AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He shrugs. “At this point, I could care less. Anyway, we have the footage from the garage coming. I’m not sure how we pulled it off, but I’m hoping something will prove my theory.”
“I have a good feeling about this,” I tell him as I walk towards the door. “I’m going to go try the simulator out before Monday. We should know if my head gets triggered by that.”
“You are correct in that assessment,” he says. “Please be careful. The first sign of—”
“I know,” I interrupt him. “I will stop if any symptoms appear. I promise.”
“Okay,” he mumbles as I head out of the office.
***
Monday - August 1
“I’m nervous,” I admit to Saint who is sitting on the edge of his bed. I stayed over last night—well, pretty much the weekend since being cleared.
“Nervous about getting into the car?” He pulls me down to him, enclosing me in his arms.
“Yeah. The simulator was fine, no symptoms, but that wasn’t real. It wasn’t the car; it wasn’t two hundred miles per hour...” I trail off as he runs his hand up and down my back.
“It’s okay to be scared and nervous. That’s why we booked the track, to ease you back into racing. I’m not sure there’s a racer out there that wouldn’t be scared to get back in that seat after an accident like yours,” he assures me.
“It doesn’t make me weak?”
Saint shakes his head and places a kiss on my cheek. “No, sweetheart. It doesn’t make you weak. It makes you human.”
Tears start to form in the corners of my eyes. “I love you,” I whisper, completely astonished that those words slipped out of my mouth. We haven’t said those to each other, and here I go letting them slip.
Saint cups my face and crashed his lips to mine. I feel relief. “I love you too, sweetheart,” he laughs. “I told you I loved you in the hospital when you were in the coma. I begged you to wake up, that I needed you, and that I loved you.”
I shake my head. “I don’t remember that at all. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s alright. You were in a coma, sweetie. But I am happy to hear that you love me.”
I smile. “You are?”
He nods his head, a smile forms on his lips. “And I'm going to show every inch of your body how much when we get home tonight.”
“You really are incorrigible.” I smack his chest. Saint chuckles as I stand from his lap. “Come on, we have race car to get me back into.”
***
The test track was better than I anticipated. Saint convinced Hunter to demand Bud not be there. I think him not being there took a level of apprehension away.
Neil, Mac, and Saint were there, as was Elle. We took it slow so that my confidence and fear calmed. Saint coached me through the radio, giving me encouragement when I needed it. Eventually, I was able to get the car up to about one hundred and sixty and didn’t have a panic attack. Two hundred...that was a different story. Panic did start to set in, but Saint and Elle helped me refocus and talked me through it.
All in all, it was a positive afternoon.
“I’m really proud of you, Haisley,” Saint whispers into my ear.
“Thank you. I couldn’t have done it without the four of you, honestly.”
“We believe in you, Haisley. We’re always going to have your back,” Neil replies as I give him a hug.
“Let’s take Nashville,” I say, smiling as the five of us come together for a group hug.
