Page 86 of Wilde Flame

“No coffee this morning?”

Even the mention of coffee made my stomach lurch. “Not this morning.”

My mother raised a brow before turning and flipping the bacon she was cooking. “Have you had breakfast?”

“No,” I said, as I placed a hand on my queasy stomach. “Not yet.”

“You can eat with us. I’ve got plenty.”

Oh no. Please no. Don’t get sick now.

“Lilibeth? Are you okay? You look like you’re turning green,” Dad observed.

I forced myself to smile as I drew in a breath and slowly let it out. “I’m okay. I, um, I do need to talk to you both about something though.”

“Is the store doing okay?”

My mother was forever worried about the store, wondering if I’d made a mistake by using all my savings to open it.

“The store’s doing better than okay. That’s not it. I don’t really know how to say this.”

Placing the newspaper down on the table, my father regarded me with a curious expression. “Sometimes the best way to get out what you want to say is to just say it.”

I nodded. “Okay. Then I’ll just say it. I’m pregnant.”

They both gaped at me, shocked.

“Caden Wilde is the father.”

My mother smiled then, and my father simply nodded.

“I knew there was something going on between the two of you,” Mom said, as she walked over to me. “How far along are you?”

“Eight weeks. I’m due on August twenty-third. I wasn’t planning on telling anyone else until I get a bit further along.”

Taking my hands in hers, Mom kissed me on the cheek. “How are you feeling? Emotionally and physically?”

“I’m tired. Scared. Worried. Happy. Excited. Scared.”

My father stood and gave me a sympathetic smile as he rounded the table. Drawing me into his arms, he kissed the top of my head. “All to be expected. Have you told Caden?”

“Yes, he knows. We went to the first doctor’s appointment yesterday and got to see the baby, and hear the heartbeat.”

I slid the sonogram pictures toward them.

“This soon?” my mother asked, with another shocked expression. “My goodness, in our day, we didn’t have all the fancy new equipment that they do now. Or if they did have it, we couldn’t afford it.”

She picked up the pictures and smiled. “How precious.”

Dad chuckled as he took the pictures my mother handed him. “How’s Caden handling it?”

I shrugged. “Okay, I think. He plans on being there every step of the way, even though I told him he didn’t have to be.”

My father raised his brows. “I’m glad to know he’s taking his share of the responsibility. Those Wilde kids were raised right; anyone can see that.”

My mom wrung her hands and chewed on her lip.

“Just say what you want to say, Mom.”