“I’m not going to stand here and tell you what to do. But I will ask you if you have thought carefully about that decision, and what it means to Jenny?”
“Mom, look at it from my point of view. So many dangerous things have happened to us since I picked her up hitchhiking, and she joined me on the truck. Some of it could have been fatal to one or both of us. I can’t put her through that again.”
“Don’t you see, though, Hugh, she might feel the same way about you going off without her? What if something happened to you, and she could have been there to help you?”
“But, Mom …” Hugh said, starting to object.
Martha interrupted her son. “You admit she did save you more than once. In fact, Hugh, I understand you probably wouldn’t be here right now if it hadn’t been for her.”
Hugh clearly remembered. It was the last hijacking, after the Trooper Donovan one, and Jenny’s uncle had knocked Hugh unconscious with a tire iron, and was about to finish him off for good. Jenny saved Hugh’s life by bashing in the back of her uncle’s head with a fire extinguisher, killing him.
“OK, Mom. I give up. I’ll think about it, and I’ll talk to her. If she will talk to me,” Hugh said. He kissed his mom on the cheek, and said “good night” so she would let him get past her to go up to his room.
At the top of the stairs, Hugh turned toward Jenny’s room. He knocked with gentle raps at her door. “Jenny, it’s me. Can we talk?”
No answer.
He knocked again, and again Jenny didn’t respond.
He bet himself she was hiding out in his truck like she had done last time he tried to leave without her. It had worked for her that time. She had gotten her way.
Walking toward his room, he passed Mary’s door. She must have been waiting for him because she opened the door and motioned him inside.
“Listen, bud,” she said. “You are going to take her with you when you leave, and that’s final.”
She emphasized the word “final” with a hard poke to his chest.
That hurt. All five feet eight inches of her could jab like a motorcycle gang member.
“Geez, doesn’t anybody give anybody any privacy around here?” Hugh asked as he rubbed his chest.
“Nope. Not when you are being stupid. Now, go to bed, and do the right thing in the morning.”
“Yes, Mom,” Hugh said with sharp sarcasm.
Chapter Five
The dawning sun, bright and cheerful, broke over the Mann Ranch the next morning as Hugh descended the stairs and entered the ranch kitchen for breakfast.
The first thing Hugh noticed was the gloomy weather hanging like a dark cloud over Jenny as she sat at the large kitchen table with the rest of the family. Her expression showed no appreciation for the beautiful morning.
Hugh sensed he needed to get it over with sooner or later – much better sooner. As he came to the table he went right to Jenny, and bent down so he could whisper into her ear.
“Can I speak to you privately, please?” he asked her. It sounded more formal than he had intended it to.
Stone-faced, Jenny got up from her seat, excused herself to the others, and followed Hugh into the living room. Her formal demeanor matched that of Hugh’s.
Martha, the Mann men, Mary and Jimmy watched in silent anxiousness as the two left the kitchen. The Mann family was close-knit, so it was quite certain by now they all knew what was going on.
In the living room, Jenny remained standing, so Hugh did the same.
He faced Jenny and got right to it.
“Jenny, I just got off the phone with dispatch, and I’ve got a load out of Spokane today, picking up at fourteen hundred hours,” Hugh said.
Jenny looked up at Hugh, her arms crossed, her expression revealing nothing.
“It’s a long haul. To Phoenix,” he said. “Have you ever been to Phoenix? You’ll like it.”
Jenny took a heartbeat or two to process what Hugh had told her, then her gloomy expression softened instantly into a hopeful one.
“You mean?” she asked.
“Yes, Jenny, you are my partner, now and forever, and I wouldn’t think of driving out of here without you. I’ve made up my mind. It’s what I want.”
“With a little help from your mom and sister.”
“Well, that too.”
Jenny stood on tiptoes, reached up and gave Hugh a warm, soft lingering kiss on the lips.
“You won’t regret that decision, buster,” she said. “Oh gosh! Spokane by two o’clock? We’ve got a million things to do. We’d better get a move on.”
Jenny all but floated into the kitchen, a much-different person than the one who had left there a couple of minutes earlier. The rest of the family, sensing the news was good, chatted excitedly about making preparations for Hugh and Jenny to get back on the road.
Jenny didn’t have to think too hard about what she wanted to bring on the road in the truck. She had an agenda.
She went upstairs with Hugh’s mom, who was going into Hugh’s bedroom to pack his duffle with freshly laundered clothes, and other items he would need while on the road.
Martha offered to help Jenny pack her things as well, but Jenny declined.
While Hugh was in the truck doing his route planning and booting up his electronic logging device, Jenny was doing a careful job planning what she would bring for an extended stay with Hugh in his truck.
She was aware space was limited, and she knew not to over pack. She remembered Hugh’s warning that whatever luggage she brought would be occupying the top bunk space with her, and it would be in her own best interest
