Life at Best

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Monday morning Brynne woke up later than usual due to their late arrival back from the track the night before.

Laying in bed she let her mind drift back to the weekend, and the argument she'd unfortunately been privy to witnessing between Martin and Kaleen in the coach lot.

She still honestly wasn't sure what to think about it, but based off the vibes she was getting from Martin that night while he was arguing with her, it seemed he really hadn't expected to see her there, and was ready to be done with her and all the drama that surrounded her and that brought in to his life.

But still, in the pit of her stomach anything having to do with Martin and Kaleen just made her stomach feel queasy, call it uneasiness overtaking her body.

With a deep sigh she pushed herself up from the bed knowing if she didn't she probably could and would stay there all day long and not feel bad about it, but there were things to do and things that needed to be accomplished and they certainly weren't going to get done from the comfort of her bed.

Traipsing down the stairs, she was surprised to find the house eerily quiet and empty. She knew Dale had to go to the shop on Monday mornings for team meetings and reviews of the weekend, but she knew there was nothing wedding related planned today, so she wasn't sure where exactly Julie was at the moment.

She sat down at the counter and poured herself a bowl of cereal even though it was way past breakfast time and ate in the silence. For once the silence didn't bother her much.

It did however give her way too much time to think about everything.

*

Martin sat in his office Monday afternoon knowing his obligations for the day were winding down. Mondays seemed to be one of the less crazy hectic days because for the most part all that was required of them was to be present for the team meetings.

His phone vibrated on his desk and he picked it up, rolling his eyes when he noticed it was a message from Kaleen.

Want to see Kinsey? We have to run to the store; you can come with us

Her bipolar tendencies threw him off so much sometimes. Just the other night she was yelling and screaming at him in the motor coach parking lot and now she was trying to extend an invitation for the three of them to do something together?

Once again with ideas of the three of them doing things together.

Why don't you let me take her for a couple hours after I get out of work...? It'll give you a little break.

He sighed as he sat back in his chair and rested his head against the back of it, eyes closed.

He could almost guess what her answer was going to be. The same thing it had been since the day Kinsey was born, and just another reason or excuse for him not to take her by himself.

I don't need a break Martin, that's why I suggested you go with us because I know you haven't seen her in a few days.

It had been almost a week since he'd seen his little angel simply because she wouldn't let him bring her anywhere near the track on the weekends and most weeks he had to leave by Thursday at the latest to get to the track, which left him exactly three or so days when he was in town to try and see her - if Kaleen let him.

His patience with this whole situation was running thin and he knew soon that if he wanted to see his daughter he was going to have to do something about it - he couldn't keep giving in to her little plot of the three of them doing things together like a little family just so he could see Kinsey, because they weren't a little family and never were they going to be.  But - he just wanted to be able to see his daughter, and unfortunately for the time being, this seemed to be the easiest way for it to happen.

You weren't worried about not needing a break this weekend when you left her with your mom  without even telling me or offering me time with her so you could come to the track and fuck around!

Why he decided to pick a fight with her he wasn't sure, some days he just liked to push her buttons to get a reaction, and honestly he knew it would rile her up.

As if on cue, a minute later his phone rang through with a call instead of a text message and he rolled his eyes again as he picked it up.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"I can't fucking believe you Martin Truex Junior! I didn't ask for your thoughts on how I spent my weekend and since you obviously don't want to see your daughter don't worry about coming over after work!"

He sighed, "Listen Kaleen, I haven't seen her in nearly a week and I want to see her. But why can't I take her by myself? Maybe introduce her to some of my friends or people I care about? What's so wrong with her father wanting her to be a part of his life?"

"So now I'm not important to you Martin? You don't care about me? You're only interested in getting your hands on my daughter?"  He rolled his eyes, it always went to this - her not being important enough, Kinsey being her daughter.  It was like a broken record, he could almost anticipate her responses before she said them.

"Newsflash Kaleen, she's our daughter... And you act like you're surprised that I don't consider you important to me. Have you not listened to anything I've said to you over the eight months?"

In the background he could hear Kinsey start to cry, the sound making his heart ache a little. He loved that little girl with everything he had in him and if there was one thing he wished he could change, he wished he could go back in time and never have anything to do with Kaleen.

But then he wouldn't have Kinsey.

"Unfortunately jackass your daughter is crying and wants her mother's attention, at least someone needs me... If you decide to pull that stick out of your ass and want to come see Kinsey, you know where to find us."

Martin heard the dial tone in his ear and sighed as he tossed his phone in the corner of his desk and rubbed his forehead where he could feel a little headache coming on.

"Everything okay buddy?"

He looked and saw Junior standing in the doorway.

Groaning he shook his head, "Baby mama drama."

Junior laughed outright sitting in the chair on the other side of his desk, "Well I can't say I know anything about that, but if you want to know about crazy bride syndrome, I'm an expert in that.  The wedding being so close has them both acting a little crazy."

Martin laughed, only imagining what Junior was having to put up with at his home with two crazy wedding planning women under his roof. "What's up though man?"

"Well I was just stopping by to see if you maybe wanted to come over to the house for dinner tonight. It's been a while since you've been over - way too long actually and I'm sure the ladies would benefit from us all being under the same roof, so they can fill us in on some wedding details."

"Yeah, I'll be there man. I got a couple things to take care of first, but what time do you think?"

"Like 6?" Junior asked, "That's 'bout the time we normally eat."

"Alright. I'll be there."

Junior nodded, and walked towards the door, "Alright, see ya later man."

Just as Junior walked out of sight, Martin called him back to his office.

"Do the girls know you invited me yet?"

"Nah man, I'll tell them when I get home. See ya later!"

Martin began throwing things into random areas of his desk, ready to get out of there for the day.

First, he was going to see his baby girl, then he was going to get to see Brynne. It was going to be a good night in his books.

*

When Brynne heard the front door open, she raced down the stairs to greet Julie.

"Hey."

Julie smiled over her shoulder at Brynne, thinking to herself this was one of the first times she'd seen Brynne look this good since she arrived.

"Hey Bry, what's up?"

"I got worried when I woke up and you weren't here."

"Oh Delana wanted to get lunch, but I knew you'd had a rough week and an even longer weekend being your first one back at the track, so I didn't want to wake you up."

"That's cool, just wasn't sure and I was afraid I'd slept through something wedding related." When Julie shook her head Brynne smiled, "So what's up for the rest of the day?"

"We'll I've got to run to the store to grab some stuff for dinner? Want to go with me and then come back and help me make it?"

Brynne shrugged, "Sure, I don't have anything else to do!"

Julie laughed, "Well just be ready to leave in like 10 minutes?"

*

Martin stood outside the door to Kaleen's house and sighed, wishing there was some other way for him to be able to see Kinsey without having to have anything to do with Kaleen.  To her having him show up on her doorstep like this after their argument was going to be a win, like he was backing down from everything he had said to her when they were arguing.

He knew short of taking her to court to get set up visitation there was no way of doing that, so for the time being until they could take it to court this was the best he could get.  He would have to bide his time.

He'd have to deal with her because he certainly didn't want Kinsey's life to be a repeat of what Peyton's life had been thus far.  Peyton hadn't lacked for anything in her life and Martin had always been thankful to his parents for being such a big part in her life in his absence, but he didn't think he could handle having another child who he couldn't take part in every chapter of their life.

Knocking on the door, he waited a minute and heard footsteps on the other side of the door as Kaleen opened it and leaned against the side of the door, a smirk on her face.

Martin rolled his eyes and pushed past her, heading into the living room where he knew Kinsey would probably be.

Kaleen followed him in, the ever present smirk still there. "Well Kinsey," she spoke, "It seems Daddy pulled the stick out of his ass and realized where his priorities lie."

With Kinsey in his arms Martin turned around and glared at Kaleen, "I'm certainly not here for you, so you can wipe that smirk off your face. If I had any other choice to see Kinsey right now I certainly would be exercising that option."

Kaleen bounced up on the tips of her toes and laughed, "Whatever you say Martin, you're still here..."

He rolled his eyes, "Could we just go?"

"After you honey," she smiled sweetly.

*

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Brynne asked.

Julie shrugged slightly, "I'm not really sure I was kind of hoping that when we got here something would just kind of jump out at me."

Brynne laughed, "I guess that's one way to shop."

"Yeah well, Dale's not very picky and I know you'll generally eat whatever so it's left up to me to make the food decisions and who the hell ever knows what I want."

"If you're half this indecisive when it comes to wedding stuff, we're going to be screwed trying to get this wedding planned in like 3 months."

Julie laughed, "Oh trust me, when it comes to the wedding I know exactly what I want... Picking something out for dinner is a little different than making wedding decisions, besides it's supposed to be the happiest day of our lives together."

"And it will be," Brynne interrupted, "And you're going to be the most beautiful bride around."

"Aw best friend, I love having you around and I love you," Julie cooed.

"Love you too," Brynne murmured.

They pushed the cart up and down the aisles waiting for something to just jump out at them and force them to make a decision. Slowly as they wandered around the store it seemed their meal was coming together in the back part of the cart and the girls enjoyed the mindless small talk they kept each other engaged in on their trip around the grocery store.

As Julie pushed the cart around the corner of an aisle headed to the frozen meat section, she stopped short when her cart ran into someone else's who happened to be coming around the corner of the opposite aisle at the same time, and they crashed into each other. Julie looked up and began to apologize for not watching where she was going when her eyes met those of a very familiar man with deep chocolate brown eyes, and he wasn't alone.

She knew the minute Brynne looked up too when she heard the sharp intake of breath leave Brynne's lungs and the world seemed to freeze all at once, the air thick with tension.

*

Martin took control of the cart and clipped Kinsey's carseat into the front seat of it as soon as they made it in the store, letting Kaleen take control of whatever she felt she needed, just hoping to make this trip as quick as possible.

He enjoyed spending the time with Kinsey but definitely could do without being anywhere near her mother.

The tension had been so thick since they'd gotten into his truck that you could cut it with a pair of scissors, but he didn't care because it meant less conversation he had to keep up with Kaleen.

And in his book, that was alright with him.

Aisle after aisle Kaleen filled up the cart with everything she felt she needed and he just monotonously pushed the cart containing Kinsey alongside of her, making funny faces at his daughter and feeling happiness when he would smile or coo at him.

They were thankfully an aisle or two away from being done when they turned a corner and ran right into another cart. His eyes lifted up to that of the occupants of the other cart that he had run into and froze when standing in front of him were Julie and Brynne.

Kaleen threw on a big, bright fake smile and batted her lashes up at him before turning back towards the girls, "Martin aren't these your friends?"

Before he could get two words out, Brynne had dropped her eyes from the scene and looked around for any kind of exit before she mumbled something about needing to use the restroom and turned around, practically running out of the store never even once looking back over her shoulder at him again.

A lump formed in Martin's throat as he stared at Julie waiting for her reaction. "Julie, I can - I can explain -"

Julie plastered a fake smile of her own on her face and pushed through, "If you'll excuse me I have to go check out and get home before my fiancé does."

Martin grabbed onto her arm as she passed by and she politely looked up at him and pulled his hand off her arm. "I have to leave," she told him, stressing the significance to him, she had to go clean up his mess.

He nodded quickly after she'd already walked by and rubbed his temples where suddenly a headache was coming on.

*

The entire ride back to Junior's house was dead silent. Julie had been giving Brynne some space knowing that eventually she would open up.

As they pulled into the driveway Brynne swallowed past the lump in her throat and sighed, "He promised me he was done with her."

Julie didn't say anything, but grabbed Brynne's hand and squeezed gently, offering her best friend support.

"The first thing he promised me was that he was done with her. He's already broken that promise more than once..."

Julie waited for her to elaborate, silently giving her space to think and gather her thoughts.

"I saw them fighting at the track this past weekend... She showed up with some other driver and he saw her and confronted her, and they got into an argument." She breathed deeply. "They obviously didn't know I was listening, but I heard the whole thing Julie."

"Maybe there's an explanation for this all," she said quietly.

Brynne sighed again, "Regardless, I've been talking to him again for what, a week or two? And he's already broken a promise he made to me? I don't know that I can do this again."

"I'm not taking up for him Brynne, because honestly, I'm just as pissed about this as you are.  As far as the guys know, he told them he was done with her too. But maybe there is an explanation for it and if there is maybe you should hear him out..."

"I don't know," Brynne shrugged, "But I think I'm going to go lay down, I've suddenly got a headache."

As Brynne got out Julie silently cursed Martin Truex Junior for once again messing things up.

*

The house smelled wonderfully as he walked in the door and he smiled at the simple domestication of it all. Who would have thought a year ago that this would be his future, his life? And who would have thought he'd be okay with that?

He walked into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around Julie's waist, resting his chin in the crook of her neck. "Smells good baby."

She spun around in his arms and grinned, "Thanks. How was your day?"

"Uneventful. Where's Brynne?"

"She's upstairs laying down because she had a headache."

Junior nodded, "I'm going to go upstairs and get changed before dinner. If the doorbell rings will you answer it? I invited Martin over for dinner tonight."

"Wait, you what?"

He looked at Julie funny and shrugged his shoulders, "I invited Martin over for dinner."

"Shit," Julie swore.

"Is there something wrong with that? I didn't know I wasn't able to invite my best friend - the best man in our wedding - over for dinner..."

Julie sighed, "Brynne and I went to the store this afternoon to grab some stuff for dinner and while we were there we ran into Martin... and Kaleen.  Together."

Junior groaned and shook his head, "I thought he was done with her?"

"Well so did we... In fact, just last week he apparently told Brynne he was done with Kaleen. So obviously she was pretty upset because they had just really started working on things." Julie ran her hands over her face, "Well I better go tell Brynne he's coming."

As Julie headed upstairs to talk to Brynne, the doorbell rang, and Junior shook his head. He may have just screwed this up all over again.

***

I am so sorry!  But there had to be more drama.  I promise the wait will be worth it!!