Legends and Lies (13 page)

FOR AS LONG AS Annie could remember she’d always been excited about coming to Daytona. She glanced up at the clear blue sky. It was hot today. Sweat dripped down the back of her neck. She swept her hair up, hoping for a cool breeze but there wasn’t one.

She was in Turn Two, which was one of her favorite spots. She liked to be in the curve snapping pictures of the race.

Annie thought back to her lunch with Jared. He had admitted to being on his own and wanting a family. And that was one of her fears—being wanted for her family and not for herself. But she didn’t see Jared as wanting her for her famous family name…she thought it was more that he wanted her
in spite
of her family.

So she was hiding again, behind the safety of the lens of her Nikon camera. Standing in the middle of the world that both she and Jared were a part of and hoping to be invisible.

She donned her protective earphones and set up her tripod. She adjusted all of her equipment and waited for the race to start. Because it was Florida and the middle of summer, the ever-present afternoon rainstorms had the drivers and their teams watching the sky and listening to weather reports in the hope that the storms would pass over and the race would start on time.

She guessed that Dave and Tucker would both be anxious to get out on the track and beat each other, since the last time they’d been at this track the crash had taken them both out early. Tucker had qualified in the pole position and she’d caught a glimpse of his interview on one of the twenty-four-hour sports television channels earlier where he said he was going to take care of business today.

Tucker was cocky and arrogant but she liked that about him. It reminded her a little of Jared and his attitude toward everything. They hadn’t spoken any more about their relationship, but that was okay.

Her cell phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled back from the camera to answer it. She noticed the number was her mother’s. She missed the call but immediately called back.

Even though her father had been fine at the picnic a few days earlier she still worried about his recovery.

“Hey, Mom,” she said when her mother answered.

“Hey, baby. Are you available for a late dinner after the race?”

She took a deep breath. Dinner after the race would involve a lot of her family. She wasn’t going to bring Jared unless her family welcomed him—all of her family.

“I’ll check with Jared, but if we come, Mom, the guys are going to have to back off.”

“I’ll take care of it,” she said.

“Jared might not be available if Tucker wins.”

“I always forget that he’s tied to another driver.” There was a note in her mom’s voice that she couldn’t read.

“Does that bother you, mom?” she asked. She had been dealing with guilt over Dave but hadn’t even thought of the impact her dating Jared might have on her parents. Her dad was a team owner who had three drivers competing against Jared’s two teams each week.

“Doesn’t it bother you?” her mother said.

“I try not to think about it.”

“Annie, that’s not realistic,” her mom replied.

Like she didn’t know that. Like she wasn’t totally aware that her attitude wasn’t healthy. But it was the only way she could be with Jared and not panic. “I mean he’s got this whole other side of his life that takes up as much time as his duties here at the track.”

“That’s good, but it doesn’t change the fact that he is Tucker’s team owner.”

“I know. Dave and I have yet to make any kind of peace about it and I’m really trying not to let it be too big a deal.”

“It’s not a big deal to your father and I,” her mom said suddenly. “I just worry about you, sweetie.”

“Thanks, Mom. I’ll check with Jared and call you back about dinner.”

She glanced at her watch and then at the laminated card that Jared had given her when they’d arrived at the track on Thursday. It had his schedule along with Tucker’s on it. He was giving a tour to a group of potential investors.

Probably not the best time to call him. She text messaged him instead and then went back to fiddling with her camera, getting the last few adjustments made. She was as ready as she could be.

She got a text message from Jared asking her where she was. She told him and wasn’t too surprised when he showed up a few minutes later sans his group.

“You didn’t have to come and find me,” she said.

“I know. I wanted to. I can’t do dinner tonight.”

“Oh. It’s with my family,” she said, then thought about how that sounded. Was she trying to bribe him with her relatives?

“Good, then you won’t be alone.”

“Where will you be?”

“I have an early meeting at the corporate offices in Atlanta.”

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

He gave her an odd look. “Yes. Just the usual corporate meetings that I have to deal with a couple of times a year.”

“Will I see you again today?” she asked.

He shook his head. “That’s why I stopped by.”

He didn’t say anything else, just pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard before he walked away.

JARED’S BUSINESS kept him away from NASCAR for a month. There’d been a problem with one of the coffee farms in Colombia and he’d had to go down there personally to take care of the workers, who were striking. It was the longest month of his life. He’d been out of reach most of the time. Though he’d tried to keep in touch with Annie they’d spoken only twice. And the last time had been on a bad connection when he’d been in Bogotá.

Tucker had won in Daytona and then again the next weekend in Chicago. But Dave had taken the race in Indianapolis and the one in Pocono.

Watkins Glen was located about eighty miles southwest of Syracuse and not too far from Corning. The city was named for the company that was known today for their bakeware. They also housed a first-class museum of glass photography, and knowing that photography was Annie’s life, he’d decided to surprise her with a trip to the museum.

The time apart from Annie had made him realize how entwined their lives had become. He had a glimpse of what his life would be like without Annie in it and he hadn’t liked it at all.

He’d asked her to come to New York one day early and invited Tucker to come along as well. Something that Annie had said about being isolated from her family during her marriage had given him the idea to include Tucker. Tucker was the only person he considered family.

And after spending so much time with her clan, he wanted her to see what his family was like.

He waited near the baggage claim at the Syracuse airport. He was a little nervous, which was unlike him, so he forced the feelings aside.

A few minutes later she walked toward him. Annie looked more tanned than he remembered, and skinnier. She paused, a crowd of people hurrying around her. But she just stood there and he understood why. There had been an intensity between them when he’d skipped her family dinner and gone away. They hadn’t had time to settle back to normal.

He closed the gap between them, ignoring the people milling around them, and leaned down to kiss her, but she turned her head so that his lips brushed her cheek.

“Hello, Jared.”

“Hi, Annie.”

Before he could say anything else Tucker came down the hallway with a tall, slender woman. Heidi Miller. “Hey, buddy.”

“How was the flight?”

“Smooth sailing. Heidi, you know Jared.”

“Hello, Heidi,” Jared said, holding his hand out to her.

“Hi, Jared. It’s been a while,” she said.

“Yeah, what? About a year? It’s good to see you again,” Jared said.

“Do you mind if we swing by my folks’ old ranch in Richfield Springs?” Tucker asked.

Jared thought about the photography exhibit but knew that could wait. Tucker rarely asked him for anything and visiting his parents was something that Tucker felt obligated to do every time NASCAR came to Watkins Glen.

“No problem,” he said. Tucker and Heidi went to get drinks from a vending machine while he and Annie went out to the limo.

“Are Tucker’s parents like your second mom and dad?” she asked.

“Ah, no. But they are pretty likable.”

She tucked her purse next to her hip as Tucker and Heidi approached from behind. “I can’t wait to meet them. Will they be at the race this weekend?”

“My parents?” Tucker asked, sliding into the car after Heidi.

“Yes,” Annie said.

“No. They don’t approve of racing. Think it’s given me a swelled head.”

“You mean you weren’t so sure you were God’s gift to the world before you started racing?” Annie asked teasingly.

“Nah, I was sure of it, but that was private and now they see me on TV and in the papers and they’re private people.”

Jared knew how much Tucker struggled to get his father’s approval, something the other man simply wouldn’t give him. Jared didn’t understand the relationship there. His own father would have supported him no matter what.

“I’ve never been to this area before,” Annie said as they left Syracuse. “We always just go from the airport to the race track.”

“I grew up here,” Heidi said.

“So you and Tucker know each other from childhood?”

“We were neighbors. He invited my dad and brothers to come to the race this weekend.”

Annie jumped on the conversation about big families and brothers. Jared sat back feeling more of an outsider than ever. Even though he’d arranged this group he wasn’t really part of it. He felt himself sliding back, searching for that insulating distance that he always tried to keep between himself and others.

Annie took his hand in hers and turned toward him. “Right, Jared?”

“What?”

“I said that having a big family is a big pain in the butt sometimes,” Annie said, wrinkling her brow as she looked at him.

Jared shrugged his shoulder. “I wouldn’t know about Heidi’s family, but your family…”

“My brothers are the same way,” Heidi said. “The first time I brought Tucker home—what was it, seventh grade?”

“Something like that.” Tucker was sprawled on the other seat with his arm spread over the back. Heidi sat next to him but didn’t lean into the curve of his body.

“They threatened to beat him up.”

“Did that stop you?” Annie asked, leaning forward.

“Hell, no.”

“What about you, Jared? Any brothers try to warn you off?” Annie asked, keeping him in the conversation when he would have retreated again.

“No, in most circles I’m considered a good catch.”

Annie twined their fingers together. “Oh, Jared, I think you’re a good catch, too.”

He wasn’t sure if she was still teasing but her words resonated deep inside him. Though he was afraid to slow down enough to really commit to her, he wanted her to think of him as a good catch. He wanted her to see him as the kind of man he’d always wanted to be.

ANNIE ENJOYED MEETING Tucker’s parents and Heidi’s. Both families had planned a joint barbecue. She saw another side of Jared with the Aldridge family. Mr. Aldridge treated him as an equal, not like one of his son’s friends. Annie had overheard Jared giving Mr. Aldridge financial advice.

“Your parents are very nice, Tucker,” Annie said, when they were all back in the limo and heading toward Watkins Glen. Heidi was staying with her parents until the race this weekend.

“How’d they end up with an arrogant so-and-so like me, right?” he said.

“I think you’re sweeter than you like to let on.”

“Well, don’t let it get out.”

“I won’t.”

It was just after seven o’clock when they dropped Tucker off at his promotional gig at an auto-parts store. He was meeting up with another driver from their team and would catch a ride back with him.

“Alone at last,” Annie said, turning to Jared. “I booked a room at a local hotel.”

“I was hoping you’d stay with me.”

She’d been afraid to presume that. “I’d like that.”

The limo dropped them off at the motor home lot.

“Wait here,” he said, when they reached the door. “I want to make sure everything’s right.”

A few minutes later the door opened again. “Come in.”

There was a bottle of champagne chilling in an ice bucket near the kitchen area. And with the click of a button music filled the room—Stevie Wonder singing “Sir Duke.” She smiled at him, feeling the weeks they’d been apart drift away. Here was the man she’d been falling for.

His silence had been understandable. But that hadn’t stopped doubts from forming in her mind. When he’d left her in Daytona she felt like things were unsettled.

And that last call when she’d barely been able to hear him had been torturous. Her family had made a few remarks on his absence, but then stopped asking when it became clear she had no idea when he’d be back.

She clearly recalled the last time he’d invited her to a private meal like this one. It felt like eons ago. So much had changed between them. Then she’d scarcely known the man behind the image and now…now she knew him better than she’d ever expected to.

“Champagne?”

“Yes, please.”

He poured them both a glass and handed her one of the flutes.

“To you,” he said, touching the rims of the glasses together.

“To you, too,” she said.

While they drank their champagne Jared told her about his trip to Colombia. When they were finished he drew her to her feet and into his arms.

“What are we doing now?”

“Dancing,” he said. “I know we should have gone out so we could be around other people…but I want you to myself for a few hours before the race-week events begin.”

“I missed you.”

“Good.”

She pinched his side. “That’s not very nice.”

“Why not? I was missing you.”

“This scares me, Jared. Needing you the way I do.”

“We’re finding our way. Trust that we will continue to do so.”

She bit her lower lip, wanting to believe him but knowing that it wasn’t that easy. She’d been unsettled when he’d been gone, which should have been her first clue that she was more than falling for him. She’d worked long hours compiling and editing the photos she’d taken of Dave.

“What, no promises?” she asked.

“I’ll only make promises I can keep.”

That didn’t reassure her. She knew what he was trying to say and she wasn’t ready to make any commitments to him, either, at least not without a guarantee. She wanted him to take all the risks, put himself out in the open with his vulnerabilities so she wouldn’t have to take that leap.

Once she knew how he felt about her she’d tell him or show him. But she knew it wasn’t fair. “I’m just tired tonight.”

“Is that all?”

“Nothing with you is ever easy for me to accept,” she said, at last.

“Like what?” he asked. His sincere concern got her every time.

“Everything. Though you try to hide it, you’re a really caring man. I can see the life that you have and I’m wondering how I can fit in, with my big family.”

“We’ll just take it step by step.”

He pulled her into his arms, framing her face with his large hands. He brushed his thumb over her lower lip.

Her throat clogged with tears and she could only stare up at him. Then he lowered his head to hers and kissed her. Having been apart from him for four long weeks, she knew exactly what was missing without him in her life.

And his words and this evening told her he’d felt the same way. He hadn’t said anything concrete about a future together, but she knew they were building toward one and that frightened her. She wasn’t sure she was ready to commit herself to him, but knew she didn’t want to live without him.