I picked up a taco and managed to shove half of it in my mouth in one bite. I chewed with her watching me, knowing she was dying to know what had kept me at the shop for so long. “Grab me a beer?”
She sighed heavily but walked to the fridge and pulled out a beer. She popped off the top and slammed it down. “Speak.”
I took a long pull from the bottle and finished the rest of my taco. “I was at the shop.”
She rolled her eyes. “I meant what were you doing at the shop? It’s a quarter to ten and you’re just walking through the door.
“I wouldn’t say just. I did watch you for a good five minutes before you woke up.”
“Creepy,” she mumbled under her breath.
I might as well put her out of her misery. “I don’t own Cummings Racing anymore.”
Her jaw dropped, and she held onto the counter. “I must be asleep still. I could have sworn you just said you don’t own Cummings Racing.”
“That’s what I said.”
“Brooks.”
“Frankie.”
She threw her hands up in the air. “Can you elaborate a little bit more on that? When I left the shop today, no one mentioned that I didn’t have a job anymore.”
“You did still have a job.”
She looked around the kitchen and grabbed the towel off the handle of the oven. She balled it up and chucked it at my head. “Start from the damn beginning, and don’t leave anything out.”
“Are you going to keep throwing stuff at me until I do?”
She reached behind her and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl. “Yes, and each time, it’s going to be worse. You have thirty seconds before I chuck this apple at your head.”
I grabbed another taco from the plate and slowly ate it as I explained. “You saw my dad came in.”
“Yeah. I’m sure he knew that we were doing the nasty.”
I shrugged. There wasn’t any sense in denying it. “Yeah, but it doesn’t matter.”
“Yeah, your right,” she drawled. “I’ll just never be able to look the man in the eye ever again.”
“Probably wouldn’t want to do that anyway, doll. He’d suck your soul out of your body.”
She snapped her fingers. “Okay, focus. I really doubt you were stuck at work because your dad knew what we were doing in your office before he came over.”
I finished my second taco and kept my eye on Frankie while I drained my beer. She walked to the fridge and grabbed another beer, except this time, she popped off the top and took a drink. “You’re driving me to drink, Brooks. Would you get on with the damn story before I pull out the half empty bottle of wine?”
I took mercy on her. “My dad left my mom. He wants nothing to do with her. Therefore, I told him I want nothing to do with him. Cummings Racing is more than half mine. My dad owns a smaller portion of it. I had planned on buying him out and being completely done with him.”
She nodded and leaned on the counter. “Sounds like a good plan.”
“It is. Or, at least, it was. Dad came in today to let me know he wasn’t going to let go of Cummings Racing. He built up the name Cummings to what it was, and there wasn’t any way I was going to take it away from him.”
“But you just said you own the majority. How is it possible you can’t buy him out?”
“I can, but he wasn’t going to make it easy for me to do it. He already rejected three offers, and each one was more generous than the last.”
“I’m assuming you have everything all worked out, but you have completely stressed me out just listening to this story.”
I pulled out the stool next to me and patted on it. “Come sit, and I’ll explain how this becomes a happy ending.”
She rounded the counter and sat down. “I’m not talking ‘til you finish the story.”
Like that was really going to happen. Maybe if I said it all in one go, she wouldn’t have the chance to interrupt me. “I’m not going to bend to my father’s will. At least, not the way he wants me to. His feathers are in a ruffle because he thinks I’m floating by on his name alone. I can add him to the hundreds of people who think I’m only where I am because of what he accomplished.”
“That’s fucking bullshit.” Frankie slapped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry,” she mumbled.
“I know it’s not true, doll. I’m not worried about that.” I continued on. “While my dad was going on about me using the Cummings name, I had an idea. One I couldn’t do on my own, but I knew if I could make it happen, it was going to get my dad out my life.”
She leaned into me and waited with baited breath.
“I sold him the name Cummings Racing for a dollar and started a new race team with Roc.”
Her jaw dropped, and she blinked slowly.
“Before the start of this season, Wright Electronics approached me about sponsoring the car, but the catch was they wanted to be the main sponsor. You know, the one that is plastered all over the car. Maverick Tools wasn’t going to give up their name on the car, so Wright and I parted ways on the thought that if I ever needed a main sponsor that they would be the company for me.”
“Holy fuck,” Frankie gasped. “Wright Electronics ain’t no joke, Brooks. They’re the up and coming company that produces more than a third of all of the electronics on most dragsters.”
I nodded. “I know, doll. All it took was one ten minute call explaining what Roc and I were doing, and they said they were in. They immediately faxed over a proposed sketch of what they wanted the car to look like and a rather large check arrived by carrier an hour after that.”
“Jesus, Brooks. You were damn busy while all I was doing was making tacos and hanging out with your mom.” She shook her head. “I still can’t believe that you sold Cummings Racing to your dad. Now we are going to have to find a new shop, buy everything new, and try to get a car ready.”
“We don’t need to do any of that. I sold the name, Frankie, that’s all. The car, the tools, the building, they all belong to me and Roc.” I grabbed the second beer from her and took a swig. “He wanted the name, and he thought throwing a fuss about it was going to stop me from racing. He was wrong. I don’t need him or his name to race.”
“That is the most amazing story I have ever heard.” Her head snapped to look at me. “So we’re not going to the Meyer Royal?”
I shook my head. “Unfortunately, I’m going to need more than fifteen hours to completely flip a car and rebrand everything.”
“Is the season over?” She whispered.
Frankie loved racing as much as I did. I knew hanging things up for the season would kill her. I was liable to lose her to another team if I didn’t have a car to go down the track every weekend. “No. Roc and I figured we’ll need a week to get somewhat settled into King Racing.”
“King Racing? Is that who my new employer is?”
I nodded my head. “Yep. Roc came up with it. He said my dad always thought he was the king of the AC Cola circuit, and he figured it was time he showed him who really was king.”
“You,” she whispered.
“I wouldn’t go that far, but yeah. That’s the drift we’re going for.”