Page 28 of Driving Wild

“Excuse me, miss, are you Grace Miller by any chance?” he asks, making me a little uncomfortable that people would know my name.

“Umm, I am.”

“I am so sorry; I’m Michael. I work for your father. He sent me to pick you up and take you to your parents’ house.”

“Okay, Michael. I’m gonna need you to show me some ID, and I’ll also need to call my father to make sure before I get into the car with you.” I’ve watched enough Liam Neeson movies to know that I could be sold on the black market at any turn, getting into a stranger’s car.

Turning, I grab my bags and hear Michael talking with someone. I can’t make out who it is because it isn’t on speaker, but soon, he catches up to me, handing the phone over so I can talk with someone.

“Hello, sweetheart. Michael is to take you to the house. I was planning on picking you up but got stuck at work, and your mother is cooking away, preparing for you coming home today,” comes my dad's husky voice.

“Okay, Dad, I just wanted to make sure. Can’t have your only daughter being sold on the black market. What would that do to the Miller name?” I hand the phone back to Michael before following him to the waiting SUV.

I have always loved Boston; we have lived here my whole life. Most of my family live in New York, but my parents settled just outside the area so that they could drive to New York if they needed to. And I know my parents want me to come home so badly, but North Carolina is my new home, and I’m starting to love that it has adopted me and given me my new family.

Matt may have come into my life in a weird way, and it’s all my fault, but thinking back, I wouldn’t change what I did. It’s starting to turn into one of the best mistakes I’ve made.

We make our way to my parents’ house outside of Boston, and I’m compelled to watch the city roll past me. I have so many fond memories of spending summers with my cousins since they had a house near my parents, and it was always so great. We’ve always been a close family, and my moving away hasn’t changed that. Now, with this bomb that I’ve dropped on my parents via the press, I’m in survival mode. I think that may be one of the reasons I want to come this weekend while Matt’s in Texas. I honestly don’t want my family to become attached to him and then a month from now, he’s gone, and I’m left to answer a million questions.

Following the tree-lined drive to my parents’ house, and I say a silent prayer that tonight will go smoothly. My father is a responsive man, and once I tell him the truth, I’m sure he’ll see my reason for having the press think I’m married to Matt. Even though I know I’ll get the mother of all lectures about how reckless it was of me to do that. I went to North Carolina to get away from the Miller name and become my own person, yet, in one picture, I’ve blown that up too.

Pulling up to the beautiful old Tudor-style home, my father comes out the front door just as I step out of the SUV. I thank Michael for the ride and for not selling me on the black market. This causes him to laugh just as I close the door and head to my father.

“Hi, Dad.” I greet him before walking up to him as he wraps me in one of his big bear hugs. I relax into his hug and just pause. I love the smell of my dad. He reminds me of old spices and soap. A very dad smell. Ha ha.

“How is my little bug doing?” he asks, looking at me with more concern than anger. And I settle just a little, knowing he’s getting on board with what’s happening.

“It’s been one hell of a few weeks if you want an honest answer. But starting my new position at Mac has been amazing. The people are so nice, and I’m learning a lot.”

“Well, come on. Your mother’s been waiting on you all week, and I know she’ll want to hear all about it. I better not hog you all to myself,” he says with that signature smirk that only I get.

Walking into the house, it’s just as warm and welcoming. For most of my childhood, my house was the one my friends wanted to be at. It was because my cousins were always around or maybe because of the amazing lake view we had that I loved spending time out on the water each summer.

I head toward the kitchen and find my mom, pulling a lasagna out of the oven just as I make my way to a bar stool.

“My little peanut is home.” My mom comes, rounding the corner to give me the biggest hug.

“Mom, I only moved to North Carolina—it’s not like I went off to war, you know.”

“Yeah, but you move to North Carolina, then instead of coming to work for our family team, you stay there. Then hell's bells, I find out from the news, not my own daughter, that you married a racecar driver. Darlin’, you forget I follow the tabloids like they are my second bible and I’ve seen things about the ‘husband,’ and I use that word very loosely. I don’t want to see you all over the page because he’s strayed,” she states, placing her hands on her hips.

Well, that explains where I got that move from. I may have got my dad’s aggressiveness in the business world, but the sass is all my mom. Here, I thought it was going to be my dad I would have to defend myself with. Nope, it's the woman standing in front of me.

Rubbing my temples, I can feel the start of a headache coming on, so I close my eyes and count to five. Because if I open my mouth right now, I will say something that my mom is not going to like, nor will it be ladylike.

Taking a long breath, I open my eyes and look up at my mother.

“Mom, I get that you didn’t want to find out your only child is married from a newspaper. And to be honest, I didn’t want you to know that way either. Yet I also didn’t want a random dark-haired reporter trying to drug one of my drivers just to get information as to what’s going on at our race shop. So, if you really want to know, no, Matt and I are not legally married. Honestly, we aren’t even dating, But am I falling for him? Yep, I sure as hell am, and it scares the hell out of me.” I look over at Mom, who's just standing with her mouth open like a fish as I continue.

“Miles was the man I thought I would be with for the rest of my life, and I ended that, so being with Matt now and developing all the feelings I have bubbling over, I’m not sure what to do. If I’m being honest with myself.

“We are trying to keep the media away now. But because of the way he’s been in the past and my name, they’ve taken such a freaking interest that we can’t shy away from it now.” I unload all the words that I have been keeping to myself for the last month.

“I have the next month to figure out my feelings because at the end of the race season, that’s it. We said two months to make sure that his image is what it should be, and I’ll help Mila launch her career.”

“Sweetie, we know it’s been stressful this last month. I know you wouldn't have married someone out of the blue. You may try to play the hard nut at times, but your heart is so big,” Mom continues. “True, your dad handled it terribly when we got the news. You have always been so level-headed; we just didn’t understand. It came unexpectedly, and then when you avoided our call, and even Jamie’s, we were even more confused,” Mom says, coming to stand in front of me again. She pulls me into a hug this time, and it’s the comforting mom hug that you always want when you know that things have gone south.

Pulling back from our embrace, I look into my mom’s eyes. They’re the same as mine, and even though her blonde hair is starting to go gray, she’s embracing the change, and I can see what I might look like at her age. And I hope that when I am, I’m half the woman she is.

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