The Road Trip 17

The girl was drenched ... a wet summer dress clung to her flesh accentuating every curve of a well-toned athletic body. Long blonde hair appeared from under a baseball cap and lay plastered against her neck and shoulders. Sitting under the shelter of a road side pine tree she looked small, alone ... and very cute!

I pulled my house truck off the road onto the gravel verge and stopped adjacent to her tree shelter. As I opened my window, she looked up and smiled. Now I've seen some nice smiles in my time, but this was one that had me smiling back in an instant. Her whole face became radiant and it literally took my breath away.

"Hi ... nice day!" She shouted above the noisy rain and looked up at the sky and shrugged her shoulders.

"Passing thunderstorm." I replied and then noticed her rain jacket still strapped to the top of her backpack. "Looks like you got caught out."

She glanced to where I was looking. "Didn't get a chance to put it on ... and now there's no point." Another shrug and smile followed.

"Where are you headed?"

"Right now, anywhere where I can dry off."

"I think there's a café a few miles up the road, hop in I'll give you a lift there."

"I'm going to get your cab all wet, I can walk there if it's only a couple of miles."

"Don't worry about it. I'll grab a towel from the back, you can sit on that."

I got up and moved through to the back of my truck and opened the side door.

"Need a hand with the pack?" I offered looking out the open door.

"I don't mean to be rude but I usually don't accept rides from guys on their own. How do I know you're not one of those weirdo types?"

"Do I look weird?" I answered grinning back.

"No, but I bet they never do," she replied. "You could have a dungeon back there, in your ... what is this anyway, a horse truck?"

"It was a horse truck now it's my homemade camper. Look, if it helps my names Trevor James, but everyone calls me TJ. I'm on a tour of the country in my baby here ... and I don't have an axe in here waiting for you."

"You didn't really have to mention an axe, that's just ... wrong," she replied with a half-smile, but also a hint of apprehension in her voice.

"Sorry, you're right it wasn't an appropriate word." I replied sheepishly. "I can assure you there is nothing back here that could hurt a fly."

She hesitated for a moment thinking, then her smile returned as she made her decision. "OK. I'm Emma. Emma Riley."

"Please to meet you Emma Riley ... now can I offer you a dry towel and a lift?"

A noise from behind me startled her and she stepped back toward the tree.

"I thought you were alone!" The smile disappeared and her voice sounded anxious.

"Hey, it's alright," I said calmly seeing her distress. I stepped to one side of the door and Dexter my border collie poked his head out beside me. "This is Dex, my traveling companion. Say hello Dex."

Dex gave a short bark and jumped down from the truck and padded over Emma. He sat and raised one paw in the air for a shake.

"Oh come on Dex it's raining! Now you're all wet." I said in exasperation.

"I take it he's friendly?" Emma was eyeing Dex carefully.

"He's a marshmallow with fur. All be it wet fur now, right Dexter!" I replied shaking my head in mock frustration.

She reached down and took Dex's extended paw and gave it a brief shake. Dex then jumped up on his hind legs, placing his front paws on Emma's wet dress.

"Dex! Your paws are dirty, you menace!" I exclaimed.

"It's OK, isn't it boy." Emma said smiling again as she patted Dex on the head and scratched behind his ears.

"Sorry about that." I apologized. "I guess he likes you."

"I guess someone with a dog this friendly can't be too bad."

"So you want a lift?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"Come on Dex, inside boy." I commanded.

Dex hopped down and padded across the space between the tree and the camper, oblivious to the fact he had left muddy paw prints all over the front of the little summer dress. He gave himself a shake, spraying water droplets in all directions before jumping inside.

"Sorry about the dress". I apologized again.

"It was wet and grubby anyway." Emma said casually as she picked up her backpack and headed for the camper.

I took the pack from her and stepped aside so she could climb up through the door.

"Welcome aboard." I smiled and held out my hand for Emma to shake.

"Thanks," she replied and gripped my hand.

"OK. Towels." I mumbled realizing I had probably held her hand a little too long, staring into her deep emerald colored eyes.

"Ah, yeah thanks." Emma responded a little awkwardly, realizing she had also willingly held my hand a little too long.

I pulled a couple towels out of the shelf by the shower and handed one to her.

"Dry off a bit and I'll put the other towel on the seat up front for when you're ready to go."

I moved back into the cab and got behind the wheel.

"This is some setup you've got here" Emma remarked looking around the camper as she dried her face and arms.

"Thanks, I just finished it last week. You're actually the first person to see inside." I replied over my shoulder.

"You built all this?" Emma remarked as she came through and sat in the passenger seat.

"Pretty much. I did have a friend sew the couch cushions but that's about all the help I needed."

"Wow! I'm impressed." That winning smile lit up her face again as she paid the compliment.

"Buckle up, we'll be at the café in a few minutes."

On the way Emma explained she was backpacking around the country for a couple of months. She was alone for the first week until her friend Samantha arrived from England to join her.

It was a little further than I remembered to the small country cafe, but ten minutes later we saw the words 'The Country Grill', on a faded sign atop a large wooden structure.

As I pulled up beside the rustic building the rain had stopped and steam rose from the surrounding roadside as the sun started to dry things out. I told Emma she could change in the camper while I went inside and got a coffee and something to eat.

"You can lock the door while you change. Just lock it again when you get out. I'll see you inside, " I said as I opened my door to get out.

"I actually don't have anything to change into." Emma said with a wry smile.

"What you mean?" I queried.

"I stayed at a back packers lodge last night and I did my washing. When I got up this morning someone had stolen my clothes off the washing line. My jeans and both pairs of shorts and T shirts were gone. That's why I'm hiking in this dress. I was hoping to find a second-hand clothing store in the next town so I could get some new gear."

"I kind of wondered why you'd hike in a dress. Not that it's a bad look."

Emma raised her eyebrows and held her hands out indicating how she presently looked.

"Well, maybe the paw prints aren't quite in fashion." I grinned back.

"I'll just clean up a bit in the restroom then sit in the sun and dry out for a while before I head back on the road. Thanks for the lift."

"Look, I've got a shirt you can have and if you hold up here for a minute I'll see what I can find inside."

Before Emma could answer I got out and headed into the café.

A couple of minutes later I returned to find Emma sitting on the camper doorstep with Dex lying beside her getting a tummy rub.

"Keep that up and you'll have a friend for life." I joked as I approached.

"Yeah, I can tell." She gave Dex one last rub before standing up. "Hey, you don't have to worry about me, I'll be fine ..."

She stopped mid-sentence as I held up a pair of girls jean shorts.

"Where did you get those from?"

"Off a waitress inside." I replied with a straight face.

"You took them off a waitress!" she exclaimed wide eyed.

"She wasn't wearing them at the time." I laughed at her surprised look. "She had a change of clothes at work and after I explained why I wanted them, she sold them to me."

"You bought them for me. Why?"

"Because you needed them ... pretty simple really."

"I don't know what to say."

"You don't need to say anything. Just hop back in and I'll get that shirt for you."

I found my smallest fit shirt and handed it over before stepping outside and closing the door. I returned to the café to order coffee and breakfast. Emma came in ten minutes later. The jean shorts were a perfect fit but the shirt was a bit baggy, so she'd tied it in a knot at the front revealing a tanned stomach with a pierced belly button ... a very nice look.

Emma ordered coffee and a bagel from the jean selling waitress ... who remarked that the shorts looked better on Emma than on her.

As we ate I expressed my concern that even though the country was pretty safe it still wasn't best for a female to travel alone, especially hitch hiking. I could tell Emma felt the same way, but she didn't want to waste her funds on buses this early on her trip.

So ... I did what any guy would do in my position ... I offered her a ride to the next town. She graciously accepted, on one condition. She wanted to pay me for the jean shorts.

"It mean's I don't owe you anything. OK." She said, making it clear in the tone of her voice that it was just a ride she wanted with no strings attached.

I happily agreed and told her she could pay for my meal and we'd be even. So once the bill was settled we hit the road and headed north, with Dexter riding shotgun in the seat beside Emma.

It was an hour to the next small town. Gainesville, population 250 and growing ... that was according to a big sign on the way in. We found a second-hand clothing shop on the main street but being Sunday it was closed. In fact the only place we could find that was open was a small garage with two old petrol pumps in front that looked like they had been installed just after the invention of the automobile. The garage attendant wasn't very helpful, he was new to town and couldn't answer any of our questions regarding places for Emma to stay.

Unfortunately just north of this town was where I intended to turn off the main road and head for the coast. So Emma had a decision to make, she could stay in Gainesville until the next day and try and find some form of accommodation ... which didn't look promising. Alternatively she could come with me and take a chance that there would be places to stay on the coast. I looked on the internet and it did indicate there was a youth hostel at the beach town I was heading for. Emma decided to carry on so I hit the road again.

We talked while enjoying the scenery. I found out Emma was 24 and was an interior designer by occupation. She'd saved money and lived cheap for the last three years to be able to take a year off to travel the world with her old college friend Sam. They hadn't seen each other in two years and now lived on opposite sides of the world. They had arranged to both travel halfway and meet in whatever place was in the middle. This country was pretty much equal distance for them both, therefore it had become the first place they'd decided to tour on their trip. Emma had gotten a cheap flight a week earlier than Sam and had decided to do a bit of sight seeing while she waited. Evidently Sam, short for Samantha, was English and an accomplished photographer.

I opened up a little bit about my past, explaining that I was 34, a trained architectural draftsman and a widower for the last four years.

I'd married Kelly my childhood sweetheart when I was twenty and we'd shared ten years of great married life together. I'd worked as a draftsman and Kelly had become a radiologist. We'd been on vacation in the USA when a teenage driver had T-boned our rental car. Kelly had died instantly and I spent five weeks in hospital. I'd settled out of court with the rich father of the young girl driver and had taken the money and drifted for a while. I finally got into the security business for three years, before returning home four months ago to built the camper. I'd decided to fulfill a dream that I'd had for years of traveling visiting weird and wonderful architectural projects, and doing an online blog of my trip. So here I was, week one of my own cross- country tour of discovery.

Emma thought the idea was cool. She and Sam were planning to blog their trip as well.

We got to the beach about four o'clock and the sun as still shining. It was hot so I suggested a swim before dropping Emma off at the hostel. I stepped outside while she changed into her swim suit. When she appeared I was a little disappointed as she had my shirt on and it covered her from neck to mid-thigh ... no chance to see that great body in more detail. I quickly hopped back inside and changed before joining her on the beach.

"Are you a run and plunge person or a little by little slow wader?" I asked as I approached.

In response, Emma lifted the shirt over her head and dropped it in the sand and took off running toward the surf.

"Catch me if you can!" she shouted as I watched her perfectly sculptured bikini clad body race off across the sand. Dex looked up at me briefly and then took off after Emma.

I pulled my own t-shirt off and sprinted after them. By the time I reached the waves Emma had already dived in and was nowhere to be seen. Dex was racing up and down in the shallows. I dived into an oncoming wave and came up standing in waist deep water.

"Fuck, the water's cold!" Emma's voice sounded from few feet away.

"The sea here isn't as warm as where you come from." I answered, laughing at her jumping up and down, breathing deeply.

"The longer you're under the warmer it'll seem." I offered, kneeling down so the water level was at my chest.

Emma followed my lead and knelt beside me. Unfortunately being a good six inches shorter than I was the water level was up to her neck and an unseen wave crashed over her. She came up spluttering and gasping for breath. I grabbed her around the waist and held her upright before another wave crashed into us.

"I think we need to head back in." I said as I guided her toward the beach.

By the time we arrived back at our shirts she was breathing normally. This was the first chance I had to get a good look at her in what was a rather small bikini. What I saw was worth the wait. She was slim without looking skinny and the flat toned stomach and slightly muscled arms showed she worked out. Her breasts were on the smaller size, but they complemented her body shape well. The white material of the bikini contrasted nicely with her tanned body. She was spectacular to look at.

"Ahh ... you're staring." Emma said awkwardly with a grimace.

"Sorry ... but you're very beautiful. Honestly, looking like that I think anyone would stare ... I mean in an admiring way, not a creepy weird way. I ... I didn't mean to embarrass you."

I actually think I was the embarrassed one. I didn't have a lot of practice in being around women since Kelly. I felt a little socially inept when it came to small talk and compliments. I decided to change the subject.

"Well, your first swim was ..."

"I would say pretty successful!" she interrupted. "I mean I didn't drown ...thank you for that by the way."

I laughed at her comment and she joined in. I was relieved that she didn't seem to feel I'd said anything inappropriate about her looks.

We sat on a large piece of driftwood and watched a couple of surfers catch a wave and ride it into the beach. The sun dropped a little lower in the sky, and I realized time was getting on. I called Dex, who was still playing in the water, letting off some of the energy he always seemed to have.

After getting changed I drove down the coast to the village and parked in front the youth hostel. We sat in the cab and looked at the sign in the window 'No Vacancy'.

"OK. Plan B." I said.

"What's plan B?" Emma questioned, her eyebrow raised.

Before I could answer a middle aged man came out the front door carrying a free standing sign. He set it down on the sidewalk. It was emblazoned with the same message as the window 'No Vacancy'.

I called out through the open window. "Excuse me. Is there any other accommodation in town?"

The man looked up and approached the window.

"Not for the next two nights, everything's sold out because of the summer fun run tomorrow."

"Where's the nearest likely accommodation?" Emma asked.

"Freemont, I guess." He replied.

"How far is that?"

"On the ferry it's just fifteen minutes."

"Where do we get the ferry then?"

"It's at the end of this road, about a mile."

"Thanks." I put the truck into gear and was about to pull away.

"You won't get there that way tonight," the man said casually. "Last ferry for the day left twenty minutes ago."

"We can drive there though, right?" I said putting the gear shift back into neutral.

"Course you can, but it's an hour drive round the estuary, you have to go back the way you came about 20 miles and cross the bridge over the river. By the time you got to Freemont I reckon all their accommodation will be gone too, usually is this time of year."

"Any suggestions on anywhere else?" I asked.

"What's wrong with you truck here? Looks like it's decked out as a camper."

With that the man turned and went back inside.

"Want a house guest?" Emma said with a shrug.

"That was plan B." I responded and smiled. "There's plenty of room back there and believe it or not there's two separate sleeping areas."

Emma glanced into the back of the camper. "Now that's pretty hard to believe." She said skeptically.

I drove back to the beach and pulled off into a small parking area.

"OK, ready for this?" I said as we made our way to the back.

Emma just nodded not really knowing what I was talking about.

I pushed a button on the electrical panel and the first of my two slide outs started to move. Immediately the once cramped interior of the truck became more spacious as the kitchen area slid backward. Another button push and the opposite side started to move ... revealing a bigger open space at the back. I moved into the back and pulled a queen size murphy-bed down from the wall.

"Wow! Now that's impressive." Emma stood shaking her head in disbelief.

"You can choose either this queen size bed or the double above the cab," I said. "Either way there's a curtain for privacy."

"You built this yourself out of a horse float!"

"There's more if you want to see."

"Heck yeah!"

I pushed the murphy-bed back up and set up a sitting area in front of it by moving some storage boxes and adding padded squabs. Then with another push of a button a flat screen TV rose up from a cabinet. I finished the set up by pulling a curtain from the back wall revealing a door and a lift up window. A switch on the side wall opened the trucks back door which was hinged at the bottom, it dropped down to become an outside deck. I opened the door and window and the transformation was complete.

Emma clapped at the reveal she had witnessed. "Wow, this is amazing! Anymore secrets in the walls?"

"That's about it, for now. So how about I get busy and cook some supper. How do you like your steak?"

"You cook as well? Is there anything you're not good at?"

"Plenty, but I'll keep it all a secret for now so I can continue to bask in your current admiration." I replied with a laugh as I headed out onto the deck.

Emma made a salad from bits and pieces in the fridge and I cooked steaks on the outside pull-out barbecue. We ate on the deck sitting in fold out canvas chairs and enjoyed the meal with a bottle of pinot gris from my wine cooler. Dex was lying across Emma's feet and was delighted to receive ongoing pats and ear rubs. We ate in relative silence admiring the view and the sunset made the atmosphere very pleasant and relaxed. Even though we had just meet I felt a connection between the two us. I sensed Emma felt it to.