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“Hi,” she said.
“We need to talk,” I told her.
She nodded but didn’t stop loading her bag.
“Okay, but I really can’t right now,” she said.
“You can’t right now?” I asked, a little surprised.
She nodded again as she added a file folder and notebook into her bag and slipped it over her shoulder.
“Brandon is waiting for me. We have to get down to the track and start setting up for the tailgate event. There’s a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it. Since we weren’t able to go there over the weekend or earlier this week and look over everything to try to figure out the logistics of setting up, it’s going to be more of a crunch to get ready before the fans get there,” she said.
She headed out of her office, and I fell into step beside her.
“Merry, this is really serious. We have to talk about what happened,” I said.
“I thought we agreed that was over and done with, and behind us,” she said.
“We did, but I’ve been thinking about it, and that’s just not going to be possible,” I told her.
“I’m sorry, Quentin, but I really can’t talk about this right now. I need to get to the track, get everything set up, and make sure the party goes well. You should be thinking about that, too. You know the fans are coming out to see the team,” she said.
Before I could say any more, we walked outside, and Brandon was standing there waiting for her. He smiled broadly and came toward us.
“Hey, sis. Hey, Quentin,” he said.
“Hi, Brandon,” I said. “Settling in all right?”
“Yes. It’s been great so far. Thanks. Are you excited about the race tonight?” he asked.
“Absolutely,” I told him. “In fact, your sister and I were just talking about the tailgate party.”
“It should be fun. I’m really looking forward to the whole thing,” he said.
“We should actually get going,” Merry said. “We don’t have any time to waste. See you there, Quentin.”
She hurried away with her brother scurrying to catch up with her. He leaned in close to mutter something to her that I couldn’t hear, but all she did was shake her head and keep rushing toward the parking lot. I watched her go, knowing I couldn’t just let this drop. It was going to push me over the edge if I kept trying to just go on like nothing happened.
It was almost three hours later when I managed to get near Merry again. I stayed behind at the complex for a while after she left to finish up what needed to be done and help load everything on the trucks. By the time we got to the track, we had little time to unload and get to the tailgate. As soon as we arrived, we were swept up into the fun, which was just what we all wanted. She had really done an exceptional job putting everything together, and I was impressed from the local food truck cooking to one side with the DJ playing music, to the merchandise stand and the areas set up for the team to take pictures and sign autographs. I made my appearance and did what I needed to do, then caught sight of her lingering by herself near the merchandise table.
Moving quickly, I got to the table and reached out to touch her arm.
“Merry, we need to talk,” I said. “The party is in full swing, and everyone is doing great. We can talk for a few minutes before we need to get down to the track.”
She looked like she was trying to come up with an excuse to get away from me again, but when nothing came to mind, she gave a reluctant nod.
“All right,” she said.
“Let’s go to the company box. There won’t be anybody there yet,” I said.
I walked away from the crowd with Merry by my side and knowing I had only a few minutes to figure out exactly what I was going to say to her when we got to the box.
24
Merry
“I don’t think I can keep doing this,” Quentin said.
“What do you mean?” I asked. “Do what?”
“I can’t keep pretending nothing happened between us,” he started.
“But that’s what we said we were going to do,” I cut him off. “As soon as it happened, we both knew it was a mistake and we needed to move past it. We agreed to just pretend it didn’t happen so we could keep going without there being any awkwardness.”
I felt like I was getting shrill and knew I was repeating myself. He wasn’t looking convinced, and maybe if I just reiterated the same things over and over, they’d sink in and we could just head back to the event for a convivial hamburger and soda before the race. As soon as I stopped talking, though, I knew that wasn’t going to happen. There were still words on his lips, and I wasn’t going to get out of hearing them.
