Page 79 of The Doctor's Irreplaceable Love

He laughed.“No, if you sensed any hesitation, it was over you possibly grilling Jim about me.”

She patted his arm.“Of course I did—and we all know that he only had good things to say about you.Great things.And thanks, Trip, but I can go and get my own coffee.Does anyone else want something?”

As they all shook their heads, Trip realized that he hadn’t made any introductions; it seemed that Harper didn’t need one, but his mom’s training wouldn’t allow him to leave it there.

“And sorry, guys—this is Harper.Harper, meet Deacon and Candy, Ace and Ari, Travis and Retta, and those ladies there are Janey and Everly.”

Harper grinned around at them all.“It’s a pleasure.Now, how does this work?Can we pull up an extra table or will the staff…?”

Rocket appeared beside her at that moment.“The staff will pull up a table just as soon as he delivers these,” he said, as he set Trip and Shelley’s drinks in front of them.

Within a few moments, Jim and Harper were sitting at the table Rocket had brought over, and—after a brief check in with Janey—he’d gone back to get their drinks.

~ ~ ~

As the afternoon turned into evening, the crowd in the bakery slowly thinned out.Shelley was having such a good time that she was shocked when she realized that Rocket had come to sit beside Janey a while ago, and Spider and his girl, Frankie, had also come to join them.

When she looked around, the rest of the bakery was empty.She caught Spider’s gaze, hoping that he wasn’t silently cursing them all for keeping him and Rocket from closing up and going home.

He gave her a reassuring smile, and when Frankie noticed, she grinned at Shelley, too.

“Don’t worry about it.If there were a bunch of regular customers sitting around like this, I’d be herding them out the door.But this is different—we’re all family here.”

Trip, who had been deep in conversation with a man named Zeke, who Shelley didn’t know very well, turned back to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“Are you doing okay?”

“I am—I’m loving this.”

Jim winked at her from across the table.“You should have come the other week, like I told you to.”

“She wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much then, though,” Ari chipped in.“They weren’t together yet.”

“And I thought you were the smart one,” said Jim.“They were together all right.”

Shelley gave him a puzzled look, and he laughed.

“You were—it’s just that neither of you knew it yet.There’s something about the two of you—I’ve known it since the first time I saw you at the clinic, Miss Shelley.You and Trip are a pair together.You remind me of my Kitty and me.”

Shelley’s hand came up to cover her heart.She was touched by his words, and as she noticed the hush that had fallen around the table, it seemed to her that the others were, too.

Trip tensed beside her, but she thought she knew why.She didn’t think he had a problem with what Jim had said—it was hearing him mention Kitty’s name.Trip had told her how hard Kitty’s death had been on him.He’d been close with her and Jim his whole life, and the way he saw it was that he was the one who had lost the battle for her life.

Shelley had tried to tell him that even as a doctor, sometimes there was nothing he could do.It hadn’t helped him, though.

Jim smiled around at everyone.“I know I don't talk about her much anymore, but that might need to change.I've been thinking about her all the time lately.Well, I always have.It's better said that I don’t talk about her much anymore and I've been thinking maybe I should.”

Travis, who was sitting closest to Jim, reached across and grasped the old guy’s arm.

“Speaking for myself, Jim, I’d love to hear anything you have to say.”Travis gave Jim’s arm a gentle squeeze.“And I know I’m not speaking for just myself when I say we all loved Miss Kitty.And we miss her.

“I can't imagine how it is for you.There's many a time I want to bring her up when something reminds me of her, or I just want to share a memory.The reason I don’t do it is out of respect for you.Since you don't mention her, I feel like I shouldn't.”

Deacon and Ace both murmured their agreement, and Trip nodded.

Jim rubbed his ear against his shoulder.“Well, I think you know—and if you don't, you should—she loved all of you boys like her own.”

Deacon bowed his head slightly.Ace gave a slow nod.