I quickly found my attendings standing near the bar. “I can see that you two sought out prime real estate,” I teased, gesturing toward the bar. I had a good rapport with the two doctors. They were both tough as nails at work, but they had invited me out for drinks after work a couple of times. I had found them both delightfully easy to talk to in a social setting, Eve more so than Christopher. They were a married couple and were some of the finest orthopedic surgeons in the country. They only took one resident a year, so I was very fortunate to have been chosen.

Eve Lademan gave me an air kiss before looking me up and down. “Blaire, you look lovely this evening,” she said with a warm smile.

“As do you,” I said honestly. I didn’t know who the designer was for her charcoal gray sheath dress, but it was obviously couture. I turned to her husband. “And Dr. Lademan, dashing as ever,” I commented, earning me a little salute with his glass of vodka. “I don’t believe you two have met my husband, Evan Cavanaugh. Evan, these are Doctors Christopher and Eve Lademan. Christopher, Evan is a golfer, as well.”

“Really?” Christopher asked, his eyes brightening as he turned to my husband. “Where do you play?”

Eve linked her arm with mine and started dragging me away. “Let’s leave the boys with the boring golf talk while we visit the food table.” When we were out of earshot of the men, she murmured, “I swear to God, if I have to hear the story of Chris’s birdie on that par three when he played the course at Augusta one more time, I’m going to need to find something a lot stronger than this champagne to drink. I’ve been listening to that tale for nine years now.”

I giggled and nodded in commiseration. “Ev does the same thing. He got to play at Pebble Beach once, and you would think he was Tiger Woods.” My eyes scanned hungrily over the beautifully prepared hors d’oeuvres as we approached one of the tables against the far wall.

“You simply must try the smoked salmon canapés,” she said, handing me a plate and taking one for herself.

“Sounds wonderful. I’m starving since my bosses didn’t let me eat today,” I said teasingly.

“They must be terrible people,” she said with mock severity. “By the way, Chris said you did a wonderful job on the assist with the ACL today.”

“Yes,” I said confidently. “It went well, and I appreciated the opportunity.” I had only recently begun my residency, but I loved it so far, despite the grueling hours.

“Well, keep up the good work. I have a total hip arthroplasty Monday that you can assist on. If you do well, I’ll let you fly solo on an arthroscopic shoulder surgery later in the week.”