Adrenaline

Her eyes were on me and I could feel the intensity of her stare.

“You seem to forget I know everything that goes on in your life . . . probably better than you. I also hear things.”

I turned to her and raised an eyebrow. “You hear things? What kind of things?”

She smirked as she went back to making the sandwiches. “Oh you know, Dalton making arrangements for . . . visitors. Ashley, Emmit’s sister, and her visits to you. Those kinds of things.”

“You knew about Ashley?”

Janet let out a dry laugh. “What do you pay me for, Malcolm? Do you know how many times I had to cover for you? Like the one time you flew Ashley in for a . . . visit . . . and Emmit almost walked onto your bus with his little sister in there. I intercepted him, because if he ever found out, you’d have gotten two broken legs at the hands of

one very pissed off brother.”

My mouth fell open. “Wow. Janet, you’re like Super Woman.”

She nodded. “Yes, I am.”

I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her brown hair that was sprinkled with bits of grey throughout. “I love you like you’re my mother. Thank you for always taking care of me.”

“Don’t change the subject,” she barked as I dropped my arms to my side.

With a shrug, I said, “I’m not interested in love. It’s not something I want.”

“Really?” she questioned as she sliced avocado and placed it next to the lettuce. “Pop that bread down in the toaster, will you?”

Doing as she asked, I nodded. “Yep.”

She wiped her hands on a dishrag and turned to face me. “What was her name?”

The heaviness in my heart came back as I lifted my head and looked out the massive floor-to-ceiling windows.

“Casey was her name. We started dating our freshman year of high school.” My hand came up to the back of my neck as I tried to rub the immediate tension out. The memory came back as if it had just happened. I could smell her perfume, like she was standing right next to me. “She had been at a football game and I just found out I was being moved up to the Xfinity Series. I couldn’t wait to tell her. After the game, I pulled her under the bleachers and told her. I always knew a part of her hated I did it because she was always afraid I would get hurt. But she knew how much I loved it.” I smiled as I remembered her launching her body against mine as she hugged me.

“Oh my gosh! Malcolm, this is the best news ever!”

I held onto her tightly as she hugged me for what seemed like forever.

When she stepped back, she shook her head. “You’re going to become so famous. People will go crazy when you drive around those tracks.”

I laughed as I took her hands in mine. “Let’s hope. I’m not starting out driving full time. I have to work my way up and earn that, but this is a great move. I’m one down from the big times, Casey. This could change our future.”

She nodded enthusiastically. “I know.” With a huge smile on her face, she pulled me closer to her. “Let’s go to the cabin. I want to be with you. Let’s celebrate by making love.”

I placed my hand on the side of her face. “Sounds like a fucking amazing idea.”

Our cabin was six miles outside of Waco and was on the old dairy farm that was my grandfather’s. The cabin Casey and I would go to was the old original cabin. It was our spot and the place where we made love for the first time over a year ago.

Casey grabbed my hand and pulled it to her lips. “Malcolm, do you see us getting married someday?”

I turned to look at her quickly before looking back at the road. My heart felt as if it froze. Casey mentioning marrying her had me a bit freaked out, but I knew I cared about her. Hell, she was the only girl I’d ever loved. “Yeah, I see us getting married someday.”

“Tell me I’ll be the only girl you’ll ever love. Promise me that.”

I hesitated for a moment and I wasn’t sure why. With a smile on my face, I squeezed her hand and went to tell her just that when all I heard were tires skidding. The lights from another car shined into my truck as I felt the force of their vehicle slam into the passenger side.

After my truck stopped spinning, I called out Casey’s name when I saw her lifeless body. The whole side of her face was bleeding. Another driver helped me pull her from the car as I checked to see if she was breathing.

Nothing.