The Road to Glory (14 page)

To top it off, Leigh had seemed a little jumpy for the past hour or so, casting the cab in an uneasy silence. She fidgeted constantly, her eyes straying to her odometer every few moments.

"Leigh, we need to stop."

No, no, no, no. God is not this cruel.
They were about three miles outside of Rosie’s Diner, which happened to be located smack dab in the middle of nowhere. "Why do we need to stop?" she challenged desperately. "We stopped only five and half hours ago!"

"Are you listening to yourself, Leigh?" RJ’s eyebrows shot skyward. "We just do."

"Why?"

RJ looked at Leigh like she was insane. "Because I didn’t pack any diapers and I’ve got to go!"

"It’s only forty-five more miles until we reach a Burger King. How about we stop there for dinner?" She gave RJ her best wishing look.

"Forty-five more miles," RJ groaned. "Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear. We
need
to stop. Besides, I saw a sign for a diner only a moment or two ago that said it was five more miles. What’s wrong with stopping there?"

"It’s closed."

"At six o’clock on a Monday night?"

"Yes. It burned down last summer."

"Really?"

"Absolutely."

RJ squirmed in the seat, bemoaning her rotten luck. Then she noticed Leigh wouldn’t meet her eyes. "What aren’t you telling me, Ms. Matthews? I smell a rat."

Before Leigh could answer, a small building appeared on the horizon. The lot in front of it was filled with cars and trucks."

"Shit," Leigh mumbled.

"Look! It’s not burned down or closed."

"I must have been thinking of someplace else," Leigh lied unconvincingly. "But that place is disgusting. There aren’t even any roaches there. They’re all gone, striking for better conditions."

"I don’t care. I’m not going to lick the floor. I just need to use the bathroom."

"But Burger King’s bathroom is reeeeeally clean. And they have these little sanitary paper seat covers. And –"

RJ cocked her head to the side. Leigh was a beauty and all, but a bit odd at times. "Lemme put it this way. How attached are you to these nice leather seats? ‘Cause if I have to wait more than a few minutes, I’m thinking you’ll be needing to re-cover them."

Leigh pointed out her side window. "There’s a perfectly good ditch right there. Whaddya say? I have paper towels in the back."
Oh, god, she’s going to think I’m demented.

She’s demented!

Leigh started to ease her foot off the accelerator, hoping RJ wouldn’t notice the subtle change in speeds.

"Don’t even think about it." RJ’s eyes flashed. "You might be used to relieving yourself on the side of the road. But I am certainly not. Not when I can see a perfectly good restaurant up ahead," she complained bitterly.
My mother was right. The world has gone to hell in a hand basket.

"Fine. Fine." Leigh gunned the engine, causing RJ to flop back in her seat.

"Sudden movement is bad," she growled. "Very bad."

"Sorry."

Leigh pulled into the diner parking lot, driving at a snail’s pace as she scanned the lot. Using her CB while RJ napped, she’d made it a point to call a couple of the truckers she knew hung out at the diner. One of them would know what type of car Judith drove. And when it came to women you could never be too careful.
Her car isn’t here. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Leigh didn’t handle ‘unhappy women scenes’ very well.
This must be her day off.

RJ stood up in the truck and began to bang on her door with her fist. Was Leigh some sort of sadist? What had she gotten herself into all in the name of great sex? "Do you just want to see me wet my pants?"

Leigh grimaced. "Not particularly." She pulled into an extra-long space that was designated for trucks only. Unfortunately, they were now at the far end of a very long parking lot.

The trucker chewed her bottom lip, feeling a little guilty over RJ’s suffering. "Do you want me to drop you –?"

The motor hadn’t even stopped before RJ was halfway out the door.

"Or we can walk," Leigh commented drolly as she shut off the ignition.

Both women jumped out of the truck and RJ landed right in the center of a deep, very cold mud puddle, sending a wave of frigid water over her feet and onto her calves. "Sweet Jesus." She shivered, gritting her teeth at the sensation of the water and the immediate signal it sent to her protesting bladder.

Leigh bit back a laugh. Now that she wasn’t freaked out about them running into Judith, she was starting to see the humor in this situation. Mainly because she wasn’t the one suffering, which wasn’t very nice. But it was still funny.

They walked quickly across the lot and with every step the impulse for Leigh to come clean with RJ grew. Especially since you never knew who you could run into. Leigh didn’t want Judith to think she was callous. Even as casual they were with each other, some things were just plain rude. She tilted her head down, focusing her eyes on her shoes and she walked along, studiously avoiding the bigger puddles. "RJ?"

"Yes?" Her voice was tight.

"Umm … you see, there … there’s this woman that I’m sort of personal friends with –"

"How nice for you."

Leigh groaned inwardly. She really couldn’t blame RJ for being sore at her for wanting her to pee in the ditch for no apparent reason — but she didn’t have to be snippy about it, did she?

Leigh quickly apologized and received only a miserable grunt as a reply.
I’ll make it up to you, RJ. I promise.

"Anyway," the trucker continued in a rush. "About this woman. She umm … well, we’ve been friends for a couple of years now. Good friends." Leigh held up her palms. "Now before you ask, it’s not like she’s a girlfriend or anything." She shook her head emphatically. "Absolutely not. Our relationship isn’t like that." A deep breath as she gestured wildly. "I’ve been totally upfront with her from the very beginning. We’re only friends. Good friends. Did I mention that?"

Leigh decided to leave out the fact that Judith had actually had a couple of serious relationships since she’d known her. Last summer, when the waitress got engaged to the guy who delivered the hamburger buns to the diner, Leigh assumed their ‘good’ friendship would be over. But Judith had convinced her otherwise. In the broom closet near the diner’s exit. Twice. Which was more than enough to ease the teensy weensy, nearly non-existent amount of guilt Leigh had felt over their relationship.

"I just don’t want things to be awkward if we happen to see her. Which we won’t," Leigh continued. God, this being honest was a pain in the ass. She’d always suspected that it would be. "Judith works here." Leigh’s brows knit. "And for some reason I get the feeling that she’s sort of the possessive –"

RJ had been so quiet during Leigh’s confession that the blonde woman paused and glanced up to gauge her reaction, wondering if RJ thought she was a huge slut.
Not like she’s in a position to judge though,
Leigh considered testily. She suddenly stopped walking.

"What in the …?" Leigh spun around in a circle. Not only wasn’t RJ next to her, she was nowhere near her. She looked toward the diner and caught a flash of her new lover as she opened the door and ran in. Which meant that RJ hadn’t heard most of Leigh’s one-sided conversation. She sighed heavily. "Thanks so much, RJ. I knew you’d understand. Pouring out this incredibly awkward story was much easier than I anticipated."

"Talking to yourself is the first sign you’re cracking, Tom Cat."

Leigh turned around to see her old family friend. "Hello, Rooster. And if you ever call me Tom Cat again I’m going to kick your tubby ass from here to the Pacific Ocean."

"Last time it was just to the state line." Rooster grinned unrepentantly. "I must be getting more annoying in my old age."

"I can vouch for that," Leigh said against his bristly cheek, as she pulled the man into a warm hug.

Rooster tried several times to coax Leigh inside. But for some reason she seemed reluctant, so they talked in the parking lot about trucking and sports, the only two topics Rooster had much interest in. Other than sex. And ever since the time Leigh cold-cocked him for going into too much detail about his best weekend ever, he’d at least tried to avoid that subject.

When Leigh glanced down at her watch, then up at the diner door for tenth time, Rooster asked, "Gotta get back on the road?"

"No. It’s my week off," she answered absently.

Rooster grinned. "Waiting for somebody?"

Leigh nodded.

"Me?"

"You wish."

"Who then?"

"RJ."
Where in the hell is she? It’s been nearly twenty minutes.

"Holy shit! A man?" Rooster moved around in front of Leigh to capture her attention.

"Get the fuck out of my way, Rooster," Leigh laughed, gently shoved the large man out of the way and continued eyeing the door. "RJ is a woman. I met her in South Dakota."

"South Dakota!" He waggled a scolding finger at Leigh. "Tell me you didn’t pick up a hitchhiker. I’ve warned you about that!"

Unaccountably, Leigh felt herself blushing. "She’s not a hitchhiker."

"And." He drew out the word.

"She’s a friend I’m taking with me to Seattle."
And that’s all you’re getting out of me, Mr. Gossip.

Rooster put his hands on his hips. "And just what do you know about her? Hmm?" he pressed. "She could be dangerous!"

Leigh lips formed a thin line. "Don’t get in my business, Rooster." But her eyes softened almost immediately. "I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me."

Rooster straightened indignantly. "Who’s worried?" He pulled his belt up as far as his enormous belly would allow.

Leigh patted his arm. "Not you."
Is she going to make me go in there after her? Uh oh. What if something’s happened to her?
The blonde woman’s face clouded with worry. "I need to go inside now." Without waiting for Rooster to answer, Leigh resumed her trek. This time at a much faster pace.

"Is she good-lookin’?" Rooster struggled to catch up, his ample girth making the task more difficult.

"Beautiful," Leigh answered without hesitation.

Rooster scowled and walked around two cars that Leigh scooted between. "She’s not all mannish, is she?" He shook his head, which caused his necks to wobble wildly. "I can’t stand those types."

Leigh smirked. "Doesn’t matter. You’re going to think she’s attractive either way."

The red-haired man scrubbed his face. "That’s what you think!"

Years ago, Rooster and his buddies had complained bitterly about the ‘unfeminine’ ways of a woman Leigh had taken an interest in. Problem was, the woman was undeniably attractive and all the men knew it. Just to be a bitch, Leigh had informed them that the woman was so ‘unfeminine’ that if any of them found her even remotely appealing, it meant that they were gay, but in denial of their true feelings. Ever since, Rooster had been paranoid about any women not in a dress.

Leigh threw open the diner door. She headed straight for the bathroom, but was sidetracked by a loud gasp. Spinning around, her eyes widened and she felt her heart drop to her knees. Judith was standing in front of RJ with a large knife in her hand and RJ’s white shirt was covered in blood.

The trucker bolted across the room, knocking down a chair in the process. "God dammit, you didn’t have to stab her!" she yelled frantically, pawing at RJ’s shirt to find the wound.

RJ looked down at Leigh in shock.

"Stab?" Judith whispered, looking at the knife in her hands as though she didn’t know she was holding it. "What in the world are you talking about?"

RJ quickly grabbed Leigh’s hands. "Whoa! Calm down. I’m not stabbed, lass."

Leigh’s eyes darted back to Judith. "But the knife, the blood …"

RJ burst into laughter. "She was just bringing me a knife to cut my burger. And this ketchup bottle exploded on me when I opened it." She gestured toward the bottle that was still oozing. RJ casually reached down to her plate and picked up a french fry. Raising a sassy eyebrow, she dipped the fry on her shirt and popped it into her mouth.

Leigh was so pale she looked like she was about to pass out, so RJ quickly wrapped an arm around her, careful not to stain her shirt. "Hang on," she told her worriedly.

Judith’s hackles immediately rose at the interaction between Leigh and RJ. Leigh was still touching the woman as though she was worried about her, and RJ’s voice, while amused, held an undeniable hint of affection. "You two know each other?" Judith asked curiously, hoping she didn’t sound as anxious about the answer as she suddenly was.

Leigh swallowed. The fact that RJ wasn’t stabbed and that she was talking to Judith was just now starting to sink in. "Hello, Judith. I didn’t see your car out front."
Oh, that was brilliant.

"Ken has it in the garage tonight. He’s putting new brakes on it for me, so I got a ride in with Buck this afternoon." She glanced at RJ, who was looking between she her and Leigh with bemused detachment, happily munching away at her fries. The smug look annoyed Judith and she took a step closer to Leigh, who was now standing without any help. "You take on a new co-driver?"

"Yeah, right," Leigh snorted. Like she’d actually let someone else drive her truck. What was Judith thinking? "Well, nice seeing you. Bye." Leigh tugged RJ’s hand to leave, but the tall woman’s feet were firmly rooted to the ground. She tugged again. But RJ refused to move. Leigh closed her eyes.
C’mon, RJ. It’s time to go, before there’s a scene!

"Leigh, could you relax just a bit? We’ve been in that truck for hours now. We’re supposed to be on vacation." A little defiantly, she paused and took a long, slow sip of her Coke. "We’ve got nowhere to be, and I’m hungry and a little tired. Can’t we just take a short break?"

Oooo … not the right thing to say, Irish,
Rooster thought as he sat heavily into a booth where he had a ringside seat for all the action. He felt in his pocket for a quarter in case he needed to call the cops.

Leigh spoke without moving her mouth. "I don’t wanna stay. I wanna go right this very minute."

"Well," RJ looked confused. But her friend seemed so stressed that she decided to give in, just so she wouldn’t make things worse. "I suppose we can – "