Chapter Three #2
“Here and there. My father was in corporate sales. We moved a lot when I was a kid. We lived in New York, Chicago, DC, Seattle, Portland, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. I had a corporate job in L.A. for years until I couldn’t stand it anymore, so now I travel the country taking photographs.”
“Yeah? That sounds cool. What type of photos?” Reuben asked, sounding genuinely interested.
Lainey pulled her phone out of the pocket of the cardigan she wore and showed him some of the recent faces she’d captured.
Reuben whistled softly as he scrolled through the images. “You are talented, Miss Lainey. Do you publish them, or sell them to the media, or how does it work?”
She grinned and pulled up the online store where he’d purchased the bunny slippers, found her books, and showed them to him.
“Well, how about that! I’m standing with a New York Times bestselling author. Congratulations on your success.”
Lainey smiled. “Thank you. I love it, so it doesn’t really seem like work.”
“That’s how life should be lived. Doing something you love so much that every day is a joy.” Reuben took out his phone and looked up the books.
“You don’t have to buy one. I’ll happily give you one for helping me. I have a few in my van.”
“The help is my pleasure, but my wife would love a copy of your book. Will you sign it for her?”
“You bet.” Lainey smiled and leaned against the truck beside him. “I apologize for intruding on your evening, Reuben. I just didn’t know what to do about that guy. I was afraid to let him see which vehicle was mine.”
“No worries, Lainey. Some animals walk around on two legs instead of four.” Reuben appeared to be looking up a number on his phone.
“We’ll wait a few more minutes, then see if he’s still waiting for you.
He’ll likely give up and move along before long.
In the meantime, we can at least report him to a non-emergency number. ”
“Okay,” Lainey said, then took the phone when Reuben handed it to her and reported what had happened. She was able to send the photo Reuben had taken, and was assured it was the right thing for her to call and report the suspicious behavior of the man.
Lainey returned the phone to Reuben when she finished the call, then asked about his family.
He cheerfully talked about his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and grandchild.
His daughter was expecting another baby at the end of May, and they were all excited to welcome an addition to their family.
Lainey learned that Mia was five and loved butterflies, rabbits, and the color yellow.
“What about you? You said you travel a lot, but don’t you have any family to go back to?” Reuben asked.
Lainey shook her head. “Just a sister in New York who told me she didn’t want to speak to me again until I got a real job. That was nine years ago.”
“Her loss,” Reuben said with a shrug. They heard whistling, and a man who looked to be about Reuben’s age walked around the truck and stopped when he saw them.
“Does Rachel know you’re flirting with pretty girls?” the man asked with a teasing grin.
Reuben looked like he wanted to punch the man. “You know good and well I would never cheat on my wife. She’d hunt me down and blast me full of holes.”
The other man laughed and tipped back the ball cap he wore with the logo of a truck company on the front of it. “Then how’d you talk her into shooting the breeze with you?”
“A jerk tried to get into her shower room, then waited around to follow her outside. She asked for a little help, and here we are.” Reuben motioned to the other man. “Lainey, this is my buddy, Wayne. We trucked together for years, but now we just cross paths once in a while.”
“Nice to meet you, Lainey.” Wayne shook her hand with his. “Are you planning to spend the night here at the truck stop?”
“I was, but I’ll drive somewhere else if I can get to my van.”
Wayne shook his head. “Let’s move your van back here. There’s room on the other side of my truck for you to park, and if anyone has a problem with that, they can take it up with me and Reuben.”
“Well, I …” Before Lainey could come up with reasons why she should leave instead of park by Wayne’s truck for the night, she’d handed over her keys to him and watched as he hustled off to move her van. If the creepy guy was still waiting out front for her, he’d have no idea where she’d gone.
“Wayne will drive around and come in the back entrance, just to be safe,” Reuben said, then opened his truck door, climbed in, and retrieved a neatly folded fleece blanket. “Wrap up in that while we wait. It’s getting chilly.”
“Thank you, Reuben.” Lainey set the tote bag she carried on the ground, unfolded the sunshine-yellow blanket scattered with butterflies and prancing unicorns. “I’m just taking a wild guess, but did Mia pick out this blanket?”
Reuben laughed. “She did. She told me it would keep me warm and safe whenever I can’t be at home with her.”
“That’s so sweet. Tell me more about her.”
Reuben seemed more than happy to discuss his grandchild, and Lainey was grateful for the distraction. She felt silly and wished she’d handled the problem with the creepy dude on her own, but she was tired, and it felt good to let someone else take care of her for once.
What she should have done was alert the truck stop manager or call the police before she ever took a shower, and let them deal with the idiot instead of hiding in her shower room and hoping he’d go away.
Now, she’d involved two strangers in her troubles and felt guilty for bothering them. And grateful. So grateful that Reuben and Wayne were good guys willing to lend a hand.
Wayne pulled in and parked her van between his truck and the one next to it.
“You’ve got a really nice van, Lainey. I could drive a lot of miles on that comfy seat,” Wayne said, handing her the keys with a big smile.
“Thank you. It’s my home away from … well, it is my home, and I appreciate you driving it back here for me. Was that guy still lurking around?”
“There was a dude getting yelled at by two college kids near an SUV.”
Reuben looked at Lainey and nodded his head. “That’s him. We told the manager on duty, but he’s so wet behind the ears, he didn’t take it seriously. We did phone in a non-emergency report, though, and sent the photo I managed to take of him.”
“I’ll speak to the manager here in the morning. I doubt anyone with any authority will be around tonight anyway,” Lainey said, looking from Reuben to Wayne. “I can’t thank you both enough for your help. Would you at least let me buy you breakfast in the morning?”
Reuben started to refuse, but Wayne waved a dismissive hand at him. “We’d love to have breakfast with you, Lainey. You just tap on our doors when you’re ready to go in.”
“She can send me a text message,” Reuben said, taking his phone from his pocket and waggling it.
Wayne gaped at him. “You got her number?”
Lainey grinned as she folded the blanket that had kept the evening chill from freezing her as she’d waited for Wayne to drive her van over and park it. “Reuben asked nicely.” She handed the blanket to Reuben, nodded to both men, then hurried around the trucks to her van.
Once she was inside, she put the things in her tote away, made sure all her doors were locked, put up the folding shade she used to cover her windshield and side windows, then went to bed, offering prayers of gratitude for two angels dressed as hardworking truckers.
Feeling completely safe, cocooned between the trucks, Lainey surrendered to her exhaustion and slept until half past five the next morning.
She knew she wouldn’t go back to sleep, so she got up and dressed, stowed her bed and tidied the van, then dug two of her books out of a box she kept in the storage cabinet beneath her little dining table.
At six, she sent Reuben a text, then hoped she didn’t awaken him.
With nothing else to occupy her time, she took out her laptop and went through her emails, responding to several.
She double-checked the start time for the rodeo, added the address to her phone’s map app, then made a reservation at a campground on the Oregon coast that had a bunch of great reviews.
She’d spend tonight somewhere close to the rodeo venue, then leave early in the morning for Oregon.
At seven, she received a text from Reuben letting her know he and Wayne would be happy to join her for breakfast and suggested they escort her to the restaurant.
Lainey tucked the books into her tote bag along with one of her cameras, then made sure she had her phone and wallet before she stepped out of the van to find Reuben and Wayne waiting for her.
“Good morning,” she said, smiling brightly at the two men.
“Now, that’s the way to start your day, with a pretty woman making the morning even brighter,” Wayne said, elbowing Reuben.
Reuben scowled at him. “I’ll have you know my Rachel brightens up my days even when I’m not home.”
Wayne rolled his eyes. “Oh, to be so stricken by love!” The trucker pressed the back of his hand to his forehead, feigning a near swoon, making both Lainey and Reuben laugh.
Lainey wrapped her arm around Wayne’s. “Thank you both, again, for helping me last night. I don’t normally let a creep like that guy get to me, but I wasn’t overly confident I could get away in my bunny slippers.”
“Those rabbits weren’t made for running, darlin’.” Wayne grinned at her. “I’m just glad you could see through Reuben’s crusty exterior to the marshmallow that resides inside.”
“Hey! I’d resent that if it wasn’t true,” Reuben said, pulling open the door and holding it as they went inside.
It didn’t take long to be seated in the restaurant and place their orders. As soon as they’d finished their meals, Lainey took the books out of her tote bag and set them on the table.