“Yes, really,” he said as he wiped his eyes with his sleeve. “Do you know how long it’s been since I laughed like that?”
“I’m glad I was the one who made you laugh.”
“Me too. That’s one of the reasons that I like you so much,” he said as he stepped closer to her. “You are so real and genuine. The last girl I went out with was so fake.”
“You mentioned her before at the restaurant in Daytona. Why did you go out with her?”
“It was a blind date. Wes’s wife thought it would be a good match.” He took a sip of his soda before continuing. “She was a social-climber who was only concerned about herself, her appearance, and her clothes. I think she only went out with me because I was famous. She didn’t really like me, I think, as much as she liked ‘Jeremiah Jones,’ you know, telling her friends and family that she was dating Jeremiah Jones the famous race car driver.” The laughter of a few moments ago was gone. “She was in love with this guy who could take her to fancy restaurants and buy her expensive gifts. She would have to go to one of the five-star places at one of the luxury casinos. Strolling down the strip, eating a burger was totally beneath her. She never would have cooked for me like you did the other night. We had to be out somewhere to be seen, not just sitting in front of the TV and talking. You’re nothing like her. You make me laugh, and you’re happy with the simple things.”
“That’s the way I was raised. You don’t really miss the things you never had.”
“That’s the way that I was raised, too. It’s easy to get caught up in all the money and fame. That’s why I have the people around that I grew up with, my dad and my best friend. They keep me grounded. And now you.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“That’s how it was intended,” Jeremiah said as he leaned in closer. “I know that we agreed to be just friends,” he said as he looked into her eyes, “but what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” He closed the distance between them and placed a soft kiss on her lips. “I’ve wanted to do that all night.”
“That was nice,” she said. He took that as her permission and kissed her again, this time for a little longer. He stopped and stepped back but then leaned forward again to place a peck on her forehead, “As much as I want to continue this, I won’t.”
“Thanks for remembering.” She said as she looked up at him. “It means a lot to me.”
“You mean a lot to me.”
“You too.”
“Great. Now I want to show you the fountains.”
Jeremiah took Dawn to the top floor of another hotel. From there, they could look down and see the fountains. People came from all over the world to see Las Vegas, and these fountains were one of the top attractions. The fountains can shoot water more than 450 feet in the air and did so to music. It was amazing. They watched two shows, and Dawn bought postcards from the hotel lobby before she left. She would keep a few as a memento of her trip. The rest she would send home to her family. For a moment, she thought about sending one to Kevin as a “see how I’m doing without you” gift, but she decided against it. He would probably take it as a hint that she wanted to get back together with him. She couldn’t risk that.
Dawn woke the next morning in time for her jog but decided against it. She may have been in the desert, but desert nights were cold, and it was February. So instead of jogging, Dawn e-mailed her brother Shane to tell him about her first night in Vegas. He would enjoy that most of all, and he would tell everyone else about it. Then she took her time getting ready for work. It was early, and she didn’t have anything planned until the afternoon. She enjoyed a nice breakfast at the hotel and read the local newspaper. Even after taking her time, she still arrived at the garage almost an hour early. No one else was there yet. That gave her an opportunity to really look around. First, she looked to see if anything needed to be cleaned up. Remarkably, the space looked pretty good. Dawn had brought her camera with her today, hoping to get some shots of the group at work. She wanted to start a “behind the scenes” section of Bryan’s website. Bryan always said he wanted to get closer to his fans, and this seemed like a great way to do it. She wanted to do biographies for Bryan and all the crew and pictures from every race. She also wanted to pick one crew member to do a diary or blog for the page, telling people about things they may not get to hear otherwise. She wanted to get as much as possible ready before she told Bryan her idea. Hopefully, if he could see what she had in mind, he would agree. She took several pictures of the car from several different angles. The hood was up, so she climbed up on a chair to get shots of the engine. She would take more when the guys were working on the car, when the hood was down and when it was on the track. After she was finished taking pictures in the garage, she went out to take pictures of the track.
When she got back to the garage area, all of the crew was there except Bryan. That was unusual because he was usually the first to arrive and the last to leave. Dawn took some more pictures of the crew at work. When Bryan was thirty minutes late, she tried to call him on his cell phone, but he didn’t answer. When Bryan was over an hour late, Dawn went to his motor coach to see what was going on. When she got there, Bryan was still in bed, sound asleep. She shook him, but he didn’t move. He was hot to the touch. She shook him again. This time he groaned and told her to leave him alone. She went to the bathroom to look for a thermometer from the medicine cabinet. She couldn’t find one so she went back and put her hand to his forehead. He definitely had a fever. She got on her cell phone to see if Travis had a thermometer in his motor coach. He didn’t, but he was on his way over when Dawn hung up the phone. Then she went back into the bedroom.
“Get up.” Bryan didn’t answer and didn’t move. “Get up!” she said again.
“No!”
“Yes. Get up and get dressed. You’re sick, and Travis is taking you to the infield care center.”
“No, I’m not going. Now leave me alone. I’ll feel better after a few more hours of sleep.”
“That is not an option. Come on!”
“You’re fired!”
“And you’re cranky when you’re sick!”
“Get out. Leave me alone. I mean it!”
She walked over to the bed and leaned in close. She would’ve looked him in the eye, but he wouldn’t open them. “You have one minute to get out of that bed and start getting dressed, or I’m calling your wife!”
It had taken a call to Valerie to get Bryan out of bed and to the infield care center. Valerie had threatened Bryan with bodily harm if he didn’t cooperate. She had also assured Dawn that she wasn’t fired. She told Dawn that this was what she wanted for Bryan—someone to look after him when she couldn’t. Valerie also said that Dawn probably deserved a bonus for putting up with Bryan while he was sick. Valerie had a tough exterior; she had to have one to be a NASCAR wife. It could be a tough life. But on the inside, Valerie was one of the nicest people Dawn had met in a long time. Dawn had promised to call Valerie as soon as she knew something.
Dawn had spent the last two hours in the infield care center. Bryan had the flu. She left him in the capable hands of the staff there. They were giving him lots of fluids through an IV. It was always important for a NASCAR driver to stay hydrated. The temperatures inside the car could get very hot. The cars didn’t have air-conditioning because every bit of the car’s power was needed for speed. A dehydrated driver could get himself into trouble. There was a well-documented incident of a driver who got dehydrated during a race. He started to see double and eventually wrecked as a result. That was if the driver was healthy. If a driver was already under the weather, hydration becomes even more important.
Dawn left the care center because she needed a break. Bryan was still there getting one last bag of fluids. She told him that she was leaving, and he asked her to call Valerie and his crew. He also wanted her to get him something to eat. Dawn figured that he must be feeling b
etter if he was hungry. Dawn was on her way back to the care center with a ham sandwich and fruit juice when she ran into Jeremiah.
“Hey,” he said as he fell in step beside her. “Where are you going in such a hurry?”
“Back to the infield care center.”
“So it’s true that Bryan is sick?”
“Yeah. He has the flu. They’re giving him IV fluids.”
“Good. Is he going to be able to qualify later?”
“He wants to, but the doc said it depends on how well he is doing at qualifying time.”
“What if he can’t?” Jeremiah asked.
“Travis has one of the Nationwide Series drivers ready if needed.” Now they were at the outside the care center. “You want to come in and see him? The staff could probably use a break.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s very cranky.”
“I’ll take my chances,” Jeremiah said as he opened the door for her.
She led him over to where Bryan lay on a gurney. His eyes were closed at first, but he opened them when they stopped beside him. “Feeling better?” she asked.
“A little. At least I don’t want to die anymore.”
“Good. Have they said how much longer you’re going to be here?”
“They started this last bag of fluid right after you left. They’ll evaluate me after it’s in.” Then he noticed Jeremiah standing just inside the curtain area. “You brought me some company. Come in here, Jones. I need somebody to talk to.”
“That’s okay,” Jeremiah said. “I’ll stand here.”
“You don’t look so good. You’re a little green around the gills. You’re not coming down with what I’ve got, are you?”
Dawn looked closely at Jeremiah. Bryan was right. Jeremiah didn’t look so good.
“I gotta go. I hope you get to feeling better,” Jeremiah said as he turned and ran—fast. Dawn followed and caught him outside.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Are you sick?”
“No, I’m not sick. I just thought I could handle it, but I couldn’t,” Jeremiah answered as he leaned against the cold brick building.
“What do you mean?”
“I hate hospitals. Ever since I saw Elizabeth lying there as they were trying to save her. All those tubes and needles and such. I see all that stuff and go back. It’s crazy, I know, but I just can’t take it.”
“It’s okay,” Dawn said as she tried to assure him by placing her hand on his arm.
“No, it’s not,” he said as he jerked away from her. “I’m a grown man. A tough NASCAR driver. All that was twenty years ago. I should be over it by now. I try to conquer it. I go in to see sick friends, but I can never stay long.”
“That was a very traumatic experience. You lost your sister, and it left a scar that you have to learn to live with.”
“I don’t want to ‘learn to live with it.’ I’ve heard that so many times. I want to beat it.”
“You want to win over it. You can’t stand to lose,” Dawn said as she smiled. That totally described this man standing beside her. “I never really thought about it that way.” He smiled. “You’ve only known me a couple of weeks, but you already know me so well.” He stepped away from the building and stepped closer to her. “How did you do that?”
“I don’t know. A lucky guess,” she answered. Then she yawned. “Sorry,” she said as she covered her mouth with her hand. “It gets boring just sitting there. I better go back in there to check on my patient.”
“Will I see you later?” he asked.
“Yes. I’ll be at qualifying one way or another. Bryan told me that if he can’t qualify, I have to go and watch then come back and tell him how everything went.”
“That’s his crew chief’s job.”
“I know. Travis will, but Bryan wants me to go anyway. I don’t know why. He knows that Travis will be completely honest with him.” Dawn shrugged. “But I gotta do what the boss tells me to do.”
“I understand. I’ll see you later,” Jeremiah said as he started to walk away.
“Bye,” Dawn said with a wave.
“I can’t figure him out,” Dawn told Valerie later over the phone after updating her on Bryan’s illness.
“Who? Jeremiah?”
“Yeah. Sometimes he acts like he really likes me, and other times he acts so distant.”
“Like today,” Valerie said. Dawn had already told her about what had happened outside the care center earlier.
“Exactly. It seems like he is distant when I try to get close, and when I can’t be close, that is when he tries the most to get close.”
“Sounds like you are doing the same thing that he is doing.”
“What do you mean?” Dawn asked, confused.
“You just said that ‘when you can’t get close.’ What do you mean by that?”
“I was working.”
“But you’re not working all the time, are you?” Valerie prodded.
“No…” Dawn paused, “what’s your point?”
“You tell me.” Valerie laughed. “What is keeping you from getting close to a hottie like Jeremiah Jones?”
“Valerie!” Dawn exclaimed. “You’re a married woman!”
“I’m married, but I’m not dead. I still know a good-looking man when I see one.”
“I’m shocked!” Dawn joked.
“Answer my question.”
“I was raised to not throw myself at a guy. Play hard to get. Make him chase me and all that.”
“So…”
“So, I guess I’m not real good at this stuff. I didn’t date much in high school. I was concentrating on getting good grades and getting into college. It didn’t help that all the boys I liked thought I was just their friend.”
“What about college?”
“I was studying and trying to graduate.”
“You didn’t date?”
“I was fat, and none of the guys paid any attention to me.”
“No way!”
“I guess I never told you that I’ve lost almost one hundred pounds in the last year.”
“Shut up!” Valerie gasped.
“Really. I’ll show you some pictures sometime.”
“Okay. So you haven’t dated much. Go on.”
“Anyway, Kevin is the only really serious relationship I’ve had, and we know how that turned out. I don’t have much experience in the dating game. It doesn’t help that when I try to get close, he pulls away.”
“So when he tries to get close, don’t pull away.”
“It’s not that easy,” Dawn replied.
“Why not?”
“Because…” Dawn started but had to pause. She didn’t know if she really wanted to confess her inner feelings.
“Because…” came Valerie’s persistent question over the line.
“Because I don’t know what to do so I freak out.” There she said it.
“That’s easy. Quit thinking, and go with your feelings.”
“That’s all there is to it?” Dawn questioned.
“Yeah, that’s pretty much it,” Valerie answered.
“But—” Dawn started but was interrupted by Bryan’s call from the back of the motor coach.
“Is that Bryan?” Valerie asked.
“Yes,” Dawn answered with an exasperated sigh.
“That bad, huh?”
“Yes.”
“I know what you’re going through. Hang in there.”
Bryan called again. “I gotta go see want he wants,” Dawn said. “Remember that bonus you promised me.”
“I will.” Valerie laughed.
A thunderstorm later that afternoon cancelled qualifying. That meant that the cars
would line up for Sunday’s race according to the points standing. Since this was just the second race of the season, cars would line up in last year’s finishing order. The current champion would get the pole, and the runner-up would get the outside pole and so on. Dawn was confused. She was also exhausted. For a grown man, Bryan Richardson was the world’s biggest baby. Right now, instead of sitting inside watching it rain, Dawn was on her way back to the motor coach. Bryan had sent her to the grocery store because he just had to have a certain brand of orange juice. They had juice in the motor coach and at the small convenience store at the track, but those wouldn’t do because they weren’t the right brand. So Dawn had to call a cab, walk outside the track to meet the cab, go all the way across town, find the juice, and come all the way back. That bonus Valerie promised had better be something really good. Dawn was soaking wet from being in the rain for the last hour. She would probably get the flu herself. If she did, Bryan had better wait on her hand and foot the way that she had for him. Dawn was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t see Jeremiah and ran into him.
“Whoa, sport. Where’s the fire?” He smiled down at her.
Dawn looked up at him from under the hood of her raincoat. He looked so good. How could a man look so good wearing a black raincoat while standing in a downpour? She continued to look at him, and she knew what it was. It was his smile. “In Bryan’s motor coach. I swear the man is driving me crazy.”
“We’ll walk and talk,” Jeremiah said as he put his arm around her shoulders. “Is it that bad?”
“You can’t imagine. I didn’t know that a man could whine so much.”
“Seriously?”
“If I hear ‘Dawn, I don’t feel good’ one more time, I’ll scream. Do you know where I’ve been?”
“No, where?”
“To the grocery store. Not just the little one here at the track. No, I’ve visited every grocery store in the Las Vegas area looking for orange juice made with 100 percent pure Valencia oranges but no pulp. ‘cause those kinds of oranges are the best for the flu, and Bryan can’t stand pulp. It gets stuck in his teeth.”
Revved Up Hearts Page 10
