Page 12 of Tandem

CHAPTER 9

ROSALIE

I lookedup at the clock as I wiped some sweat off my brow. Work had been going by in a blur. Losing one of your best friends will do that, I guess. Still hard to believe, even a month later, that he was gone. But weirdly enough, things were slowly getting back to normal. My other friends had been talking about doing some more racing again soon, but not down that road it all happened on. I didn’t think we would ever be able to race that side street again.

But as we worked through client after client’s orders today, Dad seemed a little off. He’d been tiptoeing around me at work all day and sneaking away for long chunks of time before coming and ‘checking in to see how I was really doing’, and I was kinda done. I could feel the unease in his movements, his eyes darting with concern as he checked in. It felt like walking on eggshells.

People had treated me differently since that night, as if I were a fragile thing teetering on the edge. Jayden was even acting differently, going out of his way to swing by and chill on the couch, watching a movie with me. He actually texted me first sometimes and replied to my messages fast now. I just wished I felt like it was because he wanted to, not because he was worried about me. Yes, it sucked that Stevie died. I still vividlyremembered his face before I passed out, the denial lingering until I saw the funeral announcement from his parents. But I had slowly pushed through my sadness from him passing away, slowly feeling more like myself again.

“Dad!” I called out as I walked over to him and he turned around, trying to hide whatever he’d been working on behind his back and grabbing my arms and pushing me lightly backward.

“Hey, Rosalie, what do you need, honey?” Dad adjusted his position with a wary smile as I tried to look around him, blocking my vision of what was going on behind him.

“Dad! What are you doing over there? Why can’t I see it? Why can’t you, Mom, Jayden, and everyone just talk to me like normal again? I’m fine!” I tried to shake off his arms, and Dad sighed and exhaled slowly. A sad expression crossed his face as he looked down at me.

“I’m sorry, honey. I guess we have been a little overly cautious around you, hmm? I’m working on a surprise for you and didn’t want you to see it until it was done. I just have a few things to finish on it in the next few minutes. Do you think you can wait in the paint lab for me?” I stared at Dad, and I felt my body slack. The annoyance I had been feeling moments before melted away slowly, and I gave up, shrugging.

“Okay, fine. I’ll go in there and wait…” I looked down at my gray Air Force Ones, and Dad gently rubbed my arms with his hands.

“That’s my girl, now…” He turned me around and gave me a gentle shove. “I’ll be over there in a few minutes, promise.” I walked over into the paint lab room and sat on the leather stool there, spinning in a slow circle, listening to Eminem’s “Stan” playing on the radio. After ten-ish minutes, Dad walked in. In his hands was a rim sitting on another rim. They had been polished to perfection. And mounted into the middle of the rim, standingupright, was a license plate. I tilted my head in confusion at first, then I read the letters on the plate.

It was a custom plate and it was the plate from Stevie’s car. And just like that, I was done, my eyes started pouring tears. I didn’t know I had still been holding back. The more I looked at it, the more details I noticed. They weren’t new rims, they had dents and scratches on them. I sniffed hard as Dad walked over to me and set the display on the counter. “It’s from Stevie’s car… isn’t it?” I sniffed again, trying to breathe through my tears.

“Yes, hun. I had the tow truck driver tell me where it was being moved to, and the police allowed me to remove the back tires and plate before they had it crushed. I want to show you something, okay?” I nodded into his shoulder as I let him tug me out of my seat and walk with me, trailing close behind him up the stairs to the little sitting area and into his office. When we walked in, he stopped at the shelves along one of the walls inside. Then, I finally saw why the display looked familiar to me.

On Dad’s shelves were three similar single-rim designs. Each one had a different rim style and a plate. “This one belonged to my friend James Maverick. Yes, Tyler’s dad.” He walked over to the next one, his face full of emotions. “This one was Roxy’s. She had terminal cancer that she kept hidden from the crew, and during her last week she made her last drag race count by going as fast as her car could go, but it caused her to crash. I think she was afraid to die slowly alone, so she took it into her own hands.” He turned to the final rim and plate, placing his hand on the top. “And this one belonged to my best friend, John Woodard, Hank’s brother and Hank Jr.’s uncle. He died suddenly, like Stevie, with no warning, just gone. These are reminders of some of the best times I had with all of them, and I hope the one I made for you does the same. And you only remember the good times.”

I reached over and hugged my dad tightly, taking comfort as his strong arms squeezed me tight, rocking me back and forth slightly. He was the best. I didn’t even know how I got so lucky to be Kayden Wells’s daughter, but I was never going to get over it.

I wiped my tears away as he leaned down and gave me a quick kiss on the top of my head, then he pulled back. “No more tears unless they are tears of happiness now, all right? I want my cheerful girl back.”

I smiled at Dad, wiped my tears away from my cheek, and nodded quickly. “Okay, Dad, I promise no more sad tears after today.”

Dad patted me on the back and headed toward the office door. “That’s my girl. Now, let’s get that into your car so you can take it home.”

I followed my dad down to the shop floor. I grabbed a couple of clean shop rags and put them over my leather seats, then helped him set it into my passenger seat.

Hugging me one more time, Dad smiled his big smile at me. “Why don’t you go ahead and head home early? Get outta here and go do something fun. It’s summer, after all, and you shouldn’t always be cooped up in a shop all day with beautiful weather like this.”

Well, who was I to say no to that? I drove home and got my display into my room, placing it in the corner by my LED lamp and smiling as the light shone on and through the rims. “I hope you’re doing okay wherever you are, Stevie,” I whispered out, then I stood up and walked out of my room up the stairs to the kitchen. I took in the silence in the house since everyone was out.

I stood there looking around at the photos of my family on the walls. I needed to change. I kept doing reckless things and letting my brother do things the same way. Dad always said there was a smart way to do what you wanted and a dumb way. Iwas going to start doing things the smart way. But first, I needed to talk to my guys and get some stuff sorted.

I pulled out my phone and texted the group chat.

Rosalie

Hey guys! Dad gave me a half day so what do we want to go do?

Hank

Rosalie just ’cause you have a half day doesn't mean I can leave the farm lol.

Jayden

Busy. Maybe later.

Freddie

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