Pat Ryan stood dumbfounded as he watched the checkered flag drop over the vivid blue metallic painted hood of Jason's car and mere seconds later saw the bright green flash of Leo's as well claiming fourth place. Finally he looked around and saw Billy's black machine smoking in the infield. How had he missed that Pat thought to himself? Had he been so intently watching Morgan that he completely blocked out Billy's performance? He shook off those thoughts as he began making his way to the winner's circle. There wasn't time to second guess himself two of his driver's had finished in the top five of this race. That was a photo op in the making.
"Did you see that?" Jake nearly shouted. "Did you see that?" he asked again turning to Alison who was sitting next to him. "Jason won! Ali he won!"
"I'm well aware of that," she returned.
"That's all you can say?" Jake pulled back and stared at her almost speechless. "You're son just won and you're not even the tiniest bit excited?"
"Can we go now?" she asked.
"What? Can we go now? You have got to be kidding right?"
"You talked to Jason and you saw him race. That's all we came here to do. It's been done. It's time to go now."
Jake stared at her astonished at how emotionless she could be. He could remember a time when she would have flown from her seat in the stands and been standing alongside Erik in seconds flat but now it was like the win – her son's win – hadn't even affected her. He wanted to understand her thinking – wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt yet his loyalty to Jason somehow wouldn't allow it. "If you think I am leaving here without going down and congratulating your son – well woman you have another thing coming." For Jake being there for all of Jason's wins was like second nature. It was unnatural to be at the track and not in the winner's circle with the young man he thought of as his own son.
Alison looked away. She knew that getting Jake to leave without being in the winner's circle was a long shot however she had to try. "Go, do what you have to do," she said throwing her hands up in defeat.
"Oh no," Jake said. "You are coming with me."
"No I am NOT!"
"The hell you aren't. Don't you think it's time you congratulate your son on his accomplishments?"
"You mean the accomplishment of staying alive?" Alison scoffed.
"Enough already," Jake sighed. "Let's go." He reached for her hand pulling her to her feet and led her down the steel spectator stands.
Elizabeth and Melanie shuffled their way through the throngs of people who appeared to be aimlessly milling around. Elizabeth grew more aggravated by the minute at the slow pace. She wished now she had just used her pit pass and they would have already been standing in the winner's circle. "Come on, come on," she shouted to the faceless populace in front of her. Reaching behind her Elizabeth grabbed Melanie by the hand and started pulling her through the crowd bulldozing a path for them.
"Easy there," Melanie said rubbing her shoulder when they finally stopped outside of the gate to pit row.
"Sorry," Elizabeth blushed not realizing how rough she actually had been. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"It's okay I know you're excited. So am I," Melanie added without thinking. Elizabeth saw the sparkle in her friend's sapphire eyes as she continued speaking. "I love it that Billy got what was coming to him – the prick!" Melanie said almost gleeful.
Elizabeth returned her friend's gloating smile. It had been wonderful watching Jason play with Billy the way he had and watching Billy's own greed be his undoing certainly had her more than just a little overjoyed – she was ecstatic. After all the time she had spent being Billy's biggest cheerleader it was a little hard to believe she was standing there relishing his defeat. In her head Elizabeth knew the circumstances now were so very different but there was still a part of her that felt off. She wondered if there would ever come a time when Billy Weston wouldn't come to play a role in her thoughts.
"Liz," Melanie nudged her as the man at the gate stood waiting for her to show her pass.
"Huh?"
"I think he needs to see that," Melanie said pulling Elizabeth's hand that held the pit pass up to the man's face.
"Go on in Ms. Ryan," the man said with a smile.
The crowd in the pits had dispersed the losers already on their way back to their perspective garages and the winners and their teams crowding the winner's circle. Tom looked across the infield to where Jason was standing on the center podium with a smile a mile wide on his face. It was odd for him to be off in the distance. On any other win he and Jake would have been crowded around Jason. But here at Ryan Racing things were a little different. Tom was just a mechanic whose job was to gather up the miscellaneous tools lying around and assist the other mechanics in pushing the winning cars back to the garage. The longer he was with Ryan Racing the more keenly aware Tom became that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
Elizabeth's steps faltered at the sight of her father with his arm draped around Jason's shoulder. It was like the pair had known one another forever rather than the few short months Jason had been part of the Ryan Racing family. It gave her an eerie sense of déjà vu watching her father cuddle up to his next big thing. That's exactly how it had begun with Billy and suddenly Elizabeth felt herself being sucked back in time to a place she vowed never to return to.
"Aren't we going to congratulate the winners?" Melanie asked when Elizabeth nearly stopped dead in her tracks.
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," she said softly regretting ever passing through the pit gate.
"Come on," Melanie took Elizabeth by the hand knowing her friend all too well almost sure that she was about to bolt any minute now.
"Mel, no!" Elizabeth said resisting the red head's effort a pulling her forward.
"What do you mean no? I thought you wanted to congratulate Leo? Didn't you just say this was the first time he's placed in the top five in a really long time?" Melanie thought by invoking Leo's name that she might stand a chance at getting Elizabeth to move toward the multitude of people surrounding both Leo and Jason. It was no secret that Elizabeth had been using Leo as her excuse for sometime now so it was easy for Melanie to continue to roll with that scenario.
"I do," Elizabeth said reluctantly.
"Then come on." Melanie again pulled at her arm. "He's right over there." She pointed out.
Elizabeth took a deep breath and shook the cobwebs of the past from her mind. "HEY YOU!" she said tapping Leo's broad shoulders. At the sound of her voice he whipped around. The smile on his face spoke volumes to Elizabeth. She was so proud of him.
"Congratulations," Melanie managed to utter as again she was held captive by Leo's million dollar smile.
"Thanks," he said turning to look at her. An odd sense of electricity pulsed through his frame when she returned his smile.
"You were great out there!" Elizabeth stated. "I loved the way you moved around the track – so sure of yourself. That's the Leo I know and love."
"I didn't think I had it in my anymore," he admitted openly.
"You always had it in you Leo," Elizabeth said resting her hand on his forearm. "Don't ever forget that. You're every bit the driver I saw the first time my dad ever brought you to the track."
"I'd say you are just a little bit biased," Leo smiled pulling her in for a bear hug.
"That very well may be but I know a great driver when I see one," Elizabeth said as her eyes came to rest on Jason Morgan.
The sea blue spots before his eyes were enough to make Jason dizzy and if he had to smile one more time for some photographer he thought his face might crack. Somehow all this attention took something away from the win for him or maybe it was just more the fact that it was Pat Ryan standing beside him rather than Jake. By now Jake too would have tired of the attention and sent the hordes of reports and their entourage packing, but not Pat he was the ultimate publicity hound ready for just one more shot.
Finally having had enough Jason excused himself leaving Pat Ryan to do what he did best – stout the wonders of Ryan Racing. That was something Jason wanted no parts of especially since he had no intentions of being there any longer than he needed to be. He looked around wondering where Jake might be. He knew that his crew chief was only supposed to be a spectator but Jason had a hard time believing that after his win Jake wouldn't have found someway to find his way to him – even if that meant ditching his mother.
Jason still couldn't believe that she had actually come with Jake – that she had sat in the stands with him and watched the race. For all Jason knew she hadn't. Alison Morgan hadn't attended a race in more than seven years and Jason didn't believe that she was about to change that now especially not for him. The bitterness he had for her welled up inside him once more. No matter how much he tried to keep it in check there were times when it was all consuming. As an adult he warred with his adolescent emotions. Emotions that he knew weren't groundless in their inception yet that weren't as paramount as he had allowed them to grow over the years. It was as though when it came to his mother he was stuck in a time warp where he was forever twenty years old not able to go back yet somehow unable to move forward either. Jason wondered if he would be perpetually rooted in a place where he both loved and hated his own mother. He shrugged off those dark thoughts not wanting to allow them to cloud his victory. He deserved to be happy and even if his mother couldn't share in that joy so be it Jason knew somewhere in the heavens his father was doing exactly that.
"Jason!" Leo's booming voice caught his attention but more readily it was the sight of Elizabeth Ryan standing beside him that compelled Jason forward to where they were standing. For as much as his brain kept telling him to steer clear of her his heart obviously had other ideas.
"Hey man, great race!" Jason said as he joined them.
"You too," Leo concurred.
"Yeah you were doing rings around them out there," Elizabeth said with a slight smile and butterflies in her stomach. There Jason stood with his blue fire suit hung low on his hips and thermal shirt hugging every chiseled muscle in his chest and all she could think about was their almost kiss from weeks ago.
"Especially Weston," Melanie piped in with the comment she knew they all were dying to say.
"You did that just for me right?" Leo laughed. "I mean you know how much I love to see you stick to ole Billy boy!" he grinned like a Cheshire cat.
"You're wish is my command," Jason joked giving Leo a royal bow. As great as it felt to one up Billy, Jake had taught Jason what comes around goes around and it was better to keep your mouth shut when it came to your fellow drivers no matter how much you might despise them.
"Morgan!" Pat Ryan's voice shot across from the other side of track. "I need you for a few more photos," he said waving his winning driver to his side.
"Ugh!" Jason let out a loud groan. "You've got to be kidding me right? I swear they've already taken a dozen rolls of film – a piece," he added for effect.
"Morgan!" Pat bellowed again taking notice of the fact that his daughter was not only at the race that day but now standing in the pits with Jason Morgan.
"You better go," Elizabeth said sympathetically. "He's not going to stop until he gets what he wants," she said from personal experience.
Jason sighed and shook his head before turning on his heel and heading back across the track. What the hell had Jake gotten him into?
Alison felt more than a little odd as she followed Jake into the pits. In so many ways it hadn't changed at all but for her it had. She tried not to let herself think about Erik's wreck. Yet if she turned her head she could almost still see the fiery remains of his car laying upside down on the track. She shuddered at the recollection.
Every detail of that day was crystalline in her mind from the way his car flipped end over end to the way his body looked on the operating table after he had been pronounced dead. Moving back to Texas with her family hadn't erased it yet the distance had allowed for it to dull ever so slightly however now being there – standing on the very track that it had taken place it was a again a reality she didn't think she could bare.
It amazed her how both Jason and Jake could be so at ease in a place that had claimed the life of a man they both loved so much. For her it was as though by their being able to do just that it defiled Erik's memory in some way – that he was somehow less important than he was. Alison closed her eyes and let out a ragged breath wanting nothing more than to be sitting on a plane heading back to Texas.
"Oh excuse me," she heard Jake say. "Elizabeth?"
"Jake!" Elizabeth smiled and instantly gave the older man a hug. "Jason said you were here for the race. It's great to see you. You look so good. How's rehab going? You remember Melanie King?"
"That I do. I never forget a pretty face," he smoozed making Melanie blush. "Rehab is going good. Not as fast I would like it to but it's going."
"I keep telling him not to push himself," Alison added from the background.
Instantly Elizabeth felt the hairs on her neck stand on end. Something about that woman never seemed to sit right with her. "I'm sure the doctors are keeping a close eye on him," she said. "And I'll be doing the same," she added not even sure why but enjoyed the ire she saw in Alison Morgan's eyes just the same. "It's great to have you back. Jason really missed you."
"He's not back," Alison stated. "We will be leaving this evening for Texas."
"Enough Ali," Jake said tossing her a stern look. "I'll be back here before any of you know it. I'm too ornery to stay down for too long."
"So I've heard," Elizabeth agreed.
"Have you seen Jason?" Jake asked.
"Yeah my dad's got him posing for every photographer this side of Charlotte," Elizabeth smiled weakly.
"Now that I believe." Jake was well aware of Pat's need for publicity and how the man could turn even something as simple as NASCAR win into a production. "Well I think it's time I go rescue the boy,"
"I'm sure he'd appreciate that."
"Good bye Elizabeth," Jake kissed her cheek. "Keep in touch," he said much to Alison's dismay.
Jake stood in the middle of the mob half smiling as he watched Pat posing Jason as if was some model rather than a racecar driver. "HEY! That ain't no pretty boy up there!"
"Jake!" Jason shouted relieved to finally see his mentor. "Excuse me," he said disentangling himself from the masses surrounding him.
"Thank you all," Pat said to those reporters and photographers standing around when Jason left him no choice but to dismiss the crowd. He looked down as his one time right hand mechanic and the young man he considered his ticket to a Winston Cup as they embraced each other. For a fleeting moment Pat felt a pang of jealousy for the closeness he saw them share. A closeness that he and Jake once shared as well. But that evaporated into a sense of almost fear again that he would surely lose Jason the minute Jake was up to returning. He couldn't permit that to happen. No matter what his reservations might be if he had to Pat wasn't above pulling out all the stops to get what he wanted.
"You gave a hell of a performance out there today," Jake said patting Jason on the back. "And you said you couldn't race without me," he jeered. "That was a crock of shit and I knew it. You don't need me!"
"The hell I don't!" Jason countered defensively. "You're the reason I won out there today."
"There's no need to stroke an old man's ego. It's all you. It's always been all about you Jason." Jason felt the pride grow inside of him. He always knew what Jake thought of his skills as a driver but on those rare occasions that he verbalized them it made Jason just beam. "You're a natural at this – just like your father. God Jason if I didn't know better there were times today I would have sworn that it was Erik out there on that track. You have his talent – his moves. Do you know how proud he would be of you right now?"
Alison stood in the background listening to Jake go on and on about the similarities between her late husband and her son. There was a part of her that was proud. As much as she now hated the sport that had taken her husband from her she knew in her heart that's how much Erik Morgan had loved it and she was certain that all Jake said was true. Erik would have been beside himself with pride over what Jason could do in a racecar yet for her all it was a sore reminder of what she had lost so she found herself again talking out of turn when she would have been better to remain silent. "You don't want to be too much like your father or we will be putting flowers on your grave too," she said almost stoic.
Both Jason and Jake turned and looked at her neither saying a word. Jason closed his eyes and shook his head. Again his mother certainly didn't disappoint him. There she was with her own special brand of sunshine. Instead of launching into a barrage of the same tired rhetoric he just hung his head and walked away from them both. He couldn't do it anymore. He couldn't fight her nor could he hang on to his need for her acceptance of him – knowing full well that he wasn't ever going to get it. He had to come to face the reality of his life. He had lost both his father and his mother the day that Erik Morgan died.
Elizabeth looked up from the conversation she had been having with a couple members of the Ryan crew just in time to see Jason heading away from where Jake and his mother were standing. The slump of his shoulders spoke volumes to her. The inner voice she tried on a regular basis to ignore when it came to Jason Morgan wouldn't be silenced. It repeated over and over that she needed to be with him right now. Against her better judgment she excused herself from the group and ran to catch up with him.
Theresa Kennedy searched the winner's circle that afternoon for none other than Jason Morgan. It was becoming more and more apparent to her that he was the next big thing on the circuit and she wasn't about to miss the opportunity to hitch herself to his star. Cautiously she looked for Billy knowing full well that he wouldn't be there but couldn't chance pissing him off just yet. She thought it was better not to have all her eggs in one basket. If she could play them both for a little while until she could suss out just who would be the ultimate winner she'd be ahead of the game – or at least she thought she would.
It wasn't Jason who she saw first but rather Elizabeth Ryan. Instantly Theresa was less than pleased to see the Ryan princess standing next to the man she had just set her sights on. Not that that mattered really Theresa was known for getting what she wanted no matter the cost.