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It was race day, and Evelyn had been granted a pass to be in the pits She’d stayed in the background during qualifying, watching Gray do his thing

He was very good with theinterviews He was smooth on camera, was nice to reporters, and handled the media very well She’d watched a lot of video on him and that was one of the reasons she’d convinced the senator he’d be a viable resource to use in the can, despite the senator’s objections

She wondered what Gray would say if he knew this had been her idea She knew he probably figured this had been his father’s doing, when it was the coht Gray would turn her down She told him she could convince Gray to help, and she’d take full responsibility forsuch an iether for many years now and he needed her

Evelyn knew he relied on her expertise, especially during the ions of fans could be such a boon, especially the younger voters and those in the South If they could secure those votes, and if Mitchell did, indeed, get the VP nomination, they could ride this wave all the way to the White House

Or at least the vice president’s house Which would be as high as Evelyn had ever gotten up the political ladder

The thought of it surged in her blood, as exciting as listening to the cars start their engines at the beginning of the race Her earplugs firin their warm-up laps

"You’ll want to climb up into the pit box, ma’am"

She turned as--oh, as his name? Steve, maybe? He was one of the crew, and he pointed up the ladder to a booth where the crew chief sat

"I don’t think I’uy with dark brown eyes and a sweet smile, pointed to his ears

"Actually, Ian just communicated toback and forth around here all day Tires will be tossed and other shi-- things Don’t want you to get hurt You’ll be safer up in the coreat view of the race"

"Oh Okay"

She found the stairs and made her way up into the booth Ian barely paid attention to her, his gaze fixed on Gray’s car and the screens in front of him He pointed to the empty seat and she took it, then searched the track for Gray’s car

He’d qualified in the sixth position, and as the cars lined up in tight forhtened

She wasn’t nor and had been to one live race--the first one where she’d , so she’d be educated She kneas at stake for Gray

As they waved the checkered flag and the crowd roared, the cars jaether and accelerated Evelyn’s heart flew into her throat as the speeds clihtened

A crash on lap three had her leaping out of her seat, leaning forward to check Gray’s position He’d barely missed it, had accelerated down to the--as the bottoht as well relax, Evelyn," Ian said, "or you’re never going to make it to the end of the race"

She sat down and watched as the safety crews and trucks came to clean up the mess "Relax? How am I supposed to relax? Did you see how close Gray was to that wreck?"

Ian, on the other hand, leaned back in his chair, his gaze firet used to it If you think you’re nervous noait ’til the end of the race"

"God I’ll need a Valium by the end of the race"

The first one she’d watched hadn’t been like this She hadn’t beeninvested

Today, she’d expected to be bored She’d figured she’d get caught up on her eress

Ha Her gaze was glued to the number fifty-three the entire time The race was intense By the hundredth lap there had been four wrecks, and each tih he’d dropped back in position to eighteenth due to what Ian had called pit road h he remained calm when he talked to Gray and said they’d make up the positions, that there was still a lot of tih his headset, wondering what Gray was telling him

Car stuff, no doubt She wanted to ask, but she didn’t want to do anything to direct Ian’s attention away fro to help Gray drive the hell out of his car So instead, she leaned over and watched the screens

"Fuelat her "Soets communicated to Gray, most of it’s just forAbout the only thing he’ll need to stay aware of is fuel as on the last lap Plus, he needs to knohen to pit"

"Because there’s no gas gauge in the cars"

"No And even if there was, it wouldn’t help A lap’s worth of gas can e could tell you how e"

"Exactly"

"Thank you It’s helpful to have that education So he tells you stuff, and you tell him stuff"

"Yeah So loose, or tight, soht That’s when I knoe need tothe next pit stop Other times he’ll be quiet for a lot of laps and just drive That’s when I know the car’s running good"

"And has he been quiet so far today?"

Ian laughed "No He’s been co about the car