Speed Demons (13 page)

“May I see?” Evie asked quietly from the door.

“Sure. Come in.” Blythe noticed that Evie carried two mugs. “Is that what I think it is?”

“If you’re thinking about hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows, then yes.” Evie handed her a mug and pulled out a chair next to her at the small dining room table.

Blythe sipped the hot chocolate and hummed in pure pleasure. Not too sweet and very chocolaty. Just the way she liked it. Glancing over at Evie, she saw that the soft expression was almost back in place. Something about coming back to her sanctuary, her house by the sea, had settled Evie again, she surmised.

“Wow, I sure look miffed.” Evie studied the photo Blythe pulled up. “I wasn’t happy with how the Viper handled.”

“Why is that? Ben seemed pleased.”

“He wasn’t behind the wheel. He didn’t feel how I had to struggle to hit the same mark in the corner every time. It should be more effortless. They need to fine-tune the coils and dampers. Steering too.”

“I’m sure they will.” Ben would walk on a tightrope for Evie. He was gruff and ran the team with the proverbial iron fist, but he adored Evie. The next photo Blythe pulled up showed just that. Evie stood with her back to the crew, calming down after the training session, her hands on her hips and her head tipped back. Ben stood closer to the camera, rubbing his neck, his eyes concerned and soft as he gazed at Evie.

“He’s aged.” Evie spoke quietly. “Look at his temples. I hadn’t noticed that until now. Look.” She pointed at the graying hair on his temples. “He didn’t have that last year.”

“He really cares about you.” Blythe pulled up the next picture. Here Ben had placed a gentle hand on Evie’s shoulder and she turned her face to him, smiling in a self-deprecating manner.

“I know.” Evie mimicked the same expression as the one she had in the photo. “I’ve known him since I was ten years old. He used to work for Mal, but when I started competing as a teenager, he said that if Mal didn’t make sure I learned the ropes, he would. Mal more or less broke off any type of friendship with Ben when he refused to be my father’s mole and do his bidding.”

“What do you mean, do his bidding?” Blythe drank some chocolate. Evie’s eyes darkened again.

“Ben refused to be coerced or bribed into influencing me. On the contrary, he kept me apprised of what my father and grandfather said and did.”

“I have photos of him from when you crashed,” Blythe said hesitantly. “The look on his face as he’s running toward the pileup of burning cars…It impacted me as much as the thought of you being stuck.” Blythe knew she shouldn’t emphasize the crash now that Evie was trying to work past it, so she didn’t go into further detail. She didn’t tell Evie how she eventually had dropped the camera right where she stood and run after Ben. Rescue workers and first responders held them both back while they worked to get Evie and the others in the crashed race cars out. She would never forget Ben moaning Evie’s name, calling her his little girl. “He’s more of a dad to you than Mal is, isn’t he? Emotionally?”

“Oh, yes.” Evie ran gentle fingers across Ben’s face on the screen. “Mal will never understand how I see Ben as a true parent figure, someone who loves unconditionally and does it while knowing every unflattering thing about me.”

Blythe gripped the mouse harder. She had no reason to be envious. She’d walked away from her family and the increasingly hardening climate among them, but hearing about someone else’s parents—real or substitutes didn’t matter—would always spark a twitch of remorse and pain. Remorse for leaving, pain for not having any other choice.

Blythe browsed more photos, and a couple actually made them laugh helplessly. One featured Evie drinking from a water hose and getting completely soaked when one of the team members accidentally bumped into her. The next one showed Evie with a transparent white T-shirt, her nipples clearly visible.

“God almighty, you’re not putting that one in the book.” Evie snapped her head around, looking pointedly at her.

“Oh, I don’t know,” she deadpanned. “Perhaps we could sell it to that calendar producer who’s been bugging you for hot pictures so you could be Ms. July.”

“Blythe!” After looking completely scandalized for a fraction of a second, Evie laughed and swatted her arm. “Brat. Very funny.”

“And lucrative.” Blythe nodded in agreement. “Just imagine.”

“Let’s not imagine that.” Shaking her head, Evie covered her eyes. “Please. Next.”

Chuckling, she switched to the next photo, but not before she flagged the previous one as “private” and “keep.”

*

Evie turned off the bedside lamp, then thought better of it and switched it back on. For some reason, she didn’t want complete darkness on this cloudy night. Usually the moon lit up with the stars, but not tonight. She left the window open about an inch, to let the sound of the waves soothe her. She was on edge tonight. Did it have anything to do with being dissatisfied with her—and the car’s—performance? Jittery and restless, she debated whether to take one of the sleeping pills she rarely used. Deciding against it, since the drowsiness stayed with her far too long, which would prevent her from going out to Darlington, she curled up and closed her eyes, forcing herself to breathe slowly. Eventually sleepiness blanketed her.

*

Blythe sat up in bed, listening. She was a very light sleeper, a habit that had developed automatically because she’d stayed in dangerous places so many times. Now she’d heard something while sleeping, and her heart hammered.

At first, she could distinguish only the waves, but after a few seconds, a faint murmur, or perhaps a moan, came from the hallway. She sat up, her feet on the cool hardwood floor. She listened again while holding her breath. Nothing. Opening the door fully to the hallway, she stood indecisively in the doorway, shivering a little in her boxers and tank top.

“No. No!” A tormented voice whimpered. Evie. Was she dreaming?

She padded over to Evie’s door and pushed it open a small crack. “Evie?”

“Open it. No. Open it, open.” Evie’s voice was filled with pain and Blythe could see her in the dim light from the bedside lamp, twisting and turning in her rumpled bed.

“Oh, God.” Blythe hurried over to Evie, kneeling next to the bed. “Wake up, Evie. Evie?” She tried to capture the flailing hands. “Evie it’s me. It’s Blythe. You’re dreaming.”

“No. No. Let me out. Let me out.” Barely audible, the pain in her voice made Blythe want to cry in sympathy. Evie fought while still caught in her nightmare. Her skin was damp and cold, and she’d obviously been crying; her hair was tousled and stuck to her wet cheeks.

“I’m here. I have you.” She wouldn’t be able to wake Evie like this from the horrible dream she was so caught up in. It seemed impossible to break through her panic and torment. Climbing up on the bed, she wrapped both arms around Evie, not bothering with her own safety. Evie was bigger and stronger, but all Blythe could think of was her anguish. Her heart broke when she understood that this must happen frequently.

Struggling to hold on to Evie, who trembled violently beneath her, she kept trying to rouse her. “Evie. Evie. Wake up.” She pressed her lips against Evie’s ear. “Please, Evie. It’s Blythe. You’re dreaming. You’re all right. It’s just a bad dream. You’re not in the car.”

“Fire. Everywhere.” Evie still sounded terrified, but her voice sounded different. Blythe hoped this meant she was waking up.

“Hey, there. You awake?” Carefully, she gazed down at Evie, mindful not to let go of her. “Evie?”

“What—what are you doing? Blythe?” Evie opened her eyes and blinked repeatedly.

“You were dreaming.”

“Yes. Oh, God…again. So much smoke. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t see.” Evie suddenly flung her arms around Blythe’s neck. “Thank God you woke me up.” Trembling, she buried her face against Blythe. “So much pain and they were screaming. Endless, piercing screams. And I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t get out, and the fire…the fire ate through my suit, into my skin. It hurt so much. I tried to scream. I tried.”

“Yes. You’re okay now. I’m not going anywhere.” Blythe didn’t know why those words made her cheeks go warm. “Just hold on to me. You’re fine now.”

“When will the dreams stop? I can’t take it anymore. I’m afraid to fall asleep.”

“Oh, sweetie.” Her heart contracted painfully again. “I wish I knew. I wish I could do something—”

An idea formed, but it was so audacious and presumptuous, it wasn’t even worth mentioning. Was it? She argued with herself. What if she slept next to Evie, to be able to hear her sooner?

“What? You were saying something?” Evie moved sideways so they were facing each other on the bed.

“Well, I was just thinking, what if I manage to hear you and wake you up before the dreams get this bad? I’m a light sleeper.”

“Yeah, that’d be great.” Evie wiped at her cheeks. “I’ve dealt with this until now. Some nights I’ve worked out for the rest of the night, or read book after book. That’s not possible now. I need my sleep in order to carry on with my training, and later it’s even more important, when the races start.” Evie pushed herself up on her elbow, hovering over her. “Do you think you’d be okay with sleeping in here?”

She gasped. Was Evie a mind reader? “Sure. I mean, I was just thinking the same thing.”

“Really?” Evie sniffed and blinked away tears. “You know I’d never, I mean, I wouldn’t like take advantage of the, um, situation.”

“I know.” She cupped Evie’s damp cheek carefully. “If you think it will help you sleep, and therefore helps keep you safe on the track, I’ll sleep in here and keep vigil. I won’t let the dreams screw things up for you.”

“You’re amazing. You also keep on surprising me.”

“Listen, Evie,” she said. She had to be honest. “The day you agreed to do this project with me, to let me document your return to the racetrack, to NASCAR, it meant so much to me. I don’t have nightmares like you, but I live with the mental images of what I witnessed that day. All the photos I took, all the fear, it’s there with me. So our collaboration means we’re still in this together. Maybe we can heal together too.” She took a deep breath, brushing her thumb along Evie’s jaw. “What do you think?”

“You have a very good point.” Evie caught her hand and kissed it briefly. “I can’t blow this chance to regain my career, which
will
happen if I don’t sleep. Thank you.”

“Hey. No time like the present. Scoot over a little more. We can still get a few hours in.”

“Bossy.” Evie moved over to the other pillow, seemed to think better of it, and exchanged it with her used one. “Here. Fresh and not slept on.”

“Thanks.” She settled down next to Evie, close enough to hear her breathe, but without actually brushing against her. Part of her wanted nothing more than to wrap Evie in a protective embrace. But if she did, Evie would know just how much she wanted her. Evie needed her help to stay safe and survive this comeback of hers, nothing else.

Blythe closed her eyes, willing herself to fall asleep. A faint touch made her jump.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.” Evie looked worried as her hand rested on Blythe’s shoulder. “This okay? Just need to know that you’re there.”

“Anything.” She cleared her throat. “Anything’s okay. I’m here.”

“Yes.” Evie closed her eyes, rubbing Blythe’s shoulder. “Yes.”

Chapter Thirteen

Evie tore through the tenth lap around the Darlington Raceway. The Viper still didn’t handle the way she expected it to. Needed it to. The car kept vibrating when she reached the first turn. When she immediately hit the second turn, it felt even more unstable, as if the front tires wobbled. How was she supposed to trust her vehicle when they couldn’t even make it perform as well as a fucking Volvo? She turned into the pit, the tires screaming.

“What the hell’s going on?” Ben shouted in her headset.

The tires made a whole different sound as Evie slammed on the brakes next to the crew. She yanked off the steering wheel and slithered out through the window. Ben hurried toward her, his face red.

“How about having the courtesy of answering me when I ask you something?”

“I might just do that if you, one, do your fucking job and fix the car, and two, quit cursing at me!” She pushed her gloves off and tossed them on the ground before unclasping her helmet.

“Cursing? You’re the one with the foul mouth.” He turned his baseball cap backward, something he did when he was angry. “What’s your problem now?”

“Same as before. The car your crew supposedly worked all night on vibrates more than it did yesterday. I nearly hit the wall in the last curve because of it.”

“Or it could’ve been because of how you drove.” He squinted, chewing his gum energetically, another sign he was upset.

She saw Blythe approach, camera half raised. That was the last thing she needed right now, a camera shoved in her face. She put up her hand, palm first, toward Blythe. “Not now.” Snapping her head back at Ben, she glared at him. “You know I drove perfectly. Or would have, if the car had handled like it should.”

“As the driver, you should be able to compensate during training. That’s why we call it training, so we can work together to fine-tune the car. If you insist on doing your best to drive it to the ground—” He stopped talking for a moment, his face falling. “So that’s what this is about? You’re setting yourself, or the car, up for failure even before Daytona?”

“How dare you? How can you even
say
something like that to me?” She gasped for air, shocked. Ben, her friend, her knight against her father. “I can’t believe you said that…” She saw Blythe stepping closer. “I said not
now
. What about that don’t you get,
paparazzi
?”

“Evie!” Ben sounded shocked. “Don’t take it out on Blythe. She’s only doing her job, just like the rest of us.”

“Yeah, of course. Of course she is. I’m the only one in the wrong here. Isn’t that always the case? I just had no idea that you agreed with Mal and Harrison. How did I miss that? I must be totally stupid.”

“Evie. Please.” He wasn’t angry anymore, Evie could see that. Instead he looked concerned. Glancing to her left, she could see that Blythe mimicked his expression.