From:[email protected]
Subject:Time for an interview? [5/17, 10:12 p.m.]
From:[email protected]
Subject:Quick interview? [5/17, 10:22 p.m.]
Chapter 37
1 week until the Indianapolis 500
Mack barely touched the kill switch before she was swarmed by a dozen crew members. She unbuckled her harness as the crew slapped her helmet, reached through the aeroscreen to shake her hand, and shouted congratulations. In the chaos, she struggled to remove the steering wheel, disconnect her cords, and extract herself from the car as the team continued to celebrate. All down pit lane, crew members from other teams clapped and cheered for her, and she heard her name over the loudspeaker.Mack Williams, the rookie driving for Janet Joyner Racing, will start on the inside of row eleven.The back of the field wasn’t ideal, but some of the greatest IndyCar drivers started at the back at some point in their career. Before a driver could battle for the win, first she had to make the race.
Mack felt golden inside, like the warm light of an Indiana summer sunset swirled in her body. Radiant beams of relief, gratitude, and pride bubbled through her veins. Even the pain in her hand as she yanked off her sweaty driving gloves couldn’t dampen the euphoria.
Cameras and reporters hovered outside her car but Mack ignored them for now. Still in her helmet, Mack dove right into the middle of the celebrating crew. She’d put in the drive of her life, but she hadn’t done it alone. Every mechanic, engineer, pit crew, and even all the folks in Janet’s business office had put in countless hours so they all couldstand and celebrate this moment. These people cared more about the team than what Mack had under her coveralls, and she knew that hadn’t been the same for far too many women in motorsports.
Jimmy thumped her helmet. “The work is just beginning. We’ll do a full engineering meeting tonight and fine-tune the car for race day. Gotta set you up to pass some cars.”
“I can’t wait.” They laughed together, remembering her misery at the engineering roundtable.
Leo appeared in the crowd, his grin as wide as her own. She didn’t think as she flung herself into his arms and gave into the embrace he offered, cameras and online creeps be damned.
She hadn’t even unsnapped the HANS device when Janet pulled her into a shocking squeeze. Mack returned the hug, relishing comfort and softness from a person who rarely gave either.
“Hell of a run, especially considering that.” Janet pointed at her throbbing hand.
High on the moment, Mack was honest. “I wasn’t going to let a broken hand be the thing that kept me out of the race.” Her adrenal system was still overloaded and everything felt warm and heightened, the pain forgotten in the excitement. “I will fight for every position.”
Above them, she could still hear the cheers of the crowd, and she looked up into the grandstands and waved at the fans, trying to imprint the image into her mind. Whether they rooted for her individually or the excitement of the day in general, it didn’t matter. The moment was the stuff of dreams, her dreams, made all the sweeter by the years and heartaches and despair.
“Of course you will,” Janet said firmly. “I didn’t pick you to be the token woman in this race. I picked you to win. It won’t be easy, but the good things never are.” Janet pointed behind her. “You’ve got some people who want to join this celebration.”
In the middle of all that joy, her heart soared even higher when she saw Wes, Laurie, Shaw, and Billie standing behind the low concrete wall of the pits. Shaw jumped up and down, unable to resist the excitementof the moment and Mack motioned her forward, then wiggled through the crowd to pull her daughter into her arms.
“That was so cool! Aunt Laurie says we’ll get to watch you in the big race! And I want to watch it for real, not on a screen.”
Mack held Shaw close and marveled again at the resilience of children. She’d let Shaw down, she’d scared her silly, and yet here she was, Mack’s cheerleader. She’d do anything to keep earning her daughter’s trust, but now she knew she needed to introduce her to adventure, too—the risks and rewards, the highs and heartbreaks.
Releasing Shaw, Mack stood and faced Wes, whose eyes were thick with unshed tears. Unable to stop herself, Mack began to cry when Wes held her face in his hands and rested his forehead against hers. So what if she was the girl driver who cried? She could be both the woman with tears on pit laneandthe woman who just made the greatest American race. She could be with Leo and be good at her job. She could be any damn thing she wanted to be.
Her throat was thick and snot began to pool in her nose, but she knew Wes understood what she could not say. He held her tight and whispered, “It’s your time now, Spec.”
Wes released her into Laurie’s arms and her sister scooped her into the kind of soft yet firm embrace only sisters can give. They held on to each other long enough to silently say the things they couldn’t say out loud yet. Over Laurie’s shoulder, Mack saw Billie hovering beside Wes. She released her sister and turned to the woman who’d dressed her family in matching blue T-shirts emblazoned with large checkered-flag-patterned elevens. “I like the shirts.”
Billie beamed. “Thank you. I know it’s a bit much, but marketing is everything and we’ve got the best product at the track.”
Mack bit her lip. She wouldn’t have picked Billie for her dad, but maybe that’s why she was so good for him. For them. “Thank you. For ... for lots of things.”
Billie pulled Mack into a lily-scented hug and Mack let herself lean in. And dammit if Billie didn’t give good hugs.
“Mack! An interview?”
Hana Park vaulted the pit wall in a single smooth move, motioning the cameraman to start filming before he’d even cleared the concrete. “I’m here with Mack Williams, who qualified in thirty-first for the Indianapolis 500. Mack, you not only put up a dramatic last-minute run, you bumped Formula 1 star Mick Roethlisberger. How does it feel?”
