Page 25

CHAPTER 25

KAYDEN

Thirty minutes until the race started I began doing my final once-over on Rosalie’s car. This was a big night for her. She’d never raced on the streets like this. A lot of things could go wrong with a course this long, which went through so many streets, with free-flowing traffic and police driving like normal. So, the last thing she needed to worry about was if something was wrong with her car mid-race. I wanted her completely focused on the end goal.

Popping the hood and doing a final engine check, I saw the fluids were all topped off and everything looked secure. Then, I went to the inside of the cab and turned the car on, making sure all the dials were working correctly.

“Hey, Dad, is everything okay?”

I glanced up at my daughter, who was now standing outside the car, watching me with a slightly concerned face. I smiled back at her and opened the car door again. Stepping out and around the door, I gave her a side hug.

“Yep! Just wanted to double-check that you’re all set before your big race and make sure that everything looked good to go. And don’t worry, it does.”

Rosalie just giggled and gave me a hug back.

“Aw, thanks, Dad! I really appreciate you double-checking for me. I’m slightly nervous, though. I mean, I know I can beat most of these guys. But I’d be lying if I said that AJ and his new car make me just a little nervous.”

I gave her one more squeeze before letting go so I could walk around the rest of the car to make sure the tire pressure was good on all four wheels.

“Of course. Can’t let my girl go out without being her best, can I?” I said as I put the cap back on the last tire.

“Well, again, thanks a lot, Dad. Oh! Have you seen Jayden yet? Mom said he was around here somewhere, but I still haven’t seen him.”

I walked away from her car and into the middle of the row of cars and glanced around the car meet to see if I could see my son in the crowd. But I didn’t see him among the people near us. Rosalie walked over with me.

“I’m sure he’s around here somewhere, Rosalie. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. If you really want to talk to him before the race, I can always give him a text to see where he’s at.”

She shook her head.

“No, that’s okay. I’m sure I’ll see him after the race if I don’t run into him before. It’s just been a while since I saw him, but I know he’s here. I saw him tagged on social media by some tabloid feed. That must be tiring for him, having cameras follow him around everywhere now. But I guess that’s what happens when your music takes off and you become famous, huh?”

I nodded. Although I had never experienced the kind of instant fame my son was currently living with, I was known enough for strangers on the streets to recognize my name. Which I didn’t mind. I enjoyed getting to know new people. But Jayden… well, he might have hung out in some circles in high school, but he’d never been overly extroverted.

“Yeah, I guess it kinda is. But you’re also a big deal in other ways, and I’m pretty sure you have your fair share of people taking photos of you these days too.”

She giggled and rocked back and forth on her heels. “I wouldn’t call people wanting to just take a picture with me for their socials the same type of thing that Jayden’s getting. But I guess it’s kinda similar.”

My daughter was so grown up. I stood there, just taking her in for a moment. She looked more and more like her mother each and every day. And she had gone from someone who was fairly naive and innocent to a woman who could handle things even grown men would have a hard time dealing with.

“Rosalie.”

She turned and looked up at me. Her eyes were full of happiness as I pulled her in for a hug.

“I am so proud of you, honey. No one else is as lucky as me. Having a daughter like you is what dreams are made of. From the day you were born, you drew me in, and I knew it was all over. I never had anyone to live for like I did when I first held you in that hospital room. I knew I had to get my life together. I had to change my priorities. I stopped doing reckless things, and I started to do whatever I could to make my cars as safe as possible. I didn’t street race on unknown roads anymore. Didn’t hang around crowds with people I didn’t trust anymore. I rushed home from work every day when you were a baby, just to be able to hold my little girl in my arms all night. And your mom practically had to drag me to bed because I couldn’t stop staring at the perfect little girl asleep in my arms.”

I brought a hand up and rested it on the back of her head and tucked it under my chin as I continued. “Now, if anything happened to me, I know I could count on you to look after not just the business, but your mom and brother too. You are such a strong, confident, wonderful woman. Watching you grow into who you are today? That has been the greatest gift I have ever gotten in my entire life. I love you, Rosalie.”

The sob I knew she had been holding back finally made its escape as her fingers tightened their grip on my jacket and the tears began to fall onto my shirt.

“I-I…”

I just shushed her and shook my head. “You don’t need to say anything back, Rosalie. I already know, baby.”

She nodded into my jacket and sniffed hard. My girl was trying so hard to be strong and not have a breakdown in front of everyone.

I chuckled and patted her back, then pulled away, giving her arm a light squeeze.

“Now, most of the drivers don’t stand a chance, and I know you love AJ, but go kick some ass. No one is going to take the winner’s title from my Rosalie Wells.”

She wiped her eyes and giggled, nodding before clapping her cheeks to help snap herself out of the tears faster.

“Yes, sir! Don’t worry! He will be so far in my rearview that his headlights will look like stars!” she said, and I could see the determination flashing in her eyes.

Those eyes of hers had always kept me on my toes when she was growing up. Little did she know, I’d been wrapped around her finger from the moment I saw her in the hospital.

With that, she gave me a thumbs-up before dashing off to her car, where AJ was waiting for her.

Stay safe and drive fast.

After a few moments, I saw her get into her car. AJ leaned down to say one more thing before walking away toward his car. She suddenly unbuckled, and I thought something was wrong. I tensed, and my wife Rose observed her as closely as I did as she ran over to AJ and jumped into his arms. He picked her off the ground, and I relaxed. There wasn’t anything wrong. Our little girl was just in love, much like her mother and I still were. It was written all over her face, and it radiated from her wherever she went.

Then, AJ set her down, and they kissed one more time before she jogged back to her car, where her friends and brother were standing now.

I watched as she excitedly chatted with her friends and brother as I felt two slender arms wrap around my shoulders from behind. I turned my head just barely as Rose placed a kiss on the side of my face.

“Are you all right, honey?” Rose asked as she rubbed her hand across my chest.

I reached up and held one of her hands, giving it a gentle squeeze as I felt the warmth of my wife’s body against mine.

“Yeah, I just really can’t believe how good our girl turned out. I was worried about her for a while there, and I didn’t really want her to follow in my footsteps, exactly. But now, just look at her, Rose. I didn’t need to worry at all.”

I kept staring as she pulled back on her helmet and tightened the strap, turning toward us and tugging it with a big smile on her face. I gave her two thumbs-up, and her mother waved. She jumped in place as she turned and got into her car. She’d better calm those jitters, or it might cost her in the race.

Rose laughed as she pulled her hands from my chest and brought them around my right arm as she stepped up beside me. I looked over at her and smiled as my heart beat faster in my chest. My wife was smoking hot! She wore a deep red leather crop jacket with a black corset top under it that stopped just short of her tight dark jeans. She had her shoulder-length hair down tonight, which always made her look much younger than she was.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this. Out of both of our children, Rosalie isn’t the one I’m worried about anymore. Jayden, however… I wish he would just talk to me again like he used to, but ever since his music career took off, he’s been distant.”

Rose’s eyes were always so sad when she talked about our son lately. I glanced back over at him. Anyone who’d used drugs regularly in the past could tell when someone was high. And recently, when we saw him, he was like this. Using shades to hide his eyes, wearing coats even in the summer. I just hoped it was only weed our boy was doing. I could smell it on him. I hated the stress it put Rose through, seeing our son like this.

You should try talking to him then.

I shook my head and pushed that to the back of my mind. There would be plenty of time to worry about Jayden after tonight’s race. Right now, my attention needed to be on Rosalie.

“It’ll be fine, Rose. We can talk about Jayden later. I’d better get over to the starting line. All the racers are set to go, it looks like, so we should get started before any cops show up and make this more interesting than any of us are bargaining for.”

Rose kissed me before walking over to our car. I knew she would have it ready to pull to the front after the racers, so we could make our way together to the finish line.

The four racers pulled up behind me. Their slots had already been drawn, and since Rosalie’s and AJ’s odds were higher to win than the other two, they would be starting in the back row. I inched the front cars forward, walking between them to make sure their front tires lined up, and then I did the same for the two cars behind them. I gave Rosalie one final wink before making my way back to the front. Rose was waiting between the front two cars when I walked back. I pulled up my phone and checked in with the eight checkpoint spotters. All of them replied they were ready, so I redirected my attention to the drivers in front of me.

“You all know the rules. Keep it clean. Cheat or bypass a checkpoint, you’re out of the running. So, drivers, are you ready?” I shouted as Rose took her position and raised her arms in the air.

The four cars exchanged honks and engine revs. Some backfires ensued, turning people’s attention toward us. I gave Rose the go-ahead nod as I walked to the back of the cars.

After a few tense moments, she dropped her arm, and in a flurry of smoke and screeching tires, four racers took off down the road and into the night.

The race was officially on, and we needed to get going ourselves to get to the warehouse before them.

“Rose! Let’s go!” I slipped into my Viper and pulled up next to my wife.

She got in, and we led the groups of drivers to the warehouse, where we would wait for the racers.