"Hey Jimmie. C'mon in. I'll get Mia for you." I heard Ryan say from the front door as I had just come down the stairs. I wiped my palms nervously on my jeans and took a couple of deep breaths. Once I made up my mind to call Jimmie, I knew we needed to talk face to face. There was no reason to put it off. Therefore he agreed to come to Ryan's house this morning.

"I'm here." I said, stepping into the room. Jimmie was dressed casually in a pair of well worn jeans, a black sweatshirt and black running shoes. He had always been handsome and now the touches of grey peppering his hair and the stubble on his face gave him a distinguished look.

"I have to head to the shop for a last minute meeting with the team before we head out. I'll be a couple of hours. Do you need anything while I'm out?" Ryan asked, and I knew he was deliberately trying to give Jimmie and me some privacy, although I was sure he was headed to the Penske shop anyway. Even Chase and Erin had made themselves scarce when I told them last night that Jimmie was coming here this morning.

"No. I don't think so." I replied.

"Alright. I'm outta here then. Call me if you need anything." He leaned in for a quick goodbye kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too." I couldn't help but smile. Hearing those words would never get old. I also couldn't help but notice Jimmie smile. I know he's always been fond of and friends with Ryan.

Ryan left, and now it was just Jimmie and me. For the life of me, I could not figure out why I was so nervous. It's Jimmie.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" I offered. Although I really just needed something to do with my hands.

"Water would be fine." He replied.

I went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water and a Body Armor for myself.

We both went into the living room, taking a seat on the couch where I spun that bottle around in my hands. For several moments we sat in silence, quiet enough that I could hear our respective breathing. The air felt so heavy it was almost stifling. Why is this so hard? What do I even say?

I finally worked up the nerve to look up at him and was just barely able to contain my gasp. Wow. This is incredible. It was almost like looking in a mirror, yet not really. It's something I can't even describe. A feeling I can't even put a name to. Familiarity maybe? Of course he's familiar to me.  I've known him my entire life but it really was an eye opening experience because the eyes looking back at me were a reflection of my own.

"I have your eyes." I said awestruck. How am I just noticing this now?

"You sure do." He flashed me a warm smile. "You are still the spitting image of your mother, but it's nice to see I passed on at least one trait to one of my daughters."

He called me his daughter. My heart might just explode at any moment.

He had given me an opening, and now I was full of questions.

"Did you love her? My mother." I asked.

His eyes dulled a slight bit and he looked pensive in his thoughts. I could see a flash of sadness in the brown depths of his eyes and I felt even more drawn to those eyes that were so much like mine. I had been told my eyes hide nothing. I may say one thing but my eyes tell a whole other story. His eyes held a deep and profound sense of loss.

"I loved her very much, but not like...that. Not in a romantic way. Your mother was one of my dearest friends. She is the one that got me here. Our relationship was a lot like you and Chase's. Not a day goes by that I don't miss her. Almost twenty years and it still cuts like a knife." He said sadly, but then his expression changed and he smiled, his eyes once again sparkling. "She would be so proud of you Mia. Beautiful, smart, talented and sassy. So much like her."

I couldn't help but feel sad myself. I had missed out on so much. "I just wish I had more time with her and my da...Thomas."

"I know you do honey. We all do. But I want you to remember that Tommy was still your dad. You may not have shared the same blood, but man he loved you. Both of them did. You were the apple of their eyes." Now his eyes held that gentle softness that I was so familiar with.

"What was he like? I have such hazy memories of both of them." I asked eagerly.

"Tommy was a good guy...a great guy. He was a good friend, a good husband and a good father. I saw the excerpts of the journal from that article, and I know that Tommy knew he wasn't your father, but he loved you so much and it was so abundantly clear to everyone who knew him."

We were just barely getting started and I was already getting emotional. "Thank you for telling me that. I guess I just really needed to know."

"Of course honey. I know you probably have a lot of questions. Ask me anything and I will do my best to answer them." He gave me a friendly, patient smile.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to compose my thoughts. I didn't want this to come out the wrong way. "If you had known that I was your daughter, would you have helped raise me, share custody. Would you have taken me in after they died?" I asked, getting the hardest question I had out of the way.

The flash of sadness was back in his eyes, but they were also filled with so much softness. "Nothing in the world would have kept me away from you. I told Ryan last night that I've always felt a bond with you. This magnetic pull that I always thought was just due to my relationship with your mother. Maybe that was the universe's way of telling me something. There was a part of me that was devastated to learn that you were not mine, but there was a paternity test that said otherwise, so I didn't question it. Maybe I should have. I know you are a grown woman now and nothing can make up for the years we lost, years where I could have been your dad, but I would like to be a dad to you now. Chani and I both want you in our family and in our lives if you are open to it. I know it's really soon to bring that up, but I want you to know that our door as well as our hearts are always open to you."

My eyes were burning and my vision blurred, and I felt the tear slide down my cheek. I should have known there was no way I would cry today. "That's all I've ever wanted...a family. A mom, a dad, siblings. I know we can't get the past back but we have the present and the future to be a family."

"Maybe that journal getting released ended up being a blessing after all. I wish the circumstances of how everything came about had been different, mainly for your sake, but if I had to find a positive in all of this, it's that I was able to find out you were my daughter." He said with another soft smile. Guilt shot through me, and my tears fell more steadily.

"It's my fault the journal got out there." I admitted.

"How is it your fault? You weren't the one who leaked it right? He asked, his tone a little less warm then it had been.

I shook my head adamantly. "No, but I found it a couple of days ago. I went to confront my grandfather with it and I let it out of my possession for half a day. I don't know what happened to it during that time. I was going to tell you, I was trying to figure out how and before I got the chance, it was plastered all over the media. I never should have let it out of my sight." I sobbed into my hands, so sure that I had just ruined everything.

A comforting arm draped over my shoulder, pulling me against solid warmth until I was in a secure hug. "Don't cry honey. None of this is your fault. I'm sure you were reeling from the news."

I nodded, snuggling against...my dad. Jimmie was my dad. A man I had always adored, who had always treated me with the utmost kindness was my dad. "You always gave the best hugs." I smiled through my tears.

"That must have been incredibly difficult, confronting your grandfather with the news. How did he react?" Jimmie asked.

"He didn't deny it." I snorted. "He made a bunch of different excuses. He covered it up for your sake. He did it for my mom and me. Just lie after lie. He didn't seem the least bit sorry. Well, sorry that he got caught anyway. He acted upset that I told him I quit but I honestly think it's because he could no longer control me."

"You really quit? Left that whole life behind you?" He had a look of both awe and surprise.

"I had to. It was probably the easiest decision I've ever made in my life because now I can't even look at him, much less work side by side with him, especially knowing what I know now. I said.

"What are you going to do now?" Jimmie asked me, a curious look on his face.

I shrugged. "I don't have a clue. I haven't even thought that far ahead. Maybe I'll enter into my WAG era." I said jokingly.

"WAG huh?" He chuckled.

It actually wasn't the worst idea I thought to myself. "It'll give me the opportunity to support Ryan as much as he's supported me, although in a different way. At least until I figure things out. If I can find the right fit, I may consider going to another team. Although that could be tricky with my relationship with Ryan. You think Roger Penske would hire me? I asked only half joking.

"He would be lucky to have you, but I guess you have to ask yourself, would you ever consider going back to Hendrick? Maybe once Rick retires?" Jimmie actually had a good thought but in my current mindset, I would not even consider it.

"I don't think I can. Everything about that place just feels tarnished to me. Suddenly my eyes are wide open now and there are just too many things that aren't what they seem. Things that I have been blind to. Secrets and shady dealings. Not just by my grandfather...I don't trust Jeff. Even if I were in charge, I can't fire him because my grandfather gave him a stake in the company and there is no way he would sell it. It gives him too much power." I shook my head to further convince him that it was out of the question.

He looked pensive again. "But it's your legacy. By birthright and as something you've worked your whole life for. Are you absolutely sure you can walk away from it?"

"I don't want it. It's lost its luster for me." I stated with absolute surety.

"In that case, I have a proposition for you." Jimmie said, piquing my interest.

"What kind of proposition?" I asked eagerly.

"Well, if you can keep this between us...okay, you can tell Ryan. I don't want to make you keep secrets from your boyfriend." He chuckled. "Anyway I am starting a team. It's in the works and we should be good to go at Daytona next year. How would you like to help me run it?"

My heart soared, only to immediately sink. I felt at war between elation and apprehension. "Jimmie, I appreciate it, but I don't need you to give me a something to do out of pity."

"Pity?" He snorted. "Mia, how many times have I told you that you are brilliant? Any team would be beyond blessed to have someone with your knowledge and talents."

"And everyone will say "her daddy bought her a race team to make up for not knowing he was her daddy. Some bullshit like that?"

"And since when do you care what people think? I want you in this with me not just because you are my daughter, but because you are the best person for the job. Look at how well you handled running HMS. That was four teams. You did that in addition to your regular job. Would you at least think about it?" He pleaded his case.

It only took me a moment to give him my decision. "I'll do it on one condition. You let me buy in. Don't just hand it over to me. We will be equal partners. I would be more than happy to show you my portfolio. You will see that I have the money to buy in. Between my inheritance, my investments, my salary..."

"Mia...I am well aware of your net worth." He chuckled. "It surpasses mine. If that's what you want, then I'll take it."

"So what's the plan? Do we have a shop? Cars? Charters? Probably not drivers and employees yet since it's all hush hush." I grinned. This was going to be so much fun.

"I'm working on all of that. It's not public knowledge yet, so I will need you to be discreet in this, but I have been in talks with Tony Stewart and Gene Haas. After this season, SHR will be shutting down. Tony has given me first option to purchase the buildings, charters and possibly the cars if we wanted to stay with Ford. I'm looking to get two charters and I have agreed to keep on as many employees as I can. I'm not sure about the manufacturer...I've never dealt with Ford before. We do have that option though. This is something I've wanted to do since I retired from full time competition, and I could think of nothing I'd love more than to do this with my daughter."

There was that warm and fuzzy feeling I got everytime he called me his daughter. I couldn't contain my smile. "I love the idea of building something new from the ground up. A brand new legacy."

"Well, I was calling it a team, but legacy works. Even though you, Evie and Lydia are mmy legacy." His words nearly caused my heart to swell from my chest.

Let's build this thing