Page 68 of Not So Fast
“All I care about is Xander finishing this race in one piece,” Oscar said.
“Me, too, Oscar. Me, too,” Mia added with a heavy sigh.
* * *
By the fortieth lap, Xander knew it was going to rain. The wind had shifted. The sky had yet again grown darker.
“What’s the latest with the weather?” he asked over the radio.
“Radar still looks relatively clear despite the cloud cover.”
Xander wasn’t convinced. Call it his gut or intuition, he had a feeling something was about to change.
“I don’t totally trust the radar. Please alert the crew about a possible late change to inters. If it starts to rain, I’m coming in right away to switch tires.”
“We’ll have to talk about that, Xander. Even if we do get some rain, there are only twelve laps to go. You risk losing position with another stop.”
All Xander could think about was how he’d played it safe in Austria and lived to regret it. “Just prepare, okay? If it doesn’t work, I’ll take the heat.”
* * *
Mia felt a raindrop on her nose. She directed her gaze skyward. Another drop, this one fatter and on her upper lip. “It’s raining.”
She looked out on the horizon. A massive black cloud that seemed to have come out of nowhere was rolling toward them at immense speed, headed straight for the track.
“Bloody hell,” Oscar said. “Mia, you’re right. You were right. Sky’s about to open up.”
As if Oscar had conjured the weather, the dark cloud doubled in size, dark and swirling and foreboding, now blocking out the sun. A few seconds later, the rain came. Standing on the balcony, they were shielded from it, but Mia thought it might be wise to seek cover.
“Freya. Oscar. Let’s watch from inside.”
“Looks like we’ve got a cats-and-dogs situation on our hands,” the announcer said from the TVs inside the club. “Because ladies and gentlemen, it is officially raining at Silverstone. This is going to beveryinteresting. Hubbard is already sliding around a bit. Oh! Hold on! Look there! That’s XanderBishop heading straight into the pits. What in the world is he doing? Surely there’s no time for another tire change, but the Mega pit crew is running out with the intermediates. Well, there’s a bit of intrigue for you in the closing laps of this race. I predict things are about to get spicy!”
Mia’s stomach felt like it was inside a whirling blender. She didn’t want any more disappointment for Xander. This race meant so much to him.
“You wanted excitement,” Mia said to Freya, her heart up in her throat. “I think we got it.”
* * *
“You’d better be right, Xander,” his engineer said over the radio.
Xander roared out of the pit lane.
“I’ll buy you a pint if I’m wrong.”
As soon as he was up to speed and back on track, he knew he’d made the right decision. Ahead, three different cars were all struggling with grip. And he was in the driver’s seat in every sense of the word.
A bit of rain might not be perfect for everyone else, but it was right on time for Xander.
* * *
Freya, Oscar and Mia all had their eyes glued to the screen. Someone would have had to set Mia’s hair on fire to get her to look away.
“Hey. Uh. Mia. You can maybe hold on to my arm a little less hard,” Oscar said.
Mia let go and shook out her hands. Her fingers ached from gripping Oscar so firmly. “Sorry. I’m just—”
“Nervous?” Freya interjected, bouncing up and down on her toes. “Me, too.”
