the Brynner family arrives later that afternoon to open their own simple gifts Helen has for them. A scrapbook kit for the children, a gift set of (smelly) bath items for Libby and Helen made a wooden recipe box for Shayne with all her favorite recipes printed on cards inside. They gather at the table to eat ham and scalloped potatoes and it's a wonderful Christmas, probably the best of Helen's life.
Before they say goodbye, Helen tells Libby how much her example means to her. Libby's response is full of hope and enthusiasm. Even though she has no husband now, Libby knows if she stays faithful and works hard serving others all her life, she'll be blessed in the next with the opportunity to marry some wonderful man who was probably killed in one of the great wars and share every blessing of eternity with him. (Oh, Libby, you've been drinking the Kool-Aid, haven't you?)
Bacon-Potato Soup
1 package sliced bacon, cut into small pieces (author doesn't say how many this feeds and that's a LOT of bacon, so I'd half this recipe)
8-10 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces
2 cups cheese, shredded
Chopped onion, salt and pepper to taste
Fry bacon pieces until crisp. Drain grease (remove bacon) and set aside. (I'd fry onions along with the bacon and boil potatoes in separate pan to add later) Cook potatoes and onions in enough water to cover, in the same pan so the bacon flavor cooks into the broth. When potatoes are tender, add thickening, cheese, bacon, salt and pepper. (I doubt a frying pan is big enough for all these ingredients. I'd use a stock pot.)
Thickening: 1/2 cup flour and 1 cup water
Mix and add slowly while stirring.
If you want the soup thicker, add more.
Chapter 5
On the 27th, Helen arrives at the Brynners' to take over babysitting (they just finished dropping off Aunt Libby at the airport) so Shayne can get to work. The kids went next door to play. Helen enters the apartment to find Shayne very distraught and upset. He's just been served divorce papers and has no idea how he's going to tell the kids. Helen listens as he makes a long speech about how hard he tried to keep this marriage from falling apart, to no avail. She tells him not to be so hard on himself.
Helen takes the kids to meet Carla at a pizza place (Peter Piper Pizza franchise no longer in Utah) where Helen brings her up to speed on the latest in the Brynner family breakdown and her possible future boyfriend/fiancé (Shut up, Carla. He's STILL MARRIED!). Helen almost admits aloud her growing romantic attraction for Shayne before stopping herself. Carla just smirks, knowingly.
Next day, after Shayne drops off the kids at Helen's for the day, Helen's parents arrive bearing gifts for all, including Scotty and Tamara. Helen appreciates the new afghan her mother made her along with small, simple gifts like new kitchen towels, bubble bath and a candle.
When Shayne comes to pick up the kids, he's invited to stay for dinner. Porcupine meatballs, yum! Everyone gets along fine, Shayne spends a lot of time talking with Helen's parents, in fact! After the Brynner family leaves, Helen's mother enters the kitchen for a little mother-daughter chat about this growing relationship, so obvious to everyone except Helen and Shayne. Helen repeats her speech: he's still married, the divorce isn't final yet, he's younger than her (but not by much) and while he's a very nice man, kind, crazy about his kids, that doesn't necessarily mean he's also crazy about her. He's given her no reason to think otherwise. Helen doubts his interest in someone like her: she's slightly overweight, single, financially independent, content to live alone (after meeting her new idol, Aunt Libby, Helen is beginning to think she never wants to get married anyway!). She also doubts his interest in her doesn't go beyond her already being his full time cook and nanny.
Helen's mom suggests Helen rent a copy of The Sound of Music to help put her confused feelings into perspective. (I'd tell Mom to go climb a mountain.)
The following evening, Shayne stays at his place to go over paperwork so Helen takes this opportunity to throw a movie party with the kids. They watch the musical and Helen falls asleep that night realizing if the opportunity ever did come to marry, she would be wise to follow her heart and take it. Sorry Aunt Libby.
Porcupine Meatballs
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp dry minced onion
1 can tomato soup mixed with 1 can water
Mix first five ingredients and mold into meatballs. Drop into soup. Cover and simmer for about an hour, or until rice is tender.
Sorry, Anita, but I like my own mother's recipe (the one I grew up on) better:
1 lb ground beef
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
1/2 onion, chopped fine
1 1/4 cups dry bread crumbs
1/3 cup uncooked rice
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
3 Tbsp shortening
1 can tomato soup
1/2 can water
Mix meat, onion, dry mustard, salt, bread crumbs, rice, milk and egg in bowl-use hands or spoon until all ingredients are well combined.
Shape mixture into balls (about 1 1/2 inches in size) and fry on medium-low heat with shortening in large frying pan, turning frequently, until brown and still moist. Remove from heat, place in casserole (1 1/2 quarts) cover with tomato soup and water.
Cover and bake at 350° about 45 min.
Chapter 6
Shayne phones to thank Helen for all her help and support. Helen thinks maybe he's asking her out, but the real reason he'd like to invite Helen to spend New Years Eve is because he wants her there at the apartment for moral support while he drops the bomb about the divorce to his kids. Helen suggests they move the party to her house. More room to absorb the fallout.
When the family arrives, Helen has her mother's famous fruitcake baking in the oven. It smells so good, Shayne can't believe it won't be dry and sickly sweet. They all sit to bless the food, a baked potato bar, as prepared by Helen. Shayne brought ice cream and toppings for dessert.
Before the children leave the table, Shayne exchanges a glance with Helen and plunges in with the news to his son and daughter that Mommy is not going to live with them anymore. Ever. The kids get weepy. Shayne takes them both in his arms while Helen feels like the awkward third wheel until Shayne gives her a reassuring smile over their heads.
The party continues with banana splits, popcorn, homemade root beer and warm fruitcake which Shayne admits is better than anything he's ever tasted. They play card games with lots of laughter, joking and happy chatter.
Right in the middle of it all, Tamara asks Shayne if Helen is going to be their new mommy now? Awkward silence. Shayne answers, "Only if she wants to," making Helen feel even more put on the spot. She is understandably offended but says nothing until after the kids are in their pajamas and playing in the other room when Shayne comes into the kitchen to confront Helen, making a long speech about her attraction to him, which is okay, because he feels the same; she's the most incredible single woman he's ever met. They've been playing the co-parenting role for so many weeks now, the children love her and Helen's such an excellent cook and housekeeper, they might as well get together, maybe even get engaged. Never mind the ink's hardly dry on the divorce papers, he's ready to move on, just like her. Quite the presumptuous man, isn't he?
Instead of slapping his face, "Buy me dinner first, you moron!" Helen starts to cry, because she's falling in love with him too. Shayne takes her in his arms, kisses her forehead. Shayne is no longer in the friend zone.
When it's time to ring in the New Year, Shayne kisses her quickly on the lips, making it official. Tomorrow they'll come over for a big turkey dinner and can talk more about the future. As Helen watches Shayne carry his sleepy children out to the car, she wants to whoop and holler for joy.
Mother's Fruitcake
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup each raisins & chopped nuts
1/2 tsp soda dissolved in 1 cup hot applesauce
1 lb candied fruit
Cream together shortening, sugar, egg and vanilla. Add applesauce mixture. Mix together dry ingrediants and add, along with nuts & raisins, then add fruit.
Bake in loaf pan at 325° for one hour.
Chapter 7
Helen is having the happiest New Year's Day of her life as she exchanges looks of incredible romantic longing with Shayne. Not ready yet to shock her own family ward with a newly divorced man and his kids at her side, Helen attends her own ward so she can teach her primary class while the Brynner's do likewise but they share Sunday dinner at the apartment later that day.
Helen declares she's going to make a coffee cake, sans coffee, (You know, Word of Wisdom and all that!) and they'll have it with cocoa instead. Scotty exposes Shayne's habit of eating Helen's leftovers for breakfast! (Typical male.) Helen makes a mental note to put a stop to that once they're married. (Typical female.)
Helen stays for their nightly scripture study. (For a man who never served a mission or took out his own endowments, Shayne is awfully religious.)
After the kids are put to bed, Helen stays so they can talk. He wants to hear her life story. Turns out, Helen served a mission and, after graduation, felt prompted to come to Utah to begin her teaching career (Um, Idaho is just above Utah in education funding.) and she's been blissfully happy ever since. Until she met Shayne and his amazing children, that is. Now she's even MORE blissfully happy. Shayne has trouble believing she never had to fight off the entire elder's quorum of her single's ward one by one with their temple marriage proposals. He takes her in his arms and kisses her. Margie is a distant memory for him now.
With school back in session, Carla gets the whole story out of Helen in the teacher's lounge: they decided to skip dating and courtship and get engaged immediately. They haven't set a date yet but Carla is the first to know.
As the weeks pass, Helen continues to babysit and cook for the Brynner family. Except now, Shayne is taking her out on actual once-a-week dates with a babysitter for the kids. They spend hours just talking and planning their future. They read and study the scriptures together so Helen can safely assume they will marry in the temple. At the dinner table one night, Tamara asks them, straight out, if they're going to get married? Shayne can't answer that yet, not without Helen's consent. Helen blushes.
Later, as he's helping her with the dishes, Shayne asks for ideas so he can give her the perfect marriage proposal of her dreams. Helen likes balloons, bakery-style cupcakes, flowers and chocolates. Sticking the ring in one of the cupcakes would be cute and roses are her favorite flower. If he were to get down on one knee, she'd probably say yes. They laugh and kiss while Helen silently thanks God for sending a man into her life.
Coffee Cake
1 cup pancake mix
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
Mix together and pour into greased eight-inch round pan. Mix ingredients for topping until crumbly. Sprinkle over top of batter and bake at 375° for 20 minutes.
Topping:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp melted butter
"Don't add any coffee! Eat with cocoa!!"
Chapter 8
Valentine's Day is traditionally the worst day of any single woman's life. Not so for Helen Starkey. Today will be a day to remember.
While her class works on their Valentine's Day cards before the class party, Scotty is called to the office. He returns carrying a large bakery box full of cupcakes to Miss Starkey (and her class) from his dad. The one in the very center has a gaudy plastic ring stuck in the fluffy pink frosting. Grinning with expectation, Helen makes a little show of putting on the ring while her class giggles.
Then Tamara enters with a large cluster of balloons, also from Shayne who is close behind. He enters with a bouquet of roses and a heart-shaped box of chocolates (Hope they're from See's!) for her. Next he gets down on one knee to open a real diamond engagement ring for Helen to accept. She does, of course, and her class cheers. They kiss and a few boys make noises of disgust while the girls sigh. Shayne is adorable. He's the perfect man who managed to propose to Helen exactly how she wanted.
Hearing all the commotion, Carla pops in and is equally happy for her friend and not at all shocked or surprised. Neither are we, Carla.
Shayne and kids are just walking in the door after school when the phone rings. Tamara answers and when she learns it's Margie, proceeds to give her mom all the details about daddy's marriage proposal and how happy she is that Helen is going to be their new mommy. Scotty talks to his mom next then, with some apprehension, Shayne takes the phone. With her usual bluntness, Margie comments how fast he's rebounding and hopes Helen won't divorce him after all his many faults are exposed. Happy Valentine's Day, Margie.
Shayne shares his feelings with Helen who assures him she still wants to go through with this. They're getting married on the first day of spring. Shayne will move his family into her house and offers to use the money he's been saving to help her finish off the basement.
A few days later, Helen is stirring a pot of chili when Shayne walks through the door to greet his future wife with a kiss. He teases her about slaving away all day in the kitchen. Helen counters this is the easiest recipe in the world and, besides, she has better things to do, like plan a wedding! They can't wait to get married. Scotty and Tamara come running into the kitchen, so glad that Daddy is home.
Busy Mom Chili
Brown 1 lb ground beef with dried minced onion and garlic to taste. Drain grease and add the following:
1 28 oz can tomatoes with liquid
2 tsp celery salt
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 27 oz can kidney beans, drained
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
Simmer for one hour. See...easy!
(Um, is this prepared in the frying pan? You forgot to add the pot, Anita!
Not to worry. I have a MUCH better and even easier recipe for Crock-Pot Chili
1 lb ground beef
dash or two of salt
One can stewed tomatoes (Del Monte diced tomatoes, zesty chili style, is okay too)
One can chili or pinto beans
One can kidney beans
One can black beans (if desired)
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 package Lawry's brand chili seasoning (No heat, I promise!)
Brown ground beef (sprinkle salt while browning), drain, add to crock pot. Open and add all cans without draining any liquid, add Lawry's. Stir until well combined. Set Crock-Pot on "low" and leave for work. Simmer six to eight hours (or until Mom gets home from work!)
If desired, serve over Fritos corn chips, with lots of shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream.
See...easy!
Chapter 9
The wedding is in two weeks and for Helen, everything is perfect. Almost TOO perfect. In fact, after another teacher at school expresses her doubts and concern over how fast they're moving, Helen realizes she too is beginning to have second thoughts about this wedding. Maybe she doesn't know Shayne as well as she thought. What if he's a secret wife-beater and that's why Margie divorced him? Maybe HE was one who suffered from impulse spending, that he's really a couch potato and his whole "World's Greatest Dad" was all an act and that behind closed doors, Scotty and Tamara are really miserable, neglected children who can't wait for Helen to fall into their trap because the minute the honeymoon is over, Shayne will quit his job and refuse to contribute. She'll be stuck teaching third grade in Utah for all eternity, forced to get a second job to support the family. The Horror!
Helen sits bolt upright in bed, breathing hard. She must talk to her fiancé right away!
That Friday afternoon after school, Helen has the kids at her house and is busy in the kitchen when Shayne gets off work a little earlier than usual. He's achy and feverish and exhausted. Forgetting all about her qualms, Helen puts on her nurse's hat and devotes the next twenty-four hours to caring for him: insisting Shayne sleep in her bed tonight, fixing him soup and jello and doing all she can to make him comfortable. That's when it hits her. Shayne Brynner is the genuine deal. He's the man God put on this earth for her to marry.
Helen fixes several batches of lemon bread to serve at the wedding reception. Her mother and Aunt Libby arrive the day before the wedding to help her get everything ready. Aunt Libby confesses to Helen how glad she is her nephew is getting remarried to a better, more deserving woman. She never liked Margie. No one in the family did. Their divorce wasn't a big surprise to anyone and everyone is so relieved now to see Shayne so happy.
Helen feels truly beautiful in her "slimming" wedding gown. Her mother and Aunt Libby fuss over her. The look on Shayne's face in the sealing room of the temple says it all. (Narration doesn't say if the kids were there too, so they could all be sealed as a family.) Carla and Helen's entire third grade class is there at the reception to share Helen's joy. Since Shayne's parents are still off in another country serving their mission, they couldn't make it, but Helen got to talk to them over the phone and can't wait to meet them in person. The cake is cut, the bouquet tossed. It's a perfect day.
Lemon Bread
1 lemon cake mix
1 3 oz instant lemon pudding
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup water
Mix ingredients and pour into well-greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan, then top with glaze.
Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
4 Tbsp lemon juice
Epilogue
Seven Months Later
All of Helen's in-laws, including Aunt Libby, are at the airport waiting to welcome their return missionary parents. Helen is pregnant and couldn't be happier. Shayne's parents greet her like a member of the family. They can't thank her enough for falling in love with their son (and his children) and making him so happy (because they really couldn't stand Margie, either).
Helen plans to keep teaching. Because the schools in Utah are so good about working around these things, she'll take a leave of absence after the baby's born and return later to continue her satisfying and rewarding career as a third grade teacher. (Sure you will, Helen.)
You know, life just doesn't get any better than this. Group hug!
THE END
