Racing to Love: Eli's Honor Read Online Free PDF

be able to swing it by next February, if she watched every penny.
    Damn. Damn...damn it.
    She shut her eyes for a quick second to keep the tears at bay. Gritting her teeth, she felt her heart pound hard a couple of times before she opened her eyes. “I know, Mac. I appreciate it. Let me know what the parts will cost.” She replied, barely able to the keep the tremble out of her voice.
    Mac looked over his shoulder at the two younger men working behind the counter with him. “Hey, give me a second, will you? I’ll be right back.” Without waiting for their approval, he moved from behind the counter and took Honor’s hand in his, pulling her to follow him to a quiet corner of the shop.
    Standing amongst t-shirts and backpacks, Mac looked nervous. Honor’s stomach dropped, not prepared for any more bad news. Her shoulders sagged as she waited, half wanting him to spit it out, half wanting to walk out without hearing so she could pretend nothing else was wrong.
    “Honor, I, eh…ah…I.” He rubbed his bald head.
    Her anxiety level had already been ratcheted up several notches, but now it was about to shoot through the roof. He obviously didn’t know how to start the conversation, and that was never a good sign. Mac may have towered over her by a good foot, but they both knew he had nothing on her temper when she felt backed into a corner. Honor braced herself, dreading that it may end up being one of those times.
    “I, um, I made a couple of calls, Honor.”
    “Mackenzie Graham.” Her hands flew to her hips, her mouth left open at the shock of his words. Her voice carried through the bike shop much louder than she had intended, and she looked around her then locked her gaze back on Mac. “You did not.” Her voice lowered.
    “I’m sorry, sugar. I had to.”
    She wanted to be furious, but the sympathy in his eyes hit her hard. “Damn it, Mac. I can do this.”
    It was a lie, and they both knew it. Ability, knowledge, and desire had nothing to do with the equation as much as the damn answer always boiled down to money, and her lack of it.
    “No, Honor…you can’t. Not anymore. It’s killing you.” He rubbed his thumb gently across the soft skin under her eyes. “I can see the purple shadows under your eyes getting darker and darker each month. You’ve lost even more weight, weight you didn’t have to lose in the first place. And that bubbly, fun personality I loved…it’s gone. So, no. You can’t do it alone, not anymore.”
    “I’m not alone, I have you.” The admission came out as a whisper.
    Honor had been on her own for years. Her father had disappeared the minute the stick turned blue. Single and alone, her mother had raised Honor with hard love and a deep-rooted belief to never need a man. The result—her independent streak was a mile wide. Leaning on Mac was one of the most difficult things she’d ever had to do. She was closer to her brother-in-law than most blood-related siblings. Able to read his gray eyes, the nuances of his facial expressions, she could read the fear in them. She dropped her head and felt him pull her close, leaning her forehead against his strong chest, his big arms engulfing her slight frame. Honor knew that her scarcely audible answer told him more than a screaming hour-long speech could any day. She knew the fact that her temper was just a flash of what it used to be scared the hell out of him.
    Honor realized she was just a hollow shell of her former self. Brought up with a deep-seated passion never to hate another person, she had to go against her mother’s wishes…because she did. She hated Kolby. The guilt turned in her stomach. It was against some higher-level law that forbids hating the deceased, but she did. She hated what he’d done to her and what he took away from their son, Dallas.
    “Exactly. You have me. And I’m helping you the best way I know how. I made the calls.”
    She felt his palms rubbing her back. His two hands spread covered the entire