Shifting Gears by Audra North Read Free Book Online Page B

then shrugged. “Well, maybe she’ll work out. I remember her being kind of a scared-of-her-own-shadow kind of person, but you never know. Life is full of surprises.” She stood up then, Ranger following suit. “Anyway, we’d better get going. The flight tomorrow is early and I still have to pack.”
    â€œI’ll get the flight arrangements squared away for Fogerty,” Ranger said over his shoulder as he and Kerri walked toward the door.
    â€œSounds good.” Grady turned back to his CAD program. He really needed to make up for the hours he’d lost that day. But he had a feeling it still wasn’t going to be easy to focus. Not with thoughts of Annabelle lingering in his mind.
    â€œDon’t stay too late!” Ranger called from the hallway, Kerri’s laugh echoing in response.
    Grady sighed. Fat chance. This was the only time he’d have to work on his designs before he flew out tomorrow morning with Kerri and Lee. Lee raced on Friday and Kerri on Saturday, so it would be nonstop racing for the next couple of days.
    At least he was coming back early on Sunday and could get some uninterrupted time in the office then, while everyone else stayed behind to watch the Intercomm race. Maybe, if he stopped getting distracted by Annabelle and just focused, he could get this part finished up tonight. It would need more than a full day to print, anyway, and if it was good, he might actually have his very first product to test and sell. With a little luck, he could make his first sale by next month. The business might even succeed. And then maybe he’d finally accomplish something. Prove that even if he couldn’t cut it on the racetrack, he was someone worth investing in.
    After all, life was full of surprises.
    *   *   *
    On Monday morning, Annabelle pulled her old coupe into the gravel lot in front of the Hart Racing garage—which was more like a warehouse-sized building with offices on one side. It was just past seven-thirty and she was too early by half an hour, but she’d been so full of nervous energy this morning that she’d left the house well before she should have.
    She wasn’t sure, though, if she was nervous about not getting the job … or about getting it.
    A part of her had been scared enough that she might fail at this interview that she’d gone into the school district offices last week to check on teaching positions, to have a backup in case this didn’t work out. The administrator had told her there were three middle school slots open, and then had practically begged her to take one. Annabelle had said she’d have to think about it.
    She should have accepted on the spot, though. The school year was fast approaching, and delaying even by a week felt like prolonging her dependence on her mother, and God knew she was desperate to get away from her mom’s house. But she also knew how desperation often spurred a woman to bad decisions, and she wasn’t going to make those kinds of mistakes again.
    Still, she’d taken a small risk and snuck out over the weekend, lying to her mother about going shopping so that she could sit in a sports bar downtown and watch the races. Snuck out, like a rebellious teenager.
    She hated acting this way. She hated that she had to. But after the incident with her blouse, she’d realized just how tenuous her relationship was with her mother, who seemed more than ready to send Annabelle packing just to prove a point. And if she got kicked out … well, her dreams of independence would be shot to hell.
    Sad, really, that the few things Momma didn’t like, including revealing clothing, disobedience, and tomboys, were all things that Annabelle loved.
    Watching racing definitely counted as a tomboyish activity. So Annabelle had lied, and in the end, it had been worth the lie to be able to watch the race. The rev of the engines, audible even through the