Chapter 14
ONE MONTH LATER
Porter wasa little embarrassed that nearly a month after their stroll in the park, he still hoped Fiona would decide to come to the Forsyth Park market again.
Maybe they’d casually run into each other, and pick up a watermelon juice together. Maybe he’d invite her for lunch at Clary’s.
He knew it was wrong, but it didn’t stop him from wishing, just a little.
Their almost kiss had played in his mind way too many times to count. It caught him off guard, but he didn’t blame her. He’d been feeling some chemistry, too.
Ever since that morning at the park, she’d become respectfully aloof in his presence. Polite. Civil. A hard worker.
And that was fine.
They hadn’t spent that much time together. Stopping things before they started was the right thing to do.
And yet, here he was, still wishing she’d wander up to him at the market.
Porter added some fresh onions and tomatoes to his bag for the soup he was making later that day. The restaurant was thriving. Sure, there were growing pains. He never slept, they had to fire one of their servers already, and they were constantly having to make adjustments on the fly. But he loved it. And thanks to the glowing reviews they’d received from some local websites, the restaurant was busy almost every single night.
But he knew that any restaurant could be exciting at first. If Hearth was going to have staying power, they needed to deliver excellent food with top-notch service.
Which is why he was so thankful Fiona was still working for them, even though he knew their styling business had taken off. She was one of their best, and he was dreading the day she couldn’t come in anymore.
Porter bought some strawberries and strolled over to the same bench he and Fiona had sat at together. One key part of their success, he knew, was Sergio, the pastry chef. Sergio had been a major win for Hearth, and his desserts were among the best in the city, if not the state. He’d created a deluxe chocolate torte for their restaurant that was already a huge hit.
But Sergio was also a major flirt. And his newest conquest, it would appear, was Fiona.
Porter bristled. Not that it was any of his business. He couldn’t date Fiona, but Sergio could. Who cares if they’d gone out a couple times?
Porter got all of his information from the conversations he could hear outside his office, and from the bits of gossip he gathered in the kitchen.
They’d been to ice cream at Leopold’s.
A stop at the bar after work.
It wasn’t much more beyond that, as far as he knew, but Porter had to admit he was a little worried. It was pretty well known that Sergio was a serial dater, but he wasn’t sure if Fiona knew that. Not that it mattered. They could do whatever they wanted.
Porter was pulled from his thoughts by his phone ringing in his pocket.
“What’s up, David?” he asked.
“What time will you be in?” David asked. “Could you get to the restaurant by noon? I saw something I want to show you.”
“Noon,” Porter said, checking his watch. “Sure. Be there in an hour.”
Porter didn’t have the slightest idea what David could want to show him, but he welcomed the distraction. Although, he did feel the tiniest bit concerned when he arrived at the restaurant to see David outside, talking to a woman with a clipboard.
“Hello,” Porter said, trying to assess the situation as he walked up to the front of the restaurant.
“Will you give us a minute, Laura?” David said. The woman nodded, and walked away.
“Hi,” Porter said, suspicious now. “What’s going on?”
David smiled, a familiar twinkle in his eye.
“I know this is risky.”
Porter groaned.
“No, no, it could be good. Or even great,” David told him. David always had another big idea. The thing was, they usually paid off.
“So, it’s only been a month, but things have been amazing, right?”
Porter nodded curtly. Where is this going?
“Okay. Remember how we said this was the perfect location, except it lacked a good lounge spot?”
Porter rubbed his chin. “Yes…”
David opened his arms toward the spot next door. “Here we go. A potentially perfect lounge.”
Porter frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Hey Laura, we’re ready,” David called out.
“Wonderful,” Laura said, beaming. “This spot just came on the market today, so you are the first ones to look at it.”
Porter ran a hand through his hair anxiously. Expanding? After a month?
“It’s a smaller space, which would be perfect,” David said.
“And it has the same original floors as your restaurant, which I think is spectacular,” Laura added.
Porter crossed his arms and assessed the area. There wasn’t much to it, besides some rooms in the back.
“We could do the bar over there,” David said, walking to the farthest corner of the room. “Seating throughout. We open up the wall, maybe add french doors if we want to be able to close it off for parties or something. And all it would really need is some of the character from next door.”
Porter nodded slowly.
“You came up with this entire idea this morning?”
“Yeah,” David said, smiling expectantly.
“Could we have a second, Laura?” Porter asked.
“Absolutely,” she said, her bright Lily Pulitzer dress a stark contrast to the dark, empty space. “I’ll make some calls in the back, just let me know when you’re ready to head out.”
After she had gone, David turned to Porter.
“Well?”
“Well?” Porter repeated. “Well, I think we’ve been open a month and have no clue if we can take this on.”
“Hear me out,” David said, raising his hands in surrender. “The only reason I’m pushing this is because it might be our one and only chance to expand. I would hate to miss this opportunity. I say we run the numbers and just see what it would take.”
Porter sighed. David wasn’t wrong, and he knew it. They’d talked about the plans for their restaurant since college, and it had always included a lounge. They’d decided to forgo it when they found the space for Hearth.
In theory, it could be a dream come true. In reality, it would probably be wildly expensive.
“And the financing?” Porter asked. “It was already a stretch to find the funds for Hearth.”
“I know you get weird about it,” David said cautiously. “But you haven’t touched the money from your dad.”
Porter looked at him flatly.
“I don’t think so.”
“Okay,” David said. “I just want you to remember we have options. But I think a place for people to stop in for drinks and appetizers would really take us to the next level. Just like we’d always talked about.”
Porter exhaled a shaky breath. The practical side of him wanted to shut this down immediately. But the dreamer in him was already starting to get attached.
“Give me some time to think about it,” he said. “I’m not saying no, I’m just saying we should run numbers and put some serious thought into this first.”
“I wholeheartedly agree,” David said, with a friendly slap on Porter’s shoulder. “Let’s get the numbers from Laura and we can go from there.”