The Wildflower (Completed) (Southern Nights)

Chapter 25

As soon as she hit the bottom step Elizabeth caught a variety of scents all at once.  She immediately recognized coffee, bacon and eggs.  Her stomach once again growled loudly in response.

“Wow,” she commented when they entered the kitchen.  “Something smells mighty good in here.”

Brandon was perched in a chair at the kitchen table.  He was grinning from one ear to the other and Elizabeth noticed he was missing one of his front teeth.  For a fleeting moment she wondered if Nicole had done something to make him lose that tooth or if it fell out naturally.  He was about the right age to start to start losing his teeth.

“We wanted to surprise you,” Brandon excitedly exclaimed interrupting her troubling thoughts.

She shook her head to dispel those thoughts.  They had Brandon now, not Nicole.  She remembered Zeb’s promise from the night before.  He said that he would protect him no matter what and she believed him.  Neither of them would ever let anything bad happen to him ever again.

She glanced at all of the food spread on the counter and a wave of tenderness filled her. She gestured in the general direction of the food. “Really?” she said and looked back over at Zeb.  He was pouring coffee into a mug.  “You two cooked all of this for me?”

“Sure did.” He brought her the steaming mug of coffee and Elizabeth noticed how comfortable he looked in her kitchen.  He was wearing flannel pajama pants and a white tee shirt, looking every inch the typical family man.

“Why don’t you have a seat?” He placed his hand at the small of her back and guided Elizabeth to the table where Brandon was sitting.  Being the perfect gentleman, he pulled out her chair and waited for her to sit down.  “This morning, I’m going to serve you.”

She cocked her head to the side.  “Well, well, well.  I think I could get used to this.  I feel like a princess.”

Zeb chuckled and headed back to the counter. “That’s because you are a princess;  you’re our princess.”

Brandon rested his chin in his hand and eyed Elizabeth curiously. “You mean a princess like in a real royal court? With real kings and real queens?”

“Yes,” Zeb replied, coming up behind him.  He sat a plate filled to the edges in front of Elizabeth and another plate with a slightly lesser amount of food in front of Brandon.  “All she needs is a crowned tiara and she’d be the most beautiful princess in the world.  Don’t you think so, Brandon?”

“Oh yes,” Brandon readily agreed.  “Nurse Lizzie is the most beautiful princess in the world.”

Elizabeth couldn’t do anything other than blush.  Brandon was absolutely adorable- just like his father. Not wanting to get overly emotional, Elizabeth picked up her fork and dug into her scrambled eggs.

Zeb walked back over to the counter and filled his own plate.  By the time that he returned to the table, a bout of nausea hit Elizabeth and she dropped her fork on the plate.

“Lizzie, sweetheart- are you okay?” Zeb sat his plate down and rested a hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder.  She was looking peaked.  He watched her take several deep breaths before she jumped up from the table, covered her mouth and ran from the room.

Oh god, she thought to herself, she wasn’t going to make it.  Barely making it to the bathroom, she grabbed the door jamb, swung herself around the corner and dropped to her knees in front of the toilet.  Just in the nick of time she raised the toilet seat and emptied what little contents she had in her stomach until she was left dry heaving.

A cool cloth touched the side of her face and she looked up.  Zeb was kneeling beside her, bathing her face without saying a word.  The nausea finally faded and Elizabeth started to stand.