Boardwalk Summer

by Kimberly Fisk

  “Good evening and welcome, Mr. Fortune.”

  “Good evening.”

  “In an article earlier this year, USA Today is quoted as saying, ‘Racing legend Nick Fortune has the potential of doing what athletes like Joe Namath, Babe Ruth, and Joe DiMaggio did, and that is to transcend the sport they’re in.’ What is your response to that?”

  “I’m flattered. Very flattered. But I’m no Namath, Ruth, or DiMaggio. I’m just a guy who likes to race.”

  “Just a guy who likes to race?” Diane laughed. “Well, I think we should remind our audience just what this guy who likes to race has done.” Another picture-perfect smile was flashed. “You’re the youngest driver in history to win not only the Daytona 500 but also a Sprint Cup Championship. You’ve broken so many NASCAR records that it would take me five minutes just to list them. But I think the one record that has the whole NASCAR circuit—and just about the whole country—breathless with anticipation is that elusive eighth Sprint Cup Championship.

  “With a Cup win this year, Nick, you will enter a sphere no one previously thought attainable. You will be the only man in history to have eight championships. What do you have to say about that?”

  “Not bad for a skinny kid who just used to dream about watching a live race.”

  Diane laughed again. “Do you think the spectacular success has dulled your appetite?”

  “Not in the least.”

  “What keeps you going? What keeps you motivated?”

  “Quite simply, the best damn pit crew keeps me going.”

  “Let’s talk about that crew for a moment. The Noble Warriors. I’ve heard rumors that nearly every other driving team has been after the Warriors’ top man, your crew chief, Dale Penshaw. How much do you pay him?”

  Nick gave a wry smile. “Hopefully enough.”

  Diane smiled. “Fair enough. Let’s back up to an earlier question I had,” she smoothly continued. “What does keep you motivated?”

  Nick leaned back in his chair. “I’m not out there every Sunday trying to beat another driver, another car. I think that’s true for most of the men on that track with me. We race because it’s in our blood, it’s what we have to do. In the past, what had motivated me was quite simply the next race. And the one after that. If I have a good race the week before, I want to get right back out there and build on that.”

  “What about that eighth title, Nick? How important is that to you?”

  Nick paused and the camera panned onto him. His blue, blue gaze bore through the television screen. Hope felt as if he were looking directly at her. “If you had asked me that question a couple of months ago, I would have told you it meant everything. But now . . .”

  “Now?” Diane prompted.

  “Now there are only two titles that matter to me: husband and father. I plan on earning them both.”

  For what was undoubtedly the first time in her life, Diane Sawyer was speechless.

  “Effective immediately I am retiring from NASCAR. My last race will be a benefit exhibition race supporting leukemia research.”

  “But why?” She finally found her voice.

  That same sexy grin that sent Hope’s stomach flip-flopping each time she saw it curved Nick’s mouth. “Because, Diane, it has taken me nearly half my life to learn that love and family are more important than any title.”

  The interview continued, but Hope didn’t hear it. She was smiling and laughing and crying so hard she couldn’t stop. She knew Dana and the children were talking to her and to one another, but she didn’t hear them either. All she could think about was Nick telling the world that she and their children were the most important things in his life.

  A knock sounded at the door, and even though her face was a mess with tears, she answered it, not wanting to drag one of the kids or Dana away from the program. She wiped at her face, wondering who it could be.

  She opened the door and the first thing she saw was a large bouquet of pink roses. The second was Nick.

  Before she could say anything, he walked over to the kids, whispered something in their ears, and then after he got their enthusiastic nods, he came back over to her, got down on one knee, and held out a small velvet box.

  Her tears started again and she couldn’t make them stop. Especially when she looked into his eyes and saw the depth of his love.

  “Say yes!” Susan and Josh yelled from behind her.

  “No,” Hope said, her eyes shining brightly.

  Nick’s brow rose. “No?”

  “This time I want to ask the question, but first you need to promise me something.”

  “Anything.”

  “Don’t stop racing. Not until it’s what you want. I love you, Nick Fortune. All of you. Asking you to give up racing wasn’t fair, I see that now.”

  A grin curved the side of his mouth. “Was there a question in there?”

  Hope laughed and dropped down next to him, cradling his face in her hands. “I love you,” she said again. “Marry me. Please. Marry me and make me the happiest woman on earth.”

  “Yes, Hopeful, I’ll marry you.”

  The kids started to clap. Nick smiled at them right before he tossed the flowers aside and pulled Hope into his arms. She fell against him, felt his arms encircle her waist before they tumbled to the ground, laughing and loving and kissing.

  “Come on,” Susan said, pulling Josh and Dana down with her. “Group hug!” They landed on top of Hope and Nick.

  Nick let out an exaggerated groan, laughing.

  Through a tangle of arms and hair and smiles, Hope’s eyes found his. She reached up, kissed him with all of the love she felt. He kissed her back and she thought she might melt right there and then.

  “God, how I love you.”

  “Not as much as I love you.”

  “You wanna bet?”

  Hope shook her head, laughing. “But I meant what I said. Don’t think that just because you love me, you’re going to give up racing. We have an eighth championship to win.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.” Loving Nick meant loving all of him. Who he was and what he did. And in that love she found the ability to risk everything and gain even more.

  Epilogue

  NICK spun into the winner’s circle, his tires smoking. A crowd surged forward, hands reaching through the window and clapping him on the back. A black baseball cap with his sponsor’s signature silver logo landed in his lap. He took off his hot helmet and put the cap on.

  He pulled himself out of the car window to shouts of congratulations and a roar of approval from the stands. The minute his feet hit the ground, it began to rain champagne.

  His crew chief and the rest of the Noble Warriors were there—screaming and yelling and slapping his and each other’s backs.

  “You did it!” Penshaw yelled above the crowd. His grin was so wide and big, Nick was surprised it didn’t split his face in two. “Number eight! Woo-hoo! It took us an extra year, but you did it! This is what you’ve waited your whole life for! You’re a legend, my boy. A legend.”

  Nick smiled and laughed as his crew chief grabbed him into a tight hug, slapping him on the back, but all the while his eyes scanned the crowd.

  Hundreds of people stampeded forward. Reached out, slapped Nick in congratulations or, if they couldn’t reach him, just yelled.

  The noise was full-volume high, the crowd so large it looked like one giant mass instead of individuals.

  Finally, Nick spotted what he’d been looking for.

  The crowd kept pushing him toward the winner’s stand.

  Nick good-naturedly pushed back, fighting to go the opposite way.

  “Dad!” He heard Susan’s yell. And then, less than a second later, came Joshua’s. “Dad!”

  Seeing Nick’s destination, the crowd parted. He quickened his steps, broke in
to a run, and engulfed his children in his embrace, one in each arm.

  “Oh, my, gawd, Dad. That was like the coolest ever,” Susan said as she and Josh stepped back.

  “The coolest,” she said again. “I mean, on lap eighty-nine when you pulled back and used Bairenson to draft off of and then slingshot past. Man.” Her eyes were bright. “Too cool.”

  The racing fever had hit his daughter. God help them all, Nick thought with a smile.

  Joshua, on the other hand, had been hit by the fever of the track groupies. On more than one occasion, Nick had caught him standing around with his mouth all but hanging open.

  But all Nick could do was smile. Joshua was the picture of health. He’d gained weight, his hair had grown back, and there was always a sparkle in his eye. Especially when he was watching the girls.

  “Are you? Are you, Dad?”

  He refocused on Susan. “Am I what?”

  “Going to talk to Mom. About you teaching me how to race.”

  Nick laughed. “Like I’m brave enough to take on that debate.” He looked around. “Where is your mom? She’s never missed the end of a race before.” Nick could picture her still trying to politely excuse her way through the crowd and up to them. He was just about to barrel forward and find her when Susan said, “About halfway through the race she got this really funny look on her face and said she had to leave.”

  Concern pummeled through Nick. For the last couple of weeks she hadn’t been feeling well. And he knew why. She was pushing herself too hard. Once Joshua had fully recovered, she’d been on a mission. Organizing meetings, talking to doctors, the drivers, the other drivers’ wives, and the top heads of NASCAR. Today, after countless hours of hard work, she had seen her dream become a reality. Over ten booths equipped with the necessary medical equipment had been set up around the racetrack’s entrance. Spectators were invited to participate in a free and easy screening that would place them on the national bone marrow registry. Maybe, one day, because of these screenings, a life might be saved.

  NASCAR’s chairman and national commissioner had been the first two in line.

  The event had been an even bigger success than they had hoped, and plans were already underway to host another screening at the next race. Both he and Hope were fighting to see that screenings would be available before each and every race.

  But now, hearing that all this had made her unwell, Nick was going to turn a deaf ear to her protests and once and for all insist she hire an assistant.

  Nick asked Susan and Joshua, “Do you know where she is?”

  “Yeah,” Josh said. “Back at the motor home.”

  To the utter horror of the racing commissioner and his sponsors, Nick surged back through the crowd and got into his car. He left as he’d arrived. Fast.

  He was back at their “cottage,” as Hope liked to call it, in minutes.

  He pounded up the stairs, opened the door, and rushed inside.

  It was empty.

  He looked around the living area, walked down through the narrow hallway, and peeked into the bathroom. Empty, too.

  And then he found her fast asleep in the back bedroom. He eased down onto the side of the bed. Her hair had fallen across her face and he gently brushed it away.

  “Hey,” she said, groggy from sleep, her eyes all soft and warm and so inviting Nick found himself losing himself in them, in her.

  “Hey,” he answered back softly.

  “I must have fallen asleep.”

  “I guess so.”

  She smiled up at him. “I missed the end of the race, didn’t I?”

  “Yep.”

  “Some wife I am.”

  He leaned forward, gently kissed her. “Yeah, some wife.”

  The way he said it had her smiling.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “Sorry for what?”

  “For not being able to watch the whole race and, well, obviously, you lost or you wouldn’t be here.”

  He just smiled and kissed her again.

  “Nick,” she said quietly after a moment’s pause. “There’s something wrong with my wedding ring.”

  He lifted her left hand, looked down. Three large, square-cut diamonds sparkled back from their platinum setting. “Looks okay to me.”

  “Yes, but there are only three diamonds.”

  “Right. One for each of you.” When Nick had purchased the ring, the man at the jewelry store told him the three diamonds represented the past, present, and future. Nick didn’t argue. But when he’d placed the band on Hope’s finger, he told her what the diamonds meant to him. One for each of the joys Hope had brought into his life. One for her, one for Josh, and one for Susan.

  Hope took his hand and placed it against the flat of her stomach. “Yes, I know. But now we’re going to need four.”

  The impact of what she was saying hit him like a bolt. “Oh my God.” He closed his eyes, tried to keep his emotions back, but knew he couldn’t. He pulled her into his arms. “God, how I love you.”

  “Not as much as I love you,” she teased back with her standard reply, but he heard the wobble in her voice. Knew she was feeling exactly what he was.

  He tipped back, looked into her eyes. “Finally.”

  “Finally what?” she said through a watery smile.

  “I’ll get to see you fat.”

  She couldn’t stop herself from laughing. “Yeah. Well, I’ll finally get to see you change a diaper.” She worried her bottom lip. “Nick, there is something you should know.”

  “What?”

  “Pregnancy makes me crave certain foods.”

  “Like ice cream and pickles?”

  “Well . . . no. When I was pregnant with the twins, there was one food I couldn’t eat enough of.”

  “I’ll buy out the store.”

  Hope smiled. “Sweet. But maybe you want to hear what that food was first.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Whatever it is—”

  “Hot dogs,” she said.

  He couldn’t keep the horrified look off his face.

  “Look on the bright side.”

  “Hot dogs don’t have a bright side.”

  “My husband is an expert at cooking them.”

  His laughter bounced off the walls. He enfolded her back into his arms and wondered for the millionth time how he’d ever let her go.

  A deafening noise permeated the motor home. The sound grew louder and louder the closer it came.

  Hope scooted off the bed and walked out to the front. Nick followed. She drew the curtain back and looked out the window and then gasped.

  “Nick?” She looked at him questioningly. “Why are there hundreds of people outside our home?”

  Home. Yes, it truly was. “I didn’t lose.”

  She yelled and threw herself into his arms. “Oh, Nick. I’m so happy. This is what you’ve waited your whole life for.”

  “No,” he said. “You, Joshua, Susan”—he placed his hand against her still-flat tummy—“and our new baby are what I’ve waited my whole life for. It just took me a little while to figure that out. But just don’t think you’re going to get a diamond every time I get you pregnant.”

  She laughed through her tears and was back in his arms. Nick laughed too because he knew damn well he’d give her anything she wanted.

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