Hey all! I am excited to know that despite the one little set back, that you are sticking around to see how this story unfolds. I am not sure when I will have the next chapter for this one as I don't have any more written at this time, but I do know what I want to happen in the next chapter. My plan moving forward with this story is to have 2-3 chapters each week, but it might not work out that way.

To all my fellow Americans, I hope that you have a fun filled 4th of July weekend planned. But also a safe holiday weekend. The rest of you I hope that have a fun weekend ahead of you.

Enjoy!

Twisting the cap off his beer, sitting outside on his porch, he smiled his first real genuine smile in a whole year. For once, he can hear his thoughts, he can hear the birds singing the most beautiful song he's heard since he was a little boy. He never thought he'd miss it. The noise of the traffic and people in any city he had travelled to while on tour, he never got used to. When he was on tour with the military, it was a different experience altogether, one that still haunts him, when he thinks he's moved past it. He'll take the giggles from the little girl across the pond to the gun fire or car alarms.

He raises an eyebrow, watching the little girl sneak through the dense trees that filled some space between the gate house and the carriage house. His eyes watch her filled with curiosity, for a fraction of a second he loses her among the brush. Yet soon enough he'll spot the bright orange bow bobbing along. He doesn't know if they're playing a game, or if she's playing on her own. One thing is for certain, he'll gladly sit enjoying the fresh air Bluebell has to offer and keep an eye on her. You can never have enough eyes watching out.

From the corner of his eye, he spotted that same bow make it's way closer to him, off to his left. He slowly took a pull of his beer, his eyes scanning to see if he could spot Zoe, looking for her daughter. He couldn't, and it made him wonder for a second if Sofia had snuck off when Zoe wasn't looking. He, too, can remember most of the times he snuck off on his parents, and understands now how everyone in town watched out for him when he did such a stunt.

"Boo!" Sofia shouted, making him jump.

"Ahh," Wade screamed, acting scared. "Oh it's only Sofia," Wade said, turning his head to look at the little girl with a big smile on her face. He had watched her and the second he couldn't see her, he figured she'd ended up behind him. He listened closely and heard her feet hitting the wooden deck of his porch as she snuck up on him.

Sofia giggled, running off in the direction of the Carriage house. He shook his head, remembering how carefree he was when he was that young. Oh, how nice it would be to have that carefree attitude back. The only care being when his Ma would make him come inside. Back when he still had his mom in his life. He didn't make it home nearly enough when he enlisted, and that's on him. He can sit here and say he should have until his face is blue, it's not going to change what he did or didn't do in his past.

The same could be said about Zoe and the way he wrote her out of his life. He only gave his parents the address to write to him, not wanting to put anyone else in the spot of being disappointed when he couldn't write them back in a timely fashion or if god forbid something happened to him out there. He couldn't do that, and the easiest way was to write everyone else off. They were better off that way. Once he made it back stateside, his music taking over, well, it wasn't easy to admit defeat and barge into their lives like he had a right to do so because he didn't. Still doesn't think he does, but being home in Bluebell, it was just time, something he only realized while passing the sign welcoming him home to Bluebell.

"Mommy said," Sofia said, rushing onto the steps. Wade blinked, having not seen her running through the trail from the carriage house to the gate house, so lost in thought, that she startled him a little.

"What did mommy say?" Wade asked softly, waiting for the little girl to catch her breath enough to finish what she was going to tell him. He looked around to see if he could see Zoe. He smiled softly, seeing her slowly walking through the woods in their direction.

"Mommy said, you can eat with us," she rushed out in one big breath.

"Did she now?" Wade asked, shooting Zoe a smirk as she took the steps one at a time to join them.

"Uh-huh," Sofia nodded.

"I believe my exact words were that we could ask Wade what his plans were and if he wasn't busy, then we would ask him if he wants to join us for dinner," Zoe clarified. "You don't have to join us, if you have other things to do tonight," she told him.

"Everything I have to do tonight, is sitting out here enjoying the quiet that comes with living in the country," he shrugged, getting up. He picked Sofia up, swinging her onto his hip as he walked up to where Zoe stood. "I am hungry, and how can I turn down such an invite from such a cute little pumpkin?" Wade asked, lightly ticking Sofia's stomach while smiling, keeping a tight hold on her as she wiggled against him laughing.

"It's not quite that easy as her mother, either," Zoe retorted, leading the way back to the carriage house. It's been a learning curve to learn how to firmly say no to her daughter without a bucket of waterworks to follow saying no. "I can't promise you that it's a fancy dinner, just some leftovers from last night. My dad wouldn't let me leave without taking them," she told him, not giving him a chance to say anything to her former statement.

"Since your dad made it, you might not get rid of me," he teased. "I've had enough fancy food and fancy everything to last a lifetime," he groaned. "I am proud to say that I know for certain that I am a country boy, through and through," he smirked, adjusting Sofia on his hip. "How is your dad?" He asked, deciding to stay away from anything related to Candice, as he just doesn't know what's going on there. And he wants to avoid opening any old wounds. Just to be safe. It's going to take time to mend what was broken between them. Until then, it seemed he'd be the one walking on eggshells.

"Tease all you want, but I will have you know that I did my fair share of cooking the food," she stated, walking up the steps to the carriage house, coming to a stop. "Sofia," she said, running a hand down her daughter's cheek. "Helped make dessert," she informed Wade. "He's doing good, he's had a few health scares over the years, but things have been good," she nodded, entering her home.

The carriage house has changed over the years. When you walk through the door, you have the living room, which had been her bedroom at one point. Further down the hall you will be greeted by a small kitchen on one side, big enough for an oven, a kitchen sink, a fridge and a few cupboards and a counter running the length of a wall. The dining room on the other side, big enough to hold a table with four chairs and nothing else. Upstairs was the host to two bedrooms and a bathroom. It wasn't much, but it was her.

"Does that mean we start with dessert first?" Wade asked, placing Sofia down to get washed up for dinner.

"Can we Mommy?" Sofia asked, using her step stool to be high enough to reach the sink in the kitchen to wash her hands.

"No we can not," Zoe stated, sending Wade a look over her shoulder, grabbing three bowls from the cupboard. It was far too close for dinner to be eating dessert, and she needs her daughter to eat something other than sweets for dinner. "We can have dessert before we go meet your dad for dinner tomorrow night, okay?" She asked, pressing a kiss to Sofia's head as she played in the water making bubbles.

"Okay," Sofia nodded, giggling at the bubbles.

"I really need to be let in how that came to be," Wade commented, standing out of the way. He didn't know what he should do to help, and there wasn't much room to lend a hand. "The whole you and George thing," he commented, clearing up the confusion he left Zoe in.

"There's nothing to that story," Zoe told him with a shrug, moving to get Sofia dried off and to the table. They were just there when things didn't seem to be going so well in their lives.

"Obviously, there's a little more than nothing to that story," Wade commented, helping Sofia in her chair at the table. He wants to avoid prying into anyone's lives, but he would like to have a little backstory on everything that he had left behind. So many things have thrown him for a loop because they're just this big hole in what he's missing. It's his fault for the way he acted and wanting to forget about his roots and what that entailed leaving behind. Here he is home, but still as lost as ever.

"I don't have beer, so I hope wine is okay, or you can have juice or water," she told him, getting Sofia a glass of apple juice, and pouring herself a glass of wine. The very last thing she wants to talk about is the things that happened with George to Wade while her daughter sits at the table with them.

"Wine is fine," Wade nodded, dishing a small portion of the stew into the bowl for Sofia. Seeing that he won't be getting any answers from Zoe, and respecting her privacy, he let it drop, dishing a bowl of stew for Zoe before dishing himself up.

As they sat at the table eating, a weird, awkward silence fell over them. It was an awkwardness that they've never felt before. Not even years ago, when Wade and Zoe were at odds with each other on her first day in Bluebell. Wade had to wonder if maybe he needed to make up something they needed to spy on, to get them past this weird thing they have going on. Or maybe give things time and not force them to be friends right off the bat.

Zoe sighed to herself, wondering just when things, if ever, would go back to how things used to be between them. She misses the days when they could sit in comfortable silence and not worry about the things going on in their lives. Yet, now they can't even get through one dinner without things being filled with tension and an awkwardness that was never there before. She doesn't blame Wade for doing what he had done. She might hold a bit of anger towards him for doing what he had done, but it's not like she had tried either.

20 minutes after they finished dinner, they sat outside, watching Sofia play. Wade had offered to keep an eye on her while Zoe took her time getting things cleaned up from dinner. Some of that awkwardness that had settled over them while they ate, seemed to dissipate while they sat on the porch, Sofia's giggles reaching their ears.

"Lemon had just broken things off with George," she sighed, taking a rather large sip of her wine. "He had flown back to Bluebell to convince her they could work out, and it just didn't happen," she told him.

"I didn't know they had broken up when he was working in New York," Wade commented, having raced Sofia through the woods to the gate house, to grab a few bottles of beer. Sofia having won both times. He figured with whatever is going on with them, he'd need something other wine.

"He was devastated," Zoe commented. "And I was having such a bad time with my pediatrics rotation," she confessed, she nearly failed. "And he was the only in the city that just got me, you know?" She asked, without expecting him to answer. "For weeks we would meet up, and it felt like we had a piece of home. It really bonded us and made your friendship stronger," she smiled. Despite having a child together, they're still excellent friends, something that helps when it comes to raising Sofia.

Wade remained quiet. Afraid that if he said anything it would break Zoe, and she'd clam up on him once again. He missed out on being there for her when it really seemed like she needed someone, and he's happy to know that she had George to lean on. He can't be upset about that. She needed someone and because he was being a jerk, she fell back on having George there. Watching Sofia light up over the frog she was imitating, how can you not enjoy what they had shared?

"I don't regret anything when it comes to George," Zoe shared, swirling that last of her wine around in her glass. "I love Sofia," she smiled. "We didn't date, we weren't an item. We used each other, and it became this normal part of our lives," she shrugged.

"I can get that," Wade nodded, knocking his shoulder into hers. "I wouldn't trade it either because of that little girl," he said, nodding to where Sofia was now trying to catch the frog. "Is a pretty special child." He wasn't lying. He may have only spent a short amount of time with her, but he can see just how special she is. He's heard plenty about her, and those story's didn't do the little girl the justice she is in person.

"I can't imagine my life without her," Zoe smiled. "She brought me home, and I didn't even realize that it's what had been missing in my life until I was back here," she commented.

"Now that I get more than you know," Wade sighed. "I didn't know I needed to be back here until I showed up here. Wasn't planning on coming back, just did," he explained the best he could while getting it off his chest.

"Funny how it all works out, huh?" Zoe asked softly.

"Yeah," Wade nodded.

They still had plenty they needed to get off their chests when it came to their past. Plenty of things to hash out before they could truly be as close as they once were. Slowly they were mending what had been broken. And Wade is starting to slowly realize that the feeling he was missing wasn't Bluebell, even though he had missed his hometown. It was more the people he had been missing. More importantly now that he had Zoe back in his life, it might very well have been her friendship and just her in general that had been missing from his life.