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 would 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.
Making her way to the landing though, she stilled. Two voices. Leaning against the wall, yet unseen from the two on the couch, and although she couldn’t see them either, it was Eli’s distinct laugh and teasing that caused her hand to clutch at her heart.
Dallas squealed and threatened him back, and she had to let go of the railing to cover her mouth to keep her laughter from escaping. For a long moment, she stood unnoticed, listening to their game. Their laughter, the teasing, and banter flowed so easily between them. Slowly, she lowered herself to sit on the plush step, not wanting to stop their fun, but not wanting to miss it either by going back to her room.
Eli’s
dude
and
buddy
that he kept calling Dallas were one thing, never referring to him by name, but more often than not…Eli called him
son
. Hearing the two together, Honor swallowed hard, half-smiling.
Half-panicking.
****
As
Dallas cleared the triple again, he saw Eli pull his fist in close to his side. From previous experience, Dallas knew the
yes
yelled in combination with the celebratory move could be heard across the track, even if at the moment his bike was drowning out Eli’s voice. He liked making Eli proud. Dallas liked pleasing everyone at the academy, but there was a deeper level to the gratification when it came to the man he’d worshiped for years—long before they met in person.
Crossing the finish line on his final designated practice lap, he downshifted, coasting slowly toward Jesse and Carter, standing by the coolers the school had set out for the students.
“As always, great job today, Dallas.” Jesse said, putting his hand out to offer a high-five.
Shifting into neutral,
Dallas shut the bike off. Still straddling the hot engine, he lifted his goggles, waiting to hear any new pointers. “Thank you, sir.”
Carter clasped his shoulder with one hand and helped hold the bike steady with the other. “You know we’ve told you that you can call us by name?” he teased.
“Sorry”—Dallas blushed underneath his helmet—“it’s habit.”
“Well, in any case, we couldn’t be more proud of you. Go on over to the shop and take your bike to Emery. Eli’s limping this way, I bet he’s ready to get home for the night.”
“Okay. Thanks, sir…um…Carter,” he replied, lowering his voice. Hanging his goggles from his handle bars, he started the bike up. The engine never failed to fire with the first kick, unlike his bike back home.
After a quick
thank you
to Emery, he started the trek toward Eli’s Razor, grinning as he saw Eli already seated and waiting on him. Brody was standing next to it, telling him one of his animated stories, his hands and arms waving through the air as he laughed. Dallas loved Brody’s stories. They were awesome, and he couldn’t help but laugh to himself watching his trainer from a distance.
“You just think you’re hot shit, don’t ya?”
With his helmet hanging from his arm, Dallas turned to see who was behind him. He’d felt secure on the Noland property and riding their track with the other kids. But his gut instinct had kicked in the minute he locked eyes with the old Highlend’s boy yesterday. They had arrived while he was on the track practicing, and although they hadn’t been introduced, Dallas started hearing the familiar jealous whispers he was used to back home.
Without his mother’s knowledge, his Uncle Mac had taught him a few moves to defend himself once the smack talk and taunting got out of hand a couple of times. His mother knew he was out in the shed doing sit-ups and pushups, but the rest was a secret—left man-to-man.
Deliberately keeping his voice calm so he didn’t provoke the older, taller, and probably stronger boy, Dallas raised one eyebrow. “Nope,” he replied with a feigned confidence.
“Scott, leave him be.”
“Stay out of this, Evan.”
Dallas
took one step back as Scott shoved his own brother out of the way. A head shorter than his older brother, Evan did as he was told. Dallas glanced between the two, but was careful to keep a watchful eye on Scott’s movements. Although inside he was freaking out, he remained rooted to the ground, his stance steady, just as his uncle had taught him. He also kept his mouth shut, just as Mac had instructed, but he stared the older boy in the eye, gritting his teeth, and trying to blink as little as possible. Dallas didn’t even flinch when Scott jerked forward in a total power move.
“Well, stay out of my way. Got it, asshole?”
“That’s not hard to do since you’re always behind me,” Dallas said calmly, with a narrowed eye.