The Lawman's Romance Lesson. Marie Ferrarella

patience.

      The words seemed to burst out of Wynona’s mouth all at once. “I’m pregnant, Shania!”

      This was the one thing that hadn’t occurred to her. Shania’s mouth dropped open. “Excuse me? Did you just say—”

      “I did,” Wynona interrupted her. “And I am. I’m pregnant!” she repeated because she liked saying it and liked hearing it even more.

      Still stunned at the news, Shania asked, “When? How?” Realizing what she’d just blurted out, she amended her question. “I mean, I know how. But when?”

      “You want the exact moment?” Wynona asked her, laughing. “Because there’ve been a lot of them and I can’t really pinpoint when we—”

      “No!” Shania cried, stopping her. “That’s okay. That was just the surprise talking,” she explained. She took a breath, collecting her thoughts so that she could sound like a coherent person instead of an overjoyed babbling idiot. “Have you seen a doctor? Did he tell you how far along you might be?”

      “She,” Wynona corrected. “I went to see Brett Murphy’s wife, Alicia.”

      Shania was equally torn between being overjoyed and being impatient to have her question answered.

      “And what did she tell you? When am I going to be an aunt—again?” she added belatedly, remembering that Ryan was her nephew now that Wynona had married his father.

      All of this was so new to her, Shania thought, trying her best to get used to the idea.

      “Well, according to what she said, you’ve got about a seven-month wait,” Wynona told her.

      Her mind was already going full speed ahead. “Great, that’ll give me a chance to amass some baby clothes and toys for you.”

      “Don’t get crazy, Shania,” Wynona warned her with a laugh.

      “Sorry.” She couldn’t stop grinning as the thought of Wynona being pregnant took root. “Too late. So what does Clint say?”

      “Well, at first he was speechless,” Wynona told her. “And then he couldn’t stop grinning. Actually, he’s still grinning.”

      “Grinning?” Shania repeated. She tried to picture that and failed. “Are we talking about the same Clint?”

      “We’re talking about the new Clint,” Wynona corrected. “He’s absolutely thrilled, Shania. And so am I.”

      “Well, that makes three of us. Four,” she amended, looking at Belle. Responding to the mood the dog was picking up on, Belle’s tail was thumping against the floor again. “The dog’s very excited for you.”

      “Probably not as excited as Ryan is,” Wynona told her.

      “You told Ryan?” Shania asked, surprised. “And he’s not jealous?”

      “Jealous?” Wynona laughed. “He’s already stacking up his old toys and baseball equipment so he can give it to the baby. He can’t wait until he gets here.”

      “What if it’s a girl?” Shania asked. Working with her students had made her anticipate problems.

      “It doesn’t matter. Ryan’ll be happy. Besides, girls play baseball, too.”

      Pregnant. Wynona was pregnant. Shania couldn’t get over the news. “This is really great, you know.”

      “I think so,” Wynona agreed. “Well, enough about me. What about you? How’s everything going?”

      In the wake of her cousin’s news everything else paled in comparison, but since she’d asked, Shania felt obligated to answer.

      “Same old, same old,” Shania told her. “Mostly I’m too busy to notice much of anything. I’ve got to drill them to get ready to take their PSATs.”

      “Are you doing all right?” Wynona asked, more interested in the personal aspect than the scholastic one.

      “I wouldn’t mind a magic wand that would transform some of my rebellious students into studious ones. Got one of those lying around somewhere?” Shania asked.

      Hearing Wynona laugh was really the best medicine Shania could ask for.