“Doing you a favor.” She laughed. “More like, they know any time they have a piece of incredibly heavy junk on their hands, you’ll be happy to haul it off, and pay them to boot. How much was it?”
“I don’t have to tell you. You’re not my boss.”
“Oh, that’s mature.”
I stepped between them, knowing things would only get less mature from there if I didn’t put a stop to it. I’d been playing the role of peacemaker since we were kids, and while they were a lot more respectful to each other now, it didn’t stop these constant work battles. “Let me finish my inspection. Then you can yell at each other with better ammunition.”
Lauren sighed. “Okay, sorry. But I’m talking to John about this when he gets back.”
“Never doubted that for a minute,” Parker called over his back. He was retreating to his workstation, but didn’t look happy about it. John would likely side with Lauren on this one, which never helped their sibling rivalry. Parker and Lauren both called him John and not Dad in the shop, but family issues were family issues, no matter the setting.
Now that Parker had backed away, Lauren and I were left standing close together for no particular reason. Her arm brushed mine, leaving a trail of warmth. Moments like this were happening too often. For a long time I’d convinced myself it was totally one-sided, that it was wishful thinking on my part to ever assume she did it on purpose. But my gut said she felt something too, a magnetic connection between us that would only lead to trouble.
Not acknowledging it, letting it be this delicious mystery between us, was not good. And yet, I wasn’t about to say something. She’d deny it and make me feel like a jerk. I knew that as well as I knew she’d been wearing those same Converse shoes for three years, and only changed out the laces occasionally.
But if we couldn’t talk about it, and couldn’t do anything about it, then it was definitely time to make her go away.
“Don’t you have more evidence to gather, proving you’re better than Parker?”
She slowly shook her head at me. “I don’t get you, Clay. Sometimes you’re almost nice.”
“And that’s almost a compliment.”
“Hate you,” she muttered under her breath.
“I hated you first,” I whispered back.
She stalked off, and I went back to changing out the batteries. These short fixes for our long-term problem were not healthy. I knew it, and yet I didn’t know what else to do. It was second nature by now to be the prickly middleman.
The scissor lift performed beautifully, but I didn’t put an actual person on it until I’d tried every test I could think of first. Then I made Parker the guinea pig. He was happy to wave at Lauren from twenty feet up in the air.
She ignored him and stared at her computer. He’d won this battle. I would have been happier about it if I thought it would make any difference in their relationship. I sort of understood Parker’s inferiority complex. His mom left when he was an infant. Shortly thereafter, Lauren’s mom came along and made his dad joyously happy, and then there was a new baby. He was sandwiched in the middle between his over-achieving older brother and the sister he never wanted.
So much of it was in his head. His whole family loved him; well, as much as he’d let them. Lauren had followed us around like an eager puppy when we were kids, hoping Parker would love her half as much as she loved him. She still loved him now, it was just a lot more hidden these days.
He just couldn’t appreciate what he had, no matter what they did, and if I picked Lauren over him, it might push him over the edge. I hated that I had to choose at all.
The scissor lift hadn’t come with any paperwork, so I jotted down the specs for Lauren.
Evan’s cheery whistle echoed through the warehouse, along with the signature jingling of the keys he kept on his belt. “Morning, everyone. Lauren, good to see you again.”
Lauren’s head shot up, and she pasted on a smile sprinkled with a good helping of anxiety. “Morning, Evan. Don’t forget to log your hours on the Komatsu fork lift.”
“Will do. Will do.” He whistled a tune, something Lauren obviously recognized, based on the way she began fidgeting.
I looked between the two of them, trying to figure out what was going on. Knowing Evan, I wouldn’t have to wait long. The guy never shut up.
He set down his coffee cup and rubbed his hands together, looking around. “I saw Lauren at Rooster’s last night. She’s got a new boy toy,” he announced to the group at large.
Herbert smiled before going out for a cigarette break. The man loved gossip, but he loved his nicotine more. John made him smoke on the driveway at the back entrance. Half the time he ate his lunch out there too.
“Congratulations.” I approached Lauren’s desk and opened up the laptop where we logged repairs.
She could have skewered me with a thousand lasers with the glare she gave me in return. It was a come-hither look as far as my hormones were concerned, but I was used to ignoring those.
She gritted her teeth. “Don’t start, Clay.”
I held my hands up in surrender. “I’m sure this guy’s the one. There’s no reason to get all defensive about it.”
