“Can we see her?”Jonathan asked.
“Yes, but don’t stay long.”
The doctor showed Jonathan and Adam to Elizabeth’s bedside, while Jewel stayed in the waiting room with Dawson.
“Elizabeth,” Jonathan said gently.“I have someone here to see you.”
Elizabeth opened groggy eyes and blinked.Finally, her vision seemed to clear.“Adam?”
“Yes, sweetheart.”Adam bent down and hugged her, and she started crying.“Don’t cry.I’m here.I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
“It’s not that—it’s just that I’ve missed you so much.Have you seen my son?”
“Yes.He’s a fine boy,” Adam told her.“Jewel has him at the moment.Dawson will enjoy meeting his cousin when we go back to Four Oaks.”Adam had no more finished his sentence than Elizabeth had drifted off to sleep.“We’ll take her home tomorrow,” he said to Jonathan.
“The last two months have been hell, ol’ boy,” Jonathan said as he raked his hand through his hair.
Adam folded his arms and asked, “Did you find my sister a husband?”
Jonathan gritted his teeth.“I tried.”
“Triedisn’t good enough.”
A suggestion of annoyance hovered in his eyes.“Don’t push it, ol’ boy,” Jonathan warned.“Especially when you knew damned well what you were doing.”
Adam chuckled.“And just when did my plan occur to you?”
“Not until after your sister gave me a lot of grief,” Jonathan retorted, a critical tone to his voice.“She doesn’t listen worth a damn.”
Adam nodded.“I agree.Never has.You know, she’s a lot like you.”
With a mischievous smile, Jonathan said, “When she is well again, I intend to marry her.”
An arched eyebrow indicated Adam’s humorous surprise.“Is the lady willing?”
“She says she is.But will she show up at the church?That’s the big question.”
Three weeks later,under a cobalt blue sky, Elizabeth and Jewel sat on the lawn at Four Oaks watching their children play.Dawson scampered on the lawn while Jewel’s baby, Nelson, kicked and gurgled on a blanket as he watched his cousin running around.
“How are you feeling?”Jewel asked.
“Much better,” Elizabeth admitted, shifting in her chair.“I’m growing stronger every day.The nightmares have finally stopped.”
“That’s a good sign.”
“I think so,” Elizabeth agreed with a delighted smile.“I can’t believe that both our children are here playing in front of us.Of course, Nelson is still too young to play, but it won’t be long before he’ll be tagging along behind Dawson.”
“It does seem strange, doesn’t it?”Jewel said with a sigh.“If someone had told me that I’d be a mother in a couple of years, I would have laughed in disbelief.Now I can’t imagine life without Adam or Nelson.I know you were scared to death when Lee kidnapped Dawson,” Jewel said and looked at her sister-in-law.
“It was a nightmare that I don’t ever want to relive,” Elizabeth admitted.
Jewel reached for the pitcher that had been set up for them and poured two glasses of lemonade.“I also can’t believe what you went through in London with Jonathan’s trial and everything with Lee.As for that matter, I can’t believe that Lee survived.I would have fainted dead away if I’d seen him.”
“I almost did,” Elizabeth admitted.“It was our worst nightmare in the flesh.Thank God we don’t have to worry about him anymore.”She sighed.“I hope Jonathan’s father got everything straightened out so Jonathan will be able to return home.”
A ball rolled over and bumped Jewel’s foot.She picked it up and tossed it to Dawson.“And will you go home with Jonathan?You haven’t said much about him since you’ve been back.”
Despite all she’d been through, thoughts of Jonathan took up much of Elizabeth’s day.“I feel Jonathan has been waiting for me to regain my strength before we talk,” she said and looked pensively at Dawson.“I must admit that he and Dawson get along very well.”
