A big Thank You to everyone who has reviewed this story. I enjoy reading the reviews also I enjoy repling to them if they are signed. I copy-n-paste the chapters a day somethings two ahead so I can not reply to non-signed reviews in the chapter notes sorry.
This is the big moment a lot of you have been waiting for please let me know what you think of it.
Chapter Nineteen
Wade Kinsella was beyond tired as he unlocked his front door, he knew he smelled of beer from getting inbetween a fight that was starting he had gotten beer thrown in his face and shirt for his efforts. He hated that getting a shower would most likely wake up Zoe but he couldn't see a way out of having to take one tonight. So he made his way up to his room getting a clean pair of pj's and undergarments he left his room then checked Jack's to see how his little man was doing. Only to see he wasn't in his crib.
Wade knew he couldn't ban Zoe from having Jack sleep with her but she really shouldn't keep doing it. One day in the future when their relationship moved forward they would not want their son sleeping in Zoe's bed all the time. But for know Wade knew he needed to keep this to himself. Zoe had missed out on so much time with Jack she just wanted to spend as much as possible with him now.
Wade looked in on Zoe and Jack both sleeping peacefully she was hugging the baby to herself. He just smiled at them then headed for the bathroom trying to be quite as he went about getting his shower hoping the sound of the falling water did not wake Zoe or Jack.
Once out of the shower and dressed in his pj's Wade brushed his teeth getting to the bathroom door he shut off the light and made his way back to Zoe's bed seeing they both were still fast asleep Wade decided if you can't beat them join them. So he went to the empty side of the bed which he liked to think of as his side climbing in Wade was fast asleep within moments of laying his head down.
When Wade opened his eyes again the room was filled with light letting him know a new day had started the bed was also devoid of Jack and Zoe. Rubbing his eyes Wade set up not hearing any noises he wondered if they were at Lavon's, leaving the bed he walked through the kitchen to get to the living room still no sign of Zoe or Jack. Heading upstairs Wade checked Jack's room but the duo were not there either. Making his way to his room Wade knew they must be at Lavon's depending on what time it was they were eating breakfast are just visiting if it was too late, or there was the possibility of them having lunch there as well.
Once in his room Wade got himself a plaid shirt with a white t-shirt for under it and a pair of blue jeans heading downstairs so he could get changed in the bathroom. First he stopped in the living room to look out the window to see if his Suv was still parked outside he was happy to see it was. So Zoe hadn't taken Jack anywhere in it.
Ten minutes later he was ready to head to Lavon's when his cell started ringing looking at the screen he laughed as he answered it "I was just headed to your place now"
"I wanted to be your wake up call" Lavon teased "We are just getting ready to set down to my famous fried chicken, I am calling to tell you to get your butt over here"
"I'm on my way" Wade answered as he headed to the front door opening it he stopped dead in mid-step.
"What are you doing here?" Wade demanded of the woman standing in front of his house "I wasn't sure you knew where I even lived after all the letters you didn't answer"
"Wade what's going on?" Lavon voice asked from the cell phone still in his hand.
"Aren't you going to answer me, Mrs. Hart?" Wade challenged the older woman standing before him. Candice Hart looked woreout and tired like she had not slept in days. Her hair was out of place going every which direction.
"Is she here?" Mrs. Hart pleadingly asked. Wade was her last hope to find Zoe she had to be here she must have wanted to see this cheating good for nothing.
Putting the cell phone back up to his ear Wade spoke into it "Lavon, Mrs. Hart his here keep Jack please" ending the call after saying that.
"I know she has to be here" Candice said walking closer to Wade looking him in the eyes "don't try to lie to me"
"I ain't no lair" Wade replied shutting the door behind him not wanting this woman into his home, knowing Zoe was on her way most likely right now.
"I just want my daughter" Candice cried out trying to get past Wade into the Carriage house.
"And I just wanted to be able to see your daughter, but you wouldn't let me" Wade replied letting some of his anger at the woman before him out "I just wanted to be able to let my Son see his Mother"
"He was better off with you" Candice answered back with "seeing his Mother sleeping all the time wouldn't have done him any good"
"Okay but what about after she woke up?" Wade demanded a answer looking Candice Hart straight into the eyes "Didn't he deserve his Mother, and didn't Zoe deserve her son?"
"Zoe wasn't in any shape to be a Mother when she woke" Candice responded with remembering how fragile her little girl had been after first waking up "She couldn't stay awake for more then a few minutes a day"
"You weren't there to know just how bad a shape Zoe was in" Mrs. Hart informed Wade.
"Yes because you wouldn't let me be" Wade yelled "The woman I love was laying in a hospital bed for over a year and I wasn't allow to even know where she was at. You would not let me see her, I couldn't even see my son being born because you wouldn't let me do that either"
"My daughter deserved better then you" Candice yelled back at Wade "You cheated on her, what she ever saw in you in the first place I'll never know. You're a bartender and she is a Doctor!" Candice was all out yelling waving her arms "Zoe wasn't herself when she returned to New York and it was all because of you. We had too much wine together one night and she told me how you broke her heart. How could you cheat on my baby girl?"
All air left Wade's body hearing about how much he hurt Zoe he would always hate himself for doing that. There was no defense for what he had done. Even knowing that Zoe had forgiven him for it, Wade would never forgive himself for cheating on her. But he also knew that Mrs. Hart wasn't in any place to judge him.
"This coming from the woman that lied to Zoe most of her life about who her Father was" Wade shot back "then you lied to Zoe letting her believe she miscarried Jack"
"You are right I will never deserve Zoe, I never have. But Jack and Zoe deserve each other and you stopped them from being together" Wade finished with. There was a lot more he could have said to the woman in front of him but Zoe deserved to be the one that got to have a go at her Mother first.
"I did not" Candice fired back at Wade "that was all your fault if you would have just let me raised the baby like I wanted too Zoe would have seen him once she had waken up"
"He wasn't yours to raise though" Zoe said standing in front of both her Mother and Wade. "Wade can I speak to my Mother alone please"
"You sure Doc, ya don't want me to stick around?" Wade asked looking into Zoe's eyes not wanting to leave her alone with her Mother.
"Wade go get something to eat I will join you at Lavon's soon" Zoe told Wade smiling at him this was something she had to do on her own.
"Alright Doc, if you need me you know where to find me" Wade said as he walked off the porch heading to Lavon's looking back he could see the two women standing eyeing each other up.
"Zoe" Candice said as she walked up to her daughter holding Zoe's face between her hands "I was so worried about you, why did you just take off like that?"
"Why, you're really asking me that?" Zoe stated pulling herself out of her Mother's reach "Seriously you have the guile to ask me that?"
"So you found out about Jack, I'm sorry sweetie I should have told you" Candice Hart said walking closer to her daughter "but I didn't know how to tell you at first you didn't remember. You were just so weak and I did not have Jack with me so I just thought I would wait until your recovery"
"But you never did tell me" Zoe angrily stated "the perfect time would have been when I remember about being pregnant"
tears now were running down Zoe's face "instead you let me think I had lost my baby. You let me cry my heart out, lock myself in my room, instead of telling me the truth"
"I regret not telling you Zoe, but by then it seemed impossible to tell you. I kept meaning too" Candice said trying to make her daughter see she had not meant to hide Jack from her. "Wade though was not going to allow you to take Jack from him"
"Of course he wouldn't have" Zoe declared "Is that how you think it works the Father just has to give the child to the Mother? Like Dad did with you?"
"Who, How?" Candice started to asks but then stopped not knowing how Zoe knew of how Ethan had given her custody of Zoe all those years ago.
"Dad unlike you has kept in contact with Wade, I talked to him on the phone from that conversation it all started making sense. You kept him from me all these years just like you did with Jack" Zoe stated walking away from her Mother.
"Ethan is not a saint in this he signed you away he stayed away for a year" Candice yelled back "I couldn't let him hurt you again if he decided he wanted nothing to do with you any longer"
"He was hurt Mom you lied to the both of us" Zoe replied wiping the tears away "I'm not excusing what he did but he came back for me and you wouldn't let him be the Father I needed"
"I'm sorry" Candice knowing she was defeated with Zoe's words. "I just didn't want you to be hurt again"
"But keeping me from Dad hurt me worse, letting me think I lost my baby that hurt the most I've ever hurt in my whole life" Zoe announced walking back towards her Mother looking her right in the eyes "And you did that you betrayed me"
"Zoe" Candice said trying to pull her daughter into her arms into a hug "I didn't mean to hurt you, I just wanted my baby girl back"
"I'm not your baby girl any longer, I'm a mother as well. What you did Mom I can't just forgive you for not right now" Zoe said pulling back once again from her Mother. "You didn't just hurt me but Jack as well. I've missed so much time with my baby"
"I'm sorry sweetie" Candice said desperately trying to think of something that would make Zoe forgive her "I will hire the best attorneys you don't have to stay here to be with Jack, we will get custody and you can raise him in New York where you both belong"
Zoe eyes bugged out as she looked at her Mother as if she had lost her mind, because Zoe truly believed her Mother must have. For her to believe she would take Jack away from his Father and the only home the toddler has ever known. Wade was a excellent Father no judge in Alabama would ever take Jack away from him. Plus Zoe herself would never dream of taking Jack from Wade that thought had never entered Zoe's mind.
"Jack and I belong here, and both of us belong with Wade Kinsella" Zoe unloaded on her Mother there was no need to hide how she felt about Wade. Zoe knew without a doubt Wade was in it for the long haul, he wanted a relationship with her to work. He wasn't going to make the same mistake again he had truly learned from his mistakes.
"Zoe darling are you even listen to what your saying" Candice asked flabbergasted at what had just came out of her daughter's mouth. "That man cheated on you how can you ever trust him again?"
"Because he loves me Mom" Zoe replied back "Our relationship was not perfect, he cheated I let him think I still had feelings for someone else during our whole relationship." wiping tears away from her eyes Zoe told her Mother "Wade waited all this time for me, He showed pictures of me to Jack so my baby knew who I was when I got here. He truly loves me Mom"
"So what if he does?" Candice responded with "You are a heart surgeon Zoe this isn't the life you dreamed of. Come back with me to New York"
"No" it was plain in simply but that one word was spoken with such convention Candice Hart's mouth dropped open "That used to be my dream. My new dream is getting to be a Mother to my son" Zoe answered "I want to be a GP I want to know the people I treat. This isn't your dream for me Mom, but BlueBell, Wade and Jack that's my dream"
"The Doctors must have missed something" Candice mumbled to herself "You need to be seen immediately"
"Why, because I want to live in a small town, raise my son here?" Zoe asked "Forgive Wade for cheating on me, something Dad couldn't do for you"
"Zoe please listen" Candice begged "you are so much better then this town and that bartender. And yes I wished your Father would have forgiven me but that doesn't mean you have to forgive that man"
"I love that man Mom" Zoe proclaimed "I've never stopped. I want to be with him and someday maybe even marry him"
"A bartender?" Candice shouted out "Zoe dear you are just still confused by your accident"
"I'm not leaving here" Zoe said really looking at her Mother she looked awful like her world had come crashing down "You need to realize my life is here. I think you should leave now you're not changing my mind"
"Fine I will go now, but know I will be back" Candice Hart promised as she walked back to her rental car. Zoe watched until it was out of sight. Knowing her Mother like she did, Zoe knew she would be back again soon. Taking a deep breathe Zoe slowly walked back to Lavon's not really looking forward to the conversation she was sure to have to have with all of them at the Plantation house.
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Wade couldn't tell you how many pieces of fried chicken he had eaten his eyes were glued to the kitchen door, he was seated at the island facing said door. Lavon had tried asking what had happened with Mrs. Hart but give up after seeing Wade wasn't going to answer him. Lemon had Jack in her arms feeding the little boy pieces of cut up chicken along with a few spoonfuls of mashed potatoes. Wade kept second guesses himself he should not have left Zoe alone with her Mother, he should have just pretended to have gone to Lavon's and stayed close to the Carriage house in case Zoe needed him.
But if he had done that he would have been just as controlling as Mrs. Hart and he did not want to give Zoe any realize to start doubting him. Zoe needed to confront her Mother on her own, but it should seemed like he had left them alone together hours ago. To keep himself from running out the door and back to Zoe's side Wade grabbed another piece of chicken.
"Lavon Hayes thinks you should leave some chicken for the rest of us" Lavon announced from behind Wade "You've already eaten three legs and that's your second wing"
"Sorry" Wade said looking down at his plate noticing all the discarded chicken bones.
"Here have some mashed potatoes" Lavon said taking Wade's plate getting rid of the chicken bones but leaving the lone chicken wing, filling Wade's plate with mashed potatoes and some green beans. "So Mrs. Hart huh?" Lavon asked laying the plate of food in front of Wade.
"Yes, she wanted to now if Zoe was here" Wade supplied as he picked up a fork getting ready to dig into the mashed potatoes.
"I bet that was fun?" Lavon full of sarcasm asked "You just left Zoe with her?"
"Yes" Wade grumpily admitted "Zoe wanted to talk to her Mother alone"
"You did the right thing Wade" Lemon said walking into the kitchen with Jack in her arms the little guy had eaten all his food "I know when my Mother came back I had to confront her all on my own"
"Lemon is right" Lavon agreed knowing though they would like to give Mrs. Hart a piece of their minds Zoe had to be the one to decide what to do with her Mother. "Zoe needs to do this, she's the one who's Mother betrayed her"
"That woman is sure something" Wade observed thinking how she blamed him for her lying to Zoe about Jack. If she had, had her way he would never had his son.
All eyes were on the kitchen door when it started to open in walked Zoe Hart she give them all a small sad smile. "I'm fine" she said but all it took for her to burst out in a new set of tears was Jack reaching out to her saying "Mama"
Her Mother had tried to keep her baby from her, Zoe took Jack from Lemon and held her baby close to her chest kissing his head Zoe was never going to let him go. Looking at Wade who somehow was standing right next to her with his arms out walking into them Zoe also promised herself she would not let Wade go either.
So review let me know what you think of Candice's return to BlueBell.