A/N: Nice to see some people are still around and interested in this fic - thanks for those reviews, peops :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 30

When Zoe and Annabeth literally ran into each other outside The Dixie Stop, the timing could not have been more perfect. It was the day before the Bluebell Battle and Zoe needed a huge favour that she was sure AB would be only too glad to grant her, she just hadn't had the opportunity to ask yet.

"Exactly the person I needed to talk to," she said with a grin. "I feel like I haven't seen you for days, AB."

"Oh, I've been busy. You know how it is," her friend told her, smiling back at Zoe, though somehow the expression didn't seem all that genuine. "What did you need me for?"

"Um, well... Are you okay?" asked Zoe, frowning as she looked at her. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to go all doctor on you, but you don't look so well."

"I have been busy, like I said," AB told her, sounding awfully vague, "and, you know, not sleeping so well, but I'm just fine," she assured her friend, waving away her concerns with her free hand.

"Yeah, I'm not buying that." Zoe shook her head. "Annabeth, please, if something is wrong, I wish you'd tell me. If it's medical-"

"It's not medical," AB told her, swallowing hard. "It's, uh... it's more, kind of, personal," she said, her lip quivering.

"Oh, well, then if you don't need a doctor, you could probably use a friend?" said Zoe, putting her hand to AB's shoulder and urging her to walk with her. "I have Lavon's car right over here. How about I drive you back to my house and you can tell me all about it?"

"That sounds like a plan," said AB, swiping at one eye as she allowed Zoe to lead her away.

In ten minutes, they were back at the plantation, having not spoken a word for the entire trip. Zoe was sure now that she could never ask Annabeth for that favour she needed, but that was okay. Right now, AB needed a friend and that was exactly what Zoe wanted to be for her. She had certainly stepped up and helped out enough times when she or Wade needed help with JT or anything at all really.

"Have a seat," she told AB as they went inside the carriage house. "Oh, sorry," she apologised, moving a pile of JT's things off the sofa so there was room for anyone at all to sit. "I swear, that kid has more stuff than me and Wade combined."

"That's the way it is with kids, I guess." AB nodded, smiling at first though the expression started to dissolve pretty fast. "Not that I would know exactly."

Within a second, the tears were flowing and Zoe was rushing to grab a box of tissue for her friend. She had developed a softer side since moving to Bluebell and Zoe would like to think that bedside manner she had been working on was coming on pretty well. Still, crying friends were not her wheelhouse and she wasn't quite sure where to begin. She shoved her arm around Annabeth, giving her a squeeze as she continued to sob into a handful of Kleenex.

"I'm so sorry," she apologised to Zoe. "I didn't mean to come here and just cry all over you. It's just... It's just I don't really know who to turn to and... well, the truth is, Jake left me," she admitted at last, blowing her nose hard.

"Your husband left you? Today?"

"No." Annabeth sniffled some more. "Actually, it's been almost two months now. His new job took him to Baton Rouge some weeks. He met a waitress there. Says they're in love. He's not coming back."

"Oh, AB, I'm so sorry," said Zoe, rubbing her back comfortingly. "I wish there was something I could do to make it better."

"Yeah, me too, but I don't think even a doctor has a magic pill to make this kind of hurt go away."

"Unfortunately, that's true." Zoe sighed. "Just know that I'm here if you need me, whether it's as a doctor or a friend or anything at all."

AB found a smile then. "Thank you, Zoe," she said gratefully, her hand on her arm. "You know, I'm so glad you came to Bluebell. You've been a breath of fresh air that this town needed. I mean, you're a great doctor, and a good friend, and just look what you've done for Wade and little JT."

"I haven't done that much," her friend assured her, feeling just a little embarrassed to be getting so much praise, "but I'm glad I came here too. I wasn't looking for family or love or anything more than a job that was a means to an end really, but now I can't imagine being anywhere but here," she said as she thought it over. "Bluebell became home so easily. Weird, huh?"

"Not so weird." AB shook her head. "You're Harley's daughter after all, that means you belong here. I think your blood called you home."

"Maybe," Zoe considered, before shaking her head, "but we were talking about you."

"Oh, I don't wanna talk about me anymore, not right now," said AB definitely. "I need a distraction, that's what I need."

"Funny you should say that. I was going to ask you a favour, which I felt really bad about when you were so upset, but you did just say you wanted a distraction so..."

"Zoe, just ask me. What do you need?"

Since she seemed pretty insistent, Zoe decided to do exactly that. "Well, Wade really wants to be in the Bluebell Battle and he asked me to be his partner. I said yes, thinking that Lavon would probably take JT for the day, but he and Lemon are in the race too, and so is Rose, with Frederick Dean, so-"

"Zoe," AB cut in fast, "I would love to take JT for the day. Honestly, you'd be doing me a favour by letting me have him. He'll take my mind off my troubles, that's for sure," she said with her usual bright smile that Zoe was more than glad to see.

"Thank you so much, AB," she said, reaching to hug her.

"No problem," she assured her, squeezing her back for a moment, "but I am intrigued though. What has Wade so excited to participate all of a sudden?" she asked, frowning in confusion at the very idea "Honestly, I would not have thought it was your kind of thing either."

"Oh, well. It's all kind of a secret right now," said Zoe awkwardly, "but I guess I can tell you, since we're sharing. So long as we keep it between us..."

The day of the Bluebell Battle dawned sunny and clear. Wade had filled Zoe in on the general idea of the whole event, the kinds of things they were most likely to be challenged to do, all of that kind of thing. She felt reasonably prepared by the time they dropped off JT with Annabeth, ready to head into town square to begin the race.

"Wish us luck, baby boy," she said to the little one, leaning over to kiss his head.

"JT knows how smart his Aunt Zoe is, and how wily his dad can be, don'tcha, son?" said Wade with a grin. "We're gonna win that prize money for sure, right?"

JT threw up his hands as if to cheer and Wade high-fived with his son.

"Alright. Now you be good for Aunt AB, she doesn't need any trouble."

"This boy is never any trouble at all," she promised him. "You two go win that race, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am." Wade nodded, grabbing Zoe's hand and pulling her towards the door. "C'mon, girl, don't wanna be late."

Zoe waved wildly with her other hand as she let herself be taken off to town square. While they weren't exactly late, as the event hadn't started when they got there, it was clear they had cut it fine. Most other pairs were all ready to begin and Brick was up in the gazebo about to start his speech.

"Why am I so nervous?" Zoe asked Wade in a low voice.

"Beats me, doc," he told her easily. "Lookin' around at the competition, I'd say we got this thing tied up. Come on now, I thought you New York types were supposed to be so confident and sure of yourself."

"Only half of me is a New Yorker," she reminded him smartly.

"Yeah, but then that means half of you is from around here and us folks from Alabama, well, we know how good we are," he said with a wink.

Before Zoe could answer that, the starting pistol was fired and they were off. All the entered pairs flew across the square as the race began.

"Excuse me, but you should really have your dog leashed when you're-," George stopped abruptly when the blonde turned around and he realised who he was talking to. "Tansy?"

"Hey there, George Tucker," she said, smiling widely at him as he grabbed the dog he had been so worried about by the collar. "Well, don't you look better without the arrow stickin' outta ya," she joked.

"Yeah, I guess I do." He chuckled even as he recalled the painful memory, his hand running absently over his upper thigh. "I didn't know you were in town. You come for the race?"

"Oh, no, I've been here a few days," she said, waving away his suggestion with her free hand. "I came visitin' is all, catch up with Wade and everybody. Still tryin' to wrap my head around the whole him havin' a kid thing."

"Gotta agree, that one stretches the mind a bit until you get used to it, but he's doin' real well, him and Zoe together."

"That kinda messes with my mind a little too," Tansy admitted, wrangling her dog some more, even as she continued talking. "I mean, I knew he liked her, it was so damn obvious, but her likin' him? Didn't exactly see that coming."

George wondered if he was imagining the tone in her voice when Tansy talked about Zoe Hart, almost as if she didn't like the good doctor, maybe even that she was jealous of her. There was no doubt that Tansy did have real feelings for Wade at one time, but George had suspected when they got divorced that all of that was long over. Maybe not.

"Oh, Dolly Parton, will you quite squirming like that, baby?" Tansy complained then.

George's hand covered his mouth as he tried not to laugh. "I'm sorry," he said when Tansy looked up at him with a frown. "I just... You named your dog Dolly Parton?"

"Can you think of anybody more deserving of havin' a favourite companion named after her?" she asked simply.

"Uh, probably not," George admitted, moving closer and crouching down to the dog's level. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Dolly Parton," he said to the playful animal who immediately began licking his face with gay abandon.

"Aww, she really likes you," Tansy noted. "That's so weird, she's usually real coy with menfolk, as a rule."

"Well then, I take that as a compliment," said George, chuckling as he tried to get away a little and Dolly seemed reluctant to let him. "She is really somethin'. So, you and Dolly came visitin' with Wade and then, what? Just decided to hang around a while? Bluebell does have that effect on people," he asked, finally able to get back to his feet.

"It's a little more than just likin' the place," Tansy admitted. "I'm lookin' to get some real experience at Susie's place. You know I'm gettin' my qualifications, right? Hair and make-up and all?"

"I did not know that, but hey, good for you, Tans," he said with a smile.

"Thank you." She grinned back at him. "I know it probably sounds dumb to you, bein' a lawyer and all. I was never so smart, but I know my beauty stuff and people say it's never too late to start somethin' new. I figured there's no harm in tryin', right?"

"Absolutely true." George nodded. "I've kinda been trying some new things in my life lately too. Not work so much as... life choices," he said, for lack of a better phrase. "I'm guessing by now somebody in town filled you in on the whole calling-off-a-wedding situation between me and Lemon?"

"I heard about it." Tansy nodded, smile faltering. "You feelin' okay about all of that?"

"Actually, I am," he assured her, opening his mouth to say more just as three different couples with numbers on their backs went thundering by. "Okay, this race is already getting intense," he noted. "Maybe it's safer if we go someplace else to talk."

"We could go back to my place if you wanted to?" Tansy suggested, shrugging her shoulders. "It's not far and I just stocked the mini fridge with beers. What do you say, George Tucker?"

He smiled and stepped up next to her, offering his arm like a gentleman.

"I say that is the best offer I have had in a long time, Tansy Truitt, and I accept."

"You know, I was pretty confident before we even started, but now, I gotta say, doc, we're outdoing even my high expectations," said Wade happily, even as he and Zoe fought with the pieces of the fishing rod that would help them grab the magnetic fish from the church roof and win the whole Bluebell Battle.

"You do know I know nothing about fishing, right?" she said, wincing as she sorted through a whole lot of pieces she didn't understand at all.

"No problem on that score," Wade assured her. "You just get your fancy surgeon fingers around these tiny screws here and put 'em right there."

With clear instruction on what needed to be done, Zoe worked on helping Wade put the fishing rod together in no time at all. Though somehow, Tom and Wanda had completed their rod first, they seemed to be having a terrible time actually 'hooking' the fish. The only other pair even close to keeping up with Zoe and Wade were Lavon and Lemon, and if Wade didn't know better, he'd say they had slowed down on purpose in the last couple of challenges just to help him out. Right in that moment, he couldn't really find a way to mind.

"You've got this, Wade. I know you do," said Zoe confidently.

If he needed one more shot of confidence, that was it, and in no time at all Wade had that fish on his line and was reeling it in. Hand in hand, he and Zoe ran up into the gazebo where Wade rang the bell for all he was worth.

"That's it, the race is over," Brick announced loudly. "The winners of the 2012 Bluebell Battle are Wade Kinsella and Zoe Hart!"

Everybody cheered and applauded them, even those they had beaten, which astounded Zoe to no end. Maybe it shouldn't have. After all, this was Bluebell, where everybody just loved and supported everybody else, no matter what.

"Here you go, you two," said Brick, handing over the cheque for $5,000. "You spend it wisely now," he said with a smile, in that way that only a father could.

"We did it, doc!" said Wade happily, picking her up and spinning her around. "This is amazing. Though by rights," he said then as he set her back on the ground, "I guess half this money is yours..."

"Are you frickin' kidding me?" Zoe asked, eyes wide and incredulous laughter escaping her lips. "Wade, we were in this race for you, so you could get this money to set up your own bar. I don't want half the money, or any of the money. Just... just name a drink after me, okay?" she said happily.

"Yeah. The Zoe," he said, grinning at her. "That's gonna have to be one hell of a drink, doc," he told her definitely, pulling her closer and kissing her firmly on the lips.

"Hey, we came to congratulate the winning team," said AB, wincing a little when she realised the moment she was interrupting. "JT is so proud of his daddy and his Aunt Zoe, aren't you, baby?" she said, handing over the little boy to Wade. "Oh, Zoe, I have your cell phone," she told her then, pulling it from her purse. "You left it on my table somehow. I figured there was no point interrupting you during the race or anything so I just held onto it until you were done. I'm pretty sure it rang a couple of times, but I didn't like to go answering it. I let the voicemail do its thing."

"Oh, thanks, AB," said Zoe, taking the phone and checking the screen. "I'm sure it's nothing important."

As Annabeth walked away and Wade continued to be distracted by telling JT all about their win, Zoe realised maybe she was wrong about how important her missed calls had been. She didn't recognise the number, but when she called up her voicemail and listened to the messages, she started to feel very queasy. Sitting down hard on the gazebo steps, she was very still and probably pretty pale when Wade finally realised she was gone from his side.

"Hey, Zoe. You okay?" he asked, sitting down beside her with JT in his lap.

She turned to look at Wade and came face to face with his son instead, her eyes filling with tears at the sight.

"I, uh... I have to tell you something," she said, shifting her gaze to Wade. "And I'm not sure you're going to like it."

To Be Continued...