A/N: Happy to see y'all enjoyed the extra long Zade date chapter - thanks for the reviews, folks. Now for something a little different. I hope you guys will indulge my need for a little side-plot involving another relationship (friendship, not romance) that I love ;)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 12

"This is not mine," said Lemon Breeland, frowning hard at the shot glass full of bourbon in front of her on the bar. "Wade Kinsella, in what world would this ever be what I ordered?"

"Never mind what you ordered, Lemon," he told her with a look. "Trust me when I tell you, it's what you need. Good for what ails ya."

She opened her mouth to make further protests but they both knew better than to think she was actually going to argue. Wade was right and so Lemon drank down her shot, shuddering as it burned her throat.

"Atta girl," said Wade, smirking as he leaned on the bar close by her. "Now, you wanna tell me just exactly what has you ordering any kind of drinks at this time o' the day?"

Lemon's attention was very much focused on the empty glass still at her hand as she turned it around and around in place. There was plenty on her mind, Wade knew the signs, but the strange part was that she brought her problems to the bar like this. Most times, he knew she would turn to good old George Tucker with her troubles, or maybe her best girl-friend, Annabeth Nass. It had been a fair while since Lemon told Wade anything in confidence, but things were changing left and right these past few weeks, so he figured he may as well ask.

"This mood o' yours wouldn't happen to have anythin' to do with your pending nuptials, now would it?" he asked, quiet enough that nobody but Lemon would hear.

When her eyes suddenly shot up to meet his, Wade knew he was right.

"What did you hear?" she asked sharply.

"Not a thing." Wade shook his head. "But you wanna tell me anythin', you know I'll listen."

Lemon stared at him a while, eyeing him like she was trying to read the thoughts out of his head or some such. He let her try, mostly because it was amusing as hell to see her come up empty.

"Why?" she asked eventually. "I mean, why all of a sudden is Wade Kinsella so eager to be my own personal Dr Phil? As if you'd be remotely qualified," she added snippily.

Wade left the barb bounce off and gave her a winning smile.

"It's been a while, Lemon, but you and me, we used to be friends once upon a time," he reminded her. "'Sides, this town's been pullin' together to help me out of late, in every which way you can name. I figure if I can pass along the kindness, I probably should. Like, good karma and all that stuff, right?"

Lemon smiled just a little then went right back to staring down into her glass. Just when Wade was going to prompt her to say something, she looked left and right, as if checking to see who might be listening in. It didn't take a genius to realise that whatever she might want to talk out was not for public consumption.

"Listen," said Wade then, "I got about ten minutes 'til I can get outta here. I'm pickin' up my boy but then I got no real plans for the rest of the afternoon. How 'bout you come along with me and JT, we'll drive outside the limits of Bluebell and you can tell me whatever's causing that frown that'll only end up givin' you wrinkles to complain about in the long-run."

Lemon adjusted her expression the moment he said that, one hand going absently to her forehead. Wade half-expected her to tell him where to shove his offer, but at the same time, he figured if Lemon was in a bad enough way to drink shots of bourbon at two in the afternoon, she was probably desperate enough to tell him all her problems.

"Your son doesn't care for my company," she said eventually.

"Geez, Lemon, the kid is seven months old." Wade rolled his eyes. "He doesn't give a damn whether he has your company or not."

"He screams blue murder whenever he's within five feet of me."

"Yeah, well, you've been known to have that effect on people, me included. Never bothered you before," he told her with a wicked smirk.

Her hand went back as if to smack him but Wade evaded before she quite managed to make contact, and then he laughed at her for good measure. To her credit, Lemon did laugh too, even if she did also roll her eyes.

"I guess it wouldn't be so bad to have someone neutral to talk to," she conceded with a sigh. "Someone who is in no position to judge me at all."

Wade grinned at that remark. "Nice to know the real Lemon Breeland is still in there someplace," he told her happily. "Ten minutes," he said, pointing at her, before heading down the bar to serve some more patrons until his shift was finally over.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Zoe asked George just as soon as Mr Sunberg and his wife were gone from the exam room. "You seem kind of distracted today."

"Sorry, I'm just... I got a lot on my mind, I guess," he told her, shaking his head.

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"It's not medical."

"I wasn't really asking as a doctor." Zoe smiled. "If you just needed a friend..." she said, trailing off as she watched his expression shift through at least four different emotions before it settled on a vague sort of a smile.

"I appreciate that, Zoe, I really do," he assured her, "but I'll be just fine. I, uh... I might be seein' things, but when we were on our way over here, I could've sworn I saw Wade driving out of town with Lemon in the passenger side."

"Oh." Zoe frowned. "Well, maybe she's helping him out with JT or something. She has to be good with kids, right? I mean, she mostly raised Magnolia single-handedly, from what I heard."

"She did, and that could be it, I guess," George considered. "Not like there would be anything weird going on with Lemon and Wade," he said, forcing a laugh.

Zoe chuckled too, hoping he was right. The whole situation made her feel a little strange though. Lemon and Wade? It just seemed so unnatural.

"See, now, you're a natural, Lemon," Wade told her, watching her bounce JT on her knees and making the kid grin big. "But then I guess you oughta be after you just about raised your sister up all by yourself."

"He is a sweet child," she admitted, smiling at the little boy in her lap

"Wasn't quite so sweet when he was yelling loud enough to wake the dead over the heat rash he had a few days back," Wade pointed out. "But he's alright, I guess."

"Well, I think he's very sweet. Yes, you are," Lemon told JT, hugging him close. "'Course, how you came to be so with a daddy like you have, I will never know," she said, smirking across the booth at Wade.

"Don't ask me, I ain't got a clue either," he told her, hands held up in mock surrender.

"Certainly, he doesn't get it from his mother," Lemon said definitely. "I remember Carrie-Sue Smith of old. Sweet is not a word I would use for her, especially not now," she said, looking down at JT who was currently fascinated by her necklace.

"Yeah, well, we didn't come all the way to a diner in Fairhope to talk about my ex," Wade reminded her, dumping the remains of his chicken back into the basket and wiping his hands on his jeans. "Seems to me maybe it's your fiancé that's the trouble."

Lemon kept her eyes on JT for a long time before finally looking up at Wade and sighing.

"I'm probably making somethin' outta nothing,'" she admitted. "I mean, George hasn't said anything to you about the wedding, has he?"

"Not much." Wade shrugged. "'Course I don't see much of him of late. I'm usually working or taking care of my boy."

"Or spending time with Zoe Hart," Lemon added with a look. "You two seem awfully close these days."

"I guess you could say that we are." Wade grinned, though he tried to keep it down to a dull roar in the circumstances. "Figured that oughta make you happy enough. Seems to me your biggest problem with Zoe was you thought she was out to take your man. Now you got proof enough she ain't gonna go all Jolene on ya-"

"George would never leave me for Zoe Hart!" said Lemon definitely, though something in her expression and tone betrayed her. "She is just... Well, she is not the right kind of woman for my George. Of course, it is startin' to seem as if maybe I'm not either."

There were tears in her eyes as she handed JT over the table into his daddy's arms. Immediately, she grabbed at napkins and dabbed at her eyes before her mascara ever had a chance to run.

Wade bit his lip. "Come on now, Lemon," he said then, awkward as hell if she was actually going to start crying on him. "There's no way in hell that Golden Boy George Tucker cheated on you with anyone, I do know that much."

"No, I know he wouldn't ever do that," she admitted, sniffling a little, "but that doesn't mean he still wants to marry me. You know, he lost the Save The Date cards for our wedding? I found out about it the night of the Sweetie Pie Dance and... and when I asked him about it, he told me he was feelin'... well, uncertain about things."

"Ain't cold feet pretty normal for folks this close to a weddin'?" asked Wade, putting JT back into the highchair.

"I wish cold feet was all it was." Lemon sighed. "And I wish it was all on George's side."

Her eyes met Wade's own just for a second before she very definitely looked away. She smiled as she watched JT pick up a piece of food and put it into his mouth, happily munching it into his submission with his lack of teeth. It was tough not to be amused by the kid, Wade knew, but Lemon was still hurting on the inside, even as her face showed happiness. If she was having second thoughts about her wedding too, he'd bet every cent he had that he could guess why.

"So, that whole thing with you and Lavon, it's not so over as it seemed, huh?"

Wade usually would've laughed at the expression on Lemon's face then, all-out shock with a side of panic, but on this particular occasion it wasn't all that funny.

"Come on now," he said, seeing all the questions written in her expression long before she found a way to actually ask them. "I know I was never the sharpest knife in the drawer when we were kids, Lemon, but I am not that stupid. I live in the gatehouse on that plantation, I use the kitchen up at the main house, and I am not blind nor deaf," he reminded her.

"That bein' the case, then you would know that Lavon and I have not... been seein' each other in quite some time," she said as diplomatically as possible.

"I do know that." Wade nodded. "But somethin' tells me he's still on your mind."

Lemon put a hand to her forehead, looking like she had a heck of a headache coming on. She picked up her soda and took a long drink, seeming to need to compose herself again before she could go on.

"Please tell me that Zoe Hart does not know about any of this."

"I never told her." Wade shook his head. "Can't say as Lavon never did, but I'm guessin' prob'ly not. You know, you really gotta stop thinkin' Zoe's life revolves around you, Lemon. It doesn't."

"Because it revolves around you now?" she asked then, one perfect eyebrow raised.

Wade shook his head. "Zoe's a doctor before she's anything else, and she loves JT something fierce, but... Look, we're not here to talk about Zoe or me or anybody else. You got problems, Lemon, and I, like a crazy fool, offered to listen to 'em," he reminded her, with that good old Wade Kinsella smile that sometimes worked even on the likes of Lemon Breeland. "So, let's have the whole story, see if you don't at least feel better for the tellin' of it."

Lemon heaved a great sigh. "Fine, I'll tell you everything," she conceded. "But you have to swear, Wade Kinsella, on everythin' you hold dear, that you will never speak a word of this to another living soul," she said firmly.

Wade's eyes strayed to JT just as the little boy grinned big then shoved another piece of food into his mouth.

"I swear," he promised, knowing Lemon couldn't doubt him now.

She didn't, and so, she told him everything.

To Be Continued...