Page 48 of Shifting Gears

“I thought they’d be faster,” Nora yells over the noise.

“We have a rule,” Sarah shouts back. “Nobody gets to mess with their engine too much. The fun of the race is everyone trying to win when the max speed is ten kilometres an hour.”

True to Sarah’s word, it is rather hilarious to watch. Everyone seems to be taking it completely seriously, their faces set in competitive determination, but when their full speed could be topped by an idle housecat, the entertainment of the whole thing is ratcheted up. They might as well be racing on noisy tricycles.

When Dani crosses the finish line mere seconds before Owen, she catches Nora’s eye and throws her a wink. Nora isembarrassed to admit how much such a tiny gesture coming from a woman in denim overalls astride a spray-painted lawn mower makes her heart flutter. The knowledge that Dani is attracted to her only makes it worse.

Through all of it—the hockey games, the overalls, the pool games, the pickup trucks, and the ridiculous, endearing enthusiasm of Dani’s personality—Nora’s attraction has grown, the flames only fanned even more by her new knowledge that Dani feels the same way.

The fact that she could easily make the first move is one that Nora ignores, no matter how tempting it is. It would only make things more complicated.

It’s better for both of them this way.

Chapter 12

When Dani asks Nora togo for a picnic at the tree house in mid-July, she thinks nothing of it.

They’ve driven out here together several times by now, and a picnic seems like a fun way to pass an early evening. Dani shows up in another clean button-up shirt, seeming strangely nervous, but Nora puts it off to her being worried that Nora won’t like the food she’s brought. After the matzo ball soup, this is only the second time Dani has made food for her. That prospect could make anyone nervous.

The button-up and Dani’s jeans are clean and neat, and her hands have been scrubbed diligently, but her hair is still tied up and tucked under her cap. She looks if she left straight from work and had to get ready in a hurry. It’s surprisingly sweet, especially when Dani unbuttons the shirt a little in the summer heat and Nora can see the shop stains on the tank top she’s wearing underneath.

Before meeting Dani, something like that might have made Nora scoff. Now it just brings the warm, affectionate glow of sweet familiarity. Dani put in the effort of wearing a nice shirt overtop and scouring her hands clean just for Nora, even when she’s pressed for time.

Dani lays a blanket down under the shade of the maple tree and insists that Nora sit while she hurriedly sets out a large mason jar full of homemade lemonade, several containers of food—potato salad, sandwiches, and mixed fruit—and, strangely, a bunch of flowers in an old glass Coke bottle.

As soon as Nora takes her first bite, Dani’s expression is oddly hopeful. It’s a grilled-chicken sandwich on sourdough, one of Nora’s favourite orders from the restaurant, and it’s even nicer homemade.

“Do you like it?” Dani asks.

Nora finishes chewing slowly, the gears in her head turning.

Dani is a bit dressed up for a casual hangout, now that Nora is paying attention. The flowers are also a new detail—daisies and tulips that look like they were snagged from someone’s garden—and Dani is looking at her like there’s something huge at stake. Her calloused fingers drum on the blanket nervously, and there’s a blush creeping up her neck.

Nora almost drops the sandwich.

“Dani, is this a date?”

Nora says it almost as soon as the thought enters her head, and she almost regrets it in the moments after. The idea that Dani would spring a date on her like this seems crazy. But when Dani’s whole face lights up red, Nora knows that she was right.

It’s actually happening.

“Oh my God, did you take me on a date without asking me out?” Nora asks, now fully dropping the sandwich onto a paper plate. This is a date. They’re on a date right now.

Nora didn’t even shave her legs this morning.

“I got nervous!” Dani stammers, rubbing at the crimson back of her neck. “I’ve been wanting to ask you out, but I didn’t know if you’d be receptive, and so I…I figured I could do a test run!”

“I would have said yes.”

It slips out of Nora with hardly a thought, landing in the middle of the blanket like a shock wave to her summer of avoidance. All the constant uncertainty, all the denial of her attraction, and she crumbles at the first hint of taking things further.

Dani blinks, putting her own sandwich back into the container and shifting closer. “You would?”

Nora can’t begrudge Dani that doubt. Nora isn’t sure it’s a good idea even as she says it, but now that she’s in this moment, she can’t bring herself to deny the truth. She doesn’t have it in her. Maybe she’s just as weak and ineffective as Renée has always said.

“I went to a duck race with you,” Nora says matter-of-factly.

Dani laughs, brushing the crumbs from her hands. “I guess I just assumed that you had better prospects than me. People more on your level.”

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