Revved Up Hearts (22 page)

“Okay.” They walked hand in hand toward the parking lot. Somewhere in her mind she knew it wasn’t right before she knew where her relationship with Jeremiah was going, and she didn’t want to lead him on. But it felt so comfortable and so right that she couldn’t let go. The parking lot was pretty much empty since the race was still going on, so they were able to walk undisturbed. When they reached the parking lot, Jeremiah’s car had not yet
arrived.

“So much for ‘waiting on you when you get there’.” Jeremiah said as he looked around. Then he turned back toward Dawn. “Thank you,” he told
her.

“For what?” she
asked.

“For being there for me, for talking some sense into me, for caring about me,” he
answered.

“I didn’t see the accident. I had turned away to get something to drink. I heard the crash and looked to see what had happened. I saw your car sitting there on its top. I was so scared.” A tear ran down her
cheek.

“I’m so sorry that I did that to you,” he said as he wiped the tear away with his
thumb.

“You didn’t do it on
purpose.”

“I know. It wasn’t my first wreck, and it won’t be my last. It still makes me feel bad when I scare the people that I care about.” He dropped his head to kiss her, but a pair of headlights shone on
them.

“There’s your ride,” Dawn
whispered.

“It’ll
wait.”

“What about the
plane?”

“It’s a private jet. It’ll wait, too.”

“Oh,” she said as he dipped his head the remaining distance to brush his lips against hers. He pulled her closer attempting to deepen the kiss, but Dawn stepped
back.

“What’s wrong?” Jeremiah asked, but he didn’t let her
go.

“I’m supposed to be working. Bryan and the crew are probably looking for
me.”

“So you need to
go?”

At that moment, Dawn’s cell phone rang. She got it out of the holder on her hip and looked at caller ID. “It’s Ted. I bet Travis told him to call
me.”

“Then you better answer
it.”

“Hello,” Dawn said. “I’m in the parking lot with Jeremiah. He’s okay. I walked him out to the parking lot. He’s going back to Charlotte early.” Dawn paused, listening to what Ted was saying. “Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Bye.” She looked at Jeremiah. “The race is almost over. Everybody just made what should be their last pit stop. They are looking for me to help put stuff
away.”

“How many laps are
left?”

“Thirty-five”

Who’s
winning?”

“Sean Vaughn is leading Randy Brown by about two seconds. Ronnie Miller is third, followed by Tucker Ruff and Josh
Mefford.”

“They’re all ahead of me in points,” Jeremiah said with an exasperated sigh. “This DNF will kill
me!”

“Don’t say that, especially considering all that happened
tonight.”

“You’re right. That was a bad choice of
words.”

“I need to go,” Dawn
said.

“Me too,” Jeremiah said as he looked down at their linked fingers and smiled. “One last kiss
first?”

“Yeah.” She smiled back at him. She stood on her tiptoes to meet him halfway as he leaned in. The kiss was brief, and he held her for just a moment. Then he released her and watched as she walked then jogged back into the track. When he knew she was safely inside, he got into the car and went
home.

Dawn called Jeremiah the next morning from the race shop and got his answering machine. She left a quick message, saying she was checking on him and asking him to call her when he got a chance. She hung up the phone and looked up to see Bryan standing beside her cubicle. “Do you need something?” she asked
him.

“The videotapes of yesterday’s pit stops. Travis said that you have
them.”

“I do,” Dawn said with a yawn as she fished through her bag looking for the
tapes.

“Tired?” he
asked.

“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep last night,” she answered as she continued to rummage through the bag. “I swear that they were in here a while ago.” She stopped looking in the bag. “I went over to the filing cabinet,” she said as she retraced her steps. She looked inside, but they weren’t there. She slammed the cabinet shut. “Where did I put those things?” Dawn said with a frustrated
grunt.

“It’s no big deal. We were going to watch them this afternoon. As long as you have them by two o’clock, it’ll be
okay.”

“I swear that I just had them,” Dawn said as she continued to
look.

“Look
later.”

“You don’t understand,” Dawn said as she stood there. “It bugs me to lose things.” She turned her back to Bryan, but he caught her reflection in the computer monitor. He could see tears in her
eyes.

“Hey, it’s nothing to get upset about,” Bryan said as he stepped closer to her. “What’s
wrong?”

“Nothing,” she answered as she stepped
away.

“I haven’t known you long, but I’ve figured out that you’re pretty tough. You don’t cry unless you have a good reason. What’s
wrong?”

“Nothing!” she repeated as she swiped at a
tear.

“Turn around, and tell me that to my
face.”

Dawn took a deep breath and turned to face Bryan. She looked him right in the eyes and said, “Nothing is
wrong.”

“You’re lying,” He said as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I thought we were friends. Tell me what’s
wrong.”

Dawn gave up. She slumped down in her chair and rested her head in one hand. Bryan got a chair from nearby and sat down opposite her. Dawn sighed then paused while trying to figure out what to say. “How did Valerie react the first time she saw you
wreck?”

“She freaked out,” Bryan answered as he leaned back in his chair. “We started dating during the off-season. We had been dating for about five months when she saw me wreck. It was the May race at Talladega. There was a crash in front of me that I couldn’t avoid. I hit the car in front of me and got turned sideways. A car from behind t-boned me. Then there was a domino effect involving about ten cars. I was somewhere in the
middle.”

“Were you
hurt?”

“No. I had to take the mandatory trip to the infield care center, but I was okay. Val didn’t come to the care center, and she wasn’t waiting for me when I came out. I walked back to the coach and found Valerie there, packing her bags. She was crying. I told her not to worry about it because it was just a part of racing. She said that was the problem. When I asked her what she meant she told me that she couldn’t stand to watch me race, week after week, wondering when I would wreck again. Wondering how bad I might be hurt the next time or if I would be killed. We had a huge fight and broke
up.”

“You broke up with
her?”

“She broke up with
me.”

“How did you two get back together?” Dawn asked. Bryan and Valerie seemed like the perfect couple. She couldn’t imagine that they ever fought, much less broke
up.

“We had been broken up for about a month. I was miserable. I realize now that I was in love with her, but I didn’t know it then. I was a complete grouch. A buddy got tired of my sorry attitude. He set me up with a good friend of his. We went out to this nice restaurant. What I didn’t know was that it was a real set-up. My buddy asked Valerie out. They showed up at the same restaurant. I took one look at Valerie, out with someone else, and got so jealous. I couldn’t sit there, so I left. My buddy followed me outside. I have never wanted to kill someone before in my life. He laughed because his plan was working. So I punched
him.”

“You hit him?” Dawn
exclaimed.

“I did. The punk hit the ground and just lay there, laughing at me. I was going to hit him again, but the women showed up. Valerie got in my face and told me that if I put a finger on him she would never speak to me again. I helped my buddy off the ground. Then he walked away with his accomplice, my date. Valerie and I just stood there staring at each other for a while. We started talking, and I told her how miserable I was without her. She told me that she had been miserable, too. She said that she would still worry about me, but that was better than being without me. We kissed and made up. I bought her an engagement ring the next day. We got married at the end of the season. This Thanksgiving will be our sixth
anniversary.”

“How sweet. Do you still talk to the
buddy?”

“Every day. It was
Travis.”

“No
way!”

“I’m serious,” Bryan replied. “Ask him about it sometime. He’ll tell you.” Bryan leaned in closer and propped his elbow on the corner of Dawn’s desk to look her in the eye. “I’m guessing that your question has something to do with Jeremiah’s crash
yesterday.”

Dawn sighed and leaned back in her chair. Then she covered her face with her hands. She sat like that for a moment then dropped her hands to look at Bryan. He could see that the tears were back in her eyes. “I thought I was okay with it. I was so scared at first, but I went to the care center and saw that he was okay. I even walked him out to the parking lot afterward. I came back to the track and helped pack everything up. I slept on the plane, but I got home last night, and I couldn’t sleep a wink. All I could do was lie there and think about all the what-ifs. I’m so confused. I don’t know what to
think.”

“So you really like him?” Bryan
asked.

Dawn
nodded.

“Does he know how you
feel?”

Dawn shrugged. “I guess, but I really don’t know for
sure.”

“How does he feel about
you?”

Another shrug was Dawn’s only
answer.

“You two need to talk,” Bryan advised. “Have you talked to him
today?”

“No. I called, but I got his machine. I was about to try his cell but that’s when you walked in.” They sat for a moment without speaking then Dawn said, “Thanks for listening to me, Bryan. I feel
better.”

“You’re welcome. Come by the house sometime and talk to Valerie. I bet she’ll have some tips to help you cope with being the girlfriend of a NASCAR driver,” he said as he got out of his chair and headed toward the
door.

“I’ll do that,” Dawn said. “Thanks
again.”

“Anytime,” he said and walked out the door. She watched him leave and noticed that there on the table by the door, in plain sight, were the videotapes she had been looking
for.

Dawn tried Jeremiah several more times that day, and he never answered. This worried Dawn. She tried one more time before leaving the office for the day. It rang four times and went to voicemail, just like all the other times. Dawn remembered that Jeremiah had given her his address when they met. She looked through her pocketbook until she found it. Dawn thought this was in one of the newer additions on the lake. There was only one way to find
out.