Page 46 of Shifting Gears

Nora shifts from foot to foot. Her mind is going a mile a minute, rapidly trying to re-calibrate to this new information. Dani thinks she’s beautiful. Stunning, even. Dani has commented on her looks before, but Nora’s always put it down to innate kindness. And Dani values her intelligence. Her personality. She’s saying it even when Nora isn’t present to hear it.

“Did you have your brain turned off during the hockey game?” Sarah sounds completely exasperated. “She looked like she wanted to vault over the barrier and climb you like a tree. And then she messed Shaun up for threatening you. She likes you, dumb-ass.”

Dani says nothing for a moment. Nora can hear something that sounds like a boot sliding across the shop floor, twisting against the concrete. One of Dani’s fidgets.

“You really think so?” Dani says quietly.

Sarah doesn’t reply. Over the rain, Nora can hear the tow truck pulling up outside. The engine cuts out, and Owen’s voice comes booming in to end the conversation.

Nora exhales slowly.

Dani likes her. Dani might be thinking about acting on it. And despite the fleeting nature of anything that could develop between them, despite how bad an idea it probably is to let their friendship advance into something more, if Dani asked, Nora’s first instinct would be to say yes.

She doesn’t have much time to think about the revelation. Footsteps are approaching the office hallway from the garage, and Nora quickly pretends that she’s just come in from outside as Sarah opens the door.

“Nora!” Sarah says, looking surprised but not unhappy as the door swings shut behind her. “What are you doing here? That Porsche crap out on you again?”

Nora chuckles, trying to sound as normal as possible when she’s only just avoided getting caught listening to Sarah telling Dani to make a move. “No, the car is fine. I just, um, I came to bring Dani lunch.”

Nora holds up the takeout containers. Sarah’s eyebrows raise, and her grin is far too smug for Nora’s liking.

“Right. Dani’s in the shop, but she’s due for her break, if you want to sit in the office with her.”

Dani seems just as happy to see Nora as she usually is, and their lunch is mostly unchanged from what Nora is used to, despite the conversation still echoing in her head. But once or twice Nora could swear that she catches Dani looking at her with an expression she’s never taken notice of before.

The hug Dani pulls her into when her break is over lasts just a little bit longer than normal.

* * *

In her thirty-one years of living, Nora has done many things that she didn’t want to do. She’s gone to schools she didn’t choose, studied business at her father’s request, and abandoned her fulfilling job to take over a company she never asked for. Butthus far nothing has made her second-guess herself as much as Danielle Cooper.

Her attraction is almost painful. She can’t seem to keep herself away. She craves the discomfort it brings, soaks it up like nicotine every time Dani has a few spare moments to spend with her. But what Nora truly wants is less clear.

Dani belongs in Riverwalk in a way that’s fundamental to her being, and Nora has responsibilities to get back to at the end of August. They’re from two different worlds. The fact that they ever met at all is an anomaly. Nora is so rusty at maintaining even normal casual relationships that using that skill set again feels like relearning a language she’s forgotten—not to mention the fact that Dani is missing some key information about who Nora is and why she’s here. Dani was the one to suggest that nobody is entitled to that information unless she chooses to share it, but, even so, it’s been feeling increasingly disingenuous to keep it hidden.

Nora’s fascination with Dani doesn’t dim as the summer progresses. It only gets brighter, even when Dani asks her to do activities she’d never considered.

“You want me to watch you compete in a lawn mower race?”

Dani nods as if the request is completely ordinary. It’s one of Dani’s days off, and when Nora ran into her at the hardware store, Dani suggested that they hang out for the rest of the day.

“Yeah! This Saturday,” Dani says, shoving more ice cream into her face. “Owen thinks his rig is faster than mine. Gotta prove him wrong.”

Nora blinks a few times, still trying to come to terms with the concept. “His rig? You mean…his lawn mower?”

“Yeah!” Dani says matter-of-factly.

“Okay, I need to be completely sure we’re on the same page here,” Nora says, abandoning the spoon she’s stuck into her ice cream. “You want me to watch you drive a riding lawn mowerat top speed down Main Street in the hopes that you beat Owen. Who is also on a lawn mower.”

“Yes. I don’t know why you’re having trouble with this.” Dani chases a stray ice cream drip down her wrist. Nora almost loses track of her argument while watching the progress of Dani’s tongue up to her hand, but she manages to shake it off.

“It’s the lawn mower of it all, I think.”

“It’s the best part of the duck race!”

The duck race is another concept Nora is having trouble with. Why people would gather in the hundreds to throw rubber ducks into the river and bet on which one will get past the finish line first is completely beyond her, but it seems to be one of the biggest events of the year.

Nora sighs, shaking her head but already resigned to her fate. “This town is so odd.”

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