Match Made In Paradise by Barbara Dunlop (black female authors TXT) 📕

the roof of the vehicle. “Hop in.”

She stepped gamely into the driver’s seat, stumbling slightly when her clunky work boot hit the running board and landing hard on the black vinyl seat. She straightened herself and settled.

“Seatbelt,” Kenneth said, demonstrating it. “Start and stop.” He pointed. “Accelerator and brake. Use your signals. Turn on the four ways if you’re stopping somewhere.”

Mia nodded. It seemed straightforward so far.

“Remember, you’re longer than usual in this. So you have to take the corners wide. And be particularly careful driving in the center part of the warehouse, because some of the spaces are tight there when the shelves are full.”

Mia took a bracing breath at the thought of maneuvering between the warehouse shelves. She couldn’t imagine zipping along as fast as she’d seen some of the guys driving.

“I thought that was you.” Breena’s cheerful voice reached her. “What’s going on here?”

Mia turned her head and smiled. “I’m learning. Where’d you come from?”

“I’m on my way into work.”

“You walk?”

“Yup.” Breena looked her over. “Wow. You even make safety gear work. You have a gift.”

“Ready to take it for a spin?” Kenneth asked.

Mia hadn’t expected the orientation to be that short, but she was game. “You want me to take it inside?”

“We’ll practice out here. How about around the end of the building to start?” Kenneth said.

“I’ll come along.” Breena quickly hopped into the passenger seat.

Kenneth looked hesitant, but then he patted the roof. “Okay. Go up to the east end, around the back, but then turn and come back this way. I don’t want you crossing the loading dock.”

“Got it,” Mia said as Kenneth stepped back.

“Girls’ road trip,” Breena called out. Her lightheartedness eased a bit of Mia’s nerves.

“No messing around,” Kenneth said.

“No, sir,” Mia said, completely prepared to take this seriously.

She switched on the vehicle then put it into reverse.

Her heavy boot slipped as she pressed the accelerator, and the cart leapt backward.

Kenneth cried out. “Watch out for the—”

She hit the brakes and stopped them short.

“Truck,” Kenneth finished.

“It’s peppy,” Mia said, trying to mask her shock.

AJ was already dashing back to the pickup truck to move it out of the way.

“Take it easy,” Kenneth told her.

“Will do,” Mia said, taking another breath before gingerly touching the accelerator. They inched backward a few feet before she remembered to put it into forward.

“Relax,” Breena said.

“I am. I am.”

“You got this.”

Mia eased the vehicle forward, and it went much better this time. They puttered across the gravel beside the high concrete wall.

“Are you doing this for fun?” Breena asked.

“I’m going to do some work,” Mia said. “Help out. Raven’s so busy.”

“Wow.” Breena seemed to ponder for a moment. “I bet it’ll be different than your regular job.”

“A change is as good as a rest,” Mia said.

“I agree with that. I’m resting right now.”

“At the Bear and Bar?” Mia had seen how hard Breena worked waitressing.

“Resting my brain. My program skips the summer term, so I come home and go through a little culture shock. For months, I’m studying coding, straining to learn new concepts. Then suddenly I’m back to serving coffee and burgers—physically draining but not so mentally demanding. It helps me recharge.”

“So, you like the variety?”

“It’s good.” Breena went quiet for a minute. “A couple more years and I’ll be permanently out of here. I’ll mostly be glad to go, but I’ll miss a few things.”

“So, you’re not planning to live in Paradise after school?” Mia kept the utility vehicle moving in a straight line toward the back corner of the warehouse, where the forest bordered the Galina property.

Breena shook her head. “Not a chance.”

Mia understood Breena wanting to spread her wings. “Where do you want to live after you graduate?”

“Not Alaska, please. Down south.” There was a lilt in Breena’s voice as she spoke. “A big city. The bigger the better, maybe New York or Chicago.”

“You already know someone in LA,” Mia said, giving her a warm smile.

“I like the idea of all that sunshine. But a software engineer in Silicon Valley is almost a cliché. You grew up there, right?”

Mia nodded as they rounded the corner to the back of the warehouse. “Born and raised.”

“Did you ever have an urge to leave?”

“Alastair and I traveled quite a bit, so I got to see different places without moving.”

“That appeals to me. Maybe I should try for a job in the travel industry, a cruise ship or a hotel chain with resorts all over the world.”

“I’d be careful with work travel.” The space around the back of the warehouse was much narrower than the side, so Mia slowed down and steered the vehicle tight to the wall to give herself room for the turn.

They bumped over a rock, canting slightly sideways, and the mirror barely missed scraping the concrete.

“Whoops,” Mia said, cringing.

“Nice miss,” Breena said, looking back behind them.

Mia cranked the wheel and took a slow turn. She didn’t quite make it all the way around, so she switched to reverse, carefully backing toward the wall to give herself enough space.

When she finished, she realized her hands were sweating.

“Nice recovery,” Breena said in a congratulatory tone.

“This thing is long,” Mia said, glancing in the mirror at the flatbed sticking out the back.

“So, what’s the problem with work travel?” Breena asked.

“You end up in all these iconic exotic places, but you don’t get to see them.”

“I suppose that would be frustrating.”

“If you can take a few days before and after the trip, it’s nice. Lots of the other models worked that out. But Alastair and I were always in a rush.”

They came around the corner to see Kenneth and AJ were waiting in the distance.

“Do you miss him a lot?” Breena asked.

“I do. I mostly miss his company though.” Mia didn’t feel like she deserved the same kind of sympathy as a regular widow.

Breena turned slightly in her seat. “I don’t understand what that means.”

“It means our relationship had evolved over the years. When his health went downhill, companionship became more important than intimacy.”

“This might be too