“Hank, you’re pushing too hard, too fast.”
“That’s what it takes. You oughta know that. If you want to make it to the winner’s circle, you gotta keep pushing.”
“So this is about racing,” Duke said, obviously put off by that possibility.
“Hell no. This here is about love. If the racing follows, and I suppose it will, then that’s all right. But if Julie gets back in a car again, that will be her decision. When she finds her place in my bed again will be up to her, too, but I intend to persuade her every chance I get.”
“Then I guess if I can’t beat ya, I might as well join you,” Duke casually pointed out, rubbing his jaw.
“Either that, or you may get left out in the rain when I decide to suit up and play.”
“You’re such a romantic,” Duke told him.
“Actually, I am,” Hank stated flatly. “I plan to love Julie like there’s no tomorrow. After I watched her almost die, I realized none of us have a guarantee for another day.”
“And if she leaves us again?”
“The thought will never cross her mind,” Hank assured him. “Duke, the only thing the time apart has done for Julie has made her more determined to get what she wants. She doesn’t know this yet, of course, but when she figures this out, she’ll go after what she wants…us!”
“You really think she’s here to stay?”
“Without a doubt.”
Duke chuckled. “And Julie thinks I have a problem with confidence.”
“I know, little brother. We both need to work on it.”
* * * *
Frank lit up the barnyard as soon as he saw her. He was already beet red from the sun’s favor, but there was something about the way he smiled that made him look like he was standing under heaven’s spotlight.
“Hey Frank!” she exclaimed from the cobblestone walkway. “I hear you’ve got a new plug down here.” She teetered toward him, convinced her legs were finally moving better than they had in weeks past. Soon, she’d toss the cane aside and walk without the aggravating crutch.
“Plug hell,” he grumbled, walking toward her. He swung his arm behind him and pointed toward the field. “That dappled grey Thoroughbred you see there is anything but a dutz.”
Julie giggled, and hearing her own laughter made her feel unusually happy, an emotion she hadn’t experienced in a long time. Frank had a bad habit of inventing his own language. A dutz, in Frank-speak, was anything considered undesirable, or not quite up to par. In this case, Julie agreed. The Thoroughbred was a far cry from a dutz.
“Where’d you get her?”
“Farm in Wheeler, Texas,” he replied proudly.
“How much did you give for her?”
“What’s it matter?”
She shrugged, appreciating the old games they still knew how to play. She’d missed bantering back and forth with Frank. “I don’t guess it does.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Frank said, handing her the horse’s registration papers. “She’s out of a world champion. Last owners, for whatever reason, just didn’t want to run her. They kept her off the track. If I’d had her…”
“She would’ve been a champion,” Julie finished for him. “You’ve never settled for anything less.”
He wiped his brow and slowly nodded, studying her with intense eyes. “That’s a fact, Julie. Anyone can look at you and know I produce winners.”
She sighed then, thinking of how proud she’d once made Frank. He used to tell everyone how “little girl” made good on her country upbringing, most of which she always credited to Frank anyway.
The old man practically raised her after her father was killed in a racing accident, and her mother killed herself as soon as she heard the news. Her no-good aunt couldn’t manage a child when her only concern was an empty bottle of booze.
Frank grabbed a nearby can of cola and took a swig before crushing the empty container under his boot. Picking up the can he’d demolished, he tossed it in a nearby trash bin and strolled toward the barn. “I want you to see something.”
Julie followed him toward the main facility. When they walked inside, she relinquished the horse’s papers.
He waved her hand away. “Oh I won’t need those. You put them up and save them. That mare is yours, little girl.”
“Frank, you can’t give me a horse for no reason.”
“There’s a big difference between can’t and can, little girl. Can’t would mean I couldn’t afford the dang gal—which I can—and that’s why you have her now. I think she’ll do you some good.”
“I’ve never owned a Thoroughbred.”
“Which is why I decided to buy her in the first place,” he explained. “I was studying on that a little while before we picked you up in Pennsylvania. Seems to me you and I have purchased a bunch of different breeds, but we never had us a Thoroughbred. I thought it might be right nice to have one. You know, see how we fare with this breed in the end.”
“Frank—”
He put his hand up in the air. “Not a word of this. I wanted to do it. I was able to, and I’m glad you like her.”
“Thank you, Frank.”
“Welcome,” he said, walking ahead of her again. “Now hurry up, little girl. I got something I wanna show you.”
They rushed through the elaborate stables like they needed to reach somewhere before closing time. At the back of the building, Frank slid a large metal door away from the wall and revealed quite possibly the best-looking stock car Julie had ever seen.
The black paint appeared to have a glittery tint in the color, sparkling like coal straight from the mine. The red letters were bold and fancy, the color leaping off the doors which would undoubtedly catch a spectator’s eye.
“Wow,” she said, barely realizing she’d spoken at all.
“It reminds me of someone I once knew in racin’. When I saw that car, I said to myself that’s an intimidating vehicle, the kind of machine my Julie needs to see.”
Julie was immediately touched. Frank rarely called her by her given name. There was something extremely heartfelt in the way he spoke then, and her eyes watered. “Now, don’t go makin’ somethin’ outta nothin’, ya hear?”
“I hear ya, Frank,” she returned, smiling. “So tell me about this car.”
“Well, there’s a lot to tell,” he said, taking a seat on a nearby crate. “Hank and Duke heard about a racing team that was having some financial trouble, and they picked up a few of these cars. Talk about owning a dutz. This car’s owner had a few of ’em. My guess is, he didn’t have a mechanic worth payin’. Sam McMann, the fellow you met there at the hospital, was the exception. He worked for this particular team. Really hadn’t been there long, maybe a few months but not more than a year.
“Anyhow, when Hank and Duke met him, he told them about some ideas he had, talked some hype about buildin’ the perfect engine and wanted to show them a design for a sleek car—and she is a beauty, don’t ’cha think—and told them his dream was to put a sexy woman behind the wheel of one mean, lean, powerful machine.
“Well, that kind of did it for Hank and Duke. From the moment they heard about this car, they pictured you drivin’ her. Maybe now you see why. She sure is a beauty, just like my little girl.”
Julie grinned. “Hank and Duke may need to recruit another driver now, Frank.”
“I don’t know why,” he said, zipping his lips all at once, which made her realize her response didn’t sit well. “They ain’t gonna have another driver, Julie. If you don’t take the keys, this car ain’t coming out of the garage.”
“What?” she screeched. “Why?”
“That Hank is a stubborn man, and when he bought the car, he sunk a lot of money into her.” Frank strolled over to the vehicle and placed his palms on the hood, smoothing his hands over the waxed front end. “Yes indeed. This car was built with the best of everything, has more safety features than you can imagine, and will run like hell.”
“Frank, I don’t want to race
anymore.”
“Well, I suspect that’s about right for the time being. After a few weeks here, you’ll change your mind. The boys have a good team together, and I think you’ll see that after you meet some of the guys. Hinman Racing is family-oriented, and you’ll be right pleased with the way this group operates behind the scenes.”
“Frank…”
“I know. I know,” he said, placing his palms forward. “I’m pushin’ ya and trying my dead level best to get you to tell me what I wanna hear, but take your time. One of these days, you’ll see what’s right in front of you is where you’ve belonged all along. I believe that, little girl. I believe in you.” Frank backed away from the car and walked out of the bay housing the automobile.
“Why is that, Frank?”
He stopped abruptly and faced her. “What do you mean?”
“Me and you, we’ve always been close, but I never asked you how come you took me under your wing, so I’m asking now. Why were you there when no one else was? How come you loved me when no one else wanted me?”
Frank frowned, and for a minute there, Julie thought he might cry. Then, he gave her a surprise answer, a reply she never saw coming. He said, “I reckon it’s because I loved your mother so. I couldn’t have her. She didn’t want me, and that’s all right now. I took care of the only thing she ever loved outside of your father. I reckon I always thought your aunt told ya, but I guess it was my place.”
“You were in love with Mom?”
“She was the only good thing I had in my life,” he said somberly. “That is, until I had the opportunity to help raise you.”
“Oh Frank,” she said sadly. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
He shook off the hand she placed on his arm. “Now we ain’t gonna have none of that here. I answered your question. You deserved to know. But discussing this like you might want to do will have to wait until later.”
Julie took a deep breath. “You dated Mom before she married Dad?”
Frank studied her. Sorrow took over his expression and he bowed his head. “No, Julie. Your mother and I had an ongoing affair for over twenty years. When you were born, I thought you belonged to me. There wasn’t any other explanation, you see, because your mother convinced me that she and your father weren’t intimate. I was the happiest man alive when I thought you were mine, and I reckon it really didn’t matter anyway in the long run.”
Julie swallowed hard. She noted the pain in Frank’s eyes, the deep-rooted agony the old man must’ve felt when he’d discovered the child he’d wanted to claim wasn’t his by birthright. “Frank, I’m so sorry.”
He shook his head. “Don’t be sorry, little girl. You’re still mine in my heart. Now you know why I always thought I had a say in everything you did back in the day.” He grinned and snickered. “Lord ‘a’ mercy, you were a handful back when you were a toddler. You used to aggravate the ever-lovin’ beejeezies out of Hank and Duke. It’s a wonder they still talk to ya.”
“They talk to me, all right. Or should I say, they talk at me.”
“Ah, now, here,” he said, walking toward the stable office. “You know how they are. They’ve worked for everything they’ve got, and rightly think if they put some effort in you, they’ll win your hand, too.”
Frank pointed at the wall of countless photographs depicting Hinman wins at various racetracks around the country. “Who knows, maybe they just wanna see your picture up there.”
“I’m not sure they care so much about taking a photograph.”
Frank shook his head. “I don’t wanna know anything about that.”
“Good thing,” she teased. “Because I don’t, either.”
Chapter Five
Hank felt her eyes at his back. He didn’t turn around to greet her, but when she leaned on the board fence beside him, he said, “This industry consumes a driver’s every waking hour. When they’re not driving for the money, they’re practicing for the next event, going to meetings, or signing autographs. If you let it, the sport will devour you. The spectators and other drivers will eat you alive. Racing can take the best part of what you have to give. If you’re not careful, it will leave you with nothing.”
“Are you implying I don’t have anything left if I walk away from my career?”
Hank faced her then. The first thing he noticed was the new look of determination. Her entire persona had changed since she’d spent a little time with Frank. She possessed that raging fire in her eyes again. Her lips were set and tightly pressed together. She appeared more confident than she had been the hour before.
He wondered if Frank had a good talk with her and if so, he was curious if he’d gotten anywhere. “You have plenty waiting for you, Julie. You know that. Question is, do you want what you have, or do you need what you used to have?”
She narrowed her gaze. “I don’t need anything from the past to make me happy.”
He chuckled and returned to the fence, draping his arms over the top plank. “You keep telling yourself that, baby. Maybe one day I’ll prove you wrong. I like doing that, you know.”
“Hmm,” she muttered, eyeing Duke curiously when he climbed out of a car that screeched to a halt right in front of them. “When did he start driving?”
Hank snorted. “Duke always thought he had the guts to do what you do. Fact is, he doesn’t. He’ll tell ya. We had a trial run down in Daytona once, just to prove a point. Duke couldn’t keep his eyes on the track in front of him for worrying himself to death about the guys behind him. He wrecked within ten laps.”
“Really?” she asked in a high-pitched voice.
“I’m telling you the way it is,” Hank said, facing her. “Very few people possess what you’ve got, Julie. It takes more than skill to get out there and race. You have to be smart. You gotta understand your limitations, and more than that, you have to know when you’re hitting your limits.
“You can’t fear the job or the boys you meet when you’re doing your best to bring home the win for your team. You oughta know that better than anyone. If you let your guard down once and the competition is there to watch when you do, then you’ll always be vulnerable. And one weakness can make a loser out of a potential winner.”
“How do you know I don’t have a few weaknesses of my own now?”
Hank chuckled. “Doll, you only have two of those. You’re looking at one of ’em.”
Before she retorted, Duke joined them. “Hey, gorgeous. What’d you think of that prize pony Frank bought ya?”
“Pony, hell,” Julie mumbled.
“She’s a beauty,” Duke said, using his T-shirt to wipe perspiration away from his forehead.
“Did you have a chance to see your car?” Hank asked, changing the subject. He’d much rather try and steer interest in the appropriate direction.
Julie cleared her throat. “Yes.”
She didn’t offer anything more, nothing less, and Hank considered her response one for the home team. She wasn’t hell-bent on denying the fact she wanted to race the car, and that in itself was a victory. Maybe in a few days, Frank would convince her to give the car a whirl around the track.
“So what’d ya think?” Duke asked, pressing.
“I think you’re crazy if you believe I’ll race a stock car.”
And there was one strike for Julie’s tally sheet. Maybe this wouldn’t be as easy as Hank had hoped.
“What are you so scared of?” Hank asked. “Stock cars and drag cars are two different giants.”
Julie wheeled around on her heel and slapped the back of her hand against his chest. “How dare you say that to me? Maybe if you weren’t such an egotistical, self-serving ass, you’d understand why drag cars and stock cars are certainly cut from the same cloth! One killed my father and the other almost killed me!” With that outburst, she hurried away, limping and jogging around the perimeter of the track until she bolted down the hill and disappeared out of sight.
“You just refuse to ease up,” Duke said.
“No,” H
ank retorted. “I refuse to give up on Julie because down deep, she knows racing is the be-all and end-all. If she’s not behind the wheel, if she’s not out there on that track, she’ll never be happy. That’s all there is to it.”
“I hope you’re wrong,” Duke said, his eyes searching the pastureland surrounding them. “Because I don’t think she’ll ever race again.”
* * * *
“Two different giants,” Julie mumbled to herself, as she sank into a whirlpool tub full of bubbles. That was the whole problem. She felt helpless when she stood next to Hank and Duke. In their presence, the past had a way of rearing its provocative head, tempting her with the things she once enjoyed, the men she once found irresistible.
She relaxed her neck on a support as the hot water soothed her. Punching the button on the side of the tub, she jerked as the jets massaged her sore, aching bones.
“Ah, heaven,” she whispered, propping her foot on the side of the tub. She thought of Hank then, of the way they’d groped and fondled one another in broad daylight. She looked down on her breasts rising high enough to cap the bubbles.
Her nipples were erect, her mounds full. She leaned back and tweaked the hard gems, rolling them back and forth until her heightened arousal made her recognize the obvious. She needed more than her own hand to satisfy her.
Then again, beggars couldn’t always choose the best way to take care of growing needs when they failed to go away on their own. Sinking against the sleek, smooth surface of the tub, she propped up her other leg, opening herself up to a full exploration.
Propelling her hand across her stomach, she dipped her fingers between her folds and moaned. Cupping a breast, she played with her nipple, thinking of the way Hank aroused her, how he made her feel like a desirable woman again.
She fingered her pussy lips, teasing the tender folds until she arched against her bent wrist. She needed more than light taunting. She wanted penetration.
Acres, Natalie - Bang the Blower [Country Roads 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 4
