“Excuse me,” Haven said, taking her plate to the sink.

Trevor’s gaze followed her as she left the room.

After lunch they sat out on the porch and sipped tea. Even Haven got over whatever had upset her and joined them, though she sat as far away from Trevor as possible.

Evelyn noticed Trevor throwing looks her way, but Haven wouldn’t meet his gaze.

When Evelyn went inside to refill her tea, Haven came in, too.

“Can I pour some for you?” Evelyn asked.

“Sure. Thanks.” Haven leaned against the kitchen counter to drink her tea, so Evelyn took a seat.

“You live in Dallas?”

“Yes. For now.”

“What do you do there?”

“I’m in broadcasting.”

Evelyn smiled. “What a fun career.”

“Sometimes it can be. Other times it’s a nightmare. Depends on the day and what I’m covering.”

“You do the news?”

“Sports,” Haven said with a grin, the pride evident on her face.

“Wow. Tough field for a woman.”

“It can be. Right now I’ve got a line on a national gig, so keep your fingers crossed for me.”

“Congratulations. I hope it works out for you.”

“Thank you. I’m really excited about it.”

“I’m learning a lot about auto racing, and sports in general, from being around Gray.”

Haven’s gaze tracked outside. “Gray’s a fantastic guy. He was always so nice to my parents, and to me.” She returned her gaze to Evelyn. “And you work with Gray’s father, the senator?”

“Yes.”

“I’m surprised Gray has anything to do with you. He wasn’t too fond of his dad back in his college days. I guess that’s changed.”

She appreciated Haven’s blunt honesty. “I think they’re still working on it.

Sometimes it takes a while.”

Haven sipped her tea. “I guess it does.”

Speaking of things that took a while to process . . . she sensed Haven needed someone to talk to. Maybe that’s why she was lingering in the kitchen with Evelyn.

Something she couldn’t unload on her mother, maybe?

“I might be speaking out of turn, and please tell me to mind my own business, Haven, but I sensed some friction between you and Trevor?”

Haven looked down at her worn canvas shoes for a few seconds before dragging her gaze back to Evelyn. “Oh. That. Yeah. He and I had a few go-rounds in college.”

Evelyn arched a brow, but didn’t say anything. If Haven didn’t want to talk about it, she wouldn’t ask again.

“He was so . . . prickly,” Haven finally continued. “So supremely, arrogantly confident. And I had the worst crush on him. I was gangly and shy and I wore glasses. And these—” She pointed to her breasts. “I hid them. I was awkward enough without having boobs to deal with. I had no idea what to do with a boy. And Trevor was this hot and sexy athlete, and God, I was so tongue-tied around him.”

“A first crush kind of thing?”

Haven sighed. “In the worst way. Trevor, being the hot stud that he is, he knew it.

And he played me, using his sweet talk and batting those long dark lashes at me to get me to do anything he wanted.”

Warily, Evelyn asked, “And just what did he want?”

With a laugh, Haven said, “Tutoring. He needed to pass all his classes, so what better way than to get the brainy girl to help him.”

“You didn’t want to?”

“It was exactly the opposite. I’d have done anything for him if he crooked a finger in my direction. He didn’t have to play me. I studied with him and cajoled him into working harder than he ever wanted to work. The problem was, he didn’t want to do the work. What he really wanted was to find a way to cheat the tests.”

Evelyn leaned back in the chair and took a sip of tea. “No shit.”

“No shit. Life always came easy for Trevor. Sports? Piece of cake. Getting a girl into bed? Please. All he had to do was give them that wicked smile of his and panties came off faster than a dress on prom night. Academics, though? Not so much. That he had to work at, and when he struggled, he tried to figure out an angle.”

“There is no angle with academics. It’s pass or fail.”

“Exactly. I tried to tell him that, while he whispered sweet talk in my ear about how easy it would be for me to do his homework for him and cheat the tests. I refused, so he tried to get me into bed. I know he figured he was doing the poor dorky girl a favor.”

Evelyn crossed her arms, irritated on Haven’s behalf. “And?”

“I might have been gawky and had an Oklahoma-sized crush on the boy, but I wasn’t stupid. I had my own academic career to think of. No way was I going to risk it. I said no.”

“Good for you.”

“I made him learn. And oh, was he ever upset with me. Girls didn’t turn him down much, you know. If ever. I told him he was going to have to learn using his head.”

She pointed to her temple and laughed. “This one, not the one in his pants.”

Evelyn laughed. “Good for you. So what happened?”

“He finally realized he was going to have to open a book. He struggled with it, but he did it.”

“So you pushed him, he passed his classes, and then what?”

“Then he went on his way, of course,” Haven said with a laugh. “I was glad to get rid of him. He was an annoyance I could do without.”

Somehow Evelyn didn’t think Haven had gotten over Trevor that easily. She sensed some heartbreak in there and the tension between them was obviously still present.

But before she could ask, Ginger came in. “Hey, are you two going to hide out in here?”

Haven pushed off the counter and grabbed her tea. With a smile, she slid an arm around Ginger’s waist. “Just some girl talk, Mom.”

“Everyone has moved into the living room. We’re going through pictures.”

“I hope you didn’t drag out old pictures of me.”

Ginger squeezed Haven’s arm. “You were the prettiest little thing.”

Haven rolled her eyes. “Yeah, sure I was.”

As they walked down the hall, Evelyn realized how much she missed her own mother. It was time for a phone call.

They stayed for another hour, long enough to go through old photos. Evelyn loved seeing Gray in his college days, so handsome and looking like he was having the time of his life. And in a baseball uniform, he looked so different.

“We thought for sure he’d end up on a major league team,” Bill said as they closed the book on one of the photo albums. “Then again, he loved to sneak out to the track with his friends and race those cars.”

“I always knew he had racing in his blood,” Trevor said, leaning back on one of the recliners. “Baseball couldn’t hold a candle to his love for fast cars.”

Gray smiled. “I liked playing ball. But I loved racing. There was no comparison.”

Ginger patted his knee. “As long as you’re doing something you love with your life, honey. It’s all that counts.”

They talked for a while longer, but then Gray said they needed to head to the airport. Trevor and Drew were going to stay for the rest of the day, which made Evelyn feel better. At least they weren’t making a mass exodus.

“Thank you so much for lunch,” she said to Ginger. “It was such a pleasure to meet you.”

She and Ginger hugged, and then she hugged Bill. “I wish only the best things for you.”

He smiled down at her. “What will be will be, sweetheart. You take care of our boy.”

“I’ll do the best I can.” She took his hands in hers. “Please don’t give up. As long as you’re here—standing here—there’s still hope.”

He gave a short nod and kissed her cheek.

Before the tears filled her eyes, she stepped off the porch and let Gray say his good-byes to everyone. They climbed in the car and drove off.

Gray was silent on the trip out of town toward the airport.

She wished she could offer words of comfort, but she knew there was nothing she could say that would make him feel better, so she slid her hand across and laid it on his leg. They returned the car at the airport and boarded the senator’s plane.

When they took off, Gray closed his eyes and laid his seat back. She was sure he had a lot to think about, so she left him to his thoughts, once again wishing she could remove his pain.

“I hate this,” he finally said, his eyes still closed.

She’d been working on her laptop when he spoke. She shut it and set it aside. “I know you do. I’m sorry for your friend Bill. He and Ginger seem like the nicest people.”

He opened his eyes and swiveled the chair to face her. “They are. He is. I don’t know what she’s going to do without him.”

“There’s nothing that can be done for him medically?”

“According to Ginger, no. She said he’s terminal.”

She reached over and squeezed his hand. “I’m so sorry, Gray. I wish there was something I could say or do that would help.”

“Come here.”

She unbuckled her lap belt and he pulled her onto his lap. She laid her head on his shoulder and he caressed her back, though she felt like he was the one who needed comfort.

“What about contacting one of the premier cancer treatment centers to see what they can do?” she asked. “They’re making great strides in treatment for cancer these days.

Surely Ginger and Bill haven’t explored every option. They might just not know what’s open to them.”

He nodded. “I pulled Trevor and Drew aside and talked to them about that, and we got Garrett on text. We’re going to make some calls. I don’t plan to give up and I don’t want Bill to, either.”

“Good. I know you don’t want your father’s help, but he could assist. He has very strong connections at some of the finest hospitals in Washington.”

“If it comes to that, I’ll get down on my knees and beg for my father’s help. I’ll let you know.”

“Good. I’ll be happy to do anything I can.”

He smoothed his hand over her hair and met her gaze. “Having you with me helps. I don’t know why, but it’s nice to not be alone.”

Her heart squeezed. She was getting in deeper with him every day. This visit to his ranch, meeting his friends and the people that meant something to him had only served to show her a side of him she hadn’t seen before. If she thought she was going to remain emotionally distant, it wasn’t working. He was showing himself to be a kind, compassionate man, a man with depth and intricacies she hadn’t known about.

It made her want to delve deeper, to know him at a level that scared her.

Because she knew that falling in love with him would break her heart in the end.

TWENTY-ONE

QUALIFYING WENT WELL, THOUGH GRAY FELT LIKE HE was rushing to catch up after being gone. Still, he could race in his sleep.

Pushing aside the dark thoughts of what went down at Bill and Ginger’s, he focused on the race, on his car, and what the next race meant for his team. Everything else had to be put on the back burner, though fortunately, Evelyn had taken the ball and run with it as far as Bill was concerned. She was on the phone with Drew and Trevor, and even though she hadn’t met Garrett, she’d made contact with him, too. She was coordinating everything on his behalf.

He didn’t know what he’d do without her, something that gave him a huge sense of relief and a knot in the pit of his stomach at the same time. Because eventually he would have to do without her.

Something he refused to think about as he took turn two at a hundred and ninety-six miles an hour.

Focus on the race. Don’t wreck. This track was treacherous, he was in third place right now on the number sixteen’s bumper and Donny was on his. Having his team member bump drafting him meant they had a shot to win this thing. His race team was in position to have a one-two finish today if he didn’t screw this up. He had to scrub his mind of everything else and think only of racing—of winning. The remainder of the season was ahead of him, and if he won this race, he could lock himself into position to make the finals. That’s what was important today. It was all that mattered.

They all pitted with forty-two laps to go. It went smoothly and Donny took up position on his tail again, but Gray knew the end of this race was going to be anything but easy. Racers always tended to lay back until the end, and soon enough they’d be jockeying for position and making a push on the outside to charge up front.

He was ready. He and Donny had a strategy. They were going to make the same push to get out front and sail through the finish line.

A wreck with twenty laps to go put him on the inside lane, right behind the leader, with Donny on the outside lane above him.

It was go time, twelve laps left, now or never. He knew what needed to be done, so when the pace car pulled off and the checkered flag waved, he pushed the number forty-seven, who had a fast car all day. Donny jumped down behind him and as soon as they cleared the car on the outer lane, Gray pulled up, Donny right with him.

They sailed past the forty-seven, momentum carrying them. The forty-seven, without his drafting partner, was left in the back. Gray and Donny shot forward and took the bottom lane, picking up speed. He knew Donny was going to start heating up, but there were seven laps to go now, and no holding back. He just had to hope their engines would keep going, because without Donny pushing him, he was screwed.

His heart pounded as they held the lead. McClusky pulled to the outside lane, his teammate Darren Lavelle pushing him, but the outside lane was tougher, and Gray and Donny were still holding the lead with three laps to go.