Racing in the Rain Read Free Page B

felt proud to be included in Eve’s inner circle. The two ladies bustled off, and I watched in fascination as Eve suckled her new babe. After a few minutes, my attention drifted from the baby’s first meal to Eve’s face, and I saw that she was crying and I wondered why.
    She let her free hand dangle to the bedside, her fingers near my muzzle. I hesitated. I didn’t want to presume she was beckoning me. But then her fingers wiggled and her eyes caught mine, and I knew she was calling me. I bumped her hand with my nose. She lifted her fingers to the crown of my head and scratched, still crying, her baby still nursing.
    â€œI know I told him to go,” she said to me, referring to Denny. “I know that I insisted he go, I know.” Tears ran down her cheeks. “But I so wish he were here!”
    I had no idea what to do, but I knew not to move. She needed me there.
    â€œWill you promise to always protect her?” she asked.
    She wasn’t asking me. She was asking Denny, and I was merely Denny’s substitute. Still, I felt the obligation. I understood that, as a dog, I could never be as connected as I truly desired. Yet, I realized at that moment, I could be something else. I could provide something of need to the people around me. I could comfort Eve when Denny was away. I could protect Eve’s baby. And while I would always want more, in a sense, I had found a place to begin.
    The next day, Denny came home from Daytona, Florida, unhappy. His mood immediately changed when he held his little girl, whom they named Zoë, not after me, but after Eve’s grandmother. “Do you see my little angel, Enz?” he asked me.
    Did I see her? I practically birthed her!
    Denny was very careful around Eve’s parents. Maxwell and Trish had been in the house since Zoë was born, taking care of their daughter and their new baby granddaughter. I began calling them the Twins because they looked very much alike. They had the same shade of dyed hair. Plus they always wore matching outfits: khaki pants or polyester slacks with sweaters or polo shirts. When one of them wore sunglasses, the other did, too. The same with Bermuda shorts and tall socks pulled up to their knees. And because they both smelled of chemicals: plastics and hair products.
    From the moment they arrived, the Twins had been criticizing Eve for having her baby at home. They told her she was endangering her baby’s welfare. And that in these modern times, it was irresponsible to give birth anywhere but in the best of all hospitals with the most expensive of all doctors. Eve tried to explain to them that statistics showed exactly the opposite was true for a healthy mother. Also, that any signs of distress would have been recognized early by her experienced team of midwives. But the Twins didn’t understand. Fortunately for Eve, Denny’s arrival home meant the Twins could turn their attention away from her faults and focus on his.
    As they stood in the kitchen, Denny told Maxwell about the disappointing results of the race at Daytona. “That’s a lot of bad luck,” the male Twin said to Denny as they stood in the kitchen. Maxwell was gloating; I could hear it in his voice.
    â€œDo you get any of your money back?” Trish asked.
    Denny was very unhappy, and I wasn’t sure why until Mike came over later that night and he and Denny opened their beers together. It turned out that Denny had been going to take the third stint driving at Daytona. The car had been running well, everything going great. They were in second place and Denny would easily take the lead as the sunlight faded and the night driving began. Until the guy who had the second turn driving slammed the car into the wall on turn 6.
    He crashed it when a Daytona Prototype—a much faster car—was overtaking. First rule of racing: Never move aside to let someone pass; make him pass you . But the driver on Denny’s team moved over,