by Jim Cangany
The driver raised an eyebrow. “Quite a trip, mate. It’s going to cost.”
“Doesn’t matter. Let’s go.”
When they pulled away from the curb, Brad let out a breath and massaged his neck muscles. Surely Rafael would text him if he heard from Gabrielle, so Brad took the no news is good news approach.
Instead of chewing his fingernails into nothingness, he tried to put his thoughts in order so if he did catch Gabrielle in time, he didn’t end up blithering like an idiot. What, exactly, did he want to tell her?
He wanted to say he was sorry. He was wrong for practically shoving her out the door. He should have asked her to stay, not that it would have made sense for her to do so, but because she deserved to know how much she meant to him.
He wanted to ask her to come back to Indiana with him. That if she agreed, he’d do anything to make her happy, because by saying yes, she’d make him the happiest guy on Earth.
Lastly, and most importantly, he wanted, he needed, to tell her he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. She’d brought him back to life and made that life worth living. If she’d have him, he’d do everything in his power to prove that he was worthy of her love, and he’d move mountains to make her the happiest woman on Earth.
His phone brought him out of his planning. The text from Rafael had good news. He’d called Gabrielle under the pretense of wishing her luck and was able to find out she was caught in traffic. She hadn’t made it out of London yet. Brad would reach the Jensen Center before she did.
As a thank you, Brad promised Rafael a seat in Gale Force Racing’s suite for the next year’s Crossroads Five Hundred. He chose not to finish the text by qualifying that the offer depended on Gabrielle saying yes.
A little while later, the Jensen facility came into view. The historic facility left him speechless. At least until he saw the security gate.
“Let me do the talking, mate.” The taxi driver was a chatty sort named David, who’d cajoled Brad into sharing his story. “My wife loves a good happily ever after.”
Brad smiled and nodded but kept his mouth shut. His new friend had a silver tongue. A weight slipped from Brad’s shoulders when the guard nodded, gave Brad a little salute, and raised the gate.
“Thank you, my friend. Thank you.” Brad gave David’s shoulder a friendly squeeze as he paid the man. “Here’s my card. If you’re ever in the States, let me know. Race tickets for you and your wife will be waiting for you.”
David gave him a wave as he drove away, leaving Brad in the shadow of the Jensen building. He didn’t want to think of it as enemy territory, since he was sure these people were nice enough, but still. He’d come all this way to ask Gabrielle to go back to Indiana with him while these people wanted her to stay here. He’d think of them as opponents. Who he had every intention of beating.
That was putting the cart before of the horse. For now, all he could do was rehearse his speech. And wait.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his good-luck charm. “Could use a little help, J.P.,” he said as he gazed at the Euro.
• • •
Gabrielle looked out the window as the concrete of the London cityscape gave way to row houses with tiny yards. It made her nervous sitting in the front left seat of the Range Rover and not having a steering wheel in front of her. To her right, Lizzy tapped a manicured fingernail on the wheel in perfect time to a pop tune on the radio.
“Do you mind if I ask you a question?” Lizzy pointed to Gabrielle’s right wrist. “I’m curious about the tattoo on the inside of your wrist there.”
She told Lizzy about the semicolon. How, with help from her family and doctors, she’d managed to claw her way out of the abyss of depression. Along the journey, she’d learned to live by the axiom: where there is life, there is hope.
“I had it done as a way to promote suicide prevention efforts. The suicide rate in America is growing the fastest among pre-teen and teenage girls. One of the reasons I wanted to start Racer Girlz is to help build self-esteem among that segment of the population.”
“That’s brilliant.” They talked about how Gabrielle could modify Racer Girlz to fit seamlessly into a European model. Lizzy got more animated with each word.
On the other hand, Gabrielle couldn’t help feeling a little melancholy. She recalled the day at the dirt track when she told Brad about the tattoo.
She must have talked for an hour. The entire time, Brad held her hand as she emptied herself of the toxic memories. Then afterward, the way he hugged her and told her it was going to be okay made her feel loved like nobody had loved her before.
A few days later, she noticed a similar tattoo on the inside of Brad’s left wrist. When she questioned him about it, he shrugged.
“What you told me really hit home. I wanted to do this for you and other people who think there’s only one way out.”
She shook her head of the memory when Lizzy brought the vehicle to a stop. Her new friend waved a keycard in front of a black panel and then gestured hello to a man in uniform in the guard house.
When they were almost to the front of the building, Lizzy jammed on the brakes. “Who is that strange person, and what is he doing here?”
Gabrielle turned in the direction Lizzy was pointing. A man in rumpled clothing with short, brown hair was pacing back and forth underneath a tree and flipping a coin. When he turned in her direction, her heart skidded to a halt.
“Oh my God. It’s Brad.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Brad came to a stop when a white SUV and a black sedan behind it shut off their engines. God, don’t let it be security coming to haul me off to a cell someplace. He hadn’t shaved in two days, his shorts were mustard-stained, and his shirt was pitted-out from running around the airport.
Not exactly the best way to ask the love of his life to give up a spot in the most famous racing circuit in the world and come back to Fleetwood, Indiana, with him. He flipped J.P.’s coin a final time and slipped it into his pocket.
One of the SUV doors opened, and Gabrielle emerged. Simply exquisite in a white sleeveless top and green skirt, she stood as still as a statue with her head cocked to one side for a few moments, as if deciding whether he was real or a nightmare.
She took a tentative stop toward him. “Brad? Is it really you?”
“Yeah, believe it or not. Surprise.” He waved and then shoved his hands in his pockets, furious with himself.
She’d given him the perfect opening to make his plea in an eloquent fashion, and he totally blew it.
She moved toward him as a blond woman got out of the SUV and a trio of men in suits stepped from the sedan. One of the men had a phone to his ear. He was probably calling for security. That was good. It meant Brad had a couple of minutes. Maybe.
Gabrielle came closer but stopped ten feet away. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you.” He wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.
“Gabrielle, do you need help?” the blonde asked. The woman had something in her hand. Hopefully it wasn’t pepper spray.
“No, I’m okay.” She halved the distance between them. “Am I?” She kept her voice low enough that Brad was the only person who could hear it.
“Yes, totally. I promise.” He held up his hands as if to surrender. “If it’s not too late, there are a couple of things I need to say to you.”
“Really, Brad?” She closed her eyes and massaged her forehead. “I’m about to go in that building behind you and sign a contract that will change my life, and now you want to talk?” She crossed her arms. “What could you possibly have to say?”
His throat was desert dry. It was now or never. Help me, J.P. “For starters, I want to say I’m sorry. You never held anything back from me. Not then and not now. The same can’t be said for me.”
The suits had joined the blonde at the front of the SUV. For the moment, they seemed content to leave this between him and Gabrielle.
“After you g
ot the offer to come here, I was being honest when I said I wanted you to be happy. What I wasn’t honest about was letting you know how much you mean to me. I put together a counter offer. It’s peanuts compared to what these guys are offering you, but I never even gave you the chance to look at it.”
Gabrielle put her hand on her hip. “It hurts to be told that now, you know. There was never any ‘please stay.’ It was all, like, ‘Knock them dead, Gabrielle. Send us a picture from Europe.’ After all we’d been through. After all we accomplished. Can you imagine how that felt?”
“No, I can’t.” This was so not going the way he’d hoped. She hadn’t signed, though, so he still had a chance. “All I can say is I’m sorry. If I had the chance to do it over again, I would in a heartbeat. Because you’re the best thing to happen to Gale Force Racing.” He took a deep breath and made sure he had eye contact. “And more importantly, you’re the best thing to happen to me.”
Gabrielle scratched her wrist, right where her tattoo was. She turned and looked at their observers. When they didn’t say anything, she came within an arm’s length of him. “You’re making one heck of a scene, Brad. If you have anything else to say, you better say it now.”
Behind him, a vehicle skidded to a stop, and two doors opened and then shut. A radio crackled to life, but he couldn’t make out the conversation.
“Come back to Fleetwood with me. You’ve made me the happiest man on Earth, and it wasn’t until you left that I realized it. You’re my world, Gabrielle. If you come back with me, I’ll do anything and everything to make you the happiest woman in the world. I know I’m asking you to give up a dream of a lifetime, but maybe together we can make a new dream, our own dream. The two of us. What do you say?”
“You came all this way to ask me this?” She smiled when he nodded. “What if I say no?”
Brad’s blood ran cold, but he wasn’t a quitter. Not anymore. Not after what Gabrielle taught him about perseverance. “Then I’ll say thanks for hearing me out and walk through that gate, and I won’t bother you anymore.”
“That’s it?”
“No, that’s not it.” With his left hand, he took her right hand so they could see the matching reminders of hope. “You’ve made me a better man than I thought possible. You’ve shown me the light when I thought there was only darkness. You touched my heart and showed me joy I didn’t think could exist. I was broken, and you fixed me.”
Someone was running down the steps of the building. His time was up.
“I love you, Gabrielle. I won’t stop loving you, ever.” He pulled his sketchpad out of his bag and handed her the piece he’d worked on while on the plane. “There’s a piece of land just outside Fleetwood. It would be perfect for a couple starting out. Perfect for us. Please come back with me. Please come home.”
“Gabrielle, who is this vagrant?”
Brad turned toward the voice and came face to face with the A-1 legend himself, Sir Kenneth Jensen. He wanted to introduce himself. He wanted to offer to shake, but he couldn’t. He was too starstruck to do anything other than stand there, in awe.
Gabrielle came to his rescue. “Sir Kenny, this is Brad Thomas, the team director for Gale Force Racing. He’s also my friend.”
“Well, what’s he doing here on my grounds?” The man’s bushy eyebrows were furrowed, and he was frowning.
“He came here to ask me to come back to Indiana with him.”
The blonde and her entourage joined the group. “Charmed, I’m sure, Mr. Thomas,” she said. “But we’re on a tight schedule, and we really must be getting inside. After you, Gabrielle.”
Silence reigned as Gabrielle looked toward the test track. She brushed a few strands of hair away from her face. A single tear hung at the corner of her eye. With her right hand, she took Brad’s left.
And smiled.
Her eyes said it all. With his thumb, he wiped away the tear. He felt a few of his own coming on but was pretty sure he could hold them in until they were someplace private.
Mr. Jensen cleared his throat. “Lizzy, gentlemen, would you give the three of us some privacy?”
When the bystanders were clustered on the building’s steps, the older gentleman shook Brad’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Thomas. I’ve become quite the fan of your team this year.”
Holy cow, Sir Kenneth Jensen, an immortal in racing, was actually speaking to him, a nobody on a second-level American team. “Thank you, sir. The honor is mine. All the credit goes to Gabrielle. She’s the one who made the magic happen on the track.”
Gabrielle squeezed his hand. If she never let it go, that would be okay.
“Quite right. She’s had me under her spell for a number of years now.” He faced Gabrielle. “I was looking forward to seeing you again today. I didn’t expect our reunion to happen out here, I must admit.”
Even with her dark complexion, Gabrielle’s cheeks turned pink. “I’m sorry, Sir Kenny. I didn’t expect . . . ”
“You didn’t expect him to come so far to tell you how much you mean to him.” He gave Brad’s shoulder a squeeze. “This tells me quite a lot about your determination, young man. Add that to the experience you’ve gained working with Gabrielle this season, and I believe we could find a place for you within the organization. What would you say to that?”
“If it means I get to stay with Gabrielle, then I accept.” He put out his hand to shake.
“Splendid. I’ll have Lizzy put something together.” He took Gabrielle’s hand and patted it twice. “I can offer you many things, Gabrielle, but what this man has done by simply being here tells me the three of us will have quite the future together.”
“It tells me something, too.” Gabrielle chuckled as she shook her head. “Wow.” Then she furrowed her eyebrows. “Wait a minute.” For a long moment, she stared at the sketch. “What about this? You called it home. And what about Barbara, and Scott, and everybody else on the team? You can’t just leave them behind, especially after you worked so hard to get the team to where it is now.”
“They all know how I feel about you. They’ll understand.” His cheeks got hot making such a personal admission in front of Sir Kenneth, but it was true. “As far as the house goes, if you’ll have me, I’ll figure out a way to make it work. We could live there in the offseason, maybe. Whatever you want, I’ll make it happen.”
She stared at him, her bewitching ice-blue eyes holding him in place. If she was searching for any uncertainty or equivocation, she wouldn’t find any.
“You’d really do that?” Gabrielle snapped her fingers. “Just like that?”
“Yes. For you.”
“I’ve never felt so wanted in my life.” Gabrielle laughed, but it was a shaky, as if she might be on the edge of tears.
“Then let’s go inside,” Sir Kenneth said. “I believe we have some paperwork to attend to.” He motioned toward the door.
“No.”
“I’m sorry?” The racing legend’s arm was still in the air.
“No, I’m the one who’s sorry.” Gabrielle wrapped her hands around Sir Kenneth’s. “You’ve been more than wonderful to me, and what you’re offering me, us, is a dream come true, but I can’t do it.”
“Why not, may I ask?”
She turned to Brad. “This is something that’s bigger than the two of us. There are people back in Indiana who are depending on us. We’ve laid the foundation, and now it’s time to see how high we can go. I want to reach the top. With Gale Force Racing. Don’t you?”
“Of course I do, but I want you to be happy,” Brad said. “That’s what matters most to me.”
“I know that now.” She kissed Brad’s cheek and put her head on his shoulder. “And that’s all I need to know.”
Sir Kenneth looked at the ground for a moment. “Yes. I see that. Given Mr. Thomas is offering you something priceless, which even with all of my resources I cannot match, I will make a graceful exit with my best wishes to the both of you.”
The living lege
nd shook their hands, bowed to them, and walked away. When he reached the steps, he herded his employees into the building.
Under a clear blue, sun-soaked sky, Brad had Gabrielle to himself. Had it really happened? Had the biggest, craziest gamble in his life actually paid off?
“You really came all this way for me?”
He put his arm around her and buried his face in her hair. She smelled like a warm spring day. In other words, perfection.
“Yeah. The trip was nothing compared to how far I’ve come, thanks to you.” He swallowed. “So you really want to come home with me?”
“Now that I think about it, I do have some unfinished business with a certain driver.” Gabrielle wrapped her arms around Brad and gave him a long, hungry kiss that left him breathless and weak in the knees.
“Yes. Yes, I do want to go home with you, you insane fool. How could I say no after all this?”
He kissed her back, and, this time, it was Gabrielle who was breathless.
“Wow.” She batted her eyelashes at him. “After that, let’s get going right now.” She grabbed her purse from the SUV. “Shall we?”
Hand in hand, they walked down the lane. The song in Brad’s heart was joined by birds cheerfully twittering in a nearby bush. Now it was time for the real adventure to begin.
• • •
They were almost at the gate when Gabrielle stopped. “Um, Brad, how exactly are we going to get home?”
He crossed his fingers. “If I’m right, I have that covered.” He led her past the gatehouse and across the road to where a taxi was waiting, with a smiling face behind the wheel.
“Well done, mate.” David leapt from the car and shook Brad’s hand like he was priming an old-fashioned water pump.
“And cheers to you, love.” He tipped his hat to her as he opened the door to the backseat.
Once they were settled in the vehicle, David produced a bottle of champagne and gave it to them. “I couldn’t leave without seeing how this one turned out. I had a feeling, you might say. Can’t wait to tell my wife about this little adventure. She does love a happy ending.”