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Once they were in the garage area he went to the bay he’d been assigned. He’d won this race last year so he was in the first garage bay. Tucker had come in second so his team and car were right next to Dave’s.
He glanced over, telling himself he wasn’t looking for Annie, but he knew he was. His sister had been in Atlanta since Wednesday and he still hadn’t seen her for more than five minutes without Jared by her side.
He had to get his head in the upcoming race and not worry about his family. This was the part that made him feel like a first-class whiner. But there were times?like now?when he hated being a part of dynasty. Hated the fact that more times than not he wasn’t just racing against the other drivers on the track. He was racing against his father.
He had to hold up the Jenner family name. Had to ensure the legacy of racing and winning didn’t end with him.
“Dave?”
“What?”
“I asked if you had time now to meet with the family here from the wish-granting foundation. Their son, Jon, is your biggest fan.”
Kids with terminal diseases and their families. He glanced at the sky thinking that maybe God was sending him a message?one that he needed as a reminder. “Of course, Mel. I can meet him now. I’ve been looking forward to it. I’ll be out in a sec. Did we give him a shirt and hat?”
“Of course. Donovan’s been with the family all morning.”
Dave continued walking out of the garage into the cluster of fans waiting between the garage and hauler. He signed a few hats and T-shirts. When someone handed him a Jenner shirt, one that had the numbers of his and his father’s cars, he signed it but felt like a fraud. It was as if he was letting down the Jenner family with his failure to win the NASCAR NEXTEL Championship Cup.
ANNIE WAS IN Turn Two photographing the race. The weight of the camera with the large slow-motion lens was heavy, but she was used to it. The race was a close one and she held her breath each time there was a bump or any contact between cars, hoping that Dave wasn’t involved. The race was well-run, there were a minimal number of crashes and when it was over she made her way to Victory Lane to photograph Tucker, who’d won.
Dave was talking to a couple of officials as she made her way through the throng to get into position to take pictures. She saw Jared behind Tucker talking with Tucker’s crew chief.
Jared smiled in her direction and Annie felt a warm flush cover her body. She knew she was falling for him. Had been falling for him from the first moment they’d met.
Annie wanted to believe he was the kind of man she could count on. The type of man who’d always be there when she needed him. He seemed so rock-steady.
But she couldn’t quite believe Jared was all he seemed and she remembered clearly that just over a month ago he’d accused her of doing something illegal.
She tried not to dwell on that. Jared hadn’t known her well enough then to realize she’d never cheat. But he did now. She was slowly relaxing her guard around him, letting him see her as she really was. Not playing at being the kind of woman that would fit into his life perfectly. Not changing herself into what she thought he needed.
She finished her assignment, checked out at the media center and went to find Dave. This loss was going to be hard to take. Not that they all weren’t, but he’d mentioned before the race that he’d wanted to win for Daddy, since he was here watching the race today.
The garage was still off-limits so only those with a hot pass were allowed in. Annie was waved through and went to Dave’s garage. Vinnie and Dave were both talking to another official.
“What’s going on?” Annie asked Dave when Vinnie walked away with the official.
Dave looked tired and pissed off. He still had on his uniform but had unzipped it and she saw he had on her dad’s old T-shirt underneath. It was the T-shirt that commemorated their father’s first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series win. “Aldridge won that race on four tires that hadn’t been changed.”
“So?” she asked, thinking that Dave was getting a little intense in his rivalry with Tucker. She hadn’t seen him so obsessed before.
“So everyone else in the top five had at least two new tires on.”
“And fresher tires normally allow you to go faster,” she stated.
“Exactly. I should have caught him on that last lap,” Dave said.
Her brother was pure brilliance when it came to those last laps of a race.
“We asked the official to check the tires.”
“What could Tucker do to his tires?” she asked. All of the drivers used the same tires and they were inspected carefully before they went on the cars.
“We’re not sure. I’m thinking he used some kind of synthetic substance that would enable him to use his tires longer than normal.”
