A/N - File this under the "Ways I'd Like To See Season 3 Begin" category.
Coming Up For Air
DAY 1
It was a sunny September morning in Bluebell, warm and comfortable but not hot, and there was a freshness in the air that reminded people of the coming fall and the hope that springs every time this year that Big Blue, Bluebell's high school football team, will have a big season. The birds were singing outside the Mayor's plantation, and it was those birds that the Mayor sat listening to while he ate his cornflakes in the kitchen, and it was those thoughts that occupied the Mayor's mind. That, and of course Annabeth, who was never far from his thoughts and who just then entered the kitchen in her robe looking for a cup of coffee. It was a testament to Annabeth's comfort level with Lavon that she didn't have a stitch of makeup on, even though it was around seven am.
She got her coffee and sat down next to Lavon.
"Today's the day, right?" The Mayor nodded, trying to focus his thoughts on football.
"When's her plane get in?"
"She lands in Mobile around 10 o'clock."
"You gettin' her?"
"Naw, Wade's pickin' her up."
"Wade? WADE?" Annabeth half-stood up in her chair and craned her neck to look out the window. "Have you even seen Wade recently? I don't see his car."
"He called me, AB. Said he'd do it. Relax," Lavon smiled, "it's Wade and Zoe, what can go wrong?"
"Riiight."
Meanwhile, over at the Rammer Jammer, Brick had dropped in to pick up a cup of coffee to go. He stopped to talk to Wally, who was sitting at the end of the counter.
"I heard Dr. Hart was coming back today."
Wally nodded. "Same thing I heard. You ready?"
"Do you mean do I have the storm shutters on?" Brick chuckled. "Not yet, but they're handy if I need 'em."
Wally smiled, took out his handkerchief and wiped his neck. "Be nice to get a breath of fresh air, it's been hot."
"You know," Brick said as he leaned over to the counter to pay Wanda for the coffee, "I may be forced to deny it sometime in the future, but I'm actually looking forward to her coming back. This is a heavy load for just one doctor, you know. And," he lowered his voice conspiratorially and leaned even closer to Wally, "she is a really good doctor, sometimes."
"Sometimes?" Wally raised an eyebrow. "Cut her a break, Brick. Really good ain't nothin' at all, she's a damn fine doctor."
"Well, all I meant was I could trust her with my own care, and I have, and I would be completely comfortable having any of my patients see Dr. Hart, they would receive excellent care."
"That's good to know, Brick," Wally smiled widely.
As Dr. Breeland left the Rammer Jammer with his coffee and headed to the practice, he began to wonder if perhaps Wally had just told him he had switched doctors.
Meanwhile, Lemon came down the counter to refill Wally's cup. "You're here more now than when you owned the place. What's up?"
"My wife says I make her nervous if I stay home during the day, so I have to find a place to be." Lemon nodded. "So, you OK here alone?"
"Alone? Whatever do you mean? Wanda's here, Cody's coming in later, Charlene's in the kitchen, I'm not alone."
"I mean without Wade."
"Wade isn't gone, he just has gone to pick up Dr. Hart at the airport."
"Mmm-hmnh."
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Come on, it's Wade and Zoe, anything could happen."
Lemon nodded, pursed her lips, and smiled brightly. "I bet you're right."
Over at the Butter Stick, Delma had dropped in to pick up an assortment of muffins for her bridge club that afternoon. She struck up a conversation with Lucille, the new girl behind the counter.
"Butterscotch, banana, raspberry…let's see, eight women, probably need two dozen, blueberry, mocha chocolate chip, let's see if I get eight kinds I need three apiece, how many do I have?"
"Five, ma'm."
"All right, then make it double berry, lemon poppy seed, and pumpkin. Speakin' o' lemon, that reminds me Dr. Hart's coming back today."
"Excuse me?"
"Lemon is Dr. Breeland's daughter, and Dr. Hart is coming back to Bluebell to share their practice."
"Oh, I see. Is this some kind of big deal?"
"Oh, yeah, she got herself into a mess o' trouble last spring, boyfriend-girlfriend trouble, and then other people's boyfriend-girlfriend trouble, and there was people leavin' town and underwear ALL OVER the highway…"
"Does everybody's personal life play out in front of the whole town?"
"Honey, if you don't gossip in this town," Delma paid for her muffins and leaned in close, "You just end up sittin' in the sun swattin' flies and talkin' to yourself, and that's when they throw a net over ya."
"Gotcha," Lucille nodded.
That afternoon, Brick came out of his office to find three patients still in the waiting room. He walked over to Addie.
"Wasn't Dr. Hart coming back today? Where is she?"
'Dr. Breeland," Addie looked up from her desk, "I understand Dr. Hart was coming back to Bluebell today, but that does not mean she was coming back to WORK today."
"Well, where is she?" Brick repeated.
Addie looked at him sideways. "Dr. Breeland, as you well know, I have not left this office even to go out to lunch today, it is nearly four in the afternoon now, and I have had no phone calls, no emails, no messages of any kind regarding the whereabouts of Dr. Hart."
"That was a rhetorical question, Addie, I'm sorry if I was rude. Please send in the next patient." He turned and went back into his office.
DAY 2
"Isn't that Wade's car?" Annabeth said, looking out the kitchen window toward the gatehouse. She was in her robe, sipping her coffee. Lavon was cooking and there was a smell of bacon in the air. He scooped the bacon out of the frying pan deftly, deposited the strips on paper towels on another plate, and poured the pancake batter in several small dollops around the pan. With his other hand he lightly dusted the pancakes with freshly floured blueberries. Annabeth watched the Mayor cook, his movements graceful, nothing clumsy or unnecessary, almost like a dancer, and thought to herself that a man who could cook, and would, was a keeper.
"Prob'ly is, I hadn't noticed," Lavon said casually, keeping his eyes on the pancakes.
"Did you see Wade last night? Or Zoe, for that matter?"
"Nah, I was watching 'NFL Tonight', I was pretty absorbed."
"You weren't watchin' all night, I know that much," Annabeth grinned.
Lavon grinned right back. "True, but I didn't hear them come in."
"Be nice to see Zoe again," Annabeth mused.
"Mmm," Lavon agreed, "Probably see her around sometime today." He flipped the pancakes and took a sip of his own coffee.
"What's on the agenda for today?"
"Got a meeting with some folks about the mega-mall outside of town. You?"
"I'm pitching a wedding in Daphne."
Lavon plated up the pancakes while Annabeth got the butter and maple syrup from the fridge.
"Were they here when you got home last night?" Annabeth asked.
"Mmm, didn't notice actually."
"Funny we didn't hear them come in," she said as she began to eat.
Over at the Rammer Jammer, Wanda was serving the Rev. Mayfair his breakfast and re-filling his cup.
"So when's your wife coming back?" Wanda asked.
"By the end of the week, I hope," the Reverend said, tucking into his grits and eggs. "She says her sister's cast is coming off day after tomorrow, she ought to be back soon after that."
"This the longest y'all been apart?"
"Oh my yes, it'll be six weeks this Friday. Up until now, we've never spent a night apart. She told me last night," the Reverend chuckled, "she should do this every twenty years or so, just to freshen things up, but she couldn't do it any oftener than that."
"Gosh, that's sweet," Wanda gushed. "Hey, you know what else is sweet? Dr. Hart came back to Bluebell yesterday, or at least she was supposed to, I haven't seen her, and of course you know Wade, he chased her halfway across Alabama last spring just to tell her loves her, that's the story anyway, and well, they're back together, isn't that excitin'?"
Rev. Mayfair stopped eating for a moment and stared thoughtfully at Wanda.
"You know, that is kind of romantic."
"It's just like a fairy-tale," Wanda sighed.
In the town square that afternoon, Shula and Big Ethel were sitting on a bench, resting their feet, and discussing the New York doctor.
"You know, I really don't understand it," Big Ethel was saying. "She was supposed to go up to New York for the weekend, but then she saves that guy on the plane, becomes a hero, then ends up stayin' the whole summer. You'd think New York'd be a big enough place they have heroes there all the time, wouldn't take her three months to do her victory celebratin'."
"I don't think that was it at all, Ethel," Shula replied. "It had to have had somethin' to do with all the fireworks goin' on, George closin' up his practice to go drinkin', Tansy drivin' off th'owin' his clothes out da winda, that's man-woman trouble you ask me. I heard Dr. Hart tol' George he was the one for her."
"Didn't she have her chance when George threw Lemon over?"
"Didn't take it," Shula shook her head. "What I heard was she was tryin' to be noble but just couldn't make up her mind how noble, and all the time she had that Kinsella boy on the side."
"So she was just playing with him, then?"
"Dunno 'bout that neither, cause I heard tell they was together a lot longer than we know, and even when they was broke up they was still together, if you know what I mean, and then that whole cheating thing…"
"That poor Dr. Hart, she's such a sweet little thing…"
"And I heard they got back together, AGAIN, but this time it was only about a day or so and then POOF, gone with the wind."
"But Wade's been…smilin'…all summer."
"Exactly, you mark my words, she'll be back, if not today then tomorrow for sure."
"Brick'll blow a gasket."
"Nah, if she can cover his huntin' trips and the Alabama-Florida game, he'll be fine."
That evening, when Annabeth pulled into the plantation driveway, she saw Wade's car parked by the gatehouse, as if it had not moved since the morning. Both the gatehouse and the carriage house looked unoccupied. Annabeth thought that was a little odd, but shrugged and dismissed it from her mind as she went inside.
It was a little more than hour later when Lavon got back to the plantation. He parked the Navigator and glanced over at the gatehouse. He thought he saw a flickering light in one of the windows, but it could just as easily have been a reflection from a passing car's headlights. Other than that, the gatehouse looked as empty as the carriage house had been all summer. Wade did say they had things to talk about, Lavon remembered, and he smiled to himself remembering Wade's reaction when he had first asked Zoe if they could talk. Wade had said, "She looked at me like I was from Mars and said 'Talk? We don't talk." As Lavon walked up the front steps, he hoped his friend was having a good talk.