Walker: Secrets

Chapter 32

PSA

Veeerrryyy long chapter here! 7k words 🤣

Enjoy 😊

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'Wakey wakey Maddie girl. Rise and shining.'

'Ugh... Dad.' Maddie groaned, pulling the covers over her head at her fathers voice. 'Go away. It's not morning yet.'

'Uh... Kinda afraid it is pumpkin. Come on, I made you breakfast and Mawline added a couple of her sticky buns-'

Her eyes opened at the promise of her favorite dessert and she went to kick the covers off then let out a yelp. 'Oh ouch!'

Cordell chuckled. 'Saddle sore?'

'Mmm. You could say that.' She replied as she stretched gingerly, winching. 'Aren't you supposed to be at work?'

'I-I have the day off. Remember?'

'Oh... Right...' It dawned on her after a moment. 'I should have made breakfast for you, not the other way around.' She glanced over at the clock as she sat up then gasped. 'It's after ten! Why didn't you get me up sooner?'

'You looked like you needed to sleep.' He replied, placing the tray he'd brought in on her lap then took a seat on the bed beside her. Bubbles, smelling the eggs and bacon, woke up and began to sniff the air before making her way towards the tray. 'Oh no. No. No you don't-' He took hold of the cat before she got close to Maddie's breakfast. 'I made that for my girl, not you little one.'

'Thank you for this Dad.' Maddie smiled as she looked up from her meal. 'You didn't have to do this.'

'Y-your right, I didn't but I wanted to. Just don't tell Stella or August okay? They'll be wanting room service next.'

She giggled at that. 'I won't say a word.'

'Well, I'll leave you to eat then. I've already taken care of Bel and Dakota for you this morning so you needn't worry about them.' He stood up, taking the cat with him. 'And I'll feed this one so she doesn't steal your food.'

Cordell left the room, closing the door behind himself again and Maddie looked back down at her breakfast. 'There's no way I'm gonna be able to eat all this...' She whispered to herself as she looked the tray over. In addition to two of Abeline's fresh sticky buns there was a mountain of scrambled eggs on homemade toast and a stack of crispy bacon. Her stomach was churning just at the smell and the thought of trying to eat all that really made her lose her appetite.

She sighed heavily. Cordell had tried to do something nice for her and she didn't want to offend him but yet there was no way she could eat that much food. Picking up a sticky bun she took a bite and slowly chewed it, hoping that she wouldn't see it again. For some reason lately when she ate she felt like she was going to throw up and that combined with her having little appetite had really taken a toll on how much she'd eaten recently.

The buns were washed down with some of the fresh orange juice and that seemed to be okay in her stomach though she didn't feel like she'd chance the eggs or the greasy bacon. Deciding that she'd deal with the rest of her breakfast later she placed the tray aside on her bedside table and got up to get dressed.

As she changed out of her pajamas, her reflection in the mirror caught her attention and she frowned. Had she been eating so little she'd started to lose weight again? When was the last time I stepped onto the scales? She wondered for a moment. She honestly hadn't taken any notice of how she'd looked recently but now, looking at the image in the mirror, she could tell she had to have lost quite a few pounds over the last couple of months.