Driving Wheels

Emily hadn't been to the beach in years, so armed with an umbrella, sunscreen, towels and an esky full of snacks and drinks, we found the path from the retirement village to the beach nearby, setting up and immediately heading towards the water. She was wearing a gorgeous two-piece swimsuit, having confessed she wasn't confident enough to wear a bikini. I assured her she looked fantastic with what she had on. That earned me one hell of a kiss and a whispered promise in my ear of much more that night.

It was the first time I'd spent the day on a beach in years myself though I still had a slight tan. Emily was rather pale, so I enjoyed rubbing cream onto her body more than once. Rubbing cream led to feeling her up each time, pulling aside her bottoms as she lay on her front, slowly sliding a pair of fingers inside her, bringing her to a quiet orgasm each time.

Returning to my parents' home after a day on the beach, the parents suggested dinner at the local leagues club. They knew I was driving, so Dad refrained from buying me a beer, but they paid for our meal. Typical meal you'd get in a club. It was tasty and filling, and the perfect way to end a visit with the folks.

Leaving early the next morning, they were both up and about to see us off. Mum hugged Emily tightly again, Mum telling me with authority that I must bring her to see them more often. When she hugged me, she whispered, "Look after her, Mark. And marry the girl. She loves you with all her heart."

"I know, Mum. But marriage already?"

"Trust me. She's worth settling down for."

The drive from Coffs Harbour to Brisbane took the entire day. I hadn't informed my sister I was in the area, so agreed with Emily that I'd take on a few runs around Queensland before we returned to Brisbane and spent a couple of days with my sister and her kids. Wayne's contact was brilliant, setting up a series of routes that would take us almost around all the Sunshine State. From Brisbane, we'd head west out towards Charleville. North to Longreach then onwards to Cloncurry. Back east towards the coast and Townsville, then returning south along the coast via the likes of Rockhampton and the Sunshine Coast. Picking up trips here and there in between the long-distance routes, including a trip to and from Cairns from Townsville, we ended up spending twelve days on the road.

On the day we were returning to Brisbane, I gave my sister a call. She was ever so excited to hear from me, almost breaking down and, I'll admit, my eyes got a little wet as I heard her almost sobbing. We'd always been close, despite the distance between us, and I'd missed my little sister more than I'd care to admit.

"I'm bringing someone with me," I told her, "Well, we're arriving in Brisbane in a couple of hours. It's Saturday tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, it is, you big lump! I'll go shopping tonight and make sure I have everything we need. When can you stay until?"

"We'll need to leave on Monday morning, but you can have me for three nights, if you can tolerate that."

"Mark, you can stay as long as you want. I miss you."

I took a deep breath. "Miss you too, munchkin."

That made her cry. It had been my name for her all her life. "I'll see you tomorrow, Mark. Love you."

"Love you too."

Hanging up, I had to wipe my eyes, Emily leaning across to take one of my hands. "Sounds like she really loves her big brother."

"Yeah," I stated with a chuckle, "We always get emotional when I'm coming up to visit."

Pulling up in suburbia in my truck earned some attention from her neighbours. Sally, my sister, opened her front door and practically sprinted towards me, leaping into my arms, crying into my shoulder. I'm sure many would have thought I was some long-lost love and not her brother. Managed to carry her across the street to her front lawn before hugging her back just as tight.

When she finally let me go, I introduced her to Emily. "Oh, Mum's already been on the phone all about you. I'm Sally."

Emily received just as tight a hug as Sally's husband, William, walked out with my niece and nephew to say hello. The men carried bags inside as we were shown to the guest room first, Sally explaining that she'd spent hours tidying up for our arrival, then suggested it was a celebration, so she opened a bottle of wine, William offered me a bottle of beer, and we gathered outside, the two kids immediately leaping into the pool as it was already rather warm.

We spent a couple of hours just catching up, introducing Emily properly to my sister and her small family. The kids, not seeing me very often, were constantly asking me questions and were very curious as to who Emily was. The six of us ended up in the pool to cool off as it was still hot, even in the late evening, before the kids were sent off to bed and the four adults gathered in the living room.

It was lovely catching up with my sister. She'd done well for herself in her career, and she was obviously happily married. No plans for further kids, but they owned their own house, two cars in the garage, well-paid jobs and a comfortable life.

"And when are you going to settle down in one place?" Sally asked rather pointedly.

Emily took my hand and squeezed. "I'm enjoying being on the road with him. Not exactly what I imagined I'd be doing but compare to what I was having to put up with, I'm with the man I love, I'm seeing parts of the country I'd have never seen otherwise, and even staying in a different hotel room every couple of days, or sleeping in his compartment, isn't that bad." She cuddled into my shoulder before adding, "But settling down in the future would be nice, particularly as I'd like some kids of my own."

Sally looked at me in surprise. I met her look and smiled back. "It's already been discussed, Sally. Maybe long-distance trucking isn't something I'll keep doing." Taking a sip of beer, I looked away for a minute, kissing the top of Emily's head, before glancing at my sister again. "How much do houses go for around here anyway?"

She squealed. Emily squealed, and I was soon being cuddled by two rather excitable women. "When? When? When?" Sally asked.

"I don't know, but though I love having Emily out on the road with me, I've found myself thinking, for the first time in a long time, that perhaps laying down roots somewhere would be a nice thing to do. And if we were to have kids, being absent all the time wouldn't be fair. Fairly sure I can find a regular driving and delivery job around the city."

"They're dying for drivers, mate," William stated, "Trust me, the hours might be shit, as in starting early, but they're throwing money at drivers as there's a real lack of them right now."

It was a fantastic weekend. Sally and I spent time just chatting together in private, just catching up on our lives. Just like my parents, she suggested that Emily was a lovely woman and, if I had any intelligence at all, I'd propose and marry her quickly. I told her I'd take her advice under advisement, just like the advice from our parents. As for Emily, my niece and nephew took a real shine to her, and when they were taking all her attention, there was more than one glance in my direction, and I can read women enough. She wanted her own.

Leaving early on Monday morning, Sally had the kids up ready to get for school. William started early as he had to join the traffic to get into the centre of Brisbane. I hugged my sister tightly for a few minutes as she sobbed against my chest. I promised her I'd return a lot sooner than I usually did.

"You'd better. I have a new best friend in the future regarding your soon to be wife," she said sharply, poking my chest, "So you'd better not be a stranger, mister." Then her lower lip trembled, and I hugged her again. "Love you," she whispered.

"Love you too, munchkin."

Back in Sydney a couple of days later, I had a chat with Wayne, organising with him to just do a few shuttles up and down the Hume, Sydney to Melbourne and back, for a couple of weeks. Emily understood the reason, as we'd been doing thousands of k's around the eastern states, and I wouldn't mind a return to some normality.

There was also another reason. One night while she was asleep, I snuck to the bathroom with my phone and spent a good hour searching the internet for something in particular. I had to take a guess at a couple of things, but made it was delivered to my house in Goulburn. Sliding back into bed after flushing the toilet, she cuddled into me, murmuring that she loved me. I kissed her cheek, whispering back the same words.

Two more trips up and down the Hume before suggesting we stop at Goulburn for one night. I was already thinking about my future and the house was one thing I had to take into consideration. My tenants were aware I would be coming, and they were friendly as always. Introducing Emily, they were surprised to see me with a woman, as they'd been tenants for years, and never see me arrive with anyone. They told me I had a package, Emily immediately curious, but I told her it wasn't anything important.

Two days later, we were heading south back to Melbourne, making it all the way to Wodonga. Walking in with Emily, the same girls were behind the counter or taking orders from customers. Pat greeted me with a smile as always, remembered who Emily was, and she was used to me arriving with her on my arm.

After ordering our meal, making sure we had a main meal and menu, we were chatting away about what we could do next. I hadn't been to Adelaide in months and was tempted to take a trip there from either Sydney or Melbourne if possible. She had no interest in heading to Perth, happy to stick to the eastern states, but I knew she was hoping that I was giving some thought to potentially staying permanently somewhere.

When our desserts arrived, I asked her to wait. Sliding out of my seat, I leaned down to kiss her before getting down on one knee. We were immediately surrounded by the girls and Pat as I opened the small box showing off the ring that I'd purchased for her.

"Emily, I haven't felt this level of happiness in my life in a long time, if ever. I love having you with me every day on the road, but I'm already putting things in place where we might be able to make a home together, maybe even start a family. I only hope that I give you as much happiness now and in the future. So the most important question in my life to this point is... Emily, will you be my wife?"

"God yes!" she whispered, kissing me deeply before I placed the ring on her finger. There was light applause as Emily stood up so I could hug her properly.

Sitting next to her, I opened my phone and made a call to my parents. Dad cheered, Mum cried, with promises to catch up as soon as we could. Then I called my sister. She cried too, then I made her cry even more when I asked about any houses for sale in her or nearby suburbs. That question also caught Emily by surprise, hugging me tightly.

Snuggling in what we now called our sleeping compartment, Emily immediately figured out why I'd proposed there. "Where we first met," she whispered, "Perhaps not the greatest of meeting stories, but every day since then has been better and better."

"I'm serious, sweetheart. I'm ready to settle down with you as that's what we both want. I'll put the house in Goulburn up for sale, sell this truck, that'll give us a deposit for a house, and I'll find a job hopefully without too much issue."

"And me?"

"You have my support to do whatever you want."

"I want a baby," she whispered.

"Then we'll have a baby once we have everything sorted out. When do you want to get married?"

"You want to live near your sister?"

"Yeah."

"Then I can wait until we're settled in Brisbane near your sister. She can help us organise something nice and simple."

Trying to organise everything on the road wasn't easy. Neither of us wanting to waste money renting somewhere before buying a house, so we agreed that I'd keep working until we found a house to buy. But I let Wayne know that I would be heading north to Brisbane in the future. He immediately put me in contact with a few places he knew that could give me regular work. Hopefully, it wouldn't have me travelling interstate and would limit my journeys intrastate.

It took a couple of months to get all these organised, aware it was taking us closer and closer to Christmas. Emily and I discussed it and we headed north for the final time in early December. Neither of us was leaving anything behind. I'd spoken to estate agents in Goulburn and put the house up for sale, giving the current tenants first refusal. I had a price in mind, and if they could afford the mortgage, I'd happily sell them the house.

Sally agreed to put us up while we looked for our own place in Brisbane. We remained there through Christmas and New Year, Mum and Dad driving up from Coffs Harbour to join us during the festive period. On Christmas Day itself, we made a Skype call to her family in the United Kingdom, and there were suggestions from both sides of the world to travel and visit each other. Buying a house would make such an idea difficult from our end, and her parents did sound eager to return to Australia for a visit.

After celebrating the new year, I was amazed at how easy it was to find work as a driver with a regular route. With all my experience, I had companies practically throwing money at me. Once I'd signed a contract, I put my truck up for sale. Considering the number of k's on the clock, I couldn't sell it for a ridiculous sum of money, but it had a full maintenance record, I'd given it a lot of TLC, and it was a reliable beast. I eventually sold it for a sum of cash and adding it to the sale of the house in Goulburn, we had more than enough money to put a deposit down for a house, purchase a car, plus a little cash for a wedding, purchase some things for our new home, and put away some savings.

It only took us six weeks to find a house that we both fell in love with. It was only two suburbs away from Sally and her small family, which delighted my sister, but Emily and I walked out of the house upon viewing and pretty much agreed to put in an offer immediately. Didn't take long for it to be accepted, and from there, it was rather smooth sailing.

We did go a little crazy buying things for our new home. All the furniture back in Goulburn had been part of the house sale, so Emily and I could buy whatever we wanted, I loved following her around shops of a weekend, still getting used to having two days off a week, watching how excited she got over big-ticket items, like fridges and ovens, to the smallest items, such as what sort of cutlery we'd get.

Moving in day was a lot of fun. I carried her over the threshold, and we spent a weekend moving in the more important items, in particular a king-sized bed, a three-seater lounge and two armchairs, whitegoods for the kitchen and laundry room, and a barbecue for out the back, as I intended to host parties, particularly as we had a pool.

Lying back in our own bed, in our new house, on the Sunday night was wonderful. Emily wanted to christen every room over the next week more than once. That weekend, we christened our new bedroom plenty of times. "I'm going to go off the pill," she whispered into my ear as we lay there, slightly stick and sweaty, knowing I'd need a shower in the morning before work.

"Okay. Guess we should get a wedding organised."

"Why don't we just have it here in the backyard? I know we don't exactly have a lot of friends yet..."

"Good excuse to get to know the neighbours though."

Emily thought it was a brilliant idea. We organised our wedding for six months' time, giving her parents time to save so they could travel over. We organised a 'welcome to the neighbourhood' barbecue for a fortnight's time. Hearing we were from New South Wales and Western Australia led to some good-natured ribbing during the barbecue, as we were mostly surrounded by Queenslanders, but the barbecue was a roaring success, and we immediately made some good friend. Letting them know we were engaged and soon to be married, Emily was soon inundated with offers to help with all manners of things.

Our wedding suddenly turned into a larger event, which neither of us minded. I'd already made a couple of friends at work, inviting them too, with extended offers to bring wives and kids along.

I couldn't remember a happier time in my life, to be honest. I'd spent nearly two decades on the roads behind the wheel of a truck. I'd found a freedom that only those who do the same thing can feel and understand, but when I sat back and thought about it, I'd also been left feeling a little isolated from the world, and quite lonely a lot of the time. Not thinking about it at the time did make it easier for me. But although I'd been making plenty of cash, pretty much owned and operated my own truck, I was otherwise standing still in life.

I didn't believe in much regarding organised religion, but I reckoned it was fate that had Emily in that restaurant outside Wodonga that evening.

Today, I was standing in our backyard wearing a suit. William was my best man as, to be honest, I didn't really have a best friend to ask, but I'd made some good friends already. Sally was Emily's Maid of Honour. The two were already thick as thieves, and I loved the fact two of the three most important women in my life got along (the third was my mother.)

As Emily walked towards me, escorted by her father, her family having made the journey from the United Kingdom for our special day, I couldn't help grin like an idiot, even feeling myself tearing up at how beautiful she looked. A long white flowing gown, her face covered by a veil, but I could still see her eyes shining behind it.

But there was something just as wonderful as Emily walking towards me, ready to exchange vows that would make us husband and wife.

She was currently three months' pregnant with our first child. And we'd already agreed it would not be our last.

*****

A/N - Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the yarn, and I'm sure most of the names of cities and towns meant nothing to most of you. Give them a search online to get a flavour of the locations!

The country town of Longreach was featured heavily in my 'romance' story 'Outback'.

The provincial city of Grafton was the main setting for my story 'Flame Trees'.