“Your mama did all the shopping. But, uh, thanks for the hunting jacket. That’s a nice one.”
“Mom said she thought you could use another one.”
“She shouldn’t be telling y’all anything to get for me. Need to save your money for yourselves.”
“I’m doing okay, Dad.”
His father nodded shortly. “I know you are, son. You keep at that doctoring, you hear? Sounds like you’re doing pretty good with it.”
So maybe Dad had listened to Haley, after all. At least for now. “Yeah, I’ll stick with it. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Yeah. Get a move on now, and call your mama when you get home safe. She’ll be worried.”
“I will.”
His mother walked them to the door. She looked out with a worried eye. “I don’t like the looks of those clouds. I wish you’d just stay the night.”
“We’ll be okay, Mom.” He leaned over to kiss her lined cheek. “You outdid yourself today. I know it was a lot of trouble, but everything was perfect.”
“It was a lot of trouble,” she agreed, then smiled faintly. “But it was worth it. Felt good to have my kids home.”
He saw the sadness darken her eyes, and he knew what she was thinking. “Tommy will be out soon, Mom. Maybe he’ll turn his life around for the better this time.”
She sighed heavily, glancing quickly at Haley, her embarrassment plain. His mother took her oldest son’s failings very personally, and refused to accept that Tommy’s demons—and his choices—were his own. “Your dad and I are going to see him next weekend. Want me to tell him anything from you?”
“Tell him I said hello.” He almost added a Merry Christmas for his brother, but decided that sentiment might not be quite appropriate.
Haley thanked his mother prettily for welcoming her to the family holiday celebration, expressing her gratitude one more time for the hand-knit scarf.
“We hope to see you here again soon,” Ron’s mother replied, and he could tell she was sincere in the invitation. She slanted a look his way. “Assuming you two don’t think you’re too good for the likes of us once you’re fancy doctors and all.”
Ron frowned. “Don’t even think that, Mom. Whatever issues we might have among us, this is still my family. Nothing’s ever going to change that. Maybe someday we’ll even figure out how to just love each other without the other stuff.”
She patted his arm. “I do love you, Ronnie.”
“I love you, too, Mom. I’ll call you Christmas, if not before, okay?”
Blinking rapidly, she nodded and motioned toward the door. “Get on now. You drive carefully, you h
ear? If it starts storming, pull over.”
“We will. ’Bye, Mom.”
She closed the door behind them when they ran out into the gray drizzle.
The windshield wipers beat a steady rhythm against the glass as Ron drove south, away from his family home. It was just after 4:00 p.m., and darkness was already falling, partly because of the short days of early winter, partly because of the thick cloud cover.
Haley didn’t immediately reach for her netbook as they got underway. She just wasn’t up to studying right then. Judging from the slight weariness in the set of Ron’s shoulders, he wasn’t, either.
“Well?” he said without looking at her, when he’d been driving for almost twenty minutes in silence. “Were they what you expected?”
She turned her head against the back of the seat to study him in the gloomy gray light. “I’ve seen much worse families.”
“So have I, for that matter, but they’re still difficult. I will say that everyone was on their best behavior pretty much today. Maybe because you and Luis were there. Dad only had a couple of beers, he and Mick only got into two or three arguments, Deb didn’t burst into tears once and Mom didn’t complain nearly as much as usual.”
Haley found it hard to imagine the woman complaining any more, but she supposed Ron knew best. “Maybe they’re just trying harder to get along. And maybe Deb was in a better mood because she’s happier. She looked crazy about Luis.”
Ron nodded. “Seems like a decent guy. Mom made a few comments behind his back about his Hispanic heritage, but she’s not really a bigot. She’s an equal opportunity criticizer.”