Page 284 of The Doctors Will See You Now

“Wow.”

I nodded, pulling out her chair for her. Her eyes followed me over her shoulder. I was nearly lost in them again when my dad’s voice rang out through the microphone. “Scott, could you sit down, son?”

The whole audience of partygoers laughed as I gave him a wave, shook off the lusty power of Harlow’s eyes, and tucked myself into my seat.

“Thanks, Dr. Erotic,” my dad commented. Once again, the crowd laughed. Even Harlow.

“Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled with a shake of my head. I never lost my smile, though. Only parents like mine could find ways to tease about something like this rather than criticize. They were both my biggest supporters—no matter what.

“My son, everyone,” my dad boasted proudly.

See?

“Linda, honey,” he called, shielding his eyes from the light so he could find her. “Can you come up here?” The spotlight found her greeting guests at a table across the room and followed her as she made her way to my dad with a sweet blush on her face.

As soon as she was within touching distance, he pulled her close with an arm around her waist and placed a kiss on her cheek. The room let out a collective sigh as they looked on. Normally, my mom would have had some kind of smart comment, so I turned briefly to get a read on her, but she was too busy whispering quiet words with Bill in their seats across the table.

I smiled. Maybe the time Nicole Shepard let it all go had finally come.

I returned my attention back to the front to listen as my dad spoke. “I just want to thank everyone for coming tonight.” He turned to his wife to address her directly. “Linda, we’ve only been married for fifteen short years, and they’ve absolutely flown by. Every year, I think maybe I’ll finally feel like it’s enough, like I’ve had a satisfying amount of time with you, but every year I get hungrier. It’ll never be enough. Even at sixty years, I’ll be wishing for sixty more. I love you.”

“Good God,” Harlow muttered, drawing my attention. She was pulling a tissue from her purse and dabbing her eyes.

I nodded and she scoffed. “They’re the real deal,” I confirmed.

She shook her head. “I didn’t believe you.”

I smiled. “No one ever does until they see it for themselves.”

I tuned back in to the room around me as everyone else was raising their glass. Harlow and I jumped to do the same, clinking our glasses together.

“To love!” everyone shouted at once. Harlow’s eyes widened like she’d just been cursed, and I laughed.

“Don’t worry, Low.” A tiny crease formed between her eyebrows at my use of her nickname. “I don’t think a cheers is the same as a contract in blood.”

Harlow was quiet as they served dinner, listening to the rest of the people at our table chitchat. I watched carefully as she picked through everything on her plate, one item at a time in an effort to pass more time innocuously.

Her timing couldn’t have been worse, though, as she placed the last morsel between her plump lips. The soft, welcoming beat of Sara Bareilles “I Choose You” filled the room, and couples trickled in to fill the dance floor. At the same time, Linda and my dad made it to our table to say hello.

“Scotty,” Linda said as I stood up out of my chair and pulled her into a soft hug.

“You look gorgeous as always, Linda.”

My dad scoffed and pulled her from my arms and into his own. “Tanner!” she squealed adorably.

“He’s trying to steal you,” my dad teased, and Linda blushed.

I shrugged. “I know a good woman when I see one.”

“Must be from all the practice,” Harlow said—unsuccessfully—under her breath.

Linda’s eyes widened, but both my mom and dad laughed outright.

Harlow flushed with embarrassment. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Shepard—”

“No, no, dear,” my dad comforted, pulling her to her feet and giving her a once-over from top to toe. “All you’ve done is prove my son right.”

She blushed an even deeper hue of red as my father gave her a nudge into my arms.