Shane continued going through the countless articles and photos. He held up the article with me and Bobby. "That's my ex" I said trying not to look in his eyes. If I did I knew he would know something was wrong. "Why did ya'll break up?" he asked curiously. "We um," I tryied to say it with out crying "we didn't break up." Shane looked at me, confused.
"What do you mean you didn't break up?!?!" he asked his temper starting to show. "I mean" I took a deep breath as the tears started rolling down my cheeks "Bobby died". Shane looked into my eyes. He could see I was hurt. He wrapped his arms around me and held me close. I couldn't hold back the tears anymore. I sobbed into his shoulder as he rubbed my back trying to calm me down. Once I had calmed down a bit Shane asked "How did he die?" I closed my eyes. I dreaded this, but I knew he had to know. I had to tell him, and now was the time. "I met Bobby about 5 years ago when I was 18. We fell in love quickly and were pretty much inseperable. We did everything together. We even raced together." the tears quickly came back." It was 2 years ago. Bobby and I had just passed our 3 year mark and we had a race on Saturday night. I got into the car and had a very uneasy feeling. I never raced when I felt like that. I always got back out of the car. But that night was different, I wanted to beat Bobby to hold it over his head. I just shrugged off the feeling as adrenaline. Well it was near the last lap and Bobby and I were racing for the lead. He got loose and his car turned up in front of mine. I couldn't stop in time, I hit the driver side hard. They took him to the hospital but it was too late. It took me along time to get over it. A part of me still isn't. I vowed that I would never get into a racecar or date a racecar driver ever again. And when I met you I was so apprehensive of starting any sort of relationship.But I said screw it. And now that im with you im so scared. Im afraid that im going to lose you." Shane looked at me shocked. "Why didn't you tell me this before?" He asked. "Because I thought you wouldn't want to be with me once you found out that I killed someone". I was sobbing so hard I could barely breathe. Shane wrapped his arms around me. "Baby, you didn't kill him. It was an accident, no ones fault" he said still in shock from what he heard. Shane layed me down on the bed and ran his fingers through my hair. He held me close until I passed out from crying. The next morning I woke up and Shane was sleeping peacefully next to me. I found the box of memories at the end of the bed. I gathered the stuff up and put it back in the box. I stuck it back on the top of the closet. I heard Shane stir behind me. I turned around and saw him staring at me. He was still laying under the covers, I walked up and climbed back into bed with him. He wrapped his arms around me and looked into my eyes. "We need to talk" he said. I couldn't tell from his expression wether it was a good talk or a bad talk. I nodded, he started to speak. "Look, I am sorry for what happened in your past. It was in no way your fault. As for me racing, I will never stop. It's in my blood and I love it." I nodded with acceptance "I understand. I would never want you to stop racing. Im just nervous" I could see the look of understanding on Shane's face. He continued "I don't want you to ever be worried or scared. I love you and I will always come back to you". I looked at Shane trying to figure out if I heard him right. "Did you just say you love me?" I asked a little nervous awaiting his answer. He nodded. I smiled and planted a kiss on his lips. I pulled back and looked him in his eyes. "I love you too" he smiled and kissed me again. We spent most of that day laying in bed making love. I knew that I was finally happy, and Shane was the reason for that.
*****
It was finally the day that Shane would leave for Daytona. I had decided that I would come down a couple days later so I could tie up the loose ends at work. I drove him to the airport so I could say goodbye. The traffic on the interstate was miserable. Shane's boss had called NUMEROUS times wondering where we were. When we finially got to Charlotte-Douglas we had already went way past take off time. "Sorry" Shane said handing his bag to the worker. He quickly leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. He wrapped me up into his arms. "Shane let's GO" Billy yelled screaming from the stairs of the plane. "Coming" he let go of me and looked into my eyes "i'll see you in a couple of days. I'll be safe and i'll miss you." with that said he was off. I watched from the window as the plane went down the runway and into the sky. I went to the shop and started working for the day. I had hired a few people to pick up the slack around the shop. I had also given Billy a promotion and he was happy to help run the shop. The days went by and I talked to Shane whenever he had a free moment. It was finally the day for me to leave. I hopped on the plane for the somewhat short flight to Daytona. Shane had told me that there would be a rental car waiting and all I had to do was pick it up at the Enterprise desk. When I got off the plane and got my begs, I stopped at the bathroom before heading over to pick up the rental car. I walked towards the desk and saw Shane standing there. His eyes were scanning the crowd, I guess looking for me. I walked up behind him and flicked him in the ear. He quickly turned around and his eyes lit up. "Hey!" he said picking me up and swinging me around. He stood there with his arms around me, "Um Babe? Can ya put me down?" I asked, my feet dangling a couple inches above the ground. "I missed you" he said kissing me softly on the lips.
