Chapter 124 Sing Your Heart Out, Sis
Finding a good spot to view the national anthem wasn’t a problem because Andrea was allowed to stand next to Case on pit road. She’d cheered from afar during driver’s introductions so that she didn’t have to worry about the crowds or potentially running into Sarah. Now, as she stood next to him, her heart thumping in her chest, she saw her enemy a few rows over, standing next to Stewart Antony, a big smile on her face, like she knew something no one else knew.
Case had mentioned seeing her spying on him earlier, and it made Andrea so angry, she wished she could go give Sarah a piece of her mind. But that would be stupid, especially with so many cameras on them. He had assured her that someone had had their eyes on the car at all times, but Sarah was sneaky, and she didn’t trust her as far as she could throw her.
“We’ll do another check of everything before I drive off,” he assured her, kissing her on the head, and Andrea nodded, just as a hush fell over the crowd.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please rise and remove your hats for the singing of the national anthem from up and coming recording artist, Leslie Testa!” The announcer said her name as if Andrea’s little sister was already a famous singer, and she’d never been so proud of anyone in her whole life. She could just picture Grandpa Jack at home, sitting in his recliner, beaming with pride as his youngest granddaughter took the stage.
At the sound of her name, Leslie reached forward to grab the microphone, and Charlie, who was quite a ways back from where Andrea was standing, started whooping and whistling. She turned to look at him, and the grin on his face said it all.
Leslie took a deep breath and started to sing. It was the most beautiful interpretation of the famous song Andrea had ever heard. By the time she reached the part about the rockets and bombs, everyone had tears in their eyes. A group of fighter jets flew overhead, and everyone cheered to see them, but it was nothing compared to the round of applause Leslie got upon singing the final line of the song, “the home of the brave!”
The cheering continued as her beautiful little sister waved to the crowd and backed away, coming down off of the stage. With tears in her eyes, Andrea turned to Case.
He wasn’t crying. He had his game-face on. “It’s time to go win the Daytona 500,” he said.
She nodded, her face straightening up as well. “I know you can do this.”
Like most of the drivers and their families who stood with them, the team circled around, and Brad led them in a prayer, asking for safety, good decisions, and if it was God’s will, a victory today. Then, Case kissed Andrea, long and hard, despite the cameras all around them, and prepared to climb into the car.
“We’ve got a problem,” one of the crew members said, running over to Case and Brad.
“What is it?” Brad demanded.
“Someone tampered with the water hose inside the car. Case won’t be able to get any cool air through his helmet until we can fix it. If we do it now, it’ll take too long.”
Andrea knew how the cooling system worked. The cold water circulated through the helmet to give the driver a little bit of air conditioning around his head. While it didn’t make too big of a difference in the middle of February, it could mean the difference between being comfortable and passing out in the summer months. These cars didn’t have any other form of air conditioning.
“We’ll worry about it later,” Case said, clearly annoyed but not letting it bother him. How Sarah had managed to pull that off was a huge question. It also made Andrea wonder if she’d sabotaged anything else.
Case was in the car now, buckled in and ready to put on his helmet. He caught Andrea’s eyes and she mouthed, “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” he called back. He put his helmet on, clicked the steering wheel into place, and Andrea backed away, praying he would be safe—and win.
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