Chapter 26
It had been a Herculean task to say goodnight, Fiona thought. But she didn’t want to get carried away. Not yet.
So they said their goodbyes before he left, so they could both get some sleep before their very busy days ahead.
She’d barely slept a wink. She wondered if he had, either.
And now, she was parked outside Bonnie’s Boutique, two coffees in hand, waiting in desperation for Cassie to arrive. The sky was still purply-pink from the sunrise, the city beautifully quiet in the early morning.
The second Cassie pulled up, Fiona got out of her car, nearly scaring Cassie to death.
“How long have you been waiting there?” Cassie asked, once she’d caught her breath.
“Twenty minutes,” Fiona said, handing her the coffee. “I just really need your input on this Porter thing before I can start my day.”
Cassie nodded. “Come on in, you can talk while I set up.”
Fiona followed her inside, and Cassie gave her a pile of clothes to tag while she talked.
“So,” Cassie said, opening her laptop. “How did it go?”
“Let’s just say I didn’t think this through,” Fiona said. She was relieved to have something to do with her hands while she talked.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cassie asked.
Fiona sighed. “I might be in over my head here, Cass. I slept like two hours last night because I’m freaking out.”
“Over what?” Cassie asked, sipping her coffee. “Was it a bad date?”
“No,” Fiona said, groaning. “It was, hands down, the best date I’ve ever had.”
“Well, then, I’m confused,” Cassie said, and lowered her glasses to look at the spreadsheet on her laptop.
Fiona closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands. “I think I like him, for real,” she said, the sound muffled by her hands.
“Isn’t that why you went on the date?” Cassie asked matter-of-factly. This is exactly why she needed to talk to Cassie this morning. Stella would have already been a puddle of swoon, and Fiona needed logic.
She blew out a breath. “I haven’t actually liked someone for years, Cassie. Years. The whole point of coming to Savannah was to do something for myself, and not let another man influence my decisions.”
Cassie frowned. “Maybe I’m wrong, but Porter doesn’t seem controlling.”
“He’s not,” Fiona said, exasperated. “But I don’t know. Maybe we should rethink the rental space.”
Now Cassie perked up.
“Fiona, no. Absolutely not.”
Fiona bit her lip. “I’m not saying we should definitely let him and David have it, but like…my judgment is feeling clouded here. And I did look into the pricing on that upstairs rental…”
Cassie raised a brow.
“...and it would only take one, maybe two years to save up enough to fix it up.”
Cassie shot her a bewildered look.
Fiona sighed. “Okay, fine. That obviously won’t work. I just don’t know what to do about this space.”
“You two need some boundaries,” Cassie said, sitting on the stool next to her. “Or maybe you shouldn’t see each other again until after the rental space ordeal is sorted out. We only have a few days left to sort this out.”
“I’ll be at work tomorrow.”
“Will that be an issue?” Cassie asked.
Fiona considered that.
“I have thought about making out with him in the walk-in cooler, yes.”
Cassie narrowed her eyes at Fiona, clearly trying to determine if she was serious or not. She was.
“I’ll just say this,” Cassie said, returning to her spreadsheet. “If the two of you have something real, then you’ll be able to handle this rental space issue professionally. Without it affecting your connection.”
Fiona nodded slowly. “Okay. That’s probably true.”
But for now, she still wasn’t ready to give up on that space. And she had absolutely no idea what she was going to do about it.