A Roof Over Their Heads

by M. K. Stelmack

  Seth leaned against the dresser. “What happened?”

  She gathered up a second load. “Oh, I fell down the stairs. My foot hooked on a step.” There was more to it. There was always more.

  “This was in a foster home.” Seth said it as if it were important he got the facts straight.

  “Yes.” She shed her second load into the bottom load and straightened for her third and final transfer.

  “The same one you and Richard met at?”

  “No. An earlier one. A couple before that one.”

  Seth hobbled to the dresser and propped himself against the side of it, while she stood in front. “A couple? You moved around a lot, then.” Again, confirming the obvious.

  Only Richard understood about her past. Maybe someday she’d tell Seth about what it was like to be someone else’s job. It was why she’d wanted to adopt the kids as soon as she could.

  “A fair amount.” She emptied the last of her stuff and toed shut the bottom drawer. “Ready for your clothes.” She reached for his duffel bag.

  “Uh, no. I can handle that.” He jerked forward, causing himself to teeter, hop, spin and land on the bed so heavily Callie bounced amid the stuffies and fell against Seth who accidently elbowed her in the face.

  Seth grimaced. “Sorry, Callie. Sorry.” Before Callie even had time to cry, Seth placed his hand on her back, his face close to hers as he inspected her cheek.

  Callie froze.

  Alexi held her breath. Callie didn’t even permit Richard to touch her, except for the allotted time it took to cross the street or to lift her into her car seat.

  Alexi sat on the bed and held out her arms to Callie. Callie scooted to her, then turned and picked up the moose and handed it to Seth. “You hold this.”

  Seth met Alexi’s gaze, and she shrugged, trying to communicate an apology and explanation as best she could. He gave a short nod, and turned his attention to Callie’s substitute.

  “You made this.” Again, a statement.

  “Yes.”

  “Who’d buy a camouflage moose?”

  Her back stiffened. “Boys like stuffed toys more than they’re allowed to admit. Nearly half of my sales are for boys.”

  “Yeah. All right.” He sounded dubious.

  “You going to be okay with the duffel bag? I can put away your things.”

  “No. I don’t want you to touch my underwear, any more than you want me touching yours.”

  Beside her, Callie giggled. Alexi started. How much of the conversation about lingerie and broken legs had her little ears and big eyes tracked? Time to get her out.

  “All right, then. Let me open up some room in my closet, and Callie and I will let you make yourself at home.”

  At home. She’d meant it only as an expression, except that as soon as the words filled the space between her and Seth, it sounded like an invitation, to which the man she’d declared her intent to shake up her family so he could be part of it responded with, “Sure.”

  While she skidded her clothes to one side and freed up a few hangers by doubling up her clothes, Seth was attempting to zip open his duffel bag while balancing on his crutch. She couldn’t see this ending well. At that rate, his entire day would be spent unpacking.

  She paused at the door. “I know a bit about feeling like a burden. I don’t want you to feel that way. Because you aren’t. I wanted you here. The kids want you here. I don’t mind doing things for you, okay?”

  Seth gave a short nod. “Yeah. All right.” Again, sounding dubious.

  Alexi didn’t push it. She also knew a bit about how hard it was to change.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  A FEW YEARS back Seth had roofed for nineteen hours straight to help a builder keep his deadline. By the time he’d finished, he was bone-tired and so light-headed he felt as if his body was about to float off across the town. Now, having finally managed to put away his clothes, he felt the same way.

  He hobbled to Alexi’s bed and eased himself onto it. Sit down before you fall down. Wasn’t that the saying? He absolutely was not going to drop to the floor in Alexi’s house. She was already putting herself out enough for him, despite her little speech about him not being a burden. Fact is, she wouldn’t have said it, if she didn’t somehow see that he was.

  Seth leaned against the pillows. Her pillows. Her room. Alexi was everywhere. In the stuffed animals, her scent in the air, her jeans on the back of the chair, her hairbrush. Would she come in here to change into pajamas?

  They’d be sharing the closet, the drawers. Like a married couple.

  Had Richard used the same drawer for his socks and underwear? Had she pushed her stuff to the left in the closet because Richard had always hung his stuff on the right?

  It shouldn’t matter but it did. Just like it mattered that he was sleeping under the same roof his father had died on. It had taken all he had to walk up the steps his father had died on. To walk inside the house.

  Every fiber of his being screamed to leave.

  Except there was Alexi. Telling him that he was the best thing for her and her kids. Opening up to him about her hard upbringing. How could he walk away from that?

  As if he was in any state to do that anyway. Seth closed his eyes. He’d rest for a few minutes, maybe until Callie was napping, and then he might chat with Alexi. Just her and him.

  He woke to the clashing of pots and clattering silverware, punctuated by high-pitched whispers. Then, above it all, rose Matt’s voice. “Shut up, you guys, or you’ll wake him.”

  Amy matched his volume. “You can’t let him sleep that long. He’ll get a concussion and die! Mom, please.”

  He’d better get himself moving or else Alexi would have to deal with a panic attack. But how to do that? A nurse had got him up and out of his bed this morning, and Mel had commandeered a wheelchair to take him to the truck. Then Alexi had taken him the rest of the way.

  “No, no,” he heard Alexi say. “It’s normal for people with injuries. It’s the body’s way of repairing. Here. You all wait here. I’ll go check on him, okay?”

  Seth did a hard ab crunch while simultaneously swinging his good leg onto the floor so that when she opened the door, he was more or less sitting upright. No way did he want her seeing him more helpless than he already felt.

  “Oh, you’re up,” she said. She slipped inside and closed the door. “We’re about to have supper. Would you like to join us?”

  She’d changed clothes. Her top was airy and flowery, and she wore white jeans. She’d done something with her hair, too. Lifted it up and away with little squiggly bits that grazed her neck. Had he slept while she dressed right in front of him?

  “You look better than usual,” he said, without thinking. “I could have said that better.”

  “At least you noticed,” she said in an extra perky voice. The corners of her mouth were pinched tight. Yep, he’d insulted her hospitality and now her appearance.

  He eyed his crutch, which had fallen from where he’d left it propped against the dresser. “Bet you’re wishing you hadn’t invited me.”

  “Bet you wish I was thinking that so I’d kick you out,” she retorted. She picked up the crutch and rested it beside him on the bed. As she did, he got an eyeful of the curve of her backside flattened in one spot by the rectangle of her phone. If she said he was her second chance, why did she have to carry Richard around all the time?

  “Do you go anywhere without that phone?”

  She touched the phone, and he realized that she knew exactly which part of her he’d had his eye on. She crossed her arms. “As a matter of fact, no. I never know when I might need to make an emergency call.”

  Yeah, there was that. He squeezed the padding on the top of the crutch. “I never thanked you for putting in that call. So, uh, thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.” She didn’t
uncross her arms, though. She seemed to be waiting for him to say something, and while he had a fair amount to say, he didn’t want it to be the wrong thing.

  “Uh, I’ll just sort myself out and come for supper.” He looked pointedly at his crutch, hoping she’d catch his meaning. No way was he going to let her watch him hitch himself up and hop around.

  She shook her head. “You really hate asking for help, don’t you?”

  “I don’t need help to get up,” he said. “I just need time.”

  “If you need time,” she said, “you should ask for help. It wouldn’t take as long and therefore you’d be saving time.”

  “I don’t need more time. I just need the opportunity to use the time I’ve got well. And alone.” He grabbed for his other crutch, which slid from his reach and clunked to the floor.

  There was a knock on the door. “Is everything okay?” Amy called.

  Alexi opened the door. “Everything’s more than okay. Seth will join us for supper.” Amy’s head appeared between Alexi’s hip and the door in a covert attempt to get a visual on the house patient. Alexi cranked Amy’s head a quarter-turn and began to nudge the door close. “Come on, let’s check the burgers.”

  After they left, Seth blew out his breath. Finally, a bit of peace. He eyed the fallen crutch and the closed door. Yep, plenty of time and opportunity to think about his complete lack of common decency.

  * * *

  ALEXI FLIPPED THE burgers on the barbecue set up on the front porch, the meat smoking and hissing like her feelings about Seth. She’d stated she wanted him, that he was good for her and the kids, and all he could come up with was a sour, muttered thanks. She wasn’t looking for a lifelong commitment. Well, maybe she was, but a little reciprocity would be nice.

  Especially when she knew he was staring at her behind, which would’ve been flattering if he hadn’t made a comment about her attachment to her phone.

  She poked at the baking potatoes and veggies before peeking through the kitchen window at the oven clock. Right on schedule. Providing Seth got himself mobile soon.

  “Is the table set?” she called through the screen.

  “Yes,” Matt said.

  “Can I set the good napkins?” Amy asked.

  The good napkins were the red cloth ones only brought out for Christmas and Amy’s birthday. Clearly the presence of Seth was a monumental event in her life. Alexi was about to decline, when Bryn spoke up.

  “We should because it’s not every day you get to have supper with someone who could’ve died.”

  Alexi dipped her head, her forehead brushing the cool window screen. What was she thinking? Life snatched from the jaws of death was always a cause for celebration. “Sure, Amy. This one time only.”

  Behind her, she heard a vehicle. It was Mel in the Greene-on-Top company truck. “Mel’s here!” she called through the window. “Set another place.”

  “I already did,” Matt called back.

  It wasn’t wishful thinking on his part but a response to past performance. Mel showed up for supper more often than not.

  She turned back to the barbecue as Mel approached with a grocery bag from Mac’s. Alexi blew out her breath. Seriously? Only last week, she’d managed to explain to him not to load up on donuts before coming. He’d just switched his source of junk food.

  “Hey, Alexi. How did your day go?”

  She knew the real question he was asking. “Your brother is a real joy.”

  Mel snorted. “That well, eh?”

  The screen door crashed open and Bryn appeared on the front deck. “Mel! What’s in the bag? Did you bring something for me? Is it gluten-free?”

  “Bryn!” Alexi said.

  Mel grinned and climbed the stairs with the bag in hand. “I got a bunch of stuff because I didn’t know what any of you liked.”

  He set himself and the bag down on the top stair and at once all four kids flocked to him like seagulls around overturned fries. Even Callie hovered close.

  Lovely. A well-balanced supper about to be ruined by a sugar rush.

  There was a bumping and rattling of the door and it opened far enough for the bottom of a crutch to appear. It then shot wide-open and there was Seth, his earlier grumpiness like rainbows and unicorns compared to his current thunderous expression.

  “All right! None of you kids eat or drink any of that junk until you’ve had your supper. Even then, it’s up to your mother.”

  Seth swung himself into the middle of the porch.

  “Go. Wash your hands, the lot of you. Bryn, wash your face, too. And Callie’s, while you’re at it. Matt, fill up the cat dish.”

  The four kids hopped to it, playing rounds of rock, paper, scissors to see who would get the bottle of pop or the licorice later on.

  Next Seth targeted his brother. “Whaddaya doing bringing junk food at suppertime?”

  “It’s rude to come empty-handed.”

  “It’s ruder to insult the cooking with crap food.”

  “Mel, it was really sweet of you to think of the kids,” Alexi interrupted. “I hope you’ll still stay for supper.”

  “You betcha,” Mel said. “I’ll go wash up.”

  Which left her and Seth alone, if only for seconds, time he didn’t waste.

  “Sorry for being a jerk back there. You were only trying to help.”

  Instantly her own growliness melted away. “Apology accepted.”

  He looked down at a kitten using his crutch as a scratching post. “I know how Connie must’ve felt now.”

  Alexi snapped the tongs together in a sharp metal bite. “You mean what it’s like to be mean for no good reason?”

  “To feel helpless.”

  “Helpless? I don’t think she was feeling that when she kicked us out.”

  Seth adjusted his posture on the crutch. “I’m not so sure. It’s not like her.”

  Alexi waved the tongs at him. “Don’t. Don’t even think about putting yourself out for her. It’ll only get you in trouble.”

  Seth looked at her square-on. “The kind of trouble you’re getting into for me?”

  She didn’t have to answer that because Bryn came out to say they were ready and when was supper. “Now,” she said, transferring the burgers onto one plate, before passing it to Bryn who disappeared with it inside, declaring his claim on which one was his.

  She shoveled the vegetables onto another plate, stacked the foil-wrapped potatoes into a bowl, switched off the barbecue and with heavy bowl and plate balanced on one side, she opened the door with her empty hand for Seth.

  He was staring at the porch deck, frozen there.

  “Seth?”

  His head shot up. “Coming,” he said gruffly. He wouldn’t look at her as he passed her into the house. What was up? Any questions were swept aside in the last-minute flurry of getting the food on the table and the kids around it. Without thinking, she loaded the first plate and handed it to Seth.

  “He shouldn’t get it,” Bryn said. “Mel should. He’s older.”

  When Richard was alive, that had been the tradition. The oldest first. Really it had been a way to show her love.

  She looked at Seth. A small smile played at the corners of his mouth and his eyes shone on her in a warm, intimate hold. Exactly the look she’d hoped for when she’d dressed for supper.

  “He can go first,” Mel broke in. “I’m happy to get what I get.”

  Alexi shook herself loose and turned to Seth’s brother. “Which in your case is a double-decker hamburger.” She loaded Mel’s plate and was filling up plates for Amy and Callie when she noticed that Seth hadn’t touched his.

  “I’m sorry, Seth,” she said. “Is there something wrong?”

  His eyes met hers. “Nothing at all. Just waiting until you can eat with us, too.”

  As one, the kids and Mel froze
. That had been another tradition that had fallen by the wayside since Richard’s passing.

  Alexi choked up and Seth’s face blurred. No! Not allowed.

  “There’s no need,” she said.

  “Daddy-R made us wait, too,” Matt muttered to Seth.

  “Then I guess we’d better do what he would’ve wanted,” Seth answered with a sharp edge Alexi wasn’t sure she liked. She filled the plates in record time. The instant her butt hit her chair, forks and mouths got busy.

  “What’s your favorite food, Seth?” Matt asked. He had claimed a position right next to Seth.

  “Hamburger, roast potatoes, grilled vegetables and fruit salad.”

  “That’s this food!” Amy crowed. “You’re so lucky Mommy made it.”

  Seth pierced a potato, and gave Alexi another of his half-smiling looks that sent a wave of heat through her like she’d opened the fired-up barbecue. “I am.”

  Matt directed the question to Mel now and the conversation moved on to the merits of ketchup on noodles. This was so much like old times. The easy flow of conversation, the high-pitched excitement of the kids countered by the baritone of the adult male. Except there were two adult males. Brothers. Both with a strong drive to help others. With Mel it was easy to reciprocate. Share a meal, a conversation.

  Seth was different.

  Watching him as he tipped his head to listen to Matt, a bowl of her fruit salad heaped in front of him, she realized what she’d done.

  Yes, she’d told him that it was because she owed him. But she’d made it seem that it was all about the kids when it was far more than that. She wanted Seth for herself.

  And what did it say about a mother who’d risk the future of one of her children so she could be with a man?

  * * *

  AS BEST HE could with his arm in a sling, Seth rammed stuffing up the sorry end of a gorillagator, the creature being a special request from one of Alexi’s online customers. She’d assigned him that job while she stitched fangs onto something that was mostly snake. It was his sixth day at her house, and the first time they’d had more than five minutes together. Callie had crashed on his bed—or Alexi’s—in the middle of her favorite stuffies.