“Oh, my. That did get ugly, didn’t it?”
Melissa nodded miserably.
Her mother rested a hand on her arm. “It isn’t easy being an ambitious woman with a somewhat obsessive need to take charge, is it? I’m speaking, of course, from experience.”
“I didn’t try to control Tom,” she answered defensively.
“Not consciously, I’m sure. But maybe you thought you had to remind him a few times what was expected of him during the Christmas event? And maybe sometimes you do slip into your professional persona when you should be concentrating on your personal life?”
Melissa shook her head stubbornly. “It isn’t possible for me to compartmentalize myself that way. My job is a part of who I am. I don’t leave it behind just because the clock strikes five or some other arbitrary quitting time. Tom’s always a driver. It’s who he is, the way he identifies himself. No one expects anything different of him.”
“Nor should they of you. But we all have to prioritize sometimes between our careers and the people we love. I’ve had to do so often. There were times, I’m afraid, when I had to choose the job over a dance recital or a parent-teacher meeting or a family vacation. But on the whole, I hope you and your father have always realized that both of you will always come first for me when it truly matters.”
“So you’re saying that the problems between Tom and me were all my fault?”
Her mother smiled and shook her head. “Oh, no. I’ve met the young man in question many times, remember? I’m quite sure he contributed more than his fair share to the conflicts. I just want you to take your time and make sure you know exactly what you want before you burn any bridges behind you.”
“I’ll think about what you said,” Melissa agreed quietly, subconsciously lifting her hand to the diamond pendant at her throat. “But the bridges may already be burned.”
“That will be up to you and Tom to figure out, I suppose. Just know that I’m here for you, if you need me. Always.”
“I love you, Mother.”
“And I love you.” Her mother kissed her cheek and then patted her arm again. “Why don’t we go have some more of that delicious pecan pie the chef made for our belated Christmas dinner. I think we deserve to be sinful today.”
“Sounds good to me,” Melissa agreed with a slight smile, though part of her mind was preoccupied with the advice her mother had given her.
WATER LAPPED GENTLY at the rocks at Tom’s feet. It was a chilly afternoon, but he was comfortable enough in his coat, sweatshirt and jeans, his hands shoved into sheepskin-lined pockets. He was a lot colder on the inside than he was on the outside, he thought glumly.
“Some would say the week between Christmas and New Year’s is a strange time for a man to take a lonely vacation at a nearly deserted Missouri fishing resort,” Dan LeMay said behind him. “Especially a guy who could afford to go to the Riviera or some fancy Mexican resort. Or, if he wanted winter fun, to some snooty ski resort in Colorado or Utah.”
“I’ve never particularly liked fancy and I don’t do snooty,” Tom drawled, reaching down to pick up a rock and toss it into the wind-lapped surface of the lake. “Besides, I wanted to see this place you sank your life savings into. You made it sound pretty special.”
“Well? What do you think?” There was just a hint of anxiety in the other man’s voice, as if it mattered to him what Tom thought.
Because he believed it did matter to Dan, Tom took the time to look around before he responded. The resort was small, but tidy, with cozy cottages grouped around a central compound that held picnic tables and a playground area in addition to the pool that was closed for the season. Only a couple of the cabins were occupied at the moment by diehard fishermen who didn’t mind the cold if there was a chance of landing a few bass. The boat dock and a combination office–convenience store–bait shop building sat lakeside, the entrance decorated with a big, cheery Christmas wreath. An immaculately kept, double-wide mobile home with a built-on wooden deck and rough cedar underpinnings served as the LeMays’ home.
“It’s a great place. I can see why you were willing to make the sacrifices you’ve made to own it.”
Dan smiled. “Yeah. Maybe someday it will even be worth it all.”
Tom shrugged. “Isn’t it worth it now, really?”
“Yeah.” Pride in his expression, Dan looked around. “I guess it is.”
He turned back to Tom then. “You sure made my family’s week by showing up here. The kids can’t wait to brag about how their buddy, Tom Wyatt, came to visit them. And Debra’s been cooking and cleaning all day for the dinner she invited you to this evening.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” Oddly enough, he sort of was. Even another meal accompanied by Dustin and Angela’s squabbling was preferable to his own company just then.
“So, why are you really here, Tom? You didn’t have any other plans for this week? A busy, famous guy like you?”
“I had other plans,” Tom admitted glumly. “They fell through.”
“So you just decided on the spur of the moment to come check out my resort.”
“Something like that, yeah.”
“Well, we told you when we left your house that you would be welcome here any time. I just didn’t expect you to take us up on it so soon.”
“Sort of surprised me, as well,” Tom admitted.
“That you and I ended up kind of friendly?”
“That, too. Guess we had a few things in common, after all.”
“Like both having tempers that get us in trouble sometimes.”
Tom winced. “That’s one.”
Grinning, Dan added, “We also both seem to have a soft spot for bossy women.”
Tom laughed, as expected, but this time there was a pang behind the humor. Because he didn’t want to talk about Melissa then, he kept the conversation moving. “Another thing we have in common is both knowing what it’s like to chase a dream with everything we’ve got. And how it feels to finally get there and find out it’s not quite like what we’d expected.”
Dan nodded. “I hear you,” he muttered.
Shrugging, Tom looked around the resort again. “But still, you’re living your dream. That’s got to feel good to you.”
“It does.” Dan looked around with a smile when his children, bundled into coats and hats and scarves, tumbled from their home and pelted toward them, laughing in excitement as they ran. “It does feel good.”
He glanced back at Tom. “But you should know about that. You’re living yours, too. You’re a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series driver, man. You’ve won a championship. I guess you know how many people would give everything they have to be in your shoes.”
The discussion came to an end when the children reached them, Angela throwing her arms around her father’s waist with enough enthusiasm to knock a breath from him. Laughing, he swung her up in his arms, then set her back down, looking at that moment like a very happy man.
“Tom, come with me,” Dustin said, motioning as he moved toward the boat dock. “I want to show you the carp that always come up to the dock for fish food.”
Following obligingly, Tom thought about what Dan had said. There were a lot of different kinds of dreams, he mused. Dan was fortunate enough to have achieved several of them. As for himself…well, maybe he should spend the rest of the off-season deciding exactly what dream this former champion wanted to pursue next.
CHAPTER EIGHT
WITH LESS THAN AN HOUR left until the new year began, the party was in full swing. Laughter, conversation and music filled the air, not quite at a painful level but still fairly noisy. Plates of food and glasses of alcohol were steadily consumed, only to be judiciously refilled by discreetly efficient servers. Air kisses were exchanged, becoming more enthusiastic as the hours crept along and the booze disappeared.
Melissa crept out to her mother’s patio at eleven-thirty, needing a few minutes alone in silence. This was just about the only place to find solitude in the house that was
filled almost to capacity with her parents’ guests.
Everyone inside looked and sounded so happy. Maybe a good portion of them were faking it, but if so, she didn’t have their talent. She had kept up her phony smile for as long as it would hold.
She knew she had to go back inside soon. People would notice if she wasn’t there for the big countdown to midnight. But, oh, how she dreaded it. There was no one in particular she wanted to kiss in celebration. No one in her parents’ house, at least. She didn’t want to celebrate the beginning of a new year that held little anticipation for her tonight.
“You seem to be the only person here not wearing a shiny party hat.”
Her fingers tightened painfully on the wrought iron patio railing. She couldn’t seem to make her head turn to look behind her. Maybe she was afraid she was only imagining the voice. “I didn’t want to mess up my hair.”
“That would be a shame. It looks very nice. You don’t wear it up very often.”
She swallowed. Hard. “Why are you here?”
He moved closer behind her, so close that she fancied she could almost feel his warmth through her too-thin black evening coat. “According to my very cool new watch, it’s getting close to midnight. I was invited to be here to see the new year in.”
“I know, but—”
“And I couldn’t stand the thought of someone else kissing you at midnight.”
Her eyes closed. “Tom—”
“You want me to leave?”
“No.” She didn’t even have to think about that.
His hands closed on the railing on either side of her, trapping her in front of him. And yet she knew that all she had to do was move away and he would let her go.
She decided to stay where she was. For now, at least, she told herself.
“Want to know where I’ve been the last couple of days?” he asked in a murmur, his breath ruffling the little hairs that had escaped her loose up-do.
“I—” She was having a little trouble talking. She cleared her throat. “I assumed you were at home.”
“No. I’ve been in Missouri. At a fishing resort.”
“A fishing resort?” she repeated, not sure if she should believe him. “Dan LeMay’s fishing resort?”
He rested his cheek against the side of her head. “Yep.”
Her skin tingled where their bodies came into contact. And that was almost every inch of her. “Um, why?”
“I just wanted to see it. He and I decided we’ve got a lot in common. Think we’re going to be good friends eventually. I might even invest in his resort, though I haven’t mentioned the idea to him, and I’m not sure he’d be interested in taking on a partner.”
“Really?” She knew Tom didn’t have a lot of close friends. He chose the ones he had very carefully. “What do you and Dan have in common?”
“We both like bossy women, for one thing.”
For some reason her eyes filled with tears. “Do you?”
“Mmm.” He brushed a light kiss across her nape, as though he couldn’t wait any longer to do so. “And barbecue-flavored potato chips. We both really like barbecue-flavored potato chips.”
“Sounds like a basis for a lifelong friendship,” she whispered.
“We have something else in common. We both tend to get surly and say stupid things, especially when we’re feeling like losers.”
That made her turn to stare up at him, possibly a tactical error since it meant she was now standing in his arms, their faces very close together. “What do you mean?”
“Dan was feeling pretty bad because he’d sunk all his money into the resort, had a spell of bad luck, and couldn’t provide a big Christmas to his family this year. The contest came along at a good time for them, but it also triggered his pride when his family carried on like I was the second coming of Superman.”
“That’s what he told you when the rest of us left the room?” she asked, surprised. She had wondered what had been said between the men that had left them in somewhat better moods for the rest of the afternoon.
“Pretty much. Words to that effect.”
“So he lashed out at you because of wounded pride.” She shook her head in disgust. “Men.”
“Exactly. And I lashed back at him—and at you—because I’ve been feeling like a loser for a couple of years now. Worse after this season, of course.”
“You are not a loser,” she said heatedly, clutching the lapels of his beautifully tailored evening jacket in a fierce grip. “That’s just a foolish thing to say.”
“Maybe. But it was the way I felt.”
Her grasp on his coat didn’t loosen, but she looked at him in question. “Felt? Past tense?”
“For the most part, yes.”
“What made the difference?”
“A little talk I had with Dan a couple of days ago. About dreams.”
“What about dreams?”
“About all the work it takes to achieve them. About how scary it is when you finally get there, maybe a little too easily. A little too young. About how hard it is to hang on to that dream when you finally have it in your grasp, but you still have a lifetime ahead of you. About how easy it is to forget the successes when it suddenly occurs to you that every big dream comes with a big price tag.”
“Haven’t I told you some of those same things several times?” she asked, almost indignant now. “How many times have I reminded you that you are a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Champion and that no one can ever take that away from you?”
“Yeah, you’ve said it. But maybe it was easier to hear it from Dan.”
“Why?”
“Because he knows what it’s like to have to fight for a dream. And what it feels like to worry about losing one.”
Her grip loosened then. In shock. “You think I don’t know what it’s like to have dreams?”
“I didn’t say that,” he assured her more gently than was his usual habit. “I said you don’t understand what it’s like to have to fight and scratch for them. I know you’ve worked very hard for your job. You’ve trained, you’ve studied, you’ve sacrificed, you’ve given a hundred and ten percent. RightTime Realty is lucky to have you, and when the time comes for you to take the reins, you will be fully prepared. You’ll be an amazing success.
“But the truth is…the job was always yours. Whether you deserved it or not. And it won’t all be snatched away from you if someone decides to pull an ad. Or if someone decides you don’t have the right look or personality or Q rating or star factor to represent RightTime.”
He looked braced for her to explode in his face. She almost did. There was no subject she was more sensitive about than even the slightest hint that nepotism played any part in her career success.
And yet, something made her bite back the angry words that sprang automatically to her lips. Maybe it was the reluctant realization that he had made some valid points.
He looked as surprised as she felt when she said, “You could be right.”
“I am right. I just didn’t expect you to admit it,” he said with a crooked smile.
She gave him a look that wiped the smile off his face. “Don’t push it.”
“Sorry.”
“I’ll grant you that there is a certain job security in the undeniable truth that my mother is president of the company. And no, she won’t fire me, unless I go completely insane and somehow put the company in jeopardy. But you’re wrong about one thing.”
“What’s that?”
She tightened her grasp on his coat again. “I know what it’s like to be very close to a dream and watch it slip away. Without even understanding quite why.”
She watched his throat work with a hard swallow. “You’re talking about—”
“About us,” she whispered. “About finding something so wonderful and being so afraid to watch it fall apart that it seemed easier to just walk away from it.”
His hand rose to her cheek, and it touched her to realize that it wasn’t quite steady. “Melissa—”
“You were pulling away from me,” she said, letting the pain show now after hiding it from him for so long. “I didn’t know why.”
“When a guy feels like a loser, he doesn’t think he quite deserves a woman like you. He keeps waiting for her to dump him, one way or another. So…it just seems easier to push her away.”
“You are not a loser,” she repeated, tugging at his coat until his face was less than an inch from hers. “Keep saying that and I’m going to do something very unpleasant.”
He laughed softly. “Like I said, I love bossy women.”
“Good. Because I love you. And that has nothing to do with whether you ever win another trophy or whether RightTime Realty and Shaw Racing part ways or whether you decide to stop racing and chase the top prize for competitive knitting. Is that clear? I love you, Tom Wyatt. And I’ve decided I’m not letting this dream slip away so easily.”
“I love you, too.” He covered her mouth with his, kissing her until she was clinging to his jacket for support rather than emphasis. He raised his head only long enough to take a breath and repeat, “Competitive knitting?”
“Shut up and kiss me again.”
He laughed. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Melissa?” Nancy stood in the doorway, peering into the shadows from the brightly lit, people-filled living room. “It’s almost midnight. You’re going to miss the celebration—oh. I see you’ve already started.”
Wrapping her arms around Tom’s neck, Melissa said without looking around, “Happy New Year, Mother. I love you. Now please go kiss Daddy and see to your guests.”
“At least you said please to her,” Tom teased as the crowd inside began to loudly chant a countdown, beginning with “ten.”
“I can say please,” she assured him. “Please kiss me again, Tom.”
“Happy to oblige.”
They were still kissing when the new year was well under way.
EPILOGUE
A NASCAR Holiday 2: Miracle SeasonSeason of DreamsTaking ControlThe Natural Page 11
