Revved Up Hearts (17 page)

“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.”

“Sounds like you need a break. Is there any way you can get away
tonight?”

“Probably not. It’s part of my job to take care of him like this when Valerie is not
around.”

“No matter how much he
whines?”

“Yeah. No matter how much he whines,” she
answered.

“I’d really like to spend some time with
you.”

“Me too. So what are we going to do?” she
asked.

“What if I order some Chinese for us? I’ll bring it and a movie over here to his motor
coach.”

“That sounds good. I’ll make sure it’s okay with him
first.”

“Okay. I’m on my way to a meeting with my crew. Call me in about an hour to let me know. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“So what did you rent?” Dawn asked as she put a bowl of popcorn on the coffee table beside
Jeremiah.

“
Platoon
and
The Killing Fields
,” he
said.

“No way. Are those your idea of a date movie?” she said as she picked up the DVDs and looked at the titles. There was a chick flick and one guy movie. “You are not a funny
guy.”

“So what do you want to watch first?” he asked as he patted the sofa beside
him.

“The chick flick, of course,” she answered as she popped the disk into the player. Then she picked up the remote, took a seat beside Jeremiah, and hit
play.

“So how’s the patient?” Jeremiah asked as the previews lit up the
screen.

“Asleep. He ate some Jell-O and took his medicine about an hour ago. He fell asleep not long after that. Hopefully, he’ll sleep for a
while.”

“Hopefully,” Jeremiah said as he put his arm around Dawn’s shoulders and pulled her closer. “I’d like to spend a little time with
you.”

“I just want some peace and quiet.” Dawn put her head on Jeremiah’s shoulder. “It’s been a long
day.”

“Sit here with me, and watch the movie. Get some
rest.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Dawn said with a yawn that she tried to cover with her hand. She watched the preview that was on the screen. It was for a typical guy movie. Jeremiah watched with interest. It had hot girls, fast cars, gunfire, and explosions. Jeremiah told her that he had wanted to see this movie when it was in the theater, but he hadn’t had the time. He said he had forgotten about it until now. Dawn heard what he was saying but had to admit that she wasn’t really listening to it. She tried to watch, but the image on the screen was getting smaller and smaller. She realized that her eyes were slowly closing. His voice was becoming more and more distant. She knew she was falling asleep and that she should fight it, but she couldn’t. She was so comfortable on this huge, cushy sofa. She was so warm as she nestled against Jeremiah’s chest. Maybe if she just dozed off during the previews, she could watch the main
attraction.