"Congratulations!" Both of the women said in sync followed by a chuckle.
"Annabeth, it's for you, c'mon Wade and I are only getting back together!" Zoe told her.
"Yes, however I don't think Lavon and I are at that stage you know…" Annabeth replied dazed by the sparkling diamonds. "Plus Lavon was going to propose to Ruby on Christmas, he wouldn't do that with me!"
"He might not do it this Christmas, maybe Valentine's next year; it's only a month or so away…"
"I doubt it, and even you said yourself Wade was acting weird today, he's probably nervous, about asking you!"
Zoe scoffed. "Don't be silly AB! Lavon and you are practically living together, you're smitten with each other and do I need to remind you where we are standing?" Zoe looked around. "It's Lavon's shed! I doubt it'd be for me."
Zoe and Annabeth took a moment to look at the ring. Both thinking the same thing; what if it was them? "Alright, we can't let them know, we know anything okay?" Annabeth said.
"Deal," Zoe said shaking AB's hand.
…
Zoe's smile widened as she saw Wade exit the fire house and walk towards the gazebo where she was waiting. She couldn't help but feel a little excited that there was a possibility she might be Mrs Zoe Kinsella in the near future. She imagined their wedding, an intimate but extravagant wedding that would be the highlight of the year.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Wade asked as he sat down on the picnic rug next to her.
"We have a nice romantic dessert picnic," she replied, placing a kiss on his lips.
"What did I do to get this?"
"I wanted to do something romantic for you seeing as you keep surprising me with little gestures, so it's my turn," she responded, thinking about a certain surprise.
"I appreciate it," He leaned in closer to give her a kiss.
"Anyway how was work?" She asked. She badly wanted to ask him about the ring but she had promised Annabeth that both of them wouldn't bring it up and they'd both have to be surprised.
"Like every other day, nothing happened in particular," he commented, dipping a strawberry into the cream. "Open up,"
Zoe smiled at him and opened her mouth; however Wade had other plans smearing it over her lips and chin. "Hey!" she yelped.
He feigned sorrow. "Oops, sorry about that, here let me clean it for you!" They both stared at each other, slowly inching forward before he claimed her lips, the kiss became fire filled.
"I don't think this is appropriate," Zoe said pulling away. She didn't know if she was imagining things, but she swore she saw a glimpse of disappointment in his eyes. "You know you can talk to me about anything?" she asked, giving him an opportunity to own up.
"Yeah I know," he responded.
"Then why have you been distant today?" She asked him.
"I haven't, you just caught me at bad time, and Wanda wasn't there yet,"
She crossed her arms. She knew she promised AB that she wouldn't say anything but it got the better of her. "I love you; I think I've loved you from the day I played Dixie with my butt. I am so glad that I came back to Bluebell so we could give things a proper go and we have, and I know that in this moment I want to be with you for the rest of our lives, so my answer is yes."
He looked at her confused. "You're answering yes to what exactly?" he asked.
She let out laugh. "Come on Wade, you've been distant, jumpy, we are back together, things are going great." She paused, however he still wore a confused look. "I found the ring,"
"What ring?" he was still puzzled.
"Oh no, it's not for me, its AB's!" she sighed.
"Zoe, what in the world is going on?"
"Tonight, before you came here AB and I snuck off to set up this picnic and we had to go back to the plantation and whilst we were in the shed, I found an engagement ring, I thought it was for me. I thought that because you were a bit jumpy, and you hid it there because that shed is a place I'd never go and we are back together and-"
Wade silenced her with a kiss. "Okay this is going to sound bad but it is for AB, Lavon was planning to propose on New Year's Eve, and you're right with the hiding place, he told me to hide it and neither you nor AB goes in there. I wanted to tell you but come on Zo, you've got a big mouth," he laughed.
She sighed. "Wow! That's a great for her," Zoe tried to hide the disappointment.
Wade knew it. "But Zoe, it doesn't mean that I don't want to marry you, because I do, I just want it to be at the right time and do you honestly think that time is now?"
Zoe looked at him. "I suppose not, but that doesn't explain why you were weird this morning,"
"As I said it was just bad timing babe!" Wade tried to assure Zoe.
"Wade we are in a relationship, and when we got together we agreed that we were going to be honest and you're not, so if you don't mind, enjoy the rest of your evening," she stood up in a huff and walked away, no doubt to the carriage house.
She was like fireworks, literally. Wade chuckled to himself as he looked up to the sky and noticed the fireworks had begun just as she stormed away. He looked at her disappearing figure, he knew Zoe and it was probably best if she just let her calm down.
…
Wade walked over to Annabeth and Lavon. 'Can I talk to you for a second, Lavon?" Wade asked.
"Sure," Lavon replied.
Annabeth looked at the both of them. "Oh I think I'm needed over at the punch bowl," she mumbled and walked away.
"What's the problem?" Lavon asked.
"You and I both in a sticky situation," he paused. "So Annabeth and Zoe found the ring and then Zoe thought it was for her and she's now disappointed and she's catching onto the little secret."
"No, No, No, Lavon Hayes is in big trouble!"
"Tell me 'bout it"
"Zoe is a blabber mouth so, you're going to have to spoil the secret and tell her so she won't tell Annabeth anything!"
Wade nodded. It was the last thing he wanted to do but for the sake of his best friend he'd do it.
…
When Wade arrived back at the plantation he noticed the lights were still on the carriage house. A sense of relief washed over him, he was not completely in the dog house.
"On a scale of one to ten, how much do you hate me?" He poked his head through the door to see Zoe stretched out across her bed snacking on a pop tart.
She placed the snack down. "I could never hate you Wade," she sighed. "I'm sorry about how I acted tonight; I just got so excited and happy,"
Wade joined her on the bed and took her hands in his. "I understand that, it's every girl's dream but right now, it's not our time, I don't love you any less, if anything it makes me love you more because I know how much you want to be Mrs Kinsella but being realistic, we've only just got back together, after almost a six month break, we haven't even had sex yet," he joked the last bit.
She looked at him. Her conversation with Annabeth replaying in her mind, maybe just maybe that was his problem. "Is that the reason why? The reason you've been distant?" she asked him sincerely.
"What do you mean?"
"The Wade Kinsella I knew couldn't go a few days without sex and now you've gone for I don't know how long,"
He sighed. "That's not it, I didn't want to ruin it because it is a surprise but this morning when you swung by the Rammer Jammer I was in the middle of filling out a proposal."
"What kind of proposal?" she asked.
"A building proposal, I want to add a few extra things onto the gatehouse, like a kitchen, extra bedroom and maybe a walk in wardrobe." He finished, hoping she'd understand the hint.
"Wade seriously, you don't have enough close to warrant a walk in wardrobe," she laughed.
"No I don't but you do," he smirked.
"Wade Kinsella are you asking what I think you're asking."
"Yes, will you move in with me?" He asked.
"Yes, a billion times yes!" she leapt into his arms and placed a passionate kiss on his lips.
"I love you," he said.
Zoe smiled at him. Everything was falling into place, so she didn't get the proposal she wanted but now she knew the reason why he was distant, it was the commitment she was looking for.
Next:
-A Christmas Surprise
