Crimson Highway by David Wickenhauser (brene brown rising strong TXT) 📗

Hugh spotted several piles of cleaned and folded laundry stacked on the end of his bed. There were also several bags of food, and other items that he needed for replenishing his truck before going back out on the road again.

Bless my mom, he thought. She’s one in a million. She understands.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Hugh awoke before daylight, before anyone else was stirring. He had already packed everything the night before, so he was ready to make the trip down the stairs, and through the house to his truck.

He stopped at Jenny’s door, and blew her a kiss. Please understand, he silently pleaded.

At his truck, he loaded his things into the cab, and did a quick pre-trip in the dark.

Once back into the driver’s seat, he regretted the loud noise that would result from him cranking the big diesel engine to life, but there was nothing that could be done about it.

He didn’t give much time for the engine to warm up, but backed out of his parking spot, and drove slowly down the driveway at idle speed.

He’d already checked messages on his Qualcomm, and knew that he had a 10 am pickup in Spokane, and a 6 pm delivery in Portland. That would be an easy one, and he always enjoyed driving along the scenic Columbia River Gorge.

“Good-bye, Jenny. I love you,” he said quietly out loud as he passed through the massive ranch gate.

Dawn broke, turning the highway crimson as he went up the onramp and headed to Spokane. Once again, as it usually always did, well-being flooded Hugh as he settled into his seat, and had his steers pointed straight down the highway. No doubt about it—he loved to drive, especially at this time of day.

He felt completely refreshed, and was determined to put the events of the recent past behind him.

A couple of hours later, he pulled into the shipper’s location—Northern Sky Breweries. His was a pre-load, pallets of kegs of beer, so he merely had to hook up to the loaded trailer, and pull away from the dock. He drove to the staging area, and exited the truck to go into the shipping office to complete the paperwork.

“Would I need to scale this load?” Hugh asked, experience telling him that beer loads were usually quite heavy, often requiring the heavy-haul fleet to take them on.

“Nah, you’re single-stacked, only about three-quarters full,” the shipping clerk said. “You’re good to go.”

“Thanks,” Hugh replied, then walked back out to the truck.

As he opened the door, and stepped up ready to swing into his driver’s seat, he nearly fell back down onto the pavement in surprise.

“Holy cow! You scared the crap out of me!” he shouted at Jenny, who was sitting calmly in the passenger seat.

“What on earth are you doing here?” he demanded.

“I need to use the restroom. Is there one in there?” Jenny said sweetly, pointing to where Hugh had exited from the shipping office.

“For crying out loud, you know what I mean,” Hugh exclaimed heatedly. “What are you doing in my truck?”

“Can we have this conversation after I visit the restroom? I’ve been in your truck since two o’clock this morning. And I really gotta go,” Jenny said, with strong emphasis on the “gotta go.”

“Go,” Hugh said, waving her out.

Jenny opened the door, and started to climb down, then hesitated, and looked up at Hugh.

“Go. I’ll wait for you. I promise.”

When Jenny returned, and climbed back up into her seat, Hugh remarked, with exasperation, “Just like the old days.”

“I’m sorry, Hugh. I knew you were going to leave without me.”

“How did you know? Who told you?”

“You did, Hugh. You really are quite transparent, you know,” Jenny replied, waving her cell phone at Hugh. “And I know you would have liked some wine at that restaurant. There’s only one reason why you didn’t have any. Right?”

Hugh gave in to her logic. “Yeah, you’re a pretty smart cookie.”

Then something occurred to him. “Wait a minute. Why didn’t someone from the ranch call to tell me that you had gone missing?”

“I’m sure they did,” Jenny answered. “Check your phone.”

Sure enough, there was a message from his mom earlier this morning. Hugh hadn’t heard the call, however, because he had muted his ringer just in case a call or a text message had come in while he had been sneaking out of the house.

“So, my mom knew?” Hugh asked Jenny.

Jenny shook her head. “Not until she saw my note after we were long gone. She didn’t know my plans.”

Hugh cranked up the engine, and pulled out of the micro-brewery onto the surface roads that would take him to 395/90 out of town.

He remained silent, brooding on this new development.

“I’ve got good ears,” Jenny said, after several minutes of Hugh’s silence.

“Yeah, so?” Hugh replied.

“I heard you.”

“Wha…? Oh, yeah, that,” Hugh said, fighting to keep down a blush.

“Thank you, Hugh. Me to,” Jenny said.

Hugh drove on in silence for awhile longer. The minutes became an hour, and Hugh realized that he hadn’t had any breakfast. He supposed that Jenny hadn’t either.

“We’ll pull off at the truck stop in Ritzville for a bite to eat,” he told Jenny. “Sound good to you?”

“Oh, thanks, I’m starved,” Jenny said.

Once they were seated at the truck stop diner, Hugh remarked, “This sure isn’t the Trilogy lake-side restaurant. Is it.”

“No, Hugh. But, this is more like us. Don’t you think?” Jenny said.

Noting the “us,” Hugh replied, “Jenny, it’s the kind of life I’ve chosen. It suits me. It’s all I know to do. But, I’m not sure how you’d fit into this lifestyle.”

Taken aback a little by Hugh’s brusqueness, Jenny said, “I don’t know either, Hugh. Let’s just take it one day at a time for awhile, and