“Think you could eat something?” Liz asked. When I shook my head, she said, “I have some biscuits and gravy made. They’d be soft on your stomach. But if you want some soup, I can make you some of that.”
Her insistence caused an emotional ache to burn through my chest. She was mothering me, and it had been so long since I had been mothered. It was something I missed desperately.
At my continued hesitation, she said, “It’ll do you good, honey.”
With my throat clenched with the onslaught of emotion, I merely nodded my head. Liz’s face lit up at my agreement. “All right then. Biscuits and grits or soup?”
“I can’t imagine anything I’d want more than your biscuits,” I said.
She smiled. “Then biscuits it is. Be back in a minute.”
As Willow snuggled to my side, I bent down to bestow a kiss on the top of her head. Closing my eyes, I inhaled the sweet fragrance of her shampoo. “Love you, Miss Alex,” Willow murmured.
Tears filled my eyes. “I love you, too, sweetheart. So very, very much.”
Gazing up at me, Willow said, “Oh don’t cry!”
“It’s okay. They’re happy tears from hearing your sweet words.”
Willow frowned. “I was just gonna say I wish you were my mommy, but I better not if it’s gonna make you cry.”
There was the noise of someone clearing his throat in the doorway. When I glanced up, my heart surged at the sight of Deacon’s strong form. He held a tray filled with the food that Liz had insisted on me eating. “Hi,” I said softly.
“Hi,” he replied. His dark eyes then went to Willow. “Go on out to the kitchen and have your lunch.”
Her lips turned down in a pout. “But I wanna stay with Miss Alex.”
“Willow—”
“I just got to come in a few minutes ago,” she protested.
“Don’t argue with me. Go. Now,” he commanded. His no-nonsense tone had Willow scrambling off the bed, but it didn’t stop her from stomping across the room in a huff.
When she met him in the doorway, she crooked her finger at him, beckoning him down to her level. After he stooped a little, she said in a slightly hushed tone, “Miss Alex is hurt and sad, so you be nice to her.”
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “What did you just say to me?”
“Don’t be mean like you usually are. Be nice.”
Deacon’s expression of utter disbelief brought a much needed smile to my face. He stared down at his daughter like she was some alien life form. The state of his shock took away any ability to chastise Willow for her words or tone. When he finally gave a slight nod of agreement, she breezed past him into the hallway.
With a bewildered look on his face, he crossed the room to me. I sat up, propping myself against the pillows, as he eased down on the bed. “You hungry?”
“Not really. I just didn’t want to hurt Liz’s feelings.”
“Well, you need to eat. Keep your strength up and all.”
I watched in shock as he balanced the tray on his lap. Taking the spoon, he swirled it through some of the grits before scooping out a bite. When he brought it up to my mouth, I widened my eyes.
“What?” Deacon asked, the spoon hovering close to my lips.
“You just surprised me, that’s all.”
When I still didn’t take a bite, Deacon cocked his brows at me. “Don’t tell me you’re going to make me do that bullshit thing like the spoon is an airplane.”
I laughed and then winced from my sore ribs. “Would you really do that?”
“Fuck no.” After grimacing, he shook his head. “I mean, if you needed me, too.”
