“That’s awesome. Did you ever ride?”
“I did. I stopped competing when I was about sixteen. I thought about going into motocross racing. But I love the track too much. And when I tried motocross for racing, I didn’t enjoy it as much. So I decided to stop and help my brothers instead.”
“Do you miss it?”
“Oh yes. And I do get on the track as much as I can. But I just don’t have as much endurance as the guys. My brothers and I used to race all the time, but as we got older, I could see how much more they could do. And I was offered a spot in the juniors and I did well. But at the end of the day, I was so tired. More tired than my brothers were.”
“That’s fair, but I love that you still ride. I learned to ride with my last team. The rider I worked with taught me and it was incredible. But after a few laps, I was hot and tired.” I laugh.
Élodie and Eden laugh.
“It’s a lot harder than people think. I hear people say things like, ‘What’s so hard? All they do is ride a motorcycle.’ And it makes me laugh. If only it was that easy.”
“Oh I know, right? I’ve heard people say that too. I love that you’ll be there, I was worried when I got the job. Because I knew there weren’t many women on the grid. But all the guys on your brothers’ teams are great. Not one of them has made me feel like I don’t belong.”
“That’s because of our da. He always made sure that the teams were a part of our family. Some of the guys that Emerson had were part of our da’s team.”
“Matteo said it’s not often that a spot opens up. My old teammates were the ones who told me about it. None of them wanted to move away. Most of them have families, but since it was just River and me, I needed to try. I honestly didn’t think that I would get the job.”
“Fate works her magic when you least expect it.” Élodie smiles as she hugs me.
Unknown number: Don’t be stupid. I told you to come home and that I needed to talk to you. I’m still your mother. I brought you into this world and I can take you out
Holy shit. She’s threatening me.
“Are you okay?” Élodie asks.
“I just got another text from my mother. I blocked her number and I don’t recognize this one,” I say as I show my phone to both of them.
“Holy shit. Did she just threaten you?” Eden frowns.
“You need to tell Emerson. Let’s get over to the sanctuary. I’m sure Sebastiano and Francesco will be there too. They all need to see this.”
We hurry to finish cleaning up. We jump into the four-wheeler and head over to the sanctuary. I see Emerson and River sitting together, Emerson’s teaching him how to skip rocks. I love him so much. Élodie goes with me and takes River to play with all his new cousins.
I show Emerson the text that came in.
“What the fuck? I need to show Bastian,” he says as he takes my hand and we walk towards Sebastiano.
“Wow. That’s not a text I’ve ever seen a parent send before. But I do have some information. Let me get the kids situated and we can talk.”
I love how many little ones there are in the family. River fits in perfectly and watching him run and play is the best. I’m starting to see how much he was missing when it was just the two of us.
“Are you okay?” Emerson asks.
“I worry that I’ve hurt River by keeping him all to myself. Watching him play with the kids here makes see how happy he is now.”
“You could never hurt him. And he’s a really happy kid, you’re doing a great job,” he says as he kisses me.
“Thank you.” I smile at him.
“Okay, let’s talk over there,” Sebastiano says as he waves at Francesco to join us.
Sebastiano has me show Francesco the text message.
“After Emerson talked to all of us last night, I couldn’t sleep. So I started looking into your situation. I found that your mother hired a private detective. Which is probably how she got your number and how she knew that you’re back in Illinois.”
“So do I need to change my number again? And if I do, how do I keep them from getting it?”
