Chapter Seven

Armed with Will’s reassurances, Liz tackled one more difficult subject: her family. “I need to talk to you about my mom.”

“Okay. She must be wonderful; she raised a gorgeous daughter.”

Liz laughed. “Thank you, but....” She sighed. This was so difficult! “My mom is rather…challenging.” Liz huffed. “Embarrassing is what she is. I know she loves us all, but she is obsessed with money. When she finds out who you are, all she is going to see are dollar signs. She’s not above trying to wheedle you into buying her something or ‘helping her out’ with a few bucks. She’s a hypochondriac, too, I swear! You’ll hear all about her ailments and how she’s sure to die any day now.

“That’s not all,” she forestalled Will when he opened his mouth to speak. “I think I told you a little about my youngest sister, Lydia?”

Will nodded, remembering that Lydia was rebellious, wild, and promiscuous.

“My mother encourages Lydia, in an indirect way. She laughs at my sister’s antics and does not punish her. Mom has often said that Lydia is the image of what Mom was as a teen. I know that Mom flirts with the neighbors, and there’s an old rumor that she and my friend Charlotte’s dad had an affair.”

“What does your dad say about all this?”

“He laughs at her. I honestly don’t think he cares what she does. They have not shared a bedroom for years. Dad runs his company from the basement of their house; that’s where he spends the majority of his time, and he prefers that we not invade his domain. I do his social media marketing, so he has to talk to me, but we usually just text, unless what we need to say is too complicated. Then, I’ll call. He prefers his home office to any of us, especially mom. We see him at meals, and that’s it.”

Will didn’t know what to say. Her description was totally different than what he had experience with his dad. “Okay, well….how do you feel about this?”

“I love my family, but I understand their faults. Jane and I share this apartment because we both desperately needed to get out of our parent’s house, but we could not afford to live alone.” Suddenly feeling awkward and shy again, Liz looked at her hands, one of which was now wrapped in Will’s much larger one. “She and I both have had boyfriends literally turn and run after they meet our family, especially our mom. I need to warn you, too, that Dad takes delight in making guys feel uncomfortable. He will probably do his best to push your buttons. I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize. We all have family members that embarrass us. I have an aunt, one you have not yet met, who makes life miserable for the rest of us. She keeps claiming that my mom wanted me to marry her daughter. Dad denies it, which makes me happy. I know it’s legal in something like twenty-four states to marry your cousin, but I have no desire to go down that road.”

“Why does she insist, then?”

Will shrugged and grimaced. “She says it’s a family tradition. She’s big into genealogy and says that every generation has at least one couple that married as cousins. She also goes on about local politics and her office on the county board of trustees, and I suspect that she thinks that if Anne and I married, we’d be consolidating two wealthy families and therefore she’d somehow have more power. I’m not sure I understand her thinking, and I certainly don’t want to marry for something like that.”

“I don’t blame you there.” The two fell silent for a few minutes, thinking about each other, their respective families, and the kind of life they might have together. A thought popped into Liz’s head that she felt she needed to clear up right away. “Will,” she said, squeezing his hand, “I do love my family, but I don’t need to live near them, except maybe for Jane and possibly Mary. I just wanted you to know.”

Will was relieved to hear this, but he didn’t want to judge people he had never met. “I’m glad you told me.” He smiled into her eyes and leaned forward, asking for another kiss. To his delight, Liz granted it.

~~~***~~~

The day before Will and Charles had to leave, the girls took him to meet their parents. Jane had done as her sister had, and spoken to Bingley about them, expressing to him the same fears and worries and receiving the same assurances that Will had given Liz.

The visit went as everyone expected. Mrs. Bennet was alternately probing into their incomes, making subtle requests for money and luxury items, and explaining her numerous ailments in more detail than anyone wished to hear. Will, especially, was disgusted, and he had a hard time concealing his feelings. If he did not already know that Liz was the complete opposite of her mother, he’d have done as her other boyfriends did and run for the hills.

Mr. Bennet was no better, and Liz was wise to warn Will that her father would try to make sport of him and his career. However, Will was neither uneducated nor slow-witted, and was able to successfully parry every jab made at him.

Charles, of course, somehow managed to escape Mr. Bennet’s tongue. He always avoids this stuff. I wish I knew how.

The three youngest sisters were a study in contrasts. Mary, who was home from college for a few days, stepped in to help her elder sisters distract her parents. It was obvious that she was embarrassed by them. Kitty and Lydia were oblivious to any tension. They flirted with Will and Charles and proclaimed their weekend plans to “do it” with their boyfriends loudly throughout dinner. Jane and Liz and their guys were grateful that the two girls left the house immediately after dinner.

At the end of the day, though, everyone made it through the visit. The two couples were glad to leave the Bennets to their eccentricities. Will and Bingley spent a couple hours and lots of kisses making sure their girls understood that nothing would stand in the way of their relationships.

~~~***~~~

When Will and Charles returned to North Carolina, it was with the knowledge that their week with Liz and Jane was their last vacation until the end of the season. The last eleven races were going to be intense, with every driver furiously chasing the points that would make him a winner.

Will made sure that Liz and Jane attended every weekend. If he or Bingley could not fly to Ohio to get them, one of DRI’s corporate pilots did. Will moved into his friend’s motorhome for the rest of the season, as well, so Liz and Jane did not have to bunk with his dad. As much as Will wanted Liz in his bed, he was not going to push her. Every time they were together, she became more precious to him. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that he wanted to marry her, and he was eager for any sign that she was ready. In an effort to wine and dine her, Will selected a different bouquet of flowers to have sent to her every day, and when he was not meeting his obligations as a driver, they explored the area around each track, eating in the restaurants, seeing the sights, and holding hands. Every night, Will left her at the door to the motorhome, having given her a long, slow, deep kiss that left both of them breathless.

That sign Will had been looking for came three races from the end of the season. The series was racing in Texas, a mile-and-a-half, mostly flat track that Will was very good at. Will started in first place, on the pole position, and chose the inside lane to start the race. Being out in front did wonderful things for his car, and he won the first two stages of the race. With three laps to go, he was racing hard to keep one of the sport’s young guns, Jasper Lindhurst, behind him.

Will caught up to traffic that was laps down, losing his momentum. Jasper came up hard to his left. Will moved down the track to block him, but Jasper didn’t back off. He bumped Will, lifting the tires of Will’s car off the track and causing it to spin. Will hit the outside wall, hard, and spun down to the infield. He was able to catch it, though, and drive to pit road. He was, however, furious.

As per the rules, Will’s car went behind the wall into the garage area and Will himself went to the infield care center for a checkup. Jason and Coach were waiting for him when he got there, with Liz between them.

Uncertain what she was allowed to do, Liz fidgeted, wanting to touch him and make sure he was ok, but not wanting to do something wrong. As soon as he smiled at her, though, Liz threw herself at Will, holding him tightly to her.

Will knew at that moment that she was his for the asking. With a smile on his face, he buried his lips in her neck and whispered assurances to her. When she loosened her hold, he kissed her with everything he had, rejoicing when she returned it. It took a cough from Jason and a nudge from Coach to separate them.

Once Will was examined and released, he and Liz followed his father and crew chief back to the garage. The race had ended, of course, and Jasper was heading toward Victory Lane. Seeing the wrecked car fired Liz up again, this time not in fear of an injury to the man she knew she loved, but in anger at the driver who cost him a win and endangered his life. Before anyone knew what she was about, Liz was marching through the garage toward the celebration, fire in her eyes.

By the time Will realized she was gone and started searching for her, Liz had reached pit road. Jasper, who had won the race while Will was still in infield care, was doing his burnout as his crew celebrated in their pit stall. His girlfriend, Selena Parker, who had seen the race from atop his pit box, was the last one down. Her descent was assisted by an irate Liz, who grabbed the girl by the back of her skimpy sundress and hauled her backward off the ladder. Screaming in outrage, Selena turned, ready to threaten a lawsuit on whichever crew member dared to touch her. She was shocked into silence to see Liz instead. By the time Selena had gathered her wits, Liz had her slammed up against the pit box, and was nose to nose with her.

“Your boyfriend could have killed mine today! You need to tell him to back off. His driving sucks as bad as his attitude!”

Shoving Liz away from her, Selena yelled back. “It’s not his fault your old man is slow. Get out of my face before I knock you out!”

Never one to allow another person to have the last word when she was this angry, Liz fired another salvo, to which Selena took such offense that she slapped Liz so hard it could be heard ten feet away. Liz, who had frequently engaged in fisticuffs with the neighborhood boys growing up, was not about to let that pass. Her fist made contact with Selena’s jaw, knocking the other girl backward. She drew it back for a second swing when she found herself picked up and spun the other direction.

Will had quickly surmised where Liz had taken off to, but she had a far enough head start that he had to run to catch up. Yelling back to his crew, he sprinted for pit road. He paused upon reaching it, trying to remember where Jasper’s pit box was. The outraged scream rising above the sounds of celebration told him where to go. Seeing Liz take her first swing just as he arrived at the pit stall, he lunged to grab her before the second could connect. He picked her up from behind and turned, swinging her away. She fought him hard, so angry she didn’t recognize his voice at first.

“Easy, Sweetheart. Ow!” He cried out when her flailing fist made contact with his eye. “Settle down, Darlin’!” He tightened his grip, moving his head to the other side of hers from that lethal fist. By this time, his crew, who had followed him, had positioned themselves between them and Selena. Jasper’s crew had pulled Selena away from the fray, but the two teams were now hurling insults at each other, as well. Race officials, always alert for flaring tempers, maneuvered themselves between the two groups and urged Will’s team to move away. After a few more tense moments, the sides separated, with Jasper’s team heading to pit road with Selena, and Liz, Will, and his team heading back to the garage.