In this chapter, we get to enjoy a little of the morning after, quality time with the Mayor and meet the sister. It's a shortish chapter, but it sets up the firewords that come with the re-opening of the Rammer Jammer.

I also wanted to take a moment to thank folks for the wonderful reviews for the last chapter. It was nice to hear folks thought it was done well. As always, share your thoughts on this chapter too. Always appreciated.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hart of Dixie.

Chapter 11 - What About Miss Anna Lee:

Sun streamed through the large, old windows in the bedroom and the breeze caused the drapes to sway. Zoe woke to find Wade was still spooned against her. All she could think was how good his skin felt against hers. Well, that and the looping reel of the night before. The replay in her head and the feel of him so close to her demanded more of what filled the previous night. Rolling over, her hand moved down his back while her mouth slowly met his. Her limited attention stirred him from sleep and his hands began moving down her back pulling her towards him. His mouth opened to hers and he initiated a kiss with some real heat behind it. Before long he had her beneath him, ready to start the morning off right.

Afterwards they were tangled up in each other as they had been the night before. Wade held a satisfied look on his face with Zoe's head on his chest. Weaving his fingers through hers, he was pretty sure if the day continued on this way it would be just fine by him.

"Now that's what I'd call the proper way to wake up in the morning," he told her.

He felt her body release a small laugh, "That's for sure, mister."

Zoe was thinking how different the room looked in the morning light, filled with antique furniture and old pictures. This must have been his grandparents' room, she thought, although she didn't want to think too much about the previous inhabitants given the events of last night and this morning.

Today was the big day and it was off to a pretty stellar start. Wade wished they did not have to get moving so soon, but there was much to be done and he told Shelly and the kitchen staff he'd meet them at the Rammer Jammer around noon. They planned on only serving dinner tonight, resuming normal business hours the following day. It gave him a little more time here with Zoe, but not as much as he would have liked.

Sensing he was thinking about the day ahead, Zoe tilted her head towards his face. "So what's on the schedule for today?"

"I told Shelly and the rest of the crew I'd meet 'em at noon to get ready to open."

She nodded. "What do you need me to do?"

He pulled her on top of him so her chin rested on his chest as she looked at him. "All I need you to do is show up when we open, lookin' smokin' and be my date for the evenin'. I got the rest."

She narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure?'

"Absolutely. You've done plenty already. 'Sides you do much more and I gotta start payin' ya."

With that Zoe nodded before resting her head back down against his chest. "You're the boss. Just let me know when I need to move."

Wade chuckled. "I like that sound of that."

They laid in bed for another hour before they gathered up their things and re-covered the furniture. On the short ride back, Wade made a point of telling her how special the night before had been. He couldn't recall telling anyone that before, but for some reason it was important to him that she understood. Zoe took his non-driving hand and squeezed it - a very Zoe way of showing her agreement without saying anything. Mushy was not really her thing. In a fleeting thought he wondered if he was the girl in this relationship, before he remembered two things. First was his reputation for not being a relationship kind of guy and second, that while things had been pretty spectacular over the past week he still had done a number on her a couple of months before. With that in mind, Wade knew that a little expression of his feelings was probably in order.

She convinced him to stop at the plantation before dropping her off so they could have breakfast together before he went to work. Lavon was in the kitchen when they walked in and gave them a curious look.

"And what have you two been up to? Nothin' goin' on at the Jammer yesterday and I didn't see hide nor hare of you yesterday."

Seeing Zoe blush, Wade pulled her under his arm and laced her fingers in his hand.

"We were enjoyin' what they call a little quality time before the openin'," Wade informed him knowing with Lavon the best defense was a good offense.

Zoe gently elbowed him, "Wade!"

But the response worked and Lavon simply pursed his lips and nodded before turning back to his eggs.

"You two hungry?" the mayor asked.

Wade's allusion to what he had been doing with Zoe, who was like a sister to him, had the mayor more than happy to move on.

Wade left Zoe with Lavon and headed back to his place to clean up before he was off to the Rammer Jammer. As her closest confidante and friend, the mayor was feeling a little neglected. Besides the ride to Mobile and the times they were both helping out at the Rammer Jammer, they had not spent much time together. Certainly no quality buddy time. Zoe plopped herself on one of the stools with her coffee and settled in for some serious catching-up.

Lavon sat up on the counter. "So things good with you and Wade?"

She nodded. "Yeah, it's a little like going from negative twenty to sixty, but its good. Really good."

"I told you, Wade's a good guy."

"And you were right." Zoe nodded. "Hey, why didn't you tell me Wade made my gumbo?"

Lavon smiled; glad she had found out. "He wouldn't even admit it to me though he knew that I knew he did."

Zoe shook her head and laughed. "So, what's new with you?"

Lavon shrugged. "DeeDee and I broke up last night."

Zoe's eyes widened at the news. "What happened?"

After finding out about Lavon and Lemon, purely by accident, a month ago, Zoe had been routing for things to work out with DeeDee. She may have been a little wacky, but Zoe knew DeeDee really liked Lavon and wanted her friend to be happy.

"I was talkin' to my Momma the other night about my parents' fortieth anniversary next month and we got to talkin' 'bout how they'd made it so long," he explained, "She said that she and my Dad had this spark when they met and how, even now, it's like he knows her better than she knows herself sometimes. She told me it's what she wanted for me, that kind of true love where you want to make it work no matter what."

He paused and looked out the window before he continued, "It got me to thinkin'. Me and DeeDee don't have that. She's nice and I like her, but there's not that kind of spark. I was just tryin' to move on and she deserves more than that. Hell, I deserve more than that."

Zoe listened as he spoke and nodded in the appropriate places. When he was done, she got off her stool and walked over to him, taking in his hand. "You're right, Lavon, you do."

Lavon grimaced and squeezed her hand before letting it go.

"Does this have anything to do with Lemon?" Zoe asked.

He shrugged again, "I dunno. I mean there somethin' there, but she's marryin' George and I gotta accept it."

Zoe went to the fridge pulling out ice cream and then grabbed two spoons. Holding it up she told him, "Well this always helps after a break up."

Lavon's face scrunched up, "I ain't no girl, Zoe. I just need to go out to the Rammer Jammer, drink some bourbon and deal with it like any self respectin' guy."

She shrugged and sat down with the ice cream, putting the second spoon down. "Just trying to help."

Lavon grumbled before picking up the other spoon and digging in to the ice cream.

After supporting Lavon through some important post-break up moping, Zoe got him to give her a ride back to her place so she could get ready for the night. They agreed he would come by around four o'clock so they could go together and have dinner before the festivities really kicked off. She promised not to reveal anything about him eating ice cream, like a girl as he put it, to anyone and agreed to drink bourbon with him later.

Wade arrived at the Rammer Jammer just before noon. Shelly arrived not long after and sat at the bar rolling silverware into napkins. The kitchen crew strolled in right on time and started getting things prepped for dinner. The rest of the wait staff and the new relief bartender he'd hired would be in around three.

With the kitchen on track, Wade came out to help Shelly with the silverware. Shelly had helped out some during the week, but still had not had an opportunity to find out what had happened with him and Zoe. It was clear from Zoe's constant presence there after a prolonged absence that something was going on and Shelly wanted to know. Once he sat down, it didn't take long for her to pounce.

"So what happened?" she asked.

"With what?" he asked knowing full well what she was talking about.

Shelly rolled her eyes and put down her fork and knife waiting for him to stop insulting her intelligence.

Wade let out a deep breath, "Let's just say I made a grand gesture."

Shelly clapped her hands together excitedly which only made him more uncomfortable. Lavon may have been at ease sharing all his feelings with Zoe, but Wade didn't do girl talk.

"I knew it." Shelly exclaimed. "You two have real spark."

Then she leaned in towards him and said in a lower voice, "And I have never seen you act the way you do around her."

Wade narrowed his eyes, not hiding his annoyance, before gently pushing her out of his personal space. Shelly just laughed before resuming her work.

"So you two are together?" She asked.

"Yeah, we're together." He nodded. Any annoyance disappeared from his face.

It was then that the door opened and a whirlwind of strawberry blond hair blew in followed by a group of men with their hands full. Shelly jumped at the sudden hullabaloo, but Wade just slapped his knee and started laughing. The cause of the commotion blurred over to him and threw her arms around him.

"My brother, the proprietor!" she gushed before straightening the collar of his fine white button down, "My, you look almost respectable."

He stood and spun her around. "Well, what about Miss Anna Lee?"

He set her down and she struck a pose dramatically, "The entertainment has arrived," she announced.

"You can say that again." Wade replied sardonically.

Annie did not seem to hear him, but moved on to more pressing subjects, "We're starvin', drove straight through. You got anything to eat around here?"

Wade looked to Shelly as he walked over to the guys with the equipment.

"C'mon, we'll get somethin' for y'all while the boys do the heavy liftin'," Shelly said getting off the stool.

"How ya' doin', Shelly?" Annie asked looping her arm in the waitress', "What can you tell me 'bout this New York doctor my brother's all googly eyed over?"

Wade closed his eyes and shook his head; he wanted nothing to do with that conversation. Making a quick escape, he headed out to the van with the rest of the band.

So she has arrived and is about to stir about some trouble, even if unintentionally. Stay tuned...

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