“No, not yet.” Tamara headed toward the table of bagels and Danishes furnished by corporate sponsors and winced as her high heels pinched her feet. “I was hoping someone would turn my purse in.”
“Shoot, I doubt it. They probably stole all your cash and cards and pitched the rest in the trash.”
Beth was probably right, but somehow it didn’t make her feel any better to hear it out loud.
“I can’t call until I go home and find all the right numbers. What a mess. I never should have set it down at the cocktail party.” Beth had followed her to the buffet, and looking over the food, Tamara suddenly realized how hungry she was. She piled two pastries and a bagel on her plate, along with a healthy helping of fruit.
“You lost it at the party? Well, I bet the staff stole it then. You’ll never see it again.”
At the moment she could truly care less. “I only had about forty dollars in it, and it was just an evening clutch, so I didn’t even have my wallet in it, just my license and one credit card, so it’s not that big of a deal. I’ll just have to be more careful from now on.” She stabbed a piece of melon and ate it to occupy her mouth, figuring the less she said about the night before, the better off she was.
“Are you losing weight, Tammy?” Beth was looking at her curiously.
“No, why?”
“Your clothes don’t fit right. They’re really loose.”
Oh, Lord. How did she wiggle out of this one?
“And where’s your friend, Geoffrey?”
Hopefully somewhere far away from the track, washing his ugly sweater.
“Things didn’t work out and Geoffrey went home.” Tamara rammed a strawberry into her mouth.
Beth’s eyebrow rose. “Oh, that’s a shame. Are you okay?”
“Oh, I’m absolutely fine.” About Geoffrey, anyway. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Elec. “I’m the one who called things off. We only had a few dates, and I just realized that I’m really not attracted to him.”
“He did sound kind of boring,” Beth confessed. “But I know it hasn’t been easy for you being all on your own. You know Johnny and I want you to be happy . . . We’d like to see you find a nice guy at some point.”
Chalk it up to lack of sleep, but Tamara suddenly felt tears in her eyes. Her in-laws were good people. “Thanks, Beth. I appreciate that, and everything you both have done to help me with the kids. With my parents being in Seattle, I don’t know how I would have managed without you.” Her voice trembled.
Beth, who was a notorious crier, only needed that much encouragement from Tamara to choke up herself. “Well, shoot, you know we’d do anything for you.”
They were hugging over the plate of melon and both swiping at their eyes when Tamara heard her father-in-law’s voice next to her.
“What are you two getting all worked up for? We brought enough hot dogs for everyone.”
Tamara turned and saw Johnny standing there with her kids. Petey was halfway through his hot dog, his mouth stuffed to capacity, and her daughter Hunter was clutching a hubcap in front of her Ryder Jefferson T-shirt.
“Hey, guys!” Tamara tried to hug her kids, which was only mildly tolerated by both of them, and turned to Johnny. “We were just having a girl moment.”
“Glad I missed it.” Johnny was what Tamara had always assumed her husband would grow into—an attractive older man with salt-and-pepper hair and a wicked smile. “But I did pick this up for you. They were calling your name over the speaker to come to the lost and found.” He held up her overnight bag. “Can’t imagine where you left this but someone was nice enough to turn it in.”
That someone had to be Geoffrey, and Tamara wasn’t sure how nice it was to dump her bag at the racetrack lost and found, but she wasn’t going to question it. At least she had her bag back with her clothes and a good moisturizer. “Oh, thanks!” She set her plate down on the table and unzipped the bag. It was too much to hope for but maybe her purse was in it.
It was. She yanked out the hot pink clutch and gave a sigh of relief. Cell phone, credit card, driver’s license, all intact.
“Is that the purse you lost?” Beth asked.
“Yes, thank goodness.”
“I wonder who turned it in?”
“I guess Geoffrey did.”
“Why wouldn’t he just bring it to you?” Beth asked. “What a wimp.”
Exactly.
“Hey, Mom, did you see what I got?” Hunter asked, pushing in front of her grandfather for center stage.
“It looks like a hubcap. Very cool! Where did you get that?” Tamara tried to inject the proper enthusiasm into her voice, knowing Hunter was excited with her souvenir. Her daughter, an undeniable tomboy, was rolling her Heelie sneakers back and forth and grinning for all she was worth, her ponytail bouncing under her Ty McCordle ball cap.
Hunter was devoted to both her favorite drivers, Pete’s best friends.
“Uncle Ty gave it to me. He said it’s nice and dirty because it came off his car yesterday.”
“Wonderful.” A closer glance showed it was filthy, and the grime had transferred to Hunter’s fingers and her T-shirt. “You can put it in a place of honor with your tire collection.” Hunter’s room looked like a track garage, with worn-out tires, engine parts, and peeled-off plastic windshields, track dirt and bugs still intact. There wasn’t a doll in sight in the girl’s bedroom, except for the Barbie that Tamara had found wearing a racing jacket, and Hunter’s bedding was a black checkered flag.
Saying her daughter was a racing enthusiast was an understatement, and while Tamara wanted to encourage her interest, and appreciated that Hunter’s godfather Ty was involved in her life, she wished their relationship involved less race refuse. Her seven-year-old daughter’s room smelled like rubber.
“Can we sit in the grandstands?” Hunter asked. “Do we have tickets?”
“I’m not sure where we’re sitting, baby.” Pete’s parents had made the arrangements, and all Tamara wanted to do frankly was to just sit down and stare into space and reflect on the fact that she had engaged in enthusiastic sex with a driver. Eek. She was still having a little trouble processing that fact, even if she was barely an hour out from having his tongue in a certain place on her body that very few man had been allowed access to.
“We’re in the suite this time, baby girl, but we can walk around a bit if you want,” Johnny said. “We’ll go after we watch the race, alright? You going to join us, Petey?”