Chapter Fourteen
Chase
My lawyers hit the ground running the next morning. They sent everything to Elijah, who replied fast, saying he didn’t even need until the end of the week. He signed the next day, after double-checking with his lawyer.
I still couldn't believe how fast things moved at the restaurant. I’d gone in there gearing myself up for a tough negotiation, but Hannah had charmed him. I didn't blame the old man. After all, she’d charmed me too. The way people effortlessly opened up to her amazed me. I barely held back from kissing her in her stairwell.
For the rest of the week, I buried myself in work. I was usually oblivious to anything happening outside the office, but on Friday, even I couldn’t ignore the storm rolling over San Diego.
At first, I figured it would just pass, but as the day went by, it became clear it wouldn't. The rain intensified, and I worried about how some of our employees would get home, primarily the ones who took public transportation. Some came by car, but not all.
Does Hannah drive?
Fucking hell. I can't obsess over this woman all day long.
I tried to work but only managed one more hour. At five o’clock, I walked out of my office without any plan and went down one floor, straight to Magda's office. I was running out of excuses to see her, but I got lucky because the office was empty and her computer was turned off. She’d already left, probably because of the weather.
I glanced at the open space, zeroing in on Hannah. Even from this distance, she seemed stressed out. I'd watched her so often over the past few weeks that I'd memorized the way her body language changed according to what mood she was in. When she was happy, she sat back, relaxed, typing at her keyboard. When she was focused, she leaned slightly forward. Right now, she was on her feet, holding the back of her chair with one hand. Most of her coworkers had already left. She was talking on the phone and seemed visibly upset.
Chase: What's wrong?
I figured she’d see the text after finishing the conversation.
A few minutes later, she lowered the phone from her ear, sitting down. My phone beeped right after.
Hannah: How do you know I’m upset?
Chase: I’m in Magda’s office.
When she glanced up, I sucked in a sharp breath. Something was off. I needed to know what happened and fix it.
Chase: Join me in the break room behind her office. It’s gonna be empty at this time of day.
Hannah: Okay.
Something must have happened if she agreed so fast. I headed to the break room and leaned against the counter, gripping the edge. When she stepped in, I straightened up.
"What's wrong?"
Her eyes were a bit glassy. "Um, my neighbor called me from the inn. Apparently the storm's even worse over there. I left the shutters open."
"Can she close them for you?"
"No, she's a thousand years old. She offered, and I had to actually talk her out of it. She'd hurt herself. Anyway, I'm trying to find a way to get there."
“You didn't come with your car," I concluded.
She shook her head. "No. Can you believe it? Anyway, I spoke to quite a few taxi companies in the past half hour, and no one wants to drive out to Point Loma in this weather. Ubers keep turning me down too."
"I'll drive you."
She blinked. "What?"
"Come on, grab your things. I'm coming with you to the inn. Do you have the key?"
"Y-Yeah," she stammered, which was unlike her. "Why would you want to take me out there?"
"Because you need to go there, I have a car, and I don't mind driving you.”
“You can just drive me to my place and then I’ll take my own car.”
“It’s faster if we drive directly there. Besides, I don't want you to go out there all alone."
"Chase."
"You have a problem. I’m offering you a solution."
She bit her lip and ran her hand through her hair. It fell over her left breast in thick, golden waves. I had to look away and breathe out slowly through my nostrils. I had no idea how I could go from problem-solving to being turned on in a fraction of a second, but I was.
"All right, let's go. And, Chase, thank you so much."
"No problem. I'll wait for you here. Even better, I'll wait by the elevator."
"Okay."
Her voice was still shaky.
"Why are you so worried?" I asked her.
"Because I'm afraid the storm will cause some issues at the inn. I didn’t manage to repair a lot of it... never mind." She turned and started gathering her stuff.
When we met at the elevator, I’d never seen her so stressed out, not even when the wedding planner didn’t show up. Hannah was silent during the drive too. As we approached Point Loma, I could see why no taxi company wanted to come out here. The storm was much worse here, and the wind was raging. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ripped out a few trees along the road.
"We'll be there soon," I told her.
She rubbed her palms up and down her thighs, looking outside. "Why didn't I close the shutters?"
"Don't blame yourself, Hannah. It's summertime. We never get storms."
I reached out, resting my palm on her left hand. "Hannah, whatever we find there, we'll deal with it."
She snapped her head in my direction. "Chase, I appreciate that you're driving me there, but I don't expect you to deal with anything."
Hannah was going to find out soon enough that I had her back.
The storm got even worse as we approached the inn.
"You can just park in front of it," she said. “Thank God none of the shutters have been ripped away. Not that I can see, anyway."
We had to be fast. The shutters were smashing back and forth with the wind. The rain was pouring down. We’d get soaked in seconds.
"I want you to run inside and stay there, and I'll close the shutters," I told her as I stopped the car.
"Don't be ridiculous."
"I mean it."
"Chase, it's my inn. You don’t even know where all the windows are. You stay in the car with the heat on.”
“No. Let’s do it together. It’ll be faster.”
We stepped out of the car and ran onto the porch. As predicted, we were completely soaked. Once inside the house, I followed her. Every room had at least two windows, and closing the shutters took far more effort than I thought. I’d never had external shutters that you closed from the inside.
The wind was insane. But twenty minutes later, we'd secured all of them and went back to the living room. It was dark with all the shutters in place.
Once we'd stopped moving, I realized she was shaking. "You’re cold. Do you have anything to change into?"
"No, I took everything I own back home. But you’re soaked too."
"I can take it," I said.
She smiled. "You think I'm made out of sugar and I'll just melt away?"
"You're sassy again."
She let out a sigh of relief. "I honestly thought I'd come here and already find all the shutters ripped away or worse. Let's go before the storm is so bad that we can't drive."
"Sure," I said. "I was going to suggest the same thing."
We barely made it past the gate. The storm had toppled a huge tree, which was now lying across the road.
Hannah groaned. "That's the only way out."
"We'll call for reinforcements. I don't feel good about being here. Another tree could fall on us. Let’s go back in the yard.”
"Yeah, there are far too many trees around here."
I stopped the car in the same place as before.
"I'll call the local ranger," she said, then put the phone to her ear. "Hi, Mr. Wilkins. Yes, this is Hannah from Loma House. The road is blocked because a tree fell. I’m safe, but when do you think you could clear it away?" Her face fell. "I mean, that makes sense. It's just that we have no way of leaving. Right, of course. I understand. Yes, stay safe. I'll see you tomorrow."
She closed her phone, looking at me apologetically. "They won't come out tonight. He's going to wait for the storm to pass over. A safety inspector will come tomorrow morning at nine to see if there's any damage."
After realizing the inn was in such terrible shape, I’d contacted a company that would stop by after storms to inspect the property. I didn’t trust my own knowledge to pinpoint the issues, and several neighbors used the same service.
"That makes sense," I said. "But I think we'll have to spend the night here."
She sighed. “I know.”
"Hannah, it's not the end of the world. Let's go inside. I, for one, would like to take a hot shower."
"I have tons of fresh towels."
"See, it's not so bad." I winked.
We both went inside as fast as possible. The place seemed even darker than before.
"I'm really sorry about this," she said.
I put my hands on her shoulders, and she stopped and looked up at me. "Hannah, you've got nothing to be sorry about. I offered to come here with you, and thank fuck I did. What would've happened if you’d come out here on your own?"
"Oh, I probably would've struggled for a while with the shutters, but now, I would've been stuck."
"I don’t mind being stuck in this place with you," I said. “Not one bit.”
She laughed nervously, reaching to the wall and pressing the light switch. “Damn it. The power’s down.”