“Psalms says, ‘Raise up a child in the way he should go, and he will not depart from it,’” Jeremiah said. That surprised Dawn. “My parents raised me in church, too,” he continued, “but after my sister died, we stopped going.”
“Wow.”
“I’ve always meant to go back, but I always find an excuse not to. Anyway, I shouldn’t have interrupted. Do you want to finish your story?”
“Yeah,” she answered.
“So I graduated from college, went back home, and found a good job. I taught Sunday school and got involved with my church’s youth group. I loved it. I was happy. I didn’t really mind the fact that I wasn’t dating because I stayed busy with all those other things.” She paused as the waiter brought them coffee. She added some cream and sugar to her cup, then took a sip. She continued, “Then my cousin’s wife decided to set me up on a date. I was hesitant at first because blind dates had never worked out before. But I agreed and went out with her cousin Kevin. We hit it off instantly. He was the first guy that I let myself be comfortable around.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“My best friend from high school, Tina, was the type to wear her heart on her sleeve. If a guy was nice to her for two days in a row, she was in love. She trusted so easily and got her heart broken so many times.” Dawn blinked back tears as she struggled to continue.
“And it was best friend Dawn who stepped in, picked up the pieces, and told her that everything would be okay”
“Every time. Because of that, I built up my defenses. I was going to protect myself and my heart. No one was going to hurt me that way.” Dawn took another sip of coffee. Looking down, she continued, “Tina was killed in a car accident just a few months before our fifth-year class reunion.”
“Oh, no, Dawn. That’s awful.” He leaned in close and put his hand on her shoulder.
“She was the sister I never had. I thought I would go crazy. Everything made me think of her. I would see a cute guy that I knew was her type, and I would think to myself, ‘I can’t wait to go home and call Tina.’ Then I would remember that I couldn’t call Tina.”
“Honey, I understand,” Jeremiah said as he gave Dawn’s hand a comforting squeeze. “My sister loved pink. She was the typical girly-girl, and everything she owned was pink. It was a long time before I could look at anything pink without crying.” He wiped a tear with his other hand while he spoke. “I understand why you felt the need to protect yourself. So what happened with Kevin?”
“I really liked him. At first, I tried to find a reason not to. You know, I wanted to end things my way before he hurt me, but I couldn’t. I decided I was tired of playing that game. The more time I spent with him, and the more I got to know him, the more I found myself falling for him. He lived in another small town about twenty miles away. He was just as involved in his church as I was with mine. It was difficult at first, but we took turns going to church with each other on Sunday nights. We dated for ten months. He was supposed to go to my youth group service one Wednesday night, but he called that day to say that he was sick. He was going to stay home. That night, Lindsey, the youth pastor at my church, got me up front to help with the lesson. Imagine my surprise when Kevin walked out from where he was hiding, hit one knee, said he loved me, and proposed. They had set me up. I was shocked. I cried. He cried. Everybody cried. Then I said yes, and everybody cheered.” Dawn laughed at the memory.
“So why aren’t you still engaged?”
She took another sip of coffee, but it was getting cold. “I caught him with another woman.”
“No!” Jeremiah exclaimed.
“Yes.” There were tears in Dawn’s eyes again. “Two weeks before the wedding, I stopped by his house, the house we were going to live in after we got married, to drop off some wedding stuff. There was a car that I didn’t recognize in the driveway. I didn’t think too much of it because he had so many friends and a large family. He almost always had company. I walked into the house, and there he was, on the couch asleep, naked with his ex-girlfriend.”
“What did you do?” Jeremiah asked. He was leaning forward with his elbows on the table, hanging on every word.
“I left. I turned and walked out. I got into my car, picked up my cell phone, and called my mom. When I told her what I had seen, I broke down and sobbed. Cried like a baby. Mom was on the phone crying. We weren’t talking, just crying.” Jeremiah had been holding her hand during the whole story. Now he was absentmindedly stroking her hand with his thumb. Dawn took a moment to collect her thoughts and went on. “I don’t know how long I was there, but that’s how Kevin found me.”
“What did you do then?”
“Locked the doors. He knocked on the window, but I wouldn’t roll them down. He tried to explain, but I turned up the radio. As soon as I felt like I was okay to drive, I left.”
“Oh, sweetie,” Jeremiah said as he squeezed her hand again, encouraging her to go on.
“I went home and told my dad and brothers. He showed up about fifteen minutes after I got home.”
“What happened then?”
“By that time, I had had time to think about it. I was mad, and I let him have it.”
“Really?”
“Yes. He tried to explain, but I wouldn’t let him. I told him that there was no excuse for what he had done and no way I would ever forgive him. I told him that he was going to pay the caterer and the florist for everything they had done for the wedding. Then I told him that he was giving me the honeymoon tickets.”
“Did he?”
“Eventually. He didn’t want to, but he finally agreed. I think if he hadn’t done everything I wanted, my dad and brothers would have hurt him. They were looking for an excuse to. Anyway, two weeks later, I went to Hawaii with my best friend from college. She would’ve been my maid of honor.”
“Do you ever talk to him?”
“Not really. He calls the house, but I don’t talk to him.”
“Does he go to your house?”
Dawn laughed at that question. “No way. Dad made it perfectly clear that if Kevin ever stepped foot on his property he would leave on a stretcher.”
“I don’t blame your dad. I don’t know this Kevin guy, but I’d like to punch him in the face.”
“The craziest part of the whole thing was this nagging thought that if I had just kept my guard up, kept protecting myself, none of it would have happened.”
“Sweetie. It wasn’t your fault. He was a jerk.”
“I thought so at first, but he really isn’t. He said that he ‘made a bad decision,’” Dawn said. “I guess I have forgiven him for that, but I don’t trust him anymore. I can’t be with someone that I don’t trust.”
“Trust is a very important part of any relationship.”
“Yep. Well, that’s my sad story.”
“It is a sad story,” Jeremiah said. “But it’s better this way.”
“I know. That makes it easier. You know what they say, ’tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”
“I’d love to talk more, but I think the restaurant is closing. We better go,” Jeremiah said as he put his linen napkin on the table. He got out of his chair then helped Dawn out of hers.
She looked up at him. “Thanks for listening.”
“Hey,” he said with a smile, “that’s what friends are for.”
The next morning when Dawn got to the garage area, all the guys on Bryan’s crew were waiting for her. They were lined up with their arms crossed and big grins on all their faces. “What’s going on here?” she asked. “What are you guys up to?”
“Well,” Bryan said as he stepped out of line and made his way toward her, “we’ve decided that today is the day that you officially become one of us.” By this point in his speech, he had reached Dawn and placed one hand on each o
f her shoulders.
“I don’t think I like the sound of this,” Dawn said. She was actually scared. “What are you planning on doing to me?”
“As part of your official initiation into our group…”—when he paused, he made a gesture toward the line of guys. The line parted, revealing the car—“you get to take a ride in the car.”
“No. I don’t think so.” Dawn tried to protest, but they weren’t listening. The crew gave her a fire suit, and when she balked, someone handed her a helmet while someone else started hooking all kinds of straps and safety devices to her. Dawn was really freaking out. “Enough, guys. Joke’s over. Ha-ha, you really got me good. I agreed to sit in the car while you pushed it, but I never agreed to this.” But they still weren’t listening. Most of the crew started to push the car out of the garage, toward the track. Ted got her by the elbow to pull her along with them. Dawn had had enough. “Stop it!” That finally got everybody’s attention. They all stopped what they were doing and turned toward her. “I don’t know if this is y’alls’ version of a practical joke or something, but it ain’t funny. If y’all think you’re gonna get me in that car, then you’re gonna hafta physically drag me out to the track and force me into that car. I may be small, but I promise that I’ll put up one heck of a fight.” With that, she turned and headed back to the garage. On top of everything, Dawn hated how her thick southern accent came out when she was upset.
Bryan ran after her and caught her. When he touched her arm, she shrugged him away. “Please don’t touch me.”
“Stop and talk to me.” When she turned around, he saw that she had tears in her eyes. “Are you really that afraid to ride in a race car?” he asked gently.
“No.” She had to pause, take a deep breath, and collect herself a little. “No, not really. But I am scared, and you guys are springing this on me all of a sudden and forcing me into it. I usually do better if I have time to think about things first and plan them out. I didn’t get to do that. That made me really uncomfortable.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “We thought it would be funnier this way, to get you into the car and on the track before you had a chance to chicken out. We’ve been planning this for a couple of days. But we never meant to scare you, and we won’t force you to do anything that you don’t want to do. I promise.”
“Thank you.” By this time, all the team had gathered around them. “I promise that I will take a ride in the car sooner or later, but you have to let me think about it and work my way up to it. Okay?”
“Okay,” they all said.
“Now, let’s get all this nastiness behind us and get back to work,” Bryan told them.
“All right, y’all,” Ted said.
The problem was that there wasn’t anything to do that day. Qualifying was done. There was no practice today. The car was running great and didn’t need any work. There was no media or public appearances for Bryan. So, Dawn and the crew spent most of the morning playing Texas Hold’Em. Dawn wasn’t very good and didn’t have much money to lose so she was out pretty quick. She cleaned up around the garage area and ordered Chinese food for everybody. Then she cleaned up again after everyone had finished eating. Then she found a comfortable spot in a corner and read a book. Boredom finally overtook her about an hour later, so she decided to take a walk.
As she approached the pit area, she noticed a lot of people were gathered there along with a couple of race cars. As she got closer, she saw that Jeremiah was standing next to one of the cars. As she walked toward him, she thought about last night. Had he called her sweetie and darling and sweetheart? He had, and she had let him. Their relationship had changed last night. He kissed her. Is that what she wanted? Was she ready? “Oh, Lord,” she silently prayed, “I want to be in your will, and I want to please you, but I’m not sure about this. My heart hasn’t healed from the last time. If it gets broken again, I don’t know what I’ll do. Please be with me, Father. I’m confused, and I need your guidance.” She ended her prayer when she got to the pit where everybody was standing.
Jeremiah saw her and waved her over to where he was standing with a small group of people. “What’s going on, beautiful?”
“Just taking a walk. What’s going on here?”
“Giving a few people a chance to take a ride around the track to experience what I do every week.”
“People pay to do this?”
“Yes. They love it. Many say it’s the coolest thing they have ever done.”
“Really? Bryan and the gang tried to get me to do this this morning, but I chickened out. They sprung it on me all of a sudden and scared me. I promised to think about it.”
“You should. It’s really cool, and it will really help you to understand what Bryan and I do.”
“That’s what they said.”
“It’s true. I’m here to take some of my sponsors’ bigwigs around the track. I’ll take you too, if you want.”
“No, thank you. I’m not ready yet. But can I hang out here and watch?”
“Certainly. Let me help you over the wall, and you can sit here and watch for as long as you like.”
“Thanks.” Dawn offered her hand to Jeremiah, and he helped her over the wall. While he had her hand, he pulled her against him and stole a quick kiss. “Jeremiah, people are watching.”
“There’s nothing wrong with two people who like each other a lot doing a little kissing,” he said as he dipped his head for another quick kiss, but Dawn ducked her head away.
“Later,” she told him teasingly.
“Promise?” he teased back. Before Dawn could answer, someone from the group yelled at Jeremiah and motioned for him to join them. “We’ll talk later,” he said before he jogged over to the group. Dawn sat on the pit wall and watched all the activity. Jeremiah shook hands with everyone and then started getting ready. He was already wearing his fire suit. He put on his gloves and the other protective gear. Then he grabbed his helmet and climbed into the car while a petite redhead got in on the other side. Dawn could see that they made small talk for a couple of minutes before Jeremiah put on his helmet. He looked over at Dawn and gave her a wave. She wished she could see his eyes. She had a feeling that he winked at her. Then he started the car, and it began to roll off pit road. Dawn watched as they made a slow lap around the track at highway speed. As they came out of turn 4, the car started to speed up. The start/finish line was only a few yards away, and they passed it so fast. Dawn heard someone tell Jeremiah over the radio that he was up to 125 mph. Unbelievable. Dawn watched as they made two laps. She was sure they had gone even faster than 125, but she never heard anyone say. The next thing Dawn knew, the car pulled back into pit lane. When the car stopped, the redhead got out of the car, jumped up and down several times, and finally yelled at the top of her lungs. Then she ran around the car, leaned into Jeremiah’s window, and gave him a big bear hug. After that, she ran over to the group and started to tell them all about her experience. She eagerly encouraged the next person to take their turn. After the initial excitement wore off, Dawn approached the lady.
“Hi. You don’t know me, but my name is Dawn Montgomery. I work for Bryan Richardson,” she explained. “Bryan and his crew are trying to convince me to do what you just did. Can I ask you about it?”
“You should do it. You really should,” The woman answered. “It was by far the coolest thing I have ever done in my life,” the woman said, still out of breath.
“Were you scared?”
“A little at first, but before we ever got started, Jeremiah assured me that he wouldn’t do anything I didn’t want him to do. He talked to me through the whole ride. He kept asking me if I was okay and if it was okay for him to go a little faster. He really assured me that it is very safe and that everything would be okay.”
“What about the ride?”
“It was awesome. Everything went by so fast. T
he fences and seats and everything were just a blur. Once he got really close to the wall, and I screamed. I just knew that we were going to hit it, but Jeremiah said that everything would be okay. Then he just drove away from it.”
“Did it make you sick?”
“Yes, but Jeremiah said it was because I was trying to focus on things that were going by so fast. He told me to concentrate on something stationary and in the distance, so I kept my eyes on the scoring tower in the middle of the infield. Once I did that, the queasiness went away.”
“And you think I should do it?” Dawn asked.
“Definitely. Everyone should give it a try. I loved it!”
“I’ll consider it. Thank you for your time,” Dawn said as she turned to watch more people take their turn.
Dawn watched while Jeremiah took everyone in the group on a couple of laps around the track. Everyone had the same reaction. They all got out of the car so excited. After the last person got out of the car, Jeremiah walked over to the group for a last round of handshakes. Most of the women even hugged him. After the last thank you, Jeremiah walked over to Dawn. “So what did you think?”
“I’m going to do it!”
“Great,” he said. “I’ll go get my gear back on, and we’ll go right now.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’d better let Bryan take me. I think I hurt his feelings when I refused to go with him. I need to make it up to him.”
“I understand,” he told her, “but you better let me know when you’re going to go so that I can be there.”
The next morning, Dawn was regretting her decision. When she walked into the garage stall yesterday and told everyone she had changed her mind, they had been so excited. But as she stood here in a fire suit while being hooked up to a bunch of safety equipment, she wondered if she could change her mind back. Her apprehension must’ve shown on her face because Ted asked her if she was okay. She didn’t answer because she wasn’t sure.
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