A/N: So glad to still have a few readers on this story - if you left a review on the previous chapter, I really appreciate it :) Now, I know it's technically a little early for the RL occasion, but we're close - how about a Halloween party?

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 13

It was Halloween in Bluebell and as far as Zoe could tell, that was as good an excuse as any for a really big costume party. Obviously, she was going with Wade, and as far as she knew Lemon was going with Lavon. She hadn't heard yet if George had a date, and unfortunately, she and Lemon had struggled in finding a suitable escort for Annabeth. That was until about ten minutes ago, when Zoe heard from her friends that actually, AB would be on the arm of the town mayor.

"Are you freakin' kidding me?" she squeaked on hearing the whole plan. "AB and Lavon? But you're dating Lavon," she reminded Lemon, "right?" she added at the last second, seriously wondering if she was going crazy.

Lemon rolled her eyes and looked exasperated in that way that only Lemon Breeland could.

"It's all very simple, sweet little Zoe," she insisted, patting her on the head for good measure, something Zoe did not appreciate in the least. "Tom Long has been helping out with the mayoral campaign, assisting in getting all those non-voters signed up in time for the upcoming election," she explained. "Unfortunately, his latest adventure in recruitment was with the Beaudry clan. That's twenty-two people all signed up to vote, which would be wonderful, if that family were not the biggest Auburn fans to ever grace the good town of Bluebell."

"Auburn?" Zoe echoed. "As in so anti the Tide it's not even funny?"

"Exactly." Lemon nodded once. "Now, in order to fix this unfortunate blunder on the part of Tom Long, I have come up with the perfect fix-it plan. Since the news of my dating Lavon is not at all well-known as of yet, Annabeth Nass, formerly Thibodaux - Auburn legacy, thanks to her grandaddy, Hubert Thibodaux, who was on the '57 championship team - will go to the Halloween party with Lavon, as his girlfriend. She will inform the Beaudry clan that there is simply no need to think of our Lavon as a former player of the Tide but just as the wonderful mayor that he is. If she can accept him, so can they, and there you have it, twenty-two cast-iron votes"

Zoe wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry by the time Lemon came to the end of her speech. After a while, she just kind of exploded instead.

"Are you crazy?" she checked, eyes wide and mouth probably wider, the shock was that big. "Lemon, you can't... I mean, this is... I repeat, you're crazy!" she landed on one more time, because she really couldn't form any more words. "You are all freakin' crazy," she emphasised, waving her finger around in circles. "You finally figured things out with Lavon, and now, you're really going to stand by and watch him go on a date with your best and oldest friend, just for a few votes in a mayoral election?"

Lemon looked set to argue, but only for a moment, before finally, Zoe's words appeared to hit home. She actually stood and watched as the cogs turned in Lemon's head and everything clicked into place.

"Oh, my!" she said eventually. "Well, you know, I had been so caught up in thinking of this purely from an election point of view... Oh, my goodness!"

Her hand went over her heart and her usually pale face might actually have gotten even a shade more white as she stood there. Zoe suddenly felt bad.

"Lemon, it's okay," she assured her, hand on her shoulder in comfort. "You have time to fix this. Just call AB, or Lavon, or both, and tell them you changed your mind about this crazy, crazy plan."

Though Lemon didn't move, Zoe had to hope she was going to take her advice, and unfortunately, she didn't have the time to hang around and find out for sure. Checking her watch, she realised she really should be heading out. She still had to pick up her dress that Delma had kindly offered to alter for her, since Zoe had no idea how to do it herself, and time was most definitely running out.

"Lemon?" she called from the door. "You are okay, right?"

There was quite a long pause before Lemon suddenly shook herself out of a daze and turned to look at Zoe.

"Zoe Hart, if you don't get over to Delma Warner's house in the next few minutes, how do you ever expect to be ready for the party in time?"

"On my way." Zoe smiled, feeling sure that Lemon would be absolutely fine now.

With that in mind, she headed out quickly to Delma's place. It was all very well knowing Lemon and Lavon would be okay, she really didn't want the next problem to be between herself and Wade, which it doubtless would be if she wasn't ready for the party on time.

Halfway across town square, she cursed as her cell rang loudly.

"Now is so not the time!" she said as if to the caller, even though she had yet to locate the phone in her purse, never mind accept the call and put the phone to her ear.

She frowned when she saw the caller ID, unsure whether to be worried or cautious at all, even as she accepted the call.

"Sophie? Hi, it's been... forever," she said, meaning it almost literally.

Zoe honestly wasn't sure when she had last spoken to her old college room-mate, but it was definitely long before she left New York for Bluebell. Of course, as Sophie quickly explained, she knew all about what was going on with Zoe thanks to Candice telling everyone just about everything. She seemed to have fudged a few details to make the life of her daughter sound somewhat more glamourous than it actually was, but Zoe could live with that, she supposed.

"So, anyway, I got talking to my brother about you. You remember Joel, right?"

Though Zoe immediately said that of course she remembered Joel, it actually took her a minute or two to recall the guy. When she did, she smiled, remembering that he was such a nice guy, if not a nerd. If she wasn't mistaken, he also had a little bit of a crush on her back in college too.

"And I just thought," Sophie was saying, when Zoe tuned back in to the conversation, "it was such a great idea. I mean, he can mostly take care of himself these days, but he'd need a place to stay and maybe someone to show him around a little. What do you think?"

Zoe stopped walking very abruptly, realising she had clearly missed something important.

"What do I think about...?" she checked, just a little concerned that she already knew what the answer might be.

"About Joel coming to Bluebell, for research, for his new book?" Sophie said slowly, almost as if she thought Zoe was suddenly very dumb. "Oh, I'm sorry. Is it the signal? Do you not get good service down there? Zoe. Can. You. Hear. Me?" she over emphasised, leaving clear spaces between her words.

Rolling her eyes, Zoe told her she could hear her just fine.

"Soph, I'm so sorry, but I really have to go," she said fast, realising she was literally a few paces away from Delma's place now. "I promise that we will talk about this again, and I would be more than happy to give your brother a tour if he wants to come visit in Bluebell, but I really don't know how useful it would be to him."

"Oh, he has this whole bee in his bonnet about the south right now, pretty much ever since he heard you were there, I think," said Sophie, with an eyeroll Zoe swore she heard. "So, it's okay that I gave him your number, right?"

"Uh, sure, I guess," Zoe found herself saying, repeating once again that she really must go.

Thankfully, Sophie hung up a moment later, her good bye coming through in very over separated words that nearly burst Zoe's eardrum. She would worry about her friend's brother if and when he chose to call her. For tonight, Zoe had a dress to collect, a transformation to perform upon herself, and then a party to get to. She was not, under any circumstances going to be late!

It wasn't easy for Wade to keep his eye on the door when he was tending bar. Of course, he wasn't supposed to be working right now, he was supposed to be attending the Halloween party with Zoe. She was bound to be less than thrilled to realise her date was on the wrong side of the bar for most of the night, but there was nothing much Wade could do about it. Other folks had conveniently called in sick tonight, leaving just him and Wanda to cover, for the most part. It was going to be a long and awkward night.

Of course, what had Wade feeling a little better was the sight of George Tucker with his own personal harem hanging off his arms. Weird as it was to have Golden Boy playing the field, Wade sure didn't object to knowing his buddy had plenty to distract him from thoughts of a certain doctor. Not that he didn't trust Zoe not to wander off with some other guy, even if it was George Tucker who was offering, but it was just that little bit easier if nobody else was trying to take the doc away from Wade.

"Wow, you clean up good, Mr Bond... but why are you on that side of the bar?"

Wade shook his head and turned from his view of George with Daisy and Savannah hanging all over him, to see Zoe looking less than thrilled. Of course, he wasn't focused on her face for too long, his eyes raking over her body in a short, tight little dress that did all kinds of things for her figure and her legs. It did more than a little something for Wade too.

"Geez, doc, look at you," he said, swallowing hard. "You're about to cause a stampede."

She coloured at the compliment, but smiled real wide all the same.

"This old thing?" she joked, moving down the bar when he did to meet him at the opening. "Well, I thought that those Bond girls are all so glamourous, and since you were pretty darn determined about being James Bond, I should probably-"

She didn't get any further in what she was saying, because frankly, Wade couldn't wait any longer to be kissing her. Zoe's feet all but left the floor as he pulled her close and kissed her long and hard on the lips. When he finally released her, they were both smiling like fools.

"So, uh, you like the costume?"

"I love the costume, doc."

"Well, good. Like I said, you look pretty good yourself, Mr Bond," she told him, adjusting the lapels of his jacket. "But the whole behind-the-bar thing, please tell me you're not working all night."

"Probably not all night," he confirmed awkwardly, "but some, at least. I'm sorry, Zoe."

"It's okay, I guess." Zoe shrugged. "I mean, I have emergencies in my job. Just remember this some day when we're out to dinner and I have to run out on you, okay?"

"Will do." Wade nodded once, then planted one more quick kiss on Zoe's mouth. "Thanks for understanding, doc."

"I'll understand better if you pour me a glass of wine," she assured him, hopping up onto a stool as Wade returned to duty and got her that drink. "Have you seen Lavon yet?" she asked, pulling at her short dress now she was seated.

"Sure, he and Lemon got here a while ago, brought AB right along with 'em," he told her, gesturing into the corner where they were all standing yet. "Can't imagine why they're all so hell-bent on talkin' this long with the Beaudries. Well, AB, maybe. She's Auburn legacy, but they ain't exactly fans of Lavon, given his time with the Tide."

Zoe looked over in that direction and the biggest smile came over her lips. So, Annabeth was still helping out to get the Beaudries to vote for Lavon, and that was fine, but she noted that it was Lavon and Lemon who had on the matching costumes. They were here together, AB was just tagging along as a friend. That was how it should be.

"What's that big ol' grin for?" Wade asked her, putting her glass of wine down on the bar in front of her.

"Just happy." Zoe shrugged, sipping her drink. "Happy for Lemon and Lavon, happy for you and me, happy for Halloween," she said, smiling even wider, if that were possible. "It is a good time to be alive, Wade Kinsella."

"Can't argue with that, I guess," he agreed, even though he looked a little puzzled yet.

Zoe knew she ought to explain, but since someone further down the bar was calling for service, she wasn't going to get the chance any time soon. Wade shot her another apologetic look before getting back to work and Zoe sighed. She would have liked to enjoy this party as another date with Wade, but apparently, it wasn't to be. It could still be a fun night, she was sure, she was just going to have to take what she could get.

Turning around on her stool, she surveyed all the friends and neighbours, all the families and couples milling around, and her smile never faded once. Bluebell was a crazy place at the best of times, and with everyone dressed up as all things scary to comical tonight, it was even weirder! In amongst it all, she caught sight of George dancing with two girls at once and even that made her smile.

It surprised Zoe to realise how pleased she was to see George being made happy by other girls. Sure, there was a time when she thought she wanted to be the woman in his life, and honestly, she didn't exactly find him unattractive now, especially in that sexy fireman costume. Still, when it came right down to it, Zoe knew she was probably better off with Wade. She missed him so much after she moved off the plantation and hardly saw him at all. He was a friend as well as a lover, and damn good in both roles, she had to admit.

"You are in luck, Miss Zoe Hart," said Wade himself then and Zoe spun quickly on her stool to see him standing there. "I can take a thirty-minute break, right now, before things get even more crazy. So, what do you say, doc? You wanna dance?" he asked, coming out from the bar and offering her his hand.

Putting her hand into his, she hopped down from her stool and looked up to see him smiling down at her. Yeah, she absolutely made the right choice when she chose Wade.

To Be Continued...