“And Jennifer?” the tech asked.

“Associate Professor of Mathematics at MIT.”

Another doctor in the family. Gabe was the only one without any letters behind his name. Hell, he hadn’t even finished his bachelor’s degree. He was surprised his family hadn’t disowned him already. Even his grandparents on both sides were either medical doctors or had their PhDs.

“And then there’s the black sheep of the family—their little brother, the famous rock star,” the tech teased, turning from her work at the counter to grin at him. “How did that happen in a family of brainiacs?”

Gabe shrugged. “Debauchery by proximity.”

“Ah yes, so how is Jacob Silverton, Mr. Debauchery himself?”

Jacob would have graduated with Leslie and the tech-whose-name-escaped-him if he’d actually finished school. Even Gabe’s tutoring hadn’t kept Jacob in school long enough to earn his high school diploma.

“He’s fine,” Gabe said, not wanting to revisit old times.

“And Adam? I heard he’s had a few episodes of overdosing and is lucky to be alive.”

One of many reasons why Adam never wanted to come home. People talked, a lot, and for some reason it made them feel better about their own pathetic lives to focus on the worst part of a successful person’s plight.

“He’s doing well.” Thanks to Madison, he added silently. No way was Gabe going to feed the small town gossip.

“I always figured Jake and Adam would be famous rock stars one day, but I wouldn’t have put my money on you becoming one.”

Gabe shrugged. That would have made two of them.

“You were the geekiest thing in high school,” she added with a nostalgic laugh.

Okay, ouch. Enough already.

“So can I take Lady home today?” he asked, hoping to deter the woman from further prying and from delivering additional kicks to his pride.

“I doubt Dr. Nelson will release her just yet, but I’ll go ask her.”

Gabe stroked Lady’s soft fur absently as he waited for the tech to return. He wondered how different his life would have been if Jacob hadn’t recruited him as the drummer of Sole Regret. Would he have been happier as a geeky physicist? He doubted it. His current life rocked. But he supposed he’d never know. Even though he wondered about what he could have made of himself had he chosen differently, he didn’t regret leaving college. He didn’t even regret being the odd man out in his family of doctors. He would probably always wonder what he could have been if he’d taken a different path, but didn’t everyone?

The tech returned and leaned over the kennel door.

“Dr. Nelson thinks Lady should stay at least one more night. Can you pick her up tomorrow?”

“It’ll have to be early. I have to catch a flight back to New Orleans in the morning.”

“You could always ask one of your parents to come get her.”

And after all his mental back and forth, he still didn’t want to ask them for assistance. But he would. For Lady’s sake.

“I’ll make it work,” he said. He bent low to kiss Lady on the head and closed the door to the large kennel behind him as he let himself out. “Be a good dog,” he said in parting. She didn’t open her eyes, so he doubted that she’d heard him. She didn’t know how to be a good dog anyway, but it didn’t stop him from loving her.

On his way back home, he thought about driving past his house and to the stately colonial a mile down the road, but he was missing Melanie already, so he turned in to his drive instead of going directly to his parents. He found her sitting on the front porch steps, Beau at her hip, while she stared at her phone with a scowl on her face.

Beau wagged a greeting, but Melanie only offered Gabe a slight nod when he dropped down beside her on the step. He’d been hoping to find her still in bed so he could wake her with an orgasm and a smile.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

“I still haven’t heard from Nikki. It’s been two nights, Gabe. I’m really worried about her. Do you think I should call the hotel?”

“Will it make you feel better?”

“Only if she answers.”

He cupped the back of her head and slid his hand down to give her neck an encouraging squeeze. “I’m sure she’s fine, but go ahead and call her so you can stop worrying.”

She stared at her phone for a solid minute. “She’s probably still asleep at this hour. Maybe she’s learned to be responsible and doesn’t need me, so that’s why she hasn’t returned my calls or texts.”

“If she’d learn to be responsible, she would have returned them so you didn’t worry about her.”

Melanie sighed and nodded. “If she hasn’t called by noon, I’ll call the hotel.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

She shoved her phone into the pocket of her shorts and smiled at him. “I missed you this morning. How is Lady doing?”

He’d left Melanie a note by a freshly brewed pot of coffee explaining where he’d gone. Apparently, she’d found it and had been able to read his illegible scrawl.

“She was awake for a while and she knew who I was. She looks pretty beat up, though. I have to find someone to take care of her while I’m on the road.”

“I wish I could help, Gabe, but there’s just no way.”

He took her hand and held it. “I know, baby. Don’t look so guilty. I was thinking of asking my parents to watch her, I just…” Need you there to support me. “…uh, thought maybe you’d like to go with me so my mother can fawn over you some more.”

“Will I get to meet your dad?”

“He should be home. He occasionally takes a Sunday off.”

“Let me get my shoes.”

She let Beau into the house with her. Gabe closed his eyes, basking in the Texas heat, listening to the serenity around him. Except for the hum of insects, the occasional chirp of a bird, and a persistent toad croaking in the distance, his ears were blessed with silence. His home life was so different from his life on the road. And he was ready to share it with someone special. But was someone special ready to share it with him? He’d wait a while before asking her. He didn’t need to rush. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her away by moving too quickly.

The screen door bumped closed, and he glanced over his shoulder at Melanie, who had her shoes on now. She also had all of her hair stuffed under the cowboy hat she wore.

“Nice hat,” he said.

“I wouldn’t want to offend your parents with my bed hair,” she said.

He almost said that if his hair didn’t offend them, nothing would, but his hair did offend them. “You look cute,” he said, “but you know I love that hair of yours, even when birds are eyeing it as nesting material.”

She laughed. “Not birds,” she said. “Raccoons.”

Since it was only a mile to his parents’ house, he convinced Melanie to ride with him on one of his ATVs and take the scenic route. He made her trade her cowboy hat for a helmet and zoomed across a pasture, weaved through trees in a bumpy wooded area, and splashed through a creek at the bottom of a heart-stoppingly steep hill before skidding to a stop behind his childhood home. While Gabe’s log house blended with the woods and the scenery, his parents’ stately colonial looked like it belonged in a Louisiana bayou. It was impressive, to say the least.

“That was fun!” Melanie said breathlessly.

“Better than fishing?”

“Well, dryer than fishing,” she said.

He wiped a few splatters of mud from her bare leg. “Potentially,” he said.

“Gabriel!” his father called from the back porch. He pulled himself out of his favorite rocking chair, using a heavy wooden cane for assistance, and hobbled down the steps on his stiff left leg to meet them in the yard. Melanie took off her helmet and attempted to smooth her untamed hair. It was a losing cause; raccoons were already closing in.

“Is this the young lady that has your mama mooning about grandbabies again?”

“Nice, Dad. Let’s terrify her before you’ve even been introduced,” Gabe said. “This is my old man, Luke. And this is my new girlfriend, Melanie.”