As she stood with the rest of the audience to give her daughter a standing ovation, she stole a glance at Katie, who was sitting between Alice and Logan, and as Lina feared, she remained seated.

“Tell her to get up,” Phil whispered in Lina’s ear.

Lina leaned over Logan to tap Katie’s shoulder. “Stand,” she mouthed.

Katie looked like she might argue or ignore the request, but one stern “now” from her father had her begrudgingly coming to her feet, and to Lina’s relief Phil turned his attention back to the stage, ignoring Katie who, although standing, continued to tap away on her phone.

When the last graduate’s name was announced, the families assembled at a reception outside the headmaster’s house a few hundred yards away, and as Lina and Phil were stepping away from the punch bowl they came face-to-face with Dr. Drayton.

“Oh, hi!” Lina’s first thought was that he had the greenest eyes she’d ever seen, and the second, and right on the heels of the first, was that Phil was standing directly beside her. “This is—”

“Phil Hunter,” Phil said, holding out his hand.

“Nick Drayton.” He returned his handshake.

“Drayton?” Phil repeated, his brows pulled together in confusion. “As in doctor?”

“That’s right. Is there a problem?”

“No, not at all. I just…” Phil glanced briefly at Lina before returning his attention to Dr. Drayton. “I wasn’t expecting you. Do you have a child graduating?”

“A nephew.”

“You’re local?”

“Yes. Congratulations on your daughter’s accomplishments. I’m sure you’re very proud.”

“Thank you. We both are.” Phil ran his hand over Lina’s lower back. “We should get back to our group. It was, uh, good to finally meet you.”

“Why in the hell did I picture him as a seventy-year-old with a pipe?” Phil whispered into Lina’s ear after they walked away.

“I don’t know.”

“You’ve been seeing him every week for months and never thought to mention he was good-looking?”

“Maybe I didn’t notice,” she teased.

He tightened his arm around her and brushed his lips against her cheek. “Push the handsome doctor from your mind, Lina. This is Megan’s day.”

Lina was stretched out on her bed halfway through a planned two-hour nap when Katie, wearing cut-off shorts and a black T-shirt that said, “I Think Religion is Bad and Drugs are Good,” came into her room and announced she needed a ride to Emma’s house.

“The graduation party starts in three hours,” Lina said, her voice deep with sleep. “You’d just have to turn around and come back.”

“I’m not going to the graduation party. I want to see Ryan’s band. They’re playing tonight.”

“You can’t miss Megan’s graduation party. And please lose the T-shirt before your dad or grandparents see it.”

“No one cares if I’m at the party.”

“I care. Your father cares.”

“You only care because you’re afraid it will make you look bad if I’m not. You can’t make me go.”