Rock Solid (10 page)

“How so? You’re teaching him to race. You’re feeding that need in him, and I won’t have it,” she said, her entire body vibrating with tension.

Brody glanced out at the shimmering water, then back at his sister. He could only imagine what she’d lost when Aiden’s father had died, and he knew how difficult it had been for her. And he hadn’t been around nearly as much as he should have been to help. Not for her, or for Aiden. So he was going to help now, but he could see the fear in her eyes. Somehow, he had to convince her to let it go.

“Believe me, Bran, that need is part of him. It’s his father in him, and it won’t go away. Let me help him do it right.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want him racing
at all
. I want him to go to college, to find something else—”

“You can’t make those choices for him. It’s painful, but you can’t. Let me teach him, maybe get it out of his system, and who knows what will happen in a few years? Maybe he’ll decide it’s not for him.”

Brody didn’t believe that; he saw the fire in the kid. It had been in his father and in Brody himself. He had to get Brandi to see reason.

“That’s another thing. You’re giving him a car?”

“No. It’s Marco’s old car, and it’s been at the farm for almost two decades. It’s a rust bucket now, and it will take at least two years for us to fix it up, so he won’t get it until he’s over eighteen anyway. But he’s going to have to learn to be patient and to earn it. I promise.”

Brandi’s eyes glistened with tears as she stared at the water, but she didn’t shed them as she met his gaze again.

“You think this will keep him off the streets?”

“I do. It’s the deal I made, and I’ll make sure he sticks to it.”

“Okay. I still don’t like it, but I know you’re right. He’ll get himself arrested or worse in these illegal races, so if you can stop that, then I’ll go along with it. Maybe throw some better math grades in the deal, as well,” she said with a smirk.

Then she hugged him.

“It’s good to have you here now, Brody. Aiden needs you, and I do, too. I guess I should say congratulations,” she continued, kissing his cheek. “And for what it’s worth, I met Hannah briefly at the house and I liked her. I think you’re going to be okay.”

He watched her leave, glad to have settled the issue, but feeling more and more pressure of his own making. So many promises to keep—to his family, to his sponsors and to himself. Somehow he had to make it all work, though in his heart, he had no idea how the heck he was going to pull that off. Brody looked out at the diminishing sun, feeling as though he was sinking with it.

9

H
ANNAH
WAS
UP
EARLY
—
surprising, given that she and Brody had made love long into the night again. They couldn’t get enough of each other. As if they were real newlyweds, or almost newlyweds, unable to come up for air.

She’d enjoyed his family, finding them as charming as their son was. They’d welcomed her warmly, though with a certain amount of curiosity, of course. Hannah almost wished they had been less friendly so she wouldn’t have liked them so much so quickly, but that was impossible. They’d made her feel like part of the family right off.

But she’d decided before she fell asleep that she was going to stop worrying about all of it. It would work itself out, and in the meantime, she would enjoy this gambit instead of constantly undermining it with doubts and worries.

At the moment, she fussed around the big kitchen, making breakfast and smiling as she searched for some of the fresh oranges she’d seen in the fridge. She’d make some juice while the eggs and bacon sizzled on the stovetop. Brody had still been snoring when she’d left him in bed, and she wanted to surprise him.

As the juicer whirred, she plated the eggs and bacon, grabbed toast from the toaster and arranged it all on a tray she’d found in the pantry. A carafe of coffee completed the arrangement.

Satisfied with the result, she picked up the tray and headed for the stairs.

She’d never served breakfast in bed to a man before. It was fun, she thought as she crept up the stairs, carefully balancing the tray.

Thinking about the night they’d shared made her smile softly. He’d been attentive and sweet, and as tender as he’d been passionate.

She paused in front of the door, realizing she had a problem. Both hands full, she had no way to open the door and deliver her lovely breakfast. Frustrated, she turned to go back down the hall and rest the tray on a small table near the wall when the bedroom door opened, revealing a sleepy, rumpled Brody wearing only a sheet hitched around his waist.

Hannah nearly fumbled the tray and lost it completely, but he reached out a hand and stabilized it for her.

“I wondered where you were... What’s this?”

“Breakfast,” she announced, foolishly nervous. Would he think it was silly? Too domestic? “I was up early, and I thought I’d surprise you, but then I got stuck at the door.”

He looked at the full tray and smiled.

“No one’s ever done this for me before.”

“Really?” Hannah was so happy to be his first in anything that she couldn’t contain her pleasure. “Maybe you could go crawl back in bed and pretend to be surprised all over again.”

“I have a better idea,” he said, slipping both hands around the edges of the tray. “You go get back in bed, and I’ll bring this in for both of us.”

She smiled and handed the tray over. “Okay, thanks. That was getting heavy,” she admitted.

She crossed the room, kicking off her slippers to get back into the huge, luxurious bed that took up a good deal of the room, with a quilted headboard and piles of comfortable pillows and blankets. The colors were masculine, though—the walls a basic neutral that emphasized the dark wood trim and hardwood floor. Decorative rugs were nice accents on the cool, bare wood floors, and Hannah was very comfortable in the space.

But then she spied the small table and chairs by the window, and crossed to the table, pulling the curtains apart and letting the sun stream inside.

“Let’s eat here instead?”

“Sure,” he agreed, carrying the tray to the table and setting it down. “This looks wonderful. Thank you.”

“It’s nice to have a fancy breakfast. Usually I grab coffee and go in the morning.”

They took plates and she poured orange juice while he filled coffee cups, as routine as if they had been doing it for years. Like an actual couple.

“You like to cook?” he asked.

“I like to think about it,” she said with a rueful laugh. “I watch cooking shows, collect cookbooks, but I rarely have the chance. I used to cook for my mother when I lived with her, and sometimes I make dinner for Reece and Abby, but mostly, when it’s only me, I get takeout or have a salad.”

“Seems to me you have natural talent for it—these are the best eggs I’ve ever had,” he said appreciatively.

Hannah beamed at the compliment. The eggs
were
good.

“The secret is to use enough butter—if there’s one thing you learn from reading French cookbooks, it’s don’t be afraid of butter. I added some seasoning salt and chives.”

“They’re delicious. Have you been to France?”

“I wish. Maybe someday. Reece and Abby have invited me a few times, but I haven’t been able to get away because of work. I blew my vacation time last year on Daytona,” she said with a smile. “I don’t regret that one bit, of course. I guess work won’t be a problem now. Maybe I’ll plan to go next winter.”

“You should. You can take cooking classes in Paris, you know.”

“I’ve seen that in the travel brochures. You’ve probably gone for racing?”

He shook his head. “Not with the stock circuit, but I went over when Reece was racing a few times. I was there the day he had his accident. That was a tough one,” he said, his mouth turning downward at the memory as he bit into his toast.

“I can only imagine,” she said softly, reaching over to squeeze his hand. “You’ve been friends for a long time?”

She realized that while she knew both men, Reece for longer, of course, she didn’t know about his friendship with Brody.

“Ever since we were working our way through the ranks. Reece started out in the stock-car circuit here, but one trip to Europe and he was hooked on the road courses and never looked back.”

“Not you?”

He shook his head, grabbing a napkin and pushing his empty plate back as he took his coffee and glanced out the window.

“Nope. It’s always been about American muscle for me.”

Hannah bit her lip, unsure if she should pry, but spoke anyway. “You miss it.”

“I do. Or, I miss...things about it. I miss the driving and the cars. I miss the speed. I liked my team. But I don’t miss...the spectacle, I guess. The media lately has reminded me of that. Constant interviews, constant posturing. It was all...a show. Honestly, that part, and the commercialism, the pressure from the sponsors, really started eating away at the fun.”

Hannah was surprised. She’d thought he loved that part of it. The attention and the publicity.

“I never would have guessed that,” she said, trying to put the pieces together, the different sides of the man sitting across from her. “You always seemed to eat it up. Or at least you were easy with it.”

He smiled. “I don’t mind it, but when it becomes too much about advertising, sponsors, money...something basic is lost. The love of it, I guess.”

“Then why go back?”

“I guess I’d rather go out on my own terms when I do. And I still love it, the driving. I don’t feel ready to leave yet. It’s all I’ve ever known.”

Hannah nodded. She could see it in his face, the love he felt for the sport, and some part of her was jealous. Driving owned a part of Brody that no one else would ever touch, not even her. She was about to ask him more when they were distracted by the sound of tires on the gravel of the front driveway.

Brody groaned, standing up quickly. “I completely forgot about this, sorry.”

She looked down to see three cars pull in.

“Who are they?”

“They?” Brody said, looking back with a frown as he crossed to the window. “What the... It’s supposed to be Aiden, coming over for a driving lesson and to work on the car for a bit. Looks as though he brought friends.”

“Maybe he wants to show his famous uncle off,” she said with a smile. “It’s a good thing that you’re doing there.”

“I should make them get the horses out and clean the stalls first,” Brody said with an evil grin that made Hannah laugh. “Could you take care of Zip? I can get the others after I’m done with the guys.”

“I’m flattered that you trust me with him. He does flirt a lot,” she teased.

“He does, but I trust you with everything. You should know that.”

Hannah flushed with pleasure.

“I have to do more work on the blog,” she said, excited to get on with it. “I put up some pictures from the race the other night and it got a huge response. So many comments, I almost couldn’t believe it. And I had an email last night from a driving magazine asking if I could send them some more pictures, of the female racing pair, particularly.”

“That’s amazing! Congratulations.”

Brody’s excitement warmed her. He crossed the room to deliver a hot kiss to her lips. “You’re going places, I know it. I’m happy for you. We can celebrate later,” he added, wiggling his eyebrows.

He kissed her again before heading down to meet the boys, and Hannah pulled on her clothes, too. There was no point in taking a shower until after she took care of Zip.

Hannah’s mind refocused on what else she could shoot that would keep the momentum on her blog going, and she also had to find some shots she thought the racing publication might take.

If they took the pictures, it would be her first real, professional sale.

The lucky break had reoriented her on her goals, and she smiled as she went downstairs, hearing the sound of engines roaring out front. Even though it was only the boys and their cars, the sound was becoming one that made her heart beat a little faster. It made her think of the track, racing and, most of all, Brody. He’d told her that racing got under your skin, in your blood, and she was starting to believe it. Or maybe it was the man.

She was trying to deny it, that maybe he was working his way into her heart. Maybe admitting it, if only to herself, would help her keep it under control.

She grabbed the new camera that Brody had insisted on buying her the afternoon before, one that was five times more expensive than what she would have bought for herself. He’d insisted, and she had to admit, she loved it. It had so many great features; she couldn’t wait to get started.

Hannah planned to take some pictures of the horses, and if they came out well, she’d have some framed for the house. Maybe one of Zip in particular, since she knew Brody had a soft spot for him.

As she walked down the porch steps, however, she couldn’t help but notice Brody standing in the sun by the cars, all of the hoods raised, the four boys standing around him listening as if their lives depended on it. Something about it, how the men all grouped together, intense and oblivious to her presence, studying the open maws of the cars’ engines, made her pause.

Adjusting some of the settings on her camera, she took some experimental shots, and then, excited about the sharp focus in the close-ups, continued. She clicked one of Brody slapping Aiden on the back, laughing, and one of a young man getting behind the wheel, looking intense as Brody leaned in, giving him instructions.

Mostly, she focused on Brody, very closely, for several more shots, her heart beating almost as quickly as the camera cycled through frame after frame as she studied his features in detail. He was so handsome, she almost couldn’t put the camera down.

Several minutes passed when she realized she had almost completely forgotten about Zip, and reluctantly stopped taking pictures, heading down to the barn.

Zip was definitely happy to see her, as were the others. They put up with her taking a few pictures of them, heads hanging eagerly over the stalls, waiting for their breakfast. Eventually, they started making impatient noises, shuffling around their spaces, ready to get out into the sunshine.

She fed them all as she soaked up the relaxing presence of the animals. When they were done, she took Zip, putting on his lead rope and walking him out into the sun. He went along with her, happy as they made their way to the corral.

Inside the corral, she walked with him, petting his sleek coat as the sun beat down, and wondered if the horse’s good nature extended to letting her ride him. She rode bareback all the time and had since she was a kid. In fact, her father had once had a horse that resisted the saddle routinely and would only allow a rider on without one. Brody said Zip had also resisted the saddle from day one.

“Want to give it a try, Zip?” she said.

The horse stood still, as if waiting, and she took that as a good sign. Seconds later, she was up, and enjoying riding him in a light canter around the corral. He went along unperturbed, and Hannah offered him copious compliments as he did so.

“Good job, Zip. Maybe we’ll try that again tomorrow.”

But it was getting hot, and she didn’t want to overwork him. She tugged him to a stop, about to dismount when a loud bang came from up the hill in the driveway, and Zip neighed loudly in fear, rearing back.

Hannah held on for dear life, trying to get the horse to calm down and to get her arms more firmly around his neck, but she couldn’t hold on the second time he reared up, sending her flying off his back as he took off down the field.

* * *

B
RODY
ADJUSTED
THE
manifold under the hood of the Honda that Aiden’s friend Rudy drove. Apparently Aiden had told some of his friends about his deal with Brody, and he’d invited them along. Brody saw it as an opportunity and made the same deal with them: that he’d show them some of the ropes if they stayed out of street racing—and that meant taking any enhancements, like nitrous, out of their cars, period.

He quickly discovered that none of these guys really knew how engines worked, and if they didn’t know how their cars worked, they couldn’t drive them optimally.

So the first thing they did was to get a lesson on mechanics.

Rudy’s car backfired when he started it and gunned the engine, and then again as he tried to adjust the timing and the fuel injection.

Brody heard Aiden swear, and he looked up to follow Aiden’s gaze down the hill toward the corral in time to see Zip charging away and Hannah lying on the ground.

Heart twisting, Brody forgot what he was doing and ran to the corral, nearly turning his ankle in a rut, stumbling but pushing onward. By the time he got to the corral and through the gate, Hannah was brushing herself off, unaware he was there.