“Obviously you know her.”
“Very well. I’ve spent a lot of time with her over the past few years since I’ve been working with your father. She runs a tight ship and doesn’t take no for an answer.”
“Then you’ve come to know her well, and you know that while she has a soft voice, she has an iron will.”
“Yes. She’s a wonderful asset for your father, both personally and politically.”
Gray stared down at his coffee. “My father doesn’t deserve her.”
She had no idea what Gray’s relationship with his father was, nor was it her intention to pry. Her only job was to work with Gray on his father’s campaign, not to get involved in family dynamics, unless it interfered in the political process. Then she was required to smooth things over, not intervene, and above all, never let things get messy. “So what’s your conclusion?”
“I guess you and I will be working together.”
She couldn’t resist lifting her shoulders in excitement. “Wonderful. I’m thrilled about this, Gray, and I don’t think you’ll regret it.”
“Oh, I already regret it. But this is important to my mother, so I’m doing it for her.”
Evelyn didn’t care who he did it for. She only cared that she was a success at her assignment. “Great. We’ll hit the ground running. The first thing we’ll need to do is work within your schedule. I know how busy you are.”
They paused while the waitress brought their breakfast. Evelyn dug into her oatmeal and fruit while Gray pounded down some elaborate breakfast that consisted of eggs, bacon, pancakes, hash browns, and biscuits.
“Where do you put all those calories?” she asked.
“What?”
“That’s a huge meal.”
“Oh. I work out, and I also sweat it all out in the car. It’s usually over a hundred degrees in there.”
“My God. That can’t be healthy.”
He shrugged. “You get used to it.”
No wonder he had a body like that, so tall and lean. But today he wore jeans and a tight T-shirt showing off some serious muscle. “So it’s like a sauna.”
“Yup.”
“You have to stay in shape to drive a car.”
He scooped up the last of his eggs with his fork, then finished off his orange juice.
“You can’t control a three-thousand-pound raging beast at a hundred and ninety miles an hour without some muscle, honey.”
Her nerve endings tingled at the endearment. She pushed it aside. “I imagine that’s true, though I freely admit my knowledge of the auto racing industry is somewhat sketchy.”
“We’ll have to change that, won’t we?”
“I suppose we will. The more I know about what you do, the better equipped I’ll be to integrate you into your father’s campaign.”
“And won’t that be fun.”
She pushed her bowl to the side and studied him. “I sense some hesitation.”
“Not just some. A lot. You should know I’ll be dragging my heels the entire way.”
“I can work with that.”
“Okay. I just wanted to be up front about it.”
She liked him. “Thanks for that. So what’s on your agenda for today?”
“Team meetings, then practice runs. I suppose you need to get back to D.C.”
She gave him a blank look. “Uh, no. Perhaps I didn’t outline the parameters clearly enough.”
He frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m assigned to you, Gray, and only you, from now until the election. I’ll be with you the entire way.”
FOUR
GRAY ALWAYS LIKED TO BE HANDS-ON WITH HIS TEAM, not leaving anything for them to handle without his involvement. Which meant setting up in the garage and checking out the cars they’d use for the races.
Now that they were in Kentucky, he was overseeing the team meeting for both race teams, and he had control. They went over the wreck last Sunday with the crew and mechanics, dissecting the engine failure. The engine team assured them it wouldn’t happen again, that steps would be taken to ensure the engines for both cars would be in prime shape for the race this weekend.
Gray always kept a mental list of things to cover in team meetings, from tire inventory to which crew members would be on board for the next race. Everyone attended the meetings. It was mandatory. If you didn’t show up, you were replaced on the crew or the mechanics team.
After the general meeting, Donny, his other driver, broke his crew out for their own meeting to discuss strategy for their car, while Gray did the same with his crew chief and team. The meeting went well and everyone was pumped for the upcoming race.
He had a good car and he knew he had a good chance for this season. So did Donny, but Donny was easily distracted. Which reminded Gray that he needed to have a chat with him. After Donny did his practice runs on the track today, he’d pull him aside and have a talk with him.
Donny had looked pale today in the meeting. Gray hoped he wasn’t sick, because that was the last thing they needed. He wanted both his cars to do well this weekend.