She tried to focus on her plate, tried to find something interesting in the eggplant parmigiana. There were conversations and cross-conversations. She heard fragments—debates over how many ethics courses med students should take, whether the new campus grocery sold organic produce—and every now and then Devesh’s low voice—he had bought a house on the corner of Juniper and Second, he had found a great Thai restaurant near campus. Josie was afraid to look up, and when Mary asked her with help clearing the dishes, Josie almost jumped.

She picked up a stack of plates and followed Mary into the kitchen.

“Isn’t he charming?” Mary asked.

“Sh, he’ll hear you.”

“There’s a wall between us. Now isn’t he?”

Josie put the dishes in the sink. If she didn’t look at Mary, she might be able to handle the conversation. “Yeah,” she said.

“And sexy,” Mary continued.

“Uh-huh.” Josie ran the water over the dirty dishes.

“Oh, don’t do that right now. Bring the dessert plates out, but you’re not getting off that easy. Later I want you to tell me exactly what you think of him.”

Josie closed her eyes. If she didn’t talk to him the rest of the evening, she could tell Mary she didn’t have enough information to really give feedback. Or she could pretend she wasn’t feeling well, go to bed, and deal with this in the morning when she was more collected and the wine hadn’t made her think strange men could read her thoughts.

The rest of the evening, Josie focused on the meal—making sure everyone had enough cheesecake, that the coffee didn’t run out, that dirty plates were cleared and clean utensils provided. Even when Mary insisted she sit down, she couldn’t keep still. She was sure he would corner her again, and she drank two cups of coffee while standing in the kitchen, trying to sober up enough to shake his hand goodbye and mean it.

At ten-thirty, the guests began to leave and Josie steadied herself—she would say a quick goodbye and then excuse herself to check on Tyler and Maddy; by the time she came back downstairs, he would be gone. Instead, Mary grabbed Josie’s hand and made her stay.

“Josie made the eggplant and the salad and the cheesecake,” Mary said. “I just did the appetizers and boiled water for the pasta.” She was tipsy, and she held Josie’s hand tightly.

Josie tried to smile, and Dr. Bob grabbed her other hand.

“It was a great dinner,” he said. “And I really enjoyed talking to you.”

“Yeah; great.” She knew she was bordering on rude, but she could feel her heart accelerating, and she wanted her hands to herself.

“Maybe I’ll see you again?” he asked.

“Yeah, maybe.”