Chapter Two

Lemon sat in the kitchen peeling potatoes. She had already peeled eight, but she needed more.

"What do you need all those potatoes for?" Lavon asked, reaching for a peel and plopping it in his mouth.

"There for Zoe's welcome home dinner. And don't eat the peels."

"Why?"

"Because I'm still miffed at you about earlier for not backing me up. Besides, I might need them."

"Lemon, come on now, I was just trying to do what would work for Zoe."

"Well, so was I. Considering that you two have been friends longer, I figured you'd be giving her the warmest welcome possible."

"I'm just not sure it's would she needs."

Lemon shook her head, "I'm going to the store. Don't you touch those potatoes!"

Zoe stared at the clock. It was so odd, but when she was in the hospital, the one thing she knew was that at exactly 11:30 a.m., Wade would come to see her. Today was her first full day being out of the hospital. The clock said 12:05.

Zoe sighed. She had not seen Wade since yesterday. She had been sure she had seen him when her and George were talking; in fact, the more she thought about it, the more certain she became. He had been there. She knew it. But why had he looked so sad? And why had he left?

"Need a hand?" Lemon jumped at the voice.

"Oh, Wade, you scared me," she said, putting her hand on her heart. Wade chuckled; overreacting was classic Lemon. Wade had been picking some things up when he saw her trying to reach something on the top shelf, so he had come over. The startling her was not really intentional, but it had been fun.

"So … ?"

Lemon thought for a minute, then remembered, "Oh, yes please." Wade reached up and got her what she had been trying so desperately to grab.

"Plastic ware. Must be a big party in the works."

"As a matter of fact there is; Zoe's welcome home party."

Wade's chest seized up a little, "Yeah, well, that sounds like a great idea. I mean, if I had only woken up a week ago with no clue of who I was, the first thing I would want would be to be surrounded by a bunch of strangers I'm supposed to know in a small space at a forced social gathering."

"The doctor said she needs to be surrounded by what's familiar. And I do not appreciate you and Lavon blocking my every attempt to help."

"Now, I don't want to get in the middle of anything involvin' you and your husband, but far as Zoe's concerned, I just want her to get better."

"And what better way to jog her memory than to surround her with all her friends. I'll invite Shelley, and Addie, George, of course, and you-"

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea." Wade said.

"I'm doing this."

"No, the party, that sounds, great. Really. Awesome, awesome idea. It's just, me coming, I don't think I can make it."

"Well how could you know that; I haven't even told you when it's gonna be yet?"

"No, it's just, you know, I haven't been in Zoe's life much lately, and besides, she's already seen plenty of me at the hospital. She'll have enough to handle with all these other people. I think I best stay out of the way."

Lemon shook her head, "That is not an option. You are one of her closest friends, and yes, you two hit a bit of a rough patch recently, but she doesn't remember that-"

"Well, maybe me not showing up will remind her."

"She'll be expecting you to be there."

"I think she'll be kept in good company since you're inviting all of Bluebell and possibly all of Mobile to this shindig."

"No. Now, you listen to me Wade Kinsella, and you listen good. I don't know what happened between you and Zoe to cause this recent rift, and quite frankly, I really don't care. That girl means a lot to me. She's the only real female friend I have ever had, one of the few people who really knows me, and I need her back. Right now she is confused, and scared, and she probably feels completely alone. She needs as much support as possible, so you are going to swallow your pride, and you are going to be there for her, unless you want to spend your nights looking down at something that used to be there and got mysteriously snipped off one night while you slept."

Wade stood there for a moment, "All right. I'll be there," Wade said, walking towards the checkout, "but you owe me Lemon, I mean it."

"I owe you nothing." She called back after him, then she smiled to herself. Breeland or Hayes, she still knew how to put the fear of god into a man.

Zoe made her way into the main house, and found Lavon sitting on the couch watching football while the kitchen filled up with culinary smells Zoe did not recognize. Was that something she had forgotten, or was she just not a very good cook? Maybe she had one of those nasal problems and could not smell properly. She tried sniffing the air.

"Oh. Halftime." Lavon said, standing. He turned and was surprised to see Zoe, standing there making odd faces as she jerked her head around.

"Um, you okay there?" he asked tentatively.

Zoe stop what she was doing and looked at him, her cheeks flushing slightly, "Yeah, I was just trying to figure out what that smell was."

"Beats me. Something Lemon made. Don't get me wrong, I'm okay culinary-wise, but I can't hold a candle to that girl."

Zoe smiled, "Can I cook?"

"Um, well, you've … improved a little over the years." Lavon said, trying to be gentle.

"So basically I suck?" Zoe asked, though she said it more as a statement then a question.

Lavon laughed, "Girl, you always were sassy."

Zoe chuckled a little, "I'll take that as a compliment." They were quiet for a minute, "So, listen, Lavon, have you seen Wade around? He usually, that is, when I was in the hospital usually stopped by around, well, two hours ago. Has he dropped in at all?"

Lavon shook his head, "Sorry Zo."

Zoe shrugged, trying to pretend like she didn't care, "It's no big deal. It was probably just because I was in the hospital. Who visits people once they've been discharged?" The truth was, Zoe had grown accustomed to his visits. They offered a feeling of security that she was sorely lacking right now. She needed that. A constant. Something solid that always came; something she could count on. Nothing was familiar; nothing felt safe. She needed Wade to come and see her, but she would never admit it. She had a strong suspicion that this girl who had been known as Dr. Zoe Hart had a very strong stubborn streak. It seemed the naturalist thing in the world to refuse to admit defeat. Maybe that's what made her such a good doctor. Or was she? They had just said she was a doctor; they had never said if she was any good. Maybe she sucked. Maybe she was stuck in a dead-end profession and she was too stubborn to quit.

"I can call him if you want." Lavon said. Zoe realized that she had been silently questioning her identity for so long now that there had been an awkward silence in the room. Lavon was probably worried about her.

"Your call." She said, trying to sound as though she could care less, "I'll, um, head back into my quarters." She was not sure if she could call it a house.

"I'm calling!" he called after her.

Zoe smiled.

"Wade Kinsella," he said into the receiver.

"Good, I caught you."

"Not that hard to catch, Lavon." Wade responded, a smile in his voice.

"Right, well, I was wondering if you were planning on dropping by later?" Lavon asked casually.

"Why would I do that?"

"To check on Zoe."

Wade was quiet for a moment, "You know, I'd love to, but I'm kind of busy at the moment."

"So, stop by later."

"Think I'll probably be busy all day. Got a lot of work to do, you know."

Lavon sighed and rolled his eyes. Wade was a good friend, but when he wanted to, he really knew how to be … difficult, "Listen, Wade, Zoe was in here askin' if you were stopping by; I can tell she want to see you."

"What, she asked you to call me?" Wade said mockingly.

"Well, she didn't exactly look sad when I said I would call."

"Well, just tell her you couldn't reach me." Wade responded matter-of-factly.

"Wade-"

"Look, I gotta go, all right. See you later then." Wade hung up the phone quickly before Lavon could say anything else. He took a deep breath. Zoe wanted to see him. She was asking about him. He felt like doing cartwheels and whooping. But at the same time, he had a bitter taste in his mouth. Because she thought she needed him, and he couldn't go to her. It would not be fair to mess with her head like that; she was engaged to somebody else, whether she remembered or not. He wanted more than anything to be the guy who was there for her, but that had to be George. Anything else would be wrong. He was not that guy, Zoe had made her choice, and not only would it be unfair to trick her, but it would hurt all the more when she remembered her choice and walked away. Except she never knew she had a choice. A voice in the back of his head said, you never fought for her; you never told her how you feel. Do you really want to make the same mistake twice? He tried to ignore the voice. The battle was over, won by one George Tucker, and he had no right to cheat on the score.

Zoe sat looking up at the ceiling. It was almost 10:00 p.m. It seemed safe to say Wade would not be stopping in today. She sighed. The day had been interesting. She had looked through her old books, and discovered she liked romance novels and medical texts. She had looked at her clothes to try and get a feel for her fashion sense, but she had not had much luck in that department. Lavon had made her a sandwich, and she discovered that she liked egg salad. George had stopped by and they had talked some. She liked George; he was easy to talk to. Not as easy as Wade was, but easy. With Wade, sometimes she could forget that she knew nothing about herself. She could tell Wade was concerned of course, but everybody else seemed to be sort of tiptoeing around her because she was the helpless girl with amnesia. She did not feel like that with Wade. He teased her in a way that felt familiar, and right. She guessed it was a common part of her friendship. But was it just a friendship?

Nobody had told her if she was seeing anyone. Was she an old spinster, seeing some jerk who had not come to visit her, or seeing one of these people who she was told were her friends? She had checked in her medical books and found something on amnesia. It was apparently not uncommon to keep people in the dark about things that might be a big shock to them. What shocks might they be hiding from her? Was she involved? Married? Pregnant? Gay?

She heard a knock on the door and sat up, "Um, come in?" Zoe said, always a little apprehensive about inviting her 'friends' in.

"Hey. How you doin' in here?" Lemon asked, closing the door behind her. Zoe shrugged. "Well, I brought you some flowers. Thought they might brighten up the place."

Zoe sighed. She did not really know Lemon, lord knew the girl seemed strange, and not just because of her name, but supposedly they were friends, and right now, Lemon was the best she had, "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Why certainly." Lemon said as she arranged the flowers she had brought in a vase on Zoe's dresser.

"What is my … romantic status?"

Lemon turned around and stared at Zoe, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Like, where do I stand … romantically I mean. Am I single, seeing someone, am I a nun?"

"Now I think you best try and remember that by yourself." Lemon said, "Why do you want to know anyway?"

"I'm just curious." Zoe said, picking at her bed sheet, "if your life was an entire blank you'd be too."

Lemon's face softened and she sat down on the bed with Zoe, "I am so sorry you have to go through all this. It's horrible to be confused, to not know who you are."

Zoe smiled, "Thanks."

Lemon looked at Zoe, who had always seemed so strong, and it tugged at her heartstrings to see her looking so helpless. There was a time when she would have reveled in this development, hoping it would rid Zoe from her life forever, but all that had changed two years ago. Zoe had helped her with something that nobody else could, and she had learned what sort of person Zoe Hart truly was. Now she needed Zoe, more than anything.

"So," Zoe started after a long moment of silence, "What can you tell me about Wade?"

"Wade?" Lemon asked. She had not expected that question. She had geared herself up for questioning about George, herself, Zoe's practice, but not Wade.

"Yeah. We seem to be pretty close, or at least, I thought we were. Are we really good friends?"

"Well, ya'll have had your ups and downs from what I understand it. You used to drive each other crazy when you were neighbors, yelling about electricity and things of that sort."

"We were neighbors?"

"For a time."

Zoe smiled, "Is that how we became friends?"

"I would assume as much, all though this town is so close quarters pretty much everybody is a neighbor."

Zoe laughed, "Thanks Lemon. I really appreciate this."

Lemon smiled, "Well, I owed you one." She said, gently patting Zoe on the back.

"George said I'm not from Bluebell, that I'm a New Yorker."

"That's true."

"So why am I staying here? I mean, if I'm trying to remember who I am, wouldn't I feel more at home there?"

"Maybe a while back, but you made Bluebell your home a long time ago."

"Then why doesn't anything seem familiar?" Zoe said angrily. She tried not to freak out; none of this was Lemon's fault. Besides, the girl still felt like a stranger and Zoe did not want to freak out in front of somebody she barely knew.

Lemon sighed, "I really wish I could help you."

Zoe nodded, "Me too."

Author's Note: Thank you all so much for your reviews. They really make my day, and reading them, knowing people are reading and what they think; it is truly inspiring. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I don't know when I'll write again as I have a lot going on, but hopefully it will be soon, in the mean time, here are some things to look forward to in coming chapters: find out how Lemon and Zoe became friends, Wade at Zoe's party, a new character, and some people are keeping secrets. Stay tuned.