Racing to Love: Eli's Honor

by Amy Gregory

  Dallas smiled down at Alex. “Can you go super-fast?”

  “Yep,” she answered without hesitation.

  “She isn’t kidding you, Dallas. The girl can ride. Even though she’s young, my baby here is a racer, aren’t you, sugar?” James held out his hand to Alex.

  She nodded but never left Dallas’s side. James glanced at Eli with raised eyebrows and a knowing grin.

  “All right, son. Let’s see what you got.” James patted the boy on the back for encouragement, and then leaned in close. “Put these older boys here to shame. Show them what a real racer can do.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Eli and Dallas both understood that James was talking about the other students who had been cleared off the track. Dallas and Honor were the only ones who didn’t know that James Noland didn’t take off work to watch just anybody. He was on the tail end of a big project, working the last several weekends through, but he wasn’t about to miss this, and Eli understood why.

  Dallas put on his helmet, snapped the neck brace in place, and put on his gloves, pressing down against his wrists securing the Velcro of each one.

  As he was putting on his goggles, Honor quietly whispered the words, “Love you, buddy.” Only to be repeated by the other girl standing at his side.

  Honor looked at Dallas then at Eli, her cheeks stained, her face dumbfounded. Eli winked and shrugged. He had no idea what to say. It didn’t seem to faze Dallas one bit. When Alex leaned into his side and hugged him, he patted her back in return.

  It wasn’t until Honor put her hand out to Alex and pulled her back so Dallas could straddle the bike were they able to break the little girl’s connection. Eli threw a backward glance toward Carter, his cocky sucks to be you smirk was answered by Carter’s middle finger. Molly smacked at Carter, making Eli laugh out loud.

  They had known from the moment she was born that there was going to come a day when they’d all take a back seat to a boy. However, they hadn’t thought for one wild minute that it would have come so soon.

  Eli turned back around in time for Honor to steal his heart.

  Automatically sucking in a deep breath, he watched wide-eyed as she bent down to scoop up the little girl that had her arms held up to her. Holding Alex in one arm, Honor leaned in with a last minute word for her son. The action was so true, so practiced, so easy to have a child on her hip…so breathtaking for the man watching.

  His pulse pounded in his ears.

  Once again, Eli looked behind him at Molly. She gave him a knowing wink and held up her forefinger.

  He read the words, She’s the one, very clearly on her lips.

  Molly had been right once before. Eli had been present when she’d stated those three words to another man—and she had been right. Without even a flicker of doubt then, and Eli didn’t see it in her face this time, either.

  Eli’s eyes darted between Jesse and Emery. Molly’s words played repeatedly in his mind before he glanced at her then settled on Honor. It was the sweet smile slowly dancing across her face that warmed his heart. The smile revealed her nerves for her son along with her pride. She was completely oblivious to the conversation that he and Molly just shared. With her eyes still on his, she hugged Alex tighter.

  He had known something was different about his reaction to her. He’d known it while standing on her porch a week ago and when he had first clasped her hand in his. He knew it when he saw her come off the plane, and when his green-eyed monster chased away that other man.

  The fact that his feelings for Honor were so obvious to Molly shook his soul.

  Before, he’d been infatuated—drawn to her without knowing why and attracted to her. Now, he needed her.

  He needed her to feel the same way and that scared the hell out of him.

  For the second time in his life, he was out of control. Control that he grasped for with both fists. The last time he’d lost control, he’d almost lost his life. This time if he lost his heart, he knew it would be so much worse. Last time he’d gone flying off his bike, but this time he was falling. Last time he’d landed in a hospital bed. This time he would be on his knees.

  As Dallas kicked the bike, it roared to life under him. Honor backed up and watched her son take off on the slow laps that Eli had instructed him to take. Then she smiled at him once again and Eli’s heart swelled. She had no idea of the effect she was having on him. She had no idea she now held his heart in her hand under her control.

  The corner of his mouth turned up, in what he knew looked like a lopsided grin, a goofy schoolboy smile for the girl who was the answer to all of life’s problems, questions, loneliness, needs, wants and moments.

  It was Honor. The answer to it all was Honor.

  All he had to do was climb a mountain and scale the walls she’d built. There was no doubt in his mind it had been her late husband who had supplied the mortar.

  Eli leaned against the fence that surrounded the track, his foot resting on the lower of the two rungs, his eyes never leaving the boy. Dallas did exactly as Eli had instructed. As he sped up each lap, the whispers around Eli grew louder and more excited. Then, with everyone standing around the fence waiting, Dallas let it all go. Taking control of the track and jumping the double as if it were child’s play. He floated across the dirt making the sport look effortless.

  Turning to catch Honor’s attention, Eli grinned. She watched her son with a narrowed eye. She knew what the boy could do. He could tell she knew what would be pushing it too far and that was exactly what she was looking for.

  With Alex still in her arms, she allowed Eli to scoot closer and place his arm lightly on her back.

  James leaned in and said, “I have to say, I’m impressed.”

  Pride swept through Eli’s heart. James was tough to impress. Both of his own kids, Brody and Molly, had been on top, so it took a great deal to excite him. “Thanks, James. He’s also a great kid.”

  James leaned forward, looking around him at the boy’s mother, “Honor, who taught him to ride like that?”

  “His uncle, but he wasn’t a racer. He’s always ridden motorcycles, but not dirt bikes really,” she answered, giving James the briefest of polite eye contact before fixating back on her son.

  “You’re kidding me? He’s a natural. Truly amazing.”

  “Thanks, James.” She grinned, then turned serious, saying, “Thank you for giving us this opportunity, it means the world to us.”

  “No thanks necessary, hon. I’m glad to do whatever we can for him. He’s special, I can see that from a mile away. You do whatever you can to keep that boy on a bike and he’ll make it to the top. I’d bet my money on it.”

  Eli watched Honor blink a couple of times, the disbelief written across her face was quickly replaced by uncertainty. “Thank you, sir. I will.”

  “His bike can do that triple. You think he’ll attempt it?” James asked.

  Knowing the question was meant for either him or Honor to answer, Eli turned to her unsure. There was a large double on his own track back in Tennessee, but they hadn’t added a triple yet. The last time around this track, Dallas hadn’t attempted it. Eli saw him space it out and could see the boy’s head looking at it, taking it in, and calculating when he would roll over the steep mounds of dirt. With his hand on her back, Eli felt Honor take a deep breath.

  She gave a subtle nod. “Yeah.”

  Eli’s eyes went wider. “You think he’s ready for that?”

  He frowned at Honor. He had no problem walking out on the track and telling Dallas not to try it. The last thing he wanted was for Dallas to get hurt because he felt he was expected to conquer the entire track on the first day. Although Dallas’s track had been great and very technical for a youth, the academy track had been modified for when Carter, Jesse, and he raced pro. They’d left the bigger jumps to challenge the older riders who were ready.

  Honor’s shoulder jerked, tipping her head toward it, nonchalantly as if there wasn’t any concern or risk involved at all. “I know
he is. I’ve seen him do it.”

  That answer sent a buzz along the fence line amongst those involved with the school. Their eyes all trained for a few long seconds as Dallas neared the jump. Eli listened to the bike, waiting to hear the shift that would tell him if the boy was going for it or not.

  The sound might have been unnoticed by the average spectator. To Eli, it was deafening.

  Dallas hit the throttle and sailed over the jump, landing perfectly on the other side without a bit of hesitation.

  Eli grabbed Honor, and by connection, Alex and pulled them to his side as a round of celebration roared along the fence. Honor was smiling brightly, but she didn’t seem as overly excited by the jump as the rest were. Her words came back to Eli—she had seen him do it. His attention went back to Dallas. The boy hadn’t missed a beat. He was still riding—no fist pump in the air and no outward excitement of his own. They both acted as if this was everyday skill, something that ordinary riders did all the time.

  They did.

  Not at eleven years old. James was right—Dallas was special.

  The fact that the boy and his mother both played it so cool was just another thing Eli fell for. He leaned into her, whispering for her ears only, “You’ve done an incredible job with him, Honor.”

  She quickly turned into him, her face close to his. Eli held still. He could see by the warmth in her eyes that his simple compliment struck a chord with her. Eli held her gaze as she took him in, almost as if she was gauging his sincerity. Finally, her mouth turned up.

  “Thank you, Eli.” Her words were barely louder than her breath.

  Keeping the eye contact, Eli ran his palm up her back in a slow sweeping stroke, when he connected with the tiny hand fisted in her hair, he startled, putting a few inches back between them. Honor hugged Alex to her and grinned before returning her attention back to the track and her son riding on it.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Dallas was on the verge of getting sleepy, but looking up at the clock on the nightstand, he shook his head. At eleven years old, it would be embarrassing to go to bed just after eight o’clock. He wasn’t a little kid anymore. But he worked so hard during the day it was all he could do to flip through the magazine in his lap without falling asleep. Sitting on the plush carpet of the bedroom where he was staying, leaning against the bed with his head tipped back against the mattress, his eyes closed on their own accord.

  He hadn’t heard any footsteps from upstairs in a while and figured his mom had gone to her room to read or something else boring. Forcing his eyes back open, Dallas blinked to gain focus once again and spied the hated beat-up blue backpack that was still zipped and in the same spot in which he’d dropped it three nights ago when he first arrived here at Eli’s house.

  Ugh.

  Dallas stuck his tongue out at it and rolled his eyes. God, he hated school, hated everything about it. He understood why he had to go. It was after all—the law. That didn’t make it any easier. Math was easy when it was something his uncle was teaching him. He’d just point out what they were doing on the bike and explain why they were changing something. As Dallas would crouch down and watch, Mac would tell him how to figure out the changes mathematically in his head, whether it was suspension, or oil and gas combinations. It made sense as soon as he was shown. Dallas knew how to figure out where to hit a jump, and the speed he needed to round a ninety-degree corner. He knew how to use the mile markers on the highway to know exactly where he was, but the magazine laying across his legs, was a puzzle. Not all of it. It was motocross—he had a fair amount of its contents memorized. The logos and ads he’d seen before, or stats that were listed for the riders, those things he knew by heart. However, if he came across something he didn’t already know, it took several minutes of staring at the words for things to make sense.

  “Hey, son.”

  “Oh my God—” Dallas said breathing hard as he turned to the doorway where Eli stood, “you scared me to death.”

  Putting his finger against his lips, Eli grinned. “Shh. Your mom is off to bed. She doesn’t know I’m down here. I was going to see if you’re up to a challenge?”

  Eli was smirking like a big kid, and Dallas found it hard not to smile. He was up to something, but whatever it was, he knew if Eli was in charge he couldn’t get in trouble with his mom. Eli was an adult after all. Tipping his head, Dallas raised his eyebrow. “What kind of challenge?”

  “Xbox, buddy!”

  Dallas’s eyes went wide with Eli’s excitement. He wanted to, he’d looked at the covers of the games all neatly lining the bookcase on the side of the giant flat-screen, but that was as far as his curiosity took him. He’d seen the game system and another one too, both set up, their controllers all out and ready. But he hadn’t dared to touch them—he didn’t know how they worked, and he sure didn’t want to break Eli’s stuff.

  Pulling the magazine from his lap, Dallas pushed himself up off the floor and, with his lip between his teeth, nodded at Eli. “Okay.”

  “I don’t want to keep you up late or get you in trouble with your mom. I don’t know what your bedtime is supposed to be, but I just got this new game and I know you’re going to love it,” Eli said proudly, holding the game out to Dallas. “Go ahead and unwrap it, I’ll get the TV turned on. Have you played that one before?”

  Looking at the box in his hand with the brightly colored dirt bike whipping across the paper, Dallas was half embarrassed because he’d knew he have to admit he’d never played any video games before. They couldn’t afford them, and he didn’t go to other people’s houses that could. He wasn’t ever invited, and even if he had been—he would have rather spent his time on his track at home than with the kids from school.

  “Um…nope,” he said as he finally got the plastic wrap off. With the system on, he handed the case back to Eli, his eyes glued, taking in every step as Eli pulled the disk out, careful only touching the edges like Dallas had seen done with DVDs. He placed it gently on the tray, and it suddenly was swallowed up by the Xbox. Then the vivid digital motocross game came to life.

  “Who do you want to be?” Eli asked, walking toward the couch with two controllers.

  Motocross riders started to come across the screen. With a quick glance at Eli’s fingers, it looked like he was thumbing through the options. Dallas’s palms started getting sweaty and his heart started beating faster. His mom would know to slow down and let him look at the letters longer, and although the graphics were almost as clear as a real picture, it still took him a minute to decipher what the screen displayed.

  “As you earn points or something, I guess you’re supposed to be able to unlock other things like more riders and bikes and stuff,” Eli said flipping through the bike options. “Score, I’m snagging this bike, and let’s change the pipe, and, oh let’s go back to there—and sweet, new plastic.”

  Dallas sat quietly, soaking in every word Eli said, trying to put it with the screens that were flashing one right after another. From the side, he could see his idol’s thumbs moving rapidly, all the while pushing knobs and colorful buttons with a constant running commentary. He was excited to be included, and the game looked fun, but Dallas’s stomach lurched.

  “Okay, son. Let’s get you a bike and rider. What do you think?”

  Picking the first bike that Eli flipped to made that decision easy, leaving the customization to just a couple of changes based on logos he knew well, he moved on to the rider. Letting out a breath, he scanned down the list of names he was familiar with.

  “Wil,”—Eli nudged him, his grin spreading wider—“a fan, huh?”

  Dallas’s smile tipped. “Yeah.”

  Eli wiggled his eyebrows. “All right—let’s do this!”

  Eli picked the track, and just when Dallas thought he was safe, a screen popped up with a picture of the controller. All the buttons were labeled…and a few he was able to pick out the right words, but more than a couple looked confusing. He didn’t dare ask what the words meant. Eli wou
ld know then. That was a risk Dallas wasn’t willing to take, looking stupid—in front of Eli—wasn’t going to happen. And Dallas would go to any length to keep it that way. Gritting his teeth, he waited for Eli to make the first move.

  A familiar sight popped up on the screen, and Dallas breathed a deep sigh of relief as the countdown started, and their bikes lined up at a virtual gate. Fumbling with the controller Dallas quickly figured out how to proceed forward, how to corner, and how to pass Eli’s rider. Eli laughed and elbowed him, making his finger slip from the knob, sending his rider off the track.

  “Hey!” Dallas chuckled. “Cheater.”

  “Says the dude who ran off the track.”

  “Oh yeah?” Dallas pushed the buttons and knobs, gaining speed and catching back up with his digital opponent. “Take that,” he said, crashing into Eli’s bike and rider, but also bumping against him on the couch as his whole body moved the direction he was trying to make his rider go on the screen.

  “Oh, you’re going down, son.” Eli laughed louder and louder with each passing taunt.

  Dallas forgot all about the stress of Eli seeing him struggle to read. He became swept away, playing a game that lived out his greatest passion. Minutes turned into an hour, the two getting louder and louder with each lap, each race, and each victory.

  “Hey—dude, you just did a whip. How’d you make it do that?”

  Dallas chuckled. “That’s for me to know and you to find out.”

  “You think…oh, was that a fence you just hit, Mr. Smarty-pants?” Eli teased back.

  Hearing the beeping, revving, and way-too-loud laughter coming from downstairs, Honor let out a sigh, shaking her head. They’d been in Eli’s house for three days and already she was going to have to get on her son to keep it down and not bother their gracious host. Leaving her book open, she flipped it upside down to keep her place. All ready for bed, she padded barefoot to her bedroom door in just an old t-shirt and a pair of cutoff sweats she’d turned into shorts years before.

  Eli’s bedroom light was off, but as much noise as Dallas was making, she knew he wouldn’t still be asleep for long. Silently cursing, she quickly made her way down the hall, through his massive kitchen and living room to the framed opening, slipping down the carpeted stairs that led down to wide-open finished basement. Eli had been right. It was a teenager’s dream hangout. Now she wished he didn’t have so many tempting things down there, and Eli probably was too—since she was quite sure that her son was keeping him awake.