A Roof Over Their Heads

by M. K. Stelmack

  “I’ve called the ambulance,” Alexi said. “He fell. From the roof.”

  Mel pinched his mouth and nodded once. He cupped his hand over Seth’s forehead as if checking his brother for a fever. “You’ll be okay.”

  Seth’s green eyes cut to Mel. “Get your gun.”

  Alexi watched in bewilderment as fury flooded Mel’s face. He snatched his hand away and looked ready to wrap it around his brother’s throat when Seth’s eyes suddenly rolled backward and he passed out.

  * * *

  ALEXI STARED AT her phone on the kitchen counter, willing it to ring, but all she got was the picture of Richard and the kids at the playground. She really needed to update her wallpaper.

  “Can’t you just call Mel?” Matt asked from the kitchen table where he sat with the homework he wasn’t doing.

  She’d brought him and Callie home when the ambulance left with Seth and Mel. Matt wouldn’t have functioned at school. She left Bryn and Amy in class. Let them have their day unburdened.

  She forced herself to step away from the phone and go to the stove to start the grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. “Mel will call when he can. He said he would and he will.”

  “If he remembered, but maybe he forgot,” Matt countered.

  No, he wouldn’t have forgotten her tight squeeze on his wrist, the promise to call she wrung from him before he’d got into his truck to follow the ambulance.

  After a silent lunch, Callie went for her nap, snug among her stuffies. Matt was wiping the table but stopped when she appeared in the kitchen.

  “Can’t you—”

  Alexi held up her hand. “I’ll phone.”

  Her call went to voice mail. “I know you might not be able to return my call right away,” she said, “but I wanted to know how Seth is doing. I...if you could call me if...when you can, that would be good. If there’s anything you want me to do, I will. Just call me. Please.”

  Fifteen minutes passed without a call and Matt declared he was going out to check on the kittens. She agreed because there was nothing like the soft warmth of an animal to bring comfort and because worrying was hard enough without appearing not to. A year of it had worn her out.

  With Callie still asleep and Matt outside, silence stole around her. She hated silence. Always had. She had filled it with kids and when the kids were asleep, she’d filled it with Richard.

  Talking to Richard.

  Talking, talking, talking him to death.

  Richard had his handset on and she’d put the kids to bed a half hour ago. An hour away from home, he was tired and she was talking with him to keep him awake, telling him about all the things they were going to do during the next ten days he was off. She was saying how they should all go to the zoo because she got half-price coupons when suddenly he said, No. Not in fear or anger. Calm and a little sad.

  For a split second she thought he was talking about her idea, and then there was the most horrible noise, a great crushing. It went on and on. The sound must’ve lasted for seconds really but she heard it all.

  The truck phone system was totalled, so she never knew if he heard her frantic shouts to him. He was dead by the time the paramedics came.

  Seth was still alive. But the paramedics were worried about his back, about the possibility of a concussion, especially because he’d fainted. For sure he’d broken an arm and a leg. Ribs, too.

  Had they found more problems? Was his back fractured? Would he walk? She couldn’t imagine Seth in a wheelchair. No, she thought, her phone pressed to her chest, she could imagine it and was terrified.

  She swallowed her panic. She would not go down that path. If it wasn’t death, it was life.

  Her phone rang.

  Mel.

  “Hi.” She paused to let him work past the obviousness of his opening line and get on with the real news.

  “Well. Well, he’s a bit broken up.”

  “What do you mean exactly?”

  “There’s a test or two to come back and then we’ll know everything.”

  It occurred to Alexi as she gripped the sink to prevent herself from screaming at Mel’s vagueness that he was being deliberately so. He was trying to protect her from bad news, just as she had with Matt. Only she wasn’t a child who needed protecting.

  “Okay, Mel. I’m away from the kids. I know you’re not trying to upset me but I’m already worried sick. Please tell me what’s going on.”

  “His right arm and right leg are broken. His left shoulder was dislocated, so his left arm needs to be in a sling for the next few days at least. And he’s got a couple of broken ribs.”

  Alexi sagged with relief. “Is that it? No head injuries?”

  “No. Well, a concussion but they don’t seem too worried.”

  A concussion and not worried? People died from them. “What did they say about him passing out?”

  “He stayed conscious the rest of the time.”

  “Did they run any tests?”

  “Yes. I made sure of that.”

  Alexi wasn’t certain exactly how Mel could make sure of that but she’d take his word for it. “How is he doing otherwise? Is he awake?”

  “The painkillers were starting to kick in and he was about to rest. They’ll wake him in a couple of hours. I thought I better leave so he could sleep. Say, did you know that they have nap times in the hospital?”

  Trust Mel to make time in the hospital seem enviable. “I’m sure it’ll be the first one Seth will have taken since he was a baby.”

  “He didn’t take them then. Hollered right through them.”

  Alexi laughed, her pent-up anxiety making it come out short and wheezy. She felt the pressure of someone watching her and glanced around to see Matt standing there. She waved and smiled, and his worry softened to relief. She turned back to the phone. “Please tell him we’re all glad he’s okay. Are they keeping him in overnight?”

  “Yeah, well, that’s the thing. The doctor will release him tomorrow, if it all works out, but he’ll need some home care.”

  He paused.

  He meant her.

  She couldn’t. It would only jeopardize the adoption. Marlene was only proceeding with the paperwork predicated on the understanding she’d severed contact with Seth.

  Seth wouldn’t want to come here, either.

  But Seth was the reason Matt was still with her. He’d helped her with the house when he didn’t even know her. How could she refuse him now that she did know him? More than know him.

  Alexi closed her eyes. She’d experienced the same terror when Seth fell off the roof as she had with Richard’s crash. And she’d loved Richard. Did that mean then...?

  She hardly knew. All she knew was she couldn’t turn her back on a man that hours ago she’d felt sick at the thought of losing. “Okay, yes. We’d love to have him stay with us.”

  And, heaven help her, she meant it.

  * * *

  MEL TOLD ALEXI that he would tell Seth the precise location of his convalescent home, and though Alexi had some reservations, she’d gone along with it because after all, Mel was Seth’s brother and could probably talk more openly with him.

  She heard exactly how open their conversation was when their company truck pulled into the yard around the time for a morning coffee break. She stepped onto the broad front porch and could hear their voices, especially Seth’s, coming loud and clear through the window.

  “I may have got a concussion but you’re the one who’s lost his mind!” came Seth’s not-very-muffled voice. “I’m not staying here.”

  Oh, dear. She needed to intervene.

  “Callie, could you wait here? I’m just going to get Seth, okay?”

  Callie set herself on the front step.

  Alexi stepped up to the passenger side of the truck and from the driver’s side, Mel lowered the window.
Seth stared steadfastly out the windshield. His right arm was in a cast; his left, in a sling. He wore a neck tensor bandage, and his seat was laid back to accommodate his broken leg. And those were the injuries she could see.

  Okay, she’d handled troublesome kids, she could handle one grumpy male. “Hey, Seth. How are you?”

  He kept staring straight ahead. “Did Mel make you do this?”

  “No, Seth. I wanted to.”

  “That’s stupid, and you know why. I’m not arguing with you when I’ve already had it up to here with Mel.”

  “Then come on in and I’ll get you a coffee.”

  “Yeah,” Mel said. “Hop out.”

  If looks could kill, Mel would’ve been last week’s roadkill.

  “I’d stay but I’ve got work to do,” he added. “The work of two, mind.”

  “Fine, I’ll get out but all I’m going to do is call a taxi, and head straight to the apartment.”

  “Sure. You do that,” Mel agreed. “You get out and I’ll take your bag up to the house.”

  Mel hauled a hefty duffel bag from the truck, while Alexi stepped back to let Seth keep his end of the bargain. He managed to lever himself out of the cab enough to slip out and hang on to the door.

  He seemed to be gauging the distance to the truck box and made his move, only to stumble and fall against the cab. His gaze fixed on a distant point, he said through gritted teeth, “Would you mind getting me my crutch from the back?” He paused. “Please.”

  Alexi squelched a smile and complied. He slipped his left arm from the sling to maneuver the crutch into position on the left side. Alexi watched Seth lean far too much weight on the one crutch, and instinctively reached for him.

  “I can do this,” he growled and swung away.

  She caught him as the crutch skidded on the gravel. She took the crutch as she slipped underneath, her shoulder now his crutch, her arm slipping around his waist. She absorbed his weight, adjusting to his hops as he regained his balance.

  Firm on their feet again, they stood together side by side. She could feel his warmth, his solidness, his heaviness.

  He didn’t say anything, and then he whispered, “Thanks.”

  Wrapped together, they headed for the front porch, Mel already on his return trip to the truck. “I’ll be back later to check on you,” Mel said, not breaking stride.

  “I won’t be here,” Seth said.

  Mel didn’t answer, just kept walking. They’d reached the front porch steps when the truck door slammed and tires crunched on gravel, in departure. Callie sat on the top step, wide-eyed behind her glasses, squeezing her squid stuffie for all it was worth.

  Seth stopped and his grip tightened on her shoulder. She glanced up at him. He was staring at a spot in front of the door as if...well...as if there was actually something there to look at. Maybe he was focusing on getting inside.

  “I thought we could just sit out on the deck for a bit,” she offered as a way out for him. “We often have suppers out here. It’s always shady and even if it rains, it stays dry.”

  Seth’s lips flattened into a grim line. “I’ll go in.” Except by the time they’d swung and heaved his body up the four steps, it was Callie who hurried to pull out the nearest lawn chair for him at the deck table.

  Seth collapsed into it, the plastic chair keeling to one side before righting itself. Alexi took a matching chair beside him, and Callie crawled into her lap, her dark eyes still on Seth.

  Already pulling out his phone, Seth hesitated. “Hey, you,” he said to Callie, his voice quiet.

  She smiled and buried her face in the pink squid and gave a muffled answer. “Hey.”

  Seth didn’t exactly smile but his face softened. Alexi grabbed her opportunity. “Listen, before you call, can we talk?”

  “Has the adoption been approved?”

  “No.”

  “Then nothing we talk about is going to change what’s got to be done.”

  He didn’t move to continue his call, though, and she plunged on before her courage flagged.

  “I’ve missed you.”

  He set his phone on the table.

  “I know it’s unfair of me to say that. I know it complicates things. But when I saw you fall off that roof, I thought... I thought...”

  “Yeah,” he said softly, “I thought I was a goner, too.”

  “It was like—” She stopped, aware of Callie. “Like before. One moment he was there, the next gone. Forever. No goodbyes.”

  “I’m not going to die, Alexi.”

  “But you could’ve. And...I told you that I came here to make a new life for the kids. But I still missed Richard, I still wanted to keep the promise we’d made to Matt.”

  Seth shifted. “Nothing wrong with that promise, Alexi. Nothing wrong with wanting to give a kid a second chance.”

  “But that’s my point!” Alexi struggled to say what she meant. “I wasn’t giving Matt a second chance. Or my kids. You are our second chance, and I pushed you away.”

  Seth shook his head. “I pushed me away. For good reason.”

  “You did it because that’s what you thought was best for the kids and me because I told you that. I was wrong. You are what’s best for me and the kids.”

  Seth let out a grunt and hitched himself in his seat. He took hold of his crutch and thumped it against the deck. He avoided eye contact. The man clearly didn’t know what to do with a compliment.

  “If I stay,” he said, “how will it affect the adoption?”

  Alexi rested her cheek on Callie’s head. She really didn’t want to say this next bit. “It’ll be rough. I told her that I’d let her know if you tried to contact me.”

  He snorted. “I’d say living under the same roof constitutes contact. Do you have to tell her?”

  “Yes. Even if you leave before she comes next, I’m not going to risk Matt telling her, and then dealing with the fallout. Besides...besides the fact of the matter is, at least for me, these two months away from you has made me realize that you will be part of my life—and Matt’s—at some point. Time to put all the cards on Marlene’s table.”

  There, and she’d laid her own cards on the table, too.

  “When is she coming?”

  “Next Friday.”

  “It’s Thursday now. We’ll have more than a week to make a plan.”

  “Yes.” There was really nothing more to say. It was his call to make.

  He must’ve known that, too, because he gave his phone serious consideration. “I don’t want to do something I will regret later,” he whispered.

  She squeezed Callie as if her own heart was getting squeezed.

  “And I don’t want to not do something I will regret later, either,” he said.

  Her whole insides tightened.

  He looked at her then, his green eyes soft, as soft as they were when he opened his arms and she’d let herself be held.

  “I’ll stay with you.”

  She jumped up, sliding Callie off her lap. “Great! I’ll get you a cup of coffee before you settle in.”

  At the door, he called to her. “When I saw you yesterday, getting out of your van, I realized—” his mouth twisted and he winced “—I realized that I...I missed you and the kids, too.”

  His eyes connected with hers, then skittered off to the porch deck, then just as quickly settled back on his phone.

  Her heart gave a victory whoop but she resisted thanking him. “Wait there. I’ll be right back.”

  * * *

  ALEXI SCANNED HER ROOM, just off the dining room. What a mess. Hopefully, Seth would take his time—as in all morning—to finish his coffee. The room was intended as an office but it was large enough to accommodate her queen-size bed, which meant there was enough room upstairs for the kids. Callie, of course, slept with her. They’d have to take the p
ullout couch.

  Callie popped off Alexi’s leg and scrambled across the covers to bury herself among the stuffies. She looked like one herself. “Okay, Callie, we need to take these off and put them—somewhere. Seth is going to sleep here.”

  Callie extracted a camouflage moose from the pile. “He can have this one.”

  Alexi doubted the likelihood of Seth’s cuddling with that during the night. “Sure,” she said. She opened the closet door, gathered up an armful of stuffed animals, tossed them in and shut the door fast.

  She opened the bottom dresser drawer. She needed to clear it out for his stuff. Behind her, she heard the tap-thud of the crutch. She snatched up a bunch of lingerie—back when she had special date nights—and shoved it into an upper drawer.

  The tap-thuds ended at the open door. “I’m sleeping here.”

  She wasn’t sure if he was stating a fact or confirming one, so she went with the latter. “Yes. Callie and I will use the pullout couch in the living room.”

  “I can sleep on the pullout.”

  “No. You need a room separate from the rest of us.” That came out harsh so she added, “I figure being on the same level is easier. I remember that from when I had a cast on.” She hurried on, annoyed she’d mentioned an old past. “Is this drawer enough for you? Oh, wait, I should empty the top one so you don’t have to bend.”

  She wrenched the drawer open to realize that it had her lingerie. She slammed it shut.

  “I could do that later,” she muttered.

  “I can take care of it,” Seth said.

  “What? No—I—” Alexi caught sight of Seth’s broad smirk. He had seen, the brat! Heat crawled into her cheeks. She yanked open the drawer below it which held her socks, leggings, scarves, belts and other non-intimates. “Or you could use this one.”

  “I could try to remember that,” he said, drawing his voice out. He grinned and the suddenness of it left her breathless. He looked so...good. His mouth was still crooked upward when he asked, “You broke your leg?”

  She grabbed hold of as much clothing stuff as she could. “Years ago. I was in my teens.” She bent to the bottom drawer and dumped it all in, frantically trying to think of a different topic.