He was still going ahead with his plans, but he really needed to talk to her first, rather than presume. He’d talk to her after the race today. She was going to head to the convention center after the race, and he knew he wouldn’t have much time with her after that because she’d be busy with his dad and all things politics for the next week.
It was time he declared how he felt about her, so she’d be clear, and so he wouldn’t take any major steps without knowing if she felt the same way about him.
They’d kept their relationship discreet, so he kissed her in his trailer before heading out to do his pre-race media interviews. Evelyn had headed to her hotel to pack up and check out, then she’d come back to the track. As he climbed into his car, he saw her in the pit box smiling down at him. He winked at her and after that it was all business for him as he strapped in and took his position in the line of cars gearing up for the race.
It was going to be a grueling race today.
He couldn’t wait to get started.
*
SITTING IN THE PIT BOX WAS HELL WHEN ALL EVELYN wanted to do was stand and pace. Or maybe get in one of those cars and put it to the floor and see how fast she could drive off some of this excess anxiety that had been plaguing her for the past few days.
The roar of the engines for the past three hundred miles only added to her stress level. She was biting her nails because Gray was in tenth place, and she knew it wasn’t where he wanted to be. A pit road miscue and his car not performing the way he wanted to meant he had to be frustrated not to be in the front.
But there was still time for him to make his way to the lead and pull off a desperately needed win. She rocked back and forth in her chair and Ian gave her the side eye again. She was certain her constant mobility drove him crazy, but there wasn’t much she could do about it, given her current state. There was just too much going on in her mind—the race, the upcoming convention, what a win for Senator Preston would mean to her career, and the most important thing—her relationship with Gray.
She was going to miss him so much. She’d never once thought her career would get in the way of how she felt about a man. Career had always been the most important thing in her life, and she thought it always would be, no matter what.
Now she found herself wondering how she could juggle her career and still have the man she loved, and what Gray would say if she presented the option of the two of them figuring out a way to be together.
She dragged her fingers through her hair for the umpteenth time, not knowing what to do. What if she told him how she felt and he didn’t feel the same way? She’d never been rejected before. It would hurt so badly.
But what if she didn’t tell him how she felt, and the two of them parted and he never knew? They could have an amazing life together. Was she willing to walk away from that because she was afraid of that rejection?
She was stronger than that, and she knew it.
She was going to tell him after the race today that she was in love with him, and if he didn’t feel the same way, she’d survive. At least she’d know. At least she’d have laid it all out there.
“Sonofabitch,” Ian said, pushing himself to his feet.
She hadn’t even seen the crash. All Evelyn saw was smoke. Her heart stuttered as she searched the field of cars for the number fifty-three, hoping and praying he wasn’t in the middle of the sudden wreckage and flames from the ugliest crash she’d ever seen.
She held her breath, scanning the cars that had slowed down and passed the carnage. She couldn’t even count the cars involved in the smash-up, but it looked like the ones that had been involved were demolished.
As the other cars passed by, she looked at their numbers. She saw Donny’s car and breathed a sigh of relief, but there was no number fifty-three.
Oh, God.
She looked at Ian, his mouth set in a grim line. He was talking on his headset, and when he pulled it off and scrambled out the pit box, she knew something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.
She climbed down in a hurry, anxious to get information from someone, but all she heard were mumblings about an ambulance and air flight and that the hospital had been alerted.
She finally grabbed one of the crew members by the arm.
“Is Gray hurt?”
He gave her a short nod.
Her stomach dropped. “How badly?”
“Nobody knows yet. They have to cut him out of the car first, then they’ll helicopter him to the local hospital.”
She reached for the nearby equipment, dizziness overtaking her.
Cut him out of the car? Oh, dear God. She grabbed her phone out of her pocket to call Gray’s parents.
*
EVELYN HAD WAITED WHILE GRAY HAD BEEN THROUGH X-ray and CT scans and then his parents had spoken with the doctors. Donny and Stacie were there with her along with Ian, so she was glad not to be alone.
They kept the cameras out. The racing organization was great about taking care of feeding the media information.