Heart of Wade - Ch. 1 - The Beginning -
Bluebell, Alabama's resident bad boy, Wade, was not really all that bad. Just because he didn't go to church every Sunday or act as "proper" as Bluebell's golden boy, George Tucker, didn't mean he was a bad guy. Plenty of his ex-girlfriends would disagree, but it was the honest truth.
He worked hard and paid his rent to Lavon Hayes, the town mayor and his best friend. Yes, Wade's job was bar tending at the Rammer Jammer, but did that make him a drunk? No. Wade Kinsella was not, and never would be, the town drunk. That honorable title belonged to somebody else. The most Wade ever drank was a few beers.
He was doing exactly that one August afternoon after work when he saw George Tucker drive by. He didn't think much of it until he saw a woman step down from the truck. This was not Lemon Breeland, George's fiance. Lemon was tall, pale, blonde, and dressed like she lived in the '50s. This woman was short, tan, brunette, and was wearing a pair of the shortest short-shorts that Bluebell had ever seen. What in the world was George doing with her. And who the hell was she?
Wade watched George get her suitcase down from the bed of the truck and hand it to her. She smiled and starting flirting with him...and - Wade chuckled - George was flirting back! Right in the middle of town. Bluebell would have a field day with this, that's for sure, and George would have hell to pay with the Breeland's tonight.
Wade finished off his beer just as the mysterious woman walked away from George. He watched George get in his truck and drive toward the Breeland house, then turned to see the woman staring defeatedly up at the town's medical practice. With a sigh that Wade could see from across the town square, she opened the gate, walked up the steps, and disappeared into the depths of the old building.
Later that day, Wade was sitting in the kitchen of Lavon's mansion eating a sandwich. Lavon walked through the door, spotted Wade, and was about to say something when he was interrupted.
"You're outta mayonnaise," Wade said thickly through a mouthful of bread, pointing at the empty jar on the marble counter top.
"Cool. Listen, I need to tell you something," Lavon began. He waited for Wade to acknowledge him, but when he just blinked, Lavon continued, "You won't be able to run that fuse box's power to the limit anymore."
"What?" Wade spluttered, putting down his sandwich, "Why?"
"Because you're not the only one using it anymore. Dr. Zoe Hart of New York City is gonna be living in the Carriage House. And since the Carriage House and the Gatehouse share a generator, you have to play nice with the electricity."
"Who?"
"Zoe. Hart. She just got in today. Harley left his half of the practice to her and she needed a place to stay."
"Wait. Was she the one who got a ride into town with George? Tiny? Brunette? Short short-shorts?"
"Yep, I guess that's her."
"She's a doctor? Jeez, Lavon, I'd let her check me out anytime, sick or not."
"Oh, no. No, no, no, Wade Kinsella. You listen hear," Lavon said fiercely, "You are not going to screw Zoe over like one of your trashy girlfriends. She's a nice lady and could really do Bluebell some good."
"Aw, Lavon...," Wade started whining.
"NO, Wade. As mayor of this town, I'm putting my foot down."
"Fine. Whatever you say, Mayor Hayes. I won't fuck with your precious Doc. Unless she wants it. Kidding!" Wade added when Lavon gave him a withering look.
"Thanks, Wade."
Wade didn't hear anymore about Miss - sorry - Dr.Zoe Hart for the rest of the day. When he still hadn't met her by that evening, he decided he would make her meet him. Rock Band was known to blow out the fuse box back when it was just him. Now that Zoe was here, their combined electricity usage should make that happen twice as fast. She would come storming over and there ya go! The plan was perfect. Now, to implement the Haley twins. The Haley twins weren't really twins. They just looked a hell of a lot like eachoher. And they were best friends. Whose names were both Haley. Fate had a weird sense of humor. Anyway, they were not known for their brains. They were known for their slutty ways. Wade might even get something physical at the end of the night. He called them during the last couple hours of his shift.
"Hey, Haley," Wade said, making his voice low and sexy.
"Wade? Oh my God!," one of the twins - he didn't know which - shrieked," Hi!"
"I was wondering if you and Haley wanna come over tonight. Maybe play some Rock Band again. To start off the night, I mean," he growled.
"Yeah! Totally," Haley said, trying hard to sound sexy.
"Awesome. How bout you two stop by 'round 10? I get off at 9:30 so I should be home by then," Wade suggested, checking a clock on the wall of the Rammer Jammer. It said it was 7:48pm.
"Okay, Wade. We'll see you then. Byeeee!" Haley squeaked, drawing out the "e", then hung up the phone before Wade could say a thing. He put the phone back down, smiling to himself. His plan was in motion.
"Hey girls!" Wade greeted as the Haley twins came tumbling over the threshold.
"Wade!" they squealed and squeezed him tightly. He peeled them off, grinning, and said, "So, who's ready to play?"
An hour later, the fuse box was still working and Zoe had yet to come over. He paused the game ("Awww, Waaaddeee!") and walked around the Gatehouse ("Where are you going?"), turning on lights (Scared of the dark? We can fix that."). Then, he came back to the t.v. and turned the volume up as loud as it would go.
"Let's go, ladies."
Halfway through the first song, Wade watched as the lights flickered in his house and the power completely went out in the Carriage House. He couldn't hear anything over the music from the game, but he smiled anyway. Dr. Hart was on her way.
Sure enough, at the end of the song, Wade heard a banging on his door. He ignored it, letting the volume of the music be his excuse. Finally, she gave up and stormed in. Wade put on his best "you love me" smirk and turned toward the door.
The most beautiful woman he'd ever seen stood before him. He hadn't gotten a good look at her before, but good Lord! she was sexy. He barely managed to keep the smile on his face. All his mouth wanted to do was drop open at the sight of her. Well, his mouth wanted to do other things to her, but doing those things would surely get him slapped.
"You overheated the generator!" she yelled at him as if he were an idiot. There was fire in her beautiful chocolate brown eyes. Wade looked her up and down without changing his face.
"Nice nightgown! I'm Wade," he said smoothly, both the Haley twins still flailing their arms around behind him.
"Well, that smile might make all the girls at the church social swoon, but it's not gonna work on me," she fired back, shaking her head.
"Well," Wade said, grinning even more while swaggering over to lean on the doorway beside her, "If you're not gonna be polite, I'm not gonna show you where the fuse box is. Night." With that, he turned to go back to his game before he did something stupid. Like kiss her.
"Come on, ladies! Keep it goin'! I'm just gettin' warmed up now!"
Wade looked over just in time to see the back of Zoe storming out of his house.
Much of the next day was just as boring as the previous day, but when Shelly came running up to him during work, he knew something was about to change.
"Wade! Did you hear what Dr. Hart did?," Shelley asked excitedly.
"No, what happened?" he said, suddenly worried.
"She signed Old Man J's eye exam papers!" she squeeled, practically bouncing up and down to contain her enthusiasm.
"She did what?" Wade nearly shouted, putting down the rag he'd been wiping the bar with.
"That's not even the worst of it! Old Man J ran someone down!"
"Jesus. Who was it?"
"Guess," she said, irritatingly.
"Damn it, Shelly, just tell me," Wade was terrified it might have been Zoe. He didn't know why, but he had an irrational part of his heart that had started to care for her.
"Well. Aren't you grumpy today. He ran over George."
"George Tucker?"
"Is there any other George that's important?"
"Wow."
Wade left work that night, wondering if he should stop by Zoe's to help her feel better. It was her first day and she'd nearly killed someone. She couldn't have been feeling very good. Going down the driveway in his red muscle car, he realized he didn't need to drive to Zoe's. She was stumbling along the roadway with a box of wine in her hand, finally sitting down and gulping down cupfuls of it. He slowly made his way alongside her and stopped.
"Nice first day," he called out the open window, "Everyone knows Old Man J memorized the eye chart."
"Don't you have some cows to tip? Waaade," she said drowsily.
"Ooohh," he said, faking hurt feelings, then leaned over to look at the wine box on the ground, "Look at you, girl. Drunk as a boiled owl. I'd offer to give you a ride...but I don't want ya gettin' any ideas." She looked at him sideways with one hand over her eyes. When he grinned back, she looked thoughtfully confused.
Two minutes later, Wade found himself kissing her hungrily from the passenger seat. He couldn't touch enough of her and pulled her over to sit on his lap while pulling off her sweater. He reclined the seat and was taking off her shirt when the sound of "Dixie" (his horn) sounded through the air.
She leaned back, both of them breathing hard. She sighed, breathlessly.
There it is. Rock bottom," she said, looking down. Wade pushed back a few strands of her hair, waiting for her to continue, "I just played 'Dixie' with my butt...This never happened, you hear me?"
"My lips are sealed, Doc," he said, regrettably. He wanted everyone to know. She looked relieved, though, and clumsily tried to get out of the car.
"Okay..lemme out...," she sounded near-tears, so Wade unlocked the car, no matter how much his body was telling him to not let her go. He watched as she climbed out the door in her tiny ass short-shorts and felt his heart break as the door closed.
Hi anyone who's out there!
I can't tell you how much it means to me that you've taken the time to actually read all the way to the bottom! You know what would be even more great?
Posting a review! Please! Anything, even just a single word comment is very appreciated!
Thank you again!
J.E.D.