I’d bought my mother a house in North Carolina not far from my place. For my sister, Ashley, I was paying for her to go to college and I also bought her a new Toyota 4-Runner. My brother Chris refused to take anything from me at first. He finally agreed to let me pay off his house and buy his wife Nancy a new car.
I nodded my head as I smiled. “Appreciate that, Waldo. I’m exhausted and that lasted longer than I thought.”
Waldo tossed his head back and laughed as he walked off but not before he said, “Texas loves you.”
Letting out a chuckle, I mumbled, “Yeah.”
As I made my way back to my bus, I got stopped a couple of times by fans asking for me to sign stuff. I always agreed to. After all, if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be doing this. “Emmit! Will you please sign my shirt?”
Looking down at the young boy in front of me, I gave him a wink and said, “Sure. What’s your name?”
He smiled so big I couldn’t help but smile myself. “My name is Emmit also, sir. I’m gonna grow up and be a NASCAR driver like you.”
“Is that so? Well, Emmit, you’re starting off with the right name.”
His eyes lit up as he nodded his head. Glancing over to his parents, I asked, “Y’all live in the area?”
The father cleared his throat and stumbled upon his words at first. “Um . . . we ah . . . yes sir . . . Mr. Lewis, we do.”
“Call me Emmit.” Pointing toward a notebook he was holding for me to sign, I asked, “Need me to sign that as well?”
With a grin from ear to ear, the father said, “Yes please!”
As I signed, I flipped the page and wrote down the number to my assistant, Stephanie. “This is my assistant’s direct number. Why don’t y’all give her a call sometime after tomorrow. I think we can arrange a little meeting so that I can give Emmit here some pointers.”
The little boys mouth dropped open as he said, “Shut the front door.”
With a laugh, I ruffled up his hair and gave him a pat then handed the notebook back to the dad. “I like you already kid. Y’all have a great night.”
“You too, Emmit! You’re the best!” the little boy called out as his parents both said goodnight.
By the time I made it to my bus, I was sure poor Lola had to piss like a racehorse. Johnny’s mom would have come and picked him up over an hour ago.
The door to my bus was unlocked as I let out a frustrated sigh. Fuck, I hoped there is no one in there waiting in my bed like the last time Johnny forgot to lock up before he left.
I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath as I pulled the door open and jumped up inside the bus.
“Holy fuck!” Adaline screamed as she jumped backward and tripped over something. Sending her straight to the floor.
“Addie!” I said as I ran over to her. “Shit, what in the hell are you doing in my bus?”
Looking up at me, she had a confused look on her face. “You . . . you told me not to leave so . . . well, I thought you wanted to—”
Adaline quickly stood up. “I’m sorry, I guess I misunderstood and then I walked over to your bus by mistake thinking it was Dad’s, and Kristin suggested I make you dinner . . . and then I thought maybe we were both going to apologize for fighting earlier and little Johnny was here . . . we went shopping. Oh, and um . . . I think Lola hates me because she won’t stop staring at me so I tried to take her for a walk, she got loose, but I got her! She actually listens really well, but she did give me a run for my money out there around some of the buses. She actually came back to me when I fell and she even licked my knee, so maybe she does like me after all. I’m not really sure.”
My eyes widened as I tried to keep up with what Adaline was saying. Putting my finger up to her lips, I shook my head. “What in the hell are you trying to say?”
Adaline pulled her lip in between her teeth as she shook her head and said, “I don’t know. I’m nervous as hell for some reason.”
My eyes landed on her soft lush lips. I’d give anything to kiss them. “Why are you nervous, Addie?”
Adaline’s eyes lit up as she licked her lips and narrowed in on mine.
I leaned closer to her as her chest rose and fell a little more. “I made you dinner.”
Lifting my eyebrows, I took in a deep breath through my nose and let out a low moan. “Holy living hell. Is that alfredo sauce I smell?”
Adaline’s smile about knocked me off my feet. “Yep!”
Tilting my head, I wondered if Adaline felt the pull as much as I did. “You made me my favorite. Why?”
Adaline’s chest heaved as her breathing increased. Oh yeah. She felt it just as much as I did.
“I love y—I mean I know it’s your favorite.”
I swallowed hard as I tried to control my breathing. I didn’t dare dream she was about say she loved me. Letting her go, I turned and lifted the lid off the sauce and groaned. “Damn that smells good.”
“Um, why don’t you go take a shower and I’ll get everything ready for you.”
I gently took a hold of her arm and asked, “You’re eating with me, right?”
With a saucy smile, she nodded. “Well I cooked it, I’m sure as hell gonna enjoy it.” She moved and started getting everything ready.
“Give me two minutes to shower.”
“Don’t rush. I need to heat up the bread some.”
My heart felt light in my chest and I dared to dream of what it would be like to have Adaline with me always. To finish a race and come back to her each time would be better than heaven.
A knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts. “Interviews are over,” I said as I made my way to the door.
Opening the door, my assistant Stephanie was standing there. “Steph? What in the hell are you doing here? I thought you’d be heading back by now.”
Stephanie started to climb up the steps, but I didn’t move out of her way. She quickly stopped and said, “Oh . . . I was helping Mr. Elliot with a project for you, Doug and a new sponsor. I’ve been working most of today up in the box. I was just making sure you didn’t need anything before you pulled out.”
“Oh,” I said. Motioning for her to come in, I quickly glanced over to Adaline who was smiling politely.
Stephanie saw Adaline and said, “Crap, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you had someone with you.”
I looked between Adaline and Stephanie and said, “Stephanie, this is Adaline.”
Stephanie wore an expression that confused me as she extended her hand to Adaline. She appeared to be trying to smile as she took every inch of Adaline in like she was under inspection. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Adaline.”
“Stephanie is my assistant. She pretty much makes sure shit gets done.”
Adaline nodded her head and said, “It’s nice to meet you.”
As I turned back to Stephanie, I went into business mode like I always did. She was the one person I never ever flirted with. Besides, she was married to her high school sweetheart. “So, I met this little boy tonight, believe it or not his name is Emmit. He wants to be a NASCAR driver. I gave his father your cell number. They’re going to be calling you in two days. I told them I’d come back through town and spend the day with them. I’m thinking maybe we can get the track for a day. Take the kid out on it and show him a good time.”
Stephanie pulled out a small notebook and took notes. “Got it. They’re gonna call after tomorrow?”
“Yeah.”
She glanced back up at me. “I’ll look through your schedule and see if there is a day you can fly in and spend the day with them.”
Smiling, I nodded as I thought about how happy that kid was going to be. “No press. Just a fun day for this family.”
“I’ll take care of it all. Sooner the better?” Stephanie asked.
“Yep.”
Stephanie kept writing as she said, “Is there anything else before I take off?”
I glanced over to Adaline, who was moving about getting dinner finished up. “No, that’s all, Steph. Thanks.”
Moving past me and toward the door, she lifted her hand and said, “Sure thing. Have a safe trip and I’ll check in after I talk to them.”