“According to my doctor, the nausea will pass in a few weeks. Until then, I’m scaring a lot of people.”

“Me included.”

“Sorry.” She smiled at him. “Back to the charity project. Given your past relationship with my sister, I wasn’t sure if you’d be uncomfortable working with her. That’s why I wanted to let you know what was happening.”

He’d only been back in town about a year himself, and in all that time, he’d barely thought about Reggie. He heard a few things—like where she lived and the fact that just when he and Harrison had moved here, she and Jake Crane had gotten engaged and broken up, all in the space of a weekend.

“Dena, that was a long time ago. I doubt Reggie even remembers who I am.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure she remembers. You were her first real boyfriend. Girls don’t forget that.”

Information he would think about later, he told himself. “I’d have no problem working with her on the charity project, and I’m going to assume she’ll say the same about me.”

Dena grinned. “I’ll have to let you know. I haven’t talked to her about you yet. I wanted to check with you first. You’re an involved father, which I respect. I know Harrison is always your priority. That’s nice to see.”

“Thanks. So we’re good?”

“We are. If you could act surprised when Harrison tells you about his idea winning, that would be nice.”

“I’ll be appropriately blown away.” He started to stand, then hesitated. “Am I correct in assuming the pregnancy is also something not a lot of people know?”

“You are. I would appreciate your discretion.”

“You have it. And, ah, congratulations.”

“Thanks. I’m due right after the end of the school year, so I’ll be able to finish up with my class.”

They talked for a couple more minutes, and then he made his escape. As he drove back to the center of town and his office upstairs over the retail store, he tried to figure out which surprised him most—Reggie returning to Wishing Tree or his son’s single teacher getting pregnant through artificial insemination.