A/N: Well, according to the latest reviews (which I thank you all very much for, of course!) it seems the revelations of the previous chapter shocked you all a little bit, huh? lol Yup, Candice told Wade about Harley being Zoe's father, and then she kissed the guy, right in front of Zoe. I know, it's a mess, but I'll fix it, you'll see ;)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 19

When Zoe caught sight of her mother locking lips with some guy young enough to be her son, she wasn't exactly surprised. The real shock set in when the couple parted and she realised the man on the other end of that kiss was Wade. It was because she had seen it happen too many times before, coupled with the completely stunned look on her boyfriend's face, that proved to Zoe he really wasn't at fault here. No, this was Candice being Candice, just like always.

"Okay, we should leave," said Gigi, grabbing onto Zoe's arm and pulling her towards the door.

"I'm not arguing with that," she agreed, going willingly with her friend, even as Wade called her name behind her.

He caught up with them near to the door, where Zoe was having trouble finding her coat. Gigi said they should just leave without it, but Zoe wasn't about to do that.

"Actually, you should go down and hail us a cab," she told her friend quickly. "I'll meet you out front in a few minutes."

She shot Gigi a look to ensure she didn't argue, never wondering who her friend was texting as she left to go get that cab. No doubt she wanted Jonah to know where she was going and why. As if he shouldn't have figured that out from the little display in the middle of the dancefloor.

"Zoe, baby, would you listen to me, please," Wade urged her, trying to pull her around to face him as she fixated on finding her coat in the large pile still. "That thing you just saw, that was not me, okay?" he insisted. "I mean... I don't wanna say somethin' I shouldn't here about your momma but-"

"She's drunk," Zoe said for him, glad to finally have located the coat she was looking for and holding it up in something like triumph, not that she felt all that triumphant, not in these circumstances. "Look, Wade, I get it. When my mom has a party, the champagne flows, then, the next thing you know, someone's being arrested, someone has lost their pants, and my mom can be found passed out behind the couch or under the table with somebody else's husband... or boyfriend," she said bitterly, looking away to the door.

Zoe so didn't want to be mad at Wade. She was well aware that none of this was his fault. No doubt Candice asked him to dance and he didn't like to say no, since she was Zoe's mother. After that, well, it would be like blaming the antelope for being eaten by the cheetah. Still, the picture in her head of her mom and Wade kissing, it was burned so deep into her retinas. Sure, it would probably fade in time, but right now, it was just so vivid.

"Zoe, please," Wade tried again to get her focus on him. "You have to believe that I would never-"

"Wade, I already told you, I get it," she repeated, even as she pushed his hands from her shoulders. "I do understand that this was not your fault, but that's not... that doesn't make me feel any better about what I just saw, and I absolutely do not want to be at this party right now," she explained. "So, just let me go, okay?"

He looked like he wanted to argue some more, but then changed his mind. Hands held up in mock surrender, he let Zoe leave and she was grateful for it. Maybe tomorrow she could talk to Wade, maybe even talk to her mother about what the hell just happened, but now was just not the time.

"And you're sure that she kissed you?"

"For that last time, Tucker, I'm sure!" Wade said crossly. "Come on, man, I know I have a reputation where women are concerned, believe me, I get it, but this is Zoe we're talking about here. You know what she means to me."

On the other end of the phone, he heard George sigh. "Yeah, I guess I do know," he agreed, "but seriously, Wade, this is bad."

"You think I don't know that?"

It was kind of stating the obvious to tell him that being caught kissing his girlfriend's mother was a bad thing. Wade was well aware, obviously, and despite the fact that Zoe had told him she understood and didn't seem to blame him, she sure did cut out of that apartment awful fast last night. Wade supposed he could understand her not wanting to be at the party anymore, but he had at least hoped to leave with her.

"Actually, Tucker, that's not the only thing I need to talk to you about," he confessed then, free hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Last night, right before Mrs Hart decided to shove her tongue down my throat, she said somethin'... Well, maybe I didn't hear her right, she was slurring some from the drink, but..."

"But?" George prompted. "C'mon, Wade, whatever it is, just spit it out already. It can't be any worse than what you already told me, right?"

"See, you say that now." Wade sighed, knowing his buddy could have no idea what was coming next. "Look, Candice was giving me this whole speech about why Zoe liked me, that it was nothing about me bein' in a band or whatever, it was because of where I come from. Said she had kind of a thing for Southern boys herself."

"Okay," said George. "Why is that so awful?"

"It's not, at least, it's not the part that bothered me so much," Wade explained, sitting down heavily in the chair, tired of pacing by now. "She said... Look, George she told me that she almost wished she had married this Southern guy she knew once, that she loved him and... well, it sounded like she was sayin' he was Zoe's daddy."

"Mr Hart?"

"No, nobody named Hart, that's kind of the point. I swear to God, Tucker, she said the name Harley Wilkes."

The audible gasp from the other end of the call did not exactly come as a surprise to Wade. It had been surprising enough to him to hear from Candice that maybe Zoe's father wasn't who she thought up to now, but when she said the guy in question was good old Harley, Bluebell's own town doctor up until he passed on a couple of years back, well, you could've knocked Wade down with a feather. Seemed George was suffering the same way now he heard the truth of it.

"Harley Wilkes?" he said after a long silence. "As in... our Dr Harley Wilkes?"

"I don't know for sure, but how many Harley Wilkes do you think there are in our part of the world?" asked Wade, waiting for an answer and not getting one as fast as he's like. "I'm serious, Tucker, how many? 'Cause I got an idea that if she was talkin' about the same Harley Wilkes that brought the both of us into this world, that is some weird-ass coincidence we got goin' on."

"That's true," George agreed. "I don't... I mean, I can look into it, I guess. Old Man Bryant, he handled Harley's will and all. One of the last things he did before I took over, but I can definitely take a look, see if it mentions anything."

"I'd appreciate that," Wade told him. "Seems to me I have enough to figure out with Zoe over this whole gettin' kissed by her mom thing. I don't wanna go throwing this kind of information at her until I know anything and everything there is to know."

"I understand that, and I'll find out everything I can and get right back to you, Wade, I promise," his good friend vowed. "This is just... Dr Wilkes havin' a love child with some woman in New York? And you meeting and dating her? It sounds crazy."

"It is crazy," Wade agreed easily, "but it seems it also just might be true."

Zoe questioned her own good judgement as she got off the elevator outside of her mom's apartment. Twelve hours ago, she had been here with Wade and Gigi and Jonah and a bunch of other people for a party and a good time. She had walked out when she saw her own mother kissing her boyfriend, sick to her stomach at even the idea that two people she loved so much would do that to her. Coming back to ask Candice for an explanation she could already recite herself seemed foolish in the extreme, and yet, here she was. Zoe wished she could explain it, but all she had was, 'She's my mom and you only get one.'

Standing outside the door, Zoe was still considering walking away. She really should call Wade, invite him over to her place, let him know all was forgiven. After all, this wasn't his fault. As much of a womaniser as he might have been once, by his own admission, those days had passed. Besides, if he ever was going to cheat, Zoe would like to think he wasn't dumb enough to do it in front of her and with her own mother. She didn't like to consider that Wade would do that to her at all, and yet.

Shaking her head free of too many mixed up thoughts, Zoe knocked loudly on the door, unsurprised when her mother answered, looking more than a little worse for wear.

"Zoe, sweetheart," she said, all bleary eyes and last night's makeup. "I was-"

"Here," she said sharply, pushing a to-go cup into her hand. "Strong, black coffee. I doubt it'll be enough to completely sober you up, but it'll help."

"Thank you," Candice mumbled as Zoe stalked by her into the wreck of an apartment. "I did try putting on the machine, but the noise was giving me a headache."

"No, Mom, dehydration is what's causing the headache," Zoe told her harshly, before softening a little at the sight of her mother's pain. "I'll get you some water and some aspirin, then we'll talk about last night," she said firmly.

Ten minutes later, they were sat together on the couch, still surrounded by the decimation left over from the party. Zoe knew it would be fine. As soon as the hangover was down to a dull roar, Candice would call in the cleaning crew and the apartment would be back to show home level in no time. This was how it worked, how it had always worked. Of course, usually, her mom didn't make out with her boyfriend.

"So, do you even remember last night?" Zoe asked her mother, arms folded across her chest. "Specifically, do you remember why I left pretty fast?"

Candice looked momentarily bemused, her hand going to first her head and then dropping to her heart as she gasped.

"Oh, Zoe," she said, as a memory seemed to come up and slap her in the face. "Oh, sweetheart, I am so, so sorry!"

"Yeah, you know, I guessed you would say that." Zoe rolled her eyes. "You do get that that does not make it okay, right? You can't just apologise and have everything be fine after something like that!"

"I know, I know," her mother apologised, eyes closed as she winced terribly. "I know it was an unforgiveable thing to do. You never should have found out that way-"

"I'm sorry, found out?" Zoe gasped, her heart suddenly pounding in her chest.

She really had just believed that what happened was a one-time thing, a stupid drunken mistake on her mother's part, and that Wade had just been caught in the crossfire. Of course, she had her doubts. A tiny voice in the back of her head tried to tell her all the worst possible explanations for what happened, how her mom and Wade were having an affair, that kind of thing, but she had dismissed them pretty easily. Now, they were back, loud and lurid, enough to make Zoe want to throw up on the spot.

"It wasn't my intention, Zoe. It was never my intention," Candice insisted. "Ethan was a good man, he is a good man, and for you to find out that way that he's not your real father..."

That was the point where Zoe suddenly found herself on her feet, eyes so wide with shock, she was surprised they were still in her head, even though she knew it was an actual physical impossibility for them to fall out. For a moment, she was pretty sure she wasn't breathing as she stared at her mother and Candice stared back.

"Oh, God," her mother said at last. "You weren't talking about your father? I was so sure... I told you about Harley?"

"Who's Harley?" Zoe asked, shaking her head.

"Well, he... he's your father."

The truth spilled out and Candice looked entirely defeated the moment it was said. She put her face in her hands then, and Zoe just stared open-mouthed at her mom, wondering what the heck just happened. In her wildest dreams she could not have predicted how this conversation would go. She was truly stunned.

To Be Continued...