A/N: Thanks for the feedback on the previous chapter, folks. Always much appreciated! Of course, you know I never let Wade and Zoe be at odds for too long, right? ;) However, as much as they are back together and bound to stay that way for now, please do have tissues on standby for other reasons as you read this latest chapter...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 25

The thought had occurred to Zoe that it might we weird, going to a town she had never heard of just a few months ago, in a part of the country she never thought to set foot in, to be introduced to a lot of unfamiliar people as local-boy-turned-rockstar Wade Kinsella's girlfriend. Mostly, Dr Zoe Hart was known for her own reputation, her medical expertise, not just for being somebody else's other half. Not that she minded it too much. She certainly wasn't ready to reveal to everybody she met that she was actually the natural daughter of one of their deceased residents. That could most definitely wait until later.

"You're doin' it again," said Wade, looking across the room at her from the end of the bed where he was sat fastening his shoe.

"Doing what?" asked Zoe, shaking her head.

"That thing where there's an Olympic gymnastic routine goin' on inside your head," he told her with a smirk. "I know you well enough by now, doc, I can tell."

"I can't help it," she said with a sigh, coming over to sit by him. "Everybody here is so nice, even Lemon Breeland who you warned me could be kind of prickly. I mean, George, Lavon, Annabeth, Tom and Wanda, your dad, obviously, they've just been so kind and welcoming these past few days."

"And this makes you think too hard?" Wade checked, looking confused.

Zoe couldn't blame him since she was aware she probably wasn't making an awful lot of sense right now. If everything was so great, why worry? In actual fact, that was just exactly what was making her so nervous, that it was all going just a little too well.

"They don't really know who I am," she tried to explain. "I mean as far as anyone here knows, I'm just Zoe Hart, Wade's girlfriend."

He looked a little hurt when he replied; "That's a bad thing now?"

"No. Oh, no, it's a great thing," she assured him. "Come on, you know it is."

"I like to think so," said Wade, the smirk returning to his lips and Zoe was more than glad to see it.

The last thing this situation needed was the added awfulness of him thinking she regretted anything that had happened between them thus far. That was absolutely not the case at all. Wade was so far from being the problem, but that didn't mean there wasn't one to worry about.

"I was just thinking that... well, we're sort of lying to everybody," she explained then. "They only know half the story, well, except George and maybe Dr Breeland. Don't you think it's weird that he never said anything?"

"Who, Brick?"

Zoe nodded her head. "I was waiting for him to say something, the second you introduced us. I mean, he has to know my name from before, but he didn't react at all."

"Maybe he forgot your name." Wade shrugged easily. "It's been more'n a year since Harley... well, since he passed away," he said carefully, clearly realising she might not be okay with the big D word. "I'm sorry, doc, I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay," she assured him, smiling bravely, hardly realising how obvious her grief must be until he started to apologise so much. "Seriously, you should ignore me. I know I'm being stupid."

She moved to get up, but Wade grabbed her hand and pulled her right back down beside him before she could get away.

"Hey, you are never stupid, doc," he promised her, taking her chin in his hand. "Little crazy sometimes, maybe, and that's no problem to me, but never stupid," he said sincerely, kissing her lips and smiling when he got the same expression out of her. "Now, how you wanna fill this day we got lying ahead of us? Pretty sure Lavon will have laid on some breakfast up at the house, but then, we could do just about anything you want."

"There was one place I wanted to go, but... it's not exactly a fun activity," Zoe admitted awkwardly.

On his part, Wade couldn't think what she meant by that. Maybe it should've occurred to him, given the topic of conversation and all, but it was early in the morning yet, and Wade was willing to admit he wasn't always the smartest cookie when it came to guessing what people were talking about. Still, he did know that whatever Zoe wanted to do or wherever she wanted to go, he would be just fine with it.

Of course, he hadn't quite been expecting a trip to the cemetery, but it didn't bother him any to go. It made total sense that Zoe would want to go visiting Harley's grave at some point. After all, it was the closest she was going to get to meeting the guy, which was maybe one of the saddest things ever, but there was nothing at all Wade could do to fix that. He wished that he could make it easier for Zoe, which is exactly what he told her as they walked in through the gates of the graveyard and he led the way to Harley's plot.

"Seems like the worst kinda timin'," he said with a sigh. "I mean, any time from when you was a kid up to a couple of years back, you coulda come here and Harley woulda been just thrilled to meet you, I'll bet."

"I would've been thrilled to meet him too," Zoe said, clearing her throat before she went on, "but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. It's certainly not your fault," she said pointedly.

Wade knew better than to continue down that road with her. Zoe was plenty mad at Candice for her part in all this, what with the lying and the secret-keeping and all. If not for that, Zoe would've known Harley and everything could've been so different. Still, they both knew there was no use wondering on what might've been. It was the here and now that mattered most.

"Well, here we are," said Wade then, the hand that Zoe wasn't holding onto rubbing the back of his neck as they reached the foot of Harley's grave. "You, uh... you want me to..."

"Really don't," she told him, when he made some kind of 'go away' gesture. "I mean, unless you're uncomfortable."

"Any place with you, doc, ain't anythin' like uncomfortable for me," he assured her, earning himself a smile. "You want me to stay, I'm here."

"Thank you," she told him, before looking back to the grave laid out before them.

The stone declared the final resting place of Harley Wilkes, 1942-2011. It was so strange to feel grief and loss for a person she had never once met before, and yet, Zoe couldn't help it. She felt her eyes welling with tears and her throat growing thick with emotion as she stood by the grave, wondering why she ever wanted to go there in the first place. It wasn't like meeting Harley and nothing ever would be. Still, the longer she was there, the more she found she had things she did need to say, and here was as good a place as any.

"I'm sorry that I never got to meet you, Harley. I guess if this had all happened sooner or if we had got to know each other like we should have, maybe I'd be calling you 'Dad' by now, but I don't know. Um, I want you to know that I didn't choose to stay away. I never even knew you existed until a couple of weeks ago when my mother got drunk and admitted everything. I can't believe she lied to me all these years. She robbed us of so much."

She had to stop then, so overcome with the emotion of it all that the words just wouldn't come anymore. Zoe hadn't realised quite how obviously she was sobbing, until Wade suddenly pulled her into his arms and held her tight as she let it all go.

It took a while before the last shuddering sob left her and the tears started to dry up. The whole time, Wade just stood there holding onto her, rubbing her back, letting her know it was all okay. With a loud sniffle, she turned from his embrace then and faced the grave again.

"So, I guess I want you to know that I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to know you, and that, well, I have this amazing boyfriend that I know you would love, because apparently you knew him long before I did," she said, with a laugh that was as awkward as it was wet. "Kind of weird knowing my father knew my boyfriend first, but actually, I like it, because at least there's someone that connects us. Someone other than my ridiculous mother."

Wade pulled her into his side then and kissed the top of her head. "Anything you wanna know about ol' Harley, Zoe, you know I'll tell you, if I can."

"I know," she said, finding a smile, however brief as she glanced up at him, before returning her attention to Harley's grave one more time. "I don't know yet what I'm going to do about the whole you leaving me half a practice thing, but I want to thank you for that anyway. It was very generous and... well, thanks, I guess."

With all of that said, Zoe didn't know what else to do. She felt better for saying all that was on her mind regarding Harley and certainly this seemed like the right place for it. She was about to say they should go when a thought struck her.

"Wade, is your mom...?" she asked, not so sure how he was going to take her even posing the question, to be honest, but she just needed to somehow.

He nodded his head, gesturing a ways away with his free hand. "Right over there," he told her. "You wanna...?"

"Yes, please." Zoe nodded her agreement, keeping a tight hold on Wade's hand as he led the way.

Jacqueline's headstone was a much fancier affair than Harley's own had been, with scrollwork and fancy lettering, and an angel in prayer perched on top. Etched words proclaimed she was a much beloved wife and mother, and was now at peace at last. Zoe knew she had suffered so much before her death, and that although she had found peace when she was gone, those left behind had continued on in pain for so long.

"Hey, Momma," said Wade softly as he and Zoe stood at the foot of the grave. "This here is Zoe Hart. She's, uh... well, I guess she's that nice girl you always said I'd meet one day, and by some weird coincidence, she's Dr Wilkes' daughter too."

Zoe wasn't sure whether she was supposed to say 'hi' or just remain silent. After a few moments, she looked up at Wade and said the only think she could think of that made sense.

"You think she would've liked me?"

"No," said Wade, smiling then as he looked at her. "I know she would've loved you," he said definitely. "Hell, old Earl already thinks you're the best person ever walked this earth, and there wasn't much him and Momma didn't agree on."

The heat actually rose in Zoe's cheeks at the sound of those words. Of course, she knew that Wade's father liked her, since he made it plain, always calling her 'pretty doctor' and telling Wade right in front of her how damn lucky he was to have found her. Of course, he was one in a long line of people who didn't know who she truly was yet and that didn't sit at all right with Zoe.

"I have to tell them," she said aloud, catching Wade's attention all over again.

"Tell who what now?" he checked as they looked at each other.

"The town, everybody," Zoe explained. "They should know who I really am and the other reason that I came here. I mean, I have to start with Dr Breeland, it's only fair, in the circumstances, but then everybody else should know too. Otherwise, we're lying to them, Wade, and I'm not okay with that anymore."

He nodded that he understood, then sighed. "You wanna do this today?"

"We have to go back to New York in a couple of days," said Zoe, shrugging her shoulders. "No time like the present."

Wade had no way to argue with that. "Okay then. Guess we better go on over to Tucker's office, get the paperwork for proof and all, then go track down Brick."

"I guess we'd better," Zoe agreed, sure in her decision, despite how nervous she felt, as they left the cemetery hand-in-hand and headed back into town.

To Be Continued...