Invisible Strings

Chapter Thirty-One

"Wait!" I said, stopping in my tracks. "We still need to get tickets."

"Chase has tickets–"

"Already got it covered," said Brantley, cutting Amanda off, slipping his phone back into his pocket. "Did them online." he added when I looked at him with confusion written on my face.

"And the tickets that Chase has for you?" I asked, knowing that he usually gives them to some fan so that they get the experience of their life.

"I'll take care of it." said Amanda, already dragging her phone from her pocket. "I have the number of one of the managers at the ticket window. I'll just tell her to pick a fan of Chase's and give them to them and to make sure that they add a little in credits for the vendors for souvenirs and that I'll settle up with them after the race."

"You act like you've done this a few times." I said, looking over at Amanda as she typed rapidly at her phone.

"A few." she said with a wink.

The conversation between all of us kind of died down then, each of us not really talking about much. In fact, only the kids were chatting amongst themselves as they walked in front of us.

We were just about to Chase's hauler when Chloe and Colton both yelled "Daddy!" and took off at a run. Ahead of us, I saw Alex walking with William and his woman, heading in our direction. I couldn't help the groan that slipped past my lips as I laid eyes on Alex, the fight from earlier in the week at my parents still fresh. But any anger I felt over that slipped away when I felt a protective arm slip around my waist from behind. I went willingly, settling into Brantley's hold.

I groaned again–or maybe it was Brantley, or Amanda, or Layla this time– when Alex slipped his phone into his pocket and knelt down, spreading his arms wide open just in time for Chloe and Colton to jump into them. There was what I knew to be a fake smile on his face and I;d be lying if I said that it didn't piss me off. There was no reason that he should be wearing a fake smile when it came to his kids. A genuine smile should absolutely come naturally. But that was Alex, always putting on a show for everyone around him to make him look like the perfect dad, the guy that put family before his job. If they only knew...

Amanda and Layla hung back when I went to greet Alex. But Brnatley didn't. He just laced his fingers with mine and together, we closed the distance between Alex and us. Our hands were still entwined when we stopped a few feet in front of Alex, William, his woman, and the kids.

"Hey Del," said Alex. There was a coldness in his tone when he greeted Brantley.

"Hey." I said, simply.

"This is Dillon," said Alex, draping an arm over his woman's shoulder.

In that way that women have, I gave her a once over. I'd seen photos of her all over social media so I'd know who she was when I saw her. But putting a name and not a screen-name to her face was something different. Dressed in denim cut-offs, a William Byron t-shirt that was knotted just below her bazooka sized breasts, and converses with her long blonde hair loosely curls and hanging down her back, I couldn't help but smile as it dawned on me who she reminded me of –the woman from Talladega Nights, that was married to Ricky; the only difference was, the character in the movie had a much smaller chest.

We all stood there chatting for a few minutes when Alex shifted back into work mode when his phone pinged from his pocket. I watched as he scanned it before turning to William.

"We've got to head to the garage. Drivers are getting ready to start lining up for qualifying." said Alex.

"Mama, can we go with Daddy?" asked Chloe.

Before I could respond, Alex chimed in. "Not right now, Bird." he said, adding fake regret to his voice. "I'm going to be busy with Willie for a little bit but how about I pick you two up after Willie get done with his laps and I tie up any work I have to get done?"

"Okay," said Chloe and Colton with sadness in their tones.

We said our goodbyes then, Alex, William, and Dillon making their way to the garages while we finished our trek to the haulers. As we walked, I noticed the droop in the kids' shoulders, both of them obviously upset over not being able to spend every moment with them.

"Hey, I bet Uncle Chase has some snickers ice cream on the bus. How about we fix you two up with some ice cream cones and then we head over to his pit box and watch qualifying." I said, looking at Amanda as I spoke. She gave me a nod, telling me that Chase had in fact stocked the bus with the kids favorite ice cream, just for them.

"Okay." they both said.

"Can we have some, daddy?" asked Barrett.

"You absolutely can." said Amanda, not waiting for Brantley to answer.

"And then, when y'all all have your cones, we can head over to Chase's pit box and watch qualifying." said Layla. "Or we could go to Ryans." she added as an afterthought. I knew why she added that part, knew it was because Chase and William's pit boxes would be close together since they were teammates and she didn't want the kids to see that Alex could have spent time with them if he had truly wanted to.

"Let's go to Uncle Chase's," said Colton. "I need to tell him all about Chase."

"And I need to tell him about Fudge." Chloe added, a big smile spreading across her face.

"And we need to tell him about Pudge and Princess." said Barrett, referring to the two puppies they had named against Brantley's wishes.

"Well then, we better get that ice cream. Sounds like yall all have a bunch to tell Chase." said Amanda. "And I'm sure Gannon and Maisie are about to drive him crazy asking where y'all are."