A/N: Thanks to those still reading and more over those who are leaving reviews. I know this story is a little bit of an oddity, but now we have arrived in June 2001 and this is where we're staying until the end of the story. Much Zoe & Wade to come, as well as some other stuff ;)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 5

June 2001

She must have read the letter at least a dozen times and still Zoe didn't know what to make of it. Usually, when she had a problem of this magnitude, she would go to her father for sound advice. Daddy always knew what to do and always managed to make Zoe feel better, even when things got bad or complicated. Unfortunately, this was one matter she didn't feel able to bring to him, because it concerned the one person they never talked about.

First, she had tried to call Lavon. When they were kids, they had sort of adopted each other as siblings, and her older brother seemed like the ideal person to call in a crisis that she couldn't go to her father with. Unfortunately, he was just heading out to practice and couldn't really talk right then, though he had promised to call her back later. Zoe knew he would do it too, but it left her alone with a big decision to make, at least until someone else came to check on her.

"Hey, Zoe."

She looked up fast from her spot sat on the gazebo steps, almost getting blinded by the sun that came straight into her eyes over George Tucker's shoulder.

"Hi, George, Lemon," she greeted them, trying to force a smile, but finding it impossible. "Uh, I was just..."

"You got a letter from your momma, didn't you?" said Lemon quickly. "Oh, Zoe, I'm so sorry, but I overheard Shep talkin'. You know, that mailman has no thought for anybody's privacy. He said somethin' about a letter postmarked New York comin' for you, and now I see you lookin' so flustered about something..."

Zoe sniffed a little and shook her head.

"If you want help picking a major, Lemon, I recommend criminology. You'd make a great detective," she said, though it was hard to find the humour even in her own joke.

Without a word, Lemon and George moved to sit down on either side of Zoe. George put his arm around her shoulders and Lemon picked up her hand, holding it tight.

"You wanna talk about it, Zo?" he offered.

"Or you can just cry it out if you'd like, we won't think any less of you for it," she assured her.

Zoe found a real smile for her friends then.

"I'm okay," she said bravely. "Well, no, I'm not, but I don't wanna cry and I'm not even sure that I have much to talk about. I am nineteen years old," she told them, though of course they already knew that, "and this is the first contact I've had from my mother in all of that time. She hasn't seen me since I was a few months old and I don't remember her at all."

She hated the crack in her voice when she said those words. Zoe wished she just didn't care at all about her mother. After all, Candice had made it very clear she didn't care much for her. Unfortunately, no matter how much she deserved to be ignored and forgotten, Zoe couldn't quite manage to do it. Candice was still her mother, when all was said and done, and apparently, she hadn't been doing so well lately.

"She's been sick," she said, staring unseeing at the paper in her hands. "I think she's okay now, but the whole thing made her... I don't know. Nostalgic? Guilty? Here, see if you can figure it out," she told George, pressing the letter into his hands.

He looked awkward about reading her private mail. It was the future lawyer in him, Zoe knew, but honestly, she meant what she said. She wanted him to read what it said, then maybe he could explain it to her. Maybe he and Lemon would know better what she should do, because she had no idea herself.

"What does it say?" Lemon asked her boyfriend in a smaller voice than Zoe had ever heard her use before.

"Uh, that she wants to see Zoe. That she's sorry for not being the mom she shoulda been. That she... wow, they thought she had cancer, which she doesn't, but suspected. She is fine now, she just wants Zoe to go visit".

"Yes, she does." Zoe nodded, hearing the words of the letter in her head so clearly, having read it over and over at least a dozen times already today.

"Do you wanna go to New York?" George asked, putting the letter back into Zoe's hand.

The question raised a smile, but not for the right reasons.

"To see the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State?" she asked, looking at her friend. "Sure. To see her?" she asked then, waving the letter in her hand. "I don't know."

Silence reigned for a few moments, then suddenly Lemon squeezed Zoe's hand and spoke softly to her.

"Now, obviously, this is your decision, Zoe Hart, but since you asked for advice... Well, you know how much I miss my momma. She did wrong leaving us the way she did, and you know as well as anyone how mad at her I am, how heartbroken she left us all. Still, she is my mother, and if she wrote me a letter beggin' me for a visit, tellin' me all the things your momma told you, I would go see her," she admitted.

Zoe looked up at her, a little surprised by the confession. Lemon was right, she did know very well both how angry and upset she had been when her mother walked out on the whole Breeland family not so long ago. Zoe never would've guessed how easily Lemon might welcome her back, or even just leap at the chance to see her again.

"Thanks, Lemon," she said then, forcing a smile, "but it's different for you. Your mom at least hung around until you were grown. I'll bet when Magnolia is older, she won't be so keen to see the momma she can't even remember."

"Maybe that's true," George agreed. "And I'm not denying that what both your mothers did was... well, it was wrong, as far as I can tell, but I also know that if someone is sorry, real sorry, and they love you, you should at least give 'em a chance. You know, even in a court o' law, you get a lighter sentence for pleading guilty and showin' remorse."

Both Lemon and Zoe, who had been teary-eyed at best a moment before, raised a smile at the sound of that.

"My boyfriend was just born to be a lawyer, wasn't he?" Lemon rolled her eyes.

"I don't think there's ever been any doubt about that," Zoe agreed with a giggle that didn't really last long enough.

It was soon replaced by a heavy sigh as she forced herself on to her feet.

"Thank you, for trying to help," she told Lemon and George both. "I appreciate it, but I definitely need to think some more about this before I make a final decision."

They said they understood, which is what Zoe expected, and at least they let her walk away alone to be with her thoughts. She suspected that was what she needed, though going over and over things in her head didn't really seem to help much. She found herself wandering seemingly aimlessly for quite a while, surprising herself when she turned around and saw she had arrived at the Kinsella house.

Right out front, there was Wade, an old beat-up car that he called his baby up on blocks while he worked on her. The sight made Zoe smile at first, until it didn't anymore.

"Your momma is looking down and having a fit about the grease stains you're getting all over those clothes," she said as she walked closer and got her friend's attention.

Wade looked a little confused by the mention of his mother. After all, they didn't talk about her much, not because they could ever forget or not want to remember, only because it just hurt too much most of the time, even now.

"She might, if I was wearin' anythin' worth the fuss," he agreed, shrugging his shoulders. "Who peed in your cornflakes?" he asked, eyes scanning her face.

Zoe was pretty sure she was sad-looking at best, tear-stained at worst. Heaving a sigh, she pulled her mom's letter from her pocket and handed it over, not even caring that it was bound to get all kinds of messed up in Wade's hands. To his credit, he did wipe them off on his jeans some before he took a hold of the paper.

She watched him read the full page, front and back, expecting some kind of reaction when he was done, but none really came. Zoe wasn't clear on whether she thought Wade would be mad or sad or happy on her behalf. She just thought he would be something other than silent.

"So, you goin'?" he asked after a while, holding out the letter for her to take back.

"Honestly? No idea," she said, shaking her head as she stared at the folded piece of paper a moment then pushed it deep into her pocket. "Would you?"

"Ask me another dumb question, why don'tcha?" he said, rolling his eyes. "Come on, Zo. If I had the chance to see my momma again, you know I'd run through fire and crawl over broken glass for that."

"I know." Zoe nodded. "For what it's worth, for Jackie, I'd do the same."

She had to swallow hard right after she said it, tears filling her eyes all over again that she had real trouble keeping in. Wade's arm went around her without a moment's hesitation, pulling her to him and kissing the top of her head.

"Yeah, I know that you would," he said softly, rubbing her back. "She loved the hell outta you."

"She was the only person who... She was the only mom I ever knew," Zoe admitted, her face pressed into Wade's chest as they held on to each other tightly. "This Candice is just... she's not anybody to me. I could walk past her in the street and I'm not sure I'd even recognise her. I know she wouldn't recognise me."

"Sure she would," Wade told her definitely. "Harley's been sending her pictures since you were little, right?"

"Not for a long time," said Zoe, pulling back a little, shaking her head and swiping at her eyes. "When I was twelve, I found out he was still sending them and I made him stop. I didn't see why she should have any part of me, since I didn't have any part of her."

Wade nodded. "Makes sense, I guess," he admitted, pushing Zoe's hair back from her face for her. "So, you don't wanna meet her?"

That was the million-dollar question, of course, but Zoe still didn't have an answer to it. She knew what she probably should do, what made the most sense, but it didn't fit with what she thought she wanted.

"I don't know, Wade," she said, looking up at him helplessly. "Honestly? The whole thing terrifies me. Meeting my mom after all this time, going to New York City by myself, it's just... it's way too much."

"Hey, now, you don't have to be scared about any o' that stuff," he said gently, lifting her chin on his finger until she was looking at him again. "Zoe, you are the strongest woman I know. That's somethin' you have in common with my momma," he said with a half-smile. "Fact is I believe there is nothin' you can't do or deal with or handle if you have a mind to, but if you really need somebody to hold your hand in all this, you know I got your back, right?"

That at least made Zoe smile a genuine smile.

"I know," she assured him, "but it's not like you're going to come to New York with me, is it?"

"Why not?" Wade shrugged easily. "Anywhere you need me to be, Zoe, I am there. Isn't that the deal with friends as old and close as we are?"

He meant it. He really meant that he would get on a plane for her, travel across the country, be there at her side when she met her mother, everything. Zoe wasn't even sure why she was surprised. After all, as Wade just mentioned, he was her oldest and closest friend, and she would absolutely do the same for him, if he needed her to.

"Thanks, Wade. I mean that," she promised, hugging him one more time. "I don't know exactly what I'm going to do yet, but if I do end up... Well, thank you," she repeated, glad of his arms around her and another kiss on top of her head.

"No problem, Zoe Wilkes," he assured her. "No problem at all."

To Be Continued...