Revved Up Hearts (11 page)

Dawn saw her Bible on the coffee table. She turned to the book of Matthew, chapter 5 and read the Beatitudes. Then she took a moment to pray. “Lord, help me be all those things so that I can be blessed by you. Lord, help me with this situation with Jeremiah. The news today that people are talking about us was surprising. I don’t know how I feel about him. I like him, but he is not a believer. I don’t see myself being unequally yoked. Help me, Lord. Show me the way. I trust you. I know that you will never lead me astray. I know that you always have my best interest at heart. I love you, Father. In Jesus’s name, Amen.”

Hungry, Dawn decided to go get something to eat. She pulled on her shoes and grabbed her purse. She opened the door, and there was Jeremiah. His hand was in the air, ready to knock. He had a startled look. “You scared me,” he
said.

“Sorry,” she said. “What are you doing here? I wasn’t expecting
you.”

“Me and some of the guys are going out for pizza. I thought I’d ask you to come
along.”

“I was on my way to find something to eat. Pizza sounds
good.”

“Great,” he said as he pulled the door closed behind her and offered her his elbow. “Shall we
go?”

“Yes,” she said as she slipped her hand in the crook of his elbow, “we
shall.”

Waiting outside was a pickup. Inside were Jeremiah’s crew chief and his wife. Another member of Jeremiah’s crew was in the front passenger seat. Jeremiah helped Dawn climb into the backseat and then climbed in after her. They were met at a local pizza place by the rest Jeremiah’s crew and their wives or girlfriends. It was the first time Dawn had met most of them. Jeremiah told Dawn that this was one of their traditions. They all got together the night before the race to relax and talk about anything but racing. The place was packed, and everybody noticed Jeremiah when he walked in. He took a few minutes to sign autographs and pose for pictures while making his way to the table. Dawn was already there, surrounded by her new friends. He slid into the big, round booth beside Dawn. Then someone else walked in. Dawn’s eyes got as wide as saucers. She couldn’t believe who she was seeing—Sean
Vaughn!

He was immediately surrounded by his fans, just as Jeremiah had been. But Jeremiah was talking to Wes and hadn’t noticed. Dawn grabbed his arm and shook it to get his attention. “Yeah,” he said as he turned to face
her.

“Sean Vaughn just walked in!” was her excited exclamation. “You have to introduce
me!”

“So, you’re a Vaughn fan,” he said with a
laugh.

“Yes, I can’t believe I didn’t bring my
camera.”

Jeremiah laughed again as he waved at Sean. Sean saw him and nodded. He finished signing an autograph and walked over. Dawn was so excited that she could barely sit still. “Hey, guys, what’s up?” Sean said when he got to the
table.

“Not much,” Jeremiah said. “Have you met Dawn Montgomery, Bryan Richardson’s new
assistant?”

“No. Nice to meet you,” Sean said as he extended his hand. “I heard that Richardson had a pretty new assistant. I was hoping to meet
you.”

Dawn blushed at his compliment. “Nice to meet you,” she said as she shook his hand. “I’m a huge
fan.”

“Thank
you.”

Dawn realized that she was still holding Sean’s hand. Embarrassed, she let
go.

“Well, nice to meet you,” he said again. Then he turned his attention to Jeremiah. “We’re playing poker at my motor coach later. Drop by if you want. I’ll be glad to take your money.” He looked around. “Everyone is welcome. I’ll take anybody’s money.” Then he looked back at Dawn. “That goes for you, too. I could always use lady luck by my side,” he said with a
wink.

“We’ll see,” Jeremiah cut in before Dawn could
answer.

“All right then. Everybody have a good evening, and enjoy your pizza,” Sean said and walked
away.

Dawn watched him go and sighed. “He is so nice and so
cute.”

Jeremiah
grunted.

She looked at him. He was obviously not happy. “Are you
jealous?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Jeremiah looked up in a mock thoughtful pose. “Let’s see, my girl is drooling over another guy right in front of me. Why would I be jealous?” he
shrugged.

“Your girl? Since when have I been ‘your
girl’?”

Jeremiah just stared at her. “Never mind. Forget it,” he said as he got up from the table and headed toward the
door.

“Wait,” Dawn called after him. When he kept going, Dawn got up and followed him. When she got outside, he was on his cell phone calling a cab. “Stop!” she urged. “What’s wrong? Talk to
me.”

“Talk to you?” Jeremiah repeated as he snapped his phone shut. “What is there to talk
about?”

“Let’s start with why you are so
mad.”

“I’m mad, and I’m jealous. You obviously haven’t noticed that I like you a lot. So sue me if I get upset when you make it perfectly clear that you don’t feel the
same.”

“I did no such thing. I’m sorry, but I have admired Sean from a distance for years. Even when I didn’t really follow the sport, I knew who he was. I guess I do have a small crush on him, but I wasn’t flirting with
him.”

“You didn’t have that reaction when you met
me.”

“The circumstances were different.” Jeremiah looked at her like he didn’t believe her. She continued, “If you must know, later I e-mailed my best friend to tell her all about it. I told her how cute you
are.”

“What did you expect me to do?” he still questioned. “You were flirting with
him.”

“For the last time, I wasn’t flirting. I was too shocked to
flirt.”

“But you would have if you hadn’t been so
shocked.”

Dawn had to think about that one for a moment. “I don’t know. Maybe. But I didn’t. It doesn’t do any good to think about what might or might not have
happened.”

“How would you like it if I did the same to you? Would you like watching me give my attention to another
woman?”

Dawn didn’t respond. She just looked at
him.

“I could, you know,” Jeremiah continued. “I could go out right now and get any woman I wanted. I could have my choice of any single woman in this
town.”

He went too far. Now Dawn was mad. “Then go. Don’t let me stop
you!”

Jeremiah didn’t speak at first. He knew he needed to choose his next words carefully. “Now that’s not what I meant, and you know
it.”

“I know exactly what you mean. You’re used to getting whatever you want. You’ve been pretty clear about what you wanted from me from day one. Now I’m not so sure you ever wanted to be my friend. I told you my story so that you would understand, but you didn’t. Or you just didn’t care. You are just like all the other guys. I thought you were different, but you’re not.” The cab pulled up as Dawn finished speaking. She walked over to it, and started to get in. She stopped and turned back to Jeremiah. “All you want is a good time, another notch in your belt. Go find some floozy. I bet if you go back to that club, the blonde will be there. She’ll be all over you. Go. Have a good time. Don’t let me stop you!” With that, she got in the cab and slammed the door. She did not look back as the cab drove
away.

Dawn held in her tears and anger all the way back to the hotel. When she got back to her room, she couldn’t hold it back any longer. She threw herself on the bed and cried. She cried until she couldn’t cry anymore. She started to feel better. She wished she could call home, but it was too late. Everyone would be asleep by now. She rolled over and saw her Bible lying on the nightstand where she had left it earlier. She flipped through it for a moment, but she couldn’t decide what to read. She put it back down and bowed her head to pray. “Dear Lord, I’ve messed up, and I’m sorry. I’ve led Jeremiah on, but I didn’t mean to. I’m not ready for a relationship, but I let him think I was. Now I’ve hurt him. Please forgive me. You have given me an amazing opportunity, and I want to make the most of it. Be with me, Father. Guide my thoughts and actions. Remind me to ask for your advice and listen to what you tell me. Let me lean not on my own understanding. Thank you for everything. Most of all, thank you for sending your son Jesus to Earth to die for me. Thank you for being with me all the time and protecting me. Be with my family and friends in Arkansas. And be with my new friends here. I love you, Jesus. Amen.”

The next morning was the Daytona 500, and it was like nothing Dawn had ever seen before. More than 200,000 fans were in the stands and infield. There were thousands of media people and hundreds of NASCAR officials and support staff for the drivers and their crews. Dawn was standing in the corner of the garage stall, trying to stay out of the way. Everyone was running back and forth doing last-minute chores and making final preparations on the car. “Where’s Bryan?” she finally managed to
ask.

“Chapel and drivers’ meeting. He should be back soon,” Ted answered as he rushed
by.

“I wish I would’ve known about it,” Dawn said. “I would’ve
gone.”

Bryan got back about fifteen minutes later. He was dressed in his fire suit, brightly decorated with patches from his various sponsors. The logo of his major sponsor was emblazoned across his chest in large black letters. Valerie and the baby were with him. Bryan held his wife’s hand as they walked along. He was pointing out different things to his daughter, and she appeared to be paying close attention. Valerie spotted Dawn and motioned for her to join them. “So what do you think of everything so far?” Valerie
asked.

“Pretty cool. It’s a lot to take in, but I’m trying,” Dawn answered, but she didn’t sound very
enthusiastic.

“Is this your first Daytona 500?” Valerie
asked.

“It’s her very first NASCAR race ever,” Bryan answered for
Dawn.

“Wow.”

“I know. I have friends back home who would do anything to be here now. I have to call my cousin Emily and my friend Sarah as soon as the race is over and give them a full report.” They all laughed together, but Dawn’s laughter soon faded as she looked around and noticed Jeremiah walk into his garage stall on the other side of the garage area. Just seeing him made Dawn mad all over again. She watched him for a moment and then turned her attention back to Bryan and Valerie. “So what’s going on now? Is there anything that I need to be
doing?”

“No. Race morning will pretty much be your time off. You’ll have to be here just in case and for moral support, but normally there won’t be anything for you to do, unless you know how to work on race
cars.”

“Okay.”

“As a matter of fact, you can go talk to Jeremiah if you want
to.”

“No, thank you,” Dawn replied. “I think I’ll go see if the crew needs anything,” she said right before walking into the garage
stall.

Bryan and Valerie just looked at each other. “What happened between them?” Valerie asked her
husband.

“I don’t know,” he answered. “They were fine the last time I spoke to her
yesterday.”

“Well, something happened. Go find out what,” Valerie
said.

They walked into the stall together. Bryan motioned for Dawn to join them. “Did something happen between you and Jeremiah?” he
asked.

“Yes. We aren’t speaking right
now.”

“What happened?” Valerie
asked.

“He introduced me to Sean Vaughn last night and then got jealous. We got into a fight when he told me that he could have any woman he
wanted.”

“He didn’t!” Valerie
exclaimed.

“I told him to go ahead and have a good time. We haven’t spoken
since.”