Jesse by C H Admirand

swirl of candy-pink cotton, but did as she was told and headed for the stairs. Danielle waited until she heard Lacy stamping her little boots along the hallway above her before she let her laughter go.
    â€œMy little hardheaded angel.”
    Five minutes later, the kitchen was put back to rights and her daughter was clomping back down the stairs, calling, “Ready, Mommy. Can we go now?”
    Anxious to get started on the next phase in their lives, she followed her cowgirl who now sported a T-shirt with a race car on it that said “Go fast or go home!” with matching shorts. Danielle winced at the choice, but was a firm believer in letting her daughter choose what she wanted to wear most of the time.
    The green and brown camouflage colors clashed with Lacy’s pink boots and hat, but asking her to change would set the tone for how their day would go and definitely not in a good way. Remembering her mother’s advice to pick her battles wisely, Danielle smiled, took her daughter’s hand, and headed out to the car.

Chapter 6
    Jesse stared at the phone in his hand, shaking his head. “Well, damn.”
    â€œHey, Garahan!” a voice yelled. “You still there?”
    Swallowing against the lump of emotion in his throat, Jesse held the phone against his ear. “Yeah, but could you repeat that last part one more time?”
    The deep chuckle from the other end had Jesse wondering if he was going insane. Either that or someone was playing a cruel joke at his expense. “You heard me right. Doctor’s orders, I have to give up driving for the next few months. This last concussion was a bad one.”
    His hands were shaking, so he dug deep for control and cleared his throat. “Why me? We haven’t hung out in town since my grandfather died.”
    â€œYeah, about that,” Slim said. “I’m sorry I didn’t come around to see if you needed help, but—”
    â€œHey, you came to the funeral. I get it. Everybody’s got stuff, lives to lead.” Jesse thought about it; he’d been so wrapped up in his own misery after losing his mom and then his grandfather that every ounce of his energy had gone into working with his brothers to keep the ranch going.
    â€œOK, so are you interested in driving my car out at Devil’s Bowl?”
    â€œHell yeah! What do I have to do? Do I have to come up with the entrance fee?”
    â€œI’ll front you for the first race, but I expect you’ll clean up if you still drive the way you used to. You can take next week’s fee out of your winnings.”
    Everything Jesse ever wanted was being dangled in front of his face; all he had to do was say yes. Is this a test? Should he be double-checking with Jolene to see if she needed him? Hell. A chance like this came along just once—if you were lucky—real lucky. “I’ll need a helmet.”
    â€œYou can use mine. If it doesn’t fit, I can get my hands on one for you.” Slim paused. “You’ll be doing me a favor, man. I’ve invested a lot of money in this car. If you drive it for me until I can get back behind the wheel, my car will still be out on the track, keeping my sponsor happy. So don’t think it’s all one-sided.”
    Jesse agreed.
    â€œMeet me out at the track tonight for a couple of practice laps.”
    â€œI’ll be there.”
    Jesse’s childhood dream of racing cars filled him to bursting and it was only after he’d disconnected that he’d remembered—Lacy.
    The whine of a diesel engine downshifting caught his attention and had him swearing. Their delivery of hay was right on schedule. Mentally shifting gears, he was back in rancher mode when the truck pulled up their driveway.
    He’d have to figure something out for tonight. He never broke a promise before, but now, because he’d been distracted by the possibility of fulfilling a long-ago dream, he’d given his