“No.” “The forks aren’t either.” “Daniel said the point wasn’t to restore the crash.” Michael looked at Noah. “The point was to rebuild what came after it.” Noah moved toward the fuel tank. Painted on the side was a small white outline. A man with a backward baseball cap. Behind him— a child. Noah gasped. “It’s my picture.” Emily shook her head. “No. You drew yours today.” Noah stared. The drawing on the blue motorcycle was nearly identical. Uneven beard. Backward cap. Blue wristband
Child behind him. Hammer looked at Emily. “How?” Michael’s eyes filled with tears. “Daniel drew it.” Noah turned. “My dad?” Michael nodded. “From memory.” “What memory?” Michael looked at the boy. “You.” Noah frowned. Michael reached into a drawer and removed a folded piece of paper. It was a child’s drawing. Crayon. Wrinkled. Old. Emily recognized Noah’s handwriting immediately
At the top were four words. ME AND DAD RIDING. Noah stared. “I made that.” “You were five,” Emily whispered. She remembered. Daniel had taped the picture to his toolbox in their garage. Later it disappeared. Emily assumed he had thrown it away. Michael handed it to Noah. “Your dad carried this in his wallet.” Noah’s eyes filled. Michael pointed toward the motorcycle. “He copied your drawing.” Noah touched the painted child. “What was the ride?” Michael smiled. “Daniel wanted you to ride something he built.” Emily shook her head.
“Noah is eight.” Michael nodded. “Not now.” He opened a cabinet. Inside was another box of envelopes. “One day.” Emily looked at him. “Daniel planned all this?” Michael nodded. “He knew he probably wouldn’t be here when Noah was old enough.” Hammer turned away. His shoulders shook once. Noah noticed. The enormous biker wiped his eyes quickly. Michael continued. “Daniel’s final plan was simple. When Noah was old enough, Hammer would teach him how to ride safely.” Hammer spun around. “What?”
Michael almost laughed. “That part surprises you?” “Yes.” “Daniel chose you.” Hammer shook his head. “He shouldn’t have.” “He absolutely should have.” Hammer looked at the motorcycle. “I nearly got him killed.” Michael stepped closer. “And you spent twenty-three years punishing yourself.” Hammer said nothing. Michael pointed at Noah. “Daniel didn’t want Noah taught by someone who thought motorcycles made people invincible.” Hammer slowly looked at him. “He wanted someone who knew exactly what one careless mistake could cost.” Silence settled over the room. Emily looked at Daniel’s painted drawing.
“So that’s the promise.” Michael nodded. “Part of it.” Emily almost laughed. “There’s more?” Michael’s face became unreadable. “One last thing.” He walked toward a desk. On it sat a laptop. He opened it. “There’s a video.” Emily stopped breathing. “When?” “Daniel recorded it two weeks before he died.” Noah stepped forward. “For me?” Michael nodded. “And for all of us.” He pressed play.
Daniel appeared on the screen. Emily immediately began crying. He was sitting in his hospital bed. Thin. Pale. But smiling. His backward baseball cap rested on his head. “Hey, troublemakers.” Hammer made a broken sound that was almost laughter. Daniel looked directly into the camera. “If this worked, Noah probably drew on Hammer’s bike.” Hammer stared. “What the—” Michael laughed through tears. On-screen Daniel grinned. “Ray, if you’re angry, remember that you once painted flames on my mother’s Buick.” Hammer muttered, “That was different.” Emily laughed unexpectedly. It hurt.
But it felt good. Daniel’s expression softened. “Noah, buddy, I’m sorry.” The boy stepped closer to the laptop. “I wanted to give you one memory that wasn’t about hospitals.” Daniel swallowed. “I wanted you to remember us riding.” Noah touched the edge of the screen. Daniel continued. “You were too young to understand why I couldn’t take you farther that day.” His voice weakened. “But you put your hands on those handlebars and made engine noises so loud that a security guard threatened to throw us out.” Noah smiled through tears. Hammer chuckled. Daniel looked down for a moment. Then back at the camera. “I asked Ray to keep the Harley because that motorcycle was where my life went wrong.” Hammer’s smile disappeared.
Chapter 10