A/N: I'm posting this chapter. It is Thursday 5th November 2020. I don't know if and when anybody else will be able to see the chapter because all my other updates this week have been there but not there on FF .net, but I'm doing my part and I've asked them to look in to what's going on, and I'm afraid, that's all I can do!

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chaper 1)

Chapter 29

"Hey, stranger." Zoe smiled as she took his phone call. "I was beginning to think your cell phone stopped working the moment you hit Alabama."

Jonah's laughter echoed in her ear. "You've been down here yourself now, Dr Hart, you know the south isn't quite so backwards in comin' forwards as you might've thought before."

"That is true," she admitted, sitting herself down comfortably while they chatted. "I have to admit, I've been back in New York for a month, and I still keep dreaming about Bluebell. That is one special place you're from, Dr Breeland."

"I can't deny that's true," Jonah agreed, "but there's a lot to be said for the big city too. I had some pretty good times in New York, let me tell you."

"If this is the part where you ask me if Gigi is missing you..."

"Not at all. I'm sure she is doing just fine without me hanging around. I was under no illusions about my relationship with Ms Godfrey, and I don't believe she was either."

Zoe could happily confirm that was true. As much fun as Gigi and Jonah had together, it was plain enough when he was gone that her friend was not going to sit and cry over his loss. A week later, she had her eye on somebody else and Zoe was not at all surprised. Some people just liked the whole casual thing. Wade was that way once, by his own admission, but Zoe never was, she couldn't imagine wanting to be. Of course, it took all kinds of kinds to make a world.

"So, a whole month since you were down this way," said Jonah then. "Things any more settled with you and your folks?"

"Yes and no." Zoe sighed. "Well, mostly yes. My dad... Ethan, he showed up on my doorstep the day I got back from Bluebell."

"How'd that go?"

"He apologised for his part in the lying and for causing almost all of my abandonment issues. I yelled a lot about a whole bunch of stuff, but then, the next day we talked some more, civilly and like adults. I can't see that we're ever going to have the father-daughter relationship that we did before, but... it's better."

"I am glad to hear that, Zoe," Jonah told her with a smile she could just about hear. "Should I even ask what happened with your mom?"

"Oh, you mean Public Enemy Number One?" Zoe joked, laughing in the very next moment to prove she was kidding. "No, it's okay. That's better too. Since you only get one mom, I knew I couldn't be mad at her forever. I can't completely forgive her, but... well, it's not so bad. I honestly haven't seen her much in the last few weeks."

"Because you've been spending all your time between work and Wade Kinsella?" her friend guessed.

"Actually, yes to the work, no to Wade," said Zoe with a sigh. "Trust me, I would love to have been spending plenty of time with him, but he's been super-busy with all this album promotion stuff, I've hardly seen him at all. However, we both have a couple of days off starting tomorrow and he's taking me... somewhere. Some amazing surprise trip apparently, I don't even know the details yet."

"Sounds... interesting," Jonah said carefully. "Well, on the work front, I've been pretty busy myself. In fact, a couple of days ago, I had this patient..."

As he got deep into symptoms, diagnoses, and the such like, Zoe was riveted. They must have been talking a good twenty minutes before she noted the time and had to interrupt Jonah, apologising but saying she really did have to go.

"I'm supposed to be at the hospital in an hour and I'm not even dressed yet."

"Well, Dr Hart, I had no idea you were conducting our friendly conversation in the nude," he teased her.

"Oh, grow up!" Zoe snapped, though she was laughing at the same time - after all, they had established long ago that they were colleagues and even friends, but absolutely nothing more. "I'm wearing sweats, I just meant I'm not dressed for work, doofus."

Jonah laughed at her choice of insult if nothing else. "You got surgery today?"

"Nope, not today, just routine patient stuff," she explained. "Although weirdly, I've really been enjoying that lately. I blame Bluebell for turning me in to such an active gossip. All those people just want to know everything, but also, they want to tell you everything. I had some of the longest conversations of my life in the town square and the Rammer Jammer. They've broken me. I actually like people now, I want to get to know them. I just don't seem to be happy until I get a patient's life story these days, how weird is that?"

That got a burst of further laughter out of Jonah. "You know, it's not a bad thing to take an interest in your patients, Dr Hart," he told her easily. "I don't think Bluebell broke you. If anything - and don't take this the wrong way because I thought you were pretty amazing just as you were - but I think maybe it improved you, as a doctor, at the very least."

"Maybe," Zoe considered. "I don't know. It would be nice to head back down there sometime. I know Wade wants to. In the few short periods of time we've managed to spend together lately, he seems awfully homesick."

"Well, I know there's one or two folks around here that'd be more than happy to hear from the two of you. Especially you."

"Ah, so, that's why you called," said Zoe knowingly, even as she walked through to her bedroom and started flipping through her clothes, mindful of the time slipping away from her. "Your Uncle Brick wants to know what I'm going to do with the practice, right?"

Jonah sighed. "Well, I can't deny that he has asked me, on more than one occasion, if I've heard from you and if I know what your plans are," he admitted, "but I swear, Zoe, I called to say hi, to catch up and maybe talk patients for a while, that is all. I'm not Uncle Brick's spy or anything."

"I believe you," she said with a sigh. "Honestly, I do, and I'm sorry, I didn't mean to accuse you."

"No problem, Zoe. We're all good," Jonah promised. "So, no decision on the practice yet?" he checked anyway.

Zoe smiled as she answered. "Nope, no definite decision yet. Although, I will admit, when the ER has been crazy and I'm beyond tired from working a double-shift, sometimes I still can't sleep for all the city noise and I think... well, like I said, I dream about Bluebell sometimes. About Wade's little house by the lake, all the peace and quiet, all the crazy, wonderful people."

"Gets under your skin real fast, doesn't it?" Jonah said knowingly.

"Oh yeah." Zoe sighed. "It really does."

Though he didn't object to the way Zoe dived into his arms and planted a big kiss right on his lips the moment they saw each other, Wade was a little surprised.

"Well now, that's what I call a welcome," he said as they parted.

"I missed you," she told him, even as she wiped a smudge of her lipstick from his face. "Is that a crime?"

"No, ma'am," he assured her with a grin. "Let me tell you 'bout how much I've been missin' you too," he offered then, returning the favour with a searing kiss of his own.

It would've been so easy to just let passion overtake them and spend the whole of the two days they had together rolling around in bed or whatever. Wade might have been the first to suggest such a thing once upon a time, but where Zoe was concerned, he just wanted to put in a little more effort than that. Hence the reason why he convinced her not to drag him into the bedroom, but instead to move her behind into the cab he had waiting, because there would be plenty of time for all of that other stuff later.

"I still can't believe you planned this whole surprise trip and that you wouldn't even tell me what to pack!" Zoe complained, even as she grinned at him across the backseat of the cab.

"Did I complain about how much luggage you brought for a one-night trip? No, I did not," he reminded her with a smile of his own. "Anyway, I thought women liked romantic surprises and all."

"They do. I mean, I do. Usually, I'm not great with surprises at all, understandably," she told him with a look, "but I guess I just trust you."

"Well, that is good to know, Zoe Hart," said Wade, leaning across to kiss her lips. "I'm pretty sure this is gonna be the good kind of surprise."

There was a little apprehension in Wade, given the circumstances. He never really did this kind of thing before, never cared about a woman enough to go to so much effort, but Zoe was more than worth it. He figured she ought to realise how truly in love with her he really was when she saw just exactly where the cab was headed. Their first stop came into view and Wade swallowed hard, wondering if he would ever get used to this.

"We're going on a plane?" Zoe checked as the cab driver pulled the car into a parking spot near the entrance to the airport. "Wade, you hate to fly. Also, we have to be back by tomorrow night, both of us."

"Okay, first off, yes, I hate to fly," he agreed even as they both got out of the car, "but I would also hate to waste four or five hours of our time together driving you some place, and the same amount of time driving back again."

"Four or five hours?" Zoe frowned. "Where are we going? Canada?"

Wade rolled his eyes. "Just stop askin' so many questions, doc, and remember what you said about trustin' me, okay?"

She did stop asking after that. Of course, she could plainly see the destination of the plane before they ever got on it and Wade half-expected her to know then what the point of the trip was, but she didn't seem to be getting it. That was okay, because if he got to do a real impressive reveal when they got to the other end, he figured that might be cool actually.

To her credit, Zoe didn't even seem to be trying to work out what was going on when they were on the plane, spending most of her time talking to Wade about the band and such. He knew what she was doing, trying to distract him from the fact they were airborne. It worked, for the most part. When he was caught up in telling her what a two-faced ass Mark was proving to be and how sick of promotional stuff Wade himself was becoming, the hours kind of flew by actually.

"So, Syracuse," said Zoe as they left the plane and headed through the airport, Wade's arm around her shoulders. "You're taking me to the university for some reason?"

"Nope," Wade told her. "Why would I even do that, doc?"

"I don't know," she said, shaking her head. "I just don't know what else to guess."

"Then stop guessin' and just relax, enjoy the ride," he urged her, kissing her cheek.

Luggage duly retrieved, they were met by another pre-arranged cab that took them down unknown streets towards their destination.

"We gotta make two stops around here," Wade told Zoe as they went along in the car. "I'm pretty sure you'll approve of both of 'em, least I hope so."

Zoe didn't say much, but she looked as happy as she did confused, which was something. Wade couldn't deny it did give him a little bit of a thrill to get one over on her, what with her being so smart and all, and him not traditionally known for his brains. It didn't hurt to get to be the smart one sometimes.

"Oh my God!" Zoe gasped when the cab finally stopped outside a real quaint little bed and breakfast. "Wade, it's beautiful. It even kind of looks like..."

"The Whippoorwill back in Bluebell?" he suggested. "Yeah, I noticed that too. I mean, you mentioned a few times how it was almost a shame we didn't need to stay in old Dash's place back home, so I thought..."

It was as far as he got with that sentence before Zoe was suddenly all over him, kissing him like it was going out of style. Of course, when the cab driver noisily cleared his throat, she stopped and dropped back into her own seat, looking a little red-faced. Wade just laughed as they got out of the car to go check-in to the bed and breakfast, letting the driver know they'd just be a few minutes.

"We're not staying?" asked Zoe, shaking her head. "There's more?"

"Told you we had two stops to make, didn't I?" he reminded her, hauling all their bags up to the reception desk. "Trust me, doc, the next one might make you even happier."

She looked like she almost didn't believe that, which was nice, in a way. It meant the bed and breakfast idea had been a solid one, and Wade was pretty damn sure his other idea was even better, at least in Zoe's eyes.

Less than a half hour later, they were back in the cab, headed to that other place. A few miles down the road and the signposts gave away where they were going, making Zoe gasp.

"No way! You really listen to me, don't you?" she asked Wade, wide-eyed.

"It's real flattering to know you think that I don't," he told her, smiling in spite of himself, because he already knew she didn't mean anything by it.

"Wade, come on, when I get deep into medical stuff, I know for a fact that you're bored."

"Maybe sometimes," he admitted, "just like I know you breeze out when I talk about stuff I like sometimes, but you just wouldn't shut up about the great Dr. Walker and some statue they put up to her. I figured I oughta take a hint."

When they finally got out of the cab at Oswego Town Hall, facing the statue of Dr Mary Edwards Walker, which Wade was positive Zoe really wanted to see in person, he was not disappointed by her reaction. There was not much impressed a woman like Dr Zoe Hart, but this did. Wade would like to think he did too, in some small way, because the thought had occurred to him to bring her here like this.

"You know, she was only the second female graduate of an American medical school, and in 1863, she became the first female surgeon in the US Army, after several years of practice as a nurse," said Zoe with wonder in her eyes. "She paved the way for women like me, Wade. She's an inspiration!"

"Pretty sure I heard all that somewhere before," he said with a look as he wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed the top of her head. "She ain't the only one who's inspirin' sometimes."

Zoe laughed, sounding almost giddy as she finally turned away from the statue and looked up at Wade, her arms around his neck.

"Thank you for this," she told him seriously. "It was an amazing surprise."

"Anythin' to make you happy, doc."

He meant what he said. Wade really did just want her to be happy, because he was pretty sure he had never been happier than he was since he met her and they got together and all.

Later, when they had some lunch and got back to the bed and breakfast, Wade showed Zoe just exactly how much she meant to him. She was no less willing to show him the same.

They spent a perfectly comfortable, lazy afternoon and evening in their rented room together. It was wonderful to just enjoy each other's company, make love, and revel in the fact that neither one had to go running off to some work-related thing any time soon.

"It's so peaceful here," said Zoe with a contended sigh, lying in bed in the circle of Wade's arms. "It reminds me a lot of Bluebell, actually, but then I guess that was half the point."

"Maybe," Wade agreed, kissing her hair. "I gotta admit, I miss the old place more than I don't."

"Yeah, me too," Zoe admitted, "and that is so weird, because I was only there for a week, and I am so absolutely New York City born and raised, but there was something just... nice about Alabama," she said thoughtfully. "Still, as nice as daydreams are, I guess we should be realistic," she said then, looking up to meet Wade's eyes. "Our lives are in New York. Our apartments, our careers, my mom, your band. It's just... Well, it wouldn't really make any sense for us to just go to Bluebell and stay there, would it?"

Wade wanted to tell her she was wrong. After all, going back home, taking Zoe with him and staying there for good, it appealed more than a little. It was a place they both should belong, him being as born and raised in Bluebell as she had been in the city, and her being at least a half-blood Southerner too.

Trouble was, Wade knew Zoe had a point about everything else being in the city. He couldn't have his music career back home and despite Mark's attitude he wouldn't abandon the band. Zoe couldn't be a supersonic space surgeon or whatever the right words were in Bluebell either.

"Yeah, like I said, it's a nice dream, but it's not practical." Zoe sighed one more time, clearly sensing that Wade was struggling to answer her question. "I should call Brick Breeland, let him know he can have the practice to himself. I mean, I'm never going to be a GP, it's just not me, and small-town living, it seems like fun, but I don't know if I could really do it long-term, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Wade muttered, holding her tight when she seemed to want to cuddle up closer anyway.

It was killing him to agree with her, but unfortunately, he knew she was right. Maybe Zoe couldn't ever get used to Bluebell as a permanent place to be, and her happiness mattered so damn much to him. Of course, that meant he was probably going to have to get used to New York City as a long-term residence. Lord help him, as much as he loved Zoe, he was not so sure if he could do that.

To Be Continued...