Hey all. I can easily say that not everything in this chapter was planned out and it all flowed once I started to write it. All of the places mentioned within this chapter are real places. And there was by far too many to pick from as I would have loved to add in a few more, but realistically I couldn't do that.
I am trying to get this story done as I am starting to lose my inspiration for this one. Fear not I am going to keep at it. As I am excited about the other stories planned that come after this one and I am not about ready to give up on this one. Also remember that if you want to see anything from season 2 please let me know, as I am not going to do everything from the second season, just a few things that have more of an impact on the story. Enjoy!
"Hey Brick, is my dad still here?" Zoe asked, after leaving her office, seeing that his office happened to be empty as well.
"He headed home," Brick informed her, closing the file he was reading to put it in the file cabinet. "You guys be careful out there on the road," he warned in a fatherly tone.
"We will be," Zoe smiled, giving him a hug. "You'll keep the practice in one piece while we are away?" She asked.
"I will be fine and I know a nephew of mine to call if I need help," he laughed, hugging her back.
"He will like that. He didn't let me down," she smiled. "I'll be seeing you when we get back to town," she told him.
"Bye Zoe," he called after her, shaking his head as he got back to work.
Zoe walked the short distance from the practice to her dad's home. She smiled seeing him putting his suitcase in the car. She, however, frowned when she saw that he had placed multiple suitcases in the trunk. Their trip was for a week and a half, no way did he needed five suitcases for 10 days.
"What is with the extra suitcases?" Zoe asked, following her dad into his house. Frowning when she noticed that he had boxes everywhere on the main level of his house. "Are you moving?" She asked, shutting the door and going with him to the kitchen.
"Zoe," he said, motioning for her to take a seat at the counter while he prepared their dinner for the night.
"Dad what's going on?" She asked, chewing on her lip. With the cautious way her dad is acting, dread slowly filled her stomach at what her dad has to tell her. She could feel that the news he had to share wouldn't be news she took lightly. It's been sometime since she has seen her father act like this towards her.
"It is a few things so I need you to hear me out, sweetie," he said, looking to his daughter. "Can you do that?" He asked, knowing how his daughter liked to voice her opinion before she should do such a thing.
"I will try my best to remain silent," she replied. She would do whatever it took to hear her dad out. She wanted all the information and not a small portion of it.
"I have decided that it is time for me to retire from the practice. I love that place, but I have you there to carry on my legacy. That alone makes it easier to walk away. I'm not getting any younger and I would like to enjoy a few years of retirement," he told her.
"I can understand that. I never expected you to work until the day you die, dad," she told him taking a deep breath. "I did think that you would retire years ago," she smiled. That part of his news was easy to take, because she knew he would retire and she had been waiting to hear him announce he was leaving the practice for the past year now. "What else do you have to tell me?"
"You know how Thelma has been coming here to visit, we have been talking and we want to spend more time together, and I have made the decision to move to be with her," he confirmed. Not liking the silence coming from his daughter.
"So you're moving in with her, when exactly is that taking place?" She asked, getting her thoughts in order.
"Nothing is definite as of now," he said. "I'm going to stay with her while you are in New York and be certain that it is something that I want to do," he explained. "Don't be mad about this Zoe, it's a chance at love I need to take."
"I know it is. And Dad I'm happy for you on this. You know I want to see you happy, like you want me to be happy and if moving away is that, then so be it. I'm going to miss you," she told him with a small smile. "I don't need my dad for everything now that I've grown up. Be free," she teased, slipping from the stool to hug her dad.
"Thank you sweetie," Harley smiled, hugging his daughter tightly. "I am going to miss you too," he said.
"Does that mean we now have a different destination for our trip tomorrow?" Zoe questioned, moving to lean against the counter, while her dad checked on dinner.
"Now that is something you get to find out tomorrow," he chuckled.
"Shouldn't I know tonight so I can pack enough stuff?" She asked, moving around the kitchen to help her dad finish with dinner.
"Just make sure to bring plenty of clothes," her dad laughed. "I figured we'd end in Asheville, North Carolina and you can stay for a day or two and fly out to New York. Spend a few extra days with your boyfriend."
"What happened to the dad that was weary of the new bartender in town?" She teased, getting the table set.
"I got to know him and I've seen him with you, he's not going to hurt you. I do think you'll be safe with him while I'm gone," he smiled.
"I should've asked when you told me about the move minutes ago, but why doesn't she move here?" Zoe asked. If they talked about moving that option had to have come up.
"She was willing to do that," Harley stated, placing some of dinner on the table. "But I wanted a change of scenery. I love this town greatly, but I'm giddy about living somewhere else. I'll only be 8 hours away. And it is easier for her to stay there with her grandkids."
"Is this your way of saying you want grandkids?" She teasingly questioned.
"I want grandkids, when you are ready to have them," he replied. "Don't be going out to have kids because you think you have to."
"Dad, I am not that young kid you give this speech to in the past. I am not about to set out and get pregnant to give you a grandchild. Have a little more faith than that," she remarked.
"I have all the faith in you, Zoe. I do hate to break it to you Zoe, but you will always be my little girl," he chuckled.
"As you've said before," she smiled. She didn't mind being her dad's little girl, not like when she was growing up.
They talked about what they would be seeing tomorrow and what time they would be taking off on their road trip. It would take them more than 8 hours to get to Asheville, as it would be a few days before they got there.
With the trip now different from what it had been a week ago, they set off in the late morning having breakfast together before they hit the road. Their first stop being Bamahenge in Elberta, Alabama. It is the world's first full-size fiberglass Stonehenge built by Foamhenge creator Mark Cline. Right past that one would be Dinosaurs in the Woods.
"This reminds me of the time we tried to go to Disney World," Harley laughed.
"I don't remember that," Zoe frowned. "We never went to Disney World." That would be something that she would remember greatly. Not only didn't she remember it but they didn't have pictures of that family vacation.
"Because we never made it," Harley laughed. "You were 5 at the time. We made it to Tallahassee, Florida which happened to be the four hour mark into a 7 hour trip and we stopped to get gas and get you a snack and use the restroom," he recalled, glancing at his daughter.
"But why didn't we make it?" Zoe questioned, giving her dad a smile at a memory that she couldn't recall.
"You got sick," he chuckled. "I couldn't take a sick child to Disney World."
"But we never made the trip after that. Why not?" Zoe asked, curious to know why they never tempted to make that trip again.
"Life, I guess," Harley sighed, thinking it over. "I don't really know why we never went back."
"I don't hate it, that we never tried to go back," she told her dad. "Regardless, I had a wonderful childhood and the summer vacations on the ocean they were well worth it," she smiled.
"It is good to know that you enjoyed your childhood," he smiled.
"Why wouldn't I?" She asked with a frown. "I wouldn't want to change anything about my childhood, Disney World included."
"It's something I worry about because it was just me and you didn't have your mother there to help you with things that you would need a mother for," he explained sadly.
"You were wonderful, Dad. Having mom there wouldn't change that," she assured her father. "You did the best you could, and it is better than most parents."
Following their first two stops they made the drive to Montgomery, their last stop in Alabama would be at the Hank Williams Death Car. The Country music star's car is at the Hank Williams Museum. It is something that her dad really wanted to see.
They got a hotel room in Montgomery and the morning would see them head to Plains, Georgia to check out the Billy Carter Gas Station Museum before moving on to Marietta, Georgia to visit the Gone With the Wind Museum. With it being a movie they watched together multiple times while she grew up. It seemed like a perfect fit for them to check out even though it wasn't a roadside attraction.
After the museum they would get lunch and move onto McRae, Georgia to see the Home-Built Statue of Liberty Replica. Since they have seen the Statue of Liberty they thought it would be a fun little stop.
The following day saw them head into Columbia, South Carolina. Not only to check out the World's Largest Fire Hydrant; standing at 40-feet-tall. And stopping to see Tunnelvision. A painting of a realistic highway tunnel on the side of a building. Painted in 1975. Fun a little stop to have. From the tunnel they drove to the quirkyness that is the UFO Welcome Center in Bowman. Built in the backyard of Jody Pendarvis. The flying saucer is built out of wood, fiberglass, and plastic. Standing at 42-feet-wide.
North Carolina held the World's Largest Chest of Drawers, in High Point. Their second and last stop on their trip happened to be in North Carolina in Raleigh when they stopped at The Daily Plant: Giant Earth Lookalike. Once they finished up there they headed to Thelma's place for the night and come morning Zoe would make the flight to New York to surprise Wade.
"You're really okay with this?" Harley questioned driving his daughter to the airport. "With me moving to be with Thelma."
"Dad, I want you to be happy. At this point with me being a grown woman, you can make whatever choice you need to make. And at the end of the day I am okay with this," she assured her dad. "You don't need to stay in Bluebell. Enjoy the time you have left because you have been great at putting me first and it is time to put yourself first."
"Who is the parent here?" Harley chuckled. "I love you, Zoe."
"I love you, Dad," Zoe replied with a smile.
Getting to New York it took her longer than expected to find Jesse and Calla's place. When she did get there she found that Calla is the only one home. Jesse and Wade out having a guy's day with some of Wade and Jesse's friends.
"Wade didn't mention anything about you coming early," Calla said, having Zoe join her in the living room.
"Because he doesn't know it," Zoe smiled. "Things turned in an unexpected way with dad. In a good way," Zoe shared. "How is the baby? How are you doing?"
"The baby is right on track. A nightmare while trying to sleep or relax. It's at the point where I can't wait for him or her to be here already," she sighed, rubbing her oversized belly. "You'll see when you are carrying Wade's baby," Calla teased.
"I don't know about that," Zoe said, shaking her head. She wasn't going to think that far into the future. She enjoyed taking her relationship one day at a time with Wade.
"I do," Calla smirked, pushing herself up. "That boy is smitten with you Zoe Wilkes," she laughed. "I need to rest for a while. The house is yours. Wade is staying in the first room on the right upstairs, the rest is easy to see. Explore or take a nap until our men get home," Calla told her walking the best she could to the stairs, holding onto the railing.
Being left alone, Zoe got up going to the kitchen to get a drink of water. She was in the process of getting said water when she heard the front door open and shut.
"Would you stop whining about why you haven't heard from your girlfriend and call her already," Jesse suggested. Zoe giggled softly, turning the water off, her eyes trained on the entry way from the living room to the kitchen.
"I haven't been whining about her. I am simply worried as I haven't heard from her since last night. And when he did talk she was really short with me and I can't figure out what it is I did to make her mad at me," Wade sighed.
"Call her and I am going to go check on my wife," Jesse told him.
"Why is my girlfriend's phone on the coffee table?" He questioned himself more than anyone not only hearing it ring from its spot but seeing it as well.
"Because said girlfriend wanted to surprise her boyfriend," Zoe laughed, slipping her arms around his waist. "And you did nothing wrong," she confirmed.
"What happened to the road trip with your dad?" He asked, pulling her close, kissing her forehead.
"Long story," she sighed, resting her head against his chest. "I'll explain everything to you over some food, if you haven't had lunch yet," she suggested.
"Like I would pass up a lunch date with my girl," he commented.
They only went a few blocks away from Jesse's place to have a light lunch as Wade wasn't all that hungry from spending time with his brother and Zoe wasn't feeling all that hungry with what she needed to tell Wade about her dad.
