by Burke, Dez
Angela had found the answer to that days later when she’d got on the plane to Nashville, ostensibly to see her father before she got too busy with her new role. But on the plane trip, her every waking thought and dreams were all about Shane. How in such a little time, he’d come to mean the world. Knowing he’d flown out to see her at that party, had warmed her soul. The fact that he cared that much gave her a twinkle of hope that there could be more than she’d ever dared to hope for.
“Dad, I’ve met someone,” she said softly now, and saw her father nod encouragingly.
“Yes. I heard some talk about that. Folks around the hospital saying stuff. Not that they knew I could hear them. Mostly gossip about a racecar driver millionaire – the one who’s paying the bills to this place. I thought you two were done.”
Her father spoke very slowly, but she heard every word clearly. She placed a hand on his which held the arm of his chair. “How could we be done when we really had nothing to begin with?” she said sadly before telling her father all that had happened.
“It was always just about business; no strings attached,” she finished on a deep sigh. “He picked me banking on the fact that I wouldn’t fall in love with someone like him. He didn’t want me to. To him, I’d be more likely to stick to the plan than any other woman he could have picked. At first, it galled me that I’d managed to prove him wrong. I didn’t stick to the plan at all.”
Her father looked pensive for several minutes. “You’ve made your choices, dear, and I don’t say I approve of most of them. I’m glad you kept to your honor and wouldn’t sleep with him for money. I’m not glad you were so pushed to even agree to such an arrangement. But it did help you get closer to him, to see the kind of man he really was because he’d have no cause to pretend with you. With you he could act real since he never planned on for keeps and wouldn’t need to impress you. And you still think that from what you saw with him, you’d like to give it another try?”
“I think I definitely deserve to give it another try.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” her father said shrewdly, smiling and squeezing back on her fingers. Angela nodded in silence, her eyes brimming as she found strength in her father’s support and the gentleness in his smile.
She could do this. She would try. The love she felt inside was more than worth the fight and this time backing down was not an option.
****
Angela’s cellphone rang as she left the assisted living facility.
“Angela Neil,” she answered.”
“Angela, it’s Lloyd. Shane’s dad.” The world shifted under her and she stopped walking. She hadn’t spoken to Shane’s parents since the birthday party. “Lloyd! What’s wrong? Has something happened to Shane?”
“Oh no, nothing like that. I’m sorry for scaring you gal. Valerie and I were wondering if you would like to join us in the corporate box Sunday at Bristol.”
“Bristol Motor Speedway?” Her voice croaked. Oh shit! No, it couldn’t be...
“You don’t know, do you?” Lloyd continued. “Shane’s racing Sunday. We’d like you to be there with us if you can make it.”
White hot fear coursed through her, making her almost unable to speak. The thought of Shane racing again had never crossed her mind. The idea of Shane back in a racecar terrified her. More than she’d ever been in her life.
“Yes! Yes, of course I’ll be there.”
“Great! The ticket and all the information you’ll need will be at the will call window. Race day can be a mess, so get there early. We’ll see you then sweetheart.”
“Thank you Lloyd for inviting me. I wouldn’t miss it.”
****
Thankfully, Sunday’s weather turned out bright and sunny. Angela didn’t know much about stock car racing, but she knew enough to know driving on a wet track couldn’t be good. Since Lloyd’s call, she’d managed to work her way up to a major panic. In all the time her and Shane had spent together, he’d never mentioned returning to the track.
She wondered why now? What had prompted him to suddenly slide behind the wheel of a racecar again? Did he have a fucking death wish? All she knew was that nothing would keep her away from the track today. If anything were to happen to him, at least she’d be close by.
But nothing was going to happen. He would be fine. At least, this was what she kept telling herself every five minutes.
When she’d arrived at the luxurious corporate box, Lloyd had hurried across the room to greet her, explaining that Shane had already joined his crew and car down in the pits. She nodded, inwardly relieved not to see him before the race. Shane needed to stay focused and her showing up unannounced might be a distraction. Possibly a very unwelcome one.
“Thank you for coming, honey,” Valerie said, drawing Angela into a hug. “It will mean a lot to Shane to know you’re here today.”
Angela frowned and shook her head. “Oh, I don’t think we should tell him I’m here. We haven’t seen each other in awhile. It would be better if he didn’t know.”
Valerie patted her hand and gave her an understanding smile. “Don’t be silly dear. Lloyd already radioed Beverly down in the pit to let her know you’ve arrived. She’ll tell him. Trust, me Shane would want to know.”
An icy ball of fear formed in Angela’s stomach.
Valerie took a deep breath. “Angela, Lloyd and I have a little confession to make,” she began. “Please don’t be mad at us.”
Angela looked at her in surprise. “Why would I be mad?”
Valerie glanced over at Lloyd before speaking. “We’ve known all along about Shane’s little plan to convince us he had a girlfriend; and that his recovery was going better than it really was.” She let out a long breath. “There! I said it. You happy now, Lloyd? I didn’t want to tell you but Lloyd insisted that we should be honest with you.”
Angela’s mouth fell open in surprise. What? How?
Lloyd squeezed Angela’s shoulder. “Now, now, don’t worry. It wasn’t anything you did or didn’t do. We had an undercover spy working for us.” He snickered at the thought.
“Who?” Angela asked, not convinced.
“Bess,” Lloyd answered.
“Bess? Oh my God! Why didn’t you two say anything? I feel like such an idiot.” Could her humiliation get any worse! “What did Shane say when he found out?”
“We didn’t tell him,” Valerie replied emphatically. “And don’t you tell him either! After all, what would be the point? The end result was the same. We got what we wanted-our son back. Alive, healthy and well. Everything worked out in the end, so why upset him?”
Angela looked back and forth between the two of them; loving parents who would do anything for the sake of their son. A thought dawned on her. “You sly devils! Let me guess. The planned intervention at your birthday party was a fake too. Right? You were only trying to spur him into taking action of some sort.”
They both had the decency to look a little ashamed. “Well of course!” Valerie finally admitted with a sheepish grin. “What kind of a mother would plan an intervention for their son at their own birthday party? How embarrassing for everyone. And not one bit fun. We allowed the plans for the upcoming intervention to ‘leak out.’ That little gossip Bridget tells everything she knows and a great deal she doesn’t. We knew Shane wouldn’t like the thought of everybody sitting around telling him how worried they were about him. We hoped it would be enough of an incentive to get him to make some changes in his life. On his own.”
Angela slowly nodded, seeing the wisdom behind their actions. Shane may have thought he was a brilliant strategic player but he paled in comparison to his mother.
“Then you showed up for my birthday party,” Valerie continued, “and we both saw how much he really cared for you and how he’d changed…for the better.” She shrugged. “You probably think we’re an awful bunch, conniving and tricking each other.”
The humor of it all overtook Angela and she started laughing. What a mess! “No, I don’
t think you’re awful. You all love each other very much and that’s what matters.” She turned to Valerie. “Shane only wanted you to stop worrying about him. He wanted you to start enjoying your life again too, traveling or whatever else makes you happy.”
“Well I’m doing what makes me happy right now,” Valerie replied with a relieved smile. “I’m with my family getting ready to watch my boy race.” The Star Spangled Banner began to play over the loudspeakers and Valerie stood up, taking both Angela’s and Lloyd’s hands in hers.
****
The race went by in a blur, with Angela alternating between feeling exhilarated by the thrill of the race and feeling like she was going to throw up any second from nerves. She held tightly to Valerie’s hand for support most of the day.
After three hours she stood up and stretched. Damn! She didn’t realize how long these races could be. They went on for hours and hours. The stress and strain were killing her. Every second Shane was on the track, she kept her eyes trained on his car; willing him not to take any chances and stay safe. She knew he must be getting tired out there, especially with the heat. She’d heard the average temperature inside the racecars was over 120 degrees. She hoped Beverly was doing her job in keeping him hydrated enough.
The last five laps were excruciating to watch. Shane and another driver raced neck-and-neck until the final lap when Shane pulled ahead at the last second to finish two car lengths in front. When Shane passed the checkered flag, the crowd jumped to their feet and cheered wildly.
Shane’s comeback had been on all the news stations ever since he’d made the qualifying speed a few days before. His tale was a perfect comeback story, the stuff movies were made of. Angela couldn’t be prouder of him.
She didn’t realize she was sobbing like a fool in both joy and relief until Lloyd handed her his handkerchief. “Here you go, darling. Now dry up those pretty brown eyes and let’s hurry down to the pits. We don’t want to miss Shane getting his trophy.”
Angela blew her nose and shook her head. “No, you two go ahead. I don’t want to get in the way. Shane will need to do interviews and stuff. I’ll catch up with him later.”
Valerie linked her arm through Angela’s. “Did Shane ever mention to you how I always get my way? Come on darling, you’re coming with us. Shane would never forgive us if we let you leave now.”
****
Angela could barely see Shane through the throngs of people gathered around the Winner’s Circle. He stood on a large stage in front of a red backdrop boldly advertising Nascar’s major sponsors. All of his pit crew were with him, along with a couple of big breasted blondes dressed in midriff t-shirts and shorts. Angela was glad to see their shirts held the logo of a popular beer which meant they were part of the PR team and hopefully not there with Shane. Either way, she still didn’t like the way they were rubbing their boobs all over him.
While the rest of his crew whooped and hollered and popped bottles of champagne, she noticed Shane searching the crowd with his eyes. Angela pushed and shoved her way closer, knowing there was no way she could reach the stage. She’d already become separated from Shane’s parents, but she knew they were trying to make their way toward Shane too.
Suddenly Shane spotted her in the crowd and as their eyes connected, time stood still. A big smile broke across his face before he jumped off the stage and ran toward her. She moved faster too but when she finally stood in front of him, her nerve dissipated as she stared into Shane’s face. There was a glint of hope in that gorgeous grey gaze before he shuttered it. He held up a hand to the two security guys flanking him on both sides. They both stepped back a few feet.
He was looking at her like he couldn’t bear to look away. He hesitated a moment before saying, “You’re really here. You look lovely.”
“Thanks. And you look great too, Shane. Exhausted, but great. The other night at the party I…”
“You don’t have to go into that,” Shane said gently when she faltered. “You don’t owe me any explanations Angela.”
“But you came to see me. I tried so hard to catch you. And I’m the one who left that morning.”
She bit on her bottom lip, hard. Looked down at her hands and sighed. “I hate excuses, Shane. And I hate to think I’m a coward.”
“You think you’re the coward?” Shane asked on a low chuckle.
Now her eyes held his squarely. “Maybe we both took the easy way out.”
Shane seemed to nod in agreement. His attention was stolen for a moment by a camera crew yelling for him to come back to the stage for the ceremony.
“Angela,” he began slowly, then paused as if searching for the right words. “You’re right. I did take the easy way out. I thought I had all the answers but that was far from the case. There were many ways I could have handled things better between us. All I did was complicate it further.”
“I don’t regret anything that happened. Not the beginning…and certainly not the end. Especially not that,” whispered Angela. She felt Shane take her hand and she looked sideways at him sharply, her heart pounding at the warm touch of his fingers clasping hers.
“Why did you run away like that, Angela?” he asked quietly. Angela could feel his thumb stroke her knuckles and the way it struck her deepest nerve with desire made her gasp inaudibly. Just a casual touch of his fingers and she was in heat.
So pathetic of her.
“I guess the same reason you walked off a week ago, from that club,” she said hoping the hurt didn’t choke too loudly in her voice. “I was afraid of being hurt.”
“I didn’t want to disrupt…,” he began, then paused thoughtfully again before adding, “I guess I came to terms with the fact that I left things too late. I had many weeks to tell you how I felt. I wanted you that first day. Not just sexually. I wanted to kick myself for making that crazy offer for you to share my bed. The moment you walked in I knew you were someone special. But for so long I’d deprived myself of any real emotion, that I didn’t trust it when I felt it. I thought, if I held off long enough, I’d find it was a passing infatuation. Then came that last night. I was so sure if I had you one time, I’d get you out of my system. What a stupid idea!”
There was no way Angela could conceal what his words were doing to her. Could he tell her hand had grown clammy with the flush of pleasure she felt to know how deeply he felt for her? She thought of how much she quavered to Shane’s touch still holding her hand in that warm clasp which felt more intimate than even the hottest kisses at that moment.
“Please tell me you’re staying this time,” he said, his grey eyes pleading.
She reached up take both sides of his face in her hands. “I’ll stay as long as you want me, Shane.”
The crowd around them broke out in spontaneous applause when he picked her up in his strong arms and whirled her around. She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. Planting both her feet back on the ground, he raised her face to his and swooped down to claim her lips in a long, slow possessive kiss. Flashbulbs went off like fireworks around them as photographers jostled to capture the moment.
“Come with me,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her with him back up to the Winner’s Circle. “I want you beside me when they give me the trophy.”
She nodded and slid an arm around his waist. They stood hand-in-hand as he accepted the Winner’s Trophy and gave a short speech thanking his crew. When the President of Nascar stepped off the stage signaling the end of the ceremony, the crew popped more bottles of champagne, spraying the bubbly liquid all over them. Shane drank straight from a champagne bottle then handed it to Angela to do the same. After taking a big swig, she laughed joyfully and reached up to wipe the sticky champagne from his face with his dad’s handkerchief.
His eyes grew serious for a moment and he leaned down close to her ear to whisper wickedly, “When I get you home I’m going to lick a whole bottle of champagne from your beautiful body.”
Heat flooded her, from her head to her toes. Good heavens! I
f he kept that up, she’d jump his bones right here in front of everybody. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be much longer.
He’d warned her about the many interviews. Apparently not his favorite part of the job, but a necessary evil. After asking the mandatory questions about the car and his driving strategy, one of the reporters turned to Angela. “Shane, who is your lovely lady here today?”
Shane went still for a moment and looked down solemnly into Angela’s upturned face. “This beautiful and talented young lady, Angela Neil, is the love of my life. She’s the only reason I’m back here at the track again today. And…if I’m incredibly lucky I hope to convince her to become the future Mrs. Shane Davis.” In front of thousands of spectators and television viewers, Shane bent down on one knee.
As if on cue, Lloyd Davis jumped up on the stage and pulled a blue Tiffany’s box from his shirt pocket then handed it to Shane. Angele gaped at him in surprise. He knew? Shane’s family would never cease to surprise her. Lloyd winked at her, grinning ear-to-ear.
Shane opened the box and turned it so Angela could see inside. She gasped, recognizing the elegant Tiffany setting with at least a ten-carat diamond delicately set upon a beautiful gold ring. Classic and simple. Exactly the type of ring she would’ve picked herself.
Shane removed the ring and handed the empty box up to his dad standing by his side. He took both of Angela’s now trembling hands in his.
“Angela Neil, I love you more than you could ever possibly know.” He hesitated a moment, overcome with emotion. “I’m so lost without you. Will you please do me the greatest honor of becoming my wife?”
