Revved Up Hearts (2 page)

“I’m not sure,” she answered honestly. “It’s a lot to take in, in a short amount of time. My mind hasn’t had a chance to process it all
yet.”

“I know that feeling. I’ve raced all my life, but going to my first NASCAR race was the most exciting thing ever. My wife says she will never get used to it. Would you like something to drink? I have soda and bottled
water.”

“Some water would be
nice.”

“One water, coming up.” He got up and got her a bottle of water from a cooler that sat nearby. He used his shirttail to wipe the condensation from the bottle and handed it to
her.

“Thank
you.”

“Is this your first trip to
Florida?

“No, sir. I took a vacation here in 2001. I have a cousin who lives outside of Orlando. We spent a week with her and went to Disney World. We came to Daytona to see the ocean for the first time. I wasn’t a NASCAR fan at the time. We stumbled across the racetrack by accident. We weren’t really looking for it, but when we drove by, we thought, ‘What the heck. Let’s go check it out.’ We took the tour, and I’ve been learning about NASCAR ever
since.”

“Where’s your luggage?” Bryan
asked.

“At the hotel. I stopped by there and checked in before I came over
here.”

“Good. I called the shop this morning, and they told me that all your stuff arrived yesterday
afternoon.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Please don’t call me sir. I’m younger than you, and my name is Bryan,” he said with a smile. “Call me
Bryan.”

“Okay, Bryan,” she answered and returned his
smile.

“Good. Do you want to see some pictures of my
daughter?”

“You
bet.”

They spent the next half hour or so looking at pictures of Bryan’s young daughter, Lena Violet, and discussing Dawn’s responsibilities as Bryan’s personal assistant. She would be responsible for everything from booking personal appearances to making sure he had plenty of 8x10 photos for him to sign at the appearances. She would also have to cook for him from time to time and do his laundry when they were on the road and his wife was at home with the baby. Dawn was going to like working for Bryan Richardson. He was a nice guy. All the guys in the garage seemed nice, too. After they talked, Bryan gave her a tour. He showed her the car and all the tools. She didn’t understand much of it, but the guys on the crew did their best to explain it. They even promised to let her sit behind the wheel sometime. Dawn was going to make them keep that
promise.

Later that afternoon, when Dawn finally made it back to the hotel, she was exhausted. She had only meant to close her eyes for a few minutes, but the next thing she knew it was two hours later. It was 6:30 p.m. in Florida, so it would be 5:30 p.m. back home in Arkansas. She decided to call her
mom.

“Hi, Mom,” Dawn said when her mom answered the
phone.

“Hi, sweetie. How was your
trip?”

“Fine. Not too much turbulence, so that was good. I’ve got to get over my fear of flying because I’m going to be doing a lot of it for this
job.”

“I thought they traveled by motor coach,” her mom
asked.

“The coach driver does. He drives in and gets everything ready for the crew who flies in. The motor coach is where the driver lives at the track. Since I’ll be spending most of my time with Bryan, I’ll fly in with him and fly back to Charlotte after the
race.”

“Where will you live in Charlotte?” Mom asked. “When will you be able to look for an
apartment?”

“I met Bryan today. He said something about having a place I could stay for a while. I think he said it was a guesthouse on his property behind his
house.”

“Did your stuff get there
yet?”

“Yes. Bryan said he checked on it this
morning.”

“He seems pretty organized,” Mom said. “Why does he need a personal
assistant?”

“ I do all the organizational stuff, help with the fan club, and so on. That way those things don’t interfere with racing. He said he really thinks he can win the championship this
year.”

“I see,” Mom
said.

“C’mon, Mom. You know I needed to get away from
Jasper.”

“I know. It’s just hard to see you go. I
worry.”

“I know,” Dawn said. “But—”

“I understand. That reminds me, Kevin called again
today.”

“You didn’t tell him where I was, did
you?”

“No. I didn’t tell him anything. I told him not to call anymore, and then I hung up on
him.”

“Thanks,” Dawn
said.

“I can’t believe the way he treated you—” her mom
started.

“Mom,” Dawn interrupted. “I really don’t want to talk about
it.”

“I know, but I get so mad. I
could—”

“Mom, please.” Dawn desperately tried to change the subject. “How’s
Dad?”

“He just got home from work a few minutes ago. He’s outside. You know how he is. He just loves to see what he can find to do outside. He had a doctor’s appointment this
morning.”

“To check his blood
sugar?”

“Yes. The last time he had it checked it was a little too high. So he wasn’t looking forward to this visit. But it was okay this time, so he is
relieved.”

“I gotta go. Tell him, Pat, and Shane that I said hi and that I love them. I love you, too.”

“I love you, Dawn,” her mom replied. “I’ll talk to you
later.”

Dawn woke up early the next morning. She pulled her jet-black hair back into a ponytail and left for the track. Bryan had mentioned that race people were allowed to jog on the track before 8:00 a.m., before the work day started. Back home, she would’ve had to do several laps at the local park to do a mile, but here one lap was 2 1/2 miles. She had gone about a quarter of the way around the track when she heard someone call to
her.

“Hey, Dawn.”

She looked around and saw Jeremiah waving at her from the side of the track. He was dressed for jogging. She jogged over to where he
stood.

“Hello,” she said. “Nice to see you
again.”

“Same here,” he replied. “I hate to jog alone. Do you need a jogging
buddy?”

“Sure,” she answered. As they jogged along, she tried to remember what she knew about him. He made it up to the Winston Cup, now called the Sprint Cup, series in 2000 at the age of twenty-seven. That would make him about thirty-three, two years older than Dawn. He came in second for that years’ Rookie of the Year honor. He drove the #91 Dodge, sponsored by a furniture company. He had been in the running for the championship last year, but bad luck in the last few races had ended that
chance.

He was jogging a little ahead of her. It gave her an opportunity to check him out. He was about six feet tall. He was muscular but not too bulky. He had short, dark-brown hair—what her mom would call “clean cut.” She couldn’t see his eyes from this angle, but if she remembered correctly, they were
green.

“So, how is everything so far?” he asked as he glanced over his
shoulder.

“Great. Bryan is a really nice guy. I think I’m going to enjoy working for him. Everybody I’ve met has been nice, too. I’m looking forward to watching qualifying this
afternoon.”

“Qualifying is different for the Daytona 500. We have two short races, and the drivers line up on race day according to how they finish those
races.”

“I’m still trying to remember all the rules and regulations. Bryan sent me a rulebook, but I think it is with my things in Charlotte.” They had been enjoying a slow pace for conversation sake, but Dawn noticed when she sped up, in order to keep up with him, he would speed up again. “It must be true what they say about racing being in the
blood.”

“What makes you say that?” he asked
her.

“You make sure to stay a little ahead of me. If I try to catch up, you speed up just enough to stay a step or two
ahead.”

He laughed. “I can’t help it. I have to be ahead on the track. I don’t even notice it until someone points it out. Maybe that is why drivers usually jog
alone.”

Now it was her turn to laugh. “Is jogging all you do to stay in shape?” she asked as they slowed down to a brisk
walk.

“I swim when I can. I don’t have a pool at home, and I don’t have time to go to the gym. I have some free weights that I keep on the coach, but I don’t use them as much as I should. What about
you?”

“Mostly jogging but I like aerobics, too. Hopefully, I can get into a class in Charlotte.” They finished the lap in
silence.

“What are your plans for today?” Jeremiah asked as they were cooling
down.

“I start work today. I have to be in Bryan’s stall at eight a.m., but I don’t know what I’ll be doing once I get
there.”

“I’m going to do another lap. I’ll see you around,” he said with a smile. “Maybe we can jog again
sometime.”

“Maybe. Thanks for the company,” Dawn said. She was pretty sure that she had just made another
friend.

Dawn went back to the hotel where she showered, applied her makeup, and did her hair. Not too much makeup, though—she liked the natural look. All she did to her hair was put it up in a ponytail. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a long sleeve T-shirt. On her last call to the race shop before leaving for Florida, they had told her that she would always need to have her hair up while in the garage. They also told her to never wear anything that she would care if it got dirty. The third thing was always wear closed-toe shoes. This was because the garage could be a dangerous
place.

She slipped her tennis shoes on and was on her way out the door when she remembered. How could she forget? But she had been pretty busy the last few days. “Lord, forgive me,” she said as she turned around and pulled her Bible out of her suitcase. Her grandmother had given it to her years ago, and the old, black Bible was well worn and well highlighted. She thought of her Granny and smiled as she ran her fingers over her name in gold letters on the front. She opened it as she sat on the bed and turned to the book of Esther. The story of how one woman had saved a nation had always been one of her favorites. Dawn had read it several times in the past couple of months. She had drawn strength from Esther and her story when she had felt really low. Dawn read the end of the story now, where Esther revealed Haman’s evil plot and Haman was executed. Dawn had learned that every year the Jewish people still celebrated what Esther had done. When she was finished reading, she closed the Bible, bowed her head, and closed her eyes. “Dear Lord,” she prayed, “thank you for this glorious day and this new opportunity you have given me. Help me now to make the best of it. Use me like you used Esther. I want the people I meet to know that I am a Christian. I want them to see the difference in me, to see you in me. Give me the opportunity to witness to them. I want to do my best. I want to make my family proud, but most important, I want to make you proud. Thank you, Father, for the gift of your Son Jesus, who left heaven to die for me so that I can spend eternity in heaven with you. Thanks again, God, for everything. I love you, and I give you praise for all things. Amen.”