Private Partners (Doctors in Training 2)

She tried to deal with too much on her own; that was the problem. Easton pride and self-sufficiency kept her from asking for help, even when she needed it. So he figured he would have to help her without being asked. By the time he finished his revisions, he wanted to make sure she was healthy and relaxed, prepared for anything medical school could throw at her.

Unlike her family, he cared more about her happiness than her accomplishments.

“I hope you get a lot done today.”

She nodded. “Thanks. Good luck with your revisions.”

He moved out of her way when she walked toward the coat closet to grab a jacket. Despite the extra bedroom, her apartment was more efficiency than roomy. The kitchen was so small that Liam had bumped against her several times while they’d put away the dishes. She’d merely smiled when he’d apologized. He knew she wasn’t accustomed to sharing her space, but she didn’t seem to mind the close quarters. For now.

He predicted that as her next test approached, she would grow even more tense and distant. He could deal with that, he assured himself. Maybe he could even help her relax occasionally. He had a few tricks up his sleeve for just that purpose.

He smiled in anticipation.

The study group gathered at James Stillman’s condo that afternoon, as they so often did. James was single, his condo was spacious and his housekeeper always left plenty of home-baked snacks for their enjoyment, so they liked meeting there. He seemed to enjoy playing host, though Anne often had trouble reading James.

One thing she knew about him, he came from money. Perhaps that was just one child of privilege recognizing a kindred soul. The other three of their study group came from middle-class and blue-collar backgrounds, not that such social distinctions meant much when it came to the grueling demands of medical school. However disparate their backgrounds had been, med school exams had a way of leveling the playing field, so to speak.

James welcomed her in when she rang the bell. Though it was only ten past one, she was the last to arrive.

Tall and slender, with black hair and dark eyes, James always brought the word “elegant” to Anne’s mind. She considered him a study in contradictions. He moved with a somehow utterly mascul

ine grace, interacted warmly with their group of friends while still holding a part of himself back and studied as hard as any of them though the material seemed to come to him almost without effort on his part. At twenty-seven, he was the second oldest in the group, Anne being the youngest. James had obtained a PhD in microbiology before entering medical school. He’d explained that he’d decided too late to attain an M.D. to combine the two degrees into one program.

Haley, Ron and Connor gathered around the big table where they always spread their computers, books and papers, holding cups of coffee and helping themselves to chocolate chip cookies from a china plate.

Haley spoke first. “Hi, Anne. We were beginning to wonder where you were. You’re never late.”

“Ten minutes isn’t very late.” Anne dropped her heavy computer-and-book bag onto “her” chair and moved toward the coffeemaker.

“For you it is.” Haley Wright smiled from the chair where she always sat when they met here. Of medium height, the amber-eyed brunette was slender and long-legged, though somewhat more curvy than Anne. Anne was aware that she, herself, had lost a bit too much weight recently, resulting in a more fragile and waiflike appearance than she would have liked, so she snagged a couple of cookies to go with her coffee.

Sandy-haired, blue-eyed Ron Gibson had a smear of chocolate on his full lower lip when he grinned at Anne. “How was the family dinner last night?”

She rolled her eyes. “It was very nice—though I endured at least three separate lectures about not falling behind, in addition to maybe half a dozen stories about how much harder medical school was for my grandfather, my dad and my brother.”

Always the clown, Ron laughed. “It’s like I keep saying. You’re sticking much too close to the family tree. You should have joined the circus or something and then you couldn’t be constantly compared to the other family physicians.”

She didn’t have to fake her grimace. “Yeah, that would have gone over real well with the Easton clan. Their daughter, the circus performer. I might as well have driven a stake through their hearts.”

Haley looked at Anne over the screen of her laptop computer. “Despite what you say, spending the evening with your family must have been good for you. You look a little more relaxed today than you have lately.”

“I guess you’re right.” Anne busied herself with her own computer to avoid any further reply.

Ron released a gusty sigh as he dragged a thick stack of papers in front of him. “Man, they loaded us up with slides this week. We’ll never get through them all.”

“Of course we will.” Ever the optimist and the group cheerleader, Haley spoke firmly. “We just have to keep pushing ahead, a few at a time.”

Ron retorted with typical facetiousness, “That’s all we have to do, huh? Gee, I wish I’d known it would be so easy. I wouldn’t have had to worry so much.”

Haley started to snap back at him, but James interceded smoothly. “Where should we begin? The pharmacology or pathology slides?”

Even as she participated in the ensuing discussions, it bothered Anne that Haley and Ron seemed to be quarreling more lately. The stress got to all of them occasionally, but Haley and Ron seemed particularly inclined to take it out on each other.

She still remembered an embarrassing incident last year when she’d broken down in tears in front of her study mates. She’d been overwhelmed with schoolwork, her mother had suffered a setback in her recovery, she hadn’t heard from Liam in weeks and she’d been seriously sleep deprived. All of which had contributed to a meltdown that humiliated her even now when she thought about it. Her friends had been very supportive, which made her feel even guiltier at times for not telling them about Liam. Especially Haley.

The five of them had drifted together during their first semester to study as a group, and they had become true friends since. Anne didn’t know what she would have done without them. While lying had become a part of her life during the past year and a half, she thought it was even harder to lie to her study friends than it was to her own family. Which seemed so wrong until she reminded herself primly that it was her family’s own fault the lies had been necessary.

They had been studying for two hours without a break when Ron groaned and tossed down his pen. “I’ve got to move around, guys. My neck’s killing me.”