Page 27 of Shifting Gears

Eleanor shifts up in line and Dani follows, trailing grass across the linoleum.

“It’s not your fault. I’m more interested in how exactly this happened,” Eleanor says, gesturing at Dani’s green-stained body.

“I’m off today, so I decided I’d mow my lawn. And then I mowed my neighbour’s lawn. And then the girl across the street was having trouble with her mower, so I helped her out,” Dani says, looking down at herself and grinning. “The clipping bag sort of exploded.”

Eleanor laughs, picturing Dani being showered in grass and dirt and smiling the whole way. It seems in character, as does mowing her neighbour’s lawn just because she felt like it. “A perfectly reasonable explanation.”

“Thank you!” Dani says brightly, either ignoring or entirely missing the gentle sarcasm. “What are you up to today?”

“This,” Eleanor says, pointing at the groceries currently inching up the conveyor belt. She’s pleased to note that it’s a pretty healthy shop, mostly fruit and veggies rather than sugary snacks or indulgences, and the cashier who interrogated her last time doesn’t seem to be working today.

“Wanna get some ice cream? It’s the best in town. Probably the best in the country,” Dani says, starting to load her things onto the conveyor behind Eleanor. It seems to be half sweets and half regular groceries, along with the biggest tub of protein powder Eleanor has ever seen. “It’s such a nice day for it.”

“Don’t you think you should get some clean clothes first?”

Dani looks down at herself again, as if she’d forgotten that every piece of clothing she’s wearing is stained emerald. “Oh. Right. How’s about I go change and you take your groceries home and then we meet up here in forty-five?”

Eleanor should say no. Now that she’s over her illness, she really should be working on her survey and proposal, whichKayla has recently and inconveniently reminded her still needs doing. She doesn’t have much more than some survey notes, a rundown of the local government, and a list of possible suppliers in the area. Not nearly enough to justify almost a month spent on it.

But Dani’s smile is so sweet.

Forty-five minutes later, now dressed in slightly cleaner jeans and an oversized T-shirt with her ever-present hat perched over her ponytail, Dani leads her on a slow walk down the main street. It turns down a grassy hill beside one of the gas stations and onto a walking-path that runs along the river. The relative noise of the road is softened by the trees and the slope—it leaves just the sound of birds and the running water to accompany their conversation as they meander.

It all seems suddenly very romantic.

After a brief walk, the path widens, and Dani stops near the stairs of a wide porch attached to a small storefront. There are two picnic tables set up on the grassy area close to the river, and one of them is already occupied.

“Sarah! Naomi! What are you doing here?” Dani calls out, waving. Both people in question sit stiffly upright, looking like they’ve been caught red-handed with something. Dani, however, seems strangely delighted by the pair’s presence. She’s smiling ear to ear.

“We’re just getting some ice cream,” Sarah says a bit too loudly. Naomi’s smile fades into a soft, exasperated sort of look.

Naomi looks down at her mostly empty cup. “Yeah. I should be getting back to work, actually. Thanks for the ice cream, Coops.”

Naomi throws her cup in a nearby garbage can and leaves with a quick wave at the group. Sarah, Eleanor notices, watches her leave with a strange expression.

“They’ve been dancing around each other for forever,” Dani says quietly in Eleanor’s ear as Sarah waves her own goodbye and heads back toward the shop. “I keep telling Sarah to just ask her out already, but she’s too nervous.”

“Why? They’d be sweet together.”

“I know!” Dani holds the door open for Eleanor, and a small bell jingles as they enter the shop.

“Is Naomi straight?”

“Nah. They’ve just been close since we were kids. I think they’re both worried about screwing up the friendship. Hencethatwhole debacle.”

“Have they always been like that?”

“Ever since high school.” Dani sighs. “Both trying to pretend they aren’t totally in love with each other. But Naomi didn’t come out until after she’d already left town for med school. Now that she’s back and the possibility is actually there, the tension is a thousand times worse.”

They’re interrupted by the woman behind the counter, who waves Dani over with a familiarity that proves how frequent a customer she must be. The flavours on offer aren’t what Eleanor was expecting—instead of basic chocolate or strawberry Dani points out dulce de leche, mango-pineapple, and Earl Grey. The girl behind the counter starts scooping several different flavours onto a towering waffle cone for Dani, but Eleanor’s interest is piqued by a tub in the front corner of the freezer labelledspecialty sorbet. It’s a riot of rainbow swirls.

“I’ll take that one, please,” Eleanor says, pointing at the sorbet.

The girl nods, handing Dani her precarious cone. She then scoops a few servings of the rainbow flavour into a cup and hands it to Eleanor with a thumbs-up.

“Happy Pride!” The girl says, apropos of nothing.

Eleanor blinks. Her only thought—how did she know?—rattles around in her head. She takes the cup, staring at the poor girl with what must be a baffled expression until Dani takes pity on both of them.

---