Chapter 24
(And Home Again)

    She watched as his tail lights vanished in the distance.  At seventy, she was comfortable.  At this speed she could lean into the wind, and when she got the angle just right, it would support her with almost no effort on her part.  She was only five miles an hour above the speed limit, well below the trigger point for having the attention of the local law attracted toward her.  It was a good speed, so she was content to just let the miles drift past. 
    The sun was coming up when she spotted a truck stop.  She could use some gas and she could really use a personal pit stop.  She did an engine brake, the tach pushing near red-line.  She pulled in and parked at an empty tank, there were plenty available, and went to find the ladies' facility.  Returning, she passed the rig in the bay next to her and the driver leaned out and whistled.  "Hey, guy, ain't you the biker I passed 'bout fifty miles back?"  Not really waiting for an answer he continued, "Just want go give you a nod for being polite.  Lotsa bikers like to play games."  He shook his head.  "No point to that foolishness."
    Eliza removed her helmet so she could reply more easily.  As always, the first thing she did was shake her hair free and took a deep breath.
    "Hey!" He said.  "You're a lady biker.  That's a lotta bike for a little girl."  He realized what he'd just said and how it could sound.  An embarrassed looked crossed his face.
    "No problem," Eliza replied.  "There's room for us all, and I've got no schedule to meet.  I'll give you guys the right of way any old time."  She started fueling her machine.  "I've got almost two more days of driving, and I don't need to wear myself out playing games."
    "Two days?  The way you ride, I'm guessing you're at least going into Maine.  Am I close?"
    "Yes," she said.  "Real close."  She told him where she was headed and mentioned how glad she'd be to sleep in her own bed.
    "I know what you mean," he responded.  "I rode a little when I was younger, and those damn things will beat you to death.  Not like this big baby of mine," he said, obviously referring to his rig. 
    Eliza capped her tank.  "Yes, I've heard they ride like a dream.  I've never actually been in one.  You say this is a lot of machine for me to be handling," she pointed to her bike.  "Now, THAT is a lot of machine," she said pointing to his rig.  "I'll stick with my little motor, thank you.  I can handle it."
    He chuckled.  "Look, if you want to take a load off, I'm passing through where you're headed.  I have room in the back of the rig, there." He motioned back.  "You could just drive up my loading ramp and I could pack you."
    Eliza had visions of sitting back in the comfortable seat of that big rig, just relaxing and maybe even listening to music.  She put the gas hose back on the tank, took her receipt and turned to him.  "You serious?  You can do that?"
    He nodded.  "Sure can.  I got enough room for that thing of yours and loading straps to secure it.  You really do look like you could use the ride, and I can sure use the company.  The CB is nice, but it ain't that same as seat covers next to you."
    With almost no hesitation Eliza nodded.  "Let's do it.  My name's Eliza, what's yours?"
    "Got you," he said, jumping out of his cab.  "I'm Tremaine, Trey for short or Tree-man on the CB."  He walked to the back of the trailer, unlocked it and extended a loading ramp.  "Can you drive up a ramp this steep?"
    Eliza tossed him her helmet, stuck out her tongue.  "Watch me!"  She quickly did a U-turn, lined up on the ramp and easily rode up, into the bay of the truck.  She spotted the loading straps, and in a few moments, had the bike secure.  As she walked around, on the passenger side, she became aware of the art on the side of this trailer.  It was a snow covered blue spruce on a snow covered hill side.  "Beautiful," she whispered.  "Ah!  Tree Man!  I get it."  She hesitated while she figured out how to get into the rig.  It simply was not designed for someone her size, but Eliza had been coping with that all of her life.  She crawled in and nodded.  He was already behind the wheel.  "This is a regular home away from home, isn't it?"
    "Yep, you could say that.  More like it is my home, really.  I spend far more time here, than I do in my one room efficiency.  He nodded back towards the rear.  I have a sleeper, and a small refrigerator.  I even have cellular internet.  Not only all the comforts of home, maybe more." He grinned obviously proud of his rig.
    "I'm impressed.  I had no idea that was even possible in a truck."
    "I need to hit the chicken coop (weigh station), before we get back on the road.  Won't take long."  The line wasn't too long and they were heading towards the exit within 10 minutes, but that was 10 minutes for Eliza to figure out that her insulated riding leathers were far more than needed in the comfortable cab of the truck, where Trey was only wearing a light pull over shirt.
    "Ah, Trey,  she said, "could you sorta pull over on the side, over there? I need to do something."
    He nodded, "I guess so, but do we need to stop?"
    "It would be better if you did," she said.  "You might get distracted."
    He pulled over as she'd asked and he looked at her quizzically and said, "Distracted?"  That's when he realized that she was removing her riding leathers and that she wore nothing except bikini briefs under them.  "Oh," he said quietly.  "Distracted."  For some reason he was grinning. 
    Eliza removed a silk blouse from her back pack and put it on.  She had a soft suede wrap-around skirt that she managed to get on. She folded her leathers as best she could and put them in the corner of the seat.   She sat up and smiled.  "There!  I feel a lot better now!"
    The CB squawked to life.  "Breaker, breaker, tree-man.  I just rode by your rig and you gotta tell me that I didn't see what I thought I just saw!  Big Dawg, to ya!"
    They looked at each other and laughed at the CB.  "May I," she asked pointing at the microphone? 
    He winked.  "Go ahead.  This should be good."
    "I'll do my best to make it good," she said. "  Eliza picked up the microphone and keyed down, "Big Dawg, Tree-man is a little busy at the moment," she said in her sexiest voice.  "But if you tell me what you thought you saw, I might be able to tell you if you were right.  VampEl, back to you."
    At that point the CB almost exploded out of the grill.  As she found out later, Big Dawg and Tree-man were both using linears, and every trucker within ten miles had heard the interchange.  Through the hetrodyne, static and competing carriers, they could hear the story expand to almost legendary proportions within minutes.  Truckers were driving into and out of range of those who had first heard it, and it was spreading as only a CB rumor, this one actually being based on fact, can spread. 
    Trey smiled at her.  "I think you just made my rep for the next 10 years.  We all hear about things like this happening, and we all wish it would happen to us, but this one actually happened to me."  His grin got bigger, "AND there were witnesses!"  He sighed.  "What more could a trucker ask for?"
    Eliza squinted as the sun came up.  She used a tinted visor on her helmet during the day to protect her eyes from the irritating rays of the sun, but she didn't have her helmet on, now.  She reached up to pull down the visor when she realized that he had a roll down sunscreen for the passenger side.  Since she wasn't sure if it would be a problem, she asked if she could pull it down.  He readily agreed and smiled.  "You're a night creature, I gather.  Probably riding in the day just because it's so much warmer." 
    "That's part of it," she said.  "Also, daytime, I'm one of many.  Night time, I'm a lot more obvious."
    He nodded and looked at her.  "You on the run?  Not that I care," he quickly added.
    "No, I'm legal and all that.  I just don't need any tickets or any hassle, know what I mean?"
    "Yes, I reckon I do know what you mean."  He glanced over at her again.  "You do look beat.  If you want to curl up and take a nap, I won't mind.  Long as my chatter on the squawk box don't bother you."  He grinned.  "And as tempting as you are, I'll promise to be good."
    "That wouldn't bother me," she replied.  "But really, did you hear me ask you to be good or express any concern about that?  I'm assuming that you're a gentleman and would do me no harm.  And if you're not harming, me, then considering your hospitality, it's the least I can do." 
    Trey shook his head in wonder.  "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
    "If you think I'm saying, that tonight, when you crawl into your sleeper for some rest, you'll have some company, assuming the two of us will fit, then you're right."
    "Oh," he interrupted, "we'll fit!"
    "And I'm also saying, that till then, a little fun, as long as you can stay safe on the road, might be in order."  She rolled over, head away from him, on her belly and untied her wrap-around, revealing her bare bottom.
    "When did she take her panties off," he wondered, but didn't really care.
    "You'd not believe how tight and sore my butt is.  Two thousand road miles, and my poor ass were not meant for each other.  I bet both of us would enjoy a nice massage, eh?"
    He reached over and grasped her firm buttocks and began to knead it.  "Oh, that's heaven," she sighed.  "You have my permission to do that all day long!"
    Trey grinned, and was truly amazed how quickly she was sound asleep, every now and then making contented sounds when he found a spot that felt particularly good to her.  “What a way to pass the miles,” he thought.  “I don't care if anyone believes me or not.  In fact, I'm not sure I even want to tell anyone.  This is just too damn good to be true.” 

    The evening of their second day together, Trey pulled into her home town.  "I hate to see you go, Eliza.  I've enjoyed your company."  He smiled.  "Could I kidnap you for a few months?"  He down shifted and began an engine brake into the rest area. 
    "Oh, I'm going to miss the sound of that big engine," she said wistfully, as it revved up.  "It really has been fun.  Tell you what.  Give me six weeks lead time, and I'll hit the road with you for at least a week, maybe more, depending on how I can wiggle my schedule.  I've enjoyed it too."
    Trey chuckled.  "Oh, that'll get the talk a flying, again.  Every time you keyed down the mic, it was like you stuck a stick in a hornet's nest."  I doubt that Big Dawg saw all that much, but I'll also bet his imagination got to working overtime and he's imagined all sorts of things, and really believes he saw them all!  If I wanted a publicist, Big Dawg would be a good choice."
    Eliza laughed out loud.  "I'll bet you're right."
    Finally, her bike was out of the trailer, she was back in riding leathers, and their journey was finally over.  He held out his hand.  "Miss Eliza, the pleasure was all mine."
    She took his hand and pulled him close.  Grasping him tightly enough so that there was nothing he could do, she began a kiss the became increasingly passionate as it progressed.  It was finally the blasting of the big rigs air horns that finally stopped them.  When they broke, the cacophony ceased, and one trucker switched his CB to PA and broadcast: "Show us how it's done, Tree-man!"  Several little toots echoed the sentiment.
    Eliza got on her hog, fired it up, and burned rubber out of the area.  As she hit the straight away, she pulled a wheelie and vanished into the distance, the sound of the exhaust fading shortly after she was no longer visible.
~oOOOo~
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