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.