I look at him, my heart pounding. "Unless I find something worth staying for."
Casey leans forward, his elbows on his knees. "Morgan, I can't ask you to give up your trip for me. That's not fair."
"You're not asking. I'm offering."
"But what if you stay and then resent me for it? What if you wake up in six months and realize you made a mistake, that you should have kept traveling?"
"What if I leave and spend the rest of my life wondering what would have happened if I'd stayed?" I counter.
He doesn't have an answer for that.
"Look," I say, "I'm not saying I'll stay forever. I don't know what forever looks like right now. But I could stay for a few months. See how it goes. If it doesn't work out, I'll leave and we'll both move on. If it does..."
"If it does?" Casey prompts.
"Then maybe we figure out a compromise. Maybe in the summer, when Riley's out of school, the three of us could take a trip together. See some of the places Annie and I wanted to see. Make new memories."
I can see Casey turning this over in his mind, weighing the risks and benefits.
"What about Riley?" he asks. "She's already attached to you. If you stay and then leave, it's going to hurt her."
"I know," I say quietly. "But if I leave now, it'll hurt her too. She's already decided I should be part of the family, didn’t she?."
Casey groans. "She's relentless."
"She's wonderful," I correct. "And she deserves honesty. If I stay, we'll have to tell her that I might not be here forever. That I'm staying to see if this—" I gesture between us "—could be something real."
"And you're okay with that uncertainty?"
"No," I admit. "I hate uncertainty. I like plans and schedules and knowing what's coming next. But Annie's death taught me that you can't control everything. Sometimes you just have to take a leap and trust that you'll figure it out."
Casey is quiet for a long moment, and I hold my breath.
"Okay," he finally says.
"Okay?"
"Stay," he says, looking at me with those blue eyes that make my knees weak. "Stay for a few months. Work at the diner, help me at the shop when you want to. Get to know Riley, get to know this town. And we'll see what happens."
"You're sure?"
"No," he admits. "I'm terrified. But I'm also... hopeful. And I haven't felt hopeful about anything like this in a long time."
I reach across and take his hand. "I'm terrified too. But I want to try."
"Then we'll try," Casey says. "Together."
"Together," I repeat.
He stands and pulls me up with him, and then he's kissing me again. When we break apart, I'm smiling.
"We should probably get back to work," Casey says reluctantly. "People are going to start wondering where I am."
"Right. Work. That's a thing we're supposed to be doing."
He grins. "Come on. I'll introduce you to Murphy this afternoon, see if he'll give you a job."
"And Riley? Do we tell her the whole truth??"
