Free Dear Emily by Julie Ann Levin Page A

the
bathroom.
    “You’re embarrassed because you’re not
good at plumbing.” He moved to stand behind her and read over her
shoulder as his brother pleaded Chase's case.
    Natalie: First sign of a tenant, he
leaves. Now I have a favor.
    Dylan: Name it.
    Natalie: We're locked in the
bathroom.
    Dylan: You and Chase?
    Natalie: It's not what you think. He
was helping me with a leaky faucet.
    Dylan: Right... A leaky faucet. Be
there in 5.
    Natalie returned her attention to her
new tenant. “Dylan is on his way. You can stay here in the rental.
Don't worry about rent.”
    His eyes narrowed. “We'll talk about
rent later. Dad is recuperating, this will be a week max, and then
it's back to Japan.”
    Chase slid down the wall and sat on
the tiled floor. Natalie mirrored him. He caught sight of her
toenails, painted a cheery, pale pink. “Cute,” he said.
    She smiled and searched his face. “You
look tired.”
    He paused before settling back against
the wall. “Gee, thanks.”
    “Sorry, I just meant—”
    He patted the air between them. “I
know what you meant.” He must look bad. He didn't know if it was
the long travel, or if worry over his father was making him look so
ragged. A seventeen-hour flight from Japan to Florida, followed by
a three-hour drive to his hometown of Divine Island would do it,
alright.
    “He's better than you'd guess,” she
said. “It makes your mom happy when I visit to check his
vitals.”
    Chase's face softened.
    “It's no big deal,” Natalie said,
appearing uncomfortable with the look he gave her.  “I'm not
an RN, yet. All I do is check his blood pressure.” She shrugged.
“Your mom could do that.”
    Chase shook his head. “It's a big
deal, Nat.” According to his mom and siblings, Natalie was a big
deal. “I'm pretty sure they're one blood pressure monitor away from
naming a wing of the inn after you.”
    “The inn doesn’t have ‘wings,’” she
said.
    “For you, Nat, they’d build
them.”
    Natalie took in a big, shaky breath
and failed at looking relaxed. Well, sweetheart, he was feeling it
too. Turned out eight years and a few thousand miles of distance
didn't solve a damn thing.
    “You know...,” he said, cupping the
back of his neck. “I didn't come right away because of
work.”
    Natalie shook her head in quick
back-and-forth movements. “I don’t know why you’re telling me
this.”
    “Dylan had everything under control,
so I hopped on a plane the minute I could get away.”
    Natalie frowned. “Nobody is wondering
about that. Japan is far away, and your dad was out of the hospital
faster than anyone could have predicted.”
    Chase nodded. It was typical of her to
accept his excuse without question when it had been fear that held
him back.
    “Tell me about these jobs you're
working on,” she said.
    “Change of subject?” he
asked.
    She shrugged. “Don't say I never threw
you a bone.”
    He coughed. “My team bid on a project
to design a skyscraper in Tokyo. We'll win the bid, and then it's
back to Japan for a year.” He leaned his head back until it rested
on the wall. “Dad's health could change my plans,
though.”
    “He's great, Chase.”
    He ran his hands through his hair,
mussing it up.
    She forced a shaky laugh. “God, I feel
like such an idiot. You flew around the world to see your father,
and I locked you in a bathroom.”
    “I'm the one that shut the door,
right?”
    “Right.” She snapped her finger and
pointed at him. “This is all your fault.”
    Chase said, “Don't you have a
management company to do the repairs?”
    “No.”
     “ You're handling the
property all on your own?”
    She shrugged. “I applied to get it on
the city's historic registry. It's way more work than I
anticipated.”
    “Alex is a fucking asshole,” he said,
which summed up his complete estimation of the man. How Chase had
called Alex his best friend was incomprehensible.
    Natalie tried at an indifferent smile.
“I married him. So, what does that say