Chapter 6

Mom Racer shook her head as she spied the watermark on the hard wood floor. She removed Speed's damp jacket from its place on the hook. "He should know better than to hang his wet jacket here. I think his father and I will have to have a talk with him later."

She went into the kitchen for a well-deserved cup of coffee. Taking care of a house with three males in it wasn't easy. "I could always get a job and leave the household chores to them." She chuckled at that prospect, doubting they would last more than a day without her.

The kitchen door opened, Speed entered. He was smiling, obviously in another world. He didn't even notice his mother sitting at the table as he went to the refrigerator and drank from the milk container.

"How many times have I told you not to do that?" Mom admonished him.

He blinked several times. "Huh?"

"The milk. You know how I feel about your drinking straight from the container."

He put the milk on the counter. "Sorry. I forgot." He let out a big sneeze, then another right after. "Hehe…Maybe you should sterilize the milk. Got some nasty germs in me right now," he said, sniffling.

Mom was on him in a flash. She placed her hand on his forehead. "You're warm."

"Sure am," he said with a smile, thinking about Dallas always made him hot.

"I'm going to take your temperature."

He rolled his eyes. "Mom, will you please stop treating me like a kid?"

"I'm not. But, you need to take care of yourself," her voice was stern. "Must I remind you that you have a race on Sunday? You need to rest up and nip this thing in the bud."

He knew she was right, the race would be tough enough, he didn't need to add illness into the mix. He slowly ascended the stairs and went into his room, knowing his mother wouldn't be far behind.

Sure enough, Mom was in his room within seconds. Before he could protest, she placed a thermometer in his mouth. "Now, you relax for three minutes while I go get you some aspirin, okay?"

He nodded and closed his eyes. An image of Dallas floated before him, lips pursed as if awaiting a kiss. He had wanted desperately to kiss her earlier. He remembered the faces of the other men in the commissary when they walked in arm in arm, the looks of pure jealousy in each man's eye.

The two didn't talk much during their short time at the table; it was more like they had an unspoken conversation. The expressions between them spoke volumes. He knew what she wanted, could sense it in their very first meeting; it was the same thing he wanted, desperately.

Mom returned with a bottle of aspirins and a glass of water. She noticed his face was flushed. "Oh dear, you even look feverish." She checked her watch and removed the thermometer from Speed's mouth. "Uh huh, 99.4, you definitely have a fever." She opened the bottle and handed him the pills and the glass. "You make sure to get some rest so we can get your fever down."

"Yeah, okay…" he said as he went into the bathroom to change into his pajamas. He really didn't feel all that bad, certainly not enough to be confined to bed. But, he knew better than to try to argue that point with his mother.

---

Just as Mom returned to the living room, she heard Pops' car pull into the driveway. "I wonder how things went with Mr. Maverick?" she wondered.

Pops was all grins as he came inside. "Ah, if it isn't my beautiful wife," he said.

Mom returned his smile. "Well, somebody is in a good mood!"

He wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug. "I sure am. Things are looking up for the Racer family!" he exclaimed.

"That's wonderful dear," she said. "It sounds as if everything went smoothly with the lawyers."

"Things went very well. The lawyers drew up the papers, we signed them and it was a deal. After we finalize the plans, we can start production of the cars."

"What about the cost for preproduction? Did Mr. Maverick give you a check for that?" Mom inquired.

"Er…Well, he hasn't, yet," Pops replied. "His lawyer said something about the money transfer being held up because of some bureaucratic nonsense. He said it's a very common occurrence and that I should have the check by the end of next week."

"I'll believe that when I see it," Mom remarked. She couldn't shake the bad feeling she had about the deal.

"Now dear," he stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders lightly massaging them. "Everything is going to be fine, you'll see. As for now…" He turned her around to face him. "Paladin has invited us over for an old fashioned Texas barbecue with all the fixin's, as he put it."

Mom shrugged. "I guess that could be fun."

"You'll have a ball." He couldn't keep the excitement from his voice. "I'm going to get out of this suit and into my blue jeans. While I'm doing that why don't you tell the boys about the party? Oh, and make sure all of you bring your bathing suits, Paladin's got his pool all set up."

"Speaking of the boys, Speed came home from practice sick. He's got a fever; I don't think it's wise for him to go to the barbecue."

"Oh no, that's all we need, Speed sick for Sunday's race. I think I'll go up and see how he's doing."

Inside the room Speed was watching television. Pops took the remote control from the nightstand and hit the mute button. "Aren't you supposed to be resting?"

"I'm only watching TV," Speed said, "I think that qualifies as resting."

"Well, I don't." He sat down on the bed. "How did practice go?"

"Um…it didn't. I mean, I wasn't feeling well. I didn't think it was a good idea to get over-heated." He hoped his father wouldn't see through his lie.

Pops reached over and felt his forehead. "You are warm. I think you did the right thing." He stood up.

Speed stared at him; he thought for sure that Pops would tear into him for missing practice. Was he drunk? "Yeah…"

Spritle and Chim-Chim ran into the room. "Party…barbecue…Gotta get my swimsuit!" Spritle shouted with glee.

"What's he babbling on about?" Speed asked.

"Paladin invited us all over for a barbecue, a celebration of our signing that business deal," Pops explained.

"That sounds groovy!" Speed sat up. "I'll get my bathing trunks and…"

Pops pushed him down. "Oh no, you don't. If you're too sick to practice, you're too sick to go swimming."

"But I feel a lot better, really!" He couldn't pass up the opportunity of seeing Dallas in a bikini.

Mom joined them. "You are not going anywhere. You are to stay here, resting, until we come home, understand?"

"Yeah." Speed crossed his arms, pouting. "What am I supposed to eat for dinner?"

"Don't worry; I'll bring you a couple of hamburgers. I'm going to want to check on you anyway." Mom stoked his hair in an attempt to soothe him. For somebody who wanted to be treated like an adult, he was trying awfully hard to act like a child.

---

The family had left to go next door. Speed could hear the laughter and country music blaring through his window. "It's so unfair. I have to sit here bored to death while they get to have fun." The unmistakable sound of female laughter could be heard. "Figures the whole team would be there. All those girls sun bathing by the pool…" He let out a big sigh. "I'm stuck up here, missing out on all of it."

He went over to the window. "Better off not having to be reminded of all the fun they're having." He hoped for a fleeing glimpse of Dallas or one of the other women. Unfortunately, his view of the pool was blocked by the large hedge that divided his yard from the Mavericks. "I can't catch a break," he complained as he went back to bed.

He closed his eyes and actually started to doze off. On the edge of sleep, he heard a soft knock on his door. "Whose there," he asked in a dazed, half-awake voice.

The door slowly opened. "It's just lil' ol' me, darlin," a sultry voice purred.

Speed rubbed his eyes, surely he must be dreaming. Dallas slinked over to him. She was wearing a short white terry-cloth robe that tied about her waist. Her skin was rosy-tan from the sun. Her hair glistened with droplets of water. "W-w-what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Your mama said that you had a fever. Ah came up to see how you were feeling, sugar."

He took a deep breath to calm the pounding of his heart. Dallas was here, in his bedroom! "It's nothing, I'm sure I'll be fine by tomorrow. Just a precaution because of the race."

"Oh, that's good. Ah was worried about you." She opened her robe. "It's warm in here; I hope you don't mind…" She dropped the robe to the floor and Speed got his wish of seeing what she looked like in a bikini. He was not disappointed. The stunning image would be indelibly marked on his mind forever.

She sat on the bed so that she was leaning on his legs, facing him.

Speed gripped the sheets. She was too close. It would be so easy to grab her and… "No! You're not that kind of guy," he thought, wishing he was.

"Ah want to tell you how much Ah enjoyed being with you today. It was just so sweet of you."

"It was nothing," he said with a quivering voice. "Maybe we can do it again sometime…"

She smiled. "You know Ah'd love that." She leaned into him. "Ah still think Ah should repay you," she said, sounding like a southern Marilyn Monroe. "And Ah know just the way." She leaned in and brought her lips to his, her mouth parted just enough to tease him.

Speed knew he should resist, should pull away, but he couldn't. He surrendered to her, returning her kiss with a passion he didn't know he possessed.

The kissing went on for twenty minutes. It was Dallas who finally put a stop to it. She suddenly pulled back. "Darlin'…oh, darlin' I have to go. Ah told Daddy that Ah would be right back."

"Yeah," he said trying to catch his breath. "I understand…" He ran his hand through his damp, sweaty hair. He'd need to take a cold shower after this incident. "Thanks for coming by." He said it so plainly, as if nothing had happened. As if kissing her happened all the time, perhaps now it would.

She gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Ah hope you're feelin' better real soon, dumpling." She arose, picked her robe off the floor and put it on, not tying it. Without saying another word, she walked out.

Speed stared after her, still panting. "A very cold shower…"

He got out of bed, his arm knocking over a picture on his nightstand. He picked it up; two figures gazed back at him: Speed, resplendent in a black tux and Trixie, wearing a pale-pink strapless gown. The photo was taken last year at the Racing Awards banquet. He'd won driver of the year. Trixie had been so proud of him. He stared at her face; her expression seemed to change from a smile to one of silent accusation. He quickly took the picture and stashed it in the drawer. "I did nothing wrong, she kissed me first."