Page 63 of Chasing the Dream

“Mom’s going to be disappointed if we all leave so soon.”

“You and Morgan should stay. Take her on that hike we planned for tomorrow. You don’t have to cut the weekend short because of me.”

Morgan and Gabe exchanged glances, a thousand unsaid words floating in the air between them.

“I’m fine to stay if you are,” he finally said.

She nodded, her adrenaline flowing full force now.

“Thanks, guys!”

For the next ten minutes or so, Maria relayed her conversation with Matt. Some of it sounded oddly similar to the discussion Morgan and Gabe had just had. Apparently, Matt had been attracted to Maria for some time, but he’d been hesitant to act on it since they worked together. It was a common workplace conundrum, to borrow Gabe’s word.

“We promised that if things don’t work out between us, we’ll be adult about it and remain cordial. Besides, we work in different departments, so it’s not like we interact that much anyway.”

“I’m really happy for you,” Morgan said.

“You’re sure you’re not mad at me?”

“What for?”

“For trying to set you up with Matt and then stealing him out from under you.”

Morgan laughed. “I never even met the man.”

“How about for ditching us up here with Mom and Dad?” Gabe teased.

“You’ll still have fun without me.”

Morgan stiffened. Maria might not be pleased if she knew what kind of fun they’d been talking about having.

“Promise me you’ll take her to Fatman’s Loop tomorrow,” Maria implored.

“Fatman’s Loop? Is that really what it’s called?”

“Yep. Supposedly, the trail is easy enough that even a fat man can handle it,” Gabe said.

“Oh, and take her to that yummy barbeque place downtown. You know the one.”

Gabe sighed. “Listen to you planning our day when you won’t even be here!”

Our day. Morgan liked the sound of that.

“I just want to make sure she experiences everything before she goes back home.”

Experiences everything—hmm. She liked the sound of that too.

The next morning, the whole family ate breakfast together before Maria’s Uber arrived to take her back to Scottsdale. As expected, Brenda was sad to see her daughter go, but she seemed happy that Gabe and Morgan were staying a while longer.

Gabe seemed anxious to get hiking, and after stuffing his backpack with water and snacks, they left for Fatman’s Loop.

“How’d you sleep last night?” he asked once they were on the road.

“Not the greatest. You?”

“Eh.”

She wanted to ask why but thought it best not to. If they were to have any hope of ignoring their attraction, it wouldn’t help to bring it up.