Nine Lives - Danielle Steel Page 0,91

he insisted. Reluctantly she did.

She could see a racetrack in the distance and hear a Spanish announcer behind the two American commentators speaking. They were engaged in a rapid-fire exchange, as though something incredible had happened. One of them was a famous retired race car driver, and the other was a network anchor they used for major sports events.

“I don’t want to see this, Aden,” she said firmly.

“Just listen, Mom.” She was about to turn it off when something stopped her, and a photograph of Paul filled the screen briefly. Maybe he had died, and she should know. But the commentators were still talking and the crowd was screaming Paul’s name. There were no ambulances visible, so maybe he wasn’t dead or injured. She watched, curious about what was going on. Both commentators were excited and the network anchor spoke to the audience almost breathlessly. “For those of you just tuning in, we’ve just seen racing history here. Neither of us have ever seen anything like this before, have we, Pete?” he asked the retired driver, who said he hadn’t. The crowd seemed to be screaming louder. She wondered if someone had killed someone on the track. “We’ve just seen one of the most famous Formula One drivers in history withdraw from the race minutes before it started, ‘for personal reasons.’ He was lost in the snow for four days after an avalanche in Canada three months ago, we’re wondering if it had something to do with that. This would have been his first race since the accident. He was in the pit, checking his car an hour before the race, and all we know, folks, is that he walked off, announced that he was forfeiting the race, and then left a letter confirming it.

“He’ll be fined for forfeiting at the last minute, which he was certainly aware of. He’s been known for his ‘risk everything, I dare you, winner takes all’ attitude for thirty years of racing, but this beats everything. His sponsor can withdraw his contract for this. Paul Gilmore, where are you? The crowd has been going crazy here. You can hear them behind us. No one seems to know what those ‘personal reasons’ are. He’s been unavailable for comment, and word is he left the track minutes ago. For those of you watching at home, this is a first, and a shocker coming from a legend like Paul Gilmore. We’ve all seen him race, even with broken bones.” They were still talking when Aden spoke to her on the phone she was holding.

“I think he withdrew for you, Mom.” He knew why she had left him. “He’s going to pay a big fine for this.”

“He can afford it,” she said coldly. “Maybe he’s sick. He does what he wants, and maybe he doesn’t want them to know. Maybe his feet went numb again and he couldn’t drive.”

“I don’t think so. It would take something pretty damn important for him to forfeit a race. He’s never done that before. He’s too big for that.” She didn’t disagree with him, but wasn’t going to guess about it. The announcers were still trying to figure it out. They were hinting at a mental breakdown of some kind when she turned it off.

She was curious but didn’t want to text and ask him. She didn’t want to open Pandora’s box again. Whatever his reason for forfeiting, it must have been a good one. It was noon for her then, and she went about her day, then went back to the emails she was writing to the artists whose work she was selling.

She bought groceries after, and had just scrambled some eggs at eight o’clock that night when she heard a text come in. She was going to ignore it, but thought it might be Aden, and that he had heard more about Paul. Instead she saw it was from Paul himself. She was about to erase it without reading, when curiosity got the best of her and she opened it and stared at what it said.

“I just flew here from Madrid. I’m in Chicago. I retired today.”

“Why?” she texted back.

“I figure I may have used up the ninth life in Canada and decided to quit while I’m ahead. And I’m in Chicago because you live here and I love you. I did it for you, Maggie, if you still care.” She didn’t know what to answer, and had tears in her eyes. She didn’t want to care, but