A/N: Thanks for the reviews, peops :) Now, I know that previous chapter sort of could've been a happy ending to this fic, but I still have a few things I want to figure out/clear up. It looks like it won't take too many chapters to make that happen (maybe 5?) so yeah, we're headed for a (happy) ending, people, just to warn you :)
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 33
"Disaster drills. Ha!" Zoe scoffed. "After last week, I think me and Wade are just about ready for anything," she said definitely, shoving the piece of paper across the reception desk.
"Now don't you go casting this aside, Dr Wilkes," said Addy firmly. "Tom Long is in charge o' all this and he his bound and determined to do a good job. Ain't nobody in this town gettin' away with not playing their part in his drill."
"I know the boy means well," said Brick, coming out from his office with his own copy of Tom's flyer, "but honestly, do we have to go through all of this again?" he said with a sigh.
"Now, I can understand Dr Wilkes being sceptical," Addy reasoned. "She never saw how bad things can get down here when the weather turns, but Dr Breeland, you know better than to think preparing for a storm ain't worth anybody's while."
"I suppose I do, Addy," Brick agreed. "It's just that everything is coming up roses of late, I hate to have it spoilt by talk of disaster. You know, I was so worried for Lemon as the date of her wedding came closer, sure that she would be having regrets by now. To see her so happy again, it warms my heart, I can tell you."
"She and Lavon are the cutest." Zoe smiled at the thought. "I did not see that coming."
"Oh, like you ain't in the runnin' for such a title yourself," said Addy, shoving her arm. "I have seen you Miss Zoe, with Wade Kinsella and that beautiful boy o' his. You three couldn't be any more adorable if you tried."
"They do make quite the happy family, don't they?" said Brick, his arm around Zoe's shoulders and hugging her close as she blushed profusely. "For what it's worth to you, honey, that makes me glad too, for Harley's sake as much as anything. Would've made him happy to see you settled here like you are, I know that."
"Thank you, Brick." Zoe smiled up at him. "That means a lot."
She meant every word so sincerely. It really did mean a great deal to think that her father would be happy for her, proud of her. It was nice having Uncle Brando around now to tell her those kinds of things too, but Brick was an outside source, unlikely to be saying it just to be kind, as Zoe sometimes suspected Brando was. Whether it should or not, it meant more from Brick somehow.
The phone rang then and Addy answered it with her usual cheerful but professional tone. It reminded Zoe where she was and what she was supposed to be doing. No doubt patients would begin arriving any time and she and Brick needed to be ready.
"I told you, it's nothin' to worry on," said a voice then, the main door opening and closing behind Zoe.
She turned to see that Brick had disappeared back into his office and George was bringing Tansy into the practice, his arm around her shoulders as she held her own hand with a rag tied around it.
"And I told you, you really should let a doctor decide that," he was saying as he led her closer. "Dr Wilkes, we got ourselves a situation here."
"I can see that." Zoe nodded. "Tansy, what happened?"
"Somethin' and nothin'," she said, rolling her eyes. "I just slipped with the knife, cut my hand when I was making breakfast is all. It's nothin' a band aid won't fix," she insisted.
The look on George's face suggested it wasn't quite so minor a wound, as did the blood already soaking through the cloth wrapped around Tansy's hand.
"Why don't you come through and we'll see what the damage is?" said Zoe kindly, leading the way for Tansy.
"I'll be right here, baby," said George, sticking to his spot in the waiting room.
"Wow," said Zoe as she closed the door behind Tansy. "He's dedicated."
"Who? George Tucker?" her patient scoffed. "He's just... well, he's George Tucker. You know how he can be. He'd put himself out for just about anybody, whether they want him to or not," she said, rolling her eyes.
"That's probably true," Zoe agreed, putting on her gloves and then carefully prising the bloodied cloth away from Tansy's injured hand. "Still, I don't think I've ever seen him smile so much as he has this past week. I think maybe you have something to do with that," she said, apologising right after when Tansy hissed with pain. "Okay, a band aid is not going to cover this. I think you might even need a couple of stitches in there."
"Damn it," Tansy muttered. "You think it'll hold me up with my hairdressing?" she checked. "I mean, my scissors go in my right, but I still need the left when I'm stylin' and all."
"It's nowhere near a major nerve or anything," Zoe promised her as she cleaned up the wound. "I don't think there'll be any permanent damage, just maybe don't aggravate it for a couple of days."
"I wouldn't wanna let down Susie, not when she's bein' so nice and lettin' me help out at her place."
"So, you think you'll be staying in Bluebell a while?" asked Zoe conversationally as she worked. "I mean, that's two reasons to stick around already, right? The job and a certain guy that's waiting on you," she said with a smile as she glanced at Tansy's face turning pink.
"You seem to think me and George are a whole lot closer than we really are," she said, glancing away. "I mean, I've known him an awful long time, but we only got a little closer this past week. You can't know for sure that fast, right? I mean, it can't work out."
The way she said it sounded as if she was really asking Zoe to answer her question, like she doubted her own thoughts on the subject.
"I am probably not the best person to ask about relationships," she said awkwardly, checking the anaesthetic had taken before beginning to stitch Tansy's hand.
"Are you kidding me?" asked Tansy, perhaps a little too loudly. "Come on, I have seen you and Wade together. If you two were any closer you'd be one person," she said definitely.
Zoe laughed at the phrasing. "Well, maybe, but it took a while for that to figure itself out, and before Wade, I never really had a serious relationship. Honestly, it was the last thing I expected when I first came to Bluebell, but now... well, this is a little weird to have to explain to his ex-wife, but I love Wade so much, and JT too. I can't imagine my life without them."
"You don't have to feel strange about tellin' me that," Tansy assured her with a smile. "I know Wade's good points... and his bad points," she said, rolling her eyes, "but he's changed since he met you, and since he got the little one too. I guess everybody has to grow up sometime, and this was his time."
"I guess so," Zoe agreed, finishing off the stitches with a flourish. "I didn't even know I needed to grow up, but being in Bluebell, helping with JT, being with Wade, it's what I need. More than that, it's what I want," she said happily. "So, I speak from experience when I say that if there's something, or someone, that you want and you think they might feel the same, don't let it slip away, Tansy."
The two women looked at each other for a moment and then at the same second seemed to realise things were getting a little strange for a doctor's appointment. Zoe turned away and started removing her gloves, promising Tansy she would be just fine in a couple of days.
"Thank you, Dr Wilkes," her patient said gratefully, clearly speaking about more than just her hand as she got up to leave.
Maybe it had been worth letting George Tucker drag her into the practice after all.
"All I know is, Wally started talking about work gettin' him down and all, like he was real depressed or somethin'," Wade explained in a low voice as he leaned across the bar of the Rammer Jammer towards Zoe. "Seemed all kinds of wrong to go telling him I might be leavin' him in the lurch and startin' up my own place to boot. I mean, we haven't even looked at places or anything yet, and it could be a while before I can think about throwing the towel in here."
"That is true," said Zoe, looking thoughtful a moment. "But if Wally is struggling, won't he just sell this place anyway? Hey, think about it, you could buy the Rammer Jammer!" she said excitedly, at least until Wade urged her to hush. "I'm sorry," she said much more quietly then. "I was just thinking, if the business is getting Wally down, maybe he'd think about retiring. Buying this place would be cheaper and easier than starting from the bottom."
"Yeah, I guess," Wade considered, "but it wouldn't be my place, doc. It'd just be the Rammer Jammer, same as always."
"Not if you put your own stamp on the place." Zoe shrugged. "You could make changes. Maybe not all at once, because that kind of thing can upset people, but little by little, you could make it your own. I think it could be great."
Wade wasn't sure how he felt about the concept of running the Rammer Jammer, though honestly, he had never really given it a great deal of thought before. He just assumed that he would get his own place, new premises, a whole new start, but Zoe had a point about it maybe being cheaper and easier to build on a going concern.
"You don't have to do it," Zoe said then, snapping him out of deep thought. "It was just a thought," she continued when he looked at her again, "and we don't even know if Wally wants to sell yet, but even if he did, I am not trying to push you into anything, you know that, right?"
"I got it." Wade nodded, smiling at her concern. "Don't worry your head, doc, I know you're just tryin' to be helpful and all. It's definitely an idea to consider, that's for sure," he said, leaning over to kiss her lips. "Thank you for your thoughts."
"Any time," she said happily, kissing him back. "I just want you to be happy, you know?"
"Hey, I'm happy enough. Got me a great kid, a beautiful, real successful doctor girlfriend," he said, grinning at her, "and five thousand bucks burning a hole in my pocket. I'd say I'm doing just fine."
"Me too." Zoe smiled back at him, before looking over at a nearby table and sighing. "I just wish everybody could be as happy as us," she said, eyes fixed on Annabeth, so sad and alone.
"Well, let's see what we can do about that," said Wade, moving to duck behind the bar and producing a fancy bottle. "Here, go see if you can't cheer up the best babysitter we got," he said, handing the wine to Zoe.
"That I can do," she said, hopping down the stool, "but do not let Rose hear you say that anyone is a better babysitter than her," she warned before going over to AB's table and sitting down.
"Oh, hey, Zoe," she said, forcing a smile when she noticed her friend was there. "You doin' okay?"
"I am doing just fine, Annabeth," she promised her, pouring out the wine. "But you need some cheering up, so..." she said, pushing one glass towards her friend and taking the other for herself. "Cheers."
"Thank you," said AB, clinking glasses with Zoe and taking a sip. "I appreciate the effort, I really do, but I don't think a couple of glasses of fancy wine are gonna fix much," she said with a sigh.
"Aww, AB." Zoe covered her hand with her own on the table. "You know that dumb husband of yours did not deserve you."
"Oh, I know." AB sighed. "Honestly, I don't even think I'm sad about Jake as such. We spent so little time together at the end, he was away and... and I didn't even miss him as much as I should," she admitted sadly. "It's just... I liked the idea of marriage, of family, you know? I look at you and Wade and little JT sometimes and, God help me, I am so jealous," she said, laughing to keep from crying, but it didn't work as tears came to her eyes.
"Annabeth, I'm so sorry," said Zoe, reaching to hug her.
"It's fine, I'm fine," she insisted, sniffing hard as they parted. "I really don't want you to feel guilty or anything, because you are the cutest little family, I swear. I just wanted that so badly and now... now, I don't know if it will ever happen for me."
"It will," Zoe said firmly. "AB, you're such a great person, an amazing friend, and so good with kids. Some day, you are going to have the best guy and a bunch of incredible kids. It'll happen," she said confidently.
"Seems like I got here just in time," said a voice and both Zoe and AB looked up as one to see Lemon standing by their table. "Wade, another glass!" she called over her shoulder, then took a seat.
Wade saluted in response and was soon bringing over her glass.
"You cannot order my boyfriend around like that," Zoe told Lemon.
"After he just summoned me here with a badly spelled text message? Yes, I can," she countered, smiling in spite of herself as Wade did the same.
"Not doubting your cheering up skills, doc," Wade told his girlfriend, "but this here looked like a two-alarm deal," he said, holding up two fingers and gesturing with them between Zoe and Lemon.
"Thank you, Wade," said AB, realising he was only ever trying to help her. "You're the sweetest."
"Hey, no talk like that in front of my girlfriend," he teased her, giving her wink before he got back to the bar.
Lemon was pouring herself a glass of wine and topping up the other drinks too when Zoe finally looked back to the table.
"Okay, we are havin' no more of this mopin'," Lemon told Annabeth firmly. "The fact is, Jake Nass never deserved you, but I am here to tell you, there is life after first love. I should know. A week from today, I was supposed to marry George Tucker, and look at me now."
"Happy as a clam with the mayor instead." AB nodded. "Nobody saw that coming."
"And look at me," said Zoe, quickly joining in the game. "When I came here, I was so out of place, so depressed, I never saw myself making a home in Bluebell, but now I have good friends, a great boyfriend with a kid that I adore. I made a family and I couldn't be happier," she said with a smile. "Things will get better, AB, I promise."
"That is true." Lemon nodded. "And if me and Zoe Wilkes are agreein' on something, then it must be true," she said with a grin.
AB sighed but she was smiling this time. "I love my girl-friends," she said, raising her glass to toast them both.
Zoe and Lemon clinked their glasses into Annabeth's and then all three of them drank. In spite of everything that had happened and might yet happen (if you listened to Tom's talk of disastrous storms) they were going to be just fine.
To Be Continued...