“Georgia Dubois, how the times have changed,” I laughed.“There was a time when all you thought about was racing.”
She waved me off.“What can I say?New me.”Then she shrugged.“I just wish Henri felt the same.He was so down after his Austrian win.”
My chest tightened at the mention of his name.“Did you invite him to this?”
“I did, but I doubt he’ll come.Probably slaving away on his home simulator, preparing for Silverstone.”She paused, looking around.“You didn’t want to invite Ollie?”
Well, now I knew Henri hadn’t told her about his past with Ollie.“Nah, not today.”
She didn’t press me on it, which I appreciated.
I was going to have to confront Ollie, ask him why he’d told me that story.After talking to Henri, I’d called Éliott to confirm, which he’d done.With all this knowledge, I knew even if I couldn’t have Henri, I didn’t want Ollie anymore.Not after what I’d learned.
The idea that this had been a misunderstanding between them was no longer an acceptable excuse.
Still, that felt like an after Silverstone conversation.
A volunteer dropped off a bag of toys, and Georgia looked down at them.
“We need to get these distributed.You mind dropping these off over at the blue pen?They need some more toys.”She handed me a grocery bag brimming with squeaky ducks, plush bones, and something that looked suspiciously like a rubber Formula 1 car in Valkyrie livery.The absurdity made me smile.
I took the bag and navigated toward the blue pen, careful not to trip over the canine obstacle course underfoot.
The blue pen was a cordoned area with a wet tarp and about a dozen puppies climbing all over each other.They were incredibly adorable.Most of the volunteers, busy in Valkyrie jackets, were trying to rally puppies for the cluster of parents and sponsor representatives who crowded the pen, begging for photos.I set the bag down and was immediately mugged by three wriggling bodies.A golden-brown mutt reared up against my shoe, delicately untying it, before running away.
“Um, sir,” I told him with mock sternness, scooping up the brown bundle of mischief before he could leave with my shoelace entirely.“That’s hardly appropriate behavior for a first meeting.”
He responded by attempting to lick my face.
I was in the process of liberating my shoelace when I caught a flicker of movement at the edge of the pen, and then a loud squeal of excitement.For one surreal second, I thought I was hallucinating him.But there he was.
Henri, wrapped up in an embrace by his sister.
He looked good—too good for someone who’d probably spent the past week drowning in data and simulator runs in a dark room.His dark hair fell across his forehead like an invitation for someone to push it back.Late-morning sunlight spilled across his face, gilding the rough scrape of stubble he clearly couldn’t be bothered to shave.But shadows pooled beneath his eyes, deeper than they should’ve been, and there was a tightness around his mouth that wasn’t so noticeable before Austria.
He stepped back from Georgia, and his gaze swept the crowd.
Then it landed on me, causing my heart to race against my chest.The puppy I was holding squirmed in my arms, but I couldn’t look away.
Henri’s jaw worked like he was chewing on words he couldn’t let loose.The air between us crackled with everything unsaid—everything we’d left bleeding in that hotel bar.
“Because I missed you.”
Georgia grabbed his arm, oblivious to the moment that hung between us.
“Come meet these little guys.They’re absolute lunatics—you’ll love them,” I heard her call out to Henri.
She dragged him toward a fenced area, where a chaos of small dogs yapped and tumbled over each other.Henri let himself be pulled along, but his eyes stayed on me until the last possible second.When he finally turned away, I released a breath I hadn’t known I was holding.
My fingers tangled in soft puppy fur as I watched Georgia shove a squeaky toy into Henri’s hands.He crouched down, and immediately, three terriers launched themselves at him, but he sat very still, as if sudden movement would spook them.Slowly, his hand came up and found a head.He scratched, and the puppy’s eyes rolled back in bliss.Something unspooled in his face, tiny changes, like a knot loosened by patient fingers.The harsh lines of his mouth softened, and the space between his eyebrows let go.
For a moment I looked away, feeling almost guilty for watching what seemed like a private moment of peace.
A voice from behind me made me jump.“Thanks for the toys,” Mina, another volunteer, called over to me.“Do you want to meet one of our stars?He’s not in the puppy pen, because he’s technically a grown-up.”
I nodded enthusiastically, and she cast a look at the dog lying with crossed paws like a gentleman near the volunteer tent, golden-tan and calm as ever.His tail thumped lazily when he saw her.
“That’s Archie,” Mina said, and the affection in her voice was unmistakable.“Although, I call him Professor Archie, in honor of his dignified demeanor.Looks like he should be teaching literature at a university, doesn’t he?”
