“Thank you, and he was,” he said with a soft smile. I decided to change the subject, knowing he probably didn’t want to keep talking about something that made him so sad.
“Well, your mom did wonderful with the house and the room is lovely and perfect. Thank you. I promise even when I get more things to actually fill it up, I’ll keep it clean.”
Porter laughed and shook his head. “Don’t you worry about that. Speaking of things you need…” he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small notepad and pen. “Write down a list and I’ll text it to Alden to pick up. You know, hair stuff, clothes, any foods you like.”
I grabbed the notepad from him but paused. “I don’t think he’d want to worry about picking out clothes for me. That seems like too much.”
Porter waved off my comment. “Not at all. Alden and Darren have a bunch of female cousins they used to have to take shopping. They get the gist of it and are manly enough to not have a problem picking out underwear. Alden would just need your size.”
Blood rushed to my cheeks with embarrassment. I was still not fully convinced this wouldn’t be an issue, but it seemed impolite not to do what Porter was asking of me.
It hurt my hand a bit, curling it around the pen, but I pushed through it and wrote everything down, being as minimalistic as possible, then handed the notepad back.
“Holy shit,” he exclaimed, surprise written all over his face.
“What? Too much?” I question, worried that maybe I’d put more down than I thought I had.
“Not at all. You’re officially the least high maintenance girl I’ve ever met. That’s a compliment.”
There go my cheeks again. “I don’t need much. Just basics. Clothes I’m not picky about, and I’ll eat pretty much anything. Nothing else really seems important. Once I’m healed up, I can buy whatever else I need or want to replace.”
Sadness crept up on me. NoteverythingI lost could be replaced. And looking around this empty room made me miss Smoky ten times more. I’d give anything to cuddle my fur baby right now.
“Hey, you okay?” Porter asked, taking a seat next to me on the bed.
“Oh. Yeah, totally fine.”
Porter’s lips tightened into a frown. “But you’re crying. I don’t think you’re fine.”
“Huh?” I hadn’t even noticed that my vision had gone blurry and hot tears had begun to pool and drip out the corner of my eyes.
“It’s okay to be sad. You lost a lot in that house. Nothing can replace the memories, and I’m so sorry for that.”
I shook my head and wiped at the tears. “It’s not just that. It’s Smoky, my cat.”
Porter’s mouth dropped open. “Oh shit. Did he…?” I knew what his unasked question was.
The thought that he had cared to ask had me smiling just a tiny bit. “No. I managed to save him. It’s how I burned my hand. Threw an iron dumbbell through the back sliding door and tossed him outside over the fire.”
His mouth fell open even more. “Well damn. That’s amazing, Sophia! I was worried you were about to tell me he died in the fire.”
“No. But I have no idea where he went. He was Dad’s last gift to me before he died. He’s my best friend. I have no idea if I’ll ever find him. He ran off after he made it out.”
Porter reached over and grasped my unburnt hand in his. “How about this—you get some rest and I’ll start calling around to any shelters to see if he got picked up. If not, I’ll drive over myself and look for him. Will that help?”
It was like the sun had shined down on me for the first time in days. I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly to me.
“Thank you! You have no idea what that would mean to me!”
Porter chuckled and hugged me back, then released me and stood up. “Glad to help. You get some sleep, settle in, and I’ll start making some calls and get this info to Alden. We’ll do our best to find Smoky.”
I nodded gratefully at him and watched him as he softly closed the door. It wasn’t until I heard his footsteps going down the stairs and his voice chatting into his phone that I relaxed back.
This had been a whirlwind of a day, and while it was still a bit awkward being in an unfamiliar place with two more unfamiliar people coming into it, I felt much lighter than I had.
I was on the road to healing.
I was being taken care of.
