Old751 - Riding Off to the Future

The paid help all left, and it was just the four of us. I thanked Jack and Jen for letting me sit in on the family business meeting, but I didn't think that I had really earned the right yet. They told me that sometimes it is nice to have an extra set of ears sit in. Their daughters did if they were around when they had them and had great suggestions sometimes. Jen agreed to take care of my business books once I moved up here if I could find a place. Julie confessed that she had agreed to let me move her RV to the lake without consulting them. Jack only said why. We explained that we were being old-fashioned and going to try to keep up proper appearances and that I was also going to get the cabin livable again so when the girls moved back, they all could have weekends out there like they used to. Jack commented that he did miss those days.

It felt nice to be included in a family meeting even if nothing decided had any effect on me currently. When the meeting was over, Julie asked if there was anything that I would like to do the rest of the day. Before I could respond, my phone rang. It was Betty, I had an over asking price offer for my house that had been on the market for less than a day. I asked her to hold and told Julie what my asking price was and what the offer was, and she told me that I would be an idiot not to accept it, I told Betty that she had just sold a house. She asked if I wanted her to email the contract and I could sign electronically or if I would be coming in to sign.

I asked Julie if she had the time to make a road trip. She said that she had all the time she wanted, Suzy and Gayle were in charge of the Café unless they needed her to cover. I told Betty that we would see her this afternoon. It was time Julie got to see how and where I lived for a short time longer. Julie agreed to the road trip, and we were soon on our way. We had stopped at her house long enough to grab some of the left-over sandwiches from yesterday and a cooler full of drinks.

When we got to town, one of the first things we saw was Old751 with her pretty new decals. I pulled in so we could admire her new look. Julie said that she loved the company logo. It was me and Old751 combined. I took her inside and introduced her. She was thanked for her huge order, and they showed her the designs they had come up with. Besides the original that I had done, they had 3 other designs and colors. He told her that they would be shipped tomorrow, they were boxed and ready, but the UPS guy had already been there.

I told Julie that I could go get a brown shirt or we could just take them with us now if she would like. The shop guy was happy to let me take that and save the shipping cost, so we carried them out to the truck. Julie told him that he would be hearing from them next time they ran out.

I asked if she wanted to go watch me sign my house away or go see it first. She opted to go see the house first as we had time. We pulled into the driveway. Betty already had a sale pending sign up. I took Julie inside and gave her the nickel tour saving the bedroom for last. She was impressed with how neat and clean the house was. I told her that I had done some straightening yesterday, but I tended to keep things tidy, and I had a housekeeper come in once a month to do some of the cleaning that guys usually suck at, but laundry, dishes and cooking were done by me.

She wasn't surprised that it had sold so quickly, it was a very nice house and looked well cared for. When we walked out around the outside, Doug waved at us to come over. I introduced Julie to him, and he excitedly told us to come inside and that he had something to show us. Inside Sally was holding one of the tiniest babies I had ever seen. Sally explained that while they thought that they would be adopting an older baby, when the agency called, they told them that they had a preemie just out of the NICU that had been abandoned by its mother and would they be willing to take on that challenge instead.

Sally told us that this screaming little bundle instantly quieted in her arms and that when Doug took her, she seemed to snuggle even more to him. We both congratulated them. Sally asked Julie if she would like to hold her, and Julie readily accepted. The baby never stirred once Julie got her settled in against her. I liked the way she looked holding a baby even though it probably wouldn't happen for us. Sally took Julie to see the nursery that wasn't anywhere near done while I talked with Doug. He said that Julie was a real looker, and that he hoped that we had all the happiness that he and Sally had found. I thanked him. I also told him that I had accepted an offer for my house, and he would have new neighbors soon and hoped that they would get along well.

Julie returned sans baby who had been laid in her crib. We told Doug and Sally goodbye and left to go get my house sold. Julie hugged onto my arm and whispered that she wished that she hadn't taken that sweet little thing in her arms because it made her want one really, really bad. The thought crossed my mind that the wild carefree life I thought was in my future may not be coming like I thought.

Poor Betty was amazed at how fast this entire thing went. It was less than a week ago I had walked in to ask her to look at my house to put it on the market and here I was signing a purchase agreement. She also commented on how pretty Julie was and understood how I could be swept off my feet at which Julie blushed.

On our way back to Smithville we stopped by to check with Steve and introduce Julie to him. I was supposed to have 2 more runs to make for him but he told me that he had already hired my replacement and, if I wanted to, he could ride with me on my next trip then go ahead and take over for my last one. I agreed, seeing as how it would give me even more time before starting with The Thomsons. I was told that Oscar got mad and quit when Steve talked to him about his less than adequate work but had come back two days later asking him to come back to work for him with the promise to do things the way they should have been done for a long time. Steve took him back but also hired a young guy just out of diesel school to make sure that Oscar kept his promise.

That sounded like Old751 now had Steve on the right track too. I felt good that things worked out that way. Steve had taken a chance on me all those years ago and I owed him a lot, even more so now.

The next month flew by. The RV was at the lake, all hooked up and secured down. My household stuff had been loaded into a trailer and was now secured in Julie's car warehouse until I had a home for it. The cabin wasn't too bad, some wood rot from being wet and the mess of the damage to the roof. Old dated belongings that had gotten water damaged were hauled out. Nothing of real sentimental importance was harmed. Julie spent a lot of time helping me with the clean-up and repairing the damage. When I had to go back to work it didn't really feel like I was working. Old751 was very pleased with herself and her new life. I had no problems with my truck or trailer, and she made sure to keep me away from those little death rockets on the highway.

On that note, the State Police had enough traffic camera footage of that parade of cars that night and every one of the drivers was apprehended and charged. The three drivers that had witnessed the wreck were also charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving a death and all got jail time. The doctor and nurses that rendered aid and several of the drivers that assisted with putting the fire out and offering help were also commended. One of the billboards near the exit displayed a picture of the mangled car and reminded drivers of the accident and the needless loss of 5 lives by excessive speed paid for by The Lost Café and Truck Stop and 751 Trucking.

One year to the day that a different accident and a beautiful old truck guided me to that Café, I asked Julie to marry me. The wedding took place at the lake. It was the first time ever that the Café was closed for even just a few hours. Everyone that we loved and cared about was able to be there along with several people that Old751 had managed to touch one way or another. Julie's maid of honor was Jane, her oldest friend from her high school days. My best man was Jack as we had become very close lately fending off some of Jen and Julie's ideas. No ringbearer but we did have a cute little flower girl, Hope, our god daughter, Doug and Sally's little one.

Over the next several years, Julie and I spent a lot of time out at the lake. Olive and Ollie had retired to a nearby retirement home where they still shared a small house. Their nephew took over their farm and being near our age, we became friends, and they were often with us at the lake. Their kids had free run of swimming and fishing there long as they asked us first.

The RV was returned to the warehouse once the cabin was all fixed. We had plans to build a house out there, but it never was an urgent thing to do. The cabin was cozy, and we had a house in town. Oh, the house in town. One of the houses that Julie owned and rented out to an older couple caught fire one night. Curtains near a space heater. They got out okay, but it spread faster than the volunteer fire department could get gathered and it caught the house next door on fire too, yes, that was Julie's too.

After making sure that both couples had a place to go, Julie and I built a house for ourselves. It was still only a block away from the Café. Julie let her, I found out later, cousins Suzy and Gayle take over the Café, for the most part. Suzy took care of the back and bookkeeping and day-to-day management. Gayle took over hiring and managing the front. Julie would pop in once and a while to check on things or to cover if either of those two needed to be gone and they didn't have coverage.

I had quickly paid off my loan to buy Old751 and everything after expenses was profit. I made Julie sign a pre-nup agreement that everything she owned before we got married was hers and everything, I owned was mine and we had no claim to either should we divorce. After marriage property was community property and would be split equally.

I was down to making runs for the Thomsons only when they had overscheduled and needed help. I made sure that Old751 visited George regularly and that she was happy. Julie would ride along sometimes but the trucker life wasn't the one for her.

About 4 years into our happy little life, a new waitress, Lilli, that Gayle had hired had gotten herself pregnant. She was young and a little wild, but Gayle had decided to give her a chance to do something with her life, just not this. She lived with her single mom, she was well behaved at work and good at waitressing. She worked all through her pregnancy right up until the day she delivered. Working that morning until her water broke. She barely made it to the hospital in time. Six weeks later she was out riding 4-wheelers with her friends and was involved in an accident and was left paralyzed from the neck down. Julie and I took over conservatorship of her daughter so her mother could care for her without worrying about a baby as well. Little Sierra was a bright light for us. Julie doted on her like the princess she was to us. Sierra saw her mother every day. Lilli tried her best to interact with Sierra and show her love but not being able to hold her or play with her started being more painful for her.

The little bit of healing progress that she showed in the beginning waned as the months went on. One day while Sierra's grandmother was having her turn playing with her, Lilli asked Julie if we would go ahead and adopt her and give her a great life that she would never be able to give her. Julie promised that if her mother had no objections, then when it became necessary, we would adopt her gladly, but long as Lilli was here and even just able to talk with her, the situation would stay as it was. Julie could see that Lillie was slowly failing from all the issues of paralysis. She was determined that this little girl was going to remember her mother and know who she was.

Lillie hung on for seven years. Julie live streamed every life event in Sierra's life so her mother could watch every single one of them. Sierra had woken up late one night and asked Julie if she could call her mom. Julie never refused those requests, even late at night. Lillie was able to answer and make calls by moving her fingers on a touchpad and had a camera that came on with video calls, which Sierra dialed. When Lilli came on the screen, Sierra told her that she loved her and that she would always remember her, and that it was okay to go without any prompting. Lilli weakly responded that she loved her too and that she would be waiting for her, then hung up.

Sierra gave us both a huge hug and thanked us for letting her say goodbye to her mom then went straight back to bed. Julie and I just looked at each other. At 7 the next morning, Lilli's mom called to tell us that Lillie had peacefully passed away in her sleep and was finally at rest. When we told Sierra that morning, she told us that she knew already, her truck had told her. Her truck referred to a scale model of Old751 that we had gotten for her the first time she had a reaction to seeing Old751. She carried it with her often and it was found in her backpack most of the time, never far away.

While discussing funeral plans with Lilli's mother, Sierra listening nearby told us that Old751 wanted to carry momma to be buried. It was the only request she had when we asked so those arrangements were made as well.

Sierra grew into a fine young lady. Stepping up just like her cousins to help with the family business. Jack and Jen's daughters had returned home. Jill had taken over running the Café, Truck Stop, Sub Shop, and several other businesses that had sprung up over the years. Jan, who had a degree in farm management, had taken over everything dealing with renting the farmland and was acquiring more when it was available.

I had grown 751 trucking to a fleet of 6 trucks. Sierra piloted the matriarch of the herd having taken over Old751 as soon as she was able to get her commercial license. She ran the trucking business and was learning to help with the rest of the businesses. Those 3 girls gave those old stogies I had met with years ago a run for their money.

Jack and Jen had retired to Florida in the winter and had a place in Aspen for the Summer. Julie and I had stayed in Smithville, but we traveled a lot. Someone needed to be close just in case a great niece or nephew or a grandchild ever needed to be cared for, and we did a lot of that and loved it.

Hard to believe that my life had been so blessed because my old truck decided that I deserved better.