The Rookie (Racing On The Edge #7) (19 page)

“You saw his hands.” Mom leaned forward for a mint candy on his desk and unwrapped it slowly. “He threatened my doctor with bodily harm if he couldn’t guarantee that this shit would be fixed.”

“Not surprised by that.” My phone vibrated but I ignored Lexi’s texting and looked over at Mom.

“Yep.” She stuck the mint in her mouth and smiled. “He made it longer than I thought he would though.”

“How long?”

She thought for a moment and then chuckled. “Twenty minutes into my first appointment.”

“Impressive.”

The doctor came in right then, a soft knock announcing his presence. He smiled when he saw my mom and reached for her hand. “It’s good to see you again, Mrs. Riley.”

“I would same the same to you,” Mom teased. “But I really wish we would have never met.”

He laughed leaning back in his large leather office chair. He was an older doctor, a gray beard shadowed his darker skin.

“And you are?” He reached for my hand.

I leaned forward and shook his hand. “Arie…her daughter.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Arie. I’m Dr. Cage. I’ll be performing your mom’s surgery next week.” Dr. Cage looked down at his notes and then back at us with warm eyes. “Your husband and you have chosen a double mastectomy with reconstructive surgery, right?”

“Yes.”

“I think that’s an excellent choice for you.” The doctor looked around the room, watchful of the door. “Where is that husband or yours?”

Mom laughed, the sound whimsical and light. “He’s racing in Jackson.”

“What are the risks?” I asked, unable to keep silent anymore. I had all these thoughts going through my head and I couldn’t keep quiet. I understood Dad’s frustration right then.

“Well, it’s surgery. There’s always a risk there.”

Mom reached for my hand holding it firmly in hers and winked. “I’m going to be fine.”

She’s a fighter in ways only she knows. I know that.

I hadn’t thought about it much these last few days but right now it was getting to me. Maybe it was being in this place and knowing why we were here and knowing that next week my mom was going into surgery. I started panicking.

It was scary thinking of what could go wrong and what might. I understood why dad was scared. He was trusting someone else with this wife. Her life was in this man’s hands. His life was in this man’s hands.

“How many of these have you done?” I asked again.

Dr. Cage’s reassuring eyes found mine. “Many.”

“So you’re confident?” My stare flickered from my mom to the doctor.

“I am. Your mother is healthy and strong. I’m more confident that she will pull through better than I was with my own wife.”

Though I never wanted anyone to go through this, it was reassuring he had treated someone close to him and she survived.

Mom picked up the photograph of him and his wife. “How’s Beth doing?”

Of course Mom knew her name.

The doctor looked at the photograph and smiled sincerely. “Very well. Just finished her first marathon last weekend.”

It was things like this that my dad needed to hear to give him the hope he needed. I think part of him heard cancer and thought it was the end. These days it didn’t mean that it was.

“So we have you scheduled for June twenty-third?”

Mom nodded and I noticed the date. The day after my dad’s forty-eighth birthday. I wondered how he felt about that but I knew they’d just be thankful to have this over with, and mom healthy. It’s all any of us wanted.

The doctor stood. “Well, take it easy and I will see you next Friday, okay?”

Mom nodded and hugged him before we left.

After talking to the doctor, it was definitely reassuring but it was surgery. And not even the surgery but the recovery afterwards. That fear of the unknown was weighing on this family and we were all dealing with it in our own way.

Mom and I went to lunch at a burger place on the way home. She said she was craving a burger and milkshake. I wasn’t about to deny her.

“What’s going on with you and E?” she asked.

I knew that question was coming soon. I was surprised she didn’t ask it sooner.

“Nothing you need to worry about, Mom. We need to focus on you and the surgery and getting you back to the dirt tracks.” I didn’t feel like I could tell her that Easton and I were having problems. Look at my family. Their love story was epic. What would she think of someone who couldn’t keep their marriage together?

Over the years my parents have developed the same vocabulary. Racing. I should have known she would compare it to that.

“Well, whatever it is that is going on, know that I’m here if you need to talk. But let me tell you that there comes a point in a race when one groove changes and loses grip and another gains it. Nobody wants to go up there, afraid because what if it’s not as fast? What if your car is shit and you develop a vibration that wasn’t there before? Whether you’ll come out with a win or not, no one knows. You’re risking it going up there.” Mom said, watching my reaction.

In my heart, I know all of this. I know that all relationships, regardless of how long you’ve been together experiences bumps and grooves in the road. Hell, look at what my mom and dad were going through right now. I guess what I’m starting to realize is that it’s how we both deal with these bumps and grooves that will make us or break us. I just need to find out how to deal with this and move on but my mom is my priority now. She needs me and I need her. We are both going to be healing in the next few weeks and we’ll both be there for each other every step of the way.

Mom insisted on going to those two races before her surgery at River Cities Speedway and I-94. I was glad she did because my dad and all of JAR Racing had a surprise for her.

All her life she’s giving everything she has to this family and this sport. It was time they, and our family gave a little something back to her.

I caught my brothers when we got to the track since mom and I flew to Grand Forks separately. Alley and Emma had almost everything planned for the party but asked if I could get the entertainment planned. We all thought it’d be fun to have a concert in the field behind my parent’s house. The same one Casten caught on fire when we were younger.

“Casten, do you still talk to Harrison?”

Casten nodded giving me a funny look. “Why?”

“We could put on a concert for her. She would love that.”

“You’re right, she would. Dad could sing for her.”

“You think he would?”

“For her?” he raised his eyebrows at me. “Yeah, he would.”

Casten was right. Dad would do anything for mom. Anything.

Axel cleared his throat. “He said he doesn’t want to have a party but if it’s what she wants, he’ll do it.”

“Do what?”

“Have a party. Sing for her.”

“Wow.” I said, kind of stunned that he would. Usually if dad didn’t want to do something, there was no convincing him.

“Dad knows a couple guys that sing too.” Casten pointed out. “What’s his name, Dylan Wade?”

“Yeah, him and then Aiden’s cousin Grayson does too but Dylan’s in Seattle and Grayson lives in Alabama.”

“Talk to Kyle about Dylan.” Casten pulled out his phone and began sending a message. “And I’ll ask Aiden because he will know how to get in touch with Grayson.”

I was walking over to the merchandise trailers when I got a text from Easton just as I sent one to Kyle asking about his nephew, Dylan. Seeing Easton’s name made my heart jump when I saw it on the screen.

It wasn’t that I was keeping it from him. I just couldn’t think of a way to tell him. What would I say?

Nothing else was said.

I hurried up and unlocked the trailer, got the boxes loaded in there and let Bailey take over so I could go back and see my mom’s reaction to the cars. So far she hadn’t been in the pits with the help of Hayden and Lily, and was watching the kids in the stands.

Me, Emma, Alley and Grandma joined them in the stands when the cars came out. We’d planned it with the track promoter to have all six JAR Racing cars come out together during the pre-race ceremony.

My parents have always donated money to breast cancer awareness but I don’t think they ever thought they’d end up needing it. My Grandma Rachel died of breast cancer at twenty-five and I think that my mom accepted she might get it.

Dad’s decision to change the paint schemes for all the cars with JAR Racing wasn’t hard. Convincing the sponsors to allow it wasn’t hard either. They wanted to support him without question.

What was hard was keeping it from mom and making that night at River Cities Speedway special for her. It was Dad’s birthday but he wanted something for her.

Dad had all six sprints cars changed to the same paint scheme along with the Cup cars for five races.

It was a beautiful sight when I saw the pictures of all the drivers, JAR and Riley-Harris racing combined standing next to their cars and them all match. Dad was in the front and then the remaining cars were in V formation effect behind him with sprint cars on the left and Cup cars on the right.

It was nice to see them all supported together.

I think sometimes the Cup team felt like they didn’t have as much of dad’s attention though he still controlled them. But they had his attention. You just had to understand where my dad’s heart was the most. Dirt racing. Always would be.

The paint schemes they designed were all black with hot pink numbers and silver outlining the numbers. On the black wing was a hot pink breast cancer symbol. The roll bars and helmets were hot pink too and made for an interesting look when you had them all on the track at the same time.

Mom cried when she saw it. She never wanted to be fussed over but you could tell by her seeing that that it was pretty special for her.

Emma wrapped her arms around her, as did Alley, her body shaking from the cries. It was hard to watch. I knew she was crying for not only this show of support but for all the pain and heartache she knew this was causing for her family. This was our way of showing her that we were all here for her. She needed this night and she needed this moment. We were going to get through this…together.