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“Try to keep up this time,” Tibby hollered at Bowie who flipped him off.
Guess I had the answer now as to who had won that race.
“Choke on dust!” Bowie howled as the light turned green.
It was a good thing these cars were ringed in rubber, because vehicles jostled for position as we headed up the track. While they laughed and bounced off one another, I tried to get out front only to get caught up in the chaos that was Bowie and Tibby. First they passed me, then they boxed me in, bumping into one another in the process. Tibby’s car spun, leaving a hole big enough for my car to fit through. This was wind therapy, even if it didn’t involve my bike.
The moment I pictured my bike, I remembered Bowie’s accident and the way he’d refused to drive a vehicle since then. Not today though. It was glorious to see him gliding through a curve in that go-kart without a care in the world. When I’d mentioned the place to Pressley, my one hesitation had been Bowie’s fear of getting behind the wheel. A fear that had extended to Tony getting on the back of my bike when I’d first offered him a ride.
It had taken time and trust before he’d relaxed enough to walk out with Tony and see him get on the Harley with me, but we’d reached that place months before, something I was proud of, knowing the closeness between them. Bowie’s family had become Tony’s family, and man did they see to it that he had as many care packages as Bowie did. We had designated PO boxes set up so the guys could order things they needed, and they’d each have a package waiting at the first stop, full of things that weren’t easy for them to just go out and pick up these days. Man, Bowie was flying in that go-kart.
Why the hell couldn’t I catch up to him?
I had the petal to the floor and all I could see was his bumper and the edge of Tibby’s car as he crept up alongside me. He lurched ahead, then I inched in front, neither of us gaining ground on Bowie as we went into another straightaway. Each race was three laps, and he stayed ahead of us for all of them, even if he did cross the finish line with me nudging his bumper and Tibby only a half a car behind him.
“How did we let the guy without a driver’s license win!” Tony said once we were all stopped and the engines cut, not that it was the end of things with Tibby already challenging Bowie to a rematch.
“I don’t know,” Tibby said. “One minute I was right there with him, the next I was spinning around in circles.”
“He does that to me in Mario Cart all the time,” Tony declared. “Only there are usually coconut missiles involved.”
“Please don’t ever find a place where the go-karts are armed with those,” I groaned. “I couldn’t catch him either and I was trying, dammit…oof.”
I suddenly had my arms doubly full as Bowie and Tony crashed into me.
“Thank you,” Bowie said at the same time Tony did.
I knew what they were thanking me for, but aside from Tony and Pressley and the occasional arm tossed over Tibby’s shoulder from time to time, I’d never seen Bowie hug anyone else, least of all me.
“I was scared shitless when I got in the car,” Bowie admitted, voice low. “Then I remembered how much I loved the feel of the wind on my face and how even the worst days melted away when I was on my bike. I don’t think I could ever drive one again, but I didn’t think I’d drive anything again, ever, until today. This I could do forever.”
“Well, you might have to prove that,” I said, hugging them tight, “’cause we all want a shot at knocking you off the leaderboard.”
He chuckled and gave me one more squeeze before letting go, while Tony lingered in my arms.
“You’re the best, you know that, right, Daddy?” he said, peering up at me with a look no one had ever given me before.
Pure love and absolute trust.
“I try, Little Wren,” I said. “I won’t always get it right, but I’ll make it right when I screw up. Today I just wanted to see smiles on your faces.”
“Mission accomplished,” Tony replied, giggling, that sweet sound better than the music we all loved.
“Just so you know,” I cautioned him, “I can’t promise you that he won’t have access to those coconut missiles once you get inside the virtual reality room.
“Eeep!” Tony yelped.
“Exactly,” I said, laughing as he scrunched up his nose. “Guess we’d better try to catch him out there, huh?”
Tony grinned and smiled over at Bowie, who was back in his car, pulling his helmet on. “That, or we’ll be eating dust again.”
Chapter Sixteen
Wolf
Rocktoberfest
“Welcome to the desert, boys!” I announced now that we’d arrived and located our parking spot behind the secure gates at Rocktoberfest.
