Prognosis: Romance (Doctors in Training 4)

It wasn’t the short notice that had caused her pause. Nor was she particularly hesitant about mingling with a group of medical students. She was proud of both her retail work and her party business, so it wasn’t that she had any feelings of inferiority in comparison. Rather, her uncertainty was due to her suspicion that James probably attracted rumors like honey drew flies.

As Devin had pointed out, he was handsome, wealthy and naturally reserved. The less he shared about himself, the more the gossips would speculate about him. She wasn’t eager to be a part of that idle conjecture.

Yet, she had agreed, partially because she wanted to spend more time with James, and partially because she was curious to see him interacting with his friends. He just seemed so darn isolated in some ways, which triggered that knee-jerk sympathy for him. Was it his family background that set him apart from most people? The fact that he’d skipped so many early grades, making him younger than his classmates? His obviously genius IQ?

Or was she going to see tonight that he fit in just fine and she was simply letting her imagination run away with her?

She didn’t bother to mention that he looked good, too. He always did. His gray-pinstriped white cotton shirt and gray chinos were stylishly casual, making him look as though he’d just stepped out of a men’s clothing catalog. It was no wonder women’s heads turned immediately in his direction the moment he walked into the crowded establishment.

His classmates had reserved a large back room for their gathering. She had asked on the way if there was any purpose for the event, but he’d merely shrugged and said the class officers wanted everyone to get together a few times during their last year of school, just for socializing. He didn’t expect a large turnout, he’d added. The class was so scattered this year in various rotations and after-graduation preparations and many had family obligations by now. As he’d already mentioned, he’d considered skipping this one, but his friend Haley was one of the class officers and she’d let him know she expected to see him there.

At a glance, she could see that he’d estimated the attendance fairly well. The room was full, but not overly crowded. He’d said there were about a hundred and twenty-five people in his class, so not even a third were represented here tonight from her estimation as she mentally subtracted dates and spouses from the number of people milling around the small tables and chattering over the piped-in music.

A long table at one side of the room held assorted snacks—buffalo wings, canapés, dips and chips, a few trays of sweets that might have been brought in by the party organizers. Two servers dressed all in black with the bar’s logo emblazoned across their chests worked the room, taking drink orders and stuffing what looked to be generous tips into their apron pockets.

A woman with a glossy brown bob and warm amber eyes moved toward them, followed by a sandy-haired man with an engaging grin. “James, I’m glad you could make it,” the woman said.

James laughed wryly. “After you ordered me to show up or you would track me down and drag me here? I didn’t dare skip out, Haley.”

Haley giggled. “I wasn’t quite that threatening.”

“You had me shaking in my shoes.”

James placed a hand on Shannon’s back. “Shannon Gambill, I’d like you to meet Haley and Ron Gibson, two of my closest friends.”

“It’s nice to meet you both.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” Haley replied. “We saw you at the restaurant on half-price lasagna night. We were dining with James when you stopped to say hello, but he didn’t bother to introduce us.”

Because his ego had still been stinging that night over her comment that he made her nervous, Shannon mused with a slight shake of her head. “Yes, I remember seeing you.”

“We were at the Hayes party, too, but we stayed inside while you wrangled the kids outside. Your party was a great success. Alexis had a wonderful time.”

“I’m glad,” Shannon said, pleased.

“Actually, Haley and I both thought you looked familiar that night at the restaurant,” Ron piped in. “We haven’t met before, have we?”

“Not that I recall.” She didn’t add that she’d had the same feeling about James when she’d first met him at the lake, a sense that they had talked at some time in the past. Just coincidence, she was sure.

“There’s my daughter’s heroine.” Connor Hayes approached with a mug of beer in one hand and a plate of buffalo wings in the other. “Nice to see you again, Shannon.”

She smiled at him. “You, too. How is Alexis?”

“She’s fine, thanks. Still carries her tote bag from the party everywhere she goes.”

“I’m glad she likes it. She’s such a sweet girl.”

“Thanks. Mia, Anne and Liam are holding a table for us. Y’all grab some food and a drink and come sit down.”

Haley sighed gustily. “The point of tonight is to mingle, not just to sit and talk with each other.”

“We’ll mingle after we have a drink and some snacks,” James promised, nudging Shannon toward the food table.

But Shannon noted during the next half hour that the close-knit study group was in no hurry to work the room. The five of them were obviously on friendly terms with their classmates, exchanging greetings and handshakes and pleasantries when they trekked to the food tables or when anyone stopped by to speak to them, but they seemed content for the most part to spend the evening with each other.

She supposed some people might consider them a clique, but to her they were more like a little family. They finished each other’s sentences, laughed at unspoken inside jokes, sympathized over each other’s problems, celebrated their accomplishments, and communicated with glances and half smiles. She didn’t feel left out—they were very careful to make her feel a part of the group—but she was very aware of the close bonds between this group.

Connor’s wife, Mia, and Anne’s husband, Liam, were accepted among them with warmth and affection, but, clearly, there was a special connection between the five who had survived the first three years of medical school together. As guarded as James was with his deepest emotions, she had no trouble seeing that he cherished these friendships.