“Did you work things out with Dave?”
“Yes. How did you know…?”
“Vinnie tells me everything.”
“Everything?”
“Yes, so I know about that hot guy you’re dating.”
She flushed. “It’s not because he’s hot.”
Darla threw her arm around Annie’s shoulder and hugged her close for a second. “It doesn’t matter to me if it is. I’m just happy to see you back at the track and smiling.”
“Thanks, Darla. I’m feeling more like my old self.”
“It’s about time. I missed you the last few years.”
“Me, too.”
“Was Europe fun?” Darla asked. “Vinnie hates flying but he promised a trip to Italy if they win the championship this year.”
The first six months she’d been married to Malcolm Europe had been a lot of fun. They’d traveled every week like the NASCAR racers did and she’d enjoyed seeing some of her favorite cities as well as new ones. “Yeah, it was pretty cool. Kind of the same as this.”
“That always amazes me…how similar people are no matter where you go.”
Darla had been a model before she married Vinnie and she often said the pressure and the crowds at fashion shows was very similar to race weekends.
“Did you make any good friends over there?” Darla asked.
Annie fiddled with her camera. This was the conversation she’d been dreading since she returned to her NASCAR family. “A few. But it turned out I didn’t fit in that well with them.”
“Give me a break, you fit in with everyone,” Darla said.
“Trust me, D.”
“What was so different?”
“Um…they were very open about having affairs with different drivers.”
“Oh, hon.”
Annie shrugged. “I think it worked out for the best. Instead of hanging out I started to take more freelance photo assignments, which helped me win some awards and get more work.”
“It still had to sting.”
“It did. Oh, I’ve got to run,” she said, turning away as the announcer got the race started.
Annie moved down the pit road, taking pictures of Dave and his team throughout the evening. There were a few minor wrecks and Lance Maxwell got caught in one of them. But the damage wasn’t too bad and his team was able to fix it and get him back on the track. And then Tucker got caught in a little bump but he didn’t lose his position.
When Tucker pitted for the last time there was a lot of chatter about what he was doing. Anne turned her camera onto Tucker’s crew and snapped a few photos hoping that she’d be able to get something on film that would put Dave’s suspicions to rest.
Annie was surprised to see a new guy that she recognized, Rob Mandelay. He’d gone to school with her and Dave. She hadn’t seen him in years. She’d have to catch up with him later.
Dave won the race setting a track record and Annie forgot about Rob and the photos she’d taken of Aldridge’s pit as she made her way to Victory Lane.
JARED STOOD ON the fringes of the circle at Victory Lane watching Annie do her job.
“Come to congratulate the winner?” Alan Jenner asked, coming up behind Jared.
“Yes,” he said. Dave had run a good race. Jared wasn’t surprised since he’d seen the driver twice since he’d arrived in Richmond and Dave had been very focused, as if he wasn’t going to let anything stop him from winning. Jared suspected that Dave was trying to prove something to him by beating Tucker on the track.
“Then why are you staring at Annie?” Alan stated.
“Leave it alone,” Jared said, getting a little sick of the Jenner men always hounding him. He was willing to cut them a little slack because he cared for Annie, too, but enough was enough.
“Hello, Jared. Wasn’t it an exciting race today?” Carol Jenner asked. Annie’s mom had on a Jenner Racing jacket and a big smile that reminded him of Annie’s.
“Yes, it was, Mrs. Jenner.”
“Alan, get up there so Annie can get your picture,” she ordered, taking her nephew by the arm and nudging him toward the group from Jenner Racing.
Alan moved to do what he was told.
“I wanted to thank you again for taking us to dinner in Talladega, we really enjoyed ourselves.”
“I’m glad to hear it. I enjoyed it, too.”
“Brandon and I would like to invite you to be our guest for dinner next week in Darlington.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Jenner?”
“Please call me Carol,” she said. “I have a feeling you’re going to be hanging around our family for a long time.”
He felt pressure deep inside at her words but shrugged it off and fell back on the politeness that had been ingrained since birth. “Thank you, Carol.”