Without his friends there home felt lonely, Wade decided as he walked through town square. He had talked to a few people; it was nothing worth stopping the news for. He found that his mind kept going back to a certain doctor. He had a while to wait until his dad was going to show up to keep his mind from going back to the one place he considered dangerous to go. He nodded at Wally as he entered the Rammer Jammer, a ghost of a smile forming on his lips. Memories of times pasted coming to mind.
"Wade, sorry to hear about your ribs," Wally said to him before his mind was able to go any further into the past.
"Nah, nothin' you coulda done about it," Wade told him, waving it off. "What happened to everyone?" Wade asked seeing that very few people were actually working.
"Most of 'em are juniors and seniors at the high school, not many people wanting to quit their jobs to come work here, but say," Wally smirked. Wade chuckled seeing where his former boss was going with his line of thoughts.
"I am injured Wally, but it doesn't state that I can't work behind the bar in my contract," he stated his laughter slowly dying out. "I'm only in town for a few days. Need to clear my head a bit," he confessed after a few silent moments.
"Whatcha do this time?" Earl asked, coming up from behind Wade to take a spot next to him at the bar. Wally got them something to drink and left father and son alone.
"Spoke before I really thought things through," Wade shrugged. "Ya know the same old me," he said taking a drink of his beer.
Earl didn't look impressed with his son so Wade explained everything that he had done wrong. Earl smacked him shaking his head ranting and raving about teaching him to respect women better than that.
"You will tell her how big of an idiot you are and invite her here to show her the real you, the non jackass you," Earl demanded him. "Your mother would be very upset with you if she ever found out."
"I know and once I get back I will, but I'm not inviting her to Bluebell." Earl gave him a stern look. "What good will come of it?"
"She'll see the man the rest of us see; here you're relaxed and not so intense. Why are you here and not there fixing things with her?" Earl asked only earning himself a shrug. "You care about her I can see it in your eyes, boy. Don't be a fool. One bad relationship doesn't mean they're all going to be that way."
"You're right," Wade said. Sitting in Bluebell with his dad wasn't doing him any good, he needed to be at Zoe's place fixing this mess he had created, it wasn't going to go away unless they talked about it, the longer they let it go the more it was going to wedge between them driving them further apart.
"Stop in and see your Ma or she'll skin your hide if ya don't," Earl told him with a chuckle.
There was no way he'd be able to leave without stopping in to see his mom not that he would even try. He loved his mom and spending any amount of time with her these days was amazing. He knew just how mad she'd be at him if he didn't stop in and see her real quick, he had made her upset and mad enough when he was a kid to last her a lifetime.
"You're an idiot," Jackie told him pulling him into a big hug. "But I love you," Jackie said, pushing over a plate of cookies when he walked into his childhood home.
"Gee mom thanks," Wade told her sarcastically. "I love you too," he told her kissing her cheek.
"Eat and explain things to me," she told him, pouring him a glass of milk. "I talked to your brother and when he refused to say what was really going on because Wade I'm your mother I know better than to think you coming home was for those injured ribs so I convinced that beautiful granddaughter of mine to explain things for me and boy she wouldn't shut up about this doctor named Zoe."
Wade laughed to himself hearing his mom explain just how sneaky she really was. Jesse wouldn't rat him out, they'd been through too much for that to ever happen. Bianca on the other hand wasn't old enough to keep things from Grandma when she was bribing her with cookies and other goodies. The only way out of this without getting himself into deep shit with his mom was to be honest with her. It was going to upset her but if she ever found out that he had lied to her about it, she'd be really pissed at him and she'd more than likely forget his birthday and forget to get him anything for Christmas like she had when he had been 17 and threw a party when they went out of town for the weekend and nearly burnt the house down. There were memories and keepsakes that had been lost in that small fire and she had refused to talk to him along with forgetting the holidays and his birthday as a punishment.
"I talked before I gave myself a chance to know the new team doctor who just so happens to be Zoe. I did something stupid and once I got to know her I felt bad for what I had done. I called it off and came clean to her about it. Dad already made me see that I need to go talk to her now and not later and that I am to invite her to Bluebell for dinner," Wade informed his mom.
"I raised you better, Wade," she told him sternly shaking her head. "You will make this right with Zoe. Do you know how much you not only hurt her but humiliated her in front of her colleagues?" She asked then, she really wanted to take her son over her knees and give him a whooping of a lifetime.
"I will make this right. Sadly I do know and I feel bad about it. At first I didn't think it would cause anyone harm but I was wrong," he told her, playing with a cookie. "I'm trying to make things right with her. Mom, I really like her," he told her coming clean with his feelings.
"Of course you do," she smiled warmly at him. "Nothing is wrong with that. But I'm with your father on this one. You will invite her here, I would like to see my future daughter," Jackie told him adamant on getting Zoe to Bluebell. She got up from the chair she was sitting in walking into the kitchen to get a tin.
"I don't know about that Ma," he told her. He didn't even know if Zoe would remain friends with him after this whole ordeal was over with let alone marry him one day and heck he didn't even know if Zoe was the one.
"Don't be silly," she told him, walking back into from the kitchen. "And when you go apologize to her, you will give her these cookies," Jackie told her son with a smile on her face. "And I will know if you ate them," she warned him, placing a dozen sugar cookies into a tin.
"Yes Ma'am," he said with a light chuckle. "Thanks for this," he said taking the tin of cookies from his mom.
"Don't screw up again," she warned kissing his cheek and hugging him. "Come back to visit when you have a little more time to do so before the season is over with," she told him, walking him to the door.
"I will and I'll bring Zoe," he told her seeing it was there on the tip of her tongue to say something about Zoe. At least he'd tried to bring her, if she'd forgive him and take his offer up on coming to Bluebell.
"Just be that charming you we all know," she told him.
Wade laughed, kissed her cheek and headed out to his parents garage where his car was stored at while he was away in Charlotte. He spend the next 8 hours driving so he could really get things worked out in his head so that way he wouldn't forget what it was he was going to say to her when he showed up at her front door.
The 8 hour drive left him getting into Charlotte long after the sun had went down. He built up the courage to stop in and see Zoe before going to his own place. He didn't think that she would be in bed yet, it was only a little after 9. Pulling up to the building Zoe lived in it took him a few minutes to gather his nerves and walk to the door and buzz himself in.
He was in luck when he got to the door an older lady was leaving and let him in wishing him luck in surprising his girl. He smiled and nodded his head at her telling her thanks going to the floor she lived on. He was still walking down the hall when he stopped in his tracks seeing Zoe's door open and a lanky guy step out of her apartment both of them smiling and laughing. He really felt like his heart had been crushed.
