His delivery was at 11 am the next morning. So, if he stopped at Wells for the night, and left by 7 the next morning that should give him plenty of time to finish the route to Burley, and to get to his destination comfortably early.
Wells was another crossroads town in eastern Nevada, like Ely. There were a couple of chain travel centers to choose from because the highway they were on crossed one of the country’s major east-west arterials, Interstate 80.
He hadn’t considered the practical implications of putting up Jenny for the night because he hadn’t thought it was going to happen that way. But, now that he was stuck with her for at least tonight and part of tomorrow, he had to think about it.
Fact is, he’d like to leave her at Wells. There should be plenty of traffic through there, and she could easily get a ride. But, he knew that he couldn’t just toss her out of the truck while he remained parked there for the night. His conscience just wouldn’t let him get away with that.
He’d have to put up with her at least for the night, and then leave her there when he left in the morning.
Maybe he could get a reading from Jenny. It’s going to be delicate, because he sure didn’t want to get into another fight with her over it.
“Jenny, I need to drop you off somewhere. Would you prefer it be at Wells, just coming up now, or at Burley in Idaho?” Hugh asked her, hoping she would choose the former.
Jenny didn’t hesitate. “Burley.”
“Why Burley in particular? Do you have somebody to meet you there?”
“Yeah, something like that,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.
“OK, then Burley it is.”
Then, double-checking, Hugh asked, “You’re sure you’re OK with that? You aren’t going to put up a fight, or try to sneak back into my truck?”
She shook her head, then said, “It’s OK. I’m fine.”
Hugh made the remaining distance to Wells in good time—no major incidences happening on the way there, a relief after the strange day that this had been so far.
He chose the chain travel plaza where he knew he had shower points on his reward card. If Jenny was going to spend the night in his truck with him she was definitely going to take a shower.
As he pulled into the truck stop he remembered the clothes and other items that he had bought for her in Ely, and asked her if she still had them.
“Yeah. They are in the top bunk where I was hiding … or, at least they were. I’m not sure where they are now after you nearly killed me.”
Hugh let that pass. “Good. I’ll take you into the travel center, and get you set up with a shower.”
She didn’t say anything.
“Look, Jenny, I won’t leave you this time. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t because I am almost out of drive time. I’m definitely here for the night. I promise you’ll be with me tonight and part of tomorrow. OK?”
She nodded.
Hugh found a spot in the back row, easily backed in, and then shut down for the night.
As Jenny rummaged around the recently fallen debris on the floor of the cab looking for her things, Hugh entered his post-trip inspection information into the Qualcomm unit, and then punched in “off-duty.”
He saw Jenny looking at him with a curious expression.
“This is how I communicate with the ‘mother ship,’” he explained, holding up the Qualcomm, which looked somewhat like a laptop computer. “It’s a computer terminal that’s always connected by satellite with the company I drive for. It keeps track of my hours. But it also reports the condition of my truck, and anything unusual that happens while I am driving. Here, let me show you.”
Jenny leaned in closer to look over his shoulder as he tapped on the terminal’s touch-sensitive screen.
He was aware of her closeness. Can’t wait for her to take that shower.
“You remember when I 'nearly killed’ you?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Shortly after that happened, I got a message from dispatch.” He pointed to a reading on the screen.
He read the message, “Hard brake reported. Please acknowledge OK at your earliest.”
“You mean your boss knows you slammed on your brakes?” she asked.
“The dispatcher is not my boss. But, yep, they knew about it almost instantly when it happened. Not only that, but they know exactly where my truck is at all times, when I stop, where I stop, how long I’ve stopped, and when I start driving again.”
“I had no idea,” she remarked.
“It’s really like living and driving in a fishbowl. But, you get used to it.”
By now, she had her things bundled into a roll tucked under her arm, and was ready to go. Hugh locked up the truck, and they walked together into the truck plaza.
This particular chain had an electronic kiosk where Hugh swiped his card, and then used the touch screen to order up a shower. It ejected the shower ticket.
Hugh looked at it, and handed it to her. “Here you go. Door 7. Punch star-one-zero-one-three into the keypad, and the door will unlock for you. Everything is in there that you’ll need—towels, soap, hair drier and stuff.”
She reached to take the ticket, but held onto it without pulling it from his fingers. They stood there, the ticket like the conduit for an electric current zapping back and forth between them. She looked up at him, holding his gaze with an expression that could only be described as inscrutable.
“Uh … I’ll … I’ll be in the truck,” Hugh managed to say, surprised by this new kind of strange exchange between them. He
