40. Give Her Time
GIVE HER TIME
PATRICK
Was that same bliss in his near future? Or had last night been too much, too soon?
He didn’t know, because Morgan hadn’t really given him anything to go by.
He didn’t like that he didn’t know.
He checked his phone, confirming that Morgan hadn’t texted him in the five minutes since he’d last looked. Granted, it had only been a few hours since he’d left her at Frank’s, but a guy could hope.
On the plus side, Morgan hadn’t bolted immediately after dinner. She hadn’t gone distant. And she’d stayed the night.
That was a good sign, right? And the way she’d snuggled up to him this morning… well, she wouldn’t have done that if she wasn’t feeling that same sense of rightness.
So what if she’d thanked him for a wonderful time and got out of the car at Frank’s without any mention of when they’d see each other again.
It was perfectly normal that she needed time and space to process.
He’d hit her with some heavy stuff, and croie or not, Morgan Sullivan was not the kind of woman who committed to anything without thinking it through thoroughly.
He had no doubt she’d get there eventually, and when she did—
“Well?” Riley asked from her seat at his kitchen table. “How’d it go? Did that change of clothes come in handy?” Then, without waiting for him to reply, said, “What am I saying? Of course, it did. Declan said she was still here this morning.”
He made a mental note to speak to Declan about oversharing later. Although in his defense, it was hard not to tell Riley things. She was as skilled at extracting information as her father.
“It went well.”
She huffed. “Seriously? Details, Patrick. I need details.”
He exhaled. “The dinner was good. She loved everything about the place. Then Mom came by and introduced herself and Morgan went a little deer in the headlights.”
Riley gaped at him. “Patrick.” Her voice shifted into the register she used when she was genuinely exasperated rather than performatively so. “Please tell me you didn’t spring a meet the parent moment on Morgan unaware.”
He shrugged. “Not intentionally. Mostly. It just didn’t come up.”
“It didn’t—” She stared at him. “How does that not come up? You booked a table at the restaurant your mother owns and didn’t tell her that in addition to that, your mom is a world-renowned chef?”
No, he hadn’t, because he didn’t want to overwhelm her. The mention of the Celtic Goddess alone had had her trying to backpedal. In his defense, he didn’t know his mother was going to make a personal appearance. One of the staff must have alerted her.
He told Riley as much. “She handled it.”
“Of course she handled it. She’s Morgan. She handles everything.” Riley shook her head, as if she couldn’t believe he was that dense. “Your mom called my mom about your date, you know. She told her that she likes Morgan. Thinks she’s perfect for you.”
“She did?”
“Yep. And speaking of, how did the croie talk go?”
“Pretty smoothly,” he admitted. “Probably because you introduced the concept earlier.”
Riley lifted her chin fractionally. “I told her what she needed to know. Like meet the parent moments, it’s not something you spring on someone unawares.”
“Riley—”
“You’re welcome,” she said firmly. “What did she say?”
“Not much, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. She’s trying to wrap her mind around it.”
“Makes sense,” Riley said. “And she did spend the night, so she wasn’t completely freaked out. Unless… did she mention anything about going back to Philly?”
He frowned. “No. She told me at one point she wasn’t sure she wanted to go back. Do you think she changed her mind?”
Riley was quiet for a moment. When she spoke again, the teasing was gone entirely. “I don’t know. Probably not. Based on what we found, I don’t think she has much to go back to.”
That wasn’t exactly the resounding no he’d been hoping for.
“Her job. She loves what she does.”
“But not where she does it or who she does it with,” Riley pointed out. “Maybe you should give her options. Anyway, I’ve got to go. Keep a good thought.” Riley touched his arm briefly. “Give her time. She’ll get there. Croies always do.”
After two days without hearing from Morgan, Patrick was ready to lose his mind.
On the one hand, he wanted to give her space and the freedom to make up her own mind and choose him.
On the other, he wanted to know what she was thinking.
To be there to answer any questions she had.
To be a constant reminder of how good they were together.
What if she wasn’t convinced yet? What if she decided to return to Philadelphia, thinking that more time and more distance were required?
He wound up at his parents’ house under the guise of wanting to talk to his dad about upgrading his tech. He found his mom and dad in the kitchen, pulling things together for a late lunch. Both looked flushed and freshly showered, which was nothing new for them.
“How’s Morgan?” Lexi asked.
“I don’t know,” Patrick answered honestly. “I haven’t talked to her in two days.”
Lexi frowned. “Your dinner at the Goddess didn’t go well?”
“Dinner went great.”
“And after?” asked Ian.
“She spent the night at my place.”
It was his father’s turn to frown. “What did you two do all night, play Scrabble?”
“Ian!” Lexi exclaimed just as Patrick snorted.
“What? It’s a valid question.”
“She probably just needs time to wrap her mind around everything. That poor girl has been through a lot in the past few weeks, not the least of which is meeting you,” Lexi said, nodding toward Patrick.
“I don’t think you understand how difficult for someone outside your family to accept that croies are real. ”
“You did,” Patrick said. “So did Aunt Taryn, Aunt Maggie,—”
“No, she’s right,” Ian said, his expression more serious now. “None of them, including your mother, made it easy. Knowing the truth of it isn’t enough.”
“Neither is love,” Lexi said. “I fell in love with your father long before we ended up together. But it wasn’t until I allowed myself to believe a happily ever after was possible that we figured things out. Even then it was rough going for a while.”
“Okay. So how do I get her to believe?”
“Be patient and show her that you’re there for her, no matter what,” Lexi answered.
Ian wrapped his hand around Lexi’s. “And never give up. Fate knows what it’s doing, but you have to earn it.”
“Grandpa Jack said pretty much the same thing,” Patrick said.
“He’s a smart man,” Ian agreed.
Patrick’s phone buzzed.
He turned it over, his heart leaping when he saw Morgan’s name. “It’s Morgan.”
Morgan: Can we talk?
Patrick: Sure. I’m at my parents’. I can be at Frank’s in fifteen
Morgan: I’ll be here
Patrick looked up at his parents. “Morgan wants to talk.”
“Forget talking,” Ian said. “You should—”
“Go,” Lexi encouraged. “It’s going to be fine.”
“Right,” Ian added. “And if talking doesn’t work, you should—”
Lexi slapped her hand over Ian’s mouth before he could complete that sentence, but Patrick was already on his way out the door.
Morgan was waiting for him on the porch when he pulled up.
She was sitting on the top step in her field jacket, phone in hand, her expression unreadable. She said nothing as he approached, which didn’t bode well. He gave himself a silent pep talk, telling himself that no matter what she said, he would handle it.
“I’ve decided to go back to Philadelphia,” she said.
His heart bottomed out somewhere around his spleen. “Morgan—”
“I need to give notice. Collect my things. Deal with the apartment.”
“But—”
It took a moment for the words to register.
He looked at her. She was watching him with that patient, almost amused expression. The one she wore when she was waiting for him to catch up.
“You’re not going back?”
“Aren’t you listening?” she said, her lips twitching slightly. “I am going back, but only long enough to resign and pack. I wondered if you might want to come with me.”
He’d go anywhere she asked him to. “You’re asking me to go to Philadelphia with you.”
She arched a brow. “Yes. You could be very helpful. You do know a thing or two about moving.”
He looked at her for a long moment. The relief was so complete it took him a second to find the words.
“Where,” he said carefully, “are you moving to?”
“Pine Ridge.” She held his gaze steadily. “Frank said I could stay with him until I get on my feet, find a job, that sort of thing.”
“Sounds like you’ve given it a lot of thought.”
“I have, actually.”
“Anything else you’ve come up with?” Patrick prompted.
“And… I want to see where this goes.” She paused, choosing her words carefully.
“I don’t know what this is yet, and I’m not sure I believe in the whole croie phenomenon.
But I know that there is something here.
Something special that I’d be a fool to walk away from without proper, thorough research.
” She met his eyes. “That’s the best I can do right now. ”
He reached over and took her hand.
“It’s enough,” he said. “It’s more than enough.”
She exhaled. And then, slowly, she leaned her head against his shoulder.
He wrapped his arm around her.
He was going with her to Philly.
And then he was going to bring her home and give her every reason to stay.