Page 17 of Shifting Gears

“Sorry about them,” Dani mutters, unlocking her own truck and seemingly dropping what she was about to say before the interruption. “They rip through here all the time. I keep telling them they’re gonna kill someone if they aren’t more careful, but they don’t listen.”

“Jenny doesn’t seem like the type to take advice,” Eleanor says.

“She really isn’t. Never has been. And Shaun’s a little shit-disturber.” Dani hops into her truck and turns the ignition. “I gotta go, though. Sarah needs me to open the shop up early tomorrow.” Dani pauses before she throws the truck into drive. Maybe Eleanor is projecting, but her smile seems to soften a little. “Thanks for a really great night.”

Dani pulls away when Eleanor waves good night. For the second time Eleanor watches her drive away, wishing it wasn’t the end of their time together. And yet Eleanor realizes as the truck revs its way through the town’s only traffic light, she still didn’t ask Dani for her number.

Damn.

Chapter 5

As it turns out, Eleanoris fully capable of warming to small-town life when Dani Cooper is involved.

Over the next, week Eleanor’s willing socialization continues. Dani invites her to another night at the bar with Ryan and Owen after they run into each other at the coffee shop again, and later in the week Eleanor is officially reintroduced to Dani’s cousin Sarah when she finds them together at the hardware store.

Sarah is friendly and seems genuinely curious about Dani’s new acquaintance this time, but she definitely gives Eleanor’s expensive outfit a pointed once-over. It’s a good reminder of Dani’s suggestion.

Eleanor has always dressed the way she was expected to. Personal style doesn’t really factor into her life. Her school years were marked by uniforms, and her current clothes help her blend in at work. Here they just make her feel ostentatious.

Everyone in town seems to get their clothes from one shop, so after several weeks in Riverwalk, Eleanor finally takes a look.

A tiny bell chimes as Eleanor pushes the door handle. It stops dead before it can open fully, colliding with something—a rack of sweaters seems to be the culprit. As she slips inside and the door swings shut behind her, Eleanor can see why.

It’s the single most crowded shop Eleanor has ever seen. She’s driven past the storefront with its slightly crooked sign several times, and, judging by the amount of denim and flannel she sees worn on a regular basis, Eleanor expected the selection to be sparse.

What she finds instead is a riot of colour. It more resembles an overfilled vintage store than anything else, with only half the space set aside for practical work clothes of the type she usually sees Dani wearing.

While Eleanor is still processing the surprising interior, a light voice chimes out through the quiet.

“Hiya! Can I help you with anything?”

The young woman that ducks out from behind a rack of jeans can’t be much past her late twenties, tall and slender with bright eyes and a sweet smile. Her chestnut hair is tied back in an elegant twist.

“No, I’m just looking, thank you,” Eleanor says.

The girl nods, taking a large bite of a blueberry muffin and setting it next to the cash register. “Let me know!”

Eleanor smiles to herself as the enthusiastic woman disappears again.

Thumbing through the cramped rows of clothes, she’s surprised at the quality of the things on display. Some brands she recognizes, others she doesn’t, and some things have no brand label at all—when Eleanor pulls out an appealing jacket and scarf combination, she can’t find a proper tag anywhere.

“The prices are attached to the sleeves,” the girl says helpfully from somewhere behind Eleanor. She’s folding shirts, her hands now clean of muffin crumbs. She offers a friendly smile when Eleanor holds the jacket up.

“I was actually looking for the label.”

“That one’s mine,” the girl says. She points upward, where Eleanor can see stairs leading to an open loft. “I have a little workshop upstairs.”

Eleanor takes a closer look at the jacket. It’s a light-brown suede, well-tailored, and fitted with a soft teal scarf included on the hanger.

“You made this?” Eleanor asks.

The girl nods a little bashfully. “Yep! I alter most of the stuff I sell. People donate, or I get things from eBay, and I fix it all up. Some pieces I make myself. Like that one.” She says it with the air of someone who is proud of their work but wants to keep shy of bragging. “I usually have to alter my own clothes, so I figured why not do it for other people?”

“It’s beautiful. You have a real talent.”

A light blush dusts the girl’s cheeks. “Thank you! I’m Mila, by the way.” Mila holds out a hand to shake, and Eleanor takes it gladly.

“El—uh. Nora,” Eleanor says, only just managing to correct herself to the nickname she’s been going by since she introduced herself to Dani. She’s still not totally used to it, but it’s getting more familiar the more time she spends here.

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