The Fine Line (29 page)

I met him a half hour later at a small family diner on the strip.  My mouth watered from the smell of bacon and pancakes as I walked through the door.  He was already waiting at a window booth when I arrived.  I took a seat across from him and grinned at the goofy smile on his face. 

“Oh, so this must be good news,” I teased as I removed my coat and set it beside me.  “You had me worried for a second there.”

“I think you worry too much.”  His eyes gleamed as he pointed to a mug on the table in front of me.  “I got you some coffee.  Black.”

“Thank you.” 

We looked at our menus silently, but it only took us a minute to decide.  We had been here a few times before and already knew our favorites.  A middle-aged waitress approached and took our orders.  An omelet for Logan and a blueberry waffle for me. 

“Will that be all?” she asked with her full attention on Logan.

He looked at me, silently asking if I needed anything.  I shook my head no.

His eyes fell on her nametag a split second before meeting her gaze with a smile.  “We’re good, Katie.  Thank you.”

Her face flushed a faint rose color before she nodded and scampered off to the kitchen. 

I know the feeling, Katie.

With the bright morning sun shining through the window, his eyes practically glowed.  Sometimes it was hard to see the amber in the middle of his iris, but today, it sparkled.  I raised my coffee to my lips as I contemplated the colors beaming back at me.

“I love it when you stare at me like that.”  He smiled, leaning forward with this arms crossed on the table. 

A half-cough, half-snort came out of me as I tried to swallow my coffee instead of spitting it out from laughing.  I loved how he still flustered me.  “I wasn’t staring.  Cut to the chase, Tanner,” I teased, “What do you want to tell me anyway.”

He laughed as he leaned back in his seat.  “Oh, I’m Tanner to you now?  I don’t think you’ve ever called me that before.  Come to think of it, no girl has ever called me that.” 

Grinning like a fool, I shrugged.

After a moment, his face became more serious.  “I’ve been thinking a lot for the last two weeks.  Ever since that night.  I know that you have reservations about me giving up racing.  And I know it’s because, for some crazy reason, you think I’ll resent you for it.”  He took my hand.  “Which would never happen in a million years.  I have no doubt that I could live without it if I needed to.”

“But you don’t need to.  Especially not for me.” 

He hesitated.  “The thing is, you’re right.  I do get a thrill from racing.  I don’t need it, but I enjoy it.  And I also like rebuilding cars.”  He paused for a moment gauging my reaction. 

My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach.  “I know you do.”

Something about the look in his eye made me feel strangely at ease, despite the words he had just spoken. 

He squeezed my hand.  “Just hear me out, okay?”

I nodded.

“I want to open an auto refurbishing business.  I’m going to rebuild cars and sell them at auction.  There are people who have no clue how to rebuild old cars who will pay a lot of money just to store one in their garage and drive it occasionally.  I already spoke to my uncle about it, and he’s on board.  He’s actually thinking of moving the shop away from basic maintenance and into a full blown refurbishing operation.”

“Logan, that’s a great idea!  It’s perfect!” 

“There’s a legally-sanctioned drag-way about an hour from here.  It’ll be the perfect place to network for the business and race safely when I get the urge.  It’s completely legal.  And safe.” 

A smile spread across my face.  “Really?” 

“Really.”  A look of pride came over him in reaction to my expression.

Still grinning, I scooted out of my seat and into his.  My arms found their way around his middle, while my head rested on his shoulder.  “That sounds perfect.  Thank you.” 

He kissed the top of my head. “Working through the bullshit isn’t that hard, is it?” 

Chapter Thirty

Logan sat in the passenger seat of my car as we followed the U-Haul through a residential subdivision to his family’s new home.  My backseat and trunk were loaded with boxes.  With all the renovations his mother and stepfather had done to Logan’s childhood home, it didn’t take long for them to get a good offer, even with the current real-estate market being less than ideal, and they had their eye on this new home before even putting theirs on the market.  Everything fell into place for them perfectly.

I looked over at Logan, who had an annoyed expression on his face.  He had helped his stepfather lift the heavy items into the U-Haul this morning, while I helped his mother and Lanie with the smaller boxes.  He had been quiet the entire morning and was being a bit of a buzz-kill.  As his elbow rested on the window, he leaned his head on his fist. 

I reached for his free hand.  “I’m proud of you, you know.” 

Unfazed, he continued to stare out the windshield.  “You are, huh?”

I squeezed his hand.  “Yes.  I am.  I know this isn’t easy for you.  You’re doing the right thing, Logan.  It means so much to them that you’re helping today.”

He huffed.  “It still doesn’t feel right.”   

“I know it doesn’t.”

“I don’t think I ever told you this, but you know that week that we were apart?”

It had been two months since that week, but I would never forget it.  “You mean the week from hell?”

He smiled. 
Finally, a smile
.  “Yeah, that week.  I talked to my mom that week.  She told me that nothing happened between her and Robert until months after my dad passed.  She said what I saw was nothing more than a friend consoling a friend.”

“Do you believe her?”

“I mean, they weren’t making out or anything.  But what I saw…the way they were holding onto each other…it didn’t look very friendly.  At all.  Then, she married him so quickly.  It was kinda hard to believe I guess.”  He paused for several moments, then turned his face toward me.  “But then, when you said that you trusted me, despite what
you
saw…it made me reconsider.”

“Oh, well, glad to be of service.”

He laughed.  “The thing is, I know I need to let it go.  He’s an okay guy, I guess.  He’s good to Lanie.  I just can’t seem to let it go.”

I gave him a reassuring smile.  “You’ll get there, babe.  Some things just take time.”

His one eyebrow lifted up.  “You know I love it when you call me that.”  He brought his face to my neck and started tickling me behind my ear with his tongue. 

“Hey!  I’m driving!” I giggled.  “Stop it!”

I slammed on my brakes, noticing a little too late that the U-Haul had slowed down in front of me.  Luckily, I didn’t hit it.

“Geez, Liv, you’re a crazy driver.  You shoulda let me drive,” Logan said with a smirk, knowing full well that it was his distraction that caused the near-collision.  I responded to his comment with an eye-roll. 

We waited in the middle of the road as the U-Haul backed into the driveway of the new home.  It was a bit smaller than Logan’s old home but looked extremely well kept from the outside.  I pulled into the driveway just as Jen, Robert, and Lanie stepped out of the U-Haul.  They immediately went to the back of the truck to start unloading. 

I turned the ignition off and reached for my door handle when I felt a tug on my right elbow.

“Hey,” Logan said.

I turned to him, meeting his eyes, immediately melting.  I hoped his looks would always have this effect on me.  “Hey.”

“Thank you.”

Having no idea why he was thanking me, I looked at him like he was crazy.  “For what?”

“For being here today.  You make everything better.”

I smiled from his words.  “There’s nowhere I’d rather be.”

Our lips gently touched just before knocking on the window distracted us. 

“Get a room, you guys!”  Lanie said as she opened Logan’s door.  “Seriously!”  She grabbed him by the hand and tugged, trying to get him out of the car.  “You have got to see this!  You’re not going to believe it!”

Logan looked at me, confused, and shrugged. 

“C’mon, Liv!” Lanie shouted.

We stepped out of the car and began walking down the driveway to the back of the U-Haul.  Lanie quickly pulled Logan ahead while I trailed behind them.  As the garage came into view from behind the truck, I noticed the overhead door was open, and Robert and Jen stood with their backs to us, with their arms around each other, staring at something inside. 

As we approached, a sniffle came from Jen. 
Was she crying?
  Robert turned to her and kissed her forehead.  Logan stopped next to his mother, and as the sight of whatever it was overtook him, he pulled Lanie close to him, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.  His mother wrapped her arm around Logan’s waist.

I walked up and stopped next to Lanie and finally saw what all the commotion was about.  In the back of the garage, hanging on the wall between two studs, hung the same John Wayne movie poster that hung above the desk at Logan’s shop.  This one, however, was older, faded, and it looked like it had been here for years. 

Logan turned to his mother.  “Did you put that there?”

She faced him and shook her head to say no. 

Logan looked back at the poster.  “Holy shit.” 

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Lanie turn to me.  Her hand took mine, pulling me close, then she wrapped her arm around my waist, as I put my arm around her shoulder.  The five of us stood side by side, holding each other, taking in the scope of what that old, beat-up poster, actually represented.  Logan turned to me with tears welling in his eyes. 

No words needed to be said.  I knew that, for Logan, this was the validation he needed to move on.  To let go of the resentment he had been holding on to for so long.  His father was giving his blessing.  Finally, Logan would have some peace.

I’m not sure how long we stood there before Lanie finally broke the silence.  “Those boxes aren’t going to carry themselves inside, you know.” 

Logan chuckled and messed up her hair.  “I guess we better get to work then, boss.”

Chapter Thirty-One

It had been raining for days.  Most of the snow banks were melted down from the spring showers but a few still remained.  Today was the first day in a while that the sun had peeked out, and I had been stuck inside Frank’s, admiring the shining light from through the front glass doors.  It was dark when my shift ended. 

“See you tomorrow, Olivia.”  Stacy waved just before she opened her car door and slid into the driver’s seat of her car. 

“Bye, Stace.” I waved and watched her drive out of the parking lot and into the flow of traffic.

I opened my car door and threw my purse on the passenger seat when I heard footsteps quickly approach and felt something hard jabbing my side. 

“Close the door,” a deep, unfamiliar voice husked before I had a chance to turn around to see who it was. 

Was this some kind of joke?  Confused, my head turned to see my assailant. 

My breathing stopped.  All the muscles in my body stiffened.  Except for my heart, which banged wildly against my ribs.  “Derrick.”

A dark grey hood covered his head, shadowing his eyes.  Looking down to see what was poking my side, my eyes widened.  A hand-gun.  “What are you doing?  What do you want?”

He dug the gun further into my side.  “Close the damn door and get in through the passenger side.”

I did as he said, looking everywhere on my way to the other side of the car.  Could I scream?  Would he shoot me if I did?  Would anyone even hear me?  The parking lot was dimly lit, making it difficult for passersby to witness anything from the road.  I slid into the passenger seat then scooted over to the driver’s side as Derrick slipped in behind me. 

We both buckled our seatbelts just before I started the car.  I placed both hands on the steering wheel and glanced over at Derrick who still had the gun pointed at me.  “What is this about?  What do you want?”

With the phone in his other hand, he clicked a picture of me.  “Drive.  I’ll tell you where to go.”

“Did you just take my picture?  Derrick, tell me what you want.” 

His initial response was only a look.  It was a look I had never seen on anyone before.  Ever.  It was a wide-eyed mixture of fury and psycho.  He pressed the gun into my side so hard that it would definitely leave a bruise.  In an overly calm, yet wicked voice, he responded, “I. Want.  You.  To.  Drive.”

I suddenly became incredibly aware of what was happening.  My breathing became shallow as my body tensed.  Every nerve ending in my body became alert. 

I followed his direction and drove onto the road.  As I continued to drive, following his orders to turn here and turn there, I noticed him tapping on his phone.  My eyes moved from the road, down to the gun, and up to Derrick’s unsympathetic eyes. 

“Eyes on the road,” he instructed.

With my eyes wide, I did as he said and kept them on the traffic.   What was he going to do with me? 

“You’re little boyfriend should be opening up a text with your picture as we speak.  I’m calling that little fucker out.  He’s not gonna say no this time.”

After what seemed like forever, we arrived at an empty industrial park that I had never been to before.  Warehouses surrounded us.  Derrick had me park next to another car in a parking lot of one of the buildings. 

The same woman who had been with him at my very first race, stepped out of the parked car and waited.  She appeared nervous with a worried look on her face.  The ends of her brown straggly hair met the tops of her shoulders.

“Get out,” Derrick ordered me, then followed me out the driver’s side door.  He faced the woman.  “Is the car ready?”

“Yeah, baby,” she said as she approached us.  “Camcorder too.  Everyone’s gonna see what you can do.” 

“Damn right, they are.”  Then he turned to me and started shaking the gun at me as if he were using it as a pointer finger.  “The only reason your little boyfriend won’t race me is cuz he knows I’ll win.”