WOW! Y'all blew me away with all the reviews and alerts! So kind of you, making me feel welcomed. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

This chapter - Judson, to be exact - was inspired by Justin Moore's song "Bait A Hook." It's such a cheesy song, but I find myself listening to it over and over. Since we know nothing about Judson's character, I decided to have fun and modeling him after the character in "Bait A Hook." You'll get more of him and Zoe next chapter. :)

Things I own: A shiny new iPhone 4s - Siri is my new BFF. Things I don't own: Hart of Dixie

"Get me a big glass of anything you have on tap," George Tucker said, sliding onto a stool at the Rammer Jammer. Wade nodded and moments later, was sliding the town lawyer an ice cold beer.

"Weddin' or the law?" he asked.

"Brick," George replied. "I think he just figured out I'm marrying his daughter."

"You know, I feel bad for you. Lemon as a wife, Brick as a father-in-law… That don't sound like happily ever after."

"Hey, now," George warned. Wade grinned.

"I'm just sayin,'" he said. George chuckled. He understood exactly what Wade was saying. He loved Lemon but there was no denying she was as high strung as they came. And Brick… was Brick.

The Rammer Jammer door opened and every head in the bar turned to see who was joining them. Whispering broke out instantaneously as Zoe Hart walked in, the new vet right behind her. She hopped up on the stool next to George.

"Water," she told Wade. "With ice and a lemon."

"No wine?"

"My week on call," Zoe answered, holding up her cell phone. Wade spared her a last glance then turned to the vet as he settled in next to Zoe.

"What'll it be?" he asked.

"Make it a Smirnoff Ice, grape if you have it," he answered.

Wade shook his head. "It's pretty much beer, whiskey or in Dr. Hart's case, boxed wine."

"I'll have what Zoe's having, then." Wade nodded and turned away. He caught George's eye and the two shared a smirk. He passed Zoe her glass of water first – seltzer, from the bottle he'd started keeping hand just for her – then slid another one to the veterinarian, his from the fountain like any other patron.

"You're the new vet in town, right?" he asked. "I'm sure the doc here is glad to have you around. She's no longer the talk of the town. Though give her a few days and I'm sure she'll do something to get herself back in the spotlight."

"Judson, this is Wade Kinsella," Zoe supplied, her tone dripping with annoyance.

"Oh! The power-stealing neighbor," Judson said in realization, extending his hand towards Wade. "I've heard a lot about you." Wade shook his hand, careful not to look at George.

"That'd be me," he confirmed. "I also have generic beer breath and a church social smile. But Doc probably told you that too though." Zoe raised her eyebrows in warning which only served to make Wade grin bigger.

"I'm George Tucker," George said, reaching across Zoe to shake Judson's hand.

"The lawyer," Judson replied. "Heard about you too. Make sure I get your business card in case I ever need some legal assistance." George nodded in agreement.

"So, we just had dinner at Fancies and decided we'd stop in for a night cap – or as much of a night cap as you can have when you're the doctor on call. I'm sure you two have better things to do than to sit here and listen to us continue our conversation about our respective lines of work." Both men knew Zoe was trying to get rid of them, but they weren't having it.

"So Judson, tell us about yourself," Wade said, ignoring Zoe. "What brought you to Bluebell?" Zoe looked at George for help in getting rid of Wade. George just shrugged.

"You sat down by me," he reminded her.

"The job brought me here," Judson answered. "I grew up in Kentucky, went to school in Virginia, been moving around ever since. I was a large animal vet in Louisiana for the last year or so until I came across the job opening here. I'd had enough of cows and wide open spaces so I decided to shift my focus back to the smaller critters – the cats and dogs, people's pets."

"Well we're certainly happy to have your expertise around these parts," Wade told him. "Old man Mobley retired six months ago. People been having to take their pets to the vet two towns over. 'Course, you might get the occasional alligator through your office in addition to those cats and dogs if you stick around Bluebell long enough."

"He's going to talk to Lavon, explain that keeping an alligator as a pet goes against the laws of nature. There's several alligator farms within a few hours' drive of here that would be willing to take Burt Reynolds. Lavon could even go visit him on the weekends if he wanted to," Zoe said. George and Wade looked at each other and laughed.

"Mayor Hayes' alligator isn't going anywhere," George told them. "Burt Reynolds is as free as any other alligator, he just happens to like Lavon's plantation so he hangs around. Probably because of the table scraps Lavon puts out for him."

"You're just gonna have to get used to steppin' over him on your way to the office," Wade told Zoe. He left to pour refills for a few men at the end of the bar who had been engaged in a heated debate over SEC expansion for the better part of the evening. When he came back, Judson was explaining the finer points of his green lifestyle to George. Zoe played with her phone, looking bored.

"It really makes a difference," he was saying. "It's as simple as unplugging your phone charger when you're not using it. Small changes in our everyday behavior go such a long way." George nodded as though he were in complete agreement. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to step into the restroom. Be right back, Zoe." He was barely through the door of the bathroom before Wade and George burst out laughing.

"What?" Zoe demanded, putting down her phone. "What's so funny?"

"You can't be serious?" Wade asked, still chuckling.

"I am quite serious. What is so damn funny? Judson is a perfectly nice guy and you two should be nice to him. He's new around here and I know better than anyone just how tough being the new person in town can be."

"Zoe, he can't even bait a hook," George told her. Zoe looked confused.

"What does a hook have to do with anything?"

"What kind of car does he drive?" Wade asked.

"What does that have to do with anything?

"What kind of car does he drive?" George asked again.

"A Prius." Zoe's answer was greeted with a round of fresh laughter. "I hate you both," she stated, realizing they were making fun of Judson for his lifestyle, much the same way people made fun of her for being from the city. Her phone rang. "It's Addie," she said. "I'm going to take this outside. I'll be back."

"So?" George asked Wade, nodding towards the bathroom door. Wade shook his head.

"I don't like him," he said. "Something ain't right about that guy. And I'm not just talking about his baby's bottom smooth hands." George nodded in agreement.

"Moving from town to town, bouncing from job to job... He's running from something."

"Or someone," Wade agreed. "Or maybe he, I don't know, threw a newspaper in the trash instead of recycling it and he's so ashamed he can't show his face around his old town." George laughed.

"Do you know he questioned me about whether or not the paper I use in my office is acid free?" he asked. "Apparently it's just not enough that I recycle. In fact, I should go entirely digital, according to him. I'd love to see Brick's face if I emailed him the next set of legal documents he asks for."

"I couldn't help but overhearing," came Tom's voice. "I have to ask - Is it the fact that there's something strange about the vet or the fact that he's dating Zoe Hart that you two don't like?" Wade and George glanced at each other.

"I reckon you done had about enough for one night," Wade said, snatching Tom's beer away from him.

"Hey!" Tom protested, trying to snag his beer back. Wade tossed it in the trash can.

"Come on, Tom, I'll drive you home," George said, standing. He put a couple bills down on the counter and dragged Tom towards the door. He nearly collided with Zoe as she came barreling back inside, mumbling an apology over her shoulder as she headed for the bar.

"Where's Judson?" she asked, snatching up her purse.

"Still in the bathroom," Wade answered. "Probably fixin' his hair."

"I've got to go. Jamie Murphy was dropped during a cheerleading stunt and it looks like she broke her arm. Her cheerleading coach is heading to the clinic with her now."

"I'll let him know, Doc."

"Thanks," she said before rushing out the door. A few more minutes passed before Judson returned.

"Where's Zoe?" he asked, sitting back down. Wade noticed him pocketing his phone.

"She got called over to the high school for an emergency. I'm sure you understand how that is, bein' a doctor and all yourself."

"Oh, yeah, sure. Emergencies are part of the job description." Judson said. "What about George? He was supposed to give me his business card before he took off."

"George – he'd had enough," Wade said. "He headed home to turn in for the evening, said he had an early morning ahead of him – something about having to look into acid free paper or self-recycling bins or something."

"Oh, well, I guess I should head home myself since Zoe will probably be a while," he said. "Not much of a point in hanging around here and I've got an early morning myself." He went to pull his wallet out to pay for their drinks but Wade held up his hand.

"They're on the house," he said. "Consider it a welcome to the town." Judson nodded.

"Thanks, Wayne."

Wade didn't bother to correct him, glad to be rid of him. He didn't like Judson one bit. And not just because he was dating Zoe Hart.

Zoe dumped the package of spaghetti noodles into a big pot of boiling water and stood on her tiptoes to peer inside. She wasn't quite sure, but she thought she was on the right track. She nodded in confidence and settled on a stool, using her iPad to scroll through recent re-pins on Pinterest. She was admiring a bedroom done in corals and grays and considering how she could replicate it the carriage house when the fire alarm sounded.

"No, no no, no no!" she exclaimed, jumping up from stool and knocking over her glass of wine in the process. She paused just long enough to move her iPad out of harm's way before turning her attention to the now smoking pan of ground beef on the stove.

"What are you doing?" Wade asked, entering the smoke-filled kitchen from outside.

"Cooking," Zoe said over the excessive ringing of the smoke alarm, stirring at the burger on the stove with one hand and fanning the smoke away with her other hand. Wade shook his head, reached over her to turn the stove's fan on and retrieved a broom from the pantry. He used it to fan the smoke away from the smoke detector and within a minute, the only sounds were of the food cooking on the stove and Zoe cursing under her breath.

"Move," he said, gently pushing Zoe aside. She watched in a huff as he cut down the stove's heat and expertly stirred the ground burger around the pan while checking the noodles. "Turn that eye down," he told Zoe, taking the burger off the stove to drain the grease. Zoe followed directions and then went to work mopping up her spilled wine. Wade settled onto a stool after he had the stovetop under control.

"Again, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Cooking," Zoe said again. "It was a slow day at the office so we closed a little early and I decided to work on my domestic skills seeing as I can't have Chinese food delivered to my door around here. Google told me spaghetti was a good place to start but clearly, Google doesn't know everything." She refilled her wine glass and since she was in the fridge and he'd saved her from burning down Lavon's kitchen, she got Wade a beer.

"Thanks," he said, taking it from her. "Who, exactly, were you planning on feeding tonight?"

"Well, you and Lavon. Although I have no idea where Lavon is."

"Lavon's got another date with Didi," Wade answered. "So it's just you and I, doc."

"Lovely," Zoe muttered. Wade grinned.

"Where's the vet?" he asked. "Or let me guess – you'd rather him not try your failed dinner?"

"Judson had to go back to Lousiana for the weekend to get the rest of his things. He had to get down here pretty quick to start work – which I totally empathize with. But if he were here, I'm sure he'd love my cooking. Or at least lie to me and say he did."

"It's technically 'our' cooking now, seeing as I saved it from ruin." Zoe gave him one of her annoyed looks which made him grin again.

"Where'd you learn to cook anyway?" she asked him. "You looked like you knew what you were doing."

"I work at the Rammer Jammer, doc. You pick up a thing or two when you're around food and cooks all day." He got up and checked the stove. "What are you planning on using for sauce?" Zoe retrieved a jar of Ragu from the pantry.

"This," she told him. "I couldn't decide which kind so I just closed my eyes and picked one." Wade took the jar.

"Tomato and basil flavored," he read. "Spaghetti sauce flavored with tomatoes. Imagine that."

"I'm new at this. Cut me some slack. I also bought garlic bread. It's in the freezer."

"Leave it there," Wade directed. He turned on the oven and set it to pre-heat. "Look in the pantry – I think there's a loaf of French bread in there. Get that out and slice it. I'll tell you what to do after that." Zoe did what he said, not quite believing she was taking orders from Wade or that he seemed to know what he was doing.

Thirty minutes later, they were sitting across from one another at the kitchen island, enjoying a salvaged meal of spaghetti and garlic bread.

"This isn't half bad," Zoe commented between mouthfuls.

"No thanks to you." Zoe shot Wade a dirty look but she couldn't argue. She would have been explaining to Lavon why his kitchen was in ruins had Wade not turned up. She tried not to think about the fact that Wade had a habit of turning up at just the right time.

"Seriously though, where'd you learn to cook? Last time I checked, spaghetti wasn't on the menu at the Rammer Jammer."

"It's spaghetti, doc. It's not hard. For most people, at least."

"I'll try again next week," Zoe stated, determination in her voice.

"I'm not working Wednesday. Make it then so I'll be around to save Lavon's kitchen in case of a fire."

"I'll make it any day but Wednesday," Zoe shot back. She stabbed her noodles and spun them around her fork, ignoring Wade's laugh. They fell into a comfortable silence for several minutes. Wade stood for a second helping and decided to ask the question that had been nagging at him since Zoe had announced she had a date with Judson.

"Doc, what do you really know about the vet?" he asked, hoping he sounded casual. Zoe eyed him.

"Why?"

"You don't think it's odd that he's moved around so much, dropped everything in Louisiana or wherever he came from to move down here and take care of cats?"

"Seeing as I dropped everything in New York to move down here and treat snake bites and poison ivy for the next year instead of spending my days doing open heart surgery, I don't think it's odd at all."

"That's different," Wade argued. "You moved down here to take over your father's practice. And because, at least according to you, you didn't have any other option."

"Why are you so concerned?" Zoe asked. "I don't question your string of one night stands so you don't get to question who I go on a dinner date with."

"I'm just looking out for you, Doc. Me and George both think there's something odd about the vet. I know you don't need my or anyone else's help, but this ain't New York City. We look out for our neighbors down here."

"I don't need anyone to look out for me. I never have. And I'm so glad you and George have nothing better to do than talk about my personal life." Wade opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by Lavon and Didi returning from their date.

"Wade did some cooking, I see," Lavon said, helping Didi out of her light jacket.

"Who says Wade cooked?" Zoe demanded. "How do you know I didn't do all of this?"

"You know how to cook?" Didi asked, sounding surprised.

"Let's just say I saved your kitchen," Wade told Lavon. "You can thank me later."

"Wait, so Wade can cook?" Didi asked. "No offense, but that sounds even more unlikely than Dr. Hart in the kitchen."

"Wade is a man of many surprises," Lavon answered. "You should try his Uncle Moe's gumbo." Wade shot Lavon a warning look. As far as Zoe knew, Lavon had been the one to make the gumbo entered under her name and he wanted it to stay that way.

"What are you two doing back so early?" Zoe asked. "It's not even 7:00."

"Lavon had a little Mayor emergency come up that requires his attention," Didi answered. "We brought our dinner here so he can work it all out then we'll watch a movie or something." She held up a bag of carryout containers from Bluebell's best seafood restaurant.

"What's up?" Wade asked. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Well, you know how Rita Maddox was heading up the annual Halloween festival?" Wade nodded. "She had to take off to Baton Rouge unexpectedly – her daughter gave birth to her first child two months early so Rita understandably left to be with her which left me with a bit of a mess to sort out."

"So you need someone to fill in, take over the planning?" Zoe asked. Everyone in the room could see the wheels spinning in her head.

"Oh no," Lavon told her, pointing at her and shaking her head. "I don't think so."

"Come on, Lavon! Let me take over. My mother is a celebrity publicist. I know all about planning parties. Let me do this. I'm still trying to fit in around here. This is the perfect way."

"I don't know, Zoe. The kids in this town look forward to this every year…"

"And you're afraid I'll ruin it," Zoe finished. "No faith. None, whatsoever. And me, having faith in you all those years you were in the NFL – before I even knew you. This is the thanks I get."

"Oh let her do it, Lavon. It'll be good entertainment for the rest of us, watching Dr. Hart coordinate bobbin' for apples with the potato sack race," Wade said. If nothing else, it would keep her busy and away from Judson.

"I'll help her," Didi offered. "Be her co-chair or whatever."

"Yeah, Didi can help me!" Zoe said. "That's an excellent idea. She's new in town too. It'll be great for her to get involved. Come on, Lavon!" Lavon sighed. He'd been outnumbered.

"Fine," he relented.

"Yes!" Zoe exclaimed, pumping both fist in the air. She jumped up from the table and grabbed her iPad. "I'm going to get started right away. This will be the best Halloween festival Bluebell has ever seen." She headed for the door.

"Hey!" Wade called. "What about the dishes?"

"I cooked, you clean," Zoe told him.

"Now hang on just one second…" But Zoe was already out the door, leaving Wade with their dishes.

"Don't make me regret this!" Lavon called after her.

"You won't!" Zoe called back from somewhere in the yard.

"You already do," Wade stated, gathering he and Zoe's plates.

"I already do," Lavon confirmed.

What is Judson's deal? We shall see... More with him and Zoe next chapter. Also, I updated my profile if you want to check it out. :)

THANK YOU FOR READING!