The Snowbound Brunette

"I'm not the prettiest girl in the world. I know that. When Jack proposed it was a little bit of a shock because he could have had any girl he wanted. I think I said yes because I was afraid to tell him no."

Brenda frowned again.

"I guess that's how it ended up though, isn't it? He got the woman he wanted in spite of being married to me. I feel so stupid. All the magazine articles say a woman can see when it's happening, but I didn't."

I couldn't let her just sit there and keep running herself down so I tried to change the subject.

"So, what's he going to find when he gets home from work that made you laugh?"

Brenda giggled.

"Two things. The pickup is what Jack uses to pull his boat. He told me to take it to work this morning because he needed to have the car. I suppose he was going to take his girlfriend out for a drink after he got off work. I'm pretty sure he's done that before, because I found an earring down between the seats of our car one day and it wasn't one of mine. When he gets home, he'll wonder why his truck isn't in the drive.

She giggled again.

"He'll find out when he goes inside. I used a permanent marker and wrote, 'I hope your blonde can cook as well as she has sex because I'm done doing both for you' on the refrigerator door.

"I know, it's not very funny to you, but it's the first time I ever stuck up for myself. It feels pretty good. I wish I could see his face when he sees that."

I said I imagined her husband would be mad. She laughed.

"I sure hope so. It serves him right for doing what he did to me."

"So, where do you go from here?"

"I don't know yet. I'll stay with Mom for a while, at least until I find a job, and then I'll move to a place of my own. I'll divorce Jack, of course. I don't really think he'll fight it, and I don't want his boat or anything else he has so it won't cost him anything. He'll be glad to get rid of his ugly, frigid wife. That's what he called me, ugly and frigid."

She was still running herself down. I couldn't see how he could have called her ugly. I didn't know about frigid, but she wasn't ugly by any means.

"Brenda, you're not ugly."

She laughed.

"It's good to hear at least one man say that. Jack never did. I don't think I'm frigid either. I just think a man and wife should agree on what they do, and not have one keep telling the other about how they should do this or that when they don't want to."

About that time we started picking up the normal traffic around any big city like Knoxville, and that traffic was moving pretty slow. I figured everybody had finally figured out the roads were slick and were being extra cautious. What that meant for me was I had to slow down and that would cause me another delay.

About five miles into the city limits was a Red Roof I used to use when I drove a truck without a sleeper. It wasn't much on fancy, but it was a shower, TV, and a bed, and next door was a fast food burger place. Most importantly, the parking lot was huge. Even with all the cars parked there that night, it was big enough I could wheel my rig in and then get back on the street without having to back up and then pull forward about a hundred times to get turned around.

I pulled into the lot and told Brenda I'd wait until she came back out and told me she'd gotten a room. I also gave her my jacket so she wouldn't get too cold. She climbed down out of the cab and trotted to the reservation desk. She wasn't in there for more than three minutes before she came walking back with her head down. When she climbed back inside, she told me why.

"They're full, and the clerk said all the other hotels and motels are too. They're having some sort of exposition this weekend and all the exhibitors got here early to set up. There were still a lot of rooms left this morning, but once it started to snow, those filled up too. He said the people coming from Nashville said all the motels between here and Nashville are full too."

I suppose I should have figured that would be the case. The snow wasn't bad to drive on now, but it had started that morning. A lot of people who weren't locals would probably have decided to stay the night in hopes the road crews would get I-40 cleared by morning. That was a smart decision, but it didn't help Brenda any, and I wasn't sure what to do with her. She understood that too.

"I guess I won't be spending the night in a motel, will I?"

"No, I guess not."

"Can I stay with you for a while longer?"

"Well, I have to be in Nashville in...", I looked at the clock on the dash, "in about four hours so I can't hang around here much longer. I don't have a problem with you staying with me, but that's taking you farther and farther away from your truck."

"I don't really care about that old truck. Jack smokes in it and every time I drive it my clothes and hair smell like cigarette smoke. He can come and get it if he wants it. I can use Mom's car until I save enough to buy another one."

"Where does your mom live? If it's close to I-40, maybe I can drop you off there."

Brenda sighed.

"It's not. She lives in Fayetteville."

Fayetteville would cost me at least three hours and I'd never make my Memphis dock time.

"Brenda, I'd like to help you out, but I can't...I mean, this is how I earn my living, and if I don't keep to my schedule, I won't get more hauling jobs."

"If you let me ride to Nashville, I'll call Mom and ask her to come get me. Would that be OK with you?"

We'd been back on I-40 and through Knoxville when Brenda touched my arm.

"I don't know how to thank you. I won't get you in trouble with your wife because you have a woman in your truck with you, will I? I don't want her to think you're messing around on her. I know what that feels like and I wouldn't wish it on any other woman."

"You won't because I'm not married."

"You're not?"

I was coming up on a slow moving car and looked in my mirrors to see if anything was beside me, then pulled out and passed the car. When I'd gotten the rig back in the right hand lane I answered her.

"No, I'm not married. I was once, but not any more."

"What happened", she asked.

"Well, about the same thing that happened to you, but the other way around."

"She was...with another man?"

"Yeah. I can't really blame her all that much. It was my job that did it."

"Your job? How could that be?"

"I was driving long-haul for a company in Raleigh that sells parts for about every car ever made. The parts for Japanese cars came from Japan and landed at the docks in San Francisco. I'd drive out to San Francisco and pick them up, then drive back to the main warehouse in Raleigh. That part of the trip took about five days.

"When I got to Raleigh I'd have a day off at home while they loaded me up with parts for their regional warehouses, then I'd start back for San Francisco. That trip took six days so I'd have one day in San Francisco to reset my hours, and then I'd start back to Raleigh.

"I only had one day at home in twelve. She got tired of doing everything for herself and found another guy to mow the grass and fix stuff around the house. He ended up helping her with some other things too.

"I made really good time on one trip from San Francisco and ended up getting home a day early. When I drove in my drive, there was a strange car parked there. When I went inside, they were on the couch together, naked. I didn't say anything. I just left and went to a motel for the night.

"The next morning she called my cell phone to apologize. How do you apologize for something like that? She tried to say it was because she was lonely. I just told her I wouldn't be back and that I wasn't going to put any more of my pay in our joint checking account.

"She filed for divorce a month later and I didn't contest it. Our lawyers worked out a settlement where she got half our checking account and half the house. When she sold it, I took my half of the money, bought this truck, and started out on my own. Right now, I have a contract with an electronics company in Raleigh, and I do about the same thing. I pick up parts from China in San Francisco and drive them to their main warehouse in Raleigh, then drop off parts at their factories on the way back."

Brenda patted my arm.

"I'm sorry that happened to you. I understand how she felt, but what she did was wrong. I felt lonely too when Jack started sleeping in our spare bedroom, but that's not an excuse for doing what she did. She could have started riding with you. That way you could be together every night."

"I tried to get her to do that, but she said she couldn't live in a sleeper cab and she was probably right. She liked clothes and shoes, and there's no way all of her stuff would have fit. No, it's better that we got divorced. I like the freedom I have with this job and I could never give it up, so it would have happened sooner or later. I'm just glad it happened before we had any kids like she wanted."

I was half an hour late for my dock time in Nashville, but nobody else made theirs either so I didn't have to wait to unload. While that was going on, Brenda used my cell phone to call her mother again. She said she hadn't eaten since lunch, so I took her to a fast food place for something to eat while she waited for her mother to get there. It was about two in the morning when she thanked me with a hug, said goodbye, and then got in her mother's car.

Three months later I was rolling along I-40 between Memphis and Jackson when my cell phone played it's little tune to tell me I had an incoming call. I didn't answer it because it was a little after two on a Friday afternoon and everybody on the road seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere for the weekend. I was due for a break and needed fuel though, so I pulled into the next Love's. After fueling up and paying the bill, I found an empty space in the parking lot and picked up my phone.

I didn't recognize the number, but the caller ID said Rachael Haynes. I didn't remember ever talking to a Rachael Haynes, but I figured I must have at some point. The only way her name could have gotten in my cell phone was if I put it there. The area code was from the Nashville area so I figured it might be somebody at the Nashville plant, though I had no idea why they'd be calling me. I wasn't due back there for four more days.

After tapping the screen to dial the missed call, I waited for an answer. What I got wasn't the Nashville plant.

Brenda didn't say "hello". She said, "Hi Tim. How's it going?"

"Brenda?"

"Yeah, this is me."

"I don't mind your calling, but how did you get this number?"

She giggled.

"It was on Mom's phone from when I called her from yours. I wrote it down just in case she erased it."

"And I suppose you typed her name and number into mine when you called her."

She chuckled.

"Yeah, I did it when I called her when we were in Nashville. I didn't want you to block the number if I called you again. I thought if there was a name for the number, you'd answer it, and you did."

"OK, so why the call?"

"I just wanted to thank you again. I'm divorced now. I don't have much of anything yet, but I have a job and a new cell phone and this morning I bought a used car. It's all because of you."

"Brenda, all I did was take you from your truck to Nashville."

"I know, but it wasn't that. You were so nice to me even though you didn't know me, and you said I wasn't ugly. That meant more to me than you can ever imagine. I'd spent a year with Jack either ignoring me or telling me I wasn't pretty. When you did what you did, I started to believe in myself again a little."

"Well, I'm glad you're happy now."

I heard her take a deep breath.

"You're almost to Jackson right now. That means you'll be in Nashville in about four hours, right?"

"Yes, but how do you know that?"

"I got a cell phone tracker for my phone. I costs me ten dollars a month, and it's really so you can track your kids and see where they are and who they're talking to, but every night, I type in your phone number and look to see where you are. I have for the last month. That's how I know how long it takes you to get from Jackson to Nashville."

"Why would you do that?"

"I know it sounds silly, but it makes me feel a little like I'm still riding with you. I'd look to see where you were and then look for pictures of that place. I'd imagine I was looking out of your windows at what was going by. It helped me forget about Jack.

"It was dark that night and I couldn't see much, but it was fun, the most fun I'd had in a long, long time. You probably didn't think so, but it was for me. I just couldn't tell you that, not after you told me about your wife. You'd have thought I was trying to do the same thing she did."

"Brenda, I wouldn't have thought that, but it's OK if you did. Is that the only reason you called?"

I heard her take another deep breath.

"No. I wanted to ask you if you'd...I mean, I never really thanked you and I should have. When you get to Nashville, could I meet you someplace? We could have something to eat and then catch up."

Well, I rolled into Nashville a little before six and took the Briley around the city to the restaurant she'd suggested. There wasn't much of a parking lot, but Brenda said there was Walmart with a big lot next door. She wasn't joking. There were a lot of cars in the Walmart lot, but there was still enough room for a lot more trucks than were already parked there. I pulled in beside a Kenworth with a load of machinery, locked up, and walked to the restaurant.

Brenda was waiting there at the door, though I didn't recognize her at first. When she'd been riding my shotgun seat, she'd looked a little disheveled and plain. That night, her hair was fixed and her face was entirely different. She laughed when she saw the look on my face.

"I haven't changed that much, have I?"

"No, but you are different. It's a nice difference too. You look great."

Even in the dim light over the door I could see her blushing.

"I tried. Thanks for noticing. It means a lot to me."

I was a little uncomfortable sitting at the table in my jeans and blue shirt with the Simmons Trucking logo on the back since Brenda was wearing a really nice dress, but I quickly forgot about that. Brenda told me what had happened once her mother picked her up in Nashville.

"Would you believe Jack didn't call Mom or Chrissy or anybody to find out where I was? All he did was go get his truck after the state police told him where it was and that he had to move it or they'd tow it away. He thought more of that truck than he did of me.

"The day after Mom picked me up, I went to a lawyer. I told him what was going on and that Chrissy could back me up. He asked what I wanted and I told him just to be rid of Jack. He called me two days later and said he'd gotten a statement from Chrissy, and had drawn up the papers and Jack had them. He called me a week after that and said Jack had hired a lawyer and they'd had a meeting. Even though I'd told him I didn't want anything, he'd told Jack I wanted the car and his boat. He'd gotten Jack to agree to pay both lawyer's fees instead.

"So, I got divorced and it didn't cost me anything except a year of feeling worthless. I don't feel that way now. I got a job as a cook again, but it's at a better restaurant so I get paid more than before. I'm pretty happy, happier than I've been in over a year."

I had to smile because Brenda was smiling for all she was worth. It was infective, that smile. I couldn't stop.

We finished dinner and I was walking her to her car when she asked if she could sit in my shotgun seat one more time. I didn't see any harm in saying she could.

She climbed up the two steps, plopped herself down on the seat and then sighed.

"I won't ever forget how this feels. It must be nice to do this every day."

I chuckled.

"Most people wouldn't think so, but it's the only job I've ever had where nobody tells me what to do or how to do it. I like that."

She looked around some more, than looked back into the sleeper section.

"That's where you sleep?"

"Yep, that's my motel room. I don't just sleep there though. I have a stereo radio, a TV and a DVD player, and a little refrigerator/freezer and a microwave so I don't have to go to restaurants to eat."

Brenda had a sheepish look on her face when she said, "Can I try it out?"

When I said she could, she slid sideways on the seat, stood up, and walked back to the bed. She sat down, kicked off her high heels, and then stretched out on her back.

"This is comfy. I bet you sleep really good."

I shrugged.

"It's not like sleeping in a regular bed, but you get used to it."

"How do you keep people from seeing inside? I wouldn't want anybody to see me sleeping."

I got out of my seat and showed her the curtain that pulls across the space between the sleeper and the seats. She rolled to her side after I'd closed the curtain and turned around.

"That would do it. You know, this bed is almost big enough for two people, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I suppose, if they're both small."

"You're tall, but you're not fat and I'm not very big. We'd probably fit just fine, don't you think?"

She was grinning at the time and I wasn't sure where she was going.

"I suppose we would. It'd be pretty tight though. You wouldn't want to roll around much or one of us would end up on the floor."

She was still grinning.

"Maybe we should try it out, just so I can tell the girls at work what it feels like to be in a sleeper with a man."

That grin told me she wasn't just looking for a story to tell her friends.

"Brenda, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not? I'm single and you're single. I never told you this, but I liked sleeping with Jack even though he wanted me to do things I didn't want to do. It made me feel needed and I miss that...I miss it a lot."

"Brenda, we hardly know each other."

Her face got more serious than I'd ever seen it, even when she told me about her problem with her husband.

"I knew Jack for two years before we got married, and look how that turned out. What I know about you is you helped me when I needed help and you made sure I was safe before you left me. That's all I need to know, for now. Jack never acted that way."

"I thought you weren't into doing things like this."

"No, I wasn't into doing what Jack wanted me to do. I wasn't into sleeping with another man while I was married to him either, but I'm not married to him now. It's what I want. If you don't want that too, I'll just leave, but I hope this will make you want me."

Her dress was one of those held closed by just a few big buttons down the front. Brenda unbuttoned the button at the bottom, close to her knee, and then the next one. When that part of the dress fell away, I was looking at a very smooth and soft looking thigh. She undid the next button, and before I could tell her to stop, she flipped the dress over her hip and I was looking at some really small, black lace panties.

I did try to stop her then.

"Brenda, I'm not sure where you're going with this."

She smiled a wicked little smile.

"I know what I'm doing. If you haven't figured out what I'm doing by now, you need some help."

When she undid the last button, Brenda flipped open the rest of the dress. I'd been right about her breasts. They weren't quite as big as my ex's, but in the black lace bra, they were a lot more erotic.

She looked up at me and held out her hand.

"Tim, you told me I wasn't ugly. Come here and show me you meant that."

I'll be the first one to say I probably shouldn't have, but I'll be the last to say it was a mistake. There, in my sleeper in a Walmart parking lot, I learned a lot about how loving a woman can be, and how erotic she can be if she wants to be that way. It was kind of like what Brenda's husband had told her about his girlfriend, except if I'd been sleeping with Brenda at the time, it's what I'd have told my ex about Brenda.