Chapter 5 WEDNESDAY
I was careful not to wake him when I got out of the bed. I took off my pjs. This time they were a little more normal. You know that stretchy jersey material top and pants. I put on my clothes and shoes and ran up to Lavon's for breakfast. He wasn't there. I threw some pancakes, strawberries and the syrup.
When I walked back in at Wade's , I heard the shower going.
"Hey Wade, I brought breakfast."
"That is where you went. Wish you would have woke me up. I would have loved seeing you in my bed first thing in the morning. It would have been a real nice way to wake up. Be out in a minute"
He came out glistening, water droplets all over him, just a towel. Wet messy hair. The fire department couldn't put him out right now.
I turned away so he could get dressed.
"Thanks for breakfast Doc, that real nice of ya"
Let's eat on the patio.
"After we eat, let's take that walk."
"Sure, I have to work later though"
I took her to the back side of the plantation. Showed her the flower gardens behind the house and then down a little path that led to a creek. It was February but in Bluebell things were in bloom.
We sat down at the creek and read some of our book. We decided that we would alternate reading every other chapter as we did on our first date. He sat behind me while I read. Holding me in between his legs, breathing softly in my ear, It seemed he was hanging on every word. When it was his turn, He sat against a tree. I sat beside him and crawled up as close as I could to his chest and laid my head in the crease of his shoulder.
"Doc, we better head back so you can get to work on time."
"Wade, you must have had really good role models growing up."
"I did until my mom died. My dad and mom were in love as any two people I have ever seen. They took pleasures in the simple things"
"I think they may have been the smartest people in the world."
"When she died, it was crushing. let's go." His mood fell.
"Wade I can be late, talk to me."
"It's nothing, just going to say, I pretty much brought myself up with the help of the Hayes' and the Tuckers' and all the gossip girls in town. Now let's not ruin a perfectly good day"
"See ya tonight, Wade?"
"I will be waiting."
XXXXXXX
I walked into a practice full of people at 11am.
"Addy, does Brick know he has a room full of patients? I can take some if he will let me"
"Well Dr. Hart, it seems like you going to that ballgame last night has won you some brownie points with the folks. All but Old Man Harvey are here to see you."
"Me? Wow. who is first?"
"Lettie Morris, sore throat."
"Were you at the game last night Mrs. Morris?"
"I was. Were you yelling at the game?"
"Well not as much as you, but yeah."
"You don't have a fever or any swollen glands so I think it is just a sore throat."
"Thanks, Dr. Hart. for coming to the game."
I saw 7 more patients by 2pm. All but one had come because I was at the basketball game. One said , she came because she thought Wade and I made the cutest couple. She went on to tell me about his basketball prowess. She had a migraine. Several others were just allergies.
Z- Hey , I have had 8 patients already today.
W- That's great Doc
Z- You are my hero
W- Hope so
Thirty minutes later, Wade was there with my lunch. He brought left over grilled chicken over top of lettuce and went to the rammer jammer to get some ranch packets.
"That boy is in love" said Addy as she walked out of my office.
"Addy, he is incredible. Why didn't I see it before? You know when he was catching snakes, helping with Leon Mercy, he has had my back from day one. I am such an idiot."
"There is an old saying 'you can't see the forest for the trees' . I think that may apply here. Are you all taking it slow?"
"For Wade it must be a turtle's pace. For me it is way too slow. I wanted to have sex the first night. He declined."
"Why?"
"He wants me to know that I am not like any other girl he has been with."
"Yep he is in love. How do you feel?"
"I have never felt this way. I realized I have judged everybody because of where they were born instead of the type of person they are. I have learned so many things about him. I put him in a neat little box: country bartender, no education, sexist, egomaniac, handsome"
"What have you learned?"
"Sensitive, thoughtful, amazing memory, Did you know he remembered my favorite wine which I only asked for the first week I got here? Beautiful smile, gentlest hands. He can cook, who knew?"
"Dr, Hart, everyone knows you had him make your Gumbo. So don't act like you didn't know he could cook."
"What? No Lavon made it."
"Did Lavon tell you that?'
"No, in fact he said he definitely did not."
"Wade made your Gumbo. Us older people remember his Uncle Mo's gumbo. "
"Wow, I was so mean to him. Why would he do that for me?"
"Why do you think there is not a person in this town who doesn't love Wade Kinsella?" I shrugged. Addy continued "Because Wade would give the shirt off of his back for any of us. Wade is a genuine good guy. You must have caught his attention very early"
"I am in shock. How many more patients do I have?"
"Just two. Okay. I am leaving after that. Wade has the day off."
XXXXXX
'Doc, what are you doing here?"
"You have some free time?"
"Yeah for you."
"Ok , we are going to your dad's."
"Why?"
"Because he is your dad. We are going to make dinner together and I want to see Baby Wade pictures"
"Let's go to the grocery. But Zoe, he may be drunk"
"That is why we are going early before he's too far gone or hopefully we catch him before he starts."
We went to the grocery store and Wade bought everything needed for chicken cacciatore. I was surprised. So far there hasn't been a single meatloaf, pot roast, casserole in Wade's wheelhouse. Maybe people in the South did eat alot of the same things like we did in New York.
"Dad, it's me and Zoe. You here?"
"Hay pretty doctor?"
"Hi Earl. I wanted for us to all have dinner together. Wade has cooked a couple of excellent meals for me and I was hoping to learn from the best."
"Oh, little lady, I haven't really cooked in years not for more than one"
Wade carried in the groceries.
"Dad, we are gonna show Doc here, the Kinsella way. Chicken cacciatore."
"His mother and I cooked together most of the time. There were some things I cooked, some things she cooked but we tried to cook together. Chicken cacciatore was one we did together."
Wade said he would start the sauce.
"What are you doing?"
"Making the sauce."
"Don't you just pour a jar of sauce in the pan?"
Wade chuckled and Earl said" This recipe comes from my side, the italian side. Italians would never use anything from a jar. Wade is roasting the tomatoes so they reach their full flavor."
"I have to run back out to the car, I forgot something."
"Okay, we will be fine. Doctor, we are going to start chopping the vegetables. Have you done that before?"
"Yeah"
"Show me"
"Okay darlin'. You don't pick the knife up and down everytime. You rock the knife like you would a baby. You see how this knife has a similar shape as a rocking chair bottom? You rest the front of the blade while the back is up, you rock it down and the front is up. You push your veggies through the knife."
"Wow, sounds a lot smoother.. Mine sounds like I am cutting an arm off."
"Doc, you have very precise hands, they can do anything. Here let me help you get the feel of it."
Wade came behind me, both arms around me covering my arms and holding my hands. One with a zucchini in it and the other with a knife.
He guided my hands, He didn't apply too much of his own pressure. It was just that all of these emotions were running through me.
This man was the gentlest man on earth. He lights me on fire just by showing me how to chop vegetables.
"Ok, now you try with the red pepper."
Honestly, I wanted to be horrible at it so he would help me again.
So I played damsel in distress. I think he was on to me by the time we got to the onion. Still behind me, still guiding me, he whispered,"Don't move, now I know what my mom and dad always cooked together. It is a real turn on." He nibbled on my ear. I said, " yeah , we are going to start cooking every night." He put some distance between us so he could cool off before Earl came back in.
"Dad, since we didn't have time to slow roast the chicken, I am going to grill it outside so it will still have a bunch of flavor. Can you and Doc finish the sauce?"
"Be happy to have some one on one time with her."
"What's next Earl?"
"Well put a drizzle of olive oil in the pan and then dump your veggies in. We are going to saute them for 5-10 minutes."
"Cooking is science, I should be better at this."
"The only reason someone is not good at something is because they haven't been taught, haven't practiced or they do not care."
"Until now, I guess I would fall into all three categories." We both laughed. Earl didn't seem to have drank any alcohol before we got there, which made Wade more at ease. I loved talking to Earl. It was easy to see where Wade had gotten his charm, wits and intuition from.
"Alright now we have to take out the tomatoes and we are going to crush them and squeeze the juice out of it. We have always use our hands or you can use a food processor. We are going to let them cool for a few minutes . While we are waiting, we will put in oregano, garlic, some pepper flakes , salt and pepper. I will crush the tomatoes. I don't want you to burn those hands. I may need those again in the future."
"Earl, why has Wade never had a girlfriend?"
"Well, he always has had plenty of friends. The girls called all of the time. Several a night. He never had much interest in talking to them in that way. Pretty doctor, he didn't want to let anyone in. Ya see, after his mom died, he just put everything he had into sports, fishin, learnin to fix things. He always put on a good act. Had plenty of dates. He got by with being funny and handsome. It is hard to lose someone you love so much. Believe me, I wish I had handled things differently."
"Oh Earl, you raised a wonderful man. Somehow. Being with you I can see how he just gets me."
"Yeah,it's the way I 'got' his mother. He loves you , you know?"
"No he doesn't. Has he said that?"
"No, don't have to. In twenty years, you are the first girl that he has ever talked about with me. Like I said , plenty of girls wanted to date Mr. Basketball, million dollar smile guy. Just don't break his heart after he has finally opened up the possibility of letting himself be happy. You will find no better man than that boy of mine."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Wade standing there listening. I acted like I didnt because I couldn't say to him what I was going to say to his dad.
"Earl, I am probably more inexperienced with relationships than he is.
My dad, turning out not to be my dad. Him leaving me like I was nothing. Letting me think he was just too busy for me but it was really because I wasn't his biological daughter. It has made me cold, bitter, put up walls."
By this time, I am sobbing, trying to talk through the tears. Earl hugged me and it felt so good. It felt like a father holding his little princess.
"It's okay, I am here for you. Wade is here for you."
"Earl, I didn't find out why my father didn't love me until I moved here. I found out Harley was my bio father and a day later found out that Ethan couldn't handle it and had known since I was ten, which explained alot"
Earl put the veggies into the sauce , poured a little red wine in it and turned it to simmer. My tears had let up a little but they were still flowing at a pretty good pace. It felt so good to be saying these things out loud. He rubbed my back.
"I think I love your son. I am scared it will scare him off. He has liked me since I moved here and although I was attracted to him, I was steering myself in the wrong direction. Now it's been like five days and I think I am in love. I don't want him to leave me too."
"Dad, I will take it from here"
Earl left the kitchen. He folded me into his arms and I continued to cry. All of these feelings that I have kept inside for so many years. Asking myself, why my dad didn't love me anymore. Then feeling the love from basically a stranger in Earl. Wade stroked my hair. My nose in his chest. I could feel that I was soaking his shirt.
"Zoe, I am scared too. We are more alike than either of us have known. We have both been hurt so deeply for so long."
Now he is crying as hear some sniffles and the sound of tears hitting my shoulders. "I love you Zoe Hart. My dad has known it since the first day I mentioned your name." He pulled away. He wanted to see my eyes. He leaned down and our wet faces and lips crashed together. Two people that needed each other so desperately. " I know this seems fast for you , but I have known. Please don't think I would say this if I didn't mean it. I want to look at you when I say this time. I love you"
We kissed for several minutes, finally our tears subsided.
Wade shredded the chicken in large chunks.
"Zoe, we have a lot more to talk about. I know just now it helped you and I am happy you could tell my dad. I want to be there for you. Open you up so you can heal. You can do the same for me. I am tired of keeping it inside."
His eyes began to well up again.
"Wade, I am glad the world brought us together."
'Me too Doc. Now let's add the chicken in and let it warm through and we will be ready for dinner."
I excused myself to the bathroom. When I came out I heard laughter, which was good. I had not intended on bearing my soul to his father and then him.
We sat down at the kitchen table and had a family meal. I guess that was my first family meal in twenty years. Definitely the first meal that I had helped cook. I decided to ask Wade about the Gumbo at dinner. I thought I would be lightening the conversation but as it turned out, it did not.
"Wade It's time you tell me the truth. Did you make my Gumbo?"
'Yeah"
"Why did you let me think Lavon made it"
"He told you he didn't and you didn't even ask me , so I didn't lie."
"Why did you do it?"
"I felt sorry for you. I just wanted to do something nice for you"
"Why wouldn't you tell me?"
"If you remember correctly, you were a snob , thought you didn't need my help. Even though I was the one you ran to every time you needed help, not George, not Lavon. I don't even know if you realized it."
"What? I didn't do that."
"Right, lets see just off the top of my head
You needed me on Miller Rd or you wouldn't have gotten in
You needed me with the snake
You needed me several times with Leon Mercy
He stopped. "I didn't want you to think I just wanted to get in your pants. Are you mad at me for making the Gumbo?"
"Wade, you don't speak that way at the dinner table. Your momma is bending over backwards. She raised you to have manners."
"Yes sir. Sorry Doc"
"But I have to admit, everyone one in town knew who made it , if they were over 35. All you had to do was ask the question. Ya see Jackie's brother Maurice used to always win the gumbo contest until he moved away. He has some special spices or something that makes it unique."
"Doc, the point is you were pining over Tucker. It wouldn't have made a difference with me and you anyway. You weren't ready and I probably wasn't ready either. We just had to get to this point."
"Thank you for helping me. I just wish I would have known. I was such an ass to you sometimes. You are right, I have run to you with most of my problems. You have always been there to help me. Especially today."
"Anytime Doc."
"Wade, pretty doctor, this has been one of the best days. Could we make it a weekly dinner? Doesn't have to be the same night every time , I know you are on call sometimes."
"We would love to," I answered. " You all will figure out next week and I Will do the dishes. The meal was yummy."
"Dad, come outside with me. I want to thank you. I love you."
"I love you too"
"What you did with Zoe today was amazin. She really is a tough nut to crack and you did it the first time you hung around her outside the doctors office."
I watched from the kitchen window.
"Son, you do deserve her. You have been saving yourself all this time.
You two can help each other move forward from your pain. I know I am the cause of some of it and I hate that just like I am sure that Ethan hates it. We can't change the past but starting today, we can change the future. I am going to do my damndest to quit drinking."
They hugged. I came out and thanked Earl for letting me share his kitchen and for the talk we had.
"Wade, we need to get home. I want to read more of our book. I have to work at eight tomorrow."
We hugged Earl goodbye and rode home listening to a Beatles CD in his car.
We stayed at his house. We curled up with our book and read. No hanky panky just a few kisses here and there. We were emotionally spent. Letting your feeling escape, talking and crying about them really takes its toll.
Before we went to sleep. I think it was like 10:30. I am sure the earliest Wade Kinsella had went to bed in at least a decade. I said to him "
Thank you for making the Gumbo. Thank you for taking me to the basketball game yesterday. Thank you for caring about me."
He just held me close. "Always Doc, always"
"
