“What other jobs?” he asked with interest.
She started to just tell him when she realized that those other jobs were in that same “for men only” classification, or might as well be when so many people still viewed them that way. So a little explanation was required first, if she didn’t want to start blushing again.
“I have three older brothers. With no sisters, I tended to follow along in their footsteps, and did in fact enjoy the same pursuits they did growing up, you know, fishing, hunting, sports. You could say tomboy was my middle name.”
“Is it?”
She chuckled, because that had been a serious question, but rather than explain what a tomboy was, she just said, “No,” and continued. “We lived on a farm. My oldest brother, York, was the tractor-fixer in the family, so it wasn’t surprising that he became a master mechanic who now owns his own gas station back home. Learning what I did helping him on weekends, it wasn’t surprising I became a mechanic’s helper myself for a few years. I could have gotten certified, but I knew that wasn’t a job that I wanted to stay with when getting the grease out from under my nails became a never-ending source of annoyance.”
That was said to amuse him, but his expression didn’t change, remained merely attentive. Too attentive, actually. It was hard to tell if he were really interested in what she was saying, or just wanted to hear her talk. For all she knew, he could just be dissecting her words to better his grasp of her language, using her to teach him, so to speak. Or his interest could be purely on a base level, because he might be attracted to her, but that was wishful thinking on her part better left unexplored for the moment.
She got back to the résumé explanations. “My middle brother, Kent, moved to this state quite a few years ago. He’d always wanted to see more of the country and figured he might as well get paid for it, so he drives the big-load trucks cross-country. Visiting him one summer convinced me to move here as well, and after accompanying Kent a few times on his longer hauls, I decided to try my own hand at it. That job only lasted about a year, though; it was just too boring for my tastes, and boring on the road can be real dangerous.”
“How do you equate danger with boring?”
“As in falling asleep at the wheel.”
For some reason, his blank look said even that needed an explanation for him. Brittany decided to let Coach Martha deal with that one, and she must have, since he nodded understanding after a moment.
“You did not want to do something different from your brothers?”
She grinned at him. “Why waste valuable knowledge already learned?”
She had thought about joining the military, actually, but didn’t volunteer that information. She was rather well-suited for it with her size, after all, but had nixed that idea, preferring to follow her own strict regimen rather than one forced on her. And she liked building things, liked leaving her mark in such a way.
“I did finally go my own way. My youngest brother, Devon, is what you might call a born farmer. He really loves growing things. I don’t. In fact, I couldn’t wait to spread my wings and get away from the farm. But Devon is still there helping our father, and will probably take over after our parents pass on.”
“One grows, one builds, one fixes, one transports. You have a family well-suited for trade.”
“Diverse, I think you mean.”
He shrugged, allowing her her own interpretation. Annoyed for a moment that he wasn’t going to make the effort that she had in explaining things, she almost wished she could borrow his “coach.”
“And the other job that ties you up?” he asked next.
“That one’s a piece of cake, at the local spa in the evenings and on Saturdays. Just one person could handle it, but there’s two of us, so there isn’t all that much to do, other than man the desk and offer guidance when someone wants to start up a strict exercise regimen. My coworker, Lenny, and I get along pretty well, too. We have an understanding: he doesn’t try to hit on me, and I won’t drop weights on his feet every chance I get.”
Again, that was said just to amuse him, and again, it didn’t. Actually, he sat forward and said in a concise, somewhat ominous tone, “The man you share this job with hits you?”
Brittany rolled her eyes, explaining, “‘Hit on’ has a completely different meaning from the ‘hits you’ that you’re using. No, Lenny has never hit me. But he has tried a few times to get me to go out with him.”
“Go out where?”
“Dating?” He wasn’t the only one drawing a blank—his earphone was quiet, too. “Oh, come on, you havegotto understand dating. You know, girl and guy getting together to get to know each other better.”
“You speak of fun?” he said with a big grin.
It was that big grin that had her replying cautiously, “Well, sure, at least, it can be hoped a date will turn out to be fun, but that certainly isn’t always the case, and some can turn out to be a real pain in the—”
She cut herself off. He was looking alarmed. And she heard the distinct sound of laughter coming out of his earphone. She gave up. She was either having her leg pulled halfway across the state, or whoever had taught him English didn’t have a good grasp of it themselves.
She said, “We should probably stop at the library in the morning to get you a real English dictionary. It might take you a few weeks of studying it, but you definitely didn’t learn all you should have the first time around.”
“I am aware that we are having difficulty communicating, but I would not be able to read one of your books. I was taught in audio, not visual.”
She sighed. “Was your teacher a complete idiot, or one of those rinky-dink language—?”
The screeching out of the earphone was seriously loud this time, causing Dalden to yank it out of his ear before it did some real damage.
