Catching her breath, Jade had wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes. "Ok then, I now know deep country life is not an option."
~*~
Pouring the dark brown coffee into her paper cup, Jade was looking for the correct matching black lid when she heard her name.
"Hi, Jade."
Turning to the source of the soft-spoken voice, Jade smiled when she saw Toby standing behind her, holding one of the largest cups she had ever seen. Emblazoned in orange in blue lightning lettering along the side, the cup read Extra Large Biggie!
"It is Jade, right?" Toby frowned, and his round face immediately reddened in embarrassment at her silence.
She nodded with a little laugh. "I'm sorry, yes, you're right, it's Jade, and you're Toby, right?"
She had only met the older man once before, nearly a month ago, during the first few weeks of her and Gideon's exiled trucker life. New Jersey, one of the country's largest shipping hubs, was every trucker's least favorite place to be but always where they begrudgingly ended up in one way or another. Located right off the highway outside Kearny, there were about seven huge industrial buildings all lined with docks that were bordered in a thick, black rubbery material. Each loading dock running trailers in and out filled with goods at all hours of the day. Rife with truckers, the area was full of opportunist businesses based around the trucker's needs. Across the street, next door to where Gideon was currently waiting for their next load, was a huge full-service truck stop that included just about every amenity a driver could need: showers, a truck wash, three dine-in restaurants, a barbershop, and a convenience store that had more pornographic magazines than Jade counted bags of chips.
"Yeah, I'm surprised you remembered me." Toby's eyes brightened. "I saw Gideon's truck parked two docks over from mine. He said dispatch gave him a four hour wait time."
Shifting her huge bag of laundry at her feet, Jade moved away from the coffee machines for the group of weary drivers headed their way. A bit taller than her and considerably wider, Toby took a few steps closer to her using his girth like a buffer as the group of grumbling drivers crowded desperately around the coffee.
"Can't believe they have me waiting ten goddamn hours for this load," one man said as he snatched a paper cup from the dispenser.
"Yeah, well, at least the detention money is good," another man grunted before taking a huge gulp of straight black coffee. "Hell, pay me to sleep while I wait for them to get their shit together."
The other two men in the group nodded appreciatively at the statement, but the first man could not be consoled. "Fuck that, my company only pays the lowest goddamn rate for it. Hell, I'd rather be back on the fucking road so I can go the fuck home in time to catch some of my kid's wrestling tournaments."
After refilling their cups while the conversation turned into one of comparisons over who spent less time at home, the men slowly ambled towards the barbeque restaurant tucked in the corner of the gas station.
Sharing a sympathizing look with Toby, she took a sip of her coffee. The bitter taste made her nose wrinkle. It definitely needed more sugar. Reading her face, Toby laughed and grabbed a couple of packets of sugar off the condiment rack behind him.
Handing her the packets, Toby looked at the huge bag resting in front of her feet. "Laundry?"
Groaning, Jade leaned back against the wall behind her. "Yep. I need to do the laundry, vacuum out the cab, and then pick up some groceries."
Toby gave her a wistful look and shook his head. "Man, Gideon sure is lucky to have you with him. I would kill to have home-cooked food every night."
Jade couldn't help but soften at that. Toby was so sweet it made her sad to think of the kind-faced man doing long runs all over the country by himself. Looking around the gas station, she noticed as other men and women filed in and out. They were all the same in one way or another. Jeans, work shirts, grease stains, a stiff weariness from riding in a seat for nearly twelve hours a day. These men all reminded her of her dad. Even Toby reminded her of her dad. Maybe that was why she liked him nearly on sight when he started talking to Gideon the first time they were here. Although considerably younger than her dad was, Toby had a look in his eyes that said he had been doing this job for years. She wondered if he had ever come across Henry Lattimore during his runs.
"I'm telling you, getting yourself that Instant Pot will make all the difference," she preached, reminding him of their first conversation they had when they waited nearly eight hours together for their load last time.
"Yes, well," Toby said, averting his gaze and shifting on his feet. "I much rather have someone as nice as you to cook it for me and talk to me while I drive."
Jade laughed as she bent down and scooped up her laundry. "Oh, I just bet," she teased as she started walking to the door, Toby falling in line next to her. "Gideon is really milking it too, yesterday he had me hand feeding him practically every bite of the pasta I made as he drove."
"What a lucky bastard," Toby laughed as he held the door open for her. Stopping a little way from the door, he squinted from the sun, holding up one hand over his eyes as a shield. Seeing she had every intention of making her way over to the laundromat in the next parking lot over, he rushed to speak. "So umm, hey, I have to go back and make sure about my load once more, but I may come over there and sit with you and talk to you about some podcasts I've been listening to if that's alright?"
"Sure," she agreed happily. "My birthday was on Sunday, and Gideon bought me an audio-book subscription. So, I have been listening to loads of books and podcasts ever since.”
"Ok great, I'll see you in a few," he called to her.
Going through the glass door of the laundromat, Jade scanned the large open room filled with machines and smiled. It was empty. The sharp scent of detergent hung in the warm air of the room. Rumbling whirs of a few dryers turning and a washing machine spinning and sloshing filled the space with a low soothing noise. Setting her coffee on the white paint chipped wooden table in the middle of the second aisle, Jade emptied her bag and pulled out her backpack that was squirreled away at the bottom of the clothes. Sorting out all the clothes, she started two washing machines and sat down in the metal chair. Opening her laptop, she pulled up her final assignment and stared at it. This was it, her last assignment ever for high school. Once she turned it in, it would only be a few more weeks before she was emailed her final grade, and a couple more weeks before her diploma would be emailed to her. Jade cocked her head to the side. Not how she had imagined graduating high-school but here it was. Shaking her thoughts from the mental images of Ebony and Taylor walking across the school's stage dressed in their gowns, she forced herself back to the present. Butterflies filled her stomach as she proofread the paper once more and pressed send.
Earlier that morning, when Gideon first pulled into the hour-long line of truckers waiting to enter the distribution center for their load, she had called Sandra. Gone nearly two months now, Jade tried to call her at least every other week. On speakerphone, Jade had filled Sandra in on where they had been since the last time they talked, Gideon occasionally correcting her on places before returning to his silence he maintained with Sandra. She had told Jade she was keeping a map she had marked with pins of all the places they had been thus far, another topic that didn't particularly move the needle of Gideon's interest. It was only when Jade finally started winding down the conversation, and she forced herself to ask about how everything was going with Ron did Jade feel the subtle change in Gideon. Outwardly, he made no overt motion or signal that this part of the conversation interested him more than the others. He just sat in the driver's seat and eyed the back of the truck in front of them, occasionally lifting his foot off the brake and bringing their truck forward as the line progressed. But Jade knew Gideon, and she could see the muscle in his jaw tighten as he listened for their mother's response.
"Oh, everything is fine. He's just looking for another job right now because he doesn't want to work in that smelly meatpacking
plant any longer. Which I really can't blame him for," she chatted chipperly.
Gideon sat back in his seat and pressed the mute button on the phone as their mother rambled to another topic. He gave Jade a deadly serious look. "And all that means is the fucker is without a job and is living in our house scot-free while we were kicked out and forced to-"
Jade could see the fires of anger growing in his eyes with each word. Reaching across the divide of their seats, she placed a hand softly against his cheek. Gideon's anger was doused under the touch, and he gave her a momentary startled look before lowering his gaze and covering her hand with his own.
Her heart had beat furiously in her chest well after that phone call. Even now, as she sat in the empty laundromat, her pulse quickened at the memory of his firm jaw. There had been a whisper of stubble under her fingertips that sent little shocks through her nerves. Just when exactly did he change from her smooth-faced brother with the mischievous dimpled smile to this man with the devilish smile before her?
Checking her watch, Jade stood up from the bench and eyed the spinning clothes. She may as well wash everything she could, she thought. Looking out the windows at the front and spotting no one coming, she pulled down her pants and stripped off her sweater, leaving her in a pair of jogger shorts she wore underneath the pants and tank top. It was cold out and working its way to downright freezing. But the sun was up, and it took the edge off the wind outside. In her jacket, sneakers, shorts, and tank top Jade pulled on her backpack and stepped out of the laundromat. Walking down the street past the long line of trucks on the other side, she headed towards the Walmart they passed on the way in.
Her phone was ringing as she was making her way back to the distribution center. With her backpack full of groceries and a sack of bananas and bread, things she didn't want to get squished, in her left hand, she dug out her phone from her backpack pocket.
"And just where exactly are you?" Gideon's firm voice bit out over the phone.
Casting her eyes heavenward, Jade stepped around a crumbling hole in the sidewalk and put her finger up to her opposite ear to block out the noise from the line of waiting trucks idling to her left.
"I just came back from the laundromat," she somewhat shouted over the trucks' noise. "I had to put our clothes in the dryers, and before that, I went to get groceries. I'm just coming back to the truck to drop this stuff off—"
"Hey!"
She heard a shout as she passed through the entry gate to her right. Pulling the phone away from her ear, she stared at the man standing at the guard shack in obvious confusion. He wasn't the guard. When she had left earlier, she had made polite small talk with the guard whose name tag had read Jason, and this man was not him. Looking at him, Jade couldn’t tell how old he was. He could have been the same age as Toby or younger, but that wasn't saying much. There was a bone-weary tiredness about him that all truckers seemed to have that made pinpointing their age nearly impossible for Jade. With black hair cut close to his head and wearing a pair of uncomfortable-looking cowboy boots, jeans, and a white-t-shirt that had an army logo on it, the man stood there, giving her a stern look before stomping her way. With the phone in her hand forgotten, she stared wide-eyed at the man as he approached and stopped directly in front of her, nearly invading her personal space.
"You can’t be in here," the man announced.
Still not sure who this man was, Jade gave him a quizzical stare, looking for any sort of official identification on his person. She saw none. He looked like a regular truck driver to her, which only made her even more confused.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand," she finally answered.
"Look, lady, you can't be in here, so kindly take your business outside," he gestured to back outside the gate. "You'll just have to find your tricks at the truck stop…I'm sure it won’t be hard," he said, looking her up and down.
Feeling as if she had just been slapped, Jade took an unsteady step back, the cold wind biting around her legs. "Woah, hold on," she held up one hand towards the wannabe cowboy trucker. "Are you…you really think I'm a prostitute?!"
The man gave her a considering look letting his eyes linger on her bare legs a half a second too long for comfort. "Well, I have to admit you’re the cleanest and prettiest one I have ever seen but-"
"Don’t finish that sentence," she cut him off, her shock gone and now replaced with anger. She could not believe she was even having this absurd conversation. "I'm carrying a bag full of groceries," she held up the sack until it practically dangled in his face, "to my truck, which is parked right over there, for your information. So, I really don't think I fit the mold for a woman down on her luck, now please move!"
She made an attempt to step past him, but the man stepped in front of her and grabbed her arm. "I said, stop."
A frantic energy filled her stomach, and she was just about to scream at the man when they both heard a familiar voice shout.
"What the hell is going on?" Jogging across the open lot from the main building, Toby's face looked red, and his expression was a mixture of winded fatigue and angry confusion. Stopping next to her accuser, Toby grabbed the man's wrist and snatched his grip from Jade's arm before stepping in between her and the fake cowboy accosting her.
"Felix? What are you doing? " Toby said the man's name in an angry question, much like a parent questioning their child. "Jade," Toby looked back to her, and his eyes seemed to double-take on her as if he had to make sure he was seeing her correctly. Snatching his eyes up from her exposed legs, where they also lingered a bit too long, Toby gave her a worried look. "Are you ok?"
Blinking in confusion, Felix looked back and forth from them both. "You know her?"
Fully angry now, Toby gave the man a scorching look. "Hell, yes, I know her and…oh shit."
Both she and Felix followed Toby's line of sight to the tall figure running at full speed in their direction.
Jade's stomach bottomed out.
"Oh no," she breathed, her voice layered in dread. "Gideon, don't," she called out, but it made no difference.
Sensing that the approaching danger was meant for him, Felix began to back up as Gideon got into range. "Hey man, hold up—I thought she was—"
Walking right past Toby, who tried to hold his arms out to stop him, Gideon maneuvered right around him and directly into Felix's face. Standing a good eight inches taller than Felix, Gideon invaded the man's space backing him right up to the chain-link fence of the property. Having watched the ongoing scene, the few trucks that were parked in the waiting line within eyesight of the scene honked and rolled down their windows to egg on the impending brawl.
"Yeah, I heard just what the fuck you thought," Gideon growled, ignoring the audience and pointing savagely at the forgotten phone in Jade's hand. "Let me ask you this, do you fucking work here?" Gideon's voice thundered, making everyone around him feel small.
"No," Felix answered defensively, his back still pressed into the fence. "I'm…I'm waiting on my load, and I'm buddies with Jason, who told me to watch his post."
Gideon gave the man a contemptuous smile and nodded. "Yeah, so like I thought—you're no one."
Pride flared up in the man as Gideon stepped away from him, and for a moment, Jade worried Felix would try something stupid, instead, he just said something stupid. "Hey man, give me a fucking break," he yelled angrily before gesturing towards her. "Look at what she is wearing! How was I supposed to know-"
"Hey!" she shouted. How in the world was it somehow her fault that he thought she was a working girl? "What do you mean what I'm wearing?!" she repeated indigently. "I'm not even-"
Turning around on his heel, Jade caught a glance at Gideon's annoyed darkening expression before he squatted down and put his shoulder into her waist and lifted her high into the air.
"Gideon!" she shouted amidst the sudden uproar of laughing and booming truck honking at the scene. "Put me down!" she commanded, but he ignored her. "This is so embarrassing. Put me down!"
I
gnoring her, Gideon carried her much like a father would carry a child during a firework show and walked with her straight to the truck. Opening the door, he placed her inside before following her up with a slam of the door. Both standing in the little bit of open space, her by the bunks and him in between the driver and passenger seat, they both were breathing hard in anger.
"Gideon, will you just-"
"Look goddammit," Gideon raised his hands, not wanting to hear what she had to say. "I need you to listen to me, and I need you to understand something. You cannot go around these truckstops and distribution centers or anywhere where there are shit tons of men, dressed like that," he motioned towards her clothes as if he were pointing to a bug.
Righteous anger filled her, warming her whole body. "Are you serious?! I didn't do anything wrong," she yelled, tossing her bag and groceries angrily on the bed. "If anything, this is the most homely pair of clothes I own, Gideon. When the heck did I get transported back in time?"
A Love So Wrong: A Forbidden Romance Page 12
