Hank slapped his hands together as he looked between us. “You ready to pull out? I figured with the win you’d be knee-deep in interviews, so I hung out and played some poker with some of the guys here from the track. I hope y’all weren’t waiting on me.”
Adaline and I both looked at each other. Hank had no idea what had happened. He must have been locked up tight in someone’s bus. Adaline and I busted out laughing. Hank stood there staring at us with a bewildered look on his face as I laughed like I hadn’t laughed in years.
“What is wrong with you two?” Hank finally asked.
I dragged in a deep cleansing breath and said, “Nothing, we’re ready to leave.”
Hank headed to the front of the bus to get ready to leave and Adaline and I headed to the back.
What started out as one of the best days of my life, almost turned to one of the worst. But lying in bed with Adaline in my arms and my hand over her stomach, it ended perfectly.
Two months later.
Adaline held my hand as we waited for the moment when I would crawl into the car. I knew this was stressful for Adaline, but she never uttered a word about her fear of me getting hurt while driving. She only stood by me one-hundred percent of the time.
Glancing over to her, I couldn’t help but smile. Each day she grew a little bit bigger and you could barely see the little tummy from under her shirt. We were four months pregnant and counting. The glow on my wife’s face said it all.
Life was bliss.
When the time came, Adaline turned to me as I placed my hand over her stomach. “I love you both,” I spoke against her lips.
“We love you back. Be careful, Emmit.”
With a wink and a quick kiss again on the lips, I said, “Always am.”
I watched as Adaline made her way back through the crowd. I knew she could easily go back to the bus and be comfortable, but she sat next to her father the entire race. In a way, she was my good luck charm since I’d won the Daytona 500 back in February and two races since with her sitting her sweet little ass up next to my crew chief. Who also happened to be her daddy.
Robby reached in to help me strap in and get everything connected up. “How’s the little one?” I asked.
Smiling, Robby gave me a quick nod. “Better than ever. Running all over the damn bus causing poor EmmyLou stress.”
I let out a laugh and said, “I can’t wait.”
Robby gave me a quick slap on the shoulder and said, “You’re all set. Give ’em hell, Lewis.”
“Will do.”
The rest of the day consisted of me bitching at my spotter and crew chief, then complaining about at least five different drivers, and one fan who threw a cup onto the track, which resulted in a caution.
“What in the hell is Wallace doing? Tell him to get the hell out of my way, Waldo, or I’m going to push his ass out of the way.”
“Let’s just get you safely into the pits and don’t speed,” Waldo said calmly.
I dropped down to enter the pits only to have Malcolm slam on his breaks, nearly causing me to hit him.
“Bastard!” I yelled out as my spotter started talking.
“Three, two, one.”
Slamming on the steering wheel, I yelled, “Get me out of here!”
Waldo’s voice came across right as I was about to start bitching. “Go! Go! Go!”
Hitting the gas, I maneuvered around the pit box in front of me and headed back onto the track. I was the second one off of pit road, and ahead of Malcolm sitting in third place.
I didn’t utter another word until we were three laps from the checkered flag.
My spotters voice filled the silence. “Two to go.”
“You’ve been doing good going high all day on those turns,” Waldo said.
I knew what I had to do. Number Eight was expecting me to go high on the turns; I was going to give him a little surprise on turn four.
“Emmit, you’re awfully quiet in that car,” Waldo said with a chuckle.
“You do your thing, I’ll do mine,” I responded.
“One to go.”
I couldn’t help but wonder what Adaline was doing this very moment. Was she standing and watching or was she watching the monitor? Smiling, I thought back to last night when she climbed on top of me and took me to our favorite place.
“If you’re going to do something, Emmit, now would be the time,” Waldo said.
Hitting turn three, I watched as the car in front of me drifted up into his normal blocking position as I went down and hit the gas. I cruised right on by him and into first position and finally taking the checkered flag.
“That’s what I’m talking about! Yeah!” I shouted as Waldo congratulated me.
“Congratulations. See you in victory lane.”
Fucking yeah. Adaline was my good luck charm all the way.
November—Championship Race