The Good Race

Chapter One

Ryan Willis loved summers at the race track. The sights, the sounds, the girls— the rivalries, the tension, the excitement. School was out for the year, and he looked forward to running the circuit with his father. Toby Willis was neck and neck with rival and former friend Jimmy Reilly for the points lead. They had been chasing each other's bumpers all season. Each city they went to, reporters and television anchors played up the competition. These two drivers were once inseparable best friends when they were rookies, but now it seemed they couldn't stomach each other. Neither discussed their falling out, even when hounded by the press to do so.

Ryan had never asked his father about what happened between them, but suspected a woman had something to do with it. There were rumors on the circuit about a woman named Daisy Dolan, who had once been hot and heavy with Toby, but then tossed him aside for Jimmy. From Ryan's understanding, he was just a baby when all this happened, so he had no memory of this Daisy woman.

Toby and Jimmy had more in common than they publicly acknowledged. They were both single fathers to teenagers pretty close in age. By Ryan's estimation, Jimmy's daughter Jackie was just about a year younger than he was. She was quiet and kept to herself. He usually saw her with her face in a book, but when she looked up, her face stunned a guy. Ryan wasn't sure he'd ever seen a prettier girl, and as the only son of one of the circuit's most popular drivers, he saw a lot of girls.

However, for reasons passing Ryan's understanding, he had never worked up the gumption to ask her out. He wasn't intimidated by her. They saw each other all the time, spoke on occasion, but something held him back. He didn't seem to find himself interested in dating her, and Ryan had always thought that a little bizarre. She was painfully shy, but she was gorgeous. What's more, she understood what his life was like. Ryan didn't run from cameras the way Jackie did. He didn't court the attention, but he chalked it up to part of the lifestyle. Jackie was elusive to the press for the most part and most of the guys on the track helped Jimmy keep it that way.

Ryan did envy Jackie a bit though. Toby sent Ryan away to a prestigious and exclusive boarding school each fall for the academic year. Jimmy Reilly hired tutors and kept his daughter with him all year round. When Ryan was younger, he used to beg his father not to send him away, but Toby always told his son it was for the best. Ryan didn't doubt his father's love for him by any means, but wished he could stay with him the way Jackie got to stay with hers.

Ryan watched his father finish up the pre-race interviews. Toby Willis could work the press like a pro. He never had a bad thing to say about his crew or his fellow drivers—on camera anyway. Toby had a lot of unfavorable things to say behind closed doors, but was nothing but one of the good ol' boys for the camera.

"Hey, bud!" Toby greeted when he saw his son approaching. "Great day for racing!"

"The car was a little loose in practice," Ryan frowned. "They work on her?"

"Sure, sure," Toby replied. "We tightened her up. She's decent enough now."

"Not a winning car today?"

"We'll see," Toby seemed distracted and glanced at the team next to them. It was Jimmy's team. Jackie stood up in the booth out of the way while her father gave his interviews.

"You talk to Jackie yet since you've been back?" Toby asked his son. Ryan always took that to mean did he ask her out.

"We talked a bit while you were in the driver's meeting," Ryan said, following his father's eyes up to where Jackie stood next to Les Gordon, Jimmy's crew chief of five years. "She's still got some tests and stuff left to take. I guess the home school stuff's not over yet."