Second Chances – Part 2

She just wanted to get out of there and away. She was far too comfortable in his presence and that bothered her. ‘Just take the money so I can get out of here!’, she thought anxiously. Once he did take it, she scooted out of there as quick and calm as she could.
Once on the road, she couldn’t help but look in her rear view mirror often. She saw him stand there and watch her until she couldn’t see him over the hill. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly trying to calm herself. Her pulse was coming down and she felt flushed. She was stressing about something but it would elude her just as she thought she might grasp what it was. About an hour or so later down the road, she realized she’d left her hat on his truck.
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Soon Ben was running along at speed as the land leveled out some. Several vehicles passed him as he drove on toward Wichita Falls as he built up speed. The sun now just a half-disc on the horizon behind him. He felt tired. Tired and hungry. The visage of Lora flashed through his mind and he felt more alone than he’d ever felt since his family passed away. That thought triggered memories of his wife and daughter. His wife of 21 years of marriage and his 11 year-old daughter. He saw them clearly in his mind as he remembered how much he loved them and tried hard to support them with his work. She was a housewife who was tall, slender with black/silver hair. She was 8 years older than he but they never bothered with the difference. They loved each other tremendously and that was all that mattered. His daughter was pretty with long straight light blond hair and blue eyes. She was great at math and loved to read and write stories. Ben thought when he was home she would read to a story at bedtime to both of them instead of either reading to her. She always loved to read to them. Good times camping and fun at the beaches of North and South Carolina were some of the best times he had when home. Train rides to Charlotte and back and a steam train in the mountains near Waynesville, NC were the best of all.

Then one day, Ben’s world was shattered. He was on his way to Denver with a load when he got a call from his father and was told the news that his wife and daughter were killed in a car wreck some hours before. He was almost to Kansas City and decided to park his truck at the carrier he contracted with and flew home. On his flight home he stared out the window from his seat in the back of the plane. He was practically oblivious to the nice stewardess that sat with him during the non-stop flight trying to console him.

As he remembered the past he didn’t see the scenery or the road or the sun set behind him. When he came to his senses it was dark and he was rolling into Wichita Falls. He found the truck stop, pulled in and maneuvered his rig into a parking slot. He felt he was on automatic and disconnected from himself. When he shut the engine down, the silence would seem deafening as it did most of the time but this time he didn’t hear it or feel it. He felt numb and just sat there staring out the window at nothing.

Several minutes passed before he “woke up” again. His sharp hazel eyes scanned the parking lot before getting out of his chair. He stood to his full six foot-four height topped by dark brown hair that was blond in his childhood and stretched. He was broad in shoulder with somewhat narrow hips and trim waist. His arms were strong having built up over the years of flatbed hauling throwing straps and chains over the loads to secure them as well as loading and unloading refrigerated trailers. Climbing on and lifting tarps to the top of the loads gave him strong legs and back as well. At the moment though, he felt totally helpless. Ben grabbed his shower duffle with a change of clothes climbed down and headed for the main building.
After paying for his meal, Ben went to the shower kiosk and swiped his rewards card for the free shower he received for purchasing fuel at another one of this truck stop’s locations. The machine spat out a ticket with his shower code and a proceeded to the monitor to find which room he was assigned. Getting the information from the monitor, Ben headed for shower room number 13. Once inside and the door locked he stripped off his clothing, started the shower and climbed in before it was even warm. The cold water shocked him awake but didn’t move out of the cold spray. An adjustment for temperature was made and he stood in the spray letting the water rain down on him working some of the tightness out of his shoulders and neck.
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Some time earlier Lora drove into Wichita Falls not long before dark. She was tired, hot, miserable and thirsty. All she wanted now was to get clean and sleep.