“Yeah. I need to get to Bright by noon. Roc already called wondering where I was.”
She smiled and nodded. “Then you better go win that race.” It was a good day for her. At least, so far.
“Susan is going to stay with you to hang out all weekend.”
A laugh bubbled from her lips. “Brooks, you can just call it what is. She babysitting me.”
“It’s not babysitting. I just don’t want you here by yourself,” I insisted.
She waved her hand at me. “I don’t want you to worry about me, Brooks. If having her here to stay with me will help you to breathe a little bit better, then I’m fine with it. I’m sure Susan and I will get along grand.”
I glanced over my shoulder and looked at Susan standing at the kitchen island. “We’ll be best friends by the time you get back, Mr. Cummings.”
“I’ll be back Sunday night,” I promised. Hell, if I didn’t make it in the top sixteen, I would be back Saturday night instead. Though, I couldn’t think like that.
While I had been MIA from the shop, I had still been in touch with Roc. I knew Frankie was back, and she had worked her ass off on the car for the past three days to get it back to where it was before she walked out.
I pressed a kiss to the side of Mom’s head and left.
I had done everything I could the past week.
By Tuesday night, I had everything Mom wanted moved out of my father’s house, all of her stuff stashed in the guest bedroom, and a call into her doctors to see what they thought she needed.
After I had talked to her doctor, I was a bit more optimistic. Her doctor had a good feeling that if we could get her medications sorted out, it could help to delay the effects of the dementia.
The word dementia scared me.
It was worse than scared.
It fucking terrified me.
I had been thrown into the deep end with my mother, and I was treading water trying to keep our heads afloat.
I just needed to make it through the next three days, and I could breathe a little easier. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do that, but I didn’t have a choice.
My mother depended on me.
My team didn’t race without me.
Everyone relied on me, and I wasn’t going to let them down.
*
Chapter Sixteen
Frankie
“It’s good.”
Brooks walked off toward his trailer without a backward glance to me while Roc delivered the news that my adjustments worked. “I told you.”
Roc shrugged. “We needed to make sure.”
Brooks just ran his first qualifying pass and was sitting in the number one spot. My adjustments were better than good. They were fucking spot-on. “We don’t even need to do anymore passes. He’s in to the big show already.” That’s how fucking good I was. He only had to do one pass, and he was done working until Sunday afternoon.
“He wants to run the rest of them to make sure all of the bugs are worked out of the car.”
Of fucking course he did. He could handle being strapped into the car for another fifteen or so seconds meanwhile it meant we needed to tear down the engine three more times before qualifying was over. “Whatever you want, Roc.”
I turned to walk away from Roc, but he grabbed me by the arm. “You’re doing a good job, Frankie.”
I looked down at his hand on my arm. “That was one thing I never doubted, Roc. I always know I do a good job.” I pulled my arm from his hold and headed over to the car.
I just never knew if anyone noticed how good of a job I did.
Losing once made everyone ring the alarm to get me back, but now that I was back, shit was the same as it was before.
This wasn’t going to work for me.
Brooks and I were going to talk before I threw another wrench at his head.
*
Chapter Seventeen
Brooks
I was at the top.
I had done four qualifying runs, and with each pass, the car got faster.
Whatever Frankie had done to the car had worked. It was like losing last week didn’t even happen.
The car was tucked away for the night, and the crew was celebrating at the car hauler. It didn’t even matter if we won tomorrow. The fact we were even back in the race for the AC Cola Series Cup was enough for a celebration.
I had spent a half an hour talking with everyone, but I had a few phone calls to make before it got too late.
“Mom?”
“Brooks? Is that you?”
She sounded good.
She sounded like she knew who I was.
“Yeah, it’s me. I was calling to see how you and Susan were doing.” I had talked to her once yesterday and two times today. Each time, she knew who I was and reassured me that everything was fine. It looked like Susan wasn’t exactly warm toward me, but she was doing good taking care of Mom.
“Everything is good. We watched you race tonight, and now we’re watching the evening news.”
“What’d ya have for dinner?”
A knock sounded on the trailer door, and I pressed the phone to my ear as I reach to open the door with the other hand. Frankie stood at the bottom of the steps with her arms folded over her chest. “We need to talk,” she snapped.
I nodded for her to come up. “Have a seat,” I ordered with my hand over the receiver.
She made her way up the stairs, and I moved to the back of the trailer to finish talking to my mom.
“Are you still there, Brooks?” she asked.
“Yeah, Mom.” I walked into the bedroom at the back of the trailer and closed the door behind me. “Someone just came over to talk.”
“Oh, well, you don’t need to stay on the phone with me.”
“Just checking to make sure you are okay.’
“I’m always okay, Brooks. I wish you wouldn’t worry about me so much.”
Someone had to worry about her. My dad was God knows where, and I was the only one that she had left. “You’ll call if you need anything right?” I asked. “My phone number is on the fridge and—”
“Next to the phone,” she cut me off. “I know, Brooks. I release you from worrying about me for the rest of the night. Susan said she would pull out the Scrabble board she bought after dinner, and I don’t want you calling in the middle of the game disturbing us.”
“Scrabble?”
“Yes,” she laughed. “It may not seem fun to you, but I’m looking forward to it. Now, go talk to your friend, and call me in the morning.” She hung up before I could say anything more.
“Well, damn,” I whispered to the empty room. Here I had been worried I hadn’t been checking in on her enough, and come to find out, she didn’t need me to worry so much. Not that I was going to not call her anymore, but I at least could breathe a bit easier knowing Susan was taking care of her.
I opened the bedroom door and walked down the short hallway back to the front of the trailer. “Sorry about that.”
Frankie was sitting on the small bench next to the kitchen sink, and she did not look happy. She held up her hands. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”
“You’re not interrupting me, Frankie.”
She huffed and crossed her legs. “It’s nice to see you again.”
She was pissed. No doubt about that. I couldn’t blame her, either. I had promised that things were going to be different when she came back to Cummings Racing, and now that she was back, I wasn’t able to give her and the team the type of attention they needed. Right now, I was focused on winning races because I needed to keep my sponsors and win the cup to keep the money flow coming in to support my mom. “Have a good flight in?”
“Yeah, it was fine. My car showed up Thursday, in case you were wondering.”
“Good, good.” Dammit, things were awkward as hell. “I want to apologize, Frankie. I know I said when you came back things would be different, and I’m sure you think they aren’t.”
She didn’t say anything.
She tilted her head to the side and surveyed me.
I wish I knew what she was thinking. I didn’t know how to talk to her without knowing where her head was at. Was she ready to chuck another wrench at my head, or did she understand what I was saying?
“You don’t need to apologize to me, Brooks. I’m just glad to be back.”
This was a turn I didn’t expect. “The car is running amazing. Whatever you did to it was exactly what she needed.”
She nodded. “Yeah, it was just some minor adjustments here and there.” She stood up. “I’ll get out of your hair.”
“Wait,” I called. “You don’t need to leave.” I needed a distraction. Something that would keep me from picking up the phone and calling my mom again.
She shook her head. “I do.” Something was off about her.
I stalked toward her. “Frankie, what in the hell is going on?”
Her body language spoke that she was pissed, yet what was coming out of her mouth was anything but that. Yeah, she had a hint of attitude in her tone, but that was just Frankie. She ran her fingers though her dark hair and sighed. “I came here to tell you to go to hell and shove Cummings Racing up your ass, but I can’t because something isn’t right. Something that I don’t know what it is, but I know it’s not good, and I don’t want to add anything more to your already full plate.” She hitched her thumb over her shoulder toward where the hauler was. “I’m just going to head to bed.”
“No, wait.” I grabbed her arm and tugged her toward me. “Don’t leave.”
We both looked down at my fingers holding her wrist. “I don’t know if me staying is a good idea, Brooks.”
“I like when you’re around.”
She looked up, and our eyes connected. “I couldn't really tell that since we are hardly together.”
“I planned on picking you up from the airport, but something came up as I was getting ready to walk out the door and I couldn’t come.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me, Brooks.”
I sighed and let go of her arm. “But that’s the thing, I have to. Something about you makes me want to change who I am and not be the douchebag who says he’s going to do one thing and does the complete opposite.” I paced back and forth from the bedroom door to where she was standing. “Everything feels like it’s falling apart, and in the next moment it’s okay, and then I’m back to trying to figure out how to put everything back together.”
“I hope I’m not making you feel that way. When I walked out before, I wasn’t thinking about how much my actions affected everyone. If you’re worried I’m going to leave again, don’t. I know my job is important, but I’m not the most important person around here.”
I laughed. “You were part of it, but now you’re not. At least not after what you just said.” I stopped in front of her. “You’re really not going to throw another wrench at me? I’ve been practicing my ducking and dodging just in case.”
“Such an ass,” she whispered.
“I don’t think you’ll ever live that down, doll.”
“Well, now that we got that figured out between the two of us, I’ll be going.”
I grabbed her arm again and pulled her to my chest. “I told you I didn’t want you to leave.”
She licked her lips and tilted her head back to look at me. “I’m not sure why. What’s so wrong that me staying is going to make it better?”
“When you’re around I don’t think about my mom, my dad, or anything. Everything just seems to fade away.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
It sure as fuck didn’t, but it was what I felt. “I know.”
“You know? That’s the best you’ve got?” she laughed. “We’re both doomed. Neither of us know what the hell is going on.”
“I know I don’t want you to leave.” I wrapped my arm around her waist and splayed my hand on her lower back.
“Brooks,” she gasped.
“Do you want to leave?” I wasn’t going to make her stay if she didn’t want to. Maybe I had been reading her wrong. She hadn’t given me any blatant signs, but something was telling me I needed to be with Frankie.
“Well, uh, I…” She gulped and her eyes darted to the left. “I really don’t have anywhere else to be.”
“We really are quite a pair, aren’t we?”
She buried her face in my neck and laughed. “I really did come here to tell you to go to hell,” she muffled.
I had no doubt about that. “Trust me, doll. I am fully aware of what you are capable of.” I held her, neither of us talking.
She wrapped her arms around my waist and sighed. “This is weird.”
Leave it to Frankie to break the silence with her unfiltered mouth. “A good weird though, right?”
“The jury is still out on that,” she whispered.
She was scared.
The strong, confident woman I had grown to know and like was now unsure and less than confident. “Wanna watch a movie?”
She laughed and relaxed into my arms. “I am so glad you suggested that because I don’t know how much longer I can stand here without either laughing or calling you a dick.”
“Hey,” I protested. “I haven’t even done anything dickish yet.”
“Yet,” she drawled. “The night is still young.” She pulled out of my arms and looked up at me. “Whatever the hell just happened has the possibility of completely fucking everything up.”
I brushed her hair from her face and caressed her cheek. “That may be, but it also has the potential to be fucking amazing.”
*
Chapter Eighteen
Frankie
Daylight streamed through the window, and I groaned.
Mornings sucked.
I burrowed into my warm cocoon and felt two arms wrap around me. My eyes flew open, and I was face to face with the Cummings Racing logo sprawled across someone's chest.
“Morning, doll.”
Brooks’ chest.
Holy hell.
What have I done?
I just spent the night with my boss.
I was so fucked. Well, at least not literally fucked.
I closed my eyes and prayed to God I was just dreaming. This was not good. Not good at all. How I had gone from coming to Brooks’ trailer to bitch at him to winding up waking up in his arms? “Uh, morning?”
“You know, I now remember why I don’t sleep on this couch.” Brooks rolled his shoulder and groaned. “This thing is like sleeping on cement.”
Why was he acting like this was normal? “Uh, it’s not that bad.”
“That’s because you slept on me for most of the night.”
I rolled partially onto my back and scowled. “I did not.”
“Oh really? You sure as shit did, doll.”
“Is that how you’re going to talk to me when my knee is so close to your dick?”
He put a hand on my knee and laughed. “Try me,” he taunted. “It was a good thing you didn’t snore like a freight train because I would have rolled your ass off of me in a heartbeat.”
“Do you always wake up being a dick?”
“I’d have to say that’s a new record. I don’t think I’ve ever been called a dick this early in the morning.”
I smiled wide. “Glad to be of service.”
“Anyone ever tell you you’re cute in the morning?”
My mouth went dry, and every sarcastic response I had died in my throat.
A loud pounding sounded on the trailer door, and I shot up from Brooks’ arms and landed on my ass on the floor.
“Brooks! Wake your ass up,” a loud male voice hollered. The door to the trailer opened, and I managed to crawl under the table next to the couch out of view of whoever had just opened the door. “You got press in twenty minutes.”
I couldn’t see Brooks’ body, but I saw his sock-clad feet hit the floor. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes, Blain. I just need to hit the shower and change.”
“Why the hell are y
ou sleeping up here and not in the bed in back?” Thankfully whoever Blain was stayed outside of the trailer.
“Uh,” Brooks mumbled. “I must have fell asleep watching a movie last night.”
“Your back is going to be all fucked up today. Probably not the best move to sleep there when you have a shit-ton riding on this race.”
“Thanks for the pep talk, Blain.” Brooks stood up and moved in front of me. “I’ll meet you at the press box.”
“Hurry up.”
The door shut, and I sighed.
Brooks bent over, and his face appeared in front of me. “I’ve never seen someone move that fast to get away from me before.”
I rolled my eyes and shooed my hand at him to move out of my way. “I don’t need anyone seeing me here.” I crawled out from under the table and stood up. “Especially this early in the morning.”
Brooks glanced behind me. “It’s really not that early. It’s half-past seven.”
“What?” I screeched. I was so screwed. Roc had told everyone we needed to report to the pits by seven. “I need to get the hell out of here.” My eyes darted around the trailer trying to find my shoes.
“Relax, Frankie.”
I spotted my shoes by the front door and pounced on them. “Says the man who isn’t half an hour late to work and having to think of some excuse of where I was last night,” I grunted as I hopped from one foot to the other and pulled my shoes on. I worked the hair tie off of my wrist and pulled my hair up. Thank God I had come to Brooks trailer last night in my uniform so I at least didn’t need to make a trip to the sleeping quarters of the hauler before trying to sneak into the pits.
“If anyone gives you crap for being late, let me know.”
I scoffed and shook my head. That wasn’t going to happen. “I can take care of myself.”
“Frankie.”
I dropped my arms to my sides. “What?” I replied absently. My mind was racing trying to figure out what I was going to do. Remy and Jay were going to know that I didn’t sleep in my normal spot in the hauler. What could I say that wasn’t going to bring a shit-ton of questions?
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