“That’s nice. I hope you don’t think I dislike your family. I don’t, you know.”
He slanted her a quick smile. “I know. You don’t really dislike anyone, do you?”
“Well, not many people,” she admitted, thinking of a few. “But everyone was very nice to me today.”
He took his right hand from the wheel long enough to squeeze her knee. “You’re easy to be nice to.”
Unexpectedly, she felt her cheeks flood with warmth. How far gone was she that a simple squeeze and an offhanded compliment could make her hands suddenly tremble?
Careful, Haley.
He placed his hand on the wheel again, fighting the gusts of wind. He drove doggedly on, and she didn’t want to distract him with conversation. She didn’t even try to study during this ride; Ron needed to keep his attention on the wet road. Darkness was falling quickly, though it was hard to distinguish from the already-cloud-darkened skies. Rain fell steadily on the roof and washed across the windows. The radio kept them informed about watches and warnings, informing them that the worst of the storm was still headed their way. Fortunately, there wasn’t a lot of traffic on the roads and most of the other drivers were also using caution, though there were the occasional idiots who drove as recklessly as if the weather was completely clear and dry.
The silence had extended for quite some time before Ron spoke again, his voice somber, raised a little above the noise from outside. “What you said to my family? About me being more capable of commitment than they give me credit for?”
Drawn from her own thoughts, she nodded. “Of course you’re capable of commitment. There’s no way anyone would survive the first two years of med school without being completely dedicated to it.”
“I would have thought you’d have agreed with them. As often as we’ve argued about that very sort of thing, I mean.”
She sighed. “The reason we argued in the past was because I hated hearing you sell yourself short. All that talk of quitting and falling back on Plan B, all those doubts about whether you belonged in medical school or whether you would be able to see it through—well, hearing those things just annoyed me because I knew it was all foolishness.”
“So you do think I’m capable of making a total commitment, despite what you said to Lydia and Kristie at the party.”
Rain hammered harder against the top of the car, sounding even louder than before in the awkward pause that followed his comment. The wipers weren’t having much effect against the downpour. She cleared her throat, staring hard out the windshield rather than at him. “Of course you’re capable, Ron. You just don’t always choose to do so.”
She craned her neck to look ahead for a safe place to stop for a while. They were pretty much surrounded by farm and pastureland. There weren’t a lot of cars on the road with them; maybe other people had the sense to stay inside during weather like this. But it really hadn’t been this bad when they’d left his parents’ house, she reminded herself.
“I am going to finish medical school, Haley,” Ron said.
“Of course you will. Can you see the road?”
“Yeah, I can see pretty well. You don’t have to worry, you know.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I’m trying not to worry. But this weather is really getting ugly. I don’t know whether it would be better to ke
ep moving toward home or pull over somewhere and hope we get another break in the rain.”
“I’m still hoping we can get home before that next front line moves into the central part of the state. I’ll pull over if I think it’s getting too risky to keep driving, but right now it’s just a heavy rain. I can drive in that as long as I watch my speed—and the morons don’t run us off the road.”
He spoke just as a big truck with oversize tires sped past them, throwing up fountains of water from the road, blowing the smaller car slightly sideways on the wet pavement.
“Jerk,” Haley muttered.
“That’s one word for him,” Ron agreed grimly, peering through the semicircular swaths carved by the wipers.
Once he’d steadied the car again, he glanced at her. “I wasn’t actually talking about the weather.”
She drew her attention from the dark skies ahead. Between the rain on the roof and the droning of the weather reporter on the radio, she was having a little trouble hearing him clearly. “Hmm?”
“When I said you don’t have to be nervous, I meant you don’t have to worry that I’ll hold you back in your career. I know how exclusive those triple-board programs are, but I have no doubt you’ll get into one if you want.”
Forgetting the weather for the moment, she turned in her seat to stare at him. “What are you talking about?”
He sighed loudly, looking both frustrated and self-conscious. “It’s just—well, I know several people lately have warned you that it’s hard sometimes for a couple to find residencies in the same hospitals. I know a few have hinted that I could be a liability to you. And then Deb made that comment today that left you looking so nervous, so I thought maybe you should know…never mind. Forget I said anything. Stupid time to bring this up.”
She bit her lip. Was he really trying to convince her that he wouldn’t interfere in her career plans? Or was he implying he wasn’t expecting them to still be together when the time came for applying to residency programs?
A flicker of anger sparked beneath the dull pain his clumsy assurances had left in her chest, and she spoke without bothering to guard her words. “Let me make something clear to you. If I wanted to find a residency program at a hospital that was also a good match for you, I wouldn’t care what anyone else said about it. Not our classmates, not our families, not our friends…no one. I make my own decisions. Nor do I think that being with you would ever hold me back in my career, for that matter. I’ve told you before that I believe you can get into any residency program you want. I was being completely honest.”