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I ruffle his hair. “Give her some grace about coming here. She’s been through a lot these past few months, and she’s trying her best.”
“I know.”
“Now, let’s get this motor put back together and take this machine for a joyride through the valley,” I suggest.
“Yeah,” he agrees.
We cruise up and down the valley a few times when I decide to pull into the festival grounds. The space is an eight-acre venue, fully equipped with water and electricity, internet connection, restrooms, concession stands, a large stage, and an ample parking lot. It’s home to many classic car and Jeep shows, motorcycle rallies, craft fairs, holiday markets, an autumn concert series, and much more, but today, it is empty.
I pull into the center of the grounds and park. I take the keys from the ignition and hand them to Caleb.
He looks from the keys to me.
“What are we doing?” he asks.
“I’m going to give you your first driving lesson.”
His eyes go wide. “What?”
“Switch places with me,” I say as I open my door and exit the car.
He does as I asked, and he climbs behind the steering wheel and me in the passenger seat.
He is so nervous that he white-knuckles the steering wheel before I even get settled beside him.
“Are you ready?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “What if I crash it?” he asks.
“That’s why I brought you here. There’s no traffic. No lines to stay in. It’s just a big, open field. You aren’t going to hit anything or anyone. We’ll just go over the basics.”
He relaxes a little, and I show him how to adjust his seat and mirrors and give him an overview of the controls.
When he is comfortable and ready, he slides the key into the ignition. A huge smile spreads across his face as the engine roars to life.
For the next few hours, he gets used to driving, uses the signal to make right and left turns, and backs up in a straight line. We end with a few head-spinning doughnuts, and the kid has a blast.
I’m fairly sure he didn’t miss his video games for a second.
