A/N: Thanks to the lovely folks who left reviews on the previous chapter - always much appreciated :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 16

"So, it turns out that Brando was one of a very few people that already knew I existed, and he was just so happy when I called him up and asked to meet him. Tomorrow, we are having brunch at the Butterstick."

Zoe was grinning all over her face as she finished telling Wade her happy news and he honestly couldn't have been more thrilled for her if he tried. It had been hard on her, moving to Bluebell from New York, finding out her father wasn't really her father and everything. He knew how tough she found it sometimes, feeling like she didn't really fit in, except maybe when she was at the plantation with him and Lavon. It was absolutely a positive thing that she had a chance to meet some of the Wilkes clan, starting with one of the nicest guys there was in it.

"I'm real happy for you, doc," he promised, leaning in to kiss her temple and pulling her closer on the couch beside him. "Trust me, Brando is the decent kind. Back when I was still in high school, I used to do odd jobs around town to make money, in the afternoons and on weekends and such. As I recall, he was real generous when it come to payin' for window washin' and gutter clean outs and all."

Wade figured Zoe would like knowing what a decent type her uncle was, but even that didn't account for the way she was looking at him when he glanced at her then.

"What?"

"I was just trying to picture you when you were younger, doing your odd jobs around town," she said, staring a little too hard into his face and smiling in a real weird way. "You must've been so cute."

"Yeah, well, maybe I was and maybe I wasn't," he said, squirming a little, unsure why the idea of Zoe imagining him as a teen made him so uncomfortable.

Maybe it was just because he knew he would deserve her even less then than he did right now, and that was really saying something. Wade wasn't the book smart type, never had been. Some said it was because he never really applied himself all that much, which might be true, but in the latter years of school, most particularly, he didn't exactly get all that much opportunity.

"I'm sorry if I said something wrong," Zoe told him, her smile completely gone when he refocused his eyes on her face.

"Ain't your fault." Wade sighed. "I just... well, there were parts of my teen years that weren't so happy as some others, that's all. After Jesse skipped out, there was just me and old Earl. It was fine when he managed to keep sober, or close to it, which he did sometimes. Other times, well, those odd jobs I took on, that money was all we had to get by on and..." he trailed off, feeling both embarrassed and emotional all that once. "Don't even know why I'm tellin' you all this," he said, rubbing at his forehead and almost laughing at how dumb it all was.

"Hey," said Zoe, reaching to move his hand away from his face and smiling softly at him. "I'm glad you're telling me all this," she said definitely. "I mean, you don't have to say anymore if you don't want to but, well, we're a couple. There shouldn't be anything we can't share, right?"

She had a point, Wade was sure she did, though he wasn't exactly used to being part of a serious relationship like this, the kind where sharing every detail of the past wasn't just okay to do, it was kind of expected, even encouraged, he supposed. Zoe had told him enough about her life in New York, her mother, the father that raised her, and he had to be the one to tell her about her real daddy. He supposed it made sense for her to know more about his life before she came along, it just wasn't always his favourite topic to discuss.

"Speaking of ol' Earl," he said instead, holding Zoe's hand in his own yet, "I went over to see him today, takin' Tucker along with me. Seems he has this whole lawyering thing going on, whereby he's trying to stop some store bein' built outside o' town."

"Large Mart." Zoe nodded in agreement. "It's all over town. You know what a gossip mill the practice can be."

"Yeah, well, here's a slice o' the pie nobody else will know yet. Seems George Tucker got all the people owning land that this Large Mart might want to buy to agree not to sell to them, which was fine and dandy, 'cept there's this one strip that they might go using for an access road or some such, and who do you suppose owns that?"

He watched her for a moment, knowing his Zoe was more than smart enough to figure it out, which she did, all inside of five seconds.

"Earl owns land?" she checked, wide-eyed with surprise.

"Don't go gettin' excited, doc. It ain't much of anythin' to speak of," Wade told her, shaking his head. "Anyhow, for a minute there, the old fool was thinkin' he might just sell the whole thing over to Large Mart, never mind what Tucker nor the town thought about it. Took some convincin' that it was a dumb idea, but then, he did have more whiskey in him than a man should."

"Well, I'm guessing you made him see sense in the end."

"Somebody had to." Wade rolled his eyes. "All I know is between him and work and all, it has felt like a heck of a long day," he said with a sigh, leaning back heavily on the couch and pulling Zoe right into him.

She went willingly enough, curling up real close and letting out a little sigh of her own.

"At least we have each other to talk to about our long days, and our bad days as well as our good days. I still feel bad every time I think about the whole Lavon-Lemon-George situation, especially Lavon's part of it."

"Hey, he'll be fine," said Wade, kissing the top of her head. "No use you worryin' on it. That won't fix anything."

"I know," she said, with one more sigh. "I just think we're so lucky, that's all. I mean, yes, I fought it for a while, because I was trying to keep us from making a mistake, but now that we're actually together, I can't imagine what it would be like if it all fell apart and we were-"

Before she could ramble herself any further into an upset, Wade leaned down and captured Zoe's mouth with his own, kissing her deeply. Her eyes were closed by the time they parted and, of course, she had no more words to rattle out at him.

"You gotta stop worryin' about what might be, doc, and focus on all the good that is," he told her simply. "Trust me, I oughta know."

Her eyes opened slowly and she gazed up at him, a smile starting to curve her lips. "Is that some kind of Southern philosophy?"

"What that is, Miss Zoe Hart, is Step One in the Wade Kinsella guide to happiness," he told her with a smirk, knowing just exactly what her next question was most likely to be.

"Oh, yeah?" she said, willingly taking the bait with a grin. "What's Step Two?"

"C'mere and I'll show you."

Zoe wasn't sure how long she had been standing outside the Butterstick debating with herself. All she did know was, if she didn't go in soon, she would be officially late for her brunch with Uncle Brando, and that would make her seem extremely rude.

"It's just brunch with a nice man who actually wants to meet you," she told herself in muttered tones. "Not at all scary," she insisted, taking one more cleansing breath and then pushing on in through the door.

Casting her eyes over the tables, she found the place fairly busy, but it wasn't difficult to spot the older gentleman somewhere in the middle of the room, especially when he smiled, stood up, and raised a hand to wave at her, all at the same time.

Zoe headed right over, smiling herself as she reached the table. That was until she realised she wasn't sure how to properly greet this uncle she never met before. A handshake? A hug? Should she introduce herself? Was it okay to just call him 'Uncle Brando'? They hadn't said much on the phone, apart from establishing that Harley was a great guy and that they wanted to meet each other. Still, Zoe thought she was prepared for this moment. She really wasn't.

"Um, hi," she said awkwardly.

"Oh, my goodness." Brando shook his head slightly and gaped at her. "If I didn't already know you were my brother's child, I swear I would see it the second I looked at you. You have our mother's eyes."

Zoe bit her lip, feeling strangely emotional at hearing that. She had the eyes of a grandmother she could never meet and it was making her uncle so happy to see it.

"I'm so sorry," he told her then. "Come on and sit down, honey."

"Thank you," she said politely, taking a seat that he gentlemanly helped her tuck in under the table. "Um, and please, don't be sorry. It's nice to know I have a real link to my roots here."

"There are plenty of us Wilkes around here to be linked to," Brando assured her, "though I swear you're gonna prove to be one of the prettiest among us," he told her with a smile.

"Thank you, again... um, is it okay to call you Brando?"

"I'd be honoured if you would call me Uncle Brando," he told her, "if you're comfortable with that?"

"I'd be very comfortable with that," she replied, smiling widely. "I'm just so happy you agreed to meet with me. My boyfriend, Wade Kinsella, he said you were a really nice guy. I don't know if you remember him. He said he used to do odd jobs for you when he was younger, but that was a lot of years ago."

"Of course, I remember the Kinsella boy, "said Brando, smiling widely. "He always made a fine job of our lawn and I was happy to have his help. His family suffered so much, but I hear he's doing alright these days. Practically runs the Rammer Jammer, so I'm told."

Zoe just couldn't stop smiling, making it almost impossible to place her order when a server came by to ask what she and Brando might like to eat. Not that she minded at all. It was so wonderful to meet this nice man, who was in fact her blood uncle. To know that he liked her and even approved of her boyfriend within the first few minutes, it was almost too good to be true. So much for all the concern she had felt about this meeting, she was just so happy that she had arranged it now.

Unfortunately, the hour she had with Brando passed too quickly, and then, she knew she had to get to work.

"I'm so sorry, we should've arranged this for a day when I wasn't due at the practice in the afternoon," she said, as they both rose to leave.

"Don't you worry on that, Zoe, honey," he assured her. "I had this kind of thing happen all the time when Harley was alive. You know, I never complained, I never would. Doctors in a family make everybody proud with their dedication to duty."

Though she hadn't known how to greet Brando at the start of their brunch, Zoe absolutely knew how to say bye for now. Leaning in, she wrapped her arms around him in a big hug, glad to feel him grip her gently to him and pat her back a little.

"I probably shouldn't say this," he said as they parted, "but I have a feeling you're gonna turn out to be my very favourite niece."

Zoe laughed lightly. "Well, I'm already sure you're my favourite uncle," she said definitely.

Together, they walked out of the Butterstick, Brando going with Zoe as far as the practice door before they finally parted ways. Still smiling widely, she went inside, that expression slipping a little when she saw who was hanging out in reception.

"Lemon, hey."

"Hello, Dr Hart. Well, my goodness, for a woman I was told just had a perfectly nice first brunch with her uncle, your face certainly seems to be under a thundercloud now."

Zoe looked from Lemon to the door and back again, wondering how she could still be amazed by the speed at which news travelled in Bluebell. Thirty seconds after leaving her uncle's company and people were already talking about how well the brunch had gone - crazy! Of course, that wasn't the thing she needed to focus on right now.

"What are you doing behind the desk?" she asked Lemon curiously.

"Addy got a phone call and had to go see to her boys. I was here to meet with my daddy, but he was already out on an urgent visit, so I stepped in until you arrived," she explained, now rounding the desk, presumably to leave.

Zoe got in her path. "Actually, I need to talk to you. About the Belles."

"Well, goodness me, Zoe Hart," she said, one hand on her chest. "I understand you're connecting with your Wilkes roots and I applaud your decision, but please do not tell me you think yourself quite ready to now join the Belles."

"Not really my kind of organisation," said Zoe carefully, "I think we both know that. Actually, what I wanted to talk about was more medical, at least, in part. Did you know that physical symptoms can result from a person being exposed to a lot of stress?"

"Well, I suppose I did know that." Lemon nodded daintily. "I am a doctor's daughter after all. In any case, I'm not sure anybody would need to go to medical school to learn such a generally known fact."

"Right, sure. So, you do know, which is what I thought, which is why it's so strange to me that you, the leader of the Belles, would put so much strain on your supposed friends as to cause them to feel so stressed out that they suffer physically."

At that remark, Lemon's eyes went wide with surprise, but just as soon, they narrowed again. "Who has been sayin' such things?"

"Nobody." Zoe shook her head. "If they had, I couldn't tell you anyway. Doctor-patient confidentiality," she noted, another thing the daughter of a fellow doctor was bound to be all too aware of. "All I'm saying is, if you're suffering from stress yourself, then I'm sorry for you, but please, don't pass it onto the people close to you. It's causing them problems, potentially serious problems, and they won't tell you because... well, they just won't."

She didn't know how else to say it without making matters worse, but Zoe did know she had to try and fix this situation somehow. Poor Annabeth was in a constant state of tension thanks to Lemon, that much was evident, and all the negative tests suggested it was highly likely to be the one and only reason she was having so much trouble conceiving a child with her husband.

"If I knew what you were talking about," said Lemon haughtily, "then of course, I would do something about it, but I am certain that I don't. Passing on my problems to my friends and fellow Belles would be most unChristian, and in any case, why would I have any stress in my life to begin with?"

"I don't know for sure," said Zoe, shaking her head slightly, "but I would understand if you were feeling the strain, what with the wedding plans and..."

"And?" Lemon prompted when she fell silent.

Zoe itched to say the rest, but she didn't quite dare. What Wade had told her about Lavon and Lemon, it was almost too big to keep in, but he had sworn her to secrecy. Of course, there wasn't necessarily any reason to keep it from Lemon herself.

"If you're happy with George, then I'm happy for you," she said carefully, "but I would also understand if you might be struggling a little with the decision you've made. I won't say anymore, not to you or to anyone, but please, keep in mind what I said about passing your stress around. It's not healthy for anyone."

With that, she turned to walk away, taking herself into her office and closing the door behind her. Zoe wasn't sure what Lemon's reaction might be. If she would just leave or if she would come storming in to yell at her. If she really would change her behaviour towards Annabeth and the others or if she would carry on regardless.

What Zoe really hoped was that, somehow, some way, her little talk with Lemon might lead her to fix things with Lavon and George. Not that there was a good solution to that particular triangle, she was sure, but Zoe just wanted everyone to get their happy ending somehow.

"The South is turning me into a sap," she muttered to herself, just as she heard the outer door slam shut, presumably behind Lemon.

To Be Continued...