“Not exactly,” Cal confessed.
“You were doing seventy-two in a forty-five speed zone. Three more miles-per-hour and you would have hit the magic number of thirty miles-per-hour over the speed limit.”
“Should we go back and try again so we can win the prize?” I asked.
Cal gave me a dirty look, but Billy laughed.
“You know, David, if you let me drive this beast, I might be inclined to let Cal off with a warning,” Billy offered.
“I wouldn’t try to bribe you,” I began, but Cal jumped in.
“Yes, David will let you drive his car,” he told Billy and then turned to me. “I don’t need my insurance rates going through the roof. Plus, I have two teenage girls on my policy, one of whom you seem to want to take out later today.”
“We could call it a safety check if that would make you feel better,” Billy reasoned.
I gave him permission, and we were soon back on the state road. Billy had a lead foot. I laughed out loud when we saw another set of blue lights flashing; a County Sheriff had spotted us. It seemed my car was a magnet for speeding tickets. How Tami managed to go the whole summer and not get a single ticket, I’ll never know.
“Well, look what we have here,” the County Sheriff said. “Let me guess, safety check?”
“Hey, Bob. I had to make sure David wasn’t going to kill himself in this thing,” Billy said.
“Did you feel safe the way Billy was driving?” the County Sheriff asked me.
“I did tighten my seatbelt up a bit,” I admitted.
“I’m thinking the county might need to do its own safety check.”
Billy called shotgun, so Cal and I had to sit in the back. After another death-defying ride, we arrived back at the County Sheriff’s car. I wanted pictures, so I had Cal stand between the two police officers next to my car. They thought it would be funny if they had me ‘assume the position’ over the hood of my car, and took turns frisking me while the other took pictures with my phone.
After we dropped off the County Sheriff and Billy, Cal drove us toward his home. I had a huge grin on my face. Billy had forgotten to give Cal a warning.
“I better not hear a peep about what happened today,” Cal said as he scowled at me.
I don’t know what he was thinking. I had been busy posting the photos on my social media account and sending out notices. His phone rang, and being totally irresponsible, Cal answered it while he drove.
“What do you mean, what am I doing? Uh huh,” Cal said and gave me a hard look.
I gave him my most angelic face, which never seemed to work. Cal hung up, and my phone rang. I said, “Answer,” and the call went through my Bluetooth to the car speakers.
“David, do I need to come get you?” Mom asked.
“No, Cal was driving,” I said, and saw him cringe as he was thrown to the wolves.
“They were only doing a safety check on David’s car,” Cal assured my mom.
“Sure they were. You two stay out of trouble,” Mom warned, and then hung up.
“That went well,” Cal said.
“Oh, she’s not done with us. Mom was just making sure we weren’t in any real trouble. We’ll be hearing about today for years to come,” I predicted.
“I’m just glad Cora didn’t see the pictures,” he moaned.
“Not so fast. Devin ‘liked’ my post,” I told him.
His phone began to ring. I grabbed it out of his hand, went to his settings and allowed the car to answer it.
“Hey, Daddy,” Cora’s voice said over the car speakers.
“I’m driving right now. I’ll have to call you back,” he said.
“Hey, Cora. How do you like the ranch?” I asked while ignoring the look Cal gave me.
“It’s fine. What were you and my dad doing?” she asked.
“Your mom and Pam got home, and he decided to make a run for the state line. My guess is your dad liked being a bachelor more than he realized.”
“Don’t listen to him. I’m thinking his lunch date with Pam may get canceled.”
“Okay, you boys have fun. I’ll call you and Mom in a little bit,” Cora said and then hung up.
When we pulled into the drive, Cal jumped out, and Pam came running out of the house. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and then we were pulling out of the driveway.
◊◊◊
“Where to?” I asked.
“Monical’s!”
I had to admit, she had good taste in food, even if it wasn’t on my diet. I could probably suffer through eating a pizza. Pam had me take the long way around so she would be seen in my muscle car with the windows down and the music blaring. I tried to keep it under the speed limit, but this car was made to run.
Over lunch, we caught up. She’d enjoyed Range Ranch and loved Sandy, Devin Range’s sister. Pam said she was surprised at how happy Cora was. Pam’s trip to California had been hard on her. Her ex-boyfriend was now dating her ex-best friend, and Pam had a hard time accepting that gracefully, even after their not being together for over a year. I held her hand and moved to her side of the booth so I could wrap my arms around her.
I then told Pam about my football camps and how well I’d done. I shared with her about Jeff’s accident and his death. It was her turn to comfort me. Finally, I told her about Tami, and my desperate plan to give her a promise ring. Pam laughed at me when I told her about all the candles and how bad my apartment smelled.
“I know what we need to do. We need to spend some of your money, Rich Boy,” Pam teased me.
“What did you have in mind?”
She got a gleam in her eye.
“Do you trust me?” she asked.
“Hell, no!”
“Come on, you know you like me. I promise we won’t spend all your money and it won’t all be on me. I saw something in LA that all the cool kids have, and I know how important it is for you to be cool. I just want to make sure you’re cool enough to hang out with me.”
“I think there’s a song about the Cool Kids. Are you sure someone like me would qualify?”
“Baby, that’s what I’m here for. With me on your arm, you’re automatically a ‘Cool Kid’!” Pam explained.
I shook my head and paid our bill. She was excited that we were going shopping. I hoped her idea was something I would like, too.
◊◊◊
When we got to the mall, Pam literally grabbed my hand and dragged me to the cell phone store. I just shook my head when she made me give her my phone. She found a college guy to help us. I’d been waiting for the cute college girl to be free, but Pam made me approach the guy when he was done waiting on another girl.
“Welcome. What can I help you with?” the guy asked.
“He needs a new phone. Make that two, because my phone is getting old,” Pam said as she blushed.
“Nope, not happening,” I said.
“I thought you liked me. Plus, your old phone is small.”
“I didn’t say I wasn’t getting one. I’m saying I’m not buying you one.”
When the salesman brought out the latest version of their best phone, he showed me all the differences between my old phone and the new one. Feeling generous, I ended up buying a new recruiting phone as well.
I made arrangements for Kendal to come in so she could swap the old phone out. Our salesman assured me he would copy over all the contacts and apps. When Kendal came in, she took care of signing the new contract. We set it up as a business plan so it would be paid for out of my company, and everyone would get unlimited minutes and data. While waiting, I thought about it and got a phone for Lily, too. She had worked for almost nothing, and I figured a company phone was something that she needed to do all my tweets and other social media.
As we were about to walk out, something caught my eye. It was the new smart watch. I ended up buying myself one. There were a lot of different choices. I bought the sporty one that would hold up when I ran and sweated. Pam would work on her mom and dad to get a new phone. I had faith that a teenage girl could get what she wanted from her dad. I was glad I’d said no. I wouldn’t try to buy anyone’s love.