Wedding bells were ringing on the latest episode of Racing Wives — sadly, Amber’s racing dreams continue to register as relative silence.
Though Whitney and Mariel continued to drift apart because of their diverting social lives across the Charlotte, North Carolina social scene, Mariel had to temporarily put the fallout on the back burner at the start of Episode 5, as she and her husband-to-be were only six months away from their wedding day. Mariel, who was married (PUNS!) to the idea of a forest theme, hadn’t yet found her perfect venue — and while she loved the idea of using the same winery that Whitney and Austin used at their wedding, she wasn’t ready to pick up the phone and call her former BFF.
“This is by far the longest [Whitney and I have] ever gone without talking,” Mariel said. “This whole wedding planning process I feel would be so much more fun and so much less stressful if I had her with me. I just need her here. She just gets it.”
Still, Whitney was tired of the cold war, decided enough was enough and, with the help of her husband Kyle, arranged a dinner with Mariel and Paul.
Whitney admitted she was nervous to finally come face to face with Mariel again, and though things got off to a bit of an awkward start, Whitney and Mariel seemed to finally confront their issues and get back on the same page (the red wine likely helped!). Whitney said she never intended to hurt Mariel’s feelings by posing in Sam’s photo shoot (Mariel had perceived this as a slight since she and Sam didn’t get along), while Mariel conceded that, yes, Whitney did need to keep up appearances with the other racing wives, and that she shouldn’t have taken Whitney’s expanding social circle as a sign their BFF-ship was at risk.
In a particularly heartening conclusion, the ladies agreed that Mariel should, indeed, get married at the winery in question, and with the confirmation, it seemed like Whitney and Mariel were officially attached at the hip once more.
Meanwhile, across country lines, Amber returned home to Winnipeg, Canada to take a break from the fast life in North Carolina, where she was struggling to find sponsors and make good on her vow to make Sam and KBM proud. Amber explained that her dad had been a professional race car driver for 35 years, and that while racing should have connected them, it was actually an obstacle in their relationship. Amber said she struggled to get her dad’s approval.
“I’ve constantly had to prove how committed I am to this sport,” she said. “Moving to Charlotte I thought would help him to see how serious I am about this…I just haven’t felt that yet.”
Finally, though, Amber and her dad seemed to mend fences while racing together on their old favorite dirt track, and with a single subsequent heart-to-heart, their relationship was suddenly bounding in the right direction.
“Racing doesn’t make me proud; you being a good person and being nice to people and having people respect you — that makes me proud,” her dad said in a teary moment.
And while Amber sorted through issues at home, Sam continued to try to expand her family tree. She said she was angling to conceive and have a second child, and though her first pregnancy was incredibly difficult, she couldn’t stand the thought of not having a little girl.
Sam expanded on her troubles during a trip to her hometown, Chicago, with Ashley and her best pal Trisha. Sam confessed to Trisha that her recent trip to the doctor was “not great,” and that it was seeming less and less likely that her body could handle the stress of carrying another child.
“The odds are stacking up against us, and it’s nothing that I’m prepared to face,” Sam admitted.
And the doubts didn’t end there. While Sam continued to hype up Amber-the-racer, Ashley was skeptical, and worried that Sam had invested too much hope in her protege. Though Amber had previously been named Rookie of the Year, and routinely won races, Ashley pointed out that no one in North Carolina had seen her race, and worried that Amber’s winning reputation may have been overblown.
“To be honest, I don’t think I would be pushing somebody so hard…if I hadn’t seen them race in person,” Ashley said. “If [Sam] wanted perfection, she’d pick someone who’s already a proven professional.”
Sam said she wanted Ashley’s support but…sadly, she didn’t get it. Will a sisterly rift evolve, and can Amber prove Ashley wrong? Tune in to the next Racing Wives episode to find out!
