Chapter Nine
Flights on a Wednesday aren’t bad. I needed to remember that. Who knew how much traveling I was about to get myself into.
When I got on the plane with just a carry-on and my laptop bag it still hadn’t sunk in yet what I was doing. Not even when we took off and I watched New York pass by my window. Not when the hostess asked what kind of drink I wanted. I had drowned myself into a book the whole flight, but now, now that we were descending into Alabama and all I could see was green, my heart sped up.
I was doing this. It was real. I was going to be seeing Law in a matter of hours. I hadn’t told him about me coming here but had asked what he normally did before he left for a race. He laid out his schedule and told me he normally went to his office track to practice with his team and then left on Thursday morning to travel to their next destination.
When the plane landed and I finally walked out of the airport I had no idea where to go or what to do. I had never flown before, and when I had gotten to the airport this morning, Leah had walked me through everything I needed to do. I walked over to a taxi stand area where a nice gentleman grabbed a cab for me. Now this I was familiar with.
I had asked Law where I could sent him something while he was practicing and that’s how I got the address I was now giving to the cabbie as he helped me put my luggage in the trunk. I was headed to Law’s track and there was no turning back. I tried to get myself to relax on the car ride there as we drove past patches of land and farms, until we pulled up to a small building out on a dirt road. When the driver pulled up to it, I almost thought it was a mistake, but then I saw Kane Racing on the side of the building and knew I was at the right place. I wheeled my luggage behind me as the cabbie drove away and I made my way into the front offices where a woman was behind the desk.
“What can I do for you, darlin’?” she asked me with a huge smile on her face. She was this sweet older lady who you just couldn’t help but smile at.
“I’m here to see Lawson Kane?” I asked her the question because even though Law’s name was on the outside of the building, I still wasn’t 100 percent sure he was even here.
“I’m sorry, darlin’, but he isn’t available right now.” The smile that was once there slipped away and annoyance came to the surface. I had no idea what I had done to make her mad, but I was starting to think it had to do with me mentioning Law.
“What going on, Sara?” A man who looked to be about Law’s age came out of a back room.
“This young girl is here to see Lawson. I’m not sure how she got the address or even got here, but I told her he isn’t available.” Sara turned toward the man to recap what had just happened.
“And who might you be?” The man came over and assessed the jean shorts and tank top I was wearing. It was the only thing I had to wear that wouldn’t look like I had just left ballet practice or gone out for a night on the town.
“I’m Anya,” I said to both of them. Hoping my name even made a little bit of a difference here. “Anya Beck.”
I could tell by their eyes and the way a smile pulled at both their faces, they knew exactly who I was.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Sara said softly and the man in front of me chuckled at her.
“I’m Anthony, Lawson’s manager and crew chief.” He held out his hand and I reciprocated the shake. “What brings a city girl like you down here to the backwoods of Alabama?”
His accent was thick the more he talked and I truly hoped Law’s was just like it. I wanted Law in his full glory of being a Southern man.
“Law doesn’t know I’m here, but”—I took a deep breath and let it out—“I’m here to be with him.”
“Law?” Sara whispered to Anthony and the surprise on his face was unmissable. He turned so I could see down a back hallway.
“I approve of this answer.” He waved me to follow him to the office he had just come out of. “Let’s get your bags dropped off in here and then head out back.”
I followed closely behind Anthony as we then made turn after turn until we reached a back door that led outside. When he opened the door I was met with the sound of a car on a huge track.
“This is amazing.”
“It’s not much, but Lawson was tired of driving simulators, so he built a track instead,” Anthony mentioned as he walked us toward a small garage just off the track.
“Simulators?” I had no idea what he meant by that, but I was curious to know about what Law did when he wasn’t racing on the weekends. I wanted to know everything. How he practiced, where his home was, who his friends were. I took a deep breath and looked around when we entered the garage. I wanted to know everything Law would allow me to. And God, I hoped he wanted to let me in like that.
“It’s not typically the most common method among drivers to have a track, but it works better for Lawson.” Anthony gestured toward where a few men were hanging out in the garage. “Let’s see how your man is doing.”
The smile that adorned my face could probably be seen clear as day back home in New York, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to hide my feelings for Law. He was going to have all of me and if that wasn’t something he wanted, well, I was about to find out.
“Tony!” The men all greeted Lawson’s manager.
He just laughed and waved.
“By the way, call me Tony. I only use Anthony when I think I’m going to need to be mean.” He smiled and winked down at me, then walked me over to the guys, who were crowded around a television. “How much time he got left for laps?”
“He’s on his final and then coming back in for time recap,” one of the guys said to Tony.
