Walking past the garage area and the line of haulers, Crystal spotted a tall, brown-haired man in a Maximus Motorsports uniform, walking next to Kent. She was positive it was Steve Grosso. She gave herself a mental pep talk, prepared to make a good impression. Once Steve met her-once she wasn’t just a generic “younger woman” dating his dad-she was sure everything would be all right.

She glanced up at Larry. He squared his shoulders and increased his pace, walking straight toward the pair.

Steve spotted them, and annoyance flexed over his face.

Kent, on the other hand, smiled a greeting. But then he glanced at their joined hands, and his eyes narrowed in puzzlement.

“Steve,” Larry greeted, in a deep voice.

“Dad,” came the tense-shouldered response.

Crystal put on her most friendly smile, while Larry turned his attention to Kent.

“Kent, I don’t know if you remember Crystal Hayes?”

Kent gave her a nod of greeting. “Sure.” His glance went to their joined hands again, clearly working through the possible scenarios.

“Crystal and I are dating,” said Larry.

Steve’s lips compressed, and his eyes narrowed at his father.

“Nice to see you again, Crystal,” Kent put in conversationally.

“Good luck tomorrow,” she offered, trying hard to ignore Steve’s censure. This wasn’t going nearly as well as she’d hoped.

“We’re running late,” said Steve in a clipped tone.

“You’re not going to say hello to Crystal?” Larry asked his son.

The tone was as terse as his expression. “Hello, Crystal.”

She forced herself to ignore the undercurrents. She wouldn’t win him over by getting angry. “Hello, Steve.”

Larry, however, didn’t seem to be in the mood to let the slight pass. He took a step toward Steve, dropping his voice. “Don’t be an ass.”

“We’re running late,” Steve repeated.

“A radio call-in show,” Kent added jovially, in an obvious attempt to defuse the tension.

“I hope it’s fun,” said Crystal, while father and son stared each other down.

“CJRM,” said Kent, glancing at Steve.

“I know they have an affiliate in Charlotte,” she tried.

But Kent had given up. He gaped openly at the other two men.

Crystal wrapped her hand around Larry’s arm. “Larry, we should probably let them-”

“This isn’t the way I raised you,” Larry said to Steve.

“Larry,” Crystal tried again, tugging his arm. She hadn’t expected things to go off the rails this quickly nor this completely.

Steve slid her a look of contempt.

“What?” she found herself asking.

“He thinks you’re after my money,” said Larry.

Steve’s jaw dropped a quarter inch, and Kent took a step back.

“You what?” asked Crystal, too astonished to maintain her facade.

“Dad,” Steve protested.

“We might as well put our cards on the table.” Larry looked to Crystal. “Are you after my money?”

“Absolutely not.” She crossed her arms over her chest and confronted Steve. “I’m after his body.”

“This isn’t a joke,” he growled.

Kent grabbed Steve’s arm and bodily moved him to one side. “We’re late,” he said with finality. “The rest of this is going to have to wait.” Then he steered Steve around Larry and Crystal.

“See what I mean?” Larry said to Crystal as the two men disappeared. “People are going to assume the worst.”

Steve hadn’t even given Crystal a chance.

Larry took her hand again. “Steve and your mother,” he sighed. “I’m waiting for Milo’s reaction, as well as the rest of the family. Imagine what perfect strangers are going to say.”

“I don’t care,” Crystal asserted. She truly didn’t. She was willing to put up a fight for Larry. She had to believe that Steve would eventually calm down. Over time, he’d be forced to believe she wasn’t after Larry’s money.

As for the strangers? They were strangers. Who cared what they thought or said? But family…they could make it difficult.

Just then, three men dressed in orange and brown Fulcrum Racing uniforms walked by. They gazed at Larry, then their attention shifted to Crystal, then one nudged the other and made a sly-smiled comment.

Larry made a sound of frustration deep in his throat.

“I didn’t even see that,” said Crystal, pointedly looking straight ahead.

But it was frustrating to have her looks prejudice people’s reactions all over again. With Simon, men had always given him automatic respect and a lucky dog smirk while she was on his arm. And he’d preened under the attention. With Larry, it was the opposite. It was clear people thought he’d somehow bought and paid for her.

“IT’S THE PRICE YOU PAY FOR a fifty-two second lap,” said Dean, protecting his rib cage as he eased his body into a lawn chair on the rough grass outside his motor home. The awning provided shade from the waning sun, while a light breeze rustled the red-checked table cloth next to the stainless-steel propane barbecue.

“Will it bother you tomorrow?” asked crew chief, Perry Noble, helping himself to a soda from the cooler.

“Just a bruise,” said Dean, his gaze resting on Larry and Crystal.

Crystal caught Patsy’s profile as she set out chips and salsa next to a fruit platter and smoothed the table cloth. Her movements were clipped and precise.

“Larry,” Dean greeted. “Crystal.”

Crystal glanced at Dean, expecting disapproval, so she wasn’t surprised when it was there in his expression. But she was more worried about Patsy.

“I’m sorry you were hurt,” she said to Dean.

“That’s racing. Besides, it’s nothing,” said Dean, while Patsy marched back into the motor home.

Crystal took a chance and followed her. She rapped lightly on the metal door before gingerly pushing it open. “Patsy?”

Patsy turned from the sink that was halfway down the massive motor home. “Come in, Crystal.”

“Everything okay?”

“Of course,” she continued washing tomatoes, placing them on a tea towel beside the sink. “Dean got the pole.”

“Fantastic.”

“Yeah.”

Crystal came inside, latching the door behind her. “Thanks for inviting us.”

“Thanks for coming.” Patsy swiped at her cheek with the back of her hand.

Crystal moved closer still. “You sure everything’s okay?”

“Dean bruised his ribs.”

“I saw that.”

“No spinout, no crash, no nothing. Just a mishap with the harness, and he’s got a bruised rib.”

“Will he be able to drive tomorrow?”

Patsy gave a hollow laugh, yanking the plug from the sink and drying her hands on a corner of the towel. Her hands trembled ever so slightly. “The man could be in traction, and he’d be begging them to winch him into the driver’s seat.” She pulled open a drawer and retrieved a long, sharp knife.

Crystal moved in. “Why don’t you let me do that?” She gently removed the knife from Patsy’s hand.

“Am I that bad?” Patsy stared down at her trembling hands. “Damn.” She pressed them against her beige shorts.

“Do you need a drink?” asked Crystal, washing her hands. “Maybe you should sit down.”

“I would, if I thought it would help.” Patsy crossed to the big refrigerator and retrieved a head of lettuce. “I hope you like hamburgers.”

“I love hamburgers,” said Crystal, slicing through the juicy tomatoes.

“How’s Larry?”

“He’s good.” Crystal glanced out the window to where Larry had pulled a chair up next to Dean. The two men were talking with Perry who stood facing them.

“Any developments?”

Patsy looked like a nervous wreck, but Crystal was willing to go along with small talk if that’s what she wanted.

“He’s agreed to tell the world we’re dating.”

“Good.”

“Yeah. Patsy-”

“I mean, there’s nothing to hide, right?” Patsy’s laugh was a little shrill.

Crystal reached out to cover Patsy’s hand. “Does Dean know you’re this upset?”

Patsy gazed at her with deep, luminous, blue eyes and then laughed again. “He thinks I’m being unreasonable and should seek psychological help.”

Crystal laughed, too.”

Patsy sighed. “I can’t leave. But I can’t stay.”

Everything froze inside Crystal. “It’s that serious?”

Patsy concentrated on the lettuce, but she gave a shaky nod. “We’re fighting all the time. It’s no good for me, and I can’t let him drive off in his race car upset. Can you imagine…”

Crystal wrapped an arm around Patsy’s narrow shoulders. Her gaze went to the window once again, taking in the man whose stubbornness was making Patsy miserable.

Perry was gone, and she could tell from Larry’s and Dean’s arm gestures that they were arguing.

“What do you want to do?” Crystal whispered to Patsy.

“The impossible,” said Patsy. “But what I’ll do instead, is be a good NASCAR wife. I’ll swallow my fear and support my husband. He’s got an important race tomorrow, and he needs to focus. That’s the best-” Her voice broke, but she quickly regrouped. “Thanks.”

“For what?” asked Crystal. She hadn’t done a single thing to help. She didn’t even have any advice for Patsy.

“For listening,” said Patsy. “It helps.”

“I’m glad. But…” She looked pointedly out of the window at the two angry men. “It might have been better if Larry and I had stayed away.”

Patsy followed the direction of her gaze. “He’s definitely not thrilled with your relationship,” she agreed.

“Has he said anything?” asked Crystal, girding herself.

“He’s said a lot of things. Most of them you don’t need to hear. I’m honestly not sure if he’s that convinced Larry is making a fool of himself, or if Dean’s grown so accustomed to seeing Larry alone, that he’s worried about him. The Grossos are extremely close. They protect each other.”

“Larry’s not making a fool of himself,” Crystal quickly defended. “And don’t worry. I like him. A lot. And that’s all there is to it.”