Revved Up Hearts (26 page)

“No. Where?” she asked as she looked around. Then she saw the street sign, “The intersection of Hollywood and Vine. Cool. Look, there’s the Hollywood sign in the background. Jeremiah, we have to get our picture taken
here.”

“Okay,” he said and waved at someone who was passing by. “Will you take our
picture?”

“Sure. If you’ll take
ours.”

“It’s a deal,” Jeremiah said as he handed the camera to the man. They each took their respective pictures and exchanged cameras
again.

“You look familiar, but I can’t place you,” the woman said. “Are you a movie
star?”

“No, ma’am. I’m a NASCAR
driver.”

“You’re Jeremiah Jones!” the man said when he recognized him. “My brother-in-law, her brother, is a huge NASCAR fan. Can we have our picture with
you?”

“Of course,” Jeremiah said. The woman got on one side of Jeremiah while the man handed Dawn the camera. Then the man got on the other side of Jeremiah. Dawn snapped the picture and showed it to the
couple.

“Ronnie is going to be so jealous,” the woman said. “Thank
you.”

“You’re welcome,” Jeremiah said, and the two couples went their separate ways. This time it was his stomach that
growled.

“I believe you hinted that surprise number three involves food,” Dawn
said.

“It does,” Jeremiah said as he again put a hand on the small of her back to guide her toward the truck. “Let’s
go.”

They drove to the edge of town, and Jeremiah turned onto a two-lane road that reminded Dawn of the many like it back home. They held hands and listened to a contemporary Christian radio station. The city faded away to countryside. After a few miles, Jeremiah turned again, this time onto a dirt road, and they started to climb a
hill.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re
going?”

“No hints, remember.”

“Okay.” Dawn looked out the window as the truck went around a curve, and the Hollywood sign came into view, except this time they were right behind it. “I didn’t know that you could drive up here,” she
said.

“You can, but not a lot of people know about it,” he told her as he stopped the
truck.

“Is this my next
surprise?”

“Yes,” he said and got out of the truck. He walked around the front to open Dawn’s door for her. He took her hand and helped her out of the vehicle. “Go check out the view while I get some stuff out of the
back.”

“Do you need any
help?”

“No. I don’t want you to see the surprise just
yet.”

“Okay,” Dawn said. The sky was beginning to turn all different shades of pink, orange, and red. The sun would be setting soon, and it would be absolutely gorgeous from up here. Dawn could hear Jeremiah moving around behind her, but she didn’t turn around. He had obviously worked very hard on this surprise, and she didn’t want to spoil it. Dawn relaxed and watched a pair of squirrels scamper around the first
L.

“I’m ready,” he said as he put his hands on her shoulders. She jumped and shrieked in surprise. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He
laughed.

“I was watching the squirrels and let you sneak up on
me.”

“I didn’t sneak. I called your name twice, and you didn’t hear
me.”

It was Dawn’s turn to laugh. “Sorry. Is my surprise ready?” she
asked.

“Yup.” He moved so that Dawn could see what was behind them. “A
picnic.”

“Oh, Jeremiah, this is great!” she told him as she walked toward the blanket spread on the ground. Plates, glasses, and a picnic basket sat on the blanket. Dawn knelt on the blanket, and Jeremiah took a seat next to
her.

“I hope you’re hungry,” he
said.

“I am. What did you bring to
eat?”

“I threw this together pretty quick so I didn’t have time to fix anything fancy. I’ve got several types of cold cuts, cheese, and bread so that we can make whatever kind of sandwich we want. I also have some macaroni salad and potato salad,” he told her as he opened the picnic basket and started pulling out food. “I’ve got sodas
too.”

Dawn watched as tons of food came out of the basket. “How did you get all of that in there?” she
asked.

“I had help,” he admitted. “I told Wes what I was planning, and his wife packed the basket for
me.”

“I’ll tell her thank you the next time I see her. And thank you,” she
said.

“You’re welcome,” Jeremiah told her as he handed Dawn a plate. They sat on the blanket and ate while they watched the sunset. She wasn’t a morning person so she didn’t see many sunrises, but she enjoyed a sunset every chance she
got.

“That was nice,” Dawn said as the sun dropped below the horizon. “Thanks
again.”

“Anytime.”

She rose and started cleaning up. Jeremiah stopped her. “I’ll do that later. Let’s sit and talk for a
while.”

“Okay,” she said and sat back down. “That reminds me. Earlier you started to ask me about something you found in the
Bible.”

“Oh, yeah. I was reading where Jesus said, ‘The first shall be last and the last shall be first.’ What did he mean by
that?”

“Jesus was the perfect example of servanthood. He served others, and he wants us to do the same. In that passage, Jesus was talking about people who are selfish and have that ‘I’ mentality. They do whatever they have to in order to be first or to be the best. When Jesus judges those people, they will be last in his eyes. On the other hand, those who put others first and themselves last will be exalted in Jesus’s
eyes.”

“That makes sense. Thanks.” The wind picked up, and Dawn shivered. Jeremiah scooted closer to her and put his arms around her. She leaned in close to put her back against his chest. “I just realized that I forgot dessert,” he said. “Do you want to go back into town and get something
sweet?”

“In a little while,” she told him as she snuggled closer. “I talked to my mom today. My dad has to have
surgery.”

“Oh, sugar, I’m sorry. Is there anything I can
do?”

“Just pray. I sent some money home. I may have to borrow some from Bryan. Since Dad didn’t get hurt at work, he’s not covered by workman’s comp. They have insurance for medical bills, but without him working, money is going to be tight while he
recovers.”

“Does your Mom
work?”

“Yes. She runs a daycare out of their house, but it won’t be
enough.”

“I’ll give you money if you need
it.”

“Thanks for the offer. I may ask to borrow some if they need
it.”

“I said I’d give you money, not
borrow.”

“I don’t know about
that.”

“Why
not?”

“I don’t
know.”

“You’ll borrow money from Richardson but not take money from me. Why?”

“He’s my boss. I can borrow against my
pay.”

“Why not just take my money?” Dawn said nothing, just shrugged. Jeremiah turned her to where she was looking at him. “Please answer
me.”

“I don’t know. It just doesn’t seem right. I don’t want to start our relationship like that. I don’t want you or anybody to think that I’m after your
money.”

“I don’t think that, and if anybody else does, I’ll tell them to mind their own
business.”

“I hope it doesn’t come to that, but if it does, I’ll think about it. Okay?”

“Okay.” He leaned in and kissed her. She leaned into him, closed her eyes, and let him deepen the kiss. She put one hand one on his cheek, and with the other, she held his hand. A sound in the background caused Dawn’s eyes to open suddenly. She realized that they were in a pretty deserted area, and it was almost completely
dark.

“I think maybe it’s time to get out of here,” she said as she leaned
back.

“I agree,” Jeremiah said. He left Dawn sitting on the blanket while he went to the truck for a couple of flashlights. He returned, and together they cleaned up after their meal. Dawn folded the blanket and followed Jeremiah as he put the picnic basket in the back of the SUV. She threw the blanket in with the picnic basket and ran to get inside the truck. It had been warm that day, and Dawn was wearing shorts. Now that the sun had went down, it was considerably cooler, and Dawn was getting cold. Jeremiah turned on the heater as soon as he got the truck started. “It’ll be warm in here in a second. Do you want me to get the blanket for you until it
does?”

“No, thank you. You are so
thoughtful.”

“Did you have a good time
today?”

“Yes, I did. Everything was great. Thanks again.” She smiled at
him.

“Your smile is all the thanks I need,” he said and then backed the vehicle out of its parking spot and headed back down the
hill.

The next day was Saturday, and as usual, Bryan spent most of the morning with sponsor appearances. One of Bryan’s minor sponsors was a cell phone company. The company had held a contest among its customers for a free trip to LA to attend the race and meet Bryan. The winner was a woman from Ohio who brought along her husband and two teenage daughters. They were so excited to meet their favorite driver. The lady almost hyperventilated. After the initial excitement wore off, they spent over two hours with Bryan. He showed them the car and introduced them to Travis and each member of the crew. Then Bryan took the mom for her ride along in the car. Everyone had a great
time.

The crew was happy with the way the car was running so Bryan gave the crew the rest of the day off. Dawn went back to the motor coach and was cleaning. She had an armful of dirty clothes when Bryan came in. “What are you doing?” he
asked.

“Cleaning up a little bit,” she
answered.

“What part of ‘the rest of the day off’ did you not
understand?”

“That was for the
crew.”

“And
you.”

“Really?”

“Why would I give everybody else time off and make you
work?”

“I don’t know, and I also won’t argue. I’ll throw these in a bag, and then I’m out of here,” she told him. “Call me if you need
me.”

“I’m going to my room to call Valerie. I’ll see you
tomorrow.”

Dawn went back to her hotel room and turned on the TV. She was going to use this well-earned time off by doing absolutely nothing. She got settled on the bed and started watching a cooking show on a local channel. She hadn’t watched for very long when she felt her eyes start to droop. She fought the drowsiness for a few minutes but decided to give in. Dawn woke up about forty-five minutes later and realized that she hadn’t spoken to Jeremiah all day. She picked up her cell phone and called
him.

“It’s Jeremiah,” he answered on the fourth
ring.

“Hey, it’s Dawn. What are you
doing?”

“Getting ready to
race.”

“Race? Tonight?”

“Yeah. I do a few Nationwide races a year, and tonight is one of
them.”

“Why?”

“I love to race. And it’s like an extra practice for the big race
tomorrow.”

“That makes
sense.”

“What are you doing tonight?” he asked
her.

“Nothing.”

“Come to the
race.”

“Okay. When does it
start?”

“Thirty
minutes.”