“More than ever. You and Iain and all your silly shirts. I’m not a stupid man. I know when I’ve been given a second chance, and I don’t intend to screw it up.”
The words I’d been pushing back for weeks burst forth. “I love you, too.”
Relief transformed his face. He was still smiling when he kissed me, a long, sweet kiss that conveyed all of the emotions we were feeling.
“Mom! Dad! Come see what I built.”
The moment would have to be postponed, but we both knew we’d be giving his new bed a workout tonight after Iain fell asleep.
CHAPTER33
Emalee
“It’s been too long.”
“Definitely,” I agreed as I hugged Bristol a second time. She’d called on our first morning in the Queen City and invited us to come over.
She stepped back and looked at me. “You look great.”
She was more restrained with her greeting to Zach. “Hey. Nice to officially meet you.”
“Likewise.” He returned her handshake.
We were at the big house she shared with her dad, the man I called Uncle Brock.
She turned and high-fived Iain. “Hey, big man. You’ve grown. You know how to drive a car yet?”
Iain giggled. “No, silly. I’m only six.” He held up six fingers.
Bristol’s jaw dropped. “No way. I thought for sure you were sixteen. Darn. And here I’d made arrangements for you to drive Number 56.” She winked at me.
Iain’s eyes turned into wide saucers. “No. Way. You were going to let me drive it?”
My cousin grinned. “Well, not if you don’t have a license, but maybe you’d like to ride in it?”
He jumped up and down. “Seriously? You’re the best!”
“Dad is going to meet us at the track.” She looked at me and Zach. “You guys are coming, too, right?”
I’d been to the track with Uncle Brock’s team before, but based on the excited smile Zach was giving her, he was just as excited as Iain.
“I didn’t know you like racing.”
“It’s got fast cars, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’m interested.” He gave me a look that said,duh, making both Bristol and me laugh.
We followed Bristol’s Shelby Cobra she and her dad had restored together to the speedway. Iain held Zach’s hand, halfway skipping as we headed to the track, keeping up a constant stream of facts to educate his dad, who wasn’t familiar with car racing.
“Did you know the cars can go faster than two hundred miles an hour? Did you know if the driver doesn’t way five hundred pounds, they add weight to him?”
“Twohundred pounds,” Bristol corrected with a grin.
Iain rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Two hundred pounds. Anyways, they wear out tons of tires ‘cause they gosuperfast. Uncle Brock says it gets boiling hot inside, too, like a bazillion degrees.”
Zach looked at Iain and chuckled. “Wow. That’s really hot. I don’t know how he can stand it.”
