Chapter Five

Ella Sue appeared unimpressed with his university apartment on the very edge of the campus, but she did help with his wheelchair and carried the bags and her suitcase inside. The aroma of the pork roast he’d put in his crockpot before leaving for the gym that morning filled the air. She sniffed. “That smells good, but seems like all the furniture is made for Munchkins.”

“For people in wheelchairs actually. I’m making pulled pork sandwiches for dinner. Got some buns and coleslaw from the deli.” Teddy steered her down the hall to his spare room. “It’s pretty basic, but you do have plenty of room for your clothes, a bed, and nightstand. Bathroom is across the hall.”

Teddy assessed what he had to offer. Thanks to his mom, the bed had a nice spread: blue and white patterned with curtains at the single window to match, good white sheets that could be bleached in case of accidents, but no carpet or throw rugs that just made life harder for the wheelchair bound. It wasn’t a dump, but Ella Sue’s next words sure made it sound that way.

“Well, not like Daddy Joe’s place in New Orleans, huh. I saw once in a magazine he had a crystal chandelier in his bathroom.” Ella Sue flung the shopping bag on the low-slung bed and began rooting through the contents. “I thought your sister was giving me used stuff, but look here, these jeans still have the tags on and a pouch in the front for a baby belly. I been wearing mine unzipped with men’s shirts over the top. Must be a half-dozen tops in here and a couple of dresses good enough to wear to church.” She held up a modest blue number that matched her eyes.

“Lafayette has plenty of churches if you want to go.”

“I didn’t say that, did I? Full of nosey, judgmental people, that’s what my daddy says. Even that tiny Baptist church in the hollow is full of old biddies watching your every move. I don’t miss that place at all. You got scissors to get these tags off?”

Teddy fetched a pair from a drawer in the kitchen. Ella Sue snipped the price tags and folded her new clothes into a drawer. She added her own underwear, shamelessly explaining that since her bikini pants slipped under her belly they weren’t getting stretched out, but she’d had to buy new bras for her bigger boobs.

“I’ll let you get settled and go check on the pork roast.” Teddy hastened to the kitchen before his sister could share any more pregnancy tidbits. Poking the meat with a fork, he considered it done enough and transferred the roast to a cutting board. Another fork in-hand, he pulled the pork into shreds, dumped the mound of meat into a bowl, and doused it with Connor Riley’s Sweet and Mild Barbecue Sauce. Truth be told, he hadn’t developed a taste for his dad’s brand, Joe’s Hot and Spicy. Regardless, sales of both went to their charities. He worked the sauce into the meat, covered the bowl, and put it in the fridge until dinner. Ordinarily, a roast lasted him for days, but he wasn’t too sure that would be the case with the voracious Ella Sue around.

Making a pork roast in a crockpot symbolized independence to Teddy, as did this apartment. He could have stayed at the ranch and commuted to the local college in the nifty red van with the hand controls he’d gotten for graduation, but he wanted to prove he could live on his own. Going to LSU would have been more daring still, but knowing his mom and Nurse Shammy lived only thirty miles away instead of ninety bolstered his courage. The smaller campus was easier to navigate, and he often ran into kids he’d known in public school, unlike the bigger university where Xochi said you never saw anyone you grew up with because of its size. Rarely Jessica Minvielle, though. He’d made a good choice that suited him, wanted to be responsible for himself—and now he’d made the leap to taking care of another person.

Ella Sue ducked her head into the kitchen. “I think I’ll get a shower, then a nap. This being on the road wears a person out, not to mention getting pretty ripe.” She sniffed her armpits. “Yep, time for a bath.”

“Towels are in the hallway closet nearest the bathroom.”

“Gotcha.”

He wheeled after her to make sure she found them okay, but Ella Sue had an armful by the time he got there. She disappeared into the bathroom. On his way back, he glanced into his sister’s room. The large shopping bag lay on the floor making a hazard for his navigation. He entered, picked it up, and folded it for further use. His sister had left her vitamins and iron pill containers on the low dresser. He picked up the prescription bottle, filled last week at a pharmacy in Tennessee. She hadn’t been on the road all that long and might have hitchhiked. Deceitful, but still needy. He’d have to watch his step with her—if a guy in a wheelchair could do that.

The next day, Teddy spent most of the morning finding an obstetrician for his sister, not something most women did in the last six weeks of a pregnancy. He finally got her in with a doctor who delivered at the University Medical Center, helped her fill in the copious paperwork, and put himself down as being responsible for her bills. On the way back, they stopped at Albertson’s for the fresh fruit and vegetables he felt his sister needed. She wheedled a cream puff out of him at the bakery counter. “Please, please, pretty please.”

Yesterday, Ella Sue complained about the lack of snacks in his apartment. He explained Mama Nell didn’t believe in junk food, and he hadn’t been raised to crave it. Besides, he didn’t need more weight to lug around on his crutches or to watch his bottom spread in the wheelchair. She spent the afternoon snarfing down the giant cream puff with a glass of milk, and watching soaps on what she referred to as his “itty-bitty” TV. The obstetrician confirmed Dr. Bullock’s assessment that Ella Sue was in good health, about six weeks out, and carrying ten more pounds than she should. He didn’t think that likely to change even with his refusal to buy soft drinks for her.

The following morning, his sister roused herself enough to make scrambled eggs mixed with chopped ham and cheese from his cold cuts drawer. Teddy usually stuck to whole grain cereal with blueberries or a sliced banana on top as being quick and easy, but she’d turned up her nose at that. “Breakfast is always eggs,” she said. He recalled Newt making a similar statement to his mother who got up to cook for him no matter how tired or nauseated from carrying a new baby.

“I’ll make biscuits later on. Give me something to do. We need bacon.”

“We’re near the park if you want to take a walk. That’s supposed to be good for expectant mothers. You can explore the campus, too. They have an alligator pond and a union where a person can get coffee and sit all day if they want. Fast food places are on the main road, but we have plenty of pork and tetrazzini leftovers right now. There’s an indoor pool and a great library, but I’d have to get you cards to use those.”

Ella Sue put her hands on her hips, framing her belly. “Seems like the only thing free is the walking.”

Teddy, getting ready to leave for his workout, shelled out two twenties. “Here, go to the coffee shop or get something to read. The park has ducks you can feed.”

Ella Sue regarded the twenties as if it were counterfeit. “Won’t go far. A debit card would be better. Say, what do you do for a living besides announce Sinners’ home games?”

“I call the games for UL, too. Otherwise, I write sports articles for the newspapers. I’m a stringer for Sport Illustrated, too. They pay well, but the local papers are often by the word count so I submit to a wire service. Just before football season starts again, my finances can get a little slim.” Gym bag on his lap, he wheeled a little closer to the exit.

“A rich man adopted you. Mama said she left you in a safe place where you’d be taken care of real well. Seems you got the short end of the stick what with Xochi being able to afford that fine house and two of your brothers playing football for the Sinners and makin’ plenty.”

Teddy glanced down at his braces. “I can’t exactly play football, but I’ll take you to watch one of my sled hockey games when the season starts.”

“I don’t guess you get paid for that.”

“No, it’s just for fun.” He pressed the button to open the door.

“What’s this here red button for?” She fingered another mounted low on the wall.

“Emergencies since this is a handicapped suite. It calls the campus cops in case someone inside needs help, say if they’d fallen.”

“And can’t get up.” Ella Sue snickered.

“Yeah, like the old television ad. Leave it alone.”

“You gonna give me a key to this place? Otherwise, I’m pretty much trapped here.”

“I’ll have one made. My mom has the other in case of emergencies.”

“Now ain’t that sweet, your mom still lookin’ out for you. Wish our mother was alive to see to me now livin’ with my famous brother.” Ella’s face held onto a smirk.

“It’s nice to have a family who cares—most of the time. Sometimes, they can get on your nerves. I’ll be gone a couple of hours. Maybe we’ll go out somewhere for lunch when I get back.”

Teddy escaped into the blazing summer sunshine, loaded the van, and took off for the gym, entering that space cautiously. His eyes found the therapist who had been working on Jessie when he interrupted on his last visit. He thumped over to her and apologized.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have spouted off to your patient.”

The therapist ruffled her short, brown hair, showing off a strong bicep as she did so. “I wish I could talk to some of them that way, but all I can do is encourage. You did her some good, though.” She jerked her head toward a corner of the gym where Jessica Minvielle pulled a set of cables that lifted some light weights. “I have her scheduled for water therapy, too. Before, she didn’t want to put on a bathing suit.”

“That’s great, but I’ll stay out of your business now.”

He warmed up with his core exercises and moved on to the hated trek up and down bars he usually saved for last. He’d do his weights when Jessie left the area. While slogging through the reps, he mulled what Ella Sue had said about his getting the short end. He’d been born with a disability, and his adoptive parents spent thousands on his medical care. Still, he was the only one of the brood of twelve not related by blood to the Billodeauxs in any way. They’d taken in the illegitimate boys, a niece and a cousin, had babies by IVF with an egg donor, and naturally. Only he had been left in their care like an unwanted kitten. Never had they made him feel that way, but he’d often thought he had to be super good or be put out in the early days, especially when Stacy got him into trouble. He did not whine about any of the mild punishments doled out for misbehaving like some of the others. Teddy guessed he could have lived at the ranch the rest of his life and been taken care of, but he’d needed to make his own way. Mama Nell, though worried about him, supported that decision. Unlike Ella Sue’s situation, his parents remained his safety net if he failed even if he didn’t want to consider that. Maybe he should cut her some slack.

Reaching the end of the row, he did some step climbing, up and down, up and down, turned and started back. Bent over to mop the sweat stinging his eyes, he heard a soft voice over the groans of rehabbers and the clank of exercise machines.

“Teddy, I’m sorry I was rude.” Jessie, beautiful as always, sat in her chair almost speaking in his ear. “You were right. I’m trying harder now.”

“Good, that’s good.” He had the most terrible urge to sniff his armpit as Ella Sue had done the other day. Jessie smelled like a whole bouquet of wildflowers.

“I want you to teach me how to be independent. My parents run around trying to do everything for me, especially my mother. I want to scream at them to let me alone. You know how to do this. Show me.”

She leaned so close to his bowed head that a tendril of her honey-toned hair stuck to his cheek. Teddy brushed it gently away. “There are professionals who can help you better than me.”

“Yeah, I’ve gone to some of them. None are in a wheelchair. Just talk to me about your life. That’s all I’m asking.”

“I still have my weight work to do. It’s important not to blow off your exercise. I come here three days a week. That’s my first tip for you.”

“I am sure my tormentor can find something for me to do while I wait for you.”

Teddy raised his head and stared into her gold-flecked eyes. “Another piece of advice, your therapist is trying to help you. Sometimes it hurts or gets embarrassing. Say thank you once in a while.”

“I didn’t mean it.” Jessie stared at her useless feet. “Meet me at the juice bar, please.”

He should say no, but didn’t. She wheeled away happy. Teddy rushed his weight training and drew a comment from one of the male therapists. “Hey, Ted, you should do those slowly to build muscle, not that yours aren’t looking good. Got a hot date?”

“Sort of.” He put the weights aside and headed for the dreaded shower.

He had street clothes in his gym bag, but usually went home in the workout gear he’d worn under them. Choosing a stall with bars for the handicapped, he shucked his gear just outside, drew the curtain, and let the water pour over him head to toe, wishing he’d brought soap and his cologne, nervous as a guy on his first date.

Okay, so he’d had a slight crush on Jessie since he interviewed her for the high school paper. After that, he’d always said hi to her in the hall, and she always answered even if she walked with a gang of the popular girls or her athletic boyfriend. She often added, “How’s it going, Teddy?” With a wide smile, he’d reply, “Great,” whether it was or not. Once, she told her friends he won the award for upbeat guys. He tried hard to deserve that accolade.

Just thinking of her face so close to his moments ago began to cause a little action below the waist. He pressed up against the cool tile wall to discourage its growth. Just in time, too. Someone muttered, “Who the hell left all their stinking clothes in a heap on the floor?” and ripped open his curtain. Teddy fumbled for the towel he’d looped over one of the bars and secured it around his waist. Now all the intruder could see was the heavy scar on his lower back.

“Oh, it’s you, Teddy.” One of the UL football players doing some last minute rehab before the first game of the season looked a little shamefaced. “Want me to put them on a bench for you?”

“No, I’ll do it. I shouldn’t have left them there.” In truth, he’d wanted to get into the shower before anyone came along to stare.

The guy bunched up his shorts, top, and smelly socks, and moved them anyhow. “There you go.” He offered his hand, withdrew it quickly when he saw Teddy take up his crutches, and settled for an introduction. “I’m Xavier Hopkins, tight end for UL. Transferred from junior college. Remember to pronounce that X-avier, not Zavier when you call the games. I think you’ll need to say my name a lot.”

“I’ll remember,” Teddy answered as if he didn’t already have the team roster with notes on how to say everyone’s names. There were some doozies. Teddy managed a grudging thanks for the favor he didn’t want before the fellow walked off and left him alone to dress. People damaged his pride when they did simple tasks for him and dented his feeling of autonomy. They meant well, he knew, and tried to bear it.

He dried off with another towel, then putting his crutches aside, sat next to his gym bag and pulled out relatively fresh socks. Step One done. Step Two: drew up his underwear beneath the towel and over his pouch. Got his braces and boots back on. Step Three complete. Worked his legs into his khakis and whipped off the towel. Step Four finished. Put on his polo shirt and stuffed the dirty clothes into the bag. C’est finis, as the Cajuns would say. He forced his feet to take him to the juice bar, not his van.

With a pretty tempting smoothie sitting in front of her, Jessie waited at a table for two. She waved as he bought a bottle of water—as if he’d ever enter a room and fail to notice her instantly. He took a seat across from her and leaned his crutches against the table. “That looks good.” Teddy nodded at her drink.

“Banana-strawberry. Want some?” She offered him a second straw, and he took a sip.

“Good, but I’ll give you another piece of advice. Be careful of too much fruit juice, high in sugar, and it can lead to accidents, but the fiber in the banana is good for you. I don’t know about yours, but my plumbing is as complicated as the city sewer system.” He felt the scarlet rising up his neck. Had he just mentioned bowel movements to her?

Jessie’s cheeks burned red, and she ducked her head. “Catheters, stim, and suppositories every other day,” she whispered like a dirty confession.

Too busy with her own embarrassment, she didn’t appear to notice his. He rushed to salvage the conversation. “You have a great figure and want to keep it, so watch the calories exactly like you would otherwise.”

“Men don’t notice my body anymore, only the chair.”

“Give them one of your smiles, and they’ll forget all about it.”

Her smile burst forth like the sun coming out from behind a raincloud. “I guess I haven’t been using it lately.”

He answered it, always cheerful Teddy. “You should.”

“I wear makeup every day hoping people will look at my face instead of my wheels. I try to keep my hands pretty and let my nails grow out. I kept them short when I worked as a trainer. I guess that’s some small compensation for this.” Jessie gestured to her legs. Her smile faded.

“Me, I rely on my beautiful baby blue eyes as a diversion.” Teddy fluttered his pale lashes at her—and she laughed, a good sound, low and throaty, maybe a little rusty from lack of use.

He went for two. “And my studly body with my six-pack abs and bulging biceps.” Teddy rolled up his shirt to his armpits, struck a masculine he-man pose, and waited for a giggle. Nothing. “Sorry.” He covered his chest again.

“Don’t be sorry, Teddy. I think you are living proof of the power of regular exercise.”

He had a light build, and despite his dedication to strength training, had been scrawny in high school. Wheeling around the college campus built him up some and since he’d matured, so had his body, filling out nicely to his surprise, but he didn’t consider himself in a league with most athletes.

“You should see some of the guys in the sled hockey league, really macho.” He went for the modest answer as usual.

“Sled hockey?”

“Yes, hockey for guys like me. Some have lost their legs or been paralyzed in combat. We can get pretty intense.”

“I’d like to see one of your games.”

“Sure, when the season comes around. We have to wait for the arena to be iced for the regular hockey team first. Then, we set up a schedule.” He appreciated that Jessie showed a hundred-percent more interest than Ella Sue. Ella Sue—back at the apartment waiting for lunch, probably raiding his fridge by now. “Say, I have to get going. This has been fun.”

She corrected him. “This has been real. My mom should be along soon to pick me up. She’s running a little late. I’m not certain how I’ll get here once school starts. She mentioned quitting her job to take care of me, the last thing I want.”

“I could pick you up. I mean since we come here around the same time. I have a van with plenty of room for both our chairs.” Did he sound too eager?

“We live in Lafayette now, not too far from here. Lend me one of your pens.” Jessie pointed at the pocket on his shirt.

Now she knew exactly how dorky he was, but he liked to have pens handy in case he had an idea for an article or interview questions. Teddy turned one over to her, and she wrote her phone number on a napkin as if he’d met her in a regular bar and not one serving juices. He offered his, and she immediately turned on a phone she carried in a pouch on her chair and punched it into her list of contacts. “There, we can make plans.”

“Great! We’ll work something out soon. Yeah, gotta go.” Now, his feet wanted to stay at the table, but Teddy forced himself up and out of the facility.

As soon as he got into his van, he groped for his phone to register Jessie’s number and call Ella Sue. Not in its usual place. Fabulous, he’d have to search the floor and elsewhere for his personal lifeline in case of trouble. Maybe he’d left it at home. Only way to find out was to go there. As he pulled out, he passed Mrs. Minvielle, worry all over her face, driving a little fast for a parking lot. He checked his rearview mirror and noticed Jessie sitting by the door waiting. He wanted to tell her mother that Jessie wouldn’t melt if she arrived a few minutes late, though in his opinion her daughter was still very hot.

With Jessie on his mind, he parked at the apartment, did his transfer to wheelchair routine and opened his door. Ella Sue lay stretched out on his sofa with his phone to her ear and her hand in a bag of potato chips. “I’m just fine, Daddy. I’m staying with Teddy in Lafayette, not at the ranch. Yeah, yeah, he just come in, and I don’t want to run up his phone bill none. Bye-bye.”

“Thought I’d lost my phone. Glad to know it is in good hands,” he forced himself to say. Now he remembered being in a hurry to get away from Ella Sue’s complaints and leaving it on the kitchen counter. “You ready for lunch?”

“Had mine an hour ago. I got you some Burger King, too, but it’s probably gone cold by now. I walked over to that union place and ordered a latte ’cause it has milk in it. Wandered around and found a little grocery that carries the tabloids, bought some reading material and snacks to pass the time. Oh, got the makings for biscuits, too. I’m about broke and wore out from the heat and carrying this baby.”

She must have bought every one of those rags since they covered his coffee table. Teddy opened the fast food bag on the kitchen counter. Every once in a while, a cheeseburger and fries wouldn’t kill him. “Thanks for getting lunch. It’s good you let your father know that you’re safe.”

“He don’t care much.”

Teddy hoped her call didn’t bring Newt to their door. He remembered the man as being huge and violent. “Did you give him my address?”

“Don’t know it yet. Didn’t find a scrap of mail around neither to get it.”

“I have a box at the post office. Mostly I use email, texts, that sort of thing for my business.” He might have been the least of the Billodeauxs, but he did take some precautions, especially since Xochi’s kidnapping.

“Yeah, I noticed your computer needs a password. Want to share that with me?”

No, he did not. Considering his sister’s taste in reading, no telling what she’d get into online. He evaded her question. “I can log you on when you need it, but right now, I have an article to write and get off to the wire service.”

“What about?”

“I interviewed my brother, Dean, about how training camp was going for the Sinners.”

“All right. I’ll just watch my shows, and let you get at it.” Ella Sue flicked on the remote she had within arm’s reach. She picked up a tabloid from the stack and handed it over to Teddy. “You might like this one. Ain’t that another one of your brothers? He’s so handsome.”

“Yes, that’s Mack, a wide receiver for the Cowboys.” Of course, it would be. His Texas beauty queen du jour hung on his arm. Teddy expected he wouldn’t have tabloid attention at any point in his life, or a woman like that. An image of Jessica Minvielle rolled through his mind.

“He sure is having more fun than me.” Ella Sue sighed. Her big belly rose and fell, fat as a leech in a swimming hole. Not the baby’s fault who it had for a mother.

“More than me, too. He always does. Time for me to get to work.”