Chapter 2: Recuperation

June Howard woke when the sun coming through her bedroom window burned through her eyelids. She rolled over, turning away from the window, only to feel the pain in her head explode. “Oh, shit!” she groaned. Her stomach cramped and she crawled to the edge of the bed, where she found a trash can. Her stomach heaved but nothing came up. Groaning, she stumbled to the bathroom and cleaned up. When she got out of the shower, she pulled on an oversized terry robe and swallowed half a dozen Tylenols. Then she went to the kitchen for some orange juice...

... And stopped at the door to the second bedroom. She normally left it open, but it was closed. She opened the door and looked in, astonished to find a man in bed, face down. “Who are you?”

Cullie Doyle rolled over and sat up. Janet’s eyes widened when she saw his body. Even though the sheet covered him from the waist down, what she could see was mouthwatering. She knew her ‘nephew’ was a good-looking young man, but whoa! Without a shirt on she could see his broad shoulders, his well-defined abs, and his muscular arms. Even his day-old beard looked masculine. “Morning, Aunt June.”

“Cullie?”

“If you come closer, I might not be so bleary.”

“Cullie, what are you doing here?”

He gave her a lopsided smile. “I brought you here last night. Don’t you remember? You had a few rum punches too many.”

“What? Did I?” June tried to think back to the night before and recollection began to return. “You brought me home?”

Cullie snorted out a laugh. “You could say that.”

June suddenly remembered how she was naked when she woke up. “What happened, Cullie? What did you do to me?” she asked sharply.

“I got you home and got you cleaned up is what I did.”

“What do you mean, you cleaned me up?”

“Pardon my language, but you are a sloppy drunk, Aunt June. You puked all over yourself, all over me, and all over the bathroom, and then you got even worse.”

“What do you mean, worse?” she asked.

“You shit your britches, Aunt June,” Cullie told her.

June turned beet red at that and clutched her robe around her. “So, you were the one who cleaned me up?”

He nodded. “Nobody else was volunteering.”

“Oh my God!” She looked at him, seeing him not just as the son of her best friend but as a virile young man naked from the waist up. “Just how clean...”

“I got you undressed and into the shower, Aunt June.”

“And you saw...” Cullie didn’t answer, but it was obvious he remembered. Despite her drunken state, June Howard was a damn fine-looking woman. She had firm B-cup breasts that looked large on her small frame and were capped with sharply pointed dark coral nipples, a slim waist with a deep navel, and womanly hips with a trimmed triangle of brown pubic hair. “Shit!”

Cullie asked, “Any chance you can find something for me to wear? I put our stuff through the wash, but I don’t know if it’s dry yet.”

“You could always get out of bed and return the favor, but I think some of my ex-husband’s stuff is in the spare dresser.” She moved around the bed and pulled open a few drawers and then tossed him a pair of old cut-offs. “I don’t know why I haven’t thrown out all his old stuff yet.”

Cullie eyed the shorts. “Nothing else?”

“Nothing that would fit you, Sweetie.” She smiled at him and looked him up and down. “Let’s just say that Willie’s clothes would be a little small on you. Those might be a little tight, but they’d only need to stay on until we can check the laundry.” She laughed and left the room. June continued down to the kitchen where she drank a large glass of orange juice before returning to her bedroom to get dressed. On the way back to her bedroom she passed Cullie coming out of the spare bedroom dressed in the cut-offs. “Darling, they look better on you than they ever did on Willie!” The shorts were skintight and short, and exposed his muscular legs.

“I looked through the rest of his stuff and nothing else came close to fitting.”

June shook her head. “I think those came from a pair of jeans right before we got divorced. He was never as big in the chest as you are, but his waistline was growing by leaps and bounds.”

“Let’s check on the laundry.”

“Give me a few minutes. I need to get dressed.” June went to her bedroom and pulled on some underwear, shorts, and a t-shirt. Then she went to the laundry room, where she found Cullie talking on his cell phone.

“I’m fine, Mom ... Hold on, here’s Aunt June.” He handed the phone to June. “Here, talk to her. I left the phone in the laundry room, and she got worried when she called, and I didn’t answer.”

June rolled her eyes and took the phone. The two women chatted for five minutes before June ended the call and handed the phone back to Cullie. She opened the door to the dryer and pulled the clothing out and into a laundry basket. “Well, it’s not perfect, but it will do. Have you had your breakfast yet?”

“No.”

“Well, I’m not ready for anything resembling food. You go make something for yourself and I am going to lie down for a few minutes.”

Cullie shook his head. He grabbed his clothing and changed into it as soon as June left the laundry room. Then he scrounged up some cereal and ate breakfast. When he finished, he went in search of June. He found her asleep in her bedroom, dressed and covered with a blanket. He went back to the living room and turned on the television.

It was late afternoon when June stirred and came out of the bedroom. She found Cullie napping in the recliner in front of the television. She tried to keep quiet, but he stretched and came alive. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were sleeping.”

Cullie stretched again and shook himself awake. “No biggie. Feeling any better?”

“Some. Not completely, but some. How about you?”

“I only had two drinks last night. I’m not the one who tried to solve the rum import problem facing America.”

June gave him a guilty look and said, “Now you’re exaggerating.” Cullie just gave her a dry look, and she added, “Okay, I had a few too many. It’s your fault and Alison’s fault anyway. You should have stopped me!”

Cullie just started laughing. “You want to try to sell that one to my mother?”

“Oh, please! Who do you think taught me how to party when we were freshmen? Serve me a few more drinks and I’ll tell you all of her secrets!” She looked around and asked, “Did you have lunch yet?”