Winter's Journey Read online

  Once she caught herself touching his hand after he’d told her a particularly poignant anecdote about this homeless man he’d met on the streets, and confused, she’d taken her hand away. It wasn’t like her to show affection to someone she’d just met. She covered her embarrassment by pointing out a deer on the side of the road, its eyes reflecting their headlights. She was glad they hadn’t hit the creature as it scurried back into the woods.

  About the third time she drifted off to sleep, Sam suggested, “Loretta, you look worn out. Climb into the sleeper and get your eight hours rest. I can only drive ten and it’s been two hours already. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful with your truck. I’ll treat it tenderly. Promise.”

  She believed he would. She yawned. “I am tired. Okay, I’m going. Wake me up if you need anything or if a problem arises, you got me?”

  “I’ll do that. Not that I expect to have any trouble. I have it under control.”

  “Sam, thank you for helping me at the truck stop, fixing the truck, and driving with me. I confess I was beginning to think that I might not make the deadline; that I’d lose the bonus. I was already hours behind schedule from traffic and the heavy rain in Richfield when I ran into you. I just wouldn’t admit it. I’m sorry I was so suspicious of you and your intentions.”

  In the cab’s faint light a neutral expression changed Sam’s handsome face. If she wouldn’t have known better she’d of thought he was irritated with her. She wondered if she’d said something wrong.

  He paused then said, “Don’t be sorry. A woman alone should be careful who she picks up. I helped someone I thought needed it. Anyone else would have done the same thing.” At last he gave her a smile. “Besides, I needed a meal and I needed to get to Cheyenne. If anyone owes anybody anything, I owe you.” His voice came out softer. “I’ll admit, I was a little down. Things haven’t been going so well for me lately. This temporary job is just what I needed.”

  She had nothing to say to that, so she said goodnight and retreated into the sleeper. She’d sleep in her clothes. In case. The first few moments she worried she was making a huge mistake, leaving Baby Blue and her life in the hands of a stranger who seemed sane and trustworthy—but who could really tell? Eventually, out of pure exhaustion, she fell asleep.

  If Sam were a danger to her she would have caught a glimpse of his dark nature before then. Wouldn’t she? She was too weary to think about it.

  SHORTLY AFTER LORETTA fell asleep Baby Blue took a hairpin curve, its headlights cutting across a section of forest shining with night frost. Sam’s eyes caught the gleam of white metal hidden among the trees and the reflection of glass. It was that beat-up white Freightliner again.

  He’d seen it earlier that day when he’d been hitchhiking, and when he’d been riding with that other trucker, and again at the last truck stop. The white Freightliner lurked. No driver in sight. Odd.

  If he didn’t know better he’d think the truck was following him. Now that was a crazy notion. But why did he experience uneasiness whenever he saw it? No, what he felt was closer to dread. Whoa, was he being ridiculous.

  He sighed under his breath, so Loretta wouldn’t hear, and pushed down on the gas pedal. There were light-colored Freightliners everywhere on the road with cattle guards across the front. So what if the truck was going their way? Lots of trucks and cars were.

  Maybe he could outrun it? He ignored that thought and immediately another one popped into his head: Get to Cheyenne. Lose yourself in the big city and don’t let the white truck catch up with you. He was being unreasonable, yet his eyes kept visiting the rearview mirror for the big headlights.

  Nothing back there now. It was gone.

  Just another thing to be anxious about, he brooded. He needed to stop doing that. Therein was madness. Was his life never again to be happy? His thoughts touched on the redheaded woman sleeping in the back, and he felt the first peace he’d known in over a year. This woman was different than most of the women he met. She was a keeper and he felt something for her already. She made him smile.

  He kept driving through the night, making plans. Smiling.

  Chapter 3

  WHEN LORETTA OPENED her eyes, day had arrived. Tucked in her sleeper, she could see through the open sliver of curtain that, though overcast, a pale sun shone outside. The light sifting in was a mist of tawny gold.

  She was confused and had a slight headache. The truck was moving but who was driving it? It came to her. Sam Emerson, her inscrutable hitchhiker and now her driving partner, was behind the wheel.

  Pushing the loose strands of hair behind her ears, she wiped her gummy teeth with nervous fingers and opening the curtains, lurched toward the front passenger seat. On her way she nearly tripped over the paperbacks that had spilled from beneath her bed. She stuffed them back under it, moved up front, buckled herself in, and exhaled a quick breath as she reclined the seat.

  “How did you sleep?” Sam greeted her with a tired smile, tugging the wheel around so the truck could make a sharp turn. She was glad she was belted in.

  “A little restless but I slept. I feel a lot better.”

  “So riding with a strange driver didn’t keep you awake? Good.”

  “I guess not.” She flashed him a closed mouth grin, conscious of her unbrushed teeth, uncombed hair, and dissolved make-up. She must look a mess. Yet, it didn’t seem to matter to Sam, so she found it didn’t matter much to her either. They’d stop soon and she’d get cleaned up.

  They approached a Super Wal-Mart and the parking lot was packed with cars. There must be a big sale. It reminded her that Tessa needed more school supplies.

  That she needed to use a bathroom. “Sam, pull into Wal-Mart for me, would you please? I need to use the restroom.” She had a fleeting thought that if she left him alone with her truck she’d return and him and her truck would both be gone. The uncertainty was brief. She’d trusted him to drive all night and now she had to trust him again. She really had to use the bathroom.

  Nice guy that he was he didn’t question her request but left the highway and pulled into a parking space near the rear of the parking lot. “Let’s lock up the truck. I could use a restroom break myself.”

  They got out and went inside the store, and when Loretta returned to her truck Sam was waiting. His face seemed so familiar already as if she’d been looking at it for years and had known him forever, in another life, perhaps? She smiled to herself. She didn’t believe in such things, but there was no other way to explain the way she felt. He steered the truck back onto the highway. “I take it you like to read, Loretta? I couldn’t help but notice that pile of paperbacks you have crammed under your bed.”

  “I love to read.”

  “Me too. I could tell you were a book reader first time I saw you. You have perceptive eyes. You like romance and mysteries, I see.”

  “I like everything as long as it’s well written. What do you like?”

  Sam gave her a quick look. “Murder mysteries or novels about space and space travel. Put a bunch of people on a space ship and send them to the far end of the galaxy...the technology, the social dynamics, and character personalities are what intrigue me. Now we’re taking pictures of distant galaxies and landing robot machines on Mars. When I was a kid I wanted to be an astronaut in the worst way.”

  “Most boys do. Some girls even. Not me. The thought of being strapped to a rocket full of explosives and launched into space gives me the willies. Too many risky variables. I don’t even like planes or boats. Airplanes can crash and ships can sink. Then where are you? Nope. I’ll stay on the ground. It’s safer.” She didn’t tell him that when she’d first started driving eighteen-wheelers she’d been afraid as well. Trucks and cars had accidents all the time. Thank goodness she’d gotten over that phobia. Well, mostly.

  “One of my greatest dreams,” he shifted into fifth gear, “has always been to be one of the first settlers on the red planet. Build a colony and live there.”

  “Ah, a daring but foolish man.
” She shook her head, her eyes watching the road ahead. According to the signpost they just passed Sam had raked in the miles since he’d gotten behind the wheel. For the first time since she’d begun the run she felt hopeful she’d make the deadline. The bonus was as good as hers. “I could never live in space suits or under one of those domes all the time. Too claustrophobic, I guess.”

  “Where’s your sense of adventure, Loretta? Life is no fun if there’s no danger. Think about it. Colonizing Mars, being a space pioneer and seeding a whole new society. Looking up and seeing the Earth so far away. It would be exhilarating.”

  “Yeah, and living in a hostile environment in bubble domes where one tiny pin-prick could blast you into an airless atmospheric blackness sounds fun, too. There’d be no forests, rivers, or grass valleys. No fluffy white clouds. No cable, Internet, bookstores, or Pizza Hut. Just acres of crimson rocks. I don’t think I’d like that at all.”

  “Yes, but there’d be no smog, traffic jams, or overcrowding,” he tossed back. His eyes were on the road but a faint smile came to his lips.

  “No Target or Applebee’s,” she bemoaned.

  “No IRS or telephone solicitors calling at nine o’clock on a Saturday morning to chatter on robotically about selling you something you don’t want or need.”

  “Never seeing family or old friends because you’re millions of space miles away.”

  “Hey, that wouldn’t be so bad,” he said. “I have a couple of aunts who drive me nuts—when they can remember who I am that is—and a few friends who are always in the middle of some trauma-drama over wives or money. Crazy makers. I could do just fine without them, let me tell you. Especially this one third cousin who keeps getting tossed into jail for drugs and always needs bail money.”

  Loretta sent him a thoughtful look. So there were jailbirds in his family. Not good.

  “You made excellent time last night, Sam,” she commented, looking through the window at the passing landscape. Cows gawked at her from behind a weathered fence. What were they thinking? Probably wishing they could go somewhere, too.

  “I did, didn’t I? Fuel filter’s working like a charm and the inclement weather’s holding off. We’ve been lucky.”

  Loretta looked at her wristwatch. “It’s after seven. I slept that long?”

  “Over eight hours.”

  “I need to get cleaned up. Check the truck and refuel.” She turned to him. “We could both use a hot meal and showers. If I recall correctly there’s a full service truck stop about thirty miles from here. We’ll stop there and I’ll advance you money to cover your expenses.” He didn’t argue with her about the money this time.

  “Thanks. I could use a hot shower and food. Right now I’d kill for a cup of coffee. Oops, I mean beg for a cup of coffee.” He sheepishly lifted the corners of his mouth.

  Loretta grabbed her logbook from the glove compartment and scribbled in the times in fifteen-minute blocks, accounting for every minute of the journey, and the change of drivers. The first thing a State Trooper or the D.O.T. would do if they stopped them would be to ask to see the book. If it wasn’t up to date there could be a fine and she didn’t need that. She was out here to make money not give it away.

  Sam saw what she was doing and chuckled. “The woman’s organized, too.”

  “Anything unusual happen on your shift?” She questioned more out of habit and instantly felt bad for grilling him. He’d already said the night had been uneventful.

  He hesitated and replied, “No, not really.”

  There was something he wasn’t telling her. She wasn’t going to fish for it. If it had been important he would have told her. “You look tired,” she remarked. And he did.

  “I am some, though I’m one of those people who don’t need much sleep. I can get by on four hours a night.”

  “A born trucker.” She stole a glance sideways at him and made a face. “I hate people like you. Me? I need eight to ten or I’m worthless.”

  “That’s like sleeping your life away.”

  “What’s wrong with sleeping? I like sleeping. I think of it as wiping the day’s slate clean, recharging the body’s batteries. No matter how lousy a day I’ve had, if I get a good night’s sleep, I feel reborn in the morning. Anything is possible.” Or she used to like sleeping before Jed died. Now she wasn’t so sure. She dreamed often about her husband and the accident that killed him. No one could say a person couldn’t feel overwhelming grief or cry in a dream. She did both all the time.

  “That truck stop’s about a half hour away, Boss. And am I glad. I’m so hungry I could eat cardboard and drink puddle water.”

  Something occurred to her. “You didn’t stop all night?”

  “Twice. Pit stops. That’s all. Nature called. You were dead to the world so I didn’t disturb you. I used the facilities, the water fountain, and went back to driving. I wanted to regain the time you lost if I could.”

  She suffered a twinge of guilt because she hadn’t had the foresight to give him spending money for a couple candy bars or a cup of coffee. Something she should have done. She knew he was broke. She hadn’t told him about that bag of snacks in the sleeper she’d brought along with her other stuff, either. She’d completely forgotten about it. She could have left it out for him. It had been thoughtless of her and knowing that made her feel worse.

  She scooted into the sleeper and retrieved the bag. “I’m sorry, Sam,” she muttered, head down, avoiding his eyes. “I had these snacks all the time. I could have left them out for you. I guess after the excitement of last night and how exhausted I was, I forgot. I wasn’t thinking. There’s also a small cooler behind the seats full of soda.” She held the bag and a can out to him. “Help yourself.”

  “Thanks. I don’t mind if I do. It’ll hold me over until breakfast.” His face lit up and he took the Pepsi can from her; his hand plunged into the bag she was holding and came out with two candy bars and an apple. He ate the snacks and drank the soda in under five minutes.

  He’d eaten supper the night before the same way, and she wondered how long it’d been since he’d last eaten before that.

  For the rest of the way to the truck stop she kept her eyes on the storm clouds that moved sluggishly across the sky. She opened the window a crack and the chill that seeped in heralded the frigid cold to come. She shut the window and punched the heater up a notch.

  “Truck stop is right over that rise, Loretta,” Sam said.

  She’d been trying to figure out how much to pay Sam when they got the load to Cheyenne. He’d said he’d do it for expense money and food, but that wasn’t fair. If he drove equal with her all the way there he should be entitled to a part of the take. She had to figure out how much that should be.

  “Sam? I’ve decided that if we drive team to Cheyenne and make the deadline that I should pay you fairly for your time. You’re earning it. Fifteen percent? What do you think?”

  “Why would you do that?” He seemed genuinely surprised.

  “Why not? It’s only fair. You’re doing the work. I probably wouldn’t have made it on time without you and, therefore, would have lost the bonus and the job with the company.”

  “You don’t have to,” he murmured. “I was happy with our original agreement.”

  “I’m not. Just because I found you on the side of the road doesn’t give me the right to take advantage. You’re getting fifteen percent of everything, if we get there in time.”

  Sam didn’t ask how much that would be. “That sounds more than fair to me, Boss. Thank you.” He was beginning to act like a different man than the one she’d first met. He was opening up, acting more confident and relieved as if a weight had been taken off his shoulders.

  She knew in that moment that he was running from something and wanted to ask him what it was and why he was wandering the roads homeless. But it was too soon for that. She needed to know him better, gain his trust before she started asking such personal questions.

  Right now it was none of her busines
s. All she was giving him was a job.

  They rolled up in front of a low windowed building that was part of a shiny modern complex. The sign out front read EAT.

  Sam parked Baby Blue in a narrow spot beside a dusty Mack truck with a smashed fender. “Well, we’ve arrived at the Travel Plaza. A fancy name for a big truck stop. I’ve been here before. It’s clean and safe, and it has nice showers and a convenience store. Some of the best coffee you can get on the road. Not to mention, it has twenty-four hour mechanics in their own on-site shop over there.” He cocked his head at the building on their right.

  “I could have used those mechanics yesterday.”

  “Nah, you had me.” Sam expertly shifted down through Baby Blue’s gears and shut down the engine.

  “Yeah, I had you.” She laughed. Things were going well and it felt good to laugh.

  “And don’t you forget it, either.”

  “I won’t. But now,” Loretta stated, “I want a shower first and then breakfast.”

  “The shower rooms are that way. The building on our left.” He’d leisurely swung around in the seat and before she could get out of the truck, he put his hand out and briefly caressed her face, not more than a feathery brush of his fingers, which were warm and gentle. “Don’t go getting into any trouble now, Loretta, when I’m not around to watch out for you. I want you back safe.” There was tenderness in his words and a look in his eyes she couldn’t decipher. Flustered, she drew back.

  She didn’t know how to react or what to say. The sleeping emotions of need and desire came out of nowhere and brought back so many forgotten feelings. She had to remind herself that she’d only met the man twelve hours ago. How could she feel so close to him in such a short time? It was crazy. She wasn’t the kind of woman to make friendships, or any other relationships, hastily. It took her time to trust—not that she didn’t want to be desired or to love again. She did.