Chapter 35
“Porter.”
Porter nearly jumped out of his skin. He’d been trying so hard to distract himself that he didn’t realize it was her stomping up to him. But here she was, looking like a gorgeous, furious force of nature. Porter cleared his throat.
“Um, hi.”
She stood before him, her arms crossed over her chest, refusing to move.
“My friends literally kidnapped me and dragged me here, and they will not let me leave until I talk to you. So say what you have to say so I can leave.”
Originally, Porter thought they might take a nice stroll to the restaurant, and he could explain everything on the way. He was realizing now he had a very limited amount of time before she walked away and never looked back.
“I know you don’t trust me right now, and you have every reason to be pissed at me,” he told her. She nodded in agreement. “But please, just let me show you one thing. And you can go back to ignoring me forever, if that’s what you want.”
“Fine,” she said, unamused. “What’s this thing you have to show me?”
He took a breath. “Can I…drive you there? It’s only two minutes away.”
Fiona scoffed at him. “You expect me to get in a car with you right now?”
“Er, no…but I am asking that you might consider it.”
She looked for her friends, and rolled her eyes.
“They left me. Perfect.”
She groaned, and kicked at the ground.
“Alright,” she said, glancing at him now. “But my friends know I’m with you, and if I send them an SOS, you will be dead. Do you understand?”
“I do, actually,” he said, thinking back to his conversation with Cassie. “But to be fair, they did help me set this up.”
She groaned. “Well, I will not say a word to you until we get wherever you’re taking me.”
“That’s fine,” he said.
It was, as it turned out, also true. She didn’t speak a single word the entire drive, but fury radiated off of her in his general direction. It made for a very tense few minutes. He just hoped that once they got to the space, she would understand.
He parked in front of Hearth, and she scoffed.
“What, did I forget to pick up my last paycheck?”
“Just follow me, okay?”
She followed him up to the building, and looked particularly confused when he unlocked the door to the staircase upstairs.
“This is where we’re going?” she asked, frowning. “Where’d you get a key?”
He just smiled at her, and walked up the steps to the top floor.
He unlocked the door at the top of the stairs, but Fiona froze.
“Porter, what the hell is going on?”
“You wanted this place,” he said, opening the door.
“Yes,” she said, hesitantly following him inside. “And I thought I made it clear we couldn’t afford to fix it up.”
“I know,” he said. “That’s why I am.”
He flipped on the light, revealing the floor samples, power tools and drop cloths already covering the space. He leaned against a wall, hands in his pockets, as he watched her explore the room.
Fiona walked around slowly, taking it all in. She didn’t say anything, but he could see her expression soften.
“I’m confused,” she said. “Did you rent this space too?”
He shook his head. “I own it.”
Fiona’s brows shot up. “You…what?”
Porter nodded. “The building, actually. I own the building.”
Fiona sucked in a breath. “But…what? How?” She sat on a rickety chair in the corner, still trying to sort it all out.
“The building went up for sale a few weeks ago,” Porter told her. “It’s a great investment. Would have been dumb to pass it up.”
“Um,” Fiona said, finally looking at him. “You took the space downstairs.”
He shrugged. “Yes. It made the most sense for us.”
“Then, what…” she looked around again, trailing off. “What are you doing with this place?”
He grinned, and walked over to her.
“This is yours. If you want it, that is.”
Fiona didn’t say anything, her wide eyes locked on his.
“You inspired me,” he told her. “With your vision for this place. I wanted to make this happen for you. I want Savannah Glam to look exactly the way you hoped it would.”
He watched a spectrum of emotions flash over her face before she responded. When she did, her voice was strained.
“This makes you what, my landlord?” she asked. “I have no clue if we can even afford this place, Porter, I can’t…I have to talk to my friends.”
Porter walked over to her, reaching for one of her hands.
“I talked to them already. And the cost is the same as the place downstairs would have been.”
Fiona turned, staring out the window at the street down below. Her breathing was erratic, and he could feel her hands trembling slightly.
“You can’t do this.”
“No strings, Fiona,” he said, remembering what Cassie had told him. “I just want you all to have the space you need to make it happen, the way you’ve dreamt of it happening. I just want you to be happy.”
She looked up at him, her eyes so blue and watery that he was certain he might drown in them.
“I don’t even know what to do right now, Porter.”
He pulled out his keys and slipped a key off the ring.
“Here,” he said, handing it to her. “Take all the time you need.”
He walked away, turning back just before he got to the door.
“Oh, and if you get a chance, let me know which one of those floor samples you like,” he said, grinning as he walked away.