“That seems like a good idea,” I agreed. “Last night you were talking about nutrition and it sounded like you understood what you need to do.”
He nodded. “I should do those things.”
I nodded back, totally in agreement. “I’m with you.”
“Really?” He stopped moving the ratchet and stood up. “You are?”
He seemed so surprised that I thought I must have missed something, but I wasn’t sure what it was. “Yes, I am,” I told him.
Ronan smiled at me. “It will be easier to do with a partner, that’s for sure. I can try to get some of the other guys to join us, too.”
“To join us…” I trailed off.
“Eddie would open the gym so we could use it,” he went on. “He’d probably like to be there himself.”
“To join in on workouts,” I said cautiously.
“He’s so damn strong. But he shouldn’t be lifting on his own, either. This will be better for him.”
“Are you talking about using the Junior Woodsmen weight room?” I wondered.
“If Ed is there, he’ll scare away the rats,” Ronan explained.
There was silence and then I said, “What about nutrition?”
“What do you mean?”
“Would you need a partner for that, too? Someone to meal plan and cook with?” I asked.
“It would be a lot more fun that way. You sure you want to do this? I would owe you, hugely.”
“Yes.” I paused. “Yes, I think it will be great,” I answered.
“Me too.” He bent to look at my engine. “We’re also going to replace your water pump and the idler pulleys.” There were a few other things that he wanted to fix and we had to work for a while, and it really wasn’t very warm out. It was pretty chilly, actually. I also cut my hand and got grease in my hair, and it was the best day I’d had in a while.
Chapter 5
“It was perfect! I never had so much fun.”
I heard the other girls agree with her that their weekends had been amazing, too. Kiya had gone on a hike with the guy who was now absolutely her boyfriend—they’d had the talk and confirmed. Then he’d made her dinner!
“Aww!” Taylor said. “I love that story.” She had driven somewhere to see a minor league baseball game with friends and it had been so fun, too, despite the rain.
“The weather was a little hard on the hike,” Kiya admitted. “What did you do?”
There was silence and I waited for Victoria’s answer.
“Hello? What did you do over the weekend?” Kiya asked, and I glanced up to see why their third friend wasn’t responding.
They were all looking in my direction.
“Are you talking to me?” I asked, and three heads nodded yes.
“You work across the hall from me, right?” Victoria asked. She touched her hair, as if remembering our previous conversation about my highlights and how I’d pretended that they were natural. They were, but I was willing to ignore her doubt.
“Uh, yes. I’m Cate. With a C,” I added, because I thought they might appreciate it.
They did. “Oh, that’s pretty,” Taylor said, and introduced herself and her friends. I already knew their names, since I’d been eavesdropping on them for weeks as we all ate in the employee lunchroom. “You always sit at that table,” she went on. “Do you want to move over here with us?”
