“At the moment, the romance book club is all women,” Audrey said. Not that it was a rule, but that was how it’d turned out.

“You can thank me for that. Knox wanted to join the romance one to pick up sexy ideas.” Erica giggled. “I told him no.”

“Wise decision, my dear.” Lillian pursed her lips. “Comparing book boyfriends to real-life ones can leave a man with a lifelong inferiority complex.”

Regina barked a laugh. “No guy can compete with a book boyfriend.”

Irene, the postmistress, snorted. “My sweet husband is the love of my life, but I’m afraid his big chest descended to his belly many years ago.”

“My ex wasn’t so sweet.” Glenda wrinkled her nose. “He’d eat garlic cloves just so he could breathe on me.”

“That’s truly vile,” Lillian stated. “You were wise to discard such a foul deformity of nature.”

Audrey grinned. The mayor’s Shakespearean insults were as fun as Frankie’s Italian ones—and didn’t require a translation dictionary.

“Oh, man, talk about vile? Last night, Chevy let out this huge fart. I almost pushed him out of bed and ran away to Cold Creek.” Tina made a humming sound. “I could sure use me some hot panther shifters. Mrow.”

Everyone at the table burst out laughing and shouted out names of their favorite heroes. Calum. Ian. Adam.

Sipping her alcohol-less drink, Audrey looked around the table. These women were present simply to celebrate her baby-to-come. In one year, she’d gained more friends—and family—than ever before. Her eyes burned.

Leaning in, Kit rubbed her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

That did it. Tears filled her eyes and overflowed. “I’m just so happy, and you are all here, and you mean so much to me.”

Why in the world was she crying? Horrified, Audrey covered her face. “Sorry!”

“No, no.” Laughing, Kit gave her a quick hug. “You’re just getting the full effect of pregnancy hormones, my almost-sister.”

Audrey wiped her eyes. “Seriously?” She obviously needed to research the heck out of pregnancy.

“Oh, yes. Mood swings are a thing.” With a wry smile, Sarah raised her glass. “With each child, I had such a temper Uriah was sure I was incubating demons. Especially after I slammed the oven door so hard his bread fell.”

Tina giggled. “When I was pregnant with Niko, I totally craved tortilla chips and salsa. Chevy even drove through a blizzard to get some. My whining was just that bad.”

“No, child.” Lillian gave a nod of approval. “Your whining was most effective. And good husbands are susceptible.”

“Not Gabe. He’d never…” Audrey bit her lip. “No, actually, he probably would drive through a blizzard to get me something.”

On her other side, Frankie nodded. “Of course he would. He adores you.”

Oh great, more tears. Sniffling, Audrey wiped her face, then shot Frankie a glare. “You just had to say that.”