"It's still sealed, you can check," she added quickly. "I honestly don't know what's in it or what S.I.U. stands for."
"Shake It Up," Chase said casually without looking up from the envelope. "Marcus figured it out."
She missed hearing Marcus's name and it bugged her that she hadn't talked to him more lately. And there was something else bugging her.
"Why does Shake It Up sound like it's a strip club?"
That finally got a laugh out of Chase and he looked up, his eyes crinkling around the edges from his infectious smile. "I thought the same thing."
"Right?"
She couldn't help but laugh in a way that reached deep down in her. It was the laugh she missed since she moved out of the guest house.
Emma instinctively moved closer to stand next to Chase and look down at her grandmother's writing. This was the right address. She was giving it to Chase as instructed, and he wasn't pushing Emma away. She would take it as a little victory.
"Do you know why my grandmother sent you here?"
Chase turned, his breath warm on her cheek,but she didn't dare turn toward him to see the look on his face. It would make her too nervous, too happy, too disappointed. Just too something. So instead, she kept her head down, trying to focus on the most important issue right now: the envelope.
"Would you like to open it with me?"
Chase's voice was warm but apprehensive. He must've felt the same way she did about all of this. So she gave him what he wanted — and what she wanted too. She turned and tried to put a reassuring smile on her face.
"Sure."
She threaded her arm into the crook of his elbow, which was probably too much but he didn't seem to mind. Instead, he turned the envelope over and ripped through the top seam, pulling a note card out of the envelope. It was kind of fancy, heavy-stock card with "George Gordon Law Firm" at the top in heavy ink. Underneath was a note in Nana's handwriting.
"Chase, There is one last thing you need to do to complete the wishes of my will. First, take this card inside Shake It Up and ask for Macie or Dylan. Second, you must take Emma with you. Don't worry, I'll pay for it — sort of. Stay awesome! Nana"
Emma stared down at the card, bewildered by the whole thing. This was just another of her challenges? And really...
"What does 'Stay awesome' mean?"
Chase dramatically dropped his hands to his side. "That's my catch phrase in the ProjectLyonheart movies!" He rolled his eyes and shook his head sarcastically. "I'm going to ask Marcus to send over a set of the DVDs to your new..."
His voice trailed off as he caught himself. Emma figured he probably wanted to say "her new place" but that would require them to acknowledge that she lived somewhere else now and Chase didn't even know where.
But he quickly saved the conversation, steering them back to the task at hand by clearing his throat and pulling the card back up to read. "Well, Nana said we have to take this card and go inside together, and we can't disappoint Nana, can we?"
"No, we can't disappoint Nana."
There was still something nagging Emma about this whole challenge, and there were times when she wondered if Nana ever realized what she would be putting her granddaughter through when she did it. It wasn't all fun in Vegas, that was for sure. But Emma could also admit that there were things about the challenge that she missed now that it was over, especially when it came to spending time with Chase. She hated it at first, but now she missed it.
That's why she wouldn't disappoint Nana. She was going to savor this last challenge with Chase, whatever it was. So when he opened the door for her, she could feel that spark again of stepping into his world with him for the next adventure.
It was a typical-looking warehouse inside with shelves and boxes. A few of them had glasses setup in front or one of those divided containers big enough for lemon slices and cherries.
"Oh, Shake It Up is a bartender store." Emma took in a huge shelf of champagne glasses with unique designs on them next to a display case of martini shakers. "I have to say that this is definitely better than Nana sending us to a strip club."
"Speak for yourself," Chase muttered loud enough for Emma to hear, forcing her to swallow her laugh.
She followed him as he wandered down the large, central aisle to a desk in the back of the warehouse where a worker was wrapping up glasses and packing them in a box. He gingerly placed the glass in the box before finally turning to them with one of those retail smiles.
"Can I—"
He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes taking in Chase, and Emma could see the recognition on his face. She still found these types of things awkward, but Chase always seemed to take it in stride.
"You're Chase Warwick."
