Revved Up Hearts Page 2

“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.”

  “Good morning,” Bryan said when Dawn arrived at the garage area. “Ready to get to work?”

  “Yes, sir, I mean Bryan. Where do I start?”

  “Well, there isn’t personal-assistant stuff to do today. Not really much on this trip at all. Since this is the first race of the season, Valerie got everything for this trip ready before we left Charlotte. I wanted you to have an opportunity to hang out, get to know everybody, and learn about our operation.”

  “And I get to go to the Daytona 500!”

  He smiled. “Are you excited about that?”

  “Yes. Some of my family and friends back home are so jealous of me. Not just because I get to go to the 500 but because I am working for a NASCAR driver. I get to hang out with all the drivers.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, I have strict orders to take as many pictures as I can. If I don’t get James Fowler Jr.’s autograph for my cousin Emily she may never speak to me again.”

  Bryan laughed out loud at that. “We can’t let that happen. I’ll introduce you around. Speed weeks before the 500 are a good time before the stress of the racing season really gets started.”

  “Great. I would really appreciate it,” Dawn replied.

  Dawn spent the next few hours looking under the hood of the car, getting tools, and bringing the crew sodas. She felt like she was in the way, but the crew assured her that she wasn’t. She also thought she was asking too many questions, but they gladly answered them all. They jokingly told her that they would let her know when she was being annoying.

  They stopped for lunch at noon when the pizza arrived. They were all sitting around eating pizza off of paper plates when Jeremiah came by. Bryan was laughing at a teammates joke when he spotted Jeremiah. He stopped laughing and stared at him with an icy glare. All conversation stopped, and everyone watched quietly. “What are you doing here, Jones?” Bryan asked coldly.

  “I’m here to see Dawn. She said she didn’t know all the rules and regs, so I brought her a rulebook.”

  “I gave her one,” Bryan replied.

  “She said it was with her things in Charlotte. I thought she might need one this week.”

  Dawn watched the chilly exchange, looking at each man as he spoke.

  “You just love doing favors for me, don’t you?”

  “Are you ever going to let me live that down? How many times do I have to say it was an accident and then apologize for it?” Jeremiah asked. “Besides, I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing this for Dawn.”

  Bryan didn’t answer. He just shrugged, got up, and walked outside.

  “Well, I just thought I’d drop this off,” Jeremiah said as he handed the book to Dawn.

  “Thank you.” It was all that Dawn could manage. She had no idea what was going on.

  “You’re welcome,” he said as he turned and walked out the door. Dawn just watched him go.

  “How do you know Jeremiah Jones?” asked Ted, the team’s catch-can man and mechanic.

  “He helped me find this stall yesterday, and we jogged together this morning,” she answered. “What’s the deal with those two?”

  “Don’t you know? Last year at the Bristol race, he tapped Bryan while trying to pass. But he hit him too hard and that caused Bryan to spin and wreck. When Jones won the race, that just made Bryan madder. Jones said it was just an accident, but Bryan said it was dirty racing. They’ve been cold to each other since. I can’t believe he had the nerve to come in here.” Dawn remembered hearing something about it on sports news, but she had no idea that it had left lasting animosity between the two of them.

  Later that afternoon, the crew kept their promise when they let her sit in the car while they pushed it out of the garage for practice. Normally, they would be qualifying at this time, but the Daytona 500 was next Sunday. Things were done a little differently for the “Super Bowl of racing.” The racers would practice and then qualify for two short races. The faster they qualified, the better the starting position they had for the Twin 125s. The finishing order of these races would determine how teams lined up for the 500. After qualifying, teams can make minor changes to the car but no major changes, like switching motors or major parts of the car. If such a change is made, the team loses the spot qualified for and start the race at the back of the field. They were finished with qualifying around 4:30 p.m. Bryan would start second in the first race, and Jeremiah would start fifth in the second race. So they would not be racing against each other until the 500.

  After practice and qualifying, Dawn went back to the hotel. She changed into shorts and a T-shirt. She found a local mall where she bought a couple more pairs of jeans, a few more T-shirts, and a sweater. After shopping, Dawn grabbed a bite to eat, went back to the hotel for her camera, grabbed a taxi, and went to Daytona Beach.

  She had only seen the Atlantic Ocean once before; it was just as beautiful as she remembered. She walked along the beach, taking pictures of the ocean waves, seagulls, and other people who were taking in the view. It was February, so the water was too cold to swim in but not too cold to get your toes and feet wet. She was trying to focus on a group of children gathering shells when Jeremiah stepped into the camera’s view. He had on a pair of long denim shorts and a light-blue polo shirt. He also had on a pair of sunglasses. His brown hair was windblown. He was gorgeous.

  “How do I look?” he asked as he struck a pose for the camera.

  “I can’t tell,” Dawn lied. “Th
e sun is behind you, so you’re in shadow.”

  “Oh.” He grabbed her shoulders to turn them both around and then struck another pose.

  “How’s this?”

  “You look like a real model,” she answered as she snapped a shot. She walked around him and took a couple more from different angles. “Why didn’t you tell me that you and Bryan don’t get along?” she asked as she watched him through the camera’s view finder.

  “I never thought about it. Why?”

  She lowered the camera to look directly at him. “Let’s see, you and my new boss have a long-standing rivalry. You show up in his garage stall on my first day of work and ask for me. After you leave, I get the third degree from a crew member.”

  “Ouch,” he grimaced.

  “Exactly. It was nice to know you. He’ll probably fire me tomorrow.”

  “No, he won’t. He doesn’t like me, and I should’ve known that he wouldn’t like me showing up in his garage. But he’s fair, and he won’t hold it against you,” Jeremiah told her.

  “But you have to admit that it is quite a shock to find out that your new friend and your boss don’t get along.”

  “I’ll admit that you have a point,” he said as he looked down at his feet. But then he looked up and smiled at her. “New friend, huh?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good,” Jeremiah said. “Is my new friend going to the truck race tonight?”

  “Truck race?”

  “Yeah. NASCAR has a truck series. There is the truck series, the nationwide series, and the Sprint Cup.”

  “The Sprint Cup is the biggest series, the big leagues. It is what all the drivers aspire to. The other two are like farm teams,” Dawn replied.

  “To put it in baseball terms, yes. You are a quick learner.”

  “I can understand anything if you explain it to me in baseball terms.”

  He laughed at that. “So are you going to the truck race?” he asked again.

  “I didn’t know about it.” She looked over his shoulder. “Oh look, the sun is setting!” she exclaimed, as she started snapping pictures.

  Jeremiah turned around and looked. The orange sun was setting over the ocean. The clouds and sky around the sun were all different shades of orange and pink. The last remaining light was reflecting off the water. “It’s beautiful,” Jeremiah said, but he wasn’t looking at the sunset. It doesn’t hold a candle to the woman standing beside me, he thought as he grasped her chin and turned her to face him.

  She lowered the camera but looked at him with confusion in her eyes. When she realized that he was about to kiss her, she gasped and took a step back away from him.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked but didn’t try to stop her from putting some distance between them.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” she answered as she looked down. She was concentrating on a rock in the sand.

  “Did someone hurt you?” he prodded. She was obviously very upset. He didn’t know what to do.

  She kicked the rock and watched it skip across the beach. She stood there for a moment, just staring at the ocean. She wiped at a tear just before turning back to face Jeremiah.

  “So about this truck race, what time does it start?”

  Jeremiah decided to let her change the subject for now. “Eight. Can you be ready by seven? I’ll pick you up at your hotel.”

  Dawn arrived at the garage early the next morning. Everyone was already hard at work when she got there, and they barely acknowledged her arrival. She started to tidy up the garage area, picking up paper cups and doughnut boxes. She dumped those in the trash and wiped off the table. She was looking for a broom when Ted walked in and made a beeline for Dawn. “Did you go to the truck race with Jones last night?” he asked without so much as a “good morning.”

  “Yes. Why?”

  “You know that Jones and Bryan don’t get along. I told you that yesterday.”

  “So?” Dawn stopped what she was doing to look directly at Ted.

  “The boss isn’t going to like it.”

  “It’s none of the boss’s business,” Bryan said from behind Ted. Neither Dawn nor Ted had heard Bryan walk up to them. “I may not like Jones, but I can’t choose his friends or stop my employees from being friends with him.” Bryan turned to Ted. “Don’t you have some work to do?” At that, Ted turned and joined the rest of the crew. “Ted is a great guy who is excellent at his job, but he loves to gossip and stir up trouble. Don’t let him get you involved in any of his schemes.”

  “Okay.”

  “So, did you have fun at the race last night?”

  “Yes,” Dawn said, happy that Bryan had changed the subject. “We sat in his sponsor’s luxury suite. I didn’t know that the nosebleed seats are the ones that you want for a NASCAR event. From up there, you can see all the way around the track and really follow the action.”

  “Did you learn anything?”

  “Yes. Jeremiah said that the rules for the truck races are pretty much the same as for the cup race, so I feel a little more prepared.”

  “Good.”

  “So what is on the agenda for today?”

  Bryan had a public appearance that afternoon between practices. It would be Dawn’s first real work as Bryan’s personal assistant. She spent the morning making sure there were plenty of 8x10 photos for him to sign and lots of pens for him to sign with. She ironed the clothes he was going to wear and cleaned his motor coach. He’s a slob, she thought to herself. I come all the way here to clean up. I could’ve done that in Arkansas. Oh well, it pays good money. Well, at least she managed to make a dent in the mess. Bryan had told her on the first day that he was a slob, and after cleaning up after him, she knew that he hadn’t been joking.

  She watched practice that morning and then went to the local children’s hospital with Bryan. It was so sad to see those sick kids. What had they done to deserve this?

  Nothing. It just wasn’t fair. She said a silent prayer for all the kids and their families. But even though they were sick, most of them were in good spirits. They sat up and smiled at Bryan. They were truly glad to see him. They hugged him and shook his hand. Most of these kids knew more about NASCAR than Dawn did. Bryan spent as much time as he could with each child. He hugged them and signed autographs for kids, parents, and staff. He must’ve posed for hundreds of pictures. Dawn took several for herself. As they left, all Bryan said was, “I pray every day that my daughter never even has to see the inside of a place like this.”

  They got back just in time for the final practice before the races tomorrow afternoon. Bryan blew a tire on his last lap and hit the wall, totally destroying the whole front end of the car. It was one of the scariest things that Dawn had ever seen, and it made a horrible noise. She hadn’t thought about crashes when she took this job. Now she knew she hadn’t prepared for it. They had a backup car available, but they didn’t want to use it yet. They would try to repair the damaged car first. Dawn ordered Chinese food and went to a local grocery store for plenty of sodas and water. It was going to be a long night.

  “You don’t have to stay, you know,” Bryan said about ten that night.

  “It’s okay. I’m not really all that tired,” Dawn said, but a yawn just then gave her away.

  “But what are you learning now?”

  “That the guys are hilariously funny when they are this tired and that Ted is taking his frustrations out on that fender because he had to cancel a date tonight to work.”

  Bryan laughed. “It serves him right.”

  Jeremiah entered the garage just then. He stopped to scan the room, smiled when he spotted Dawn, and walked toward her. “I called your room to see if you wanted to go to a club or something. When you didn’t answer, I thought you might be here. I can’t believe you are still here.”

  “
I’m mostly watching them work. I can’t go to a club. I don’t drink, and I quit the bar scene after college. Besides, I’m not cleaned up, and my hair is a total loss.”

  “You don’t have to drink. I can’t. I just like to watch people and listen to music. You can go back to the hotel to change, but I think you look just fine,” Jeremiah said.

  Dawn thought about it. It would be nice to see what the night life of Daytona Beach was like. God wouldn’t mind as long as she didn’t drink, would he? She decided to go.

  “Okay.” Dawn smiled. “Are you sure that you don’t mind waiting?”

  “Not at all. Things don’t really get hopping until about eleven or so.”

  Dawn turned to Bryan. “Is it okay if I go, boss?”

  “Only if you promise never to call me boss again.” She heard him say from under the hood of the car.

  “Okay. Bye, Bryan.”

  “Have fun!” Ted yelled from under the car.

  The club was packed when they arrived about an hour later. Dawn’s hair was pulled back into a loose braid. Gold butterfly clips helped hold it in place. She had changed into a red dress that hit her at the knee. It had one gold flower above her heart and spaghetti straps. There was a slit in the side that showed a little leg. Combined with the high heels she wore, her slim legs looked a mile long. It was very modest compared to some of the things worn by other women at the club.

  Oh man, Jeremiah thought when he looked at her. She’s beautiful.

  The line into the club stretched around the block. “We’ll never get in!” Dawn exclaimed.

  “Oh, yes, we will. Watch me work.” He grabbed her hand and headed toward the front of the line. He barely said two words to the doorman, who dropped the chain to let them pass through. The crowd that had been waiting for hours was not too happy, and they voiced their displeasure as Dawn and Jeremiah slipped inside.

  “How did you do that?”

  “Places like this love to have celebrities visit. It attracts business because fans will try to get in just to see us. Others want in just to see who might be there. Paparazzi hang around outside, hoping to get lucky enough to snap a picture that they can sell to a local paper or gossip rag. It’s all free publicity for the club.” By this time they had made it to the bar. Dawn was upset. Jeremiah said he didn’t drink. She hadn’t agreed to this. “I can’t have anything alcoholic tonight. I’m going to order a soda. Do you want one?”