by Amy Gregory
But he did.
Pulling on all the years of rigorous training and discipline he was accustomed to, and the support of his friends and family, he healed. Proving the doctors wrong, he even made it back onto his bike just a year after the accident. He wouldn’t ever race again, but he could ride well enough to teach the future racers of the sport at the riding academy.
The academy. Their academy. Combined with his friends, the school was the main thing that kept Eli afloat that first year. Lucky for him, he had that lifeline to latch onto, otherwise he could have very easily spiraled into a deep depression like so many athletes do once their professional careers are over. Especially when it is taken away due to injury.
The coffee machine gurgled, and Eli let out a sigh. Molly’s eyes were still fixed on him, and no one had come to his rescue with even the stupidest of questions. He stirred in a little extra sugar because even the way the coffee came wasn’t quite sweet enough for him. Eli slowly licked the stir stick and threw it in the trash can beside the small counter. Turning on his heel, he finally faced her raised eyebrow. Molly didn’t say a word as he slowly lowered himself into the leather side chair in front of her desk, but the frown as he gingerly tried to find a comfortable position was unmistakable.
In the old days, before the crash, he’d chased Molly around the pits, given her piggyback rides, and ganged up with Carter and Jesse to wrestle her to the ground just to torment her. That was back before she and Carter had kids, and back when he could walk without looking like a seventy-year-old man. Back when he would have plopped his ass in the chair, tipped it back with his feet resting on her desk and crossed at the ankles while he made himself at home. He could pretend his manners were kicking in since he would turn thirty in a few weeks, but they both knew otherwise.
“So, what is the big news?” Eli blew across his coffee mug, trying to appear aloof.
“You’re hurting.”
It wasn’t a question, so he dared to take a sip of the hot coffee in his hands instead of looking up.
“Damn it, Eli. You have to go back to the doctor. I’ll take you. I know you don’t want to hear what they have to say, but I’ll be there.” Her voice was loving but desperate.
“Honey, you going with me isn’t going to change anything. It’s not that I don’t want to hear what they have to say. It’s that, this is as good as it gets. There’s nothing else they can do.”
“But Eli—“
“D, we both know in our world, every time you get on the bike it could be the last. That was my last. That wreck was the wreck. I’m lucky I can walk. I know that, I’m grateful. It’s a damn miracle I can help with the kids as much as I can. But the pain, they can’t make it any better than it is right now.” He shook his head. His voice was never edgy or frustrated, just matter-of-fact.
Eli knew where Molly was coming from, her concern was sincere and from her heart. That was one of the many things he loved about her.
He tilted his head and let the corners of his mouth turn up. “Now how many times are we going to have this same damn conversation? It’s like déjà vu, or Groundhog Day or something.”
“E, I just hate seeing you hurt. It breaks my heart.”
“Mol, trust me, I understand. Some days are just worse than others. Today is one of those days. I’m fine. Now, what did you want to see me about anyway? I’m sure you didn’t drag my ass out of my nice warm, cozy bed and make me come all the way over here to the school to lecture me.” He winked.
The grin and wink were twofold. She would know he loved her, and she would realize the conversation was once again over. At least until her next attempt.
She lowered her head and let out a defeated sigh. After a long pause, she raised her head, ran her fingers through her side-sweeping bangs, and rested her head in her palm. The smile she gave him was one of understanding, but he knew she still held out hope.
“So, you gonna keep me in suspense? What was so important you couldn’t let a guy sleep in a little?” He raised his eyebrow, but the smile spread wider.
He knew she felt bad for waking him after she saw him in pain, so he was going to rub it in, just a little. As he opened his mouth to speak again, the squeal stopped him. He turned as the little blur came running straight for him, arms out and giggling the entire way.
“Uncle E, Uncle E.”
“There’s my girl, how are you, baby?” As Eli set his coffee mug on Molly’s desk and turned with his arms outstretched, he grimaced, but continued to twist toward the little girl.
Molly stopped her before the little pixie could put her arms all the way up. “Alexandra Noland Sterling.” Her voice was calm but sharp. Carter’s little replica froze in her spot several inches away from Eli’s chair. “Don’t climb on Uncle E, sweetie. His back hurts today.”
“Oh, D, it’s fine. She doesn’t weigh twenty-five pounds. She’s a little bitty nothing of a three-year-old.” Eli grabbed for Alex and let her scramble up onto his lap. “And you’re my heart, aren’t you, sugar?”
The little blue-eyed angel grinned big, her sandy blonde, waist-length curls falling down around her. She started to laugh with his tickling.
“I’m almost four, Uncle E. I tell you and tell you, you never ‘member.” Her little head tilted with her mother’s genetic sass, and then she giggled again.
Eli bit his cheek to keep from laughing. “I know you are, baby girl. You and your brother are getting so big on me. I’m going to have to go out and find some bricks to stick on your heads to stop you.”
Alex rolled her eyes, a trait she had inadvertently learned from her Aunt Emery.
Molly shook her head and closed her eyes, resting her forehead in her palms in defeat as Eli grinned.
Alexandra Sterling was going to be their challenge. The old proverb “It takes a village,” definitely rang true—it was going to take them all. She was absolutely beautiful, and her china doll face won over every heart she met. She and her twin brother, Jackson, were sweet children, kind and funny. They had taken over the academy and everything else on the Noland property the moment they were born.
She and Jack wandered around the shop, school, and track as if they owned the place. They did, but they were only three and didn’t realize that yet. They spent their days talking to teenagers and adults, treated like equals. They were never dismissed with a pat to the head. At almost four, they were more knowledgeable about bikes and racing than some adults Eli had encountered. He snickered proudly at the truth.
Alex was a petite little girl. That, combined with her long curls and big blue eyes, made it impossible for anyone to say no to her. While Jack was quiet, Alex was bubbly and full of spunk. Where Jack’s penetrating, light blue eyes were always taking in everything around him, Alex’s deeper blues sparkled with a hint of mischief. Their list of differences went on and on, their looks and personalities completely their own, but they were bonded tighter than any two siblings Eli had ever known.
A twin thing—fraternal, but definitely twins. Jack looked like his mother, but had the quiet steadiness of his father. Alex looked like her father, but possessed her mother’s spitfire determination and attitude. A combination they had all sat around the shop, track, or table discussing many times, along with the need to buy a lock for her door once she was a teenager.
A nice, big, strong one with no key.
“Hey Alex, where’s brother, honey?” Molly asked smiling.
“Jack’s with Grandma.”
“Up at the house?”
“Yep.” Her eyes went wide as Eli’s pointer finger made circles, threatening to tickle her again.
“Why don’t you go see if Grandma has some cookies or something? Tell her your Uncle E didn’t eat breakfast.”
“’Kay, Mommy.” Alex wrapped her tiny arms around Eli and laid her head against the hard plane of his chest. “Be right back, Uncle E. I promise.”
He rested his cheek on top of her head as he rubbed her back. “You know me and my sweets, don’t you, baby
Alex? You better hurry. I don’t want Uncle Jesse to steal ’em all from me. He and Aunt Emery will probably be up here soon. And tell Grandma that it was Mommy’s fault I didn’t get breakfast.”
“Um, Grandma’s gonna be mean at you, Mommy,” Alex snickered. “You don’t mess with her kids.”
Molly and Eli both lost control of the laughter they were trying desperately to contain. Karen’s statement, repeated by the three-year-old, was just too much for them to hide their amusement and something they’d come to regret later when she continued to repeat it for fun.
Alex wiggled down out of Eli’s lap, scooting out of the shop, and skipped up the stone path to the back patio of the main house. Her curls bounced behind her in the morning breeze, and the gold in them glinted in the sun as she happily sang what Eli thought was supposed to be a current pop song from the radio. The three-year-old version, with missing and made-up words. The farther away she got, the harder it was to hear and decipher.
“You know that little girl adores you, right?” Molly asked, her voice full of love.
Eli beamed watching Alex disappear through the French doors of the house. “Yeah. I love those kids like they’re my own.”
Molly tilted her head. “You also know they’re spoiled rotten, and you’re partly to blame, right?”
“Yep!”
“You sound downright proud of that fact, Elijah Tate Hunter.” Molly raised an eyebrow, feigning anger.
“Damn.” Eli started laughing. “Pulling out my full name and the mom voice. Geez, D.”
“What can I say? It works on you all.” Molly shrugged her shoulder then snickered, the smug smirk dancing across her face.
“Oh you think, huh?” Eli winked. “And you wonder where Alex gets it from.” He shook his head, chuckling.
“Oh, no…I know. That’s what scares the hell out of me. She acts just like her grandpa.”
“Her grandpa? What the hell are you smoking? Look in the mirror, baby—that’s where she gets it from.” Eli drank the last bit of his coffee and set the empty mug on Molly’s desk.
Leaning forward, his cocky smirk challenged Molly to argue what they both knew was the truth as he used her desk top as a set of drums, the three taps cueing the end of his joke. When her cheeks flushed and she rolled her eyes, he sat back in his chair in victory.
“So, before my dolly comes back. Really…what was so important you had to talk to me in person?”
Molly’s blush faded, the joking was done and the mood somber. “Well.” She bit her lip hesitantly, an outward sign to him that she was nervous. “I’ve got a possible scholarship, kiddo.”
Eli’s brow scrunched, questioning her statement. “Okay…? I thought that when the possibility of granting a scholarship came up we were going to decide those on a case-by-case basis, and we would have those discussions at our Friday meetings, so we would all be there. Why wouldn’t you wait?”
“Well, they asked specifically about you.”
Eli tried to read her big blue eyes and her hopeful face. Picking up her pen, she fiddled with it for a moment then let it drop. Clasping her fingers together, she rested her chin on her hands, the pain obvious in her knitted brow. It was as if she was almost praying he’d understand.
“They?”
“Yeah. An uncle.”
“What…?” Eli raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah. He didn’t elaborate a whole lot. He mentioned he works for their local bike shop. And he talked a little bit about his nephew. I guess you’re sort of his…idol.”
“Me? Seriously? I’m no one’s idol, honey,” Eli said with a slight shake of his head and a curled lip at the compliment.
“E, I love that about you, you’re so down-to-earth. But I know for a fact, you guys all hold rock-star status. You, Carter and Jesse—you guys changed the face of motocross. You really did. I’ve checked into this kid’s record. He’s a champ in the making, Eli. He just has no means to get to the top. We all know how crippling the costs can be. If we can make a difference in the life of this boy, I think we owe it to him and to our sport to try.”
Eli studied the depth of her blue eyes, the longing so easily seen, but there was still more. “So why not wait two days and discuss this with everyone else?”
“I don’t know. I just have a feeling about this one. I want to help this kid.” Her voice was growing more and more timid but still held a passionate and almost desperate hint beneath the surface.
Eli pulled in a breath. “What do Mom and Dad do for a living? Is he old enough to send up here by himself?”
“Dad died two years ago. According to the uncle, Mom has been working herself into an early grave, doing her best to try to keep her son racing.” Molly bit her lip again.
Now they were getting somewhere. “Name?”
Eli ran his palm over his closely shaven head and shut his eyes for a moment.
It shouldn’t matter, but somehow once he had a name, from that point on it was personal. Eli knew if they got to the point of meeting face-to-face, it was over. He couldn’t ever turn a kid down once he met him, unless the kid was a completely ungrateful, selfish ass, or if the parent was too forceful and demanding of their child. But if he were a good kid, who was a hard worker, and determined to do his best, then the child would be accepted, arms wide open.
“Graham.” Molly answered, her voice quiet.
It had been barely whispered, as if it physically hurt her to let him know who it was, that it hurt to know exactly who it was that needed their help. Eli stared at her, his eyes narrowed, his brow tightened from shock. “Dallas Graham?”
“Yes.” Molly nodded. “Mom’s name is Honor. The uncle I spoke with is Mac.”
“He’s about, what, twelve?”
“Eleven.”
“Well, at least now I know why you called me before Friday.” The corner of Eli’s mouth started to turn up.
“Yeah. I knew you’ve been watching him the last couple of years. I’m not sure what all is going on, but from the sounds of it they’re barely hanging on to his racing. The cost is eating her alive. The uncle can see his talent, so he’s grasping at every straw available to give him a chance.”
Eli raised an eyebrow. “The uncle?”
“Yeah...”
He stared at the black framed posters Molly had hanging on the wall behind her. She had four, one for each of the riders in her life. She had even made Carter, Brody, Jesse, and him all autograph them for her. Eli blew out a breath. The uncle? That sounded a little off to him. Why wouldn’t the mom be the one to call, unless the uncle was like his trainer or something? He let it go and turned back to Molly, understanding the need in her eyes. Her big blue eyes and kind heart had been his downfall on many occasions, as with all the other men in her life, especially her father. But now he knew, he understood the pain she was trying to hide.
“I want him, Eli. I want to help this one.”
“You’re always going to have a soft spot for the underdog, huh, D?” He smiled warmly, completely sympathetic to her position.
“I was the underdog, Eli. I know what it’s like.” She stated firmly, the worry visible in the deepened lines across her forehead and knitted brow.
“I know, hon.”
“It’s not that I don’t love all the kids that come through the academy. It’s just…I—“
“I know,” Eli interrupted her. “I get it. And we do a damn good job weeding out the cocky little shits. We’re not some glorified babysitting service. The kids that get accepted are all good kids. They try hard, they listen, and they get along with each other. But every now and then there’s a special one, isn’t there?” His smile was genuine.
“I knew you’d understand, E.”
Eli laced his fingers together and stretched his arms out in front of him, popping several knuckles. He caught Molly’s saddened gaze. They hadn’t had a scholarship kid yet, and it was going to be hard. Wanting to offer him or her more than the paying kids, wanting to make his or her life as easy as
the other kids whose families spent the thousands it cost to send their children to the academy and never blinked an eye when they wrote out the check. They were good kids, great racers. Some would even make it past amateurs for a shot in the pros.
But every once in a while, there was that one. The special one. The rider who made it look effortless, made it appear magical as he floated over the track. The golden child that no one could touch, that no one could beat. The one that won everything.
“You were that one, Mol. You know that, right?”
Molly lowered her eyes and picked imaginary pieces of lint off her sweater.
“You’re the most humble person I know, D. But yeah, you were the best female racer out there. And had they put you up against the men, you would’ve probably whipped all our asses, too. No one has ever come close to breaking your records. To be quite honest, I don’t think they ever will.”
Her fire came back. “But I wouldn’t have made it to the top without my parents. If they hadn’t taken me in. If they hadn’t saved my life. I—”
Eli stopped her. “I know, baby”—he nodded, the sympathetic smile tipped the corner of his mouth, but he couldn’t force a full grin—“I know.”
He knew exactly what would have happened. And none of them would be where they were today. The day the Nolands rescued Molly set up a domino effect. One that put Eli in the chair he was sitting in at that very moment. Grateful for the end-results, but not wanting to bring up the past, Eli forced an exhale and changed the subject. “Get me their number. After our meeting Friday, I’ll fly out and meet them.”
Molly’s face lit up. The sadness that always came with the reminder of her childhood days was wiped away with his reassurance. “Really?”
“D, when have I ever told you no?” Eli shook his head with a shit-eating grin on his face, making a conscious effort to steer their conversation away from the darkness it had turned toward. “As far as I can remember it’s never happened.”
“You won’t let me help you with your back,” She smarted back immediately, with no hesitation. The gleam in her eye signified she was ready for another round concerning that subject.
