Chapter one is in Erotic Couplings. All roads truckers travel seem to have twists and turns. This one is just like that.
I did the laundry, scrubbed the inside of my sleeper and finally erased the smell of Linda and Donna. Mom made my favorite of her dinners, Meatloaf with hard boiled eggs baked inside it. The veggies were from her garden and none of them were green beans. We talked about farming, about the people I knew from when I lived there and then Dad asked about Donna.
"Son, tell me about a woman you know named Donna."
"Donna? What makes you think I know a woman named Donna?"
"She called here about two hours before you arrived. Your Momma answered the phone." He stopped. He wasn't going to say more until I told him what he wanted to know.
Mom said, "She asked if you were here yet. I asked who she was and she told me her story. I want to hear your story."
I told them a short and "G" rated version. They listened without interruption. I finished with, "I left the two of them at the truck stop and came here."
Donna said to tell you that you are welcome in their house anytime. In fact she made it quite clear it was a strong invitation."
"I'd be happy to stop with them for a day or so when I'm back that way again."
"You're dense sometimes." Dad said. "They want you back as more than a house guest!"
"From the smells coming out of your rig today I think they tasted the hospitality of your truck." Mom added.
"That was more than a taste!" Dad said with a smile.
"I suppose you want to go with him when he goes to Grand Island?"
"Nope. I want to die and be buried here in Wyoming. Something tells me meeting those two women would get me the heart attack doc Fredricks has been promising me."
"If it didn't, I'd kill you myself when you got back." Mom said. Dad slowly got up and made his way to Mom's chair, helped her stand and kissed her saying, "I've been pretty happy for forty-eight years kissing only you. Why change?"
"We've been married fifty-one years."
"I didn't say I'd been happy all the years we've been married. Forty-eight's pretty good tho." She slapped his shoulder and he flinched like she'd hurt him, grinning the whole time.
I did the dishes and slept in the second house. There is an energy around home that I've never felt anywhere else. Sure, there are snakes and spiders and other dangers in Wyoming, but on Dad's farm I've always felt safe. He and Mom have lived in their house for well over forty years and no snake has ever entered the house. I slept feeling totally at peace and safe.
Just after noon my sister drove in and parked her truck at the hitching rail in front of the second house. She walked in, looked around and said, "Maybe there should be a class for men to learn about arranging furniture." I was in the kitchen and heard her.
"If there was such a class only dumb men would take it. The rest of us know that wherever we put furniture, you'll want it moved."
She met me in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen. We hugged and she thanked me for helping. By then Mom opened the door and came in.
"He helped himself, too. Your brother has two new women in his life."
She was still standing with her arms around me. Her head turned and she looked in my eyes. "One as good as ..." I shook my head and said, "Different. That's Ok. I'm different too."
Mom said she had lunch ready. The four of us ate together and stayed in the kitchen for hours. We got the story of the end of LeeAnn's marriage, her trip to visit her daughter in Atlanta, my trip home and Dad's last visit to the doctor. When it was time Mom started cooking dinner. LeeAnn helped. Dad and I went for a walk. Out the back door, around the barn twice and back inside. He asked when I needed to be back on the road. I told him I needed to be gone the next day.
"Tell Momma at dinner. She needs to prepare herself."
"Dad, should I come by more often?"
"Your Momma would appreciate it." He didn't look at me when he said it. I knew him well enough to know he was really saying he would like it too. I promised myself to get home more often.
Back in the house LeeAnn was discussing if Momma should keep doing all the cooking or if LeeAnn should do a night or two a week. Dad and I went back outside and sat on the porch.
Half an hour passed and LeeAnn came out to get us. "Come eat." She said.
I expected her to remind us to wash up, but we went straight to the sink and did it without the reminder. Dinner was pretty quiet. I asked Dad if he knew the weather report for the next day. Momma put her fork down and asked, "Does that mean you'll be leaving tomorrow?"
I quoted Dad, "If the weather's good and the creek don't rise, I'll be on the road tomorrow."
I watched her eyes fill without spilling. She said, "I'm making biscuits and gravy in the morning with hen fresh eggs. You can stay long enough to eat a good breakfast can't you?"
I nodded. My head said leave by dawn. My heart answered Momma. I'd be lucky to be starting the truck by eleven.
We stayed with Mom and Dad until eight. Mom made a dismissal wave of her hand in the direction of the second house and LeeAnn caught it. Dad didn't see it. We excused ourselves and walked to the second house.
As we walked LeeAnn hooked my arm and said, "I've missed you."
"I've missed you, Momma, Dad, my wife and sleeping somewhere besides in my truck."
We sat on the porch and talked a long time. She told me parts of the story about her marriage she didn't tell Mom and Dad. I figured next time I was in the area I'd pay him a visit. Or, maybe I'd pay someone to pay him a visit. No one should abuse their wife the way he hurt LeeAnn. She had been hospitalized three times because he hit her. She had a bridge so her three missing teeth didn't show. He had broken four ribs when he was drunk. And, she stayed. Then, when the secretary showed up pregnant, she had had enough.
It was late and I said I'd sleep in the truck. There was only one bed in the second house. Even though it was forty degrees I'd already run power to the truck so I didn't need to run the engine to stay warm. LeeAnn gave me a hug and I went to the truck. She went inside her new home.
It didn't take long and I was in bed, snug and warm.
In the middle of the night I heard and felt the door open and someone climb into the truck. I didn't move. I knew the keys to the truck were well hidden if whoever it was wanted to steal the truck. I also knew my 9mm was easy to reach.
The curtain opened a little and LeeAnn stood in front of me. She had a long flannel nightgown on. She closed the curtain and slid into bed with me. She draped my arm over her body and I thought of how Donna had done the same thing. She didn't tuck my hand between her breasts, but she did hold my hand.
A minute later she whispered, "Thank you, Nick."
I responded by going to sleep. At seven my alarm woke us. I shut it off and said, "Please tell me why you came to bed with me last night."
"I was laying in bed thinking and knew if I snuggled safe in your arms I could sleep. I was safer last night than I've slept in twenty years. Thank you."
"Think Momma will understand?"
"I ought to get in the house and dressed before she's up?"
"I'd like to see that happen. Momma knows what time it was when you opened the door to the truck. She probably knows what you're wearing, too."
"Maybe she's not as sharp as she used to be?" LeeAnn got up and as quietly as she could stood up. The sound of a hand slapping on the side of the sleeper stopped her. Momma's voice said, "Up and attum! Breakfast will be on the table in ten minutes, you two!"