Her mother was in Bluebell, she and Joel were fighting. She supposed it could be worse. At least Wade wasn't on shift tonight to see her drunken downward spiral. Zoe stumbled out of the bar cursing under her breath.
"Fine. There's always box wine," Zoe slurred loudly at the Rammer Jammer's neon lights. "You think this is drunk? Should have seen me in college. I'm just tipsy!"
She stumbled across the car park and nearly tripped as she rounded the side of her car.
"Ugh… can't drive. Bad Doctor," Zoe scolded herself before she turned around and started walking. Box wine, she declared her new mission.
She didn't get far before tripping again, and she gratefully leaned on the arm she was offered to use as a crutch, although the owner was none to steady himself.
"Hiiiiiiii Crazy Earl!" She cheerfully dragged out in a slightly sing song voice. "I mean, not-Crazy Earl. Sir. Mr Wade – Mr Kinsella!"
Zoe fist-pumped the air when she finally hit on an appropriately un-insulting title.
"You have been drinking."
"Soooooo have you!" Zoe said defensively, continuing to lean on Earl's arm as they walked out of the car park. "I'm only a little bit drunk. Little, teeny," she pinched her fingers together in front of Earl's face, "Tiny little bit drunk."
"Why ain't my son here to take you home?"
Zoe huffed dramatically at this, and with her loosened tongue snapped out.
"I don't know where Wade is. Probably making out with my cousin," she pulled a face like she was about to bring up her bellyful of spirits. "And I don't even care anyway, we broke up, remember? Ages ago. I'm completely over it."
She kicked a stone that tried to trip her viciously and it pinged of a tree trunk and skipped back onto the road.
Crazy Earl shook his head sorrowfully at being reminded of this, then stumbled at the sudden motion, swaying little Zoe Hart with him. It was tragedy, an absolute tragedy, he thought. If he could have held onto his dear wife, Jackie, he would have until the day he died. And he'd seen the way Wade looked at Zoe – with more adoration than he'd seen on Wade's face since his mother was alive. His son was a damn fool to let this one go.
It was father's duty to tell the truth, he'd told his son. Now, he was reckoning, perhaps this was one of those occasions when it was also a father's duty to step in and save his son from making the biggest mistake of life.