Page 148 of The Doctors Will See You Now

I rolled my eyes at my mom’s ridiculous use of my nickname.

“Break any hearts lately?”

I smirked. “I never break hearts.” At least never intentionally, that was for damn sure.

She scoffed and pulled away to walk around the counter and lean into it. “So only four or five, then?”

“I’m kind of busy, Mom,” I avoided, picking up the chart from the counter and rounding it.

She pursed her lips. “Mmm-hmm. That’s the usual too.”

“Mom—”

“It’s fine, Scotty.”

“What brings you to town anyway?”

“Your father’s god-awful schoolmarm of a wife invited me to their anniversary party.”

I laughed. “That doesn’t mean you have to go.”

“Of course it does! I can’t let her win.”

“Mom.”

“She listens to Christian music, for Pete’s sake.”

“Linda is a nice lady.”

She scoffed. “Nice. Exactly. I don’t trust it.”

“Well, trust it or not, they’ve been married for fifteen years now. It says so on the invitation.”

She gave me a mocking smile and patted my cheek a little too roughly to be loving. I grabbed her hand to stop the assault and trapped it between both of mine.

“Look, if you’re well behaved, I’ll let you go with me.”

“I’ll go on my own.”

“Mom,” I chastised.

“Fine. I’ll be good. Whatever the hell that means. But you have to give me some kind of a reward.”

That sounded a bit like blackmail…

I quirked an amused brow. “A bribe, you mean?”

“Don’t mock the bribe, Scott.” She winked. “I did it all the time with you.”

“Fine. What do you want?”

“The party is Saturday, and I have no plans for tomorrow night,” she said quickly. Too quickly.

My eyes narrowed, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. My mom was notorious for trickery. Honestly, I blamed myself for not seeing this one coming.

“So, by no plans, you mean you’ve made plans for both of us without my knowledge, and now, in exchange for also escorting you to a party where you will, in all likelihood, not behave, I get to take you somewhere else I’ll hate.”

“You doctors are smart.” She grinned like the Cheshire cat. “All that schooling. It must be good for something.”