She also knew that people often stopped talking whenever she entered a room.
Rachel crouched beside her wheelchair.
"Honey," she whispered, "why would you say something like that?"
Ellie looked confused.
"Because I want to ride on a motorcycle."
"I know, sweetheart."
"And that's a real Harley, right?"
Rachel glanced toward the enormous black machine.
"Yes."
Ellie's face brightened.
"Then maybe I could ride it just once."
Rachel tried to answer, but the words wouldn't come.
Ten feet away, the biker had heard every syllable.
His name was Cole Brennan, although almost everyone in the Blue Ridge Riders motorcycle club called him Doc. At forty-five years old, he stood six feet two inches tall, with broad shoulders, thick tattooed arms, a shaved head, and a salt-and-pepper beard that made him appear older than he was. His weathered black leather vest carried the club's insignia, and a pair of heavy black boots made his footsteps sound louder than those of the people around him.
Some parents instinctively drew their children a little closer when they noticed him.
Doc was used to that.
He had spent enough years riding motorcycles to know that his appearance often introduced him before his personality had a chance. People saw the tattoos, the scar near his eyebrow, and the powerful build before they saw the man who spent his weekends repairing motorcycles for veterans and raising money for families facing medical expenses.
But he didn't care what the other parents thought of him that afternoon.
He was watching Ellie.
The little girl's question had reached something inside him that had remained painfully quiet for eight years.
Eight years earlier, Doc had buried his own daughter.
Her name was Sophie.
She had been eight years old.
And there had once been a promise involving a motorcycle that he had never been able to keep.
Doc stepped away from his Harley.
The people closest to him moved aside without being asked. Rachel looked up as the enormous biker approached, and Mark Forrester, Ellie's father, immediately shifted closer to his wife and daughter.
Doc noticed the protective movement.
He stopped several feet away.
"Would it be all right if I said hello?" he asked.
Rachel blinked, surprised by the gentleness of his voice.
"Of course."
Doc lowered himself onto one knee in front of Ellie's wheelchair.