Thank you for the reviews to those who did! It's really encouraging and as you can see it pushes me into updating faster! Reviews/followers please =) I'm also thinking about adding some links either on my FF profile or tumblr with outfits Zoe is wearing in each chapter and maybe to songs that have to do with that chapters theme or etc, etc. What do you guys think?

Wade would never admit it but he's a cuddler, especially after sex. Even after the first night we were intimate, he laid with me for hours afterwards. He's changed since our talk in Lavon's kitchen though. Call me crazy, but he especially can't keep his hands off of me right now. Trust me, I'm not complaining. He does it in the sense that he plays with my hair, puts his arm around me while we're watching a movie or kisses my forehead after making love. Every time. It's becoming what I look forward to most. Talk about making a woman feel special.

As I sit here and write in my blog, I can hear him snoring in the background. It's not enough to really notice, just a faint noise in the background. It's cute and it's something I've learned to appreciate after those couple of days that he wasn't here.

I know he works and when he gets here I ware him out some more before he finally goes to sleep, but it's so hard letting him sleep this long. I don't think I can do it anymore. That's why I close my laptop and crawl back into bed. Before I can even get fully under the covers he slung his arm back around my waist.

Is this home?

It lasted about two minutes before I was being planted in kisses again. Talk about frisky. His body is so warm from sleep. It feels amazing up against my cold skin. In just seconds Wade was leaning over me and smiling down at me. "I thought I got this skimpy little tank top off you last night" he said in that crisp morning after voice.

Before I could answer him it was flung onto the wood floor below and so were my shorts…

It was 12:30 in the afternoon before we made our daily visit over to Lavon's. Much to our surprise he wasn't alone. Ruby was there. I kept forgetting about that. Things were still a little awkward between her and I but we were making due. I glared at her until Wade elbowed me and Lavon obnoxiously coughed. Okay, she was making due with the awkward situation. I was trying but I'm just a little bit stubborn. Fine, really stubborn. It's not as easy for me to get over things as it is for other people. Even if that's what I want to do.

"Ruby, do you want to meet for dinner tomorrow?" I made the only effort I was going to exert. She smiled but followed it up with "I would love to Zoe but unfortunately I have prior engagements". Well, I tried. Good luck seeing any other gives on my part.

Before I was done drinking my coffee Wade had pressed me up against the kitchen island and was asking my when I got my new dress. Once I told him it wasn't new he replied with "Good Lord Doc, how much clothes do you own?" Instead of answering him I opted for distraction.

While finishing breakfast my mind began to wander. For the past couple of days I have been thinking of ways for Wade to know how important he is to me. Selfishly, I realized I don't know anything about him besides the basics that everyone knows. I know about Crazy Earl and the strenuous relationship he has with his brother Jesse. I know that his dream is to own his own bar and play guitar there. His favorite kind of beer is the stuff on sale and he bleeds Crimson and White. Maybe the perfect way to show him I care is to show him how much I want to get to know him.

The perfect way to do this is to just spend time with him and be with him which is perfect because it's what I wanted to do today anyway. I grab Wade's hand and pulled him to the pond between our houses where the rocking swing sat. He fell onto it and pulled me down with him. He was at what he wrongly assumed as "first base" before I knew what was happening…and when I put a stop to it he wasn't too happy.

"What happened to your mom?" might as well dive right into it I thought.

"Dammit Zoe" he scolded. I figured asking that question would bring up underlying tension but it had to be asked. I need to know him. Every part of him and it's been over a year without him mentioning her.

The silence felt eternal. "Cancer. About ten years ago now. Back in those days Crazy Earl was just Earl."

I ran my hand across his arm before linking my hand into his. "Tell me about her."

As I waited for him to answer I could see the wind blowing through his dirty blonde hair and his five o'clock shadow showing more of a 9 o'clock time. He was staring out across the field rather vacantly and I could actually feel the sadness I saw on his face.

"There's not much to tell. She was…the best mom Zoe. And she was beautiful. She was real smart, like you. Her name was Sarah. She's the one who taught me to play guitar. She played guitar and sang her own country songs. Mostly at the Rammer Jammer but every now and then she'd get a gig at some shack along the Gulf"

"Sometimes when it's real quiet I swear I can still hear her laugh in the wind. She would sing us to sleep every night… Moon River. That's why I sing that song, in case ya didn't know. I wish my dad could just move on. She's not comin back. She's gone".

I looked up at him and his eyes were filled with tears. Why hadn't I asked him about her before today? What was wrong with me? More important, what do I say to him? How can I possibly comfort him?

I decided on just sitting there with him still, resting my head on his lap while he continued twirling a strand of my hair.

"Ya know, Lavon's mom used to be my mom's best friend. Growin' up mostly I mean. They stayed pretty tight up until the end though. I guess that's why Lavon feels some need to look after me. No matter how many times I tell him I don't need his charity."

"Wade, Lavon's friendship isn't charity. You know that" I instantly felt the need to convince him.

"I know Doc, it just feels like that sometimes." I guess I could see where he was coming from although in no way did I agree with him. They weren't friends, they were brothers.

"I wish I could have met your mom. She seems like she was a one of a kind." I mentioned.

"She would have liked you. You actually remind me a lot of her." he revealed. Initially I was insulted that he had compared me to his mother, but I almost immediately took it to heart as one of the kindest things Wade had said to me.

Before I knew it the sun was setting. An Alabama sunset was quickly becoming one of my favorite things. In just a couple of hours Wade had let me into his heart that frankly I didn't even know he had. He told me about his love of fishing and sports cars. His real dream was to travel the world and have the perfect family he exactly had. He wants to have a son first and then a couple of little girls.

"What about the long line of women that I've seen and heard about leaving the gatehouse?" I asked.

A couple of seconds later he came back with "Girl don't ya know you gotta kiss a lot of frogs to find your princess?"

I couldn't decide whether I should be insulted and honored. So I let out a slight laugh and dropped it.