“I’m so happy for Jade. I didn’t know she and Mark were serious.”

“Neither did I,” her mother said. “But Farrah tells me he was so romantic about the proposal. He took her to the park and proposed in the rose garden.”

Aubry melted. “Oh, how sweet.”

“Seems a little soon to me,” her father said. “And Jade is still working on her master’s degree. I hope they don’t rush things to where it screws up her plans for her future.”

Her mother waved her hand back and forth. “Oh, Clyde. Where’s your sense of romance? I’m sure the two of them will figure that all out.”

“She has to think of her future financial well-being, and that means her career. She needs to finish school and get her career established, just like Aubry.”

Her mother leaned back in her chair. “What if Aubry fell in love with someone tomorrow?”

Her father shook his head. “Aubry’s head needs to stay focused on finishing her residency, applying for a fellowship. Plenty of time later for love, marriage and babies. It’s too soon.”

Nothing like being talked about as if she wasn’t in the room. She loved her father with all her heart, but his thoughts on career versus home and family were awfully rigid. She understood he wanted her to be independent and have a career, but there had to be room for her to have a personal life as well.

“I’m sure I could handle both, Dad.”

He shot her a look of disbelief. “When would you even have time? You work all the time, and when you aren’t doing that, you’re studying and keeping up with managing your caseload. There’s so much to learn being a doctor, Aubry. No. There’s no time for romance in your life. Not now, anyway. You’ll have time for that later.”

It was as if he’d dismissed the notion she could have a relationship with someone. Like he’d banned the thought. He was treating her like a child all over again, telling her what she could and couldn’t have.

Well, screw that.

She wanted to blurt out that she’d found plenty of time for romance in the past month with Tucker, but that would be a stupid thing to do and would set her up for failure. If she wanted to introduce Tucker as someone she was . . .

What exactly was she doing with Tucker, anyway? She hadn’t—they hadn’t defined it. And did it matter? Did it matter to her? It hadn’t until now. The only reason she was even thinking of it was because her father’s objections to mixing career and dating were really pissing her off, making her want to fling her relationship with Tucker in his face and show him that she could manage her career and a private life just fine, thank you very much.

But not today.

Still . . .

“You know, Dad, it’s the twenty-first century, and women juggle career and relationship quite well these days. In fact, many very smart women manage to have successful careers, a healthy marriage and children. Shockingly, all at the same time.”

“Well, of course. And someday I’m sure you’ll be able to do that.”

She pinned him with a look. “But for some reason I couldn’t handle that now?”

He calmly took a sip of his iced tea, seemingly unaware that Aubry was about to spring from her seat and strangle her father in anger. Instead, he shook his head.

“Residency is a full-time job, a night and day endeavor. You’re on call, you have cases to research, and your exams to prepare for. I can’t see how you could successfully handle a relationship, let alone marriage and family.”

He had no faith in her ability to manage her time. Like she could only deal with one thing. “Several of the residents are married. One has a child.”

“And I’m sure it’s quite a juggling act for them and very difficult.”

And now he was making judgments about her friends’ lives. Did she even know this man at all? She started to argue, but her mother shook her head, making her swallow the argument.

After lunch, her father kissed her good-bye and told her he had some calls to make, which left her alone with her mother. They carried the plates into the kitchen and laid them in the sink, where Aubry helped her mother with the dishes.

“Don’t take your father’s words to heart, Aubry. He can be so single-minded on some topics, especially where you’re concerned. But you know he only has your best interests at heart.”

“He made me angry, Mom. It’s like he doesn’t trust me to know what’s best for my career. For my own life. I’m not a child anymore. I can make my own decisions. And how dare he presume to know how difficult someone else’s life is? People he doesn’t even know.”

Her mother swept her hand up and down Aubry’s arm. “Well, it’s not the first time he’s done that, and not just with you. He can be . . . difficult at times.”

Aubry choked out a laugh. “Difficult? That’s an understatement. I don’t know how you can keep from throwing plates at him.”

Her mother smiled. “He can also be sweet and kind and very open-minded.”

Aubry huffed out a sigh of disgust. “I haven’t seen much of that where I’m concerned.”

“I know you’re perfectly capable of handling your own life, sweetheart. You’re an adult now. You have been for a while. Your dad, though, still sees you as his baby girl. He only wants the best things for you. He wants you to succeed.”

She leaned against the kitchen counter. “And he thinks I can’t do that without his guidance. Or maybe I should say his bullying tactics.”