Meanwhile, Mason, in typical Mason fashion, had decided this only proved him right as far as my motives for hooking up with a nice farmer's daughter like Mina Lipinski.
He was wrong.
As usual.
For this reason, along with others, I'd been handing all of the personal appearances on my own, letting my brothers off the hook while Mina and I packed our weekends with festivals across the region. Most of them were right here in Michigan – by design, not by chance.
During the week, I'd been spending the usual amount of time at the office – and occasionally on some distant construction site for the TV show. But on the weekends, I'd been traveling from festival to festival with a girl I couldn’t get enough of.
I was having more fun than I'd had in years – real fun, the kind that didn't make me feel like a shitbag when I woke the next day. Of course it didn't hurt that I was waking up with Mina in my arms, nestled against me like she'd belonged there from the beginning.
Until tonight, Mina had seemed to be having a blast – pun intended. But for the past hour, she'd been quiet – too quiet – even as the drivers performed some of her favorite maneuvers.
I knew which ones were her favorite, because this was our fifth demolition derby, and she was a riot when it came to cheering for the cars she liked.
Not tonight.
Tonight, she was still cheering, but it seemed more out of politeness than excitement, which made me wonder what was up.
I wanted to know, but we were surrounded by cameras and crowds, so for her sake, I waited until there were only four cars remaining before leaning close to whisper, "You feeling alright?"
"Sure," she said. "Why?"
"Call it a hunch." I gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "So, you wanna tell me what's up?"
With obvious reluctance, she turned to face me. In a low voice, she said, "Alright, the truth is, I ran into somebody in the restroom."
I tensed. So, someone was bothering her? If so, I didn't like it. "Who?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe a friend of Angelique's?"
Shit.
I eyed Mina with renewed concern. "Why didn't you say something?"
She glanced toward the field just in time to see a red Chevy beater back into a black Ford sedan with enough force to crumple the Ford's front end. A burst of steam erupted from the Ford's engine, and the crowd went wild as the Ford kept on going, crumpled hood and all.
With a faint smile, Mina turned back to me and said, "I didn't want to ruin your fun."
"Screw fun," I said. "Are you okay?"
Mina nodded. "Yeah, she was just, I dunno, kind of rude, I guess. But it wasn't a big deal."
I studied her face. Her words said one thing, but the worry in her eyes said another.
"So, the person bothering you," I said, "what'd she look like?"
"Wait, how do you know it was a she?"
Mina was smart. If she were thinking straight, she'd know how, which told me that she was more bothered than she was letting on.
I replied, "Because if it were a guy bothering you in the restroom, I wouldn't be here."
With a sheepish grin, she said, "Oh. Yeah, I guess I see what you mean." And then she paused. "But wait. Where would you be?"
"Where else?" I smiled. "Down there beating his ass." I might've been smiling, but that didn't mean I was joking. As for Mina, she could take it anyway she wanted.
"Oh, stop it," she laughed. "You would not."
"Wanna bet?"
She studied my face for a long moment before saying, "On second thought, I think I'd better pass."
"Listen," I said, "if anything like that happens again, you tell me, alright?"
She looked back to the field. The Ford's engine was still steaming when it rammed an old white Chrysler, knocking the Chrysler into the Chevy. The Chevy reversed course and rammed the Chrysler in retaliation even as steam from the Ford's engine rolled over the battered cars like a lingering fog.
Mina looked back to me and said, "It looks like a zombie apocalypse, doesn't it?"
"Sure," I said, "if zombies can drive."
"I don't mean the zombies would be driving," she said. "I'm just saying, it looks like the end of the world, you know?"
I knew what she meant. But I also knew what she was doing. "Back to the person bothering you," I said. "If that happens again, I don't care what you think you're interrupting, you tell me right away, alright?"
"Sure, but why?"
I gave her a serious look. "Because nothing's more important than you."
At this, her eyes softened in the way they did sometimes. "But that's not true," she said. "I mean, the campaign is the reason we're here, right?"
Wrong.
Sure, that was the official reason, but it wasn't the most important. Not anymore
I told her, "I don't care why we're here. I'm not gonna let anyone hassle you."
She smiled. "Oh, yeah? What about you?"
I loved her smile. In fact, I loved it so much that I didn't turn toward the field, even when a loud crash was followed by the sounds of cheering.
I kept my gaze on Mina. "What about me?"
She was still smiling. "You hassle me all the time."
She was right. I loved teasing her, but that wasn't the same, and she knew it. With a shameless grin, I replied, "Hey, it's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it."
She laughed. "Oh, so now I'm a dirty job, huh?"
For a nice girl, she could be surprisingly dirty, but in all the right ways. I didn't mean just sex. Even what we were doing now – watching a demolition derby – it was one of the many reasons I loved spending time with her.
Here we were, sitting in the front row, where billows of dust flew from the dirt-covered field. But Mina wasn't going all squeamish. In fact, she'd been the one to suggest
