Free Revved Up Hearts by Kristy D Kilgore Page A

I need someone to do those things for me.”
    Valerie gave Bryan a look of “I can’t believe you just said that” and then turned her attention to Dawn.
    Oh, no , thought.
    “I know I just said that I wasn’t your boss, but that was before I found out that he told you to do all that stuff for him.” She looked at him again with a look of total disgust. “If you would cook for him every now and then, I would appreciate it. It will make me feel better when I’m not around to know that he was eating healthy. But as for that other stuff, you don’t have to do it. Bryan wants everything done for him so that he can ‘concentrate on racing,’ but it’s just an excuse for him to be a slob.”
    “Wait a minute—” Bryan tried to cut in.
    “Oh, it’s true, and you know it,” Valerie countered.
    With that, Bryan went back into the other room. As he left, Valerie turned back to Dawn. “Back to what I was saying. If you happen to be doing your own laundry and want to do his as well, that’s fine. Or if this coach gets so messy that you can’t stand the sight of it—and it will—then clean it up for your own piece of mind. But don’t feel obligated to do it.”
    “Okay.”
    “And if he gets pushy about it, let me know, and I’ll take care of it.”
    “Okay,” Dawn said again.
    “I think we’re gonna be good friends,” Valerie said with a smile.
    “I think so, too.” Just then, Bryan came back into the room carrying his daughter. “Dawn, this is the other person I wanted you to meet, my eight-month-old daughter, Lena Violet.” The little girl was just precious. She had dark, curly, brown hair and green eyes. A couple of teeth could be seen when she smiled at her daddy.
    “Bryan, she is adorable. Will she let me hold her?”
    “Probably. She usually isn’t shy around new people,” he said as he handed the baby to Dawn. The little girl looked up at her for a moment of uncertainty and then smiled like she had always known her.
    “You are so cute. Yes you are. Yes you are. And you smell so good.” Dawn cooed to the baby. Lena Violet laughed and then started playing with Dawn’s watch.
    “If you think she smells good now, you should be here a couple of hours after she eats. You won’t be saying that then,” Bryan joked.
    “Bryan, do you change dirty diapers?”
    “I try, but I’m no good at it. The smell gets to me.”
    “Well, at least you try. A lot of men don’t,” Dawn commented.
    “Other than that, he’s a great father. He feeds her and bathes her. He stayed up with her all night when she was sick. And they play all the time,” Valerie bragged on her husband.
    “That’s sweet. She sounds like a blessed little girl,” Dawn said as she looked at the baby in her arms. Lena was still trying to get Dawn’s watch off her wrist.
    “So, do you plan on having kids someday?” Valerie asked.
    “I gotta find the right guy first. I’ll think about kids after I find Mr. Right.”
    “Speaking of that, Bryan says that you and Jeremiah Jones met your first day and have become close.”
    “We’ve gone out a couple of times, but it’s not serious.”
    “That’s not the rumor going around the garage.”
    “What? I haven’t heard anything,” Dawn asked.
    “Rumor has it that he watches for you to come into the garage area and out of our garage stall so that he can talk to you. The grapevine says that he likes you a lot.”
    “That’s news to me.” Just then, one of the race cars fired up nearby, and the noise startled the baby. She started to cry. “Don’t cry, baby,” Dawn said and tried to rock and calm the little girl. It was no use. The baby wanted her mother.
    “Come here, baby girl. It’s okay.” Lena stopped crying as soon as she was secure in her mother’s arms. “I bet you’re hungry after your nap. Are you hungry?” The baby looked at her mother and drooled. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
    “I’ll go, and let you feed her,” Dawn said as she stood. “It was nice