It Happened One Doomsday by Laurence MacNaughton Page A

interest in expanding Nate’s dental practice into a multimillion-dollar enterprise. No pressure or anything.
    For the moment, their table was empty except for Nate’s dad, Jack. When he stood up, he was easily the shortest man in the room, and his thick nose was accentuated by heavy glasses and a steel-gray beard. But he made up for his gnomelike stature with a tailored suit and an ever-present smile. He clapped an arm around Nate’s back, then turned to kiss Dru on the cheek.
    â€œDru, my dear, you look younger and prettier every time I see you.”
    When she smiled, Jack gave her front teeth a critical frown. It was just a momentary glance, a mere instant of disapproval that vanished just as quickly. But the effect was enough to make Dru’s hand fly to her mouth in embarrassment.
    â€œWhy does he always do that?” she whispered to Nate, as his dad spoke briefly to the maitre d’. “There’s nothing wrong with my teeth!”
    â€œHoney, we’re a family of dentists,” Nate whispered back. “He can’t help it.”
    But that didn’t mean she had to be happy about it.
    Across the dining room, Tonya the hygienist appeared, smiling with dazzlingly perfect teeth, leading two bone-thin old men with paper-white hair and three-piece suits. She sauntered through the dining room toward their table, turning heads in her slinky red dress.
    â€œThat’s them,” Jack said over his shoulder to Nate. “They’re brothers. Did I tell you that? Klaus and Wilhelm Zubriggen. Twins.”
    As they waited for Tonya and the investors, Dru leaned close to Nate. “If there was something wrong with my teeth, you would tell me, right?”
    â€œDad’s a perfectionist,” Nate muttered back. “He’s never happy. Just focus on making nice with the Swiss twins.”
    Tonya, meanwhile, seemed to charm everyone around her the moment she opened her mouth. Absolutely no one frowned at her teeth, Dru noticed.
    They all shook hands. When it came time to sit, Nate held Dru’s chair, which he’d never done before. It was a nice touch. She tried to focus on that instead of how frazzled she already felt.
    And then he held Tonya’s chair for her.
    Something about that simple act sent a stab of jealousy through her. No one else at the table seemed to notice. They were all smiles and nods, eagerly getting acquainted.
    Dru appeared to be the only one who wasn’t utterly charmed by Tonya’s incandescent smile and eager attention. It occurred to Dru that there were plenty of other women like Tonya—women who didn’t seem in the least bit as weird as Dru—who would be beside themselves with happiness to be sitting at this table with Nate.
    Dru shook her head. She was driving herself crazy. She had to lighten up.
    â€œSo,” one of the Swiss twins said to Dru in his thick accent, breaking her runaway train of thoughts. “You are ze wife of Jack?”
    Eww. “Um, no. I am the girlfriend of Nate.”
    Klaus, or maybe it was Wilhelm, cocked his head. “Why do you say it like so?”
    â€œLike so . . . what?”
    â€œâ€˜Ze girlfriend of Nate.’ So very strange. You are not from America?”
    â€œOh, I am totally from America.” Dru smiled, then realized Nate and Jack both looked distressed, while Tonya looked slyly amused. “I was just . . . Never mind. I’m from around here. Where are you from?”
    The twins traded glances before giving her a puzzled look. “We are from Switzerland. You do not know of Switzerland?”
    â€œNo, of course, I know—”
    â€œNo?” The man tsked his disapproval. “It is the finest country in Europe. You should know this fact.”
    â€œYes. Thank you,” she said, louder than necessary.
    After a moment of awkward silence, Tonya said breathlessly, “I’ve never been to Switzerland. What’s it