Page 14 of Shifting Gears

Dani is looking at her expectantly, holding the wrench out as if Eleanor is supposed to know what to do with it. As if she hasn’t spent the last fifteen minutes thinking about what Dani’s sweat tastes like instead of paying attention.

She’s not even entirely sure what it’s her turn todo. Is Dani asking her to take off one of the other undamaged tires, for practice? Are there still more steps in the process for the one Dani has been working on? Eleanor doesn’t know because she’s instead been imagining what it might be like for Dani to pin her to the hood of her own Porsche.

Eleanor swallows hard. She reaches out to take the wrench, determined to make a try for it even if she ends up looking like an idiot—but before her fingers close around the tool Dani’s earnest expression breaks into a grin, and then a full-blown giggle.

Eleanor sighs in relief as Dani takes the wrench back.

“Don’t worry, I can tell you’re not really interested in changing tires,” Dani says, still chuckling to herself as shefinishes up. “I just wanted to see the look on your face. Sorry I bored you; I get a little carried away sometimes.”

“You didn’t! I wasn’t bored.” Eleanor fights the natural urge to stammer out an explanation. Stumbling over her words was supposed to be trained out of her decades ago. “I was paying attention, I was just—”

She was just thinking about how the dimpled muscle of Dani’s lower back would feel shifting under her hands. Something she’d really rather Dani not know about.

“It’s cool! Honestly,” Dani says, saving Eleanor from needing to make up an excuse. “I’m just happy you didn’t fall asleep.”

Dani’s smile is as easy as ever. She moves behind the counter, punching a few keys on the decades-old cash register, but when the numbers come up on the tiny screen, Eleanor sighs in exasperation.

“You undercharged me again.”

“It’s the price of the tire. I took all that extra time teaching you, I’m not gonna charge you for labour,” Dani says. She tries to wave off Eleanor’s protests, but Eleanor stands firm this time.

“And I’m not going to let you fix my car for free.”

“It was barely ten minutes work!”

“I’m paying you even if I have to punch it into the terminal myself,” Eleanor says, her wallet held threateningly in her hand.

Dani seems to sense that she’s outgunned. She smiles, rubbing the back of her neck in a gesture that’s starting to feel familiar.

“How’s about you buy me a coffee?”

* * *

Riverwalk only has one coffee shop open past 6 p.m.—it’s attached to one of the two rival gas stations in town, which are positioned across the road from each other and are constantly fighting over prices.

Eleanor pulls into the small parking lot next to Dani’s truck, which in the light of day turns out to be some kind of classic model that she’s fixed up until the cherry-red paint shines like it’s new. The back window is plastered with stickers—most prominently, Eleanor can see a bumblebee, a variety of cartoon fruits, and a decal that readsdon’t panic, I’m a mechanic.

Dani allows Eleanor to pay for the dark roast and five doughnuts she orders and leads her to a secluded table in the corner.

“There. Now we’re even,” Dani says.

“Because I paid for your seven-dollar order? That doesn’t seem fair,” Eleanor says, scooping the bag out of her herbal tea and setting it on a napkin.

“You’re also paying me with the pleasure of your company!”

It’s entirely too earnest to be flirty, but Eleanor blushes anyway. She takes a sip of her too-hot tea to cover, and scalds her tongue.

“What do you think of Riverwalk so far? Does it compare to the big city?” Dani asks, taking a bite of her first doughnut. It leaves a little bit of powdered sugar on her chin. Dani swipes it away without even looking, as if she does this every day. Which, Eleanor thinks, based on what she knows about Dani’s gas station purchasing habits, she probably does. How Dani keeps the muscle mass she has on such a diet, Eleanor has no idea.

“It’s different,” Eleanor says carefully.

Dani laughs around her mouthful of doughnut. “If you don’t like it, you can say so. I won’t be offended.”

“I don’tdislike it!” Eleanor hurries to correct, and Dani raises an eyebrow. “I’m still getting used to slowing down. I’ve been going so fast for so long that it feels like…”

“Hitting a wall?”

“Exactly.”

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