Chapter 3
Keanna
Elijah’s eyes light up when I walk into the kitchen on Monday morning. “Bah!” he says from his seat in his high chair. He wags a fist at me. “Bah!”
Bah is my little brother’s word for everything he doesn’t know how to say yet. Currently he saysmamaandbye byeandmooandbah.
I bump my fist into his. “Right back at you, little man.”
“He has a lot of energy for someone who’s been awake since four in the freaking morning,” Mom says. She gives me an exasperated smile from where she stands at the kitchen sink, her hands hidden by soapy water while she washes out Elijah’s baby bottles.
“Four in the morning?” I say with my baby voice as I put my hands on my hips and stare at Elijah. “Why can’t you just enjoy sleeping, little man? One day you will be old and you’ll wish you could sleep all morning.”
“Bah,” he says, his chubby cheeks smiling up at me.
“Are you excited for summer?” Mom asks me as I pour myself a cup of coffee.
“Kind of. I’m mostly excited because it’s Monday.”
“Monday?” she says, lifting an eyebrow. Then it dawns on her. “Ah! Of course. Jett’s coming home.”
I grin as I pour some creamer into my coffee mug. “One weekend down, nine more to go. Ughhhhhh…”
“Aw, honey, it’s not that bad,” she says. She moves some bottles over to the counter to dry them off, and I notice a little paint stuck to her hair by her ear. Mom’s side business is upstairs in the studio. She paints inspirational canvases and ever since the baby has been born, she finds weird times in the middle of the night to work on them.
“Well, it feels like an eternity to me,” I say, sipping my coffee. “I can’t stand when he’s gone.”
“Maybe you can go with him a few times,” she offers.
I nod. That’s the plan, but I’m always so busy at the track and helping with my brother and Jett’s little sister. They all say they can spare me for a few days, but I’m not so sure about that.
I’m about to say something more when the back door flies open and my dad rushes inside, the phone pressed to his ear. He’s only thirty six years old, but he seems at least ten years older as he stares straight ahead, his attention focused on the conversation. His brow creases together and he sighs. “I don’t know what the hell will happen,” he says, heaving yet another sigh. “Let me talk it over with Jace. Okay, Meredith. I’ll get back with you.”
Mom swings around, her eyes wide. “That was Meredith?”
He nods. “You’re not gonna believe this shit.”
I’m pretty sure the only Meredith we know is the wife of the guy who owns Oakcreek Motocross park, which is an hour or so away from here. Normally, I wouldn’t think twice about a conversation involving some woman I don’t even know, but my dad looks seriously concerned, maybe even worried.
He kisses Elijah on the head and then kisses his wife and it makes me melt a little inside, knowing that they can be married for so long and still be so in love.
My mom and dad aren’t my real parents. They’re Becca and Park—high school sweethearts just like Jett’s parents. They’re also best friends with Jett’s parents and together they own The Track, which is a motocross facility located smack in the middle of our houses. They adopted me two years ago after my real mother asked them to look after me for a week and then never came back. Becca has always been a mom figure to me, so after a while, I started calling her that.
We eat breakfast and I attempt to feed Elijah, even though he’d rather wear his food, and Dad tells us what’s going on. Apparently last night the police raided Oakcreek Motocross Park and arrested David Surly, the owner. Then they also arrested the guy who owns Three Flamingos Motocross Park. Dad says they were apparently part of a long investigation by the government and they were finally caught and arrested on charges of money laundering and conspiring together.
David’s wife Meredith claims she knew nothing about it, and because of this, the police let her go for the time being. She called my dad in a panic because Oakcreek is having an amateur motocross series this summer and she has no idea what she should do. Cancelling all of the races would mean losing a lot of money, but she has no idea how to run the place without her husband.
“Pathetic,” Mom says over a sip of her coffee. “If you boys disappeared one day, Bayleigh, Keanna and I would have no problem running the place by ourselves.” She looks over at me and winks. “Girl power.”
Dad chuckles. “Not to worry, love. Jace and I run a clean business. We pay a shitload of taxes on it, too, but at least we’ll never get arrested.” He shakes his head. “Idiots.”
A little while later, Jace and Bayleigh come over and they meet with my parents to talk about the drama. Apparently Three Flamingos’ management team is also freaking out because they too have a summer series to put on and they can’t run it without their owner. Not even an hour later, my dad gets another call confirming that the police have seized both properties for the investigation, so no one will be racing there for a long time.
It’s actually kind of interesting listening to them talk about it, and I realize that owning a business comes with a shit ton of responsibility. Usually I just work at the front counter and do small things like occasionally take a deposit to the bank. I don’t even think about all of the accounting and shit that goes into owning a business. I’m glad my parents and Jett’s parents are doing everything by the law.
I get so caught up in the drama discussion, that it actually startles me when our front door opens.
“Hellloooo,” a voice rings out. I freeze when I recognize Jett’s voice, and then all at once I melt into a puddle of happiness. How the hell could I forget that his plane was about to land? Oh my God!
