I watched as my sister walked away, clearly upset by what had just happened. When I walked over to Malcolm, I shook my head and said, “What in the fuck just happened? What did you do to make her almost cry?”

When I turned and looked at Malcolm, a look of concern passed over his face. “Um, hell if I know.” Turning to look at me, Malcolm asked, “Did I treat her like a baby just then?”

“It was the patting on the head. In case the two of you didn’t notice, that young lady is all grown up and is not a child. She’s a woman.”

Malcolm and I both snapped our heads over to Adaline. “Don’t say that, Addie!” I said in disgust. Malcolm didn’t utter a word as he smiled at Adaline.

“How’s it going, Adaline?” Malcolm asked.

“It’s going good.”

Malcolm moved back and forth on his feet like he was nervous as he finally looked back and me said, “Good luck tomorrow, Emmit. I’ll see you around.”

Tipping his hat at Adaline as he walked by, I wore a shocked expression. “What in the hell is wrong with everyone tonight? Was that Malcolm being . . . nice?”

Adaline laughed as she walked up and took Lola’s leash from my hand. “Go shower so we can go to dinner. I’m starving. I’ll walk the baby girl.”

As I shrugged my shoulders, I leaned over and kissed Adaline on the cheek. “It won’t take me long to get ready.”

“Don’t rush, we’ll take a little walk and then meet you back in the bus.” I was captivated by my wife’s beautiful smile.

As I jogged back to the bus, I glanced over at Malcolm’s bus that was parked across and down a bit from mine. I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was honestly bothered by what my sister thought of him. I made a mental note to talk to Ashley about what had happened and why she got so upset.

I COULD HEAR “MANNISH BOY” by Muddy Waters coming through Emmit’s headphones as I stood across from him. We were down on pit row and the race was about to start. Emmit liked having a few minutes to himself before each race. I usually left his side for a few minutes so that he didn’t feel pressure to talk to me, but for some reason I felt the need to stay close by him today. I had a feeling I knew why, but I wasn’t going to think too much about it right now. We just needed to get through this race and then I’d tell Emmit.

Dragging in a deep breath, I glanced around and wrapped my arms around my body. My body relaxed the moment I felt his lips on my neck. “Are you okay, baby?”

I dropped my head against Emmit’s chest and looked up at him. “I couldn’t be better.”

Emmit raised a brow and asked, “Are you sure?”

Turning, I placed my hands on his chest and reached up on my toes to kiss him on the lips. “I promise. How are you feeling? Did you get enough water?”

“Yep.”

“Everything feel all right with your suit?”

Emmit pulled his ear buds out of his ears and handed me his iPod and the ear buds. “Yep.”

“Don’t be nervous, baby. You’ve got this. Just listen to Waldo and your spotter.”

The sound of Emmit’s neck cracking made me look over to my father for some reason. Chewing on my lower lip, I brought my attention back to Emmit. “I love you.”

Emmit’s whole body froze. Cupping my face with his hands, he smiled and rubbed his nose on mine before he softly kissed my lips. “I love you too, pumpkin. I promise I’ll be careful.”

I wanted more than anything to wrap my arms around him and deepen the kiss, but there was now a camera shoved right in our face.

Ugh.

As I took a step back, I smiled as I felt the heat move across my cheeks.

After “The Star Spangled Banner” was sung, the drivers started climbing into their cars. This was the part I hated. Having to walk away while he got ready to drive. Leaning into the car once more, I fought to hold my tears back. “I have a surprise for you.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yep!” I said as I popped my P. “Meet me over in victory lane after the race and I’ll give it to you.”

Emmit laughed and gave me a thumbs-up. “See you in a few, baby.”

I walked a few steps back as I watched them get Emmit ready. Turning, I bumped into Ashley. “Ashley! Hey it’s good to see you.”

Ashley glanced over to Emmit and lifted her hand as she smiled weakly at him. “I didn’t get to talk to him today. I was upset and ignored his calls.”

My heart dropped for a brief second. “You can still talk to him really quick. Come on before they put his helmet on.”

Walking Ashley over toward Emmit, I stopped just short of the car and let her walk over to him.

“Hey, big brother. I just wanted to say good luck. Kick ass. I’ll talk to you after the race.”

“Hey, baby sis. I love you and I’ll see you soon.”

Ashley smiled and took a few steps back as Emmit glanced over to me. He put his helmet on and now all you could see was his eyes. For some reason I thought it was the hottest damn thing ever . . . just seeing those gray eyes looking back at me.

With a smile, I turned and headed toward my father with Ashley walking alongside me.

Robert smiled when he saw Ashley. “Johnny seems to be smitten with your friends.”

Ashley laughed and nodded her head. “Yeah. They helped him walk Lola.”

That sparked my attention. “What?” I asked.

“Oh, we stopped by the bus and little Johnny was outside playing with Lola. My girlfriends, Becca and Janet, walked Lola with Johnny and played for a little bit.”

I nodded my head and said, “Well, Johnny is going to be a little heartbreaker. I can see why your friends were smitten with him.”

Ashley chuckled. “Speaking of, I’m going to go find them. Emmit was sweet enough to give full passes to each of them. They’re probably in their seats. See you after the race, sis!”

Waving, I said, “See ya, Ashley.” I couldn’t help but notice how Ashley looked over at Malcolm’s car. And I really couldn’t help but notice how Malcolm never took his eyes off of her as she walked by.

“Oh shit,” I mumbled as I turned back and looked at Emmit. “That’s not going to turn out well.”

“What isn’t?” my father asked.

I shook my head and looked at my father. “Oh, just the fact that Malcolm Wallace seems to have taken an interest in Ashley.”

My father looked over at Malcolm and sighed. “Let’s just hope he uses his head with this one.”

Smirking, I climbed up onto the tower. As my father and I both got situated, I said, “You mean the head between his shoulders right?”

My father’s mouth dropped open as he closed his eyes and shook his head. “Jesus, he’s already rubbing off on you.”

I was on pins and needles the entire race. Emmit started off in third position then fell back to tenth, and now he was racing against Malcolm for first with only six laps to go.

“Number seven is right on your inside. Easy,” the spotter said as I kept my eyes on Emmit.

“Ten-four,” Emmit said. He had been quiet a good portion of the race. Once he asked Waldo to ask me what was for dinner.

“Keep off the apron,” my father said as he raised his eyebrows at me.

“This is fucking stupid. Why doesn’t he just get the hell out of my way?”

Emmit’s car was a few seconds faster than Malcolm’s, but Malcolm blocked Emmit every time he tried to pass.

“Two to go.”

I stood up and placed my hand over my stomach. Race day always made me queasy. Emmit running in second with just two laps to go during the Daytona 500 made me feel like I wanted to throw up and pass out.

“Emmit, you know what to do,” my father said as I looked over at him.

“Yep,” was all Emmit said as I chewed on my thumb nail and went back to watching my husband race around the track. Emmit made it look like he was going to go up and Malcolm drifted with him, but Emmit shot down and quickly passed Malcolm.