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 thecroietalk go?”
“Pretty smoothly,” he admitted. “Probably becauseyouintroduced 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.Croiesalways do.”
After two dayswithout 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 anddad 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.”