The Lawman's Romance Lesson (Forever, Tx. Series Book 20) Page 14

  Shania paused outside of the classroom and smiled at him. “Okay.”

  “Okay what?” Daniel asked, not sure exactly what she was saying.

  “Okay,” she told him, extrapolating, “I’ll accept your compliment if you promise to stop making this all about me and realize that it’s actually about your sister.”

  “It’s always been about my sister,” Daniel assured her solemnly. He waited as Shania locked the classroom door. When she slipped the key into her pocket he asked, “How about tomorrow?”

  She fell into place beside him. “I need more of a hint than that.”

  Daniel flushed, realizing that he’d just jumped ahead. “Dinner.” And then he forced himself to be completely clear by using a complete sentence. “How about tomorrow for dinner?”

  Shania flashed a smile. “Sounds good.”

  Daniel had expected it to be harder than this. “Then you can make it?”

  “No, but it does sound good,” Shania cracked. And then the grin returned. “Of course I can make it,” she laughed. “You know, I’m not trying to be difficult, Tallchief.”

  He looked at her, feigning surprise. “Then it comes naturally to you?”

  Shania’s grin grew wider. “You made a joke. There really is hope for you, Tallchief.”

  “Do you think you could call me Daniel?” he asked. “When you call me Tallchief it makes me feel like I’m on duty.”

  She couldn’t even summon a serious look at this point, even though she gave it her best shot. “You drive a hard bargain, but I’ll give it a try, Danny.”

  “Daniel,” he corrected. Only his mother had called him Danny, and hearing himself called that brought back memories he still hadn’t learned how to deal with. Memories he kept buried.

  “Yes, that, too.” And then, because he was looking at her, obviously waiting for her to agree, she obliged and said his name. “Daniel.”

  He nodded his approval.

  “Well, now that we’ve resolved that,” Shania said when they reached the ground floor, “and that you’re not sorry that you kissed me, what will we have to talk about at dinner tomorrow?”

  He knew that she was teasing him and he liked it. The whole situation felt strangely normal even though it had been a very long time since he’d even been in a relationship that was worthy of the label. Since then the women in his life had been few and had left no footprints on his soul.

  His main focus once he had laid his parents to rest—and Lana had walked out on him after making it clear that she had no patience for the life he was proposing—was his sister. Providing for Elena and making her feel safe and loved in the aftermath of losing her parents had consumed almost all of his extra time and energy.

  Whatever was left over brought nothing memorable or lasting with it.

  He had made up his mind that this was what the rest of his life was going to be like.

  That was why what he was experiencing now with Shania felt unusual and yet oddly comfortable, as well as exceptionally invigorating.

  But he was worried, worried that without realizing it, he was going to do something that would cost him this fledgling relationship before it ever had a chance to take flight.

  And he just couldn’t go through that again.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “So, how was it?” Daniel asked as he settled into the booth, taking a seat opposite Shania at Miss Joan’s diner.

  It was several evenings later and it had taken them this long to finally be able to coordinate their two work schedules in order to carve out some time to share dinner with each other.

  Even without any preface on his part, Shania knew Daniel was referring to the dinner at her cousin’s house. She wasn’t aware of doing it—although Daniel had seen it—but she wrinkled her nose as she recalled the occasion.

  “It was a good thing that you didn’t come,” she told him.

  Daniel came to the only conclusion he could. “Then I was right when I said that she’d want it to be a family-only thing.”

  He couldn’t quite read the strange expression on her face. “Not exactly.”

  Daniel looked at her, confused. “I don’t think I understand.”

  She was trying to find the right way to word this. “You know that old expression about being sick to your stomach?”

  “I’m aware of it,” he said, still waiting for this to make sense to him.

  “Well, now so is Wynona.” Shania took a breadstick out of the basket and broke it in half before taking a bite. Parts of that evening were coming vividly back to her. She did her best to block them out. “Everything that went into her mouth came out almost at the same time. I have never seen such a glaring example of morning sickness in my whole life,” she told him, feeling very sorry for her cousin. “Except that the poor thing doesn’t just have ‘morning sickness,’ she has ‘all day sickness.’” Shania shook her head as she recalled what Wynona had told her. “She even has trouble keeping water down.”

  Daniel looked concerned. “Shouldn’t she be in a hospital then?” he asked Shania. “If she can’t keep any food down, she’s in danger of starving herself, not to mention possibly harming her baby.”

  Shania like the fact that Daniel actually seemed concerned rather than just picking up on a few random words so he could make acceptable conversation with her about her cousin’s condition.

  “Unfortunately, the closest hospital is still over fifty miles away,” she reminded him. “But at least some things have changed. They did reopen the medical clinic a few years back and the town has a couple of excellent, up-to-date doctors to turn to.”

  She knew that Daniel was aware of this, but for her it was still a new occurrence. She knew it made a world of difference to a lot of people who lived here.

  “Dr. Davenport ran a few tests on Wynona. He put her on supplements and he did discover that there was one thing Wynona seems to be able to tolerate as long as it’s in moderation.”

  “Which is?” Daniel expected her to say something like chicken soup or boiled chicken, both of which seemed bland enough for a nauseated woman to be able to keep down.

  Shania paused, smiled and then said, “Stroganoff.”

  “What now?” Daniel asked. He was certain that he had to have misheard her.

  Shania’s grin widened. “I know, I know. It sounds weird since Wyn can’t even keep crackers down, but she seems to be able to eat—and keep down—beef Stroganoff served over linguine.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  Despite the smile on her lips, there wasn’t even a hint of a clue to indicate that she was putting him on. “Nope.”

  Just looking at her was drawing him in, making him want to take her somewhere where they could be alone. Daniel forced himself to just focus on the conversation and not the woman across from him.

  He shrugged. “Whatever works.”

  “Speaking of which,” Shania said, picking up on his choice of words, “I know that you have a lot vying for your attention, so you might not know that the PSATs are being given next Saturday.”

  “No, I didn’t know,” he admitted, grateful that she’d given him a heads-up. He frowned slightly. “Elena hasn’t said anything to me about it.”

  “I didn’t think so.” Shania saw the look that came over Daniel’s face and guessed what he was thinking. That his sister was reverting back to her old rebellious ways and was shutting him out. “She’s just stoic, like her brother. Plus she told me that you’ve really been busy lately and she didn’t want to bother you with, and I quote, ‘trivial things.’”

  He didn’t see how Elena could think that way. “Her education isn’t trivial.”

  “Yes, I know that,” she said, “and I told her that you don’t think that it is, either.”

  “And?” Daniel asked, convinced that his sister had to have an opinion about that. �
�What’s the verdict?”

  “Jury’s still out,” she told him honestly, “but I have a feeling that when it does come in, the jury’ll rule in your favor.”

  Daniel never counted on anything going his way, but since Shania seemed optimistic about the outcome, he wanted to do something to help it along.

  “So, is there anything I’m supposed to do?”

  “Just encourage her and wish her well on Saturday morning,” she said, finishing off the breadstick. “She’s a very intelligent girl. Short of going off on a bender the night before, she should do just fine on the test.”

  His face darkened slightly. “She’d better not go on a bender.”

  “I was just kidding,” Shania quickly assured him. “I really don’t think there’s any danger of her doing that—but just remember,” Shania cautioned, “she does better with encouragement than being on the receiving end of dark scowls.”

  “I don’t scowl,” Daniel protested.

  She congratulated herself for not laughing at him. Instead, she merely smiled knowingly. “Not as much as you used to, but yeah, you do.”

  Daniel sighed, then unexpectedly pulled his lips back in a wide grin. “How’s this?”

  “Frightening actually,” she answered, giving in and laughing. Leaning over the table, she patted his hand and promised, “We’ll work on it.”

  He knew that was just a throwaway line that people said, but deep down inside him, he liked the sound of that. Liked the promise that was implied: that this was something that they would be facing together, no matter how minor it actually was.

  Daniel thoroughly enjoyed being with her like this and the total lack of privacy kept him from getting ahead of himself before he was ready, he mused as he raised his hand for the check.

  * * *

  They met a couple more times for dinner. Each time they came in, Miss Joan made sure that they were placed at a booth that was tucked into the back. It was as if she wanted to keep them away from prying eyes—other than hers, of course.

  It was very evident to both Daniel and Shania that Miss Joan was playing matchmaker, although neither one of them commented on that fact out loud, just in case the other wasn’t aware of what was going on.

  And then the dreaded Saturday finally came. All the countless hours of studying and taking sample tests came down to this, the moment of truth, otherwise known as taking the PSAT test in earnest.

  As expected, Shania was proctoring the test. She had volunteered. As nervous as any of her students, she had gotten very little sleep the night before. She had arrived at the classroom more than an hour before the test was to officially begin. She made sure that all the proper items the students would need were in place so that once the test began, there would be no need to stop for anything.

  As the time for the test drew closer, students began to trickle in. She greeted each of them with a wide, encouraging smile. The more her stomach knotted up, the wider her smile grew. At this point, she was certain that she was more nervous than her students, but she also knew that she couldn’t show anything except undying confidence that those same students would all do well—or at least pass.

  She was aware that they all looked to her and she was not about to let them down.

  And then it was time to begin.

  It felt as if the minute hand on the wall clock had been covered in molasses and now moved along accordingly, dragging itself from one number to the next.

  When the time to take the exam was finally, mercifully over, no one was more grateful than she was.

  “Okay, students, time’s up. Pencils down,” she declared, then looked around the room at the various faces. Some were drawn, some were relieved, but they all shared one thing.

  “You all survived,” Shania announced cheerfully. “Now come up to the front of the room single file and hand in your papers, then take a deep, deep breath. The worst is over,” she told them, her eyes sweeping over a sea of mostly exhausted-looking teenagers.

  “When will we get the results?” one lanky teenage boy asked as he handed in his papers.

  “Soon enough,” Shania answered, then added, “But not today. Today you go out and celebrate the fact that the test is over. Go and have some fun,” she urged, adding, “Relax your brain and enjoy yourself.”

  When Elena came up to hand in her paper, Shania smiled at the girl. “How do you think you did?” she asked her.

  “I blanked out on half the questions,” Elena complained.

  “That happens more than you think,” Shania assured her. She lowered her voice slightly to ask, “Were you finally able to focus?”

  Elena nodded.

  “Good, then you probably did a lot better than you think you did,” she assured the young teen. “Now do what I said. Go see your friends, have fun,” she urged. “You’ve worked really, really hard these last four weeks,” she reminded Elena, giving her credit for all the hours she had put into studying for this.

  The doubtful expression on Elena’s face receded, replaced by a glimmer of a smile. She nodded in response to what Shania had said. The next moment she was out of the classroom like a shot, ready to do exactly what Shania had recommended.

  But the very next minute Elena recrossed the threshold and came back into the classroom.

  “Something wrong?” Shania asked the girl.

  “No, nothing’s wrong,” Elena answered. Then, looking almost tongue-tied, she looked at Shania and murmured, “I just wanted to say thank you.”

  Surprised, it took Shania a moment to collect herself. When she finally did, Shania smiled at her student and said, “It was my pleasure, Ellie. My pleasure.”

  Elena returned her teacher’s smile. And then the next second, the girl bolted again, and this time she kept on going.

  Shania stood where she was, savoring the moment.

  “You look really pleased with yourself.”

  Startled—she hadn’t thought that there was anyone left in the building—she immediately looked toward the doorway. Daniel had managed to come in without her realizing it.

  “You just missed Elena,” she told him, assuming that was why he was there.

  “I didn’t come looking for her,” he said. “I just assumed that after all the hours of studying, Ellie would want to go and unwind with her friends.”

  She looked at him, surprised and impressed. “I thought you didn’t approve of that.”

  “I don’t approve of wild partying and underage drinking,” Daniel corrected her, clarifying his position, “but I think I made the boundary lines pretty clear to her—thanks to your influence. Besides, I’m not an ogre. I do think she’s earned the right to have some fun with her friends and unwind.”

  “That’s very understanding of you,” Shania acknowledged. “All right,” she said, accepting his explanation. “Then if you didn’t come to pick up Elena, why did you come?”

  He smiled at her. “Isn’t it obvious? I came to see Elena’s teacher.”

  She could feel her pulse speeding up even as she warned herself not to jump to any conclusions. This might go to an entirely different place than she wanted it to. He might just be here to thank her for all the extra practice classes she’d held.

  “Oh?” she asked warily.

  “Yeah. I thought that Ms. Stewart earned a little unwinding time, too.”

  Maybe this was going where she wanted it to, Shania thought. “You know, for such a stoic man, Deputy Tallchief, you’re pretty intuitive.”

  “I’m not always so stoic,” Daniel told her meaningfully.

  Her smile went all the way up to her eyes, which seemed as if they were sparkling as she looked up at the deputy.

  “Oh, sounds interesting,” Shania said, then coaxed, “Tell me more.”

  “I’d be glad to,” he answered, then suggested, “Why don’t we continue this conversation over a c
ouple of drinks at Murphy’s?”

  “What kind of drinks?” she asked him.

  He had seen too many of his friends have their lives ruined by alcohol, which was why he had never been tempted to surrender himself to it.

  “Mild ones,” he told her.

  She smiled her approval. “You read my mind.”

  “Not yet, but I think maybe I’m getting closer,” Daniel replied.

  She took a breath, trying to get her pulse to go back down to normal. It wasn’t working.

  “Murphy’s sounds good,” Shania agreed, “but would you mind if we stopped at the diner first so I could get something to eat? Any alcohol on an empty stomach isn’t really a good way to go and I haven’t had anything to eat all day. Right now I’m hungry enough to eat half a buffalo.”

  “I don’t think Miss Joan serves buffalo,” Daniel deadpanned, “but I’m sure she can come up with something you’ll like,” he told her as he escorted the teacher out of the classroom. “Tell me, why haven’t you eaten anything today?”

  Shania flushed a little as she admitted quietly, “Nerves.”

  He didn’t quite understand why Shania would be nervous. “You didn’t take the test,” Daniel quietly reminded her.

  “No, but I watched my students take it and I lived every moment of that agonizing experience with them—through their eyes, so to speak. I remember what it was like,” she told him.

  Daniel looked at her, impressed, as they came to the stairwell and started walking down to the first floor. Looking back over his own educational experience, most of the teachers he’d had all seemed relatively indifferent. The only time he remembered seeing any of them look eager was when summer vacation approached. He supposed that in that, they were no different than the students they taught.

  Shania wasn’t like that.

  “You really do care about these kids, don’t you?” he marveled.