The Lost Alpha Prince (Book 15 of the Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 13

Life on the road with Paul was fairly relaxing. Mostly they just drove and talked some, though John frankly didn't know what to talk about. He mostly listened to Paul talk. The man had a million stories, and seemed to have lived a full life. He was sixty-nine years and had been an over-the-road trucker for twenty years. He had over two million miles under his belt and had been to all forty-eight states.

"Wife died and I was bored sitting at home, so I decided to try something new and see some places I ain't never seen before. Country's pretty, and most of it, I ain't never visited until I started driving," Paul told him. "Been to all forty-eight and occasionally Canada."

"What happened to your wife?" John asked him, then wondered if he should have asked, or been more tactful. He was starting to get better at conversation than he had been before, and even when he lapsed into silence or wasn't sure what to say, it didn't seem to faze Paul any. The man would just continue on as though nothing has happened, which helped John relax around him. He was incredibly comfortable around Paul.

"Cancer." He shook his head. "Aggressive type that killed her much too quickly. She was forty-five. My best friend and now she's gone. Being on the road makes me wish she could have gone with me. She woulda loved to see this pretty countryside. But life is full of regrets and all too short."

John looked at him. "I'm sorry for your loss." He could hear the sadness in Paul's voice when he talked about his wife.

"Thanks, John," he said. "You think you got a wife out there somewhere missing you?"

He hadn't thought about that before. Did he? "I sort of hope not. I'd hate to think she's worried out of her mind about me." Thoughts of the auburn haired beauty he'd dreamed about entered his mind. Was she his wife? He still dreamed about her frequently, and it was always the same woman. The same erotic dream. He bit his lip.

Paul nodded. "I can agree with that. But before you get much older, you need to find yourself the love of a good woman. One that will keep your bed warm at night and take good care of you."

John smiled at that. But until he got his memories back, he wasn't sure he wanted to get involved with a woman. He needed to figure out a way to get that thing out of his brain. Though being out on the road, the only female that was interested in him was Susie. Even now she laid curled up in his lap, her little motor purring contentedly away while he absently stroked her soft warm body. "One day, Paul. One day."

"Just don't wait too long. And then enjoy every moment you can with her," Paul advised.

John had taken over most of the duties outside of the truck for Paul. The way he saw it, he needed to earn his way on that truck, and anything he could do to make it easier on the man who was probably twice his age, the better. He'd followed Paul around, watching him go over the truck before they took off, and taking mental notes.

"Pre-trip inspection is what we're doing. Gotta make sure the lights work, the tires are good, air lines are good, and nothing's bent, cracked or broken," Paul explained, kicking the tires as they walked along.

John nodded, listening to every word the man said, and watching him carefully.

Paul taught him how he hooked up to a trailer, showing him how to check that the fifth wheel was locked in place and how to raise the landing gear. He showed him how to slide the tandem wheels on the back of the trailer and how to move the fifth wheel if they needed to. He explained about weight and laws and scales. He also showed John how to tarp the load when they needed to, and how to strap down a load. 

John mostly hauled with a flatbed trailer but occasionally he took loads with a regular trailer, which he had called a dry van. He'd taken two loads with a refeer, or refrigerated, trailer, though John hadn't cared for those. The refeer was very loud and annoying. He hadn't slept very well those nights.

John listened to his every word. He supposed at some point, he could go learn to drive a truck. He knew quite a bit about it already. He'd watched Paul shift the truck every time they took off. Paul had noticed his curiosity and began explaining the shifting when he'd take off. John was fascinated by it. Paul shifted seamlessly like he'd been doing it his entire life.

"Just comes with practice. Like backing," Paul told him. 

John was fascinated by that too. Paul was great at backing, and John was impressed more often than not. Sometimes he'd cringe, thinking the man was going to hit something, but he never did. He'd just get awfully close at times.

"Only thing I might bump is the dock," Paul told him the first time they backed into a dock. 

John jumped when the trailer bumped against the dock. "What happened?"

Paul laughed. "That's the dock. We just bumped into it."

John had also made good friends with Susie. She enjoyed laying on the dashboard in the sun and sleeping mostly during the day, which he thought was kind of adorable, though she'd occasionally sit in his lap. But at night, she wanted to sleep with him, and generally joined him in the top bunk. He felt guilty about it since she wasn't his, but Paul didn't care. 

"She slept there before you showed up. Probably wondering why this big boy has joined her and is taking up most of her bed," Paul said with a laugh. 

John had smiled at that. Susie appreciated how warm he was. She seemed to like warm spaces, and he found that he was pretty warm more often that not. He'd grabbed the extra clothes that Sarah had brought to the room on the way out, so he had other clothes to wear. But none of it was very warm, and he knew he was probably going to freeze in the winter. He'd worry about that later though. He'd probably have to get off the truck before that happened. 

But Paul was right about the country, and John was enjoying seeing it like he was. He wondered which state he was from. Where he lived, and what he'd done before. Wouldn't it be ironic if he'd been a truck driver?

John had spent several miles thinking about what he'd done for a living. He had to have a job, though he supposed he'd probably lost it by this point when he'd suddenly stopped showing up. He'd learned from Paul that he'd been in Oklahoma when Paul had picked him up, and now he wondered if that was where he really was from. They'd gone through it more than once, and John would stare out the window, looking for anything familiar, though nothing was really familiar to him until he'd ridden by it multiple times and he recognized it from his recent trip by.

They spent most of their time out west, and it seemed like they were in a new state quite frequently. Except Texas. That state felt like it took forever to cross. Paul had been right about the west though. It was beautiful country and John loved watching the scenery.

John had found out Paul mostly lived on the truck. He didn't really have a home. He was from Iowa, and that was where his stuff was at. He rented a small place that he would visit every few months. "Trucks home," he'd told John. "I live here. I visit Iowa."