“I didn’t know,” Ronan said quietly. I risked looking at him as he spoke. “Not at first. I enrolled in medical school for someone else.”
I knew next to nothing about Ronan’s past and I could tell from the hard set of his jaw that he likely would prefer it that way. But I wanted desperately to know more so I said, “Who?”
Ronan swallowed hard. “My father.”
I would have liked to explore that revelation more but I sensed it was a topic that was off limits. “But you fell in love with it?”
The tension eased from Ronan and he nodded. Finally, safer ground.
“Where did you go to school?”
“Stanford.”
We were back to the one word answers but I didn’t care. He was still talking. “Wow, I had no idea you were a geek,” I said with a smile.
Ronan glanced at me in surprise. “What?”
“Stanford…that’s like Ivy League shit, right?”
I felt my body go all warm when Ronan chuckled. “Actually, no.”
“Well, it should be.”
Ronan didn’t respond but I didn’t miss the small smile that graced his lips and actually stayed there. “So did you do anything bad while you were in school?”
“What do you mean?”
I shifted in my seat so I could see his reactions better. “Pranks, practical jokes, that sort of thing.”
Ronan didn’t say anything but I laughed when I saw his jaw tick. “You did!”
An even wider smile spread across his mouth and I wanted to lean in and kiss him. “Tell me.”
He glanced at me and then finally said, “One of my classmates and I rigged a cadaver to move. Scared the shit out of the guy who was about to cut into it.”
“No,” I whispered in horror. “What else?”
“Nothing. That one act of rebellion almost got me expelled so I walked the straight and narrow after that.”
“So what, you were a goody two-shoes?” I asked in surprise.
“Does anyone even say that anymore?” Ronan teased. I was so caught off guard by the jab and the grin on his face that I didn’t realize the car had stopped moving until he turned to face me. “We’re here,” he said gently and then motioned behind me. I turned and sure enough, we were sitting in the driveway of my old house. The anxiety was instantaneous and I was glad when Ronan covered my hand with his again.
The home where my parents had chosen to live during the week was a sedate colonial that looked like countless other homes in middle class neighborhoods, but it sat on a large lot that had a great view of the water and beautifully landscaped gardens that my mother had spent years getting just right. At nearly ten thousand square feet, the gothic Tudor style house on Whidbey Island dwarfed this house and no expense had been spared in designing it. But as much as I’d always liked our vacation home, it was the relatively small, four-bedroom house with the black shutters and simple window boxes that had always felt like home to me…until it hadn’t.
“Do you want to go?” Ronan asked.
Yes.
I shook my head. “No. I just need a minute.”
Ronan fell silent but he didn’t release my hand which I was grateful for since I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to actually let him go at that moment. I wasn’t sure how long we sat there for but when I heard someone shouting from across the street, I nearly jumped out of my skin.
“It’s just some guys working on the roof across the street,” Ronan said gently.
I nodded but I couldn’t stop the panic that started to overtake me.
“Seth, look at me,” Ronan ordered and then his hands were on my face. “Take a breath and hold it,” he ordered.
