While some friendships are finally in motion after stalled starts on Racing Wives, Episode 4 has proven that others have topped out, and might be reaching an eventual finish line.
After an *incredibly* awkward moment at a Pocono industry event in which Mariel rejected Whitney’s invitation to model for Samantha’s clothing line, BFFs Mariel and Whitney continued to come apart at the seams. While Whitney was intent on finding inclusion among Charlotte’s established racing wives, Mariel continued to feel slighted by the group. Tensions came to a boil at a group dinner where Mariel refused to let Whitney sit next to her.
“I don’t know what’s going on with Mariel, but we’ve had more disagreements in the past few weeks than we’ve had in our whole friendship, and I just don’t get it,” Whitney said.
Whitney, out of options and without her closest friend to lean on, sought advice from Ashley over lunch. While Ashley and Whitney didn’t necessarily get off on the right foot (who could forget that disastrous dinner?!), Ashley said she’d grown fond of Whitney, and that she hoped Mariel would eventually wise up.
“I’m sure she’ll come back around and understand where you’re coming from too,” Ashley said.
Elsewhere in town, Amber — who’d had a rough few weeks — finally got some good news. While she was devastated to learn that her football-playing boyfriend Jordan wouldn’t be moving to North Carolina as originally planned to live with her (Jordan was recruited by a team at the eleventh hour), a fortuitous phone call gave Amber the shot in the arm she desperately needed.
After a bummer of a FaceTime in which Jordan told Amber he wouldn’t be able to see her for a month, Amber’s doorbell rang, revealing — to her total shock — Jordan, in the flesh. Amber had been convinced that Jordan’s career might eventually spell the end of their relationship, but suddenly, things seemed hopeful again.
“I feel like I’m in a dream right now,” she said. “This is crazy. I don’t even know how Jordan pulled this off.”
Still, Jordan only had two days before he had to return to Canada for training camp, and, as far as Amber was concerned, the time flew by. Once again, toward the end of Jordan’s visit, she was unsure how they’d proceed, especially since Jordan only had a total of two weeks off across the coming six months.
Whitney, too, was struggling to see a future for one of her most important relationships. She remained adamant about trying to convince Mariel to appear in Sam’s Shop Murph photoshoot, but her efforts proved to be in vain, and finally, Whitney was forced to show up to Sam’s shoot alone.
Sam, who was intent on correcting her relationship with Whitney, decided not to let Mariel’s absence sully the day, though, and stepped in to appear in a handful of buddy-buddy photos with Whit, one of which implied that the two had become best friends.
And when Mariel got wind of the photos (damn, social media works fast…), she…wasn’t happy.
“This is like the icing on the cake,” Mariel lamented. Even the process of scouting potential wedding venues with her hubby-to-be, Paul, seemed tainted by the falling out.
“Whit is a part of this dream, she’s a part of this vision,” Mariel said, noticeably depressed.
In more heartwarming news, and after an exhaustive search, Sam finally landed on a couple whom she, Kyle and their Bundle of Joy charity could sponsor through the often expensive process of IVF. Sam and Kyle — who, themselves, had a son by means of IVF — started the organization years earlier to help couples with the huge expense of medical treatments.
And Sam spared no expense surprising the couple with the good news. She arranged a special get-together at the couple’s favorite brewery, and knew when she saw the warm reception that she and Bundle of Joy had made the right choice.
Sam wasn’t prepared to pinch pennies, either, when it came to Amber’s driving prospects. Now that she and Amber — who started off on the wrong foot — were finally on the same page about Amber’s future as a driver for KBM, Sam got down to business trying to secure Amber a spot in an upcoming race at Hickory Motor Speedway. The cost of a single race can be close to $100,000, and Sam said that if Amber intended to nail down the necessary funds, she had to start hitting the pavement.
Still, for now, Amber and Sam are finding more roadblocks than thruways — will they be able to get Amber on the road? Stay tuned for a new episode of Racing Wives Friday at 10/9c on CMT!
