Chasing Aubrey (15 page)

Chapter 25

It was like watching my worst nightmare unfold in front of my eyes. I’d gotten to the drag strip just in time to watch Aubrey’s qualifier. The stands were deafening with all the cheers and excitement. Everything seemed normal until someone noticed smoke coming from her car.

From that moment onward, each subsequent second only got worse. I watched her frantically try to get the car under control and prayed to whatever existing deity to let her finish safely. It seemed for a minute that she’d gotten a handle on it. I had complete confidence in her abilities and her judgment. She was so close to the finish line; not that finishing mattered at this point, but I thought that was her goal. She would want to finish even if it was dangerous.

She never got her chance, though. The next thing I knew, her shiny little Mustang was spinning in circles, careening down the track. She had no control and I felt my heart stop. I watched in horror as she slammed into a wall and her car burst into flames on impact. She didn’t exit right away.

Volunteers rushed to put the flames out and Aubrey still wasn’t getting out of her car. The on-hand paramedics rushed to the wreckage and I followed suit, pushing my way through the throng of horrified on-lookers. I had to be there. I had to see her. To tell her how I felt. I didn’t know if I would ever get another chance, but I couldn’t lose her now. Not like this.

By the time I got down to the pavement, the flames were mostly extinguished. The car was still smoking and smoldering. I hated to see Aubrey’s baby destroyed, but I was far more concerned about the woman herself. The paramedics were able to pull her out of the car and I nearly collapsed when I saw her. Her face was ghostly pale, her face covered in blood and soot. Her lips looked almost blue and I felt my knees buckle beneath me.

The EMTs started to give her oxygen, concerned that smoke inhalation was the main culprit here. The seconds dragged on for hours as they loaded her onto a stretcher and monitored her vital signs. No one wanted to let me close to her, but I pushed my way through anyway.

My stomach was in knots. My blood ran like ice through my veins and my heart seemed to have forgotten how to beat regularly. I was never more scared in my life than I was in that moment. Nothing in the world could have prepared me for the gut-wrenching sight of this amazing woman lifeless on a stretcher.

They wheeled the stretcher to the waiting ambulance and I reached for her hand just before they lifted her. Her eyes fluttered open for a moment and my heart leapt into the stratosphere. I never thought I would have a chance to see those beautiful eyes again.

“You came,” she croaked, her voice hoarse from the smoke.

Tears welled up in my eyes and I nodded.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

A faint smile crossed her face before she lost consciousness again.

I wasn’t allowed to ride in the ambulance, no matter how hard I tried to make my case. Eventually, I realized that arguing with them was only putting her in more jeopardy and I let them leave without me.

Everyone was still in shock. No one in the stands seemed to be able to process what had just happened. This kind of crash was very rare and for someone as high profile as Aubrey, it only added to the devastation.

I knew that she would be furious about missing her re-match. I knew that she would never forgive herself for this, even though none of it was her fault. The officials were scrambling to figure out what should be done and I saw the smug little twerp she was supposed to race sitting in the stands looking all too satisfied with himself.

My blood boiled and I wanted to punch him in his weaselly little face. If he had anything to do with this I would make him regret the day he ever heard the name Aubrey Red.

I wished more than ever to go back in time to talk to Aubrey when she wanted to talk. What if I never got the chance now? What if I never got to show her how much I cared about her?

And that’s when it hit me. I knew exactly what I had to do. Aubrey couldn’t be here for her race, but maybe they would let me race in her place. They still needed a race after all.

If I could win her re-match for her, somehow that would fix everything. I didn’t know how and I knew it didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but logic wasn’t my strong suit at that moment. Panic, worry and a frantic desire to prove my love for this woman overrode any and all logical thought.

I wasn’t even going to dwell on the love thing right now. I didn’t care what I called it any more. I just needed to make this right for her. I knew that Aubrey was the type of woman that would much prefer me racing in her place than sitting by her sick bed doing nothing.

It would likely be hours before I could see her anyway. Instead of driving myself insane with worry, I was going to do something with all of this pent up energy. And if it involved wiping the smug look off that little bastard’s face, that only sweetened the deal.

I rushed over to the conferring officials and told them my plan. It took a bit of convincing, but finally they agreed. I mentioned that Aubrey had given me some lessons and they seemed impressed by that. I didn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into, but I knew that I would do anything for her.

“Do you have your own vehicle?” one of the officials asked.

I nodded, watching with a broken heart as they towed the mangled remains of Aubrey’s Mustang away.

“I do. I’m able to do a qualifying run if you’d like.”

The man that looked to be in charge shook his head sadly.

“No, that won’t be necessary. I won’t be taking any more unnecessary risks with racers today. If you say you can do this, I will believe you. If Aubrey comes after me because you fuck up, know that I’ll be after you in return.”

I tried to laugh his threat off, I knew Aubrey wouldn’t care. Or at least I thought I knew. Maybe she wouldn’t care as long as I won, but if I lost, that may be a whole nother story.

The officials prepped me the best that they could and inspected my car thoroughly. A couple of them remarked that I was some kind of idiot for racing a car like that. I didn’t care. I didn’t care about the car at all. I didn’t even care about myself. I just wanted to do the right thing for Aubrey, come hell or high water.

When the time for Aubrey’s race approached, the announcers asked for a moment of silence to wish Aubrey a speedy recovery. The somber attitude was enough to make my skin itch with the need to get away from it all. I wasn’t good at handling these emotional situations, especially not when I was the one facing the out of control emotions. Everyone here respected Aubrey and felt bad about what happened to her, but no one else was an absolute wreck like I was.

I told myself I had to pull myself together. For Aubrey’s sake. I had to put everything she taught me into action. I couldn’t let her down. I wouldn’t let her down.

After the moment of silence, they announced the substitution. There was an audible gasp through the crowd and I found my opponent near his car looking clearly flabbergasted. He thought that he was going to win by default. I didn’t even know if there was a prize for the race or if it was just bragging rights. I didn’t care about any prizes, obviously, but I wanted more than anything to beat this guy for Aubrey. I saw the way her tie to him affected her. I didn’t even want to think about how devastated she would be if she lost by forfeit.

Everyone cheered us on as we inched our way up to the starting line. My body was awash with anxiousness. I’d never actually done this. I knew the theory behind it all and I knew some helpful tips from Aubrey, but I really was a complete novice.

That didn’t stop the lights.

Red.

My heart pounded in my ears, drowning out the sounds of the crowd and the roaring engines.

Yellow.

I tightened my grip on the steering wheel, steeling my resolve to do this thing right. I wasn’t going to disappoint Aubrey.

Green.

Chapter 26

I blinked my eyes open slowly, wincing against the bright lights. I couldn’t remember exactly where I was at first. Everything around me was white and bright and smelled like antiseptic. That triggered all of my memories to flood back. The car losing control, smoke pouring in, not being able to breathe and then nothing.

The next thing I remembered was seeing Tanner. I didn’t know if it really happened or not. I was sure that it was probably a hallucination of some sort. I’d gone into the qualifier wishing that Tanner would be there, so it only seemed reasonable that my brain conjured him there when I was under extreme duress.

I turned my head to the side and saw my parents standing there.

Great. I’d ruined my secret all on my own without any help from my blackmailer.

“Elise, we were so worried about you,” my father spoke first, surprising me. My mother was typically the one to offer me consolation, even if it was only because social norms dictated it.

I looked into my father’s face and saw real compassion there for the first time. My entire life he’d been distant and unavailable, but for the first time he was looking at me like his child. A child he loved.

“When we heard what happened… I was so scared that we would lose you,” he continued. I felt my chest constrict around the emotion that bubbled up in my chest. I was not going to sit in the hospital and cry in front of my parents. I refused.

“What were you thinking getting involved with that kind of nonsense?” my mother chimed in, ignoring the stern look my father gave her.

I sighed and closed my eyes, sinking back into my pillows. I didn’t even know the extent of my injuries and my mother was already railing into me about my poor decisions. That was exactly what I wanted to hear.

“What did the doctor’s say?” I asked in a raspy voice without looking at them.

“You’re incredibly lucky,” my father answered, “mostly a few scrapes. A concussion and some scorched tissue in your larynx, but everything should heal without complications.”

That was a relief at least. I felt surprisingly okay all things considered. I didn’t even want to think about my poor car, probably dead for good. That was enough to make me want to cry for real.

“You know,” my mother spoke again, “Chester was very disappointed to hear about your little
hobby
. I happen to agree with him. Racing is not something a woman of your status should debase herself with, Elise. It’s distasteful. I only hope that we’ll be able to convince him to go through with the wedding even if we have to postpone it until your injuries have healed.”

I tried to ignore the dull throbbing in my head to process everything she just said. Of course the wedding would still be happening. Why did I think that this would change anything?

I didn’t care one whit what Chester thought of my racing. As much as I had tried to keep everything a secret, the cat was out of the bag now and if they wanted to hate me for it, so be it. It wasn’t like I had a car to race any more anyway. Now, more than ever, my future looked to be a bleak landscape of subservience.

“You know what… no,” I finally spoke up after a long silence.

I opened my eyes long enough to look at my mother’s shocked expression.

“What?”

“No, mother,” I repeated without explanation.

“No, what?” She asked, doe-eyed and confused.

“I’m not marrying Chester. I never wanted to marry him and he doesn’t care who he marries as long as they have influence. It doesn’t need to be me.”

“How can you say that, Elise? Chester is the perfect husband for you.”

“No, he’s not. My perfect husband would be someone that allowed me to have my own interests, no matter how
inappropriate
or
distasteful.
My perfect husband would not expect me to be an empty smiling dummy sitting next to him that merely nods along with everything he says. My perfect husband would care about me for all of the things that make me my own person instead of trying to shove me into some mold of what he wants in a wife. Chester is
not
that man. I’ve already found that man. I know that he doesn’t want anything to do with me after everything I’ve done, but it doesn’t change the fact that he holds my heart.”

My mother’s mouth hung open in shock. She was unable to come up with any response and just stood there looking like a fish gasping for air.

“This man, you love him?” My father asked, surprising me yet again.

My eyes welled up with tears. It hurt my heart to talk about Tanner like this. I wished he was here. I wished I had told him everything sooner.

“Yes, I do, very much.”

My father nodded without saying anything.

“He loves you, too,” I heard Tanner’s rich baritone and nearly gave myself whiplash turning towards the door.

He was by my bedside in an instant holding my hand in his.

“I know none of this really went how it should have, but I don’t care. If you want to be with me, I could forgive you for anything, Aubrey.”

A stray tear trickled down my face. I couldn’t believe he was really there. I couldn’t believe that he could forgive me and still want me after all of my secrets.

“Elise,” I corrected with a small smile.

He chuckled and squeezed my hand.

“Of course,” he replied, “I have something to tell you though.”

“Oh?” I asked, suddenly full of worry.

“I took your place in the race against Rex.”

“You did what?” I exclaimed, sitting up from the bed. I was surprised that they even let someone who’d never raced on the course, let alone let him take my place.

“Well, they were going to rule it a forfeit otherwise…”

I held onto his forearm with a vice-like grip, trying to squeeze the details out of him.

“Well?”

“I smoked him,” he answered with a confident grin. “Edged him out by nearly two seconds.”

“That’s amazing, Tanner! I can’t believe you did that for me.” My vision was blurry with tears again. He knew how important my race was and he made sure that everything was okay. I couldn’t have loved him more if I tried.

“Well, this is all very touching, but you’re already betrothed, Elise. Were you off cavorting with this man while you were engaged to Chester?”

Leave it to my mother to pick up on a scandal. I tried to hide the shame burning my cheeks. Tanner didn’t know I was engaged. He didn’t know about Chester, he didn’t really know anything at the moment other than my actual name. I looked at him and he seemed angry, but not with me. He looked at my mother with the same contempt that I often did. She was just out of touch with the world around her and couldn’t understand the motivations of other people.

My father rested a hand on her shoulder.

“Give it a rest.”

She looked at him with wide eyes, stuttering and stammering to try to voice her arguments.

“But… the Westmores. Chester… wedding…” she pouted, unable to form complete sentences. I’m sure she was more upset of the prospect of losing out on a big fancy party than she was about the marriage falling through.

“Just let the kids be happy, dear. If today has taught me anything, it’s that life is too precious and too short to waste on unhappiness. If this man will make Elise happy, then I will welcome him into our family, whether you agree with it or not.”

My mother opened her mouth to respond, but promptly closed it without a word. She was defeated. She knew that she couldn’t argue with my father. That went against everything she stood for.

I turned my gaze back to Tanner, smiling like a fool.

He bent down, brushed my hair from my forehead and went in for the kiss.

I sighed into him, melting under his tender kisses. I was finally home.