Chapter Fourteen

Dale Minvielle knocked on her daughter’s bedroom door. “You need any help, honey?”

“No, I’m fine.” Jessie wanted to add, “Leave me alone,” but spared her mother for a change.

She sat naked in her chair rummaging in a dresser drawer that held her underwear. There it was under a pile of athletic bras, the one of black lace with a front clasp and matching panties. Where were those panties? Crumpled in a corner behind the cotton bikini briefs she wore to PT. Putting them on would have been easier with her mom’s assistance, but who wanted their mother to see their sexy underwear? She bent and worked them over her feet, drew the lace up laboriously shaved and lotioned legs, and raised her hips, tugging to get the panties into place. The bra wasn’t half the trouble.

Finding the dress, the classic little black one she’d worn to more formal university events, proved harder. It had worked its way to the back of a line of gym clothes and the khakis and knit shirts she wore as a trainer. Jessie made a gap in the hangers and burrowed in after it, pulling it off the hangar and revealing another dress far more magnificent sealed in a plastic bag—her wedding gown. She shoved the rest of her wardrobe back into place, obscuring it again. Having no zipper, the simple black dress slid easily over her head. She raised up and smoothed it beneath her. Sitting, an inch or two draped her knees. The bra gave her some lift and cleavage.

Jessie brushed her hair again, stroking it into place, arranging a few locks over her shoulders. She strung a fine chain around her neck bearing a gold fleur-de-lis pendant and affixed small matching earrings. Only the problem of the shoes remained to be overcome. The pair she wanted sat in a stack of boxes behind pairs of athletic shoes. One by one, she opened the boxes of footwear she did not use anymore, came across the crystal-studded white satin that matched the wedding gown, and slammed the lid shut. The next yielded the red high heels she wanted, not stilettos, but they did have some kick to them. Cross one leg over the other, put them on, set her feet into place.

The doorbell rang. She made one last check of her makeup and touched up her red lipstick. Whatever else, Jessica Minvielle intended to be the best turned out cripple at Don’s Seafood. She opened her door and wheeled out to meet Teddy garbed in a suit and tie and leaning on his sticks as he talked to her parents like a nervous prom date. “I’m ready to go.”

“I see you are. Great shoes,” Teddy said.

Her mother’s thin face developed a crease between the eyes as she stared at the shoes and the stuffed backpack on the rear of her chair. “How late will you be?”

“I don’t know. I expect to be back sometime Sunday.” There, she’d laid it on the line. She intended to spend the weekend with Teddy Billodeaux. In the past, neither parent would have thought twice about her doing the same with Troy. Jessie swore the last time she’d seen that expression on her mom’s face, she’d been leaving for her first sleepover at age six.

“Take good care of my girl,” Coach Mo said.

“I will, sir.” By now, Teddy had developed a flush. “If you could get the wheelchair down the stairs out front I can take it from there.”

“Usually, they haul me in and out through the garage like the trashcans,” Jessie snarked.

Coach Mo ignored the comment. “No problem.” They went out the front door. He tipped the chair back, bumping it down two brick steps.

His wife followed, still anxious. “Call if you need a ride or anything.”

“I’ll make sure she gets home. Please, don’t worry. I have lots of firsthand experience dealing with people in wheelchairs,” Teddy said, trying to lighten the moment. He helped Jessie into the front seat and let her dad load the chair to save time. No doubt, he wanted to be gone, and so did Jessie.

As they drove to the old downtown area of Lafayette with its once premier department store now turned into a museum, and its small shops mostly converted to bars and cafés, Jessie confided, “I wish they’d stop babying me. You don’t seem to have any trouble with that in your family.”

“Because I’ve always been this way. You’re all still adjusting. Go easy on them.”

He turned into the lot of the venerable restaurant and swung the van into one of the handicapped spaces. Immediately, an eager bus boy, young and nervous, ran to their vehicle, unloaded the chair, and held it for Jessie. She slid into the seat. “You want me to push you?”

“No, thanks.”

He ran ahead to open the heavy wooden door at the end of a walkway lined in wrought iron and tropical plants. Up a short ramp, and they were inside being escorted to a table for two in the rear. Jessie noticed she wasn’t the only one in a wheelchair. An elderly couple, dressed for a big occasion, sipped champagne. Both were disabled by the many afflictions of age, but they smiled into each other’s eyes. Neither stared as she passed. A small wave of envy passed over her at the depth of their love.

In the raw bar, the more casually dressed sucked oysters from the shell and chased them down with beer, too busy to gawk. Their bus boy yanked away the chair Jessie did not need and felt compelled to hold the other out for Teddy who leaned his crutches against the wall and sat down. He tipped the help generously.

A waitress hurried over, took their drink orders, two white wines, and coaxed them into having the alligator tidbits as an appetizer. Both ordered creamy crab au gratin topped with bubbly cheese, salad, green beans, and a stuffed potato to share. Teddy smiled over the wine and speared a cube of fried gator to dip into a sauce. “We think alike.”

“We are alike, only you are better at it.”

The meal went well. They spoke of Ella, the upcoming UL game, things they might like to do at the ranch, all the while thinking of things they might want to do back at the apartment. They dawdled over blueberry cheesecake and coffee, and finally prepared to leave. As they waited for the bill, a couple approached their table. The hearty male half of the duo slapped Teddy on the back. “How you doing, Sticks?”

“Still calling the games for UL and the Sinners, Barkley,” he answered mildly, despite wincing. “You going tomorrow night?”

“You bet, got season tickets. May not have made it to the NFL, but I still enjoy the game. Now, I’m in sporting goods. This is Dodie, my date. Looks like you’re doing all right in that department, too. Coach’s daughter, right?”

“Yes, Jessica Minvielle.”

“Guess you are made for each other now.”

His date, more sensitive despite her bright red hair and bimbo boobs, tugged on his arm. “We should go. Nice meeting you.”

“Not ’til I give my old buddy the Barkley bark. Ruff, ruff—ruff, ruff, ruff. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, pal. That gives you lots of leeway.”

Eyes turned to stare, not at Jessie, but at the loud ass in the room who barked like a dog. Dodie tried again. “Speaking of leaving, we should.” But Barkley spotted another friend and staggered off in that direction.

“Sorry,” Dodie said. “He’s been drinking. Don’t worry, I have the car keys.” She stalked after her date on black stilettos.

“Sticks?” Jessie questioned.

“Yeah, that’s what they called me in college. Not too many guys lurching around the campus with armband crutches. Better to accept it than let it get under your skin. Just letting you know in case they start calling you Wheels. About what Barkley said. You could totally get an able-bodied guy.”

“Maybe I don’t want one.” There, she’d drawn a smile from his concerned face. On to better things—at the apartment. She suspected Teddy had much more to offer than good advice on being handicapped.