I was kissing Zoe for what felt like forever. I couldn't get over the fact that she was letting me kiss her. I was in heaven when I felt her hands on my chest. Then I was being pushed away. Heaven was gone and reality came back. "What was that for?" asked Zoe with a looked that could have been pure shock or something that I can't describe.

"Um, well I couldn't think of anything more to say, so I did what I should have done that night. Look Zoe I came here for you to make sure that I am truly sorry and that if it is at all possible for you to come back to Bluebell. Not for me, but because you belong in the town of Bluebell. Because if you look around your place you see nothing but pictures of New York, and pictures of Bluebell. How long have you been in this little town? Almost a year? And yet you have no pictures of your friends here in your place, and if you were to look in your phone and try to prove me wrong you have Bluebell friends, New York friends, and Mississippi landlords, your partner in the practice and take out on speed dial. So you can lie to me all you want but if you really want to prove me wrong than take me up on that rain check that you owe me." I was determined to get her to come back to Bluebell. I was not going to be marked as a bad guy in my hometown. But at the same time, all I wanted was for Zoe to be happy and if that meant her staying here then I would go back to Bluebell with my tail between my legs and try to make amends with the townies of Bluebell.

"Sure, but there isn't much to do here. So why don't I cook something and you can tell me the real reason Bluebell sent you. I may not know small towns but I do know that Bluebell sent you to get me to come back. I got a text from Lavon just before you showed up, and Rose fills me in with all the 'Wade gossip'. And you are right I don't have any friends here, and the bartender is worse than you. But I committed myself to a maternity leave here and I just started so I have nine more months before I can leave Mississippi. So now you know that I am coming back to Bluebell, hell if you asked Brick if I was coming back he would have said yes, it is part of the new partner agreement. Even Lemon would have said I was coming back. Everyone in Bluebell knew I was coming back you just had to get over yourself and ask the right questions." Said a very angry Zoe. I had never seen her this peeved before. I have seen her mad and disappointed but not all together. This was the gal I missed, the one with the constant surprises.

"Well I always thought I could get by with my looks and bad boy charm. Then this little New Yorker blew into town presented a challenge for me. I reverted to my Junior and Senior high school days where I was the jokester and the heartbreaker. Thinking that this was the only way to get her attention. Then she started challenging me to become a better person, she was the only one that made me want to be better than I was. But when she really needed me to grow up I made her look like an idiot. She became the better person and left me in the dust. By the time I had figured out what had happened she was gone. The whole town I later found out knew she was coming back, but just wanted me to sweat it out and see how long I could go before I realized that I was and still am head over heels and would do anything to win back her trust so that I become the man that knows I could be. Now I am sitting in her kitchen watching her cook dinner, which I didn't know was possible, and have her stare at me like I was breaking her heart all over again and making me think that this little rain check idea was a bad idea and I should head back to Bluebell and have some more space between us, so that she can decide if she wants a possible future with the towns screw up. What do you want me to do Zoe, I am tired of being back in high school and I want a chance to be with you. But if you don't want anything more to do with me, just say the words and I am gone. And when you come back to Bluebell I will stay out of your hair, but I do ask that you come back to the Rammer Jammer and finish the wine that I ordered and only you like." I feel like I ranted just a little too much and why was I an idiot for throwing in the fact about the wine? I felt like I needed to bash my head into something, maybe then I would stop making a fool of myself.

"Stop with the over thinking. I can smell the smoke over here." Zoe joked, the continued "you're an idiot for ordering all that wine to begin with. Yes I know I do drink a lot of it, but it can be used for cooking as well. But the South has never been one to try anything different than deep fried. So when I do come back I will finish that up for you, maybe show you how to use it in food. Now onto important matters. I told both you and Lavon that I can cook; just you two never gave me a chance at cooking so how was I going to prove you guys wrong? And don't start with the gumbo, and the fact that I know it was you who cooked your Uncle Mo's for me. Gumbo is one of those dishes that it takes time to master a good recipe and as I remember I really didn't have that much time. As for the rain check, I have been waiting a very long time for you to ask me. I may be from New York City, but I am an old fashion girl at heart that likes to be wooed. And I thought all boys from the South knew who to woo a gal so I kept on waiting and when I put the first moves out there you bolted. And yes it did make me feel like an idiot and a loser, but all I had to do was some desperate measures and you would come to your scenes eventually. I just had to be patient. So when I do get back to Bluebell I expect a Southern gentleman with a bad boy reputation to take me out on the town and fill me in on all the gossip. But until then let's start on rebuilding our friendship back to the way it was before that night. And just so you know Judson dumped me because I had more fun trying to ruin your day and relationship with Joelle than having a romantic evening with Judson. Dinner is ready so let's make small talk about the weather and such before you head up to bed and I sit down here and ponder about what has happened this evening. Okay?"

"Sure. And what makes you think that I won't try anything tonight?" I started, but the look Zoe was giving me stopped me in my tracks. "You're right. But I will be pondering my own thoughts all night while I lay in bed trying to be this Southern gentleman you called it. But I do know I have a long drive and nine months to figure it out." I finished saying just as she placed my meal in front of me. Zoe was right; she did know how to cook. The entire time we talked in the kitchen she made some kind of salmon stir fry and before I knew it I was going back for seconds. When she came back I was making it a mission for her to cook at least once a week and once a month she had to make this. My god it was good.

I laid in bed thinking that Zoe Hart never gave up on me. She somehow knew that I could be a better person. But how? Was all I kept saying to myself, then it hit me? The Rammer Jammer. I had been managing it for years, what the town didn't know was Crazy Earl had won it in a poker game and was leaving it to me when he finally left this world. So I was going to go and take business classes and learn everything I could so that when it came time for me to actually own the bar, I could get rid of all the bullshit that happened there. I would be fully in charge of everything that happened in that office. All I had to do was go to school, talk to George about the deed and run it by Crazy Earl. Hell if I could get Zoe to talk to me again and have her come back to the Rammer Jammer again I could do anything.

The next morning, Zoe and I continued with rebuilding our friendship. Just when I had her smiling I told her about the Rammer Jammer, she hugged me and told me she knew I had it in me. "Crazy Earl may be your Dad, but one of the best things that came from his drinking would be getting that bar in a poker game. But I am going to make it hard on you. I am not going to help. You are doing this on your own. George will help with the legal side, as will Lavon. He may be a very good asset to have when it comes to getting the deed looked at. But school and everything else has to come from you. I know you can do it and so do your friends. You just have to prove it to yourself. So if I were you I would get on the road because you have a very busy couple of months ahead of you. Good Luck Wade." Zoe said as she beamed with pride. She left the kitchen to go and finish getting ready for work and I left her place with a smile on my face.

The next nine months flew by. I decided that online courses were the best route. So every morning I did hours of schooling, followed by going to work, coming home chatting with Lavon or Zoe then continuing school. They both seemed to really understand when I said I couldn't chat long as I had stuff to do. Zoe was right when Lavon would be a very good asset when it came to the deed; all it took was a little phone call to the state about labour laws and property laws. George had a new deed ready to go and Earl Kinsella was the owner and in his will it was going to be passed down to me, but if I choose to I could buy it from him and have it all to myself. All I needed was an investor. But after talking to all my friends in this town there was no one wanting to be my investor, until I had breakfast with Lavon one day and he handed me a check.

"What's this? You said you wouldn't invest." I asked. "It's not from Lavon. You got yourself a private investor. That means they don't want you to know who it is from. But my guess it is from someone to believes in you. But I would run downtown and grab George on the way to the bank and tell them the Rammer Jammer is yours. " Relied Lavon.

Epilogue.

The day I signed the deed saying the Rammer Jammer was mine was the day Dr. Zoe Hart moved back to Bluebell and walked into the Rammer Jammer and kissed me in front of the whole town. Said I owed her a rain check. But I knew that she was my private investor in more than one way. I couldn't tell you if I won't screw up with Zoe again, but I do know that I will go down fighting for her just as hard as she fights for me. All in all that bimbo and 100 bucks was worth it in the end. Because I have a gal who sees the good in me when no one else would and it took a whole lot of learning for me to do and I wouldn't trade those lessons in. Know if you don't mind I have a Sweetie Pie dance to go to.