The Road to Glory (4 page)

A few more years of trucking and Leigh planned to sell her rig while it still held most of its value. She was bound and determined to get a normal life and do whatever it is non-trucking people did. She hoped it included more sex and that hemorrhoids wouldn’t be an occupational hazard.

She’d pulled away from the diner right after her shower, telling herself not to give into temptation and take one long last look at the beauty chopping wood. She’d been completely unable to resist the impulse, of course. Leigh didn’t have the willpower of a gnat. Since then she’d made good time and was already enjoying the quiet beauty of Montana.

"Breaker 1-9, this is Red Rooster looking for Tom– errr … Leigh." Rooster knew better than to call Leigh ‘Tom Cat’ over the airwaves … at least while he figured there was a chance she’d hear him. After all, he still hoped to have children someday. "You out there, Leigh?" He hated breaking protocol by using her real name. But she left him little choice.

She pushed the button on her radio that allowed for hands-free communication as she passed a slow-moving station wagon loaded with kids. "Hiya, Rooster. Let’s take it to down to Monday." That was the code her daddy used when he wanted to switch from the main channel to just have a little more privacy. Monday was the second day of the week, so Leigh adjusted her radio frequency two channels down.

"Will do, Leigh. See you there."

Another few seconds and Rooster’s voice filled her cab again. "Well, now, ‘bout time you started listening to the radio again. I’ve been trying to get you since yesterday."

Leigh snorted. "If I sat around and listened to you boys all day, I’d be as full of shit as you are."

Rooster laughed. "Can’t argue with that. Everything okay, though?" He’d been a longtime friend of her daddy’s and tried to check in on Leigh every once in a while. The man had given Leigh her first beer. Okay, she was nine years old at the time, but he only let her drink half. In his mind, he was practically her godfather.

"Everything’s fine, Rooster." Leigh’s eyes filled with unexpected tears, and she wiped them away angrily. "You don’t have to worry about me."

"I didn’t say I was worried," the man lied. "I just asked how you were. I haven’t seen hide nor hair of you in nearly two months."

"I’ve been busy."

"Driving? Leigh, we’re all busy driving. That still doesn’t explain why I haven’t seen you."

"Rooster," Leigh drew out his name menacing. "I’ve been busy." She enunciated each word so precisely that Rooster knew the subject was now officially closed.

But he couldn’t help but adding, "I’m going to stop at Rosie’s tonight." Rooster didn’t phrase it as a question, but he knew by the long silence on the other end of the radio that Leigh was thinking about it.

Leigh glanced at her odometer, then her watch. "I’ll be there," she finally said, clicking off her radio before Rooster had a chance to reply.

*  *  *

It was nearly 8:00 p.m. when Leigh pulled into Rosie’s Truck Stop. She could already see Rooster’s royal blue rig parked alongside another dozen trucks, several of which she recognized. Leigh eased the truck into the long spaces designed for her type of vehicle and killed the ignition. She hadn’t been avoiding this place, just not going out of her way to stop.

Leigh unconsciously gripped the steering wheel a little tighter.
What the hell is wrong with me?
Last night her dreams had been filled with piercing green eyes. In fact, Leigh felt as though she’d been set on a low burn ever since she stopped at Fitz’s Diner.Her knuckles turned white against the large steering wheel.
Time to do something about that,
she thought determinedly.

The short woman jumped out of the truck and marched through the door at Rosie’s. In the back, waiting on a table was a waitress in a tight pink outfit. She was a little older than Leigh, with long, light brown hair and healthy curves in all the right places. The waitress leaned over to reach for a glass, and Leigh’s eyes opened a little wider.
Oh, yeah. Come to mama.
She took a step toward the woman only to be held back by Rooster.

"Whoa there!" Rooster’s gaze drifted toward the waitress, and he shook his head. "Time for that later." Leigh heard several sniggers from a table behind her and a mumbled ‘Tom Cat’ or two. "Come join us."

Leigh wanted to shrug Rooster’s large hand off her shoulder. But she didn’t. Instead, she drew in a deep calming breath and turned to face the enormous man. Rooster was six and a half feet of pure, unadulterated blubber. Even his chins had chins. He was as carrot-topped as Lucille Ball, hence his unimaginative nickname. "Hi, Rooster," Leigh said softly, suddenly feeling terribly guilty for not seeing the old family friend in the last couple of months.

"Wow!" He gently touched Leigh’s swollen cheek. "I hope she was worth it."

"Very funny."
And I’m sure she would have been.

"Hello, Leigh. Or is it Slugger now?" Rooster smiled gently and wrapped his arm around her shoulders to guide her back to his table where several other truckers who Leigh knew almost as well as she knew Rooster were sitting. "I see you haven’t grown any," the big man teased. "I was holding out hope."

Leigh chuckled to herself. "Do you have any idea how old I am, Rooster?"

The man’s brow creased deeply as he thought. He’d known her daddy forever. But Leigh was just a tiny thing — compact and strong, but short as hell. He thought harder. She had to be at least eighteen to drive Tom Cat’s truck. Hmm … She’d been at it for a while now. "Nineteen?" he hazarded, hoping he was within a few years either way.

"Jesus, Rooster," Leigh snorted. "I’m going to be twenty-eight years old next month. I’m not going to grow any more!"

"Twenty-eight?" Rooster blinked. Damn. He began to wonder if the things his wife said about beer were true. Were all his brain cells were really dissolving like Jell-O on a hotplate? "Okay, Ethel." he mumbled, crossing his heart. "Light beer for a week. So help me, God."

"Tom Cat!" A man at Rooster’s table stupidly called out when Leigh pulled out a chair.

Without hesitation, Leigh smacked him in the back of the head, sending his baseball cap into his chili. "God dammit, To– "

Leigh’s evil stare stopped him mid word.

"Leigh," he finished awkwardly, aware that Rooster was now laughing at him. "That was my Braves hat, after all!"

"And now you’re down to a million minus one. Live with it. And don’t even ask about my eye. I’m not telling and that’s final."

A round of whining moans met Leigh’s pronouncement.

Leigh raised her hand, indicating she needed a waitress. A shiver chased down her spine when the bony woman with dishrag-limp gray hair and a space between her front teeth you could drive a truck through — even Leigh’s enormous truck — waved tiredly back.

"Did you have to call over the butt-ugly new waitress?" Rooster complained. He tossed his napkin on his plate, which held nothing but crumbs. "Now you’ve made me go and lose my appetite."

"What?" Leigh spread her hands open. "I’m hungry. Besides, nothing has ever made you lose your appetite. And she’s not
that
ug– " Leigh stopped when the woman sidled up to the table.

"I’m Stephanie." The haggard, middle-aged woman pointed to her nametag for those too stupid to understand what she was saying. "Your waitress."

Leigh nodded slowly. "You’re new here, right, Stephanie?"

"Hell, yes." She stuck her hand up her blouse and began adjusting her bra.

Leigh wondered why she bothered wearing one at all. Two strategically placed Band-Aids would have done the trick nicely.

Stephanie popped her gum. "Who would work in this place, serving these slobs, for any longer than they had to? The tips suck."

"Gee, I wonder why," Leigh deadpanned.

"’Cause these guys are cheap-asses," Stephanie answered, oblivious to Leigh’s sarcasm. Seeming to suddenly tire of the most stimulating conversation she’d had all day, Stephanie droned, "What’ll you have?" She pulled a pencil out from behind her ear and turned bored eyes to Leigh.

"Hamburger with the works, onion rings, and iced tea."

Stephanie nodded and popped her gum again before turning around.

When the waitress was out of earshot Leigh leaned forward and looked at Black Jack, who was, unsurprisingly, a black man named Jack. "I guess there’s finally a waitress at Rosie’s you won’t try to bed."

Black Jack suddenly began to sink lower in his chair.

"Oh, my God," Leigh whispered loudly, her face twisting into the same expression she usually reserved for when she had to scrape roadkill from between the grates of her truck’s grill. "You slept with her? That’s just so … so …" she gestured wildly.

"Disgusting," Rooster offered helpfully.

"Duh."

Black Jack didn’t have to ask Leigh to keep his little indiscretion from his wife. There was a code among truckers. What happened on the road stayed on the road. Where it belonged. "I shouldn’t have done it."

"No shit. And your wife is a good woman, Black Jack," she reminded pointedly. Sure, he chased the waitresses at the diner. But it wasn’t like he’d actually caught any before. She’d thought of it as harmless fun. Until now.

Black Jack looked properly chastised.

"God, you guys are so gross." The blonde woman snorted. "And you wonder why I like women.
Single
women."

Rooster scratched his neck. "No, we don’t, Leigh."

All the men nodded their agreement, causing Leigh’s eyebrows to crawl up her forehead.

"We understand completely." Black Jack sat up a little straighter. "We like them, too. In fact –"

Leigh leaned over and clamped her hand over Black Jack’s mouth. "Please don’t tell me. I’m already having trouble sleeping. Nightmares won’t help." The waitress who had caught Leigh’s eye earlier strolled past Leigh’s table, untying her apron, her hips swaying gently with every step. The blonde smiled broadly.

"Well, boys, it’s been real." She leaned over and kissed Rooster on the cheek. "I’m not hungry."
At least not for burgers.
"You can have my dinner." Leigh tossed a ten-dollar bill on the table. "The change is for Stephanie," she warned the men before following the waitress out the front door.

Rooster pushed his plate out of the way in preparation for Leigh’s. Good food should never go to waste.

"You still worried about Tom Cat?" Black Jack asked at the same time the diner door closed.

He hadn’t talked to Leigh about her life or what was going on with her. But she seemed pretty much the same as always. Maybe a little tired looking. But trucking was a hard life. Nobody knew that better than Leigh. "Nope." Rooster unbuttoned the top button of his jeans. A man had to be comfortable. "I think Tom Cat is doing just fine."

*  *  *

"You ignored me."

"I did not."

"You did. And I should make you beg because of it."

A soft laugh. "You did make me beg."

"No, that was me."

Leigh yawned and snuggled back into damp sheets that felt cool against her overheated skin. Her chest was still heaving, and she consciously made an effort to slow her pounding heart. "Oh, yeah."

The naked woman half-sprawled across Leigh drew the very tip of her finger up from Leigh’s belly button to the baby-soft valley between her breasts.

Leigh arched into the sensual touch despite herself. "Judith," she said softly. "You trying to kill me?" She reached up and grabbed Judith’s hand, kissing each fingertip before laying it back on her belly. But no sooner had she let go of the hand before it began to wander again.

"Stay tomorrow."

Leigh closed her eyes. "I can’t. You know that."

"Can’t or won’t?"

Leigh sighed heavily.

"Don’t say it, don’t say it. You’ve got a schedule to keep." Judith’s fingernail grazed Leigh’s nipple, earning her a soft growl as Leigh’s desire began to flare again. "Why do I always let you do this?"

"The same reason I always let you do this," Leigh whispered as she began to softly kiss Judith’s neck. "It feels great."

The waitress gasped and shifted herself until she was fully on top of Leigh and straddling one thigh. "There is that," she groaned when Leigh’s hands found their way to her hips and she began to slide against the sweat-slicked skin. "Are …" she swallowed hard as her hips picked up a steady rhythm. "Are … God … Are you ever going to stay?"

Leigh’s hands froze, and she looked up at Judith seriously. She was slightly panting. "Probably not."

Judith leaned down and kissed Leigh hard, her own body moving once again. "That’s what I thought."

*  *  *

The next morning Judith woke up in an empty bed that smelled like Leigh and sex. On Leigh’s pillow was a note. She smiled a bittersweet smile and unfolded the small slip of paper. Leigh always left a note.

No matter what anybody says, the most delicious thing at Rosie’s is

not
the hamburgers. Take care, Judith. I had a wonderful time. Thank you.

— Leigh

Judith chuckled and tucked the note into the drawer of her nightstand. If she tried, she could almost hear the hum of Leigh’s truck in the distance.

"I’
M NOT. I’M NOT!" Leigh tapped the steering wheel in an uneven, listless pattern. "I’m not getting sleepy." She shook her head from side to side and tried to focus on the road. She’d been driving through thunderstorms for hundreds of miles, and the rain had finally given way to one of the densest night fogs the trucker had ever seen. She’d encountered numerous wrecks along the way and knew better than to park her truck along the roadside — even with her fog lights on. Besides, she had miles to make up.
Thirty miles per hour is no way to drive ‘cross country,
she thought glumly. It was the middle of the night, and Leigh was miserable.

She blinked rapidly, but the motion still didn’t clear her vision completely.
God, even I have my limit.
"Need a place to stop." Sleepy blue eyes scanned the roadside. She was halfway between nowhere and the boonies. And yet …