Elizabeth stormed away from her father's office the well of anger inside her bursting forth with the force of a geyser. She clenched her fists at her sides trying to control her unbridled fury. Billy's smirk taunted her and her father's ignorance enraged her. She had the greatest urge to kick something and scream at the top of her lungs but her surroundings wouldn't allow for that. So there she stood with emotions as fierce as a raging river after a storm coursing through her frame.

Running her hands through her thick chestnut mane Elizabeth let out an exasperated groan as she began to pace trying to decide if walking away or going back into the office to finish an argument that neither her father or she could win was worth it. It was obvious that he had taken Billy's word as gospel and she had a feeling that no matter what she did or didn't say to her father he already had his mind made up about had happened between them. Again she felt a stabbing pain radiate through her. Things were only good between father and daughter when things were going Pat Ryan's way. Maybe that's why he couldn't see what was right in front of him in terms of Billy – maybe because they were more alike than Elizabeth cared to admit. And if that was the case in her heart she knew she had finally truly lost her father.

As she began to calm down a bit a few more things came into focus – things like the conversation that she had overheard -- things like Jason Morgan was a NASCAR driver same as Billy Weston. But were they really the same? Why the hell had she rushed to the defense of a man she barely knew – a man who she was lucky if she had spoken more than a dozen words to? Again that feeling she couldn't shake in terms of Jason Morgan settled deep in her chest – encasing her heart if she would have let it. However a new rationale started to seep into her brain. Why had up until now had she not put two and two together when it came to who Jason – Jake Russell's almost son – really was? Shouldn't have it been obvious to her? Didn't growing up on the NASCAR circuit give her some insight into what a racer looked like? Yet even when she thought about him now, Jason Morgan hadn't appeared any different than any other family member of a patient in critical condition. There wasn't some neon sign hanging over him that shouted NASCAR driver. Even when Jake told her he knew her father and that he was involved in racing she hadn't ever once thought that Jason was any part of that life. Why? She scolded herself. Why had she assumed that? All she had done was set herself up to get hurt again.

Elizabeth jammed the thick sole of her hiking boot against the concrete wall in frustration. What the hell was she thinking? She barely even knew Jason and suddenly she was acting as though what he was or wasn't played a role in her life somehow. How would his being a driver mean that he would hurt her? The man barely acknowledged her existence other than to nod or grunt at her on occasion and there she was thinking as though they were something to one another. She closed her eyes and gathered a handful of her hair in her fist pulling it tight trying in vain to adjust her warped thoughts. The only thing that was glaringly apparent that no matter what attraction she may have felt when she looked at the good looking blonde he was a racer and she wasn't going down that road again.

Leo moved around his car trying to appear busy but he kept one eye trained on Melanie who stood there tapping her foot nervously. "Could you hand me that quarter inch socket?" he asked pointing to the pile of tools lying on the floor.

She reached down and scooped up the part he asked for. It felt cold against her sweaty palm. She walked over and placed it on the rubber mat that hung over the fender. She was afraid that if she was forced to hand it to him directly Leo would feel the slight tremor in her hand.

"Thanks," he smiled.

It was a smile that could make women swoon. It made Melanie swoon but she tried to hide that fact. She had sworn off men. All they were for her was a bunch of trouble she didn't need. But as she watched Leo working intently on his engine she felt a pang of longing. He had always been a good guy. He had helped her and Liz out of more than one scrape with no questions asked. He was what she had always been looking for in a guy but somewhere in the back of her mind once she allowed him into her life he would change – they always did. She wasn't about to take that risk.

"Do you think that Liz is ever going to give up?" she asked leaning against the passenger side of metallic green stock car.

"Give up?"

"Yeah – give up on trying to get us to hook up. Or hadn't you noticed her need to play matchmaker?"

Leo had definitely noticed. Elizabeth was none too subtle and this last attempt proved it. "When have you ever known her to give up on something she thinks is right?" Leo said all knowing.

"Never," Melanie said with and exasperated sigh.

"Well then…"

Before Leo could say anything more on the subject Elizabeth's form was a blur as she darted passed the open garage door. Leo and Melanie turned and stared at one another. Both had expected her to waltz in and check out her handy work and when she didn't it was obvious to them that something was wrong. Leo tossed the tool in his hand to the ground with a loud clatter. He wasn't sure what had gotten Elizabeth upset but he could take a wild guess and was pretty much sure it involved either Billy, her father or both of them. "Damn it!" he mumbled under his breath.

"Are you as worried about her as I am?" Melanie asked the irritation she felt at being set up long gone.

"Uh huh," Leo agreed as he wiped the grease from his hands.

He hated the distance the he saw between her and Pat. It killed him to know that Billy had been able to destroy the relationship that Elizabeth had tried so hard to build with her father. He watched her try proving herself over and over again for her father. To Leo it seemed she had jumped through hoops for the man. And when they finally had achieved a little closeness Billy and his actions had stolen it away. Part of him knew that Elizabeth had the chance to change that. She could have told her father what really happened between her and Billy. She could have told him that she found Billy in bed with another woman. Yet Leo had to wonder if it would have made any difference at all. He knew first hand what Billy Weston meant to Pat Ryan – Ryan Racing. Pat had a blind eye when it came to the talented racer. He allowed him more leeway on the track than any other driver and Leo imagined that keeping Billy happy even at the expense of his own daughter was something that Pat wasn't above doing.

"Weston really did a number on her," Melanie's voice pulled Leo from his private thoughts – thoughts that only served to make him angrier.

"Yeah he did."

"I don't know if she will ever trust another guy again. Finding him with that whore," Melanie didn't have another term that was better fitting for the tramp that hopped in and out of a different man's bed every other night. "really shook her to the core. I don't think she's really gotten over it. I'm scared she's never going to recover."

"Elizabeth is stronger than you think."

"Yeah I want to believe that but come on don't you see what I see. She's trying to be herself. She's pasting on the happy girl face but underneath it all she's dying inside. She won't talk about it. All she says is Billy cheated on her and it's over. It's not over Leo."

"I know," he conceded. He too had thought about many of the things that Melanie was saying aloud. Elizabeth wanted everyone to believe she was dealing with what happened but those that really knew her could see that was far from the truth. Yet Leo knew from personal experience the more she was pushed the more she walled herself off so for him he felt stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"I think I better go find her."

"Yeah maybe you better," he agreed as he watched Melanie head out in search of Elizabeth.

"Hello."

"Pat, it's Jake. We need to talk."

The sound of Jake's voice threw him. "Hey man, how are you feeling?" he asked unsure what the nature of this call was all about.

"Better – well not really."

"I thought your recovery was coming along nicely?" Pat had been able to get a few tidbits of information from the hospital but mostly what he knew came from the rumors circling around the track.

"It's taking too damn long."

"Well what do you expect you had by pass surgery for god sakes," Pat said stating the obvious.

"I don't have time to be laid up for months. More importantly Jason doesn't have time for it. I need you to do me a favor. I need you to take Jason onto your team," Jake said cutting to the chase.

Pat almost choked at the thought. Billy Weston and Jason Morgan on the same team – had Jake had a brain injury too? "What? You are kidding right?"

"Hardly. Jason's worked too hard this season to miss out on the remainder of it just because I am laid up. He's a great driver Pat. He's a winner and I can't just let him forget that. I know it's a lot to ask of you but hell it'd be a win win situation for you. You'd get one more driver with the ability to put Ryan Racing one step closer to a Winston Cup. Isn't that what you are looking for?"

"I'm not sure Jason would be right for my organization," Pat fumbled looking for the right words. "He's not accustomed to a true team setting. Hell Jake he's your only driver. He might not understand how a team is supposed to work."

"That hasn't stopped you from letting Weston continue racing," Jake said pointedly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It just means that you already know how to deal with a maverick," Jake said even though he knew that term didn't even remotely apply to Jason but he used it just the same to make his point. "what's one more – especially one that can add wins to your tally sheet? Jason has what it takes to be a great racer – just like you. And why should that be put on hold just because I am out of the game? He'd be an asset Pat."

Pat sat back and listened while Jake Russell continued to extol Jason Morgan's virtues. He thought about Elizabeth and how she saw him. It was apparent that she felt he was a greedy man always looking for the next win for his team. That he wasn't above playing just out of bounds if that meant getting what he wanted. That he hadn't been much of a father to her over the years. Suddenly he wondered if perhaps she wasn't right. Looking back over his life it was hard not to miss all the things he had done that served no real purpose other than to further his own career and now that of his race team. The man's voice on the other end of the line was a testament to that fact. Pat had tired to ruin Jake all because he had chosen a different path – a path that was a odds with the one Pat thought he should be on.

He had gone to the hospital days before hoping to find a way back to the friendship that the two had lost – that he had thrown away. Maybe just maybe this was that chance and if it proved something to Elizabeth too about the kind of man he was that was all the better.

"So what do you say Pat? Will you take Jason?" Jake was anxious for his answer since even if he got the one he was looking for he knew he would have a hell of a time convincing Jason that joining Ryan Racing was the best thing for him.

"How long do you think you will be laid up?" Pat asked.

"A couple months. I would like to be back before the season ends. I just don't know if that will happen or not."

Pat heard himself telling Jake Russell yes all the while wondering what hell he had just gotten himself into.