When she was gone, I went around to the chair behind my desk and dropped down into it. I sunk down into the cushions and hung my head down into my hands. My body had the heavy, tingling feeling of a sudden spike of adrenaline leaving it, and I needed a minute to gather my thoughts. Finally, I felt okay enough to take out my phone and text Colby. He was going to get a laugh out of the whole situation.
8 Kelly
“No, seriously, I almost didn’t go,” I whispered. ‘I was so nervous.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Kira said through the phone. “You are an incredible mechanic. Anybody would be lucky to have you on their team.”
“You have to say things like that. You’re my sister,” I teased.
I was lying on my bed propped up on all the pillows I could gather to support me and keep my arm in position. Bent at an extreme angle beside me, it cradled Willa in the crook as she slept. I looked down at my little girl and couldn’t help but smile. She was the one thing in my life that always had that effect on me. Even the most difficult days of motherhood, in the midst of colic or teething or sleepless nights, there wasn’t a single one that when I didn’t look at my daughter and think she was the greatest thing to have ever happened to me. She was the joy of my life and the light in the deepest darkness. Even if right now she was quite possibly cutting off all the circulation to my fingers.
“Those five extra minutes gave me a lot of wisdom,” Kira said.
I laughed as I tried to carefully adjust my position so I didn’t wake the baby up but could try to get some of the feeling back in my arm. I was having a difficult time accepting she wasn’t a tiny baby anymore. At two years old, I still considered Willa my baby, but there was such a difference between the soft newborn I could cradle to me with one hand and the walking, talking person she was now. Her little personality was so distinct, and she was more incredible every day. But I’d be lying if I said there weren’t times when I longed for those early weeks. They were challenging and emotional, but some of the most beautiful days of my life.
“Well, maybe you could have used some of that wisdom to warn me to do enough research when I’m going in for an interview,” I said, keeping my voice low.
Willa had been dealing with insomnia in the last few weeks being in a new place, having difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. I wanted to preserve every minute of good rest she could possibly get.
“What do you mean?” Kira asked.
“The company I went to do the interview for is called Freeman Racing,” I told her.
“I know. You told me that.”
“Right. And when I got there, I met with the owner, Quentin Freeman, and his father, the former owner, Gus,” I told her.
“And… you’re upset because you didn’t do the research that would have you know their names before you got there?” she asked, trying to figure out where I was going with the story.
“Nope. I knew Quentin’s name because he’s the one who got in touch with me to offer the interview. They were both really nice and they showed me around the complex, which is beautiful and has the most incredible garages I’ve ever seen,” I told her.
“I’m not really understanding where you would need my wisdom in any of this. It sounds like everything went really well,” she said.
“Well, fortunately for you, this is where everything kind of becomes a shitshow. As they were showing me around, Quentin casually mentioned I would be working with their very successful rider who also happens to be his younger brother, Darren Freeman,” I told her.
The silence coming over the line told me she was processing what I just said.
“Darren Freeman?” she confirmed. “As in… Darren, Darren Freeman?”
“That would be the one,” I said. “We were standing there in the garage, and he walked right in.”
“In the whole city, you chose to apply for a job at the company owned by the brother of your one-night stand,” she said, starting to laugh. “And you didn’t know.”
“Thank you for your support,” I said, which only made her laugh harder.
I wanted to be angry with her for laughing at me, but I couldn’t even manage to be annoyed. Hearing her laugh made me realize how funny the situation actually was, and a laugh started bubbling up from me as well.
“Only you would do something like that. You go there trying to start a new life and have been doing your best to avoid the man, then you manage to funnel yourself right to him,” she continued. “I think you officially ran out the clock on your secret. You have to tell him now.”
I groaned, the humor gone.
“It’s not time yet. I’m still figuring things out.”
We talked for a few minutes longer, then ended the call. I tossed my phone to the side and carefully eased Willa off my arm and onto the pillow beside me. There was a touch-and-go moment when I thought the jostling might have jarred her awake, but she settled back down, and I let out a sigh of relief. Leaning slowly, I got my laptop and pulled it into my lap. As my daughter slept peacefully beside me, I went back to work on my actual job. A few months into my pregnancy I realized I wasn’t going to be able to keep up with working in a garage. Being a mechanic often means squeezing into tight spaces and throwing an increasingly large belly into the
