Page 73 of Endeavor
“What are you doing out this way?”
Grady motions to me. “This is…my girlfriend, Emma.” I want to squeal at the sound of him calling me his girlfriend. “I was hoping we could maybe take a car out for a spin.”
“Of course, anything for Ken’s boy. I have a prototype that’s been tested, and we actually are building a new one based on it. But it’s good for a run. Nice to meet you, Emma. I’m Burl Hedges, an old friend of Grady’s dad.”
I look around for a second, taking in the images and awards on the walls. “Nice to meet you,” I reply, shaking his hand. “You…design cars?” I ask him, guessing from what I’ve witnessed so far.
He grins. “You can say that.” He laughs and motions for us to follow him.
As we exit the other side of the building, I look down and see a racetrack, or what looks like one. Its neatly paved roads run in various shapes and interconnect.
“What is this place?” I whisper to Grady.
“Hedges here is a race car engineer. He designed most of the cars that Dad drove. This is his design workshop and out there is the test track. And you and I are about to test one.”
“Wait.” I stop. “We, as in both of us?” I motion between us with my finger as my mouth opens and closes as if I’m a fish out of water.
Grady laughs as does Hedges. “I do believe we have a newbie,” Hedges says as he leads us into the garage. There are several cars in there in various states. One is nearly taken apart, another looks shiny and new, and another looks a little beat up.
Hedges leads us to one that isn’t new, but not super beat up either.
“I call her the Gretel,” he says as he slaps the hood.
“We’re going to drive that,” I say, pointing to the car.
“Of course,” he replies.
In a matter of moments, I’m strapped in with a helmet and fireproof suit. Grady drives us out onto the test track.
“Ready?” he asks me.
I look at him, really look at him. “But…you don’t race anymore,” I say over the loud roar of the engine.
He shrugs. “I don’t, well, I didn’t for a long time after Dad died, but a few years ago, I came out here. Hedges let me drive around the track. It’s been our little secret ever since.”
“That’s why you brought me here,” I state.
He nods. “I wanted to share it with you. I…wanted to share a part of me with you that no one else sees, well, not any longer.”
He reaches over and grabs my hand, placing it on the stick shift. “You ready?”
I nod. And before I can say “yes,” he guns it, and I fly back into my seat screaming. Then, I start laughing as we fly around the track, faster than I’ve ever driven in my entire life.
Grady tries to explain things to me as he drives. He calls out terms like “apex” and “banking,” but I don’t really understand, and I’m too focused on the sheer excitement and adrenaline of flying on the ground.
Every time he makes a sudden turn in the car, I scream in terror and delight. It’s like a roller coaster that’s gone off the track.
When we finally come to a stop, I realize my heart is racing and my throat is raw from screaming. He turns to me. All I can see are his eyes because of the helmet, but I can tell he’s grinning.
“What’d you think?”
“Oh. My. God,” I manage, my hands still gripping various parts of the car.
He laughs and opens his door, removing his helmet and coming around to open the door for me.
I get out and he pulls my helmet off. “I…” I trail off because words fail me.
He’s laughing now and leans in to plant a kiss on my lips.
