CHAPTER 33 34 35 36 Epilogue
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“ My hands hurt. I don’ t think I could do that again. But thanks for offering,” she said and offered her lips again. Ryan stopped being shy. He kissed her and ran after the group getting into the cars.
On the last lap of the race Nicole was in the lead. She slowed entering the last curve and Matt, who was right behind her, pulled along side. Shelby and Ryan stopped to see what was going on. All four drivers crossed the finish line at the same time.“ Thank you Sam,” they yelled in unison as Eddie waved the checkered flag. Sam received hugs from the spectators, led by Justin. With the cars neatly tucked away, the group sat down to lunch under the tents. They had been too excited to eat when the cars pulled onto the track“ I want all of you to know the cars have never looked so good. I especially want to thank Justin and Ryan for taking the time to really make them shine,” Sam acknowledged the extra effort.“ The pool and the game room are open for your enjoyment,” Sam announced. Justin took Shelby to see his car. Sam unlocked the other garage.“ How do I know this is your car?” she asked, looking around the expanse of exotic cars.“ Because it was mine and I promised it to him as his eighteenth birthday present. This is Justin’ s COPO Camaro.” Sam stated from nearby.“ What’ s so special about this car?” she said, standing midst some of the world’ s finest machines ever built. Sam pulled her phone from her pocket and quickly found the clip of Eddie’ s burn out.“ Do that to a normal car and it will end up in the shop needing an engine, a transmission or both,” She said, as Shelby watched the same clip Ryan witnessed.“ If Justin takes the same kind of care he showed in the detail to the Indy cars, the Lamborghini is his as a college graduation present,” Sam pointed at what was probably the sleekest looking machine in the garage.“ Go sit in it for a minute. We certainly want to make sure you fit,” Sam escorted the couple and opened the passenger door for Shelby. Justin caught Sam’ s wink as he climbed into the drivers seat.“ Make sure the brake is set, push in the clutch and start the car,” Sam instructed. The car came to life and Sam closed the door.
Sitting in the close confines of the vehicle, Justin noticed he fit perfectly. Sam put up her hand and told him to give it some gas. He pressed the throttle and felt the power at his fingertips as the engine revved. Sam opened the door.“ I think you fit just fine,” Sam said, nodding toward the house. The look in his eyes told her everything she wanted to know.“ Thank you,” was written all over his face.“ Picture that sitting in the parking lot with a big silver bow on top at commencement,” Sam said, leading them back to the golf cart.“ Please drive,” she said, hopping on the rear seat.
The Foosball table was a nice addition to the billiard room and noticed immediately. The high backed chair facing the corner took a few minutes. The words“ Flight Simulator” were molded into the carbon fiber back of the chair. Ryan longed to be a pilot. One of his favorite computer games was a flying game. This looked to be much more elaborate with a padded seat and an adjustable yoke. Sam sat in the seat. Five screens lit giving the pilot a hundred and eighty degree view out the windows of the cockpit. Sam changed to an old biplane and the side views were obscured slightly by the hardware holding the two wings in place. The front screen showed the start-up menu and the variety of planes and the levels available. Locked levels of play included missions from the flight deck of an aircraft carrier.“ I can’ t get the Cessna or the biplane back on the ground so I’ m not allowed to fly anything else,” Sam said. Ryan laughed.“ You do it. I spent hours. That’ s why I couldn’ t drive today. My butt’ s sore,” Sam said giving Ryan the seat. Sitting in the pilots seat, he took off, flew a quick trip around the city of Houston and brought the plane in for a perfect landing.“ This is so cool. You can feel the turbulence,” he said.“ You should feel it when you crash,” Sam said rubbing her backside. Everyone else found out what Sam meant after a laugh at her expense. Landing the plane was not as easy as Ryan made it look.
The food was moved to the game room by a couple of maids. They played games until the sun set. Nicole wanted it to be dark when she showed everyone the pool. Sam waited for everyone to change into swimwear and start walking toward the blue pool before adding the light show Nicole requested. The waterfall poured green