"How about it, Bright Eyes -- you ready to marry me?" asked Philip.

"No," answered Lizzie Jane. "That is why I wanted to talk with you. I don't think neither of us are ready for marriage. You will go off to some college, find some lady friend that you will fall in love with and the next thing you know, she will hook you."

Chapter 10

Carol woke to the smell of fried eggs and bacon, which was the opposite of the past few days. (Lizzie Jane was the one who had been waking up to the smell of breakfast.) She glanced at the clock. It was 3:30 am. Her alarm did not go off or if it did, she was sleeping too soundly to hear it. She remembered it was Monday and the girls had to meet Sam at the restaurant shortly after 4 am to get ready for an anticipated breakfast rush.

She quickly showered and trotted toward the kitchen. Lizzie Jane was pulling the biscuits out of the oven, singing a Ernest Tubb song, "(Remember me), I am the one who loves you", that was a hit in 1950. It did not occur to her how she was remembering the words. It was just a song she liked.

Carol started setting the table. "Still thinking about love? About Philip?"

"No, I am not thinking about Philip. He turned out to be nice and I will probably date him again if he asks, but I don't think he is the one," replied Lizzie Jane. "There is a special husband for me and I don't believe it to be Philip."

Carol looked puzzled. They had not discussed church and what had happened. Carol had seen many Christians 'slain by the Spirit' and thought that is what happened to Lizzie Jane. Lizzie Jane had gone into more of a 'dream like' state so her mother could talk to her and an important part of her memory could be restored.

"I fixed some grits, too," proudly announced Lizzie Jane. "That and the sawmill gravy completes a good ole country breakfast."

"We could have eaten at the restaurant."

"I wanted to show you I can fix breakfast, too." Lizzie Jane smiled.

"Good breakfast," said Carol upon finishing. "And the coffee is great -- what did you do to it?"

"Just made it stronger. You were making it too weak. Good thing Sam made it for the restaurant. With your coffee, he would have lost customers," answered Lizzie Jane.

Carol picked up a dish cloth and threw at her. Both girls, giggling, worked together to quickly clean up the table and wash the few dishes.

The girls arrived at the restaurant around 4:35 am. Sam was already there, getting things ready. Customers started arriving just before 5 am. Some said, "It is about time you opened up. Ain't had a decent meal for days."

"Home cooked meals," bragged Sam. "The best in the State of Alabama. Even Big Jim Folsom ate here when he could." (Big Jim Folsom had been the governor that went bare foot in the state capitol as a tribute to being a good ole country boy.)

Everybody seemed happy to be together again. The attempted robbery was not mentioned. It seemed that no one wanted to bring up any bad thoughts. Also, Lizzie Jane seemed to be happier in the eyes of Sam and Carol, who knew her better than the customers.

"Has some of your memory come back?" asked Sam, searching for a reason for such a change in the girl.

"Just one clear thing that will help me in the future -- nothing to help me figure out who I am," replied Lizzie Jane. "Most everything else has been fuzzy." It was clear that she did not want to talk about it, so the matter was dropped.

Finally, late one afternoon, Philip arrived. The restaurant was empty, so after taking his order, Lizzie Jane sat at the table with him.

"How about it, Bright Eyes -- you ready to marry me?" asked Philip.

"No," answered Lizzie Jane. "That is why I wanted to talk with you. I don't think neither of us are ready for marriage. You will go off to some college, find some lady friend that you will fall in love with and the next thing you know, she will hook you."

"Elizabeth, I will never forget you."

"I am sure you won't. You will always remember me as your first love and I will remember you the same way -- although I don't know if you are my first love or not. Let's just be friends and -- well -- do things together while you are here. Nothing to keep us from having warm hearts toward each other." Lizzie Jane smiled in her cute feminine manner.

Philip stared at her for a moment. "You sound like a person more mature than you are."

"You don't know how old I am," laughed Lizzie Jane. "I may be 106 for all you know."

"Well," replied Philip. "How about a kiss -- uh -- as friends?"

"Okay, if Sam is not looking."

"That old goat? Let him look. He might learn something."

The couple exchanged a light kiss -- nothing like the kisses just a few nights ago. Philip decided that Lizzie Jane might be right -- and Lizzie Jane knew she was.

Lizzie Jane would not be easy to turn loose, but maybe it was a only physical attraction. Perhaps Philip thought he was so much in love with her because she was so good looking. He thought she was the cutest girl he had ever seen. The one thing he knew -- the first break from college, he was coming back to see if it was just infatuation.

When word got around that Lizzie Jane had dated Philip and had turned him down as one of his "regulars", other young gentlemen began to indicate their interest. Lizzie Jane began to be more friendly, believing that God had the perfect match for her somewhere and it was up to her to be open enough to find her future husband.

However, it wasn't long until the young men found out that they had to behave themselves on a date and Lizzie Jane soon got the reputation of being a nice girl. Although she did not realize it, losing her memory was a blessing. Before, Lizzie Jane had been shy, did not date and only had one romantic experience -- with Jake.

Lizzie Jane had never thought of herself as being worthy of dating boys, even though her Mother had told her years before, "Your future indicates romance, a husband, and children of your own." Of course, that particular time had long been forgotten, but the prophecy was still true because it had been sent by God. Even though she did not remember the event, Lizzie Jane knew that her destiny as a wife and mother had already been established. It had not been revealed exactly what lay ahead, but she knew her God and her mother would be there with her.

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Chapter 11

It was a chilly morning when the girls arrived and found the door of the restaurant locked. Spring was in the air and the girls were looking forward to Easter. They chatted awhile around about the weather and how it is usually cool at that time of year when Carol mentioned, "Must be something wrong. Sam is still not here. Maybe we should go and see about him."

After knocking on Sam's door, they heard a faint voice, "Come in. It's not locked."

The girls entered to see a very sick Sam. "Must be the flu," he said. "Never been so sick in my life."

"Been to the doctor?" asked Carol.

"Called Doctor Joe Adams. He said he would come by on the way to his office. I guess you girls might as well go home -- unless, you want to try today without me. I won't be there to cook the plate lunches, but you can make sandwiches or something."

"Listen!" Carol exclaimed. "First, we are women. You are not the only cook in the world and, for your information, Lizzie Jane here is one of the best cooks in the South."

"Oh,' replied Lizzie Jane. "I only know how to cook the way Aunt --- ah, Aunt --". (A name was trying to enter her mind.) She stood there confused with her mind seemingly in a whirl, trying to bring a name to remembrance. "Aunt -- Aunt --- Aunt Maudie. That's it! Aunt Maudie! I can only cook the way Aunt Maudie showed me."

Carol stood there with her mouth open. Sam was surprised, too, but neither said anything for a moment.

Finally, Carol got out a few words, "Well, I am sure that Aunt Maudie taught you well."

"Well, you girls try it today -- okay?" stated Sam. "The key is hanging by the side of the door over there."

The girls went back to the restaurant. Carol didn't know what to say about the rememberance of the name, Aunt Maudie, but she seemed a little pleased that part of Lizzie Jane's memory had returned.

"Let's see now, how about creamed (mashed) potatoes, english peas and I think Sam has some okry (okra) cut up in the freezer, so fried okry? For meat, we could have baked steak. For bread, I would like to make some cornbread and biscuits. People could have a choice. Also, the biscuits will go good for breakfast with thickening gravy (sawmill gravy) to eat with their eggs and sausage -- or bacon. Also, let's see -- Sam also makes grits, too."

"Sounds good to me," said Carol. "Go for it."

It wasn't long until Lizzie Jane had everything ready to cook for breakfast with piping hot biscuits fresh out of the oven and turned her attention to lunch. She also made the coffee so it would be strong enough. Carol still made coffee too weak.

As customers came in, they had compliments on the breakfast. Carol said, "Wait until dinner (lunch)." Many said they would be back.

And come back -- they did. They weren't used to real southern style, home cooking like Lizzie Jane had prepared. Many customers, laughingly, said they were going to fire Sam. Many said they were going to come back for supper -- and they did -- some carrying the food home with them. Lizzie Jane had to repeat her whole cooking process so supper could be served. Usually, the meals lasted until they ran out -- but that would not work this time.

Lizzie Jane could not understand what all the excitement was about. All she did was cook vegetables with some meat, just like Sam. However, Sam did not know how to season and prepare the simple vegetables like Lizzie Jane.

When the girls carried the receipts to Sam that night, he was amazed. It was almost twice the normal amount.

The next day, Sam was still sick. Lizzie Jane decided on turnip greens, creamed corn, and macaroni and cheese with beef stew as the meat addition.The restaurant stayed full most of the day and into the night. The receipts to Sam was four times the usual amount.

Sam wanted to know, "What's going on?"

"It is Lizzie Jane's cooking. The customers love it," answered Carol.

"Well, I guess we have a new cook."

"Oh no, you don't! I need her to help me. I worked my pants off today. I'll tell you what --- she can teach YOU how to cook."

"Oh well, I don't guess an old salty like me is never too old to learn new tricks."

"Only thing," Carol added. "I don't believe you can take the pressure. She needs to teach another cook, too."

So, it was that the "Just Like Home" Restaurant became known all across the country and people came from miles around for good old southern-style "real" home cooking.

The restaurant's fame also reached Carter's Bend, so Doc Brown thought he would stop by on one of his trips to check it out.

---To be continued
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The names of people and places in these chapter (Chapter 10 and 11) are fictitious, except Ernest Tubb and Big Jim Folsom, who are famous persons in their own right, and any resemblance to any other actual person or place are coincidental. In previous chapters, names of actual places have been used so this statement is to prevent confusion.
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Copyright 2008 by Starla Anne Lowry
Under the pen name of Billie Sue Pilgrim
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