Roommates Box Set #4-6

9. Alyssa

9

ALYSSA

After forty-eight hours of being inside, most of that time spent in bed, it was great to get out of the house. Raphael took me to my doctor’s appointment on Friday morning and waited while the doctor checked my ribs, my wrist, and my leg.

When it was time to talk about physical therapy and other aspects of my recovery, I asked for someone to get Raphael to join us. He seemed much more up-to-speed about those kinds of issues. Plus, I was a tad squeamish about medical things, where he obviously was not. He asked some smart questions, and I was glad to have him there.

Afterwards, I expected we’d return home, but Raphael went through a drive-through and then took me out to the lake. He backed his pickup truck into an isolated parking spot near the water. It took a lot of maneuvering, but I ended up fairly comfortable, with my bad leg spread out on the bed of the truck and my other leg dangling down. Raphael sat opposite me, and I watched the water while he got lunch set up.

“Have you had an authentic Louisiana po’boy?” he asked as he peered into a paper sack.

“No, but I’ve heard of it. It’s a sandwich, right?”

“Yep.” He handed me a large bundle wrapped in white paper.

“What’s in them?”

“Lots of things,” he said as he unwrapped his own sandwich. “Crawfish, rabbit, alligator … but yours is roast beef.” He gave me a wink.

“Thank god.”

“You enjoyed the crawfish etouffee yesterday.”

“But that’s because I didn't let myself think too much about what was in it.”

“Fair enough.” He smoothed out the bag and set a large order of fries between us, making sure it was near enough that I wouldn’t have to stretch. He took a big bite of his sandwich and briefly closed his eyes. “Delicious.”

“What’s yours?”

“Catfish.”

My sandwich was indeed roast beef, but I wasn’t sure what the sauce was. It was drippy enough that I suspected it would soon be all over my blouse, but it smelled good. And the French bread was nice and soft. I took a tentative bite and then coughed. When I caught my breath, I looked at him through watery eyes. “You all sure like your spices down here.”

“We do indeed.”

We were silent for a few minutes as we ate. The view was gorgeous with the blue water. Lake Boise was bigger than I was expecting. Somehow, I’d figured that a small town must have a small lake, but it was pretty substantial.

There were some sailboats in the water, and what I assumed were fishing boats along the shore. “It’s really pretty here. And peaceful.”

Raphael nodded with a smile on his face. “I think so, too. The lake can get pretty crowded in the summer. Sometimes a boat full of drunks will crash into another boat full of drunks. But I like it on winter days like today.”

I nearly snorted. “This sure doesn’t seem much like winter to me.”

His eyes were amused as he looked my way. “I suppose it’s not much like what you’re used to.”

My sandwich was still making my eyes water, but it was quite good. I was glad he’d chosen roast beef for me instead of something less familiar. But the beef was prepared in a way that was decidedly different than what I was used to, and the heat … the heat could probably keep me warm on a winter day back home.

Raphael’s gaze was on the lake, which gave me a chance to examine him. There was something so calming about him. He was good looking, yes, but also… kind of Zen. I didn’t think I’d ever used that word to describe someone, but it suited him. It felt like a great white shark could leap out of the lake, fin its way over here, and try to take a chomp out of him, and he’d respond with a quiet sense of fascination.

His dark brown hair swayed gently in the breeze. His tan-colored pants were a bit wrinkled, but his beard was immaculately trimmed. His hoody sweatshirt was light gray and looked like it had been thrown on at random over his t-shirt. But it suited him.

He had a sort of stillness to him that was immensely comforting. Even now, he had one knee bent and one leg dangling down, looking lost in thought as he took in the view. He was fit, that much was certain from the way he’d carried me to the truck today, but his muscles were more lanky and wiry. They weren’t as bulky as Spencer’s, but they gave Raphael a quiet strength.

“Penny for your thoughts.”

Oh crap. He’d looked over while I was staring at his legs. Obviously, I would have to be more careful about that kind of thing. “Why did they name the town Lake Boise?”

The corner of his mouth twitched upwards. “Because it’s on the banks of Lake Boise.” His pronunciation was a little different than what I’d been saying.

That made me laugh. “I mean, why Boise? Isn’t that in Idaho?”

“Yes, but it’s a French word. It means wooded. I’d say that fits, doesn’t it?”

“Definitely. I love the trees here. So tall and stately with all that hanging moss.”

“The trees are good for climbing, too, but I’d recommend you leave that one on your bucket list for a while longer.”

“Agreed.” I sampled some French fries. They were beer-battered and delicious. “Did you climb trees when you were a kid?”

He nodded. “My sister and I both did. We spent our entire summers outside, from morning until night. I doubt there’s a tree in the woods behind the house we haven’t been to the top of.”

“Sounds like an idyllic childhood.”

“It was. I wish things were as simple for Charlotte and Lucas.” Raphael looked out onto the lake again.

“Haven’t you taught them to climb trees?”

His tan face broke into a smile. “Yes. They’re like little monkeys when they scramble up the branches. But their childhoods aren’t quite as carefree as I remember mine being.”

That was a depressing subject. “What else did you do as a kid, besides climb trees? Did you come here a lot?”

He cocked his head to the side. “Yeah—on family outings as a kid. And with my buddies when I was a teen.”

Something about the way he said that caught my attention. “Just your buddies?”

He grinned. “And a few lucky ladies, when we could convince them.”

Something clicked in my mind. “Nana said you were a wild one when you were a teen.”

“Eh, she could tell you some stories, cher. Many, many stories—but I sincerely hope she doesn’t.”

I took a sip of my soda. The fresh air, the breeze, and the conversation with this handsome man had really lifted my spirits. “So what changed?”

“My sister got sick. After that, everything changed.”

So much for lifted spirits. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I mean, yes, I miss her terribly, but I’m not sorry about the family I have now. I lost a sister, but I gained a niece, a nephew, and two men who are like brothers to me. And helping them, doing my part, being a part of their lives—that’s worth far more to me than beach bonfires and beer and cheap thrills in the dark.”

“How cheap?” I asked, hoping to make him laugh, and feeling better when he did.

“Probably best not to dwell on that.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone, checking something on it.

“Everything okay?”

“Yep.” He put it away. “I forgot to ask, what did the doctor say before I joined you?”

“She said I can stop wrapping my wrist if it feels better, which it does.”

“That’s good. One less thing to worry about. And the ribs?”

“They still hurt. She said it’ll just take time.” I scowled. “Oh, but she did say that if things go well, I might be able to get a slightly smaller cast in a few weeks.” That would be a relief. I could swear my right leg weighed as much as a piano.

“What did she say about crutches?”

“She said I can try them when I feel up to it, but I can’t imagine swinging my body around when my ribs are still so tender.”

“Maybe they can give you a better idea of that once you start physical therapy next week.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Truthfully, I wasn’t looking forward to that. Yes, I needed to get stronger, but I wasn’t the most coordinated person when it came to doing exercise with proper form and function. I liked less structured activities like swimming, hula hoops, running, and sometimes even dancing.

I finished my soda before my sandwich—probably because the heat from the latter made me gulp down my drink. I wrapped up the rest and put it into a spare bag, but Raphael seemed in no hurry to leave. In truth, I wasn’t either.

It was so nice out here. It was so nice being with him. Something about this situation, having a tailgate picnic by a lake, made me feel like we were just two people enjoying a beautiful day, rather than one injured person relying on the other for a great deal of help.

It was nice feeling like a normal person with him.

But at last, there was a soft buzzing sound, and Raphael checked his phone again. “Ready to go back?”

“Sure.” I wasn’t a hundred percent certain about that, but it wasn’t like we could stay out here. Then I grinned internally. Or maybe we could. Maybe we could wait until nightfall, build a huge fire on the sandy beach, and have a few cheap thrills of our own—unless Raphael had given up his old ways entirely.

Thoughts like that filled my head on the drive back, which perplexed me. It wasn’t like me to have those kinds of daydreams. Then again, usually, my mind was on all the things I had to do for my classes. Now, it was supposed to be on my job, but obviously, that wasn’t going to be the case for a while. Maybe it was natural to have naughty thoughts while living in a house with two gorgeous men, but it felt a little strange and decadent to me.

The house was empty when Raphael carried me in, but there was an unusual scent in the air. It smelled a bit like sawdust or perhaps… plaster? But maybe I was only thinking of that because of my cast.

Raphael set me down by the dresser in my room, and I grabbed onto the edge. “Wait here,” he said, as if I had any choice. As he disappeared into the bathroom, I balanced on one leg and examined the bouquets of flowers.

“These need water,” I said as Raphael came back out.

“I’ll give them some later. Right now, I have something to show you.” Instead of outright lifting me, he put his arm around my waist. As he tugged me away from the dresser, I slung my arm around his shoulder. He still was mostly carrying me, but I was able to use my left leg a little, and felt less like an infant being toted around.

In the bathroom, the scent of dust intensified, and I immediately saw why.

“Ta da,” Raphael said.

The combination bathtub and shower had been completely remade. Before, it had been an ordinary tub with a great deal of toys strewn about. Now, it was like the most accessible tub in the world. There were handrails all along the walls of the shower. All the bottles and toys had been tossed into a large plastic bin outside of the tub. And a white plastic shelf with metal tubing was attached to the wall opposite the faucets.

Raphael followed my gaze and leaned forward, flipping a little latch. The hard white plastic folded down flat, forming a seat with metal legs to support it. “Thought it might be easier if you didn’t have to stand the whole time.”

“None of this was here this morning,” I said in amazement.

“We figured it was best to do it while you were out of the house. That way we wouldn’t disturb you—and you couldn’t argue about it, either.”

I tried to take a step closer before remembering that I wasn’t supposed to put any weight on my bad leg. I suppose I could’ve hopped, but I’d tried that just once yesterday and it had killed my ribs. “I definitely would’ve argued. You’ve changed the whole bathroom, just for me.” Well, perhaps not the whole bathroom, but there were also handrails by the toilet and little mounds of sawdust on the floor.

“We wanted to make things easier for you.”

“But… the twins share this bathroom, and now it looks like it’s for a senior citizen.”

Raphael grinned. “They thought the idea of a chair in a bathtub was cool. Plus, it folds up.” He fastened it to the wall again. “And you haven’t seen the best part.”

After a moment to make sure I was steady, he stepped to the front of the tub, reached up, and plucked the showerhead down. It was a handheld one that had a flexible silver hose attaching it to the wall.

“Was that like that before?”

“Nope. We figured that it would be easier to have the showerhead move to you rather than vice versa.”

Tears unexpectedly prickled at my eyes. “I can’t believe you did all this for me. Where’s Spencer? Did he go back to the school? He’s already missed so much work for me this week.”

Raphael shook his head. “Spencer didn’t do this, Flynn did.”

“Flynn?” I was pretty sure my jaw dropped onto the floor and then bounced across the tile. “You mean the guy next door who won’t even look in my direction?”

Raphael glanced away. “He’s been busy, but he wanted to make it easier for you to take a shower.”

It was still hard to believe that Flynn had done this, but there was no doubt it would help. “He did a fantastic job.”

“He’s the best at this kind of thing. He made the deck, you know.”

“The deck out back?” The enormity of that project made the bathroom remodel look like child’s play. “The whole deck?”

“Yep. About five years ago.”

“Wow.” That was an understatement. I’d already decided that that deck was my favorite spot in the entire state of Louisiana. It was hard to believe that Flynn had built it. “He must be quite talented.” And also quite standoffish, but that was another matter.

“He is.” Raphael gestured to the tub. “Ready to try it out?”

“Sure,” I said, though I could foresee some issues.

“Great. All we need to do is to get you undressed, put you in there, get you back out again, and then dress you in clean clothes. How hard could that be?”

My stomach did a weird flip flop at the thought of how difficult—with the potential for lots of embarrassment—that process was going to be. “Yeah,” I echoed weakly. “How hard could that be?”