Into the Fire

“Yes, sir. I’m here right now next door. Yeah, that’d be great. Thank you.”
“He’s coming over, isn’t he?” Nelson grinned at Hutch.
“Yeah, you think he’ll mind me being a horseshoer and all?”
“Nah. He was fine with renting to me, and he understood when I took the house instead. He hasn’t been burned yet by a racetracker, so he doesn’t know the difference.”

“Dick! What’re you doin’ here?” Cee got up from behind her desk and closed her office door so she could embrace her husband.
“I owe you an explanation, and I didn’t want to waste any time giving it to you—as well as my apology for keeping something from you. I feel pretty stupid about it right now, but I’m also very appreciative of how you’ve been so patient with me. You’ve handled the situation much better than I have.”
Putting her hands on his shoulders and smiling a little mischievously, she asked, “Your dream?”
“How come you’re so smart anyway?” He kissed her.
“I don’t know how smart I am, but I do know when something’s really got you bugged.” She kissed him back.
“You know what?”
“What?” She smiled.
“I’m so glad I don’t have to wait any longer to crawl into bed with you. To have you next to me. I thought that day would never come.”
“I know.” After a moment, she said, “Why don’t you tell me over dinner? I’m done here.”
“Sounds great. I’ll be in the car.”

“Nelson, I can’t thank you enough for this. What a relief. Mr. Raleigh seems like a real nice guy, too.”
“Glad to help. You hungry?”
“I was just going to offer to buy you dinner. I think I’ve got a clean shirt in the truck.”
“You’re on.”