“Oh, it’s wonderful,” Riley said, with a smile that said she knew exactly what Morgan was doing. “The food is extraordinary. The atmosphere is perfect. You’ll have a wonderful time.”
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Morgan said.
“Tremendously,” Riley agreed, and reached for her iced tea.
Frank wasin his chair with Shadow and the newspaper when she got back. He looked up when she came through the door with the Harlow’s bag in one hand and the shoebox in the other. Riley had given her a great deal to think about over dress shopping and lunch, and it probably showed on her face.
He said nothing.
“I needed a new dress,” Morgan explained. “Patrick asked me to dinner.”
“Ah,” said Frank, and returned to his paper.
No questions. No comments. Once again, she was thankful her grandfather was exactly the way he was.
Morgan showered. She did her hair with more attention than she’d given it since arriving in Pine Ridge. She put on the green dress and looked in the mirror and thought about what Riley had said. Then she made herself stop, because if she kept thinking about it, she’d spend the next hour convincing herself it wasn’t true in order to protect herself from the possibility that it was.
How had Riley described it?The person the rest of your life makes more sense with.
Could Patrick be that person for her? Could she be that person for him?
She went downstairs at ten to seven.
Frank looked up from his book. Shadow opened one eye. Frank looked at her for a long moment, saying so much without actually saying anything.
Then finally, “You look nice.”
“Thank you,” she said. “Don’t wait up.”
“Never do,” he said, which they both knew wasn’t true.
She was still carrying that warmth when the headlights swept across the front window.
She took a deep breath. Then she picked up her wrap, opened the door, and went to meet him.
38
HOPE & SURPRISES
PATRICK
Excitement,not nerves, quickened his step as he walked the short distance from the driveway to Frank’s front door. Well, maybe there was a touch of anxiety, too. It wasn’t every day you told a woman she was yourcroie. Assuming she still wanted answers, that was. She might have decided she really didn’t want to know why he was so?—
The door opened.
He stopped on the second step and looked at her, and for a moment everything else went quiet. The anticipation. The anxiety. The rationalizations. All of it went quiet and there was just…her.
His mind vaguely registered that her dress was a deep, jewel-toned green. Her hair was down, artfully styled into dark waves that cascaded over her shoulders. She was holding her wrap inboth hands with an uncertainty he hadn’t seen her wear before, which was the most endearing thing he’d ever seen.
He climbed the last step.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi.” He offered his hand.
She looked at it for a moment that felt like an entire lifetime… then put her hand in his.
Behind her, Frank appeared in the hallway. He said nothing. He simply looked at Patrick with those dark, steady eyes.