“Yeah, I am happy with him. Mom likes him. Dad is starting to come around.”
“He’s a charming guy. I’m not surprised the folks like him. He knows how to put everyone at ease.”
“Not you.”
“I think it has something to do with the fact that I’m your brother and I don’t trust him.”
Why didn’t Dave trust him? She’d never told him that Jared had accused her of tampering with Tucker’s car. So what did her twin sense that she was missing?
“Why don’t you trust him? I…you know that trusting someone is hard for me. But I’ve come to see that he can be very trustworthy.”
Dave didn’t say anything.
“Is it just the Tucker connection?” she asked.
He shrugged and Annie was suddenly mad at him. Mad at the men in her life who endlessly complicated it.
“I think I’m falling for him, Dave. I think he could be the right man for me. So if you know something solid about him, tell me.”
“Ah, Annie. Don’t fall for him.”
“You know love doesn’t work like that.”
“Yeah, I do. You really like him that much?”
She nodded.
“Straight up, Annie, I don’t trust him because I don’t know him.”
“You haven’t exactly been friendly.”
“Fair enough, but everyone I’ve asked about him says the same thing. He’s all surface, flash and charm, but no one knows anything solid about the man himself.”
She swallowed her own fear that Dave’s comments brought to the surface. She knew that Jared could be distant. She’d seen him deflect her with kisses and embraces.
“I think he’s afraid to let anyone close,” she said.
“Then why are you trying so hard to change that?” Dave asked.
She had no words to explain it that wouldn’t leave her feeling exposed and raw. And she didn’t want to go there with Dave.
“I’m not trying to bring you down, Annie.”
“I know,” she said, realizing nothing between Dave and Jared had been resolved. But she did feel as if there was a certain peace between the two of them now.
“I got some good shots of Vinnie and your team this morning.”
“You’re going to get some great shots later.”
“Really? Of what?”
“Me winning.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
DAVE WAS RUNNING LATE to the drivers’ meeting. He had qualified in the pole position for Richmond and the last thing he wanted to do was screw up by arriving late to the meeting. All drivers and crew chiefs were required to attend and be on time. Anyone who was late was penalized, usually by having to start last in the pack regardless of qualifying.
When he arrived Dave saw Vinnie was already in the garage bay where the chairs had been set up. He sank down next to his crew chief.
“Late night?”
“Ha, I wish. You?”
“Nah. Darla’s here and she likes to ‘spend quality time’ together.”
Dave laughed. Vinnie’s wife read a lot of magazines, always had some new relationship improvement in store for him. Though Vinnie groused a bit, Dave knew his friend didn’t mind. In fact, Dave kind of envied Vinnie and the solid relationship he had with Darla.
He glanced around at the seats, seeing that they were almost full. This was the one time each week where all the drivers and crew chiefs were together. It was kind of a last bit of relaxing before the race started in a couple of hours.
The officials were about to go over the rules and ask questions. Though they all drove each week sometimes issues came up. In fact Dave was going to bring up something that had been bothering him.
Nothing illegal had been found on Aldridge’s tires the last time they’d been inspected or at any of the five races they’d had since then. Vinnie had been watching the other man’s pit stops and noticed that he hadn’t taken tires at his last pit in the last four races.
And he intended to bring that up today. Get it out in the open where it could be dealt with.
Aldridge and Billy Toughton, his crew chief, arrived in the midst of an entourage. Dave noticed that Jared was absent and didn’t see his sister, either. But other people with garage passes started to line the garage area where the meeting was held.
Aldridge took a seat right behind Dave. During practice he’d been a little aggressive in his passing, almost clipping Dave’s car one time, but it wasn’t in a reckless way. It had felt like a warning to Dave, as if the other driver was laying down a challenge before the race. It was a challenge Dave had no problem accepting. He wanted to beat Tucker on the track as many times as he could.
Dave got up toward the end of the meeting when concerns were addressed. “I’m still concerned about the tire usage issue we’ve been discussing for the last few weeks.”