Smokin' & Spinnin' (27 page)

I turn around suddenly and look into the eyes of Garrett Carter. I shriek! He is amused. I am quickly aware that I am wearing only a T-shirt that barely covers my bottom. I hop like a scared rabbit around the other side of the island to cover myself, and Garrett laughs at me. I am beyond mortified.

“Miss Parker,” Garrett says, “Good morning!”

I flush. This is death by embarrassment. “I…uh…Hi…umm…Good morning!” I mutter.

About the same time, Ryan rounds the corner. “Whitney, I have your suitcase…” But he trails off when he sees me locked in an awkward moment with his father. He doesn’t miss a beat. “Where did you come from?” Ryan looks back to me, then back to his dad and laughs. “What did you do? Scare the hell out of her?”

Garrett laughs. “I think that is a fair assessment.”

I’m glad that they are both amused at my expense
.

I smile sheepishly. Garrett doesn’t seem surprised to see me here. What is going on?

“I just came down here to give you all a friendly warning.” Garrett looks to Ryan. “Your mother is excited about Whitney coming to eat brunch with us today.”

Brunch?

“She had me shining up the crystal at eight a.m. So, y’all better get your butts dressed and up to the house real quick.” He chuckles as he spouts out his warning.

“Brunch!” I exclaim as I whip my head around to Ryan. He smiles cautiously at me because he knows I am about to erupt. He knows the signs. I throw up my hands in distress. “Well! I am so glad everyone knows about this but me!”

Garrett laughs out loud. “Well…I guess I will leave you two alone to sort that out! Don’t be late!” With those words of caution, he is gone.

Ryan turns back to me and quips, “You heard the man. Get ready!”

I finally manage to breathe, then shout, “Ryan! I think I’m going into heart failure!” He laughs and shakes his head. “Brunch with your mom? This is just too much. And your dad, too? I am absolutely mortified. Why was he not surprised to see me here?”

Ryan rolls his eyes at me. “He knows about you. Both of them know.”

What?
My eyes open wide with surprise. Since when?

“I tell my dad everything, Whitney. He is my best friend. In fact, he told me that I was stupid if I didn’t go for it with you, especially after you straightened my ass out that day in the boardroom.” I am still at a loss for words, so Ryan continues, “He said you remind him of my mother!” He laughs as he recalls their conversation. I, however, I am not finding anything funny at the moment.

“Jesus, Ryan! When were you planning to tell me all of this?”

He laughs, “When we pulled up in their driveway!”

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hankfully, we are not too late for his mother’s brunch. My anxiety is at an all-time high. Apparently, Laura knows that Ryan’s and my relationship goes further than the track, too, and she is very welcoming. She has cooked a delicious meal, and I must have been as hungry as I was tired. Their family dynamic is something to behold. I love it. From the inside, they look like your typical family. You would never know that they were racing royalty.

Garrett and Ryan talk actively about last night’s race. While I help his mom clear the dishes, she asks me tons of questions related to my upbringing and my home in Georgia, no doubt in an attempt to give me a proper background check. Who would blame her, though?

After brunch, Ryan takes me on a golf cart tour of the Carter family farm, which is close to five hundred acres. The land is absolutely beautiful. The rain has let up but dark clouds still hang in the sky making this July day cooler than normal. He takes us on a trail that leads to what looks like a family cemetery plot embedded in the pine trees. I look up at Ryan inquisitively.

“This is my family’s final resting place.” He points to one gravestone. “That is my grandfather, Garrison.” I nod to him, as I recognize the
name on the headstone. Ryan looks at me funny. “How do you know about him?”

I smile. “The day that we had our argument in the boardroom, your dad took me into the museum to talk to me, and he told me about him.”

“Really?” Ryan looks shocked. “My dad never speaks of him.”

I shrug. “I asked him. I…I didn’t know.”

Ryan’s eyes widen, and then he smiles. “Wow! You must have the same effect on everyone!”

I raise my eyebrow at him. “What do you mean?”

Ryan pulls me into an affectionate embrace, leaving soft kisses along my cheek. “You have this way about you, Whitney,” he says. “You make people feel comfortable, I guess.”

I smile at his compliment.

Ryan takes a step back and clears a few leaves off his grandfather’s headstone. “He and my dad had a very strained relationship, but he was always desperate for his approval, even in his death. He was a very hard man, but a few days before he passed, he finally told my dad how much he loved him and how proud he was of him. I guess that is why my dad is the way he is with me.” He shrugs.

I smile because I know. “It is a great relationship to have, Ryan. Don’t ever take it for granted,” I say, but I know Ryan knows that. He takes my hand and leads me back to the golf cart.

As I sit down, Ryan turns to face me and looks at me with some mixed emotion that I cannot understand. “Whitney, I…I meant what I said this morning.” I watch his face intently as he looks like he is having some type of internal struggle. “It was hard for me last night, not being able to hold you and celebrate with you. And I don’t know have any answers about what we should do, but I do know that I don’t want to be conflicted with that decision again!”

What is he saying?

Does he mean he is ready to go public with us, our relationship? He may be, but I’m not so sure that I am. It has only been a few weeks. I shift uncomfortably in my seat, unsure of how I feel about of his declaration and his honesty, but Ryan doesn’t give me a chance to respond. Without another word, he grabs the steering wheel, and we begin our journey back up to his home. I snuggle into Ryan’s embrace as we drive. It is a tender moment between us, and I leave those questions alone in my head. It has been a great day, and I don’t want to complicate things any further. If it ain’t broke, eh?

“You wanna go back to sleep?” Ryan says, bringing me back from my deep thoughts.

“Yes, I would love an afternoon nap with you,” I say softly as we pull back into his garage, but I know sleep is the farthest thing from his mind.

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his weekend is one of the toughest ovals in motor sports, Loudon. Ryan says it is an intense track, with high speeds exceeding 145 miles per hour and sharp corners all condensed into a one-mile radius, which has caused several racing tragedies at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Remembering his stories of past accidents sends chills down my spine. Ryan will be rounding this short track about three hundred times today. That task in itself seems impossible to me.

The anticipation for today’s race has been building since qualifying on Friday. Ryan secured pole with a qualifying time of 27.81 seconds, which means excellent field and pit position—not to mention the coup de grace of winning the pole position in back-to-back weekends. Word around the garage is that Ryan has the car to beat. I am so excited that I was not able to sleep at all last night, especially alone in my hotel room.

Overnight, it seems our relationship has advanced to the next level due to Ryan’s recent revelations. And now his parents know, but that is all for now. I don’t like to be away from Ryan, but I refuse to sleep in his million-dollar luxury bus that stays parked in the infield during race weekend. It is his haven away from the madness.
Ryan needs to be focused on the race and finishing well. The story of us complicates that, I am sure of it. Plus, I don’t want anyone else to know about us yet. I am not comfortable with my job being under scrutiny from Jerri, or any of my other coworkers for that matter. After I pleaded my case late Sunday night after brunch with his parents, Ryan agreed, but only after I agreed to stay with him during the week. My heart swells at the memory because it is still hard to believe that he wants me around at all, not to mention sleeping in his bed.

I arrive at the track early, and Ryan and I attend all of the events together. It’s hard for me not be affectionate with him, but I maintain a safe distance. At the morning devotional, which is much like a normal church service for the drivers at the track, I look up at Ryan as he listens intently to the speaker. All I want is to be able to hold his hand. He looks down at me and smiles, a gesture that makes me believe he feels the same way too. I look back to the speaker, trying to focus on his message, but I can’t concentrate. I look around the room at all the drivers, their families, and team employees in attendance. My eyes immediately meet up with Colton’s. I notice him watching me closely, and my stomach turns. I have not seen or spoken to Colton since our intense moment in the garage at Daytona. I smile cautiously at him. He gives me a look that I am suspicious of, a look that makes me think he knows about my relationship with Ryan. Then again, I could be paranoid.

After the national anthem and invocation, Ryan crawls into his #62 Chevrolet for three hundred miles at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. I am about to make my way to my seat over pit road, when Ryan motions for me. I quickly return to his car and lean over into the window. He covers his speaker so Bobby, his crew chief, or Mike, his spotter, cannot hear our exchange.

“I changed my mind,” Ryan says softly.

“Oh! What about?” I say, confused.

“I’m not sleeping without you anymore! I want you on the bus with me from now on,” he commands almost in a whisper.

I know now is not the time to argue, so I smile smugly but feel like my heart is going to burst out of my chest with happiness. I don’t have the strength or desire to tell him no. “Is that an order, Mr. Carter?” I question jokingly.

“Yes, it is!” Ryan snaps back at me.

I laugh, “Whatever you say, RFC!”

He winks at me as he closes his helmet shield! Oh! I love that!

Ryan secures his window net in place as a celebrity gives the traditional “start your engines” call. Forty-four stock car engines roar to life, as does the blood in my veins. Ryan was right about the adrenaline rush, which is still overwhelming to me, but I love it. It is addictive. I scramble up to my seat next to Ben in the pit box overlooking pit road. It is an absolutely gorgeous Sunday afternoon in New England. The temperature is about ninety degrees with a slight breeze, but that is nothing compared to the heat and humidity last week in Daytona.

I am giddy like an errant teenager, which must show on my face, because Ben asks, “Is everything okay, Whitney?”

I smile like I have a grand secret because, of course, I do. “Yes. Everything is perfect!” For once in my life, I truly believe that everything is.

The race begins and is fairly uneventful, mainly because Ryan is dominating the track. He is executing all the right moves. Plus, his pit
crew is cranking out awesome times today. They are all still on a high from Daytona. It looks like Ryan will be making a trip to victory lane as the race laps quickly count down. It is exciting. I wonder how I am supposed to act if he wins. How will Ryan act?

I am broken from my daydreams of the winner’s circle due to a scheduled pit stop. Ryan takes on four new tires and a full tank of gas. There are no other adjustments that need to be made. His Chevrolet is on time today. But before Ryan can speed away from his pit box, Colton comes from out of nowhere to beat him off pit road.
Where did he come from?
I hear Ryan ask the same question over his radio frequency. I look over to Ben, who only shakes his head at me in confusion.

There is no way Colton could have beaten Ryan off pit road because he qualified poorly and has a pit stall way in the back. I don’t understand. I listen intently to the communications between Mike, Ryan, and Bobby. The radio correspondence that I am tuned in to helps me clear the air.

Apparently, Colton took on only two tires in that scheduled stop even though it called for four. Ryan takes the track back effortlessly from Colton, but he refuses to move his obviously slower car out of the way. Colton keeps shifting his car to block any pass attempts made by Ryan.