Hey all! This chapter sees lines from Season 4 Episode 4 Red Dye #40. Just with a bit of a different twist. I actually enjoyed writing this one. I had intended to skip this episode as I wasn't quite sure how I wanted to add it in, but thank you Joy48 for wanting it added in. I'm not sure if I did the part you wanted to see. I hope I did it justice for you.
The exciting news, I have the next chapter done, and it will be posted on Friday!
Enjoy!
"I still feel bad," Zoe sighed, sitting in the passenger seat of the car as Wade drove them to their small honeymoon getaway that he wouldn't say where it was at.
"You have nothing to feel bad about," he told her, reaching over to take her hand in his, bringing it up to her lips for a kiss. "You're carrying and taking care of our son; nothing is more important than that. We will have time to consummate our marriage," he told her.
"Do you know I love you?" She asked, pulling his hand into her lap, to hold it on her stomach as their little man was being rather active.
"That happens to be news to me, doc," he joked, pulling up to a red stop light.
"Jerk," she muttered, with a smile.
"That wasn't what you were saying yesterday," he laughed.
"It might be debatable now," she mumbled, Wade chuckling, as the light turned green.
"I love you," he told her, his hand gently rubbing her stomach, waiting to feel another kick.
"Thank you for yesterday," she told him, pulling his hand up to kiss his knuckles.
They had talked about if they wanted to have some sort of ceremony as they wanted to be married before their son came along. With the way the plans had been stressing her out, she had to stop because she didn't want anything to happen to their little nugget. Unbeknownst to her she may have stopped with the planning, but her now husband had gone behind her back and pulled it off in spectacular fashion.
They made small talk about their baby and how life is going to change after their little linebacker is born. That only changing the topic to what position their little boy is going to play if he does join the football team, but he was going to play whatever sport he wanted to be playing, if he wanted to play a sport that is. Whatever their son and any future children wanted to do; they would fully support them.
Arriving at his destination, he smiled seeing Zoe sleeping, he kissed her hand, making sure her window was down to let some cool air into the warm car, not wanting her to get over heated. With her sleeping, he took both of their bags to the bedroom and set them on the dresser, and went back out to grab the groceries they were going to need for their stay.
"Wake up, sleepyhead," Wade whispered, pressing a kiss to her temple, waking her up. "We're here," he informed her, standing up, holding his hands out to help her from the car.
"Where are we?" She asked, looking around to see a cabin to her left and a small creek behind Wade, otherwise they were surrounded by woods.
"Away from civilization, at least as far out as we can be to be on the safe side. We're ten minutes away from the closest city.
With pulling a wedding and honeymoon together at the last minute, he wasn't left with many options for them to do, and considering how far along she is, staying close to a hospital and still having privacy, few options came up.
"We can do something else when this nugget is born, and we can spend more than a few hours away from him," Wade informed her.
"For now and for years to come, this is perfect, it's not about exotic places we could have gone, but being together and celebrating our love with each other," she said, pulling him into a hug. "Now, let's go explore this place and see what kind of trouble we can get into," she winked. "I mean I did get plenty of rest in the car," she remarked, laughing when Wade gently pulled her long behind him.
The cabin was small, but yet cozy. It housed one bedroom, one bathroom; the living room and kitchen were essentially one room. A fireplace, with a soft shaggy rug before it. The couch sat facing the fireplace as well, the kitchen sitting behind the couch. A small table for two sat by a bay window, overlooking the creek.
For the bedroom, a full-sized bed sat in the middle, a nightstand on both sides of the bed, and a small dresser pushed into a corner out of the way, the best it could be.
As for the bathroom, it was small and could only fit one person at a time in there, the toilet, sat next to the small tub/shower and a small sink with a mirror, stood so you stood in the path to the bathroom as you washed your hands.
"Well you're figuring dinner out; I am going to go relax in the tub," she told her husband, smiling wide at the thought of them now being married.
"Yell if you need help," Wade said, giving her a helping hand from the bed, sharing a small intimate kiss with her.
Zoe started the water in the tub, going back to the bedroom, to gather what she needed for her bath. She frowned walking back into the bathroom, the water having stopped running.
"Wade," she called, walking to the kitchen, trying the kitchen sink. "There's no water," she told him. "It was working fine and now nothing," she frowned.
"Let me go check outside," he told her, slipping his shoes back on and heading out to see what the deal was.
Taking a bag of cheese flavies she headed to the living room to sit on the couch and wait to see what Wade could find out about the water.
"Anything?" She asked, hearing him shuffle back into the house.
"Zoe," he sighed, kneeling in front of her, his hands resting on her knees. "Our honeymoon has been cut short."
"What? Why?" She asked, placing her hands on top of his.
"A pipe burst under the cabin and I had to turn it off so it wouldn't flood the place. And after a quick chat on the phone, I've been informed that we have to vacate the property as no one can come out to fix the pipe for a week at the minimum," he informed her. "I'm sorry, Zoe."
"Not your fault," she told him. "We can find a hotel and spend a few nights there before heading back home. It's not about the place, but about us spending this time together celebrating our love," she told him.
Wade nodded, standing up. He didn't like that they had to cut it short only having a few hours of what should have been a great honeymoon. With Zoe being so understanding, it didn't help him feel better at all.
"I hate that we had to cut the honeymoon short," Wade said, unlocking the Jammer. The place being empty as the town is busy with the talent show, they held off on doing.
"It's okay, really," she told him, taking a seat at the bar. "Can I have a chicken sandwich?" She asked him with a pout.
"Coming right up," he chuckled, kissing her temple. "I still hate that we had to come home on day three," he said, walking to the kitchen.
"We made the best of the situation," Zoe called after him. "There's nothing that we could've done."
"I know," he sighed.
"Wade," she said, walking to the kitchen. "You said so yourself, we'll do something grand once our little bundle is old enough where we can be without him.
"I know," he repeated himself. Knowing that didn't make him feel any better about the events that took place.
"You didn't know a pipe was going to burst, and if you did, you would have picked a different place to go. We can't control everything," she told him, rubbing his back.
"Someone likes to think different," he chuckled. Zoe playfully smacked his arm. "Don't let it get to your head, but you're right; we can't control what happened," he said. Not that it made him feel any better about what should've been a special time for them.
"I'm going to the bathroom, and I'll be waiting out there for you," she told him, sharing a quick kiss with him.
They had just sat down at the bar with their food, when they heard a commotion outside the jammer. They shared looks with each other, before watching the door open.
"What's going on?" Wade asked, watching as some of the townsfolk piled into the Jammer, everyone chattering about something scandalous.
"And just why are you two back?" Jesse asked, taking a seat next to his brother.
"That's a long story," Zoe retorted, biting a fry. "What's going on?" Zoe asked, hoping she had a better chance at getting an answer from someone.
"Someone sabotaged, Shelby," Lavon told them.
"A day I never thought would come," Zoe commented, picking her water up to take a sip. "Good luck, Bill."
"That's what I said," Lavon chuckled lightly. "All right, come on. Pipe down, people. Now, a crime has been committed. Sheriff Bill wanted a secure crime scene, but, well, the senior center needed the theater to rehearse their production of Oh! Calcutta! So we had to move in here. But come on, now, let's move these chairs," Lavon instructed.
"Sure hope you don't mind," Sheriff Bill said, talking to Wade.
"Oh no have at it," Zoe smiled. "A real-life mystery in Bluebell, we're here for that," she smiled.
"The misses says it's okay," Wade chuckled.
"But why us? Why are we here?" Shula asked, taking a seat, once they had the chairs in place.
"You know; that's a good question," Lavon commented, looking around making sure everything is set up in its place.
"Because, Mr. Mayor, here in this very room are gathered the only people who could have committed this crime... the only people with opportunity, motive, and the dastardly minds of hardened criminals," Sheriff Bill stated, looking around at the suspects gathered at the Jammer.
"What now?" Lavon asked, confused.
"That seems a bit harsh," George piped in.
"And as God as my witness, I will use my heretofore untapped powers of deduction and unmask this villain even if it takes me all night," Sheriff Bill stated, earning groans from everyone who filled the Jammer.
"All right, good news, people, Shelby's gonna be just fine. Bad news, she will be pressing charges on whoever's responsible for this," Lavon shared, after ending the call he had taken while Bill was talking about unmasking the villain.
"Shocking," Lemon bit out, rolling her eyes at the news.
"First witness. Rose, the chair. The truth, Ms. Hattenbarger," Sheriff Bill told her, having Rose sit in the chair they had set up on the stage.
"I was hired to do light and sound for the show, but I needed a quiet place to study for SATs during rehearsals, so I sat up in the rafters outside Shelby's dressing room," Rose explained.
"And while you were there, did you see anything suspicious?" Bill asked her.
"I saw some people enter her dressing room when Shelby wasn't there," she informed them.
"Who did you see?"
"Wanda, Stanley, Rudy Truitt, and AnnaBeth," Rose told the sheriff, having a hard time in getting the names to come from her mouth, not wanting to see any of them in trouble.
"And you're sure you saw these suspicious individuals?" He inquired.
"Well, I didn't say they looked suspicious," Rose frowned.
"Just answer the question," Bill sighed.
"Yes. I'm sure," Rose nodded.
"Alright, I call Mrs. Wanda Long to the stand," Bill said, waiting on Wanda to take the chair Rose vacated. "Now tell me, Mrs. Long, why were you in Shelby's dressing room?"
"I'm not sure. I can't recall. I don't know! I'm pregnant! I want my lawyer. George?" Wanda asked, looking behind the sheriff to where George sat.
"Did you know about Wanda being pregnant?" Zoe whisper asked her husband. Wade nodded, as Wanda's boss, she told him, asking for fewer hours later during the pregnancy.
"Sheriff Bill," George said, standing up with a chuckle. "I mean, come on. Wanda?" He asked. Why anyone would suspect Wanda of poisoning Shelby was beyond his reasoning; Wanda couldn't have done something as such, with being such a sweet and caring person.
"I-I'm sorry, but are we sure that it's the chocolates?" Annabeth asked nervously standing up.
"Of course it was the chocolates. Brick said that Shelby ate some right before she went on stage. And Ms. Sinclair has a known allergy to red dye number 40. It's... something in food. It m-makes it red. I think. So, exactly when did you give those chocolates to Shelby?" Bill questioned, turning from AB to Wanda.
"Objection. Leading the witness. And why in the world would Wanda want to hurt Shelby?" George asked.
"Good point. I have no motive," Wanda stated.
"Mr. Long, come join your wife on the stand," Bill said, placing a second chair next to Wanda. Tom hesitatingly took the spot next to his wife.
"She was gone for an hour, but Wanda wouldn't do it," Tom blurted out. "I know it."
"Again, I ask... Wanda, where were you?" Bill questioned.
"I don't want to say," Wanda protested, nervously.
"You poisoned Shelby," Sheriff Bill accused.
"I didn't!" Wanda yelled.
"Then where were you?" Bill asked slowly.
"Laszlo ate Shelby's costume; I had to go fix it," Wanda confessed crying. Tom signing next to her.
"Uh, let me get you a drink, Tom," Lavon offered.
"Oh, also some fries, if you have them. I'm eating for two," Wanda requested.
"I got it, but I'm charging," Wade warned, walking to the kitchen to start making fries.
"All right, everybody come to order. Stanley, I need you up on the stand," Sheriff Bill ordered, after everyone had fries and a drink.
"Yeah, um, guys? I-I just want to say... it might not be the chocolates," AB said, nervous as ever.
"Are you the sheriff? No," Bill told her, having her sit back down in her seat.
"Okay, AnnaBeth, you really need to stop talking, because it's making you look guilty," Lemon whispered, leaning closer to her friend. AB smiled nervously. "Wait. You aren't, are you?" Lemon questioned.
"Shh," AB whispered, eating a fry.
"This is all a big misunderstanding," Stanley said.
"So, you're saying that you weren't in Shelby's dressing room?" Bill inquires, eyeing him up.
"No. That is to say... Did I hear there were fries?" Stanley asked, looking every bit guilty over something.
"You've had it out for Shelby ever since she passed you over for a starring role in her cabaret," Bill pointed out.
"That's not true. I have nothing but the utmost respect for Shelby," Stanley protested with a huff.
"Crickett, can you join us up here?" Bill asked.
"He loves me. He's always loved me. Truth is, I think he would have done anything to win me back," Crickett stated, without waiting on Bill to give her a reason to talk.
"I didn't do it," Stanley huffed out.
"He was gone for two hours. When he came back, he said we were sure to win now," Crickett said, raising an eyebrow at her husband.
"Because I bedazzled my jazz shoes," Stanley pointed out, gesturing to his shoes.
"It does not take two hours to bedazzle shoes. Uh, I don't think," Bill frowned.
"I... I had another "errand" to run," Stanley sighed, ashamed of what he had done.
"Like injecting chocolate with red food dye?" Bill accused.
"Okay, objection! Grounds?" George yelled, taking over the duty of being everyone's lawyer for this little trial.
"Oh, I'll give you grounds. Rose saw Stanley with her own two eyes. Well, her own four eyes," Bill explained.
"I didn't give Shelby those chocolates; I swear," Stanley pleaded.
"Then why were you in her dressing room?" Bill questioned.
"I can't say. I'd rather not say?" He posed as a question, with the place remaining quiet he continued talking. "Fine," he sighed, looking guiltily at Crickett. "I was meeting up with Sadie," he confessed, earning gasps from the room. "I'm sorry, Crickett. I never meant for you to find out like this," he apologized. "Oh... But I have moved on," he shrugged.
"What's going on?" Lemon asking what the rest of them were wondering.
"You and Sadie?" Crickett asked, ignoring her friend for the time being.
"On the bright side, I'll happily give you that divorce," Stanley smiled.
"We're getting a divorce," Crickett announced to the crowd with a smile. "I'm a lesbian," she shared, feeling so much better now that she's come out of the proverbial closest she's been in.
Murmurs went around the Jammer, Bill calling a recess to let everyone digest the news Crickett dropped on them.
"I don't know why you didn't start with the Truitt's," Zoe commented, getting Bill a glass of water. "It's always the Truitt's."
"Why didn't I start first with the Truitt's?" Bill questioned, mostly himself. "Stupid, stupid," he mumbled.
"No, no. A good detective has some dramatic flair. You're just saving the best for last," Wade said, leading Zoe back around the bar to sit on a bar stool. "But what if they didn't do it? I don't think those boys could even read the label on a box of chocolate," Wade commented.
"Yeah, maybe. Well, maybe they had an accomplice," Lavon suggested, having heard the conversation.
"Tansy Truitt, please step forward," Bill called over the noise, everyone growing quiet, as Tansy took the makeshift stand. "What can you tell us about Rudy's involvement?"
"He told us that he had a foolproof plan," Tansy shared.
"A foolproof plan you say?" Bill asked, interested to hear that bit of information.
"Yes, that's how he put it, a foolproof plan," Tansy told Bill.
"Rudy," Sheriff Bill said, motioning to the chair.
"Were those my words exactly?" He asked with a scoff. "That depends. What exactly do you mean by "exactly"?" Rudy asked smarting off.
"Oh..." Chicken laughed from the crowd.
"You just got lawyered," Rudy laughed.
"Tansy?" Bill asked, motioning to the second chair once more. "Anything you want to add?"
"They said they had an errand to run. How long were they gone for?" She questioned, thinking back on the events that took place. "I can't say for sure," she sighed. "A few hours, maybe?" She said, in more of a question than an actual answer.
"Knew they did it," Zoe smirked, biting a fry.
"The next time I saw them, Rudy was carrying a package. It was... it was about yay big," Tansy said, using her hands to show how big the box had been.
"I saw Rudy take a package into Shelby's dressing room," Rose said, from her spot.
"What was in the package?" Bill questioned, having all three brothers on the stand.
"It was dry ice for our act," Rudy stated.
"We were storing it in Shelby's fridge," Chicken said, cutting his brother off.
"For once, the crime was committed by not us," Rocket laughed.
"Shoot," Zoe muttered, Wade lightly chuckling next to her.
"Any other guesses on who it was?" He asked her.
Zoe gave him a glare, her face softening up seeing he had a bag of cheese flavies. "Nope, but I'll love you forever, if I can have those," she told him, with a pout. Wade chuckled, handing the bag to her.
"Sheriff Bill. Look, what say we, uh, call it a night, pick it up in the morning? I mean, people are getting restless, and we're running low on fries," Lavon commented, having checked on the fry situation.
"No can do. There's still one suspect left, and, for all I know; she might be a flight risk," he stated, looking in AB's direction, making her gulp. "AnnaBeth Nass, please step forward. AB took the stand, fiddling with her hands. "AnnaBeth Nass, why were you in Shelby's dressing room?"
"Well, this is gonna sound bad..." she started off to say giving a nervous laugh. "But I was in there... to leave her some chocolates," she confessed.
"What?" Lemon asked, the crowd gasping and talking lowly.
"I swear on the life of Cyrus Lavinius Jeremiah Jones, I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt," AB said, needing to tell her side of things and make them see she wasn't guilty.
"But you knew that Shelby was allergic to red food dye," Bill said.
"Which is why I checked the ingredients first... there was no red dye," AB swore.
"So I suppose you just gave her a gift out of the kindness of your heart?" Bill asked, having trouble in believing AB.
"Well, it seemed like the Christian thing to do, the way the day was going," AB shared. "I felt so bad. Brick looked so sad. And he was right. They needed a little push," AB explained, referring to the relationship Lemon has with her dad's girlfriend.
"AnnaBeth!" Lemon exclaimed, outraged.
"I shouldn't have done it. But... I didn't poison her," AB protested yet again.
"A likely story. No note was found," Bill stated.
"Um, Laszlo may have eaten it," Tom piped in.
"It is possible," Wanda nodded.
"Okay, you know what, I... I have a suggestion," George offered. Bill mm-hmmed, waiting to hear what George had to say. "Why don't we have someone test the chocolates, see if there's actually any red dye in them," he suggested.
"Are you the sheriff, George Tucker? No," Bill answered for him. "But good idea," he whispered lowly.
With the chocolates being tested for red food dye, they were left to mingle as they are forced to wait on the results to come back.
"How's SAT prep coming?" Zoe asked Rose, as the girl sat next to her.
"It's coming," Rose sighed. "How can you eat those?" She asked, shaking her head at Zoe as she kept eating the cheese flavies.
"They're good and they're what my baby wants," she smiled, rubbing her stomach. "What do you have against them?"
"I can't stomach anymore of them after eaten a whole bag today," Rose sighed, getting up to grab something to drink.
"Test the chocolates. You and your bright ideas," Lavon muttered to George, as they walked past where Zoe sat.
"Okay, look, if I would have known that he was gonna keep us here all night while he had them tested, I would've kept my mouth shut," George shared. He didn't want to be here any longer than the rest of them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please. Dr. Breeland has an update," Dash announced entering the Jammer, Brick behind him.
"The lab tests came back, but the chocolates did not contain red food dye number 40," he informed them.
"Ah! Ah, see?" AB smiles, relieved to know she didn't poison Shelby.
"And I am also happy to report that Shelby has made a complete recovery," Brick announced with a smile on his face.
"Well, hallelujah! Let's go! We're going," AB shouted, getting up, ready to go home.
"Not so fast. Shelby Sinclair has been sabotaged tonight, and even if the vehicle wasn't chocolate, someone here is responsible. Someone so desperate for prize money, she'd do anything to win," Sheriff Bill stated, giving Lemon a look.
"What, me? That's preposterous. I have done nothing wrong," Lemon protested.
"Then you wouldn't mind answering a few questions," Bill said, raising an eyebrow at her. "And how did it make you feel, knowing you were about to lose your dad to Shelby?"
"It didn't bother me at all," Lemon huffed. Bill gave her a questioning look, knowing just how close Lemon is to her dad. "For the last time, I did not put red food dye in Shelby's sweet tea or her breath mints or her stage makeup," Lemon said, protecting her character.
"But you hate her," Bill pointed out.
"So? I'm a Southern lady. My methods of warfare are purely psychological," Lemon shrugged like it's nothing, George shaking his head at her.
"Okay, okay, uh... stop talking," George demanded, looking from his wife, to the sheriff. "Sheriff Bill, I would like to, if I could, recall Rose Hattenbarger to the stand, please?" George asked, waiting for Rose to take the stand. "At any point, did you see Lemon go into Shelby's dressing room?" George asked her.
"Definitely not," Rose confirmed, shaking her head.
"Thank you," George said.
"Dr. Breeland?" Bill questioned, having him take the stand next.
"I examined Shelby, and I can say with confidence that her allergic reaction was caused by food dye," Brick informed them
"Then if it wasn't the chocolates..." Bill started to say, trailing off.
"Well, somebody must have slipped her something during intermission," Brick supplied.
"And, in your opinion, is Lemon capable of such a thing?" Bill inquired of Brick.
"I like to think not," Brick shared.
"Daddy!" Lemon exclaimed, not happy to hear her dad, say as such.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I-I'm... I am under oath. Aren't I?" He questioned.
"It's a simple question. Where were you during intermission?" Bill asked Lemon, having her come up once more, having no further questions for Brick.
"I know who did it. I know who poisoned Shelby," Zoe muttered, reading the back label of the cheese flavies.
"I wasn't in the mood for socializing, so I just kept to myself," Lemon supplied.
"Oh, that's awfully convenient," Bill scoffed. Lemon remained quiet. "As scintillating as all this silence has been, I'm gonna need you to answer the question. Where were you during intermission?"Lemon remained quiet. "Fine. You leave me no choice but to take you down to the station," Bill said, moving to take his cuffs off his belt.
"Stop! It wasn't Lemon," Zoe shouted, getting to her feet. "Lemon didn't give Shelby the food dye. It was Rose," she stated, giving the young girl a sad smile, the crowd gasping in shock of the news. "The Cheese Flavies that you've been eating all day, well, they have red food dye in them," she explained. "And you were doing sound for the show, right?"
Rose nodded, because everyone already knew that she was doing sound for the show, as she already said so early in the night.
"So some of the powder must have gotten onto Shelby's microphone, and mystery solved," Zoe told them.
"Mystery solved," Wade repeated. "Which means you all can get back to your talent show," he said, ushering people out the door. He was ready to clean the place up, and head home with his wife and curl up in bed at this late hour of the night.
"Wade," Zoe called, breathing through her contraction.
"One minute babe," Wade called from the kitchen, cleaning up.
"Can it be a fast minute?" She asked him.
"Why?" He asked, sticking his head out to see his wife, holding onto the bar top, bent over. "Are you okay?" He asked, making his way over to her.
"Water broke."
