I'd really hoped to have at least two updates done over the holiday but I forgot my family likes to plan my time at home out for me so I haven't had as much free time as I thought. :) I've been working on this chapter for several days and I'm eager to get the next one out - it's one of the ones I've been looking forward to for a while...

Thank you so much for all of your support. I just love reading your feedback and seeing all the story alerts popping up in my inbox. Y'all are just too good to me!

THINGS I OWN: A new TV (like, a flat screen! so long, small box of a TV I've had since before college!) courtesy of Black Friday. THINGS I DON'T OWN: Hart of Dixie

"Guess what I heard?" Edith Mitchell said to her two counterparts on the bench outside of Agnes' bakery. They sipped on their sweet teas and picked at the cupcakes they had purchased for dessert after an early Junior League dinner.

"What?" both older women asked. It was clear they hoped it was something good, some sort of scandal or affair that would set the town gossip chain on fire. All they'd had to talk about lately was Zoe Hart's shorts and Lemon Breeland's outburst on the sidewalk in front of the beauty parlor when she found out George had told his mother they would be attending Thanksgiving dinner with them.

"I heard it from my daughter Claire who heard it from her friend, Eliza Holland that Stephanie Martin basically took her clothes off at the Rammer Jammer for Wade Kinsella and he didn't so much as bat an eyelash!" Edith told them. The women gasped appropriately.

"Didn't she just come back into town?" Clara Ray asked Edith. "I heard she was dating some boy up in Tuscaloosa and found him in bed with another woman. They said she dropped him lickety split, packed up her things and was back in town by the next day." Edith nodded.

"That's right," she confirmed. "I heard she really gave that girl a piece of her mind too. Never was much for class, that girl. But you know Wade and her used to have their little flings all the time when she'd turn up to visit her momma and daddy – whether she had a boyfriend or not. I can't believe he just plum ignored her!"

"It's that Dr. Hart," Margaret King told her friends authoritatively. "I hear she's been spending a right smart amount of time with the boy."

"I heard that too," Clara agreed. "She's always at the Rammer Jammer when he's working. And you know she has breakfast with him and the mayor every morning? In her pajamas with no makeup on no less! That takes some nerve, letting men see you like that when you're a single woman!"

"You know, she did do a right good job with the Halloween festival," Edith said thoughtfully. "She even came in under budget, I hear. Mayor Hayes was boasting about it at the last town hall meeting from what I hear."

"She did," Margaret said with a nod. "Did a real good job organizing everything too. I actually seen her at the clinic the other day. I had a little bit of a head cold and I went in to see Brick, but Dr. Hart was free so I gave her a chance. She fixed me right up. And was real sweet about it to boot. I wouldn't mind if I had to see her again to tell the truth. She ain't half bad once you get past some of those outfits and all that fast talking she does."

"Well, she does seem to make that Kinsella boy smile," Clara said. "Lord knows the boy could use something to smile about, all he's been through in his life."

"That's the truth," Edith replied. "He's a good boy at heart, singing his daddy down month after month, helping Lavon out around the plantation. Couple of weeks ago he even carried my groceries to the car for me, saw that I was struggling some and the bag boy – that Fredrick Dean? – was too busy chatting with that Magnolia Breeland's chest to help an old lady."

"Oh y'all look a there!" Margaret said, suddenly delighted. She elbowed Edith who was sitting in the middle of the three and nodded down the street. Zoe Hart was locking the doors to her practice just as Wade Kinsella walked out of the Rammer Jammer. The three women sat and watched happily, hoping for something to occur between the two that would fuel their gossip fire.

"Wade!" Zoe called when she seen him. He had been walking down the street towards the town's pizza joint but stopped when he heard Zoe. He waited for her to catch up.

"Evenin,' Doc," he said when she reached him.

"Hey," she replied. She was beaming. "Guess what?"

"You found shoes on sale and are having them overnighted from New York?" Wade guessed.

"What? No," Zoe said, making a face and shaking her head. "The numbers are in and I, Dr. Zoe Hart, pulled in exactly 37% of the revenue. Technically 36.5% but I'm rounding up. I earned an extra half a point," she told him.

"Seriously?" Wade asked. "Doc, that's great!" Before he knew it was happening, Zoe was hugging him. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her to hug her back. The three women on the bench in front of the bakery looked like Christmas had come a month early.

"I did it!" she said, pulling away. "And I'm determined to do even better next quarter. I'm going to kick Brick Breeland's patient hogging ass." Wade laughed.

"I have no doubts," he said. "You headed back to the plantation?" Zoe shook her head.

"I've got a few errands to run," she told him. "And then I'm going to spend the evening googling any and everything I can about how to cook Thanksgiving dinner so I don't make a fool of myself tomorrow." Wade laughed again.

"Don't worry, Doc. We won't let you burn the house down," he told her. Zoe just smiled. "How are you plannin' on gettin' home?" he asked.

"Walking," Zoe answered.

"I can hang around…" Zoe shook her head. She had intentions of learning to drive soon – somehow – so she could start relying on everyone else to get her where she was going, particularly if it was out of walking distance.

"Thanks, Wade, but I could use the fresh air," she told him. "Besides, I don't know how long I'll be."

"You sure?" Zoe nodded. Wade wavered. He didn't mind waiting, but he got the impression she wanted the alone time. He decided not to press her. "Alright. See you tomorrow then. Unless you blow the fuse box. Then I'll see you tonight." There was a twinkle in his eye that made Zoe smile.

"Bye, Wade," she told him, turning away as he winked at her.

Zoe walked down the sidewalk, sure the old ladies in front of the bakery were talking about her – again – but not sure what it could be about this time. She only had one errand in mind, but it was one that had been on her mind all day. Soon, she was walking along a familiar cast iron fence. She pushed against the gate and let herself into the ceremony.

"Hi," she said, walking up to her father's grave. She glanced around, making sure she was alone before she lowered herself to sit on the ground next to his tombstone.

"I haven't been by in a while," she started. "I've been pretty busy, trying to get patients and trying to fit in. It was hard at first. I'm sure you probably knew it would be. It would have been easier if you'd still been here, I'm sure. Although you've definitely been the source of gossip since I turned up and people figured out I'm your illegitimate daughter. Brick still hates me, today more so than ever. I think he was sure I wouldn't get my percentage of the business and he'd get the practice, but I live to fight another quarter. That's what I wanted to tell you – that I made my thirty percent so I can stick around a little while longer.

"You know, Bluebell isn't so bad. I kind of even – like – it. Can you believe that? I can't get takeout, there isn't a taxi to be found and I can forget about decent shopping outside of the internet, but I don't know, there's something about this place. The people, maybe. It's growing on me whether I want it to or not.

"Lavon's been great. He's probably the best friend I have right now. I still talk to my friends in New York, especially Gigi, but their lives are so different than mine now. They're all getting married and having babies and some of them have these amazing fast-paced careers while I'm in Bluebell, Alabama, treating poison oak and snake bites.

"Lavon's been really great about doing what he can to help me fit in around here. He let me ride on this float, even though I ended up totally ruining the Founder's Day parade. He's always giving me ideas of what I can do to show the town's people I want to be a part of their community. Plus he's Lavon Hayes. I mean, do you know how awesome of a linebacker he was in his playing days? Of course you do. You knew him most of his entire life.

"I wish I had a girlfriend here though, you know? Just someone I could talk to about things like hair and clothes and you know, boys. I mean, Shelley's the closest thing I have to a girlfriend around here. I should probably give her more of a chance than I have. She can be a little dim and she does some weird things like carrying pretzels around in her pocket, but I can be a little dim too, I guess. At least according to Wade." She stopped and smiled when she mentioned Wade.

"Wade has told me a lot about you, how you diagnosed his mom and tried to help Earl. He told me I was a lot like you. The more I learn about you, the more I hope that's true. It sounds like you were a pretty good guy, despite the whole affair with a married woman thing. I'm trying really hard to fit in here and be a good doctor. Maybe, maybe it's starting to pay off."

Zoe trailed off but remained seated on the ground, thinking back over the last few months, how different her life was from what she'd planned it to be and how oddly right it all seemed. Bluebell really wasn't so bad and each day, it seemed like a new person spared her a smile on the sidewalk or let her treat them when Brick was busy. She still wanted to be a surgeon, but if things didn't work out, she didn't think it would be so bad, being a general practitioner at the practice her father had founded. The sun was sinking low in the sky when she finally stood to go home.

"I won't wait so long to visit next time," Zoe promised Harley. She weaved through the gravestone on her way back to the gate, her mind already racing ahead to her to-do list to prepare for Thanksgiving. She was nearly to the gate when she stopped dead in her tracks in front of a simple white tombstone.

Mary Ellen Marks Kinsella
June 30, 1964 – October 15, 1996
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love –1 Corinthians 13:13

Zoe smiled sadly at Wade's mother's grave. Mary Ellen was just 32 when she passed away, barely older than she and Wade were now. Zoe squatted down to get a closer look and noticed a few fresh flowers had been laid there. For a moment, she thought perhaps Wade had been there but then a small, empty whiskey bottle caught her eye and she knew it had been Earl. She reached out and collected the bottle to throw away. She stood and took one last look, feeling a weird kinship to the piece of granite. She found herself wondering what kind of person Mary Ellen had been as she walked home, what kind of mother and wife she had been. Those thoughts were driven out of her mind when Burt Reynolds crossed her path.

"Honey, it's not hard," Didi told her while she stirred a pot on the stove. "Just fill that pot there up with water like I told you, bring it to a boil, then pour in the noodles. Follow that recipe I have you and that's all you need to do."

"Last time I tried to cook noodles, there was smoke," Zoe told her seriously.

"Technically, that was the ground beef," Wade spoke up. He was sitting at the counter, peeling potatoes.

"See? Wade was a witness."

"Also her savior."

"Shut up, Wade," Zoe said. "And besides, it's not the noodles I'm worried about. It's melting all this cheese and butter without burning anything down. You seriously don't understand what you're asking me to do."

"Hon, you just put the cheese and the butter in the pot and stir until it melts. It's as simple as it can be."

"You've got a lot of faith in her, Didi," Wade said. "You didn't try her gumbo."

"Neither did you," Zoe reminded him. She bit back the urge to bring up the fact that he'd made the gumbo entered under her name. She had tried to bring it up to him a time or two since Lavon had let it slip over the weekend, but she couldn't get herself to do it. If he wanted her to know, he would have told her.

"Lavon's reaction was all I needed," Wade retorted. "Burt Reynolds enjoyed it though."

"Burt Reynolds nearly enjoyed me last night," Zoe said, putting her pot of water on the stove and turning on the heat.

"You need to be nicer to my alligator," Lavon said, entering the kitchen from somewhere else in the house. "You be nice to him, he'll be nice to you."

"You act like he's some cute and cuddly puppy dog," Zoe said.

"Just as good as one. 'Cept he walks himself and I ain't got to clean up after him." Lavon went to work as bartender, pouring coffee for all of them instead of alcohol as it wasn't lunchtime yet. Zoe focused on the macaroni and cheese that had been assigned to her, checking and re-checking the recipe Didi had provided.

"Is this good?" she asked, peering into the cheesy mixture she'd been creating while her noodles boiled. Wade was closest so he looked over her shoulder. "You smell really good," she added, getting a whiff of Wade's cologne as he leaned close.

"Thanks, Doc," he said. "Decided I'd take a shower for the occasion." Zoe made a face at him as he reached around her to stir the cheese. "Well Dr. Hart, you managed to melt cheese and butter on the stove. Consider yourself a gourmet chef."

"Get out of the way," Zoe told him, shoving him away from the stove. Didi and Lavon exchanged grins. One of their favorite things to discuss lately had been when Wade and Zoe would admit they had feelings for the other. It was clear they had gotten closer, their relationship developing naturally. Lavon expected any day now to walk into his kitchen and find them all over each other.

Zoe went to work, adding her ingredients to the crockpot as instructed by the recipe. She wasn't so sure about the sour cream and didn't have a clue what dry mustard was, but she measured them out exactly, checking and double checking the recipe as she went. She set the crockpot on high and put the lid on, checking the time. Per the recipe it would take 3 hours, finishing up just in time for dinner. She had her doubts, but she

"What next?" she asked, taking her coffee from Lavon.

"Peel the rest of these potatoes," Wade told her, pushing the bowl towards her. "I'll start on the deviled eggs." Zoe situated herself on a stool where she could see the TV as she worked. She'd turned on the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade earlier and had been stealing moments watching it every chance she got for glimpses of New York.

Wade watched her as he put eggs on to boil. Didi finished up the dish she was working on and she and Lavon mumbled some excuse about needing to go outside for a few minutes. Wade crossed the kitchen to where Zoe sat and leaned on the counter across from her.

"You really miss it," he commented. Zoe quickly snatched up the potato she had abandoned as she watched the Snoopy balloon be navigated down the streets of her city.

"Miss what?" she asked.

"New York."

Zoe almost lied. She almost told him she didn't even if she was certain he'd know she was lying. But Wade had let her in, told her about his family. She knew she could be honest with him, confess how much she missed her home.

"I miss it," she agreed. "It's the only home I've ever known."

"What do you miss the most?" Wade pressed. Zoe thought about it.

"The noise," she finally said. "I used to lay in bed at night with my window open and just let the sounds of the city lull me to sleep. The sirens, the cars, the hum of hundreds of people on the streets around my building… It's beautiful this time of year, too. All the stores are putting up their decorations and decorating their windows. The Christmas tree is in Rockefeller Center, waiting to be lit. And it's cold. Wearing shorts in November is unheard of."

"Sounds amazing," Wade said. Zoe smiled at him.

"You're just saying that to make me feel better," she said, catching on that nothing she told him about her city would impress him. He would never be at home somewhere outside of Bluebell. He smiled, revealing that she was right. He nodded at the TV.

"You probably went to that every year," he said.

"The parade? No, actually. I've never been, believe it or not. My mom always has these fancy dinner parties for clients and potential clients and my – dad – was always working. Then they got divorced – which I now know happed right after he found out I wasn't his – and if he managed to call on the holidays I was happy. I used to watch it in my room while Mom ordered the caterers and wait staff around downstairs. I could sometimes see the balloons from my window, but that's as close as I've ever gotten."

"Probably a good thing," Wade said seriously. "You mighta crashed the Tom the Turkey float or somethin.'" Zoe threw a potato peel at him. He dodged it, laughing.

"I had a good reason," she said. "There was something I had to take care of."

"And a simple 'Hey Wade? Pull over' wouldn't have worked?"

"Not in that case," Zoe told him. She refused to tell Lavon or Wade why she'd gone about wrecking the float, citing doctor/patient confidentiality. She watched him check the eggs on the stove and then the turkey in the oven.

"You didn't learn to cook a turkey at the Rammer Jammer," Zoe commented.

"Technically, Didi is cooking the turkey," he reminded her.

"You know what I mean."

"I told you, Doc, I picked up some things at the Rammer Jammer."

"Deviled eggs aren't on the menu." Wade sighed.

"My momma was a good cook," he said. "I used to hang out with her in the kitchen. I just remember a couple of things, that's all."

"Speaking of your mother, care to tell me why you're here in Bluebell instead of up in Mobile with your sister and her family?" Zoe asked. Wade shrugged.

"I'll go up there for Christmas," he replied. "Take the kids their gifts, put in my time."

"You act like you're going to prison," Zoe commented.

"'Bout the same from what I can tell." Wade looked at her. "Not like you have room to talk, seein' as you're here instead of in New York. Hell, you ain't even talkin' to your momma."

"She lied to me my entire life. I have a right to be mad at her."

Wade just shrugged and took the eggs off the stove. He didn't agree with Zoe's attitude towards her mother but he knew trying to reason with her on the subject was a lost cause. He let it drop and turned his attention to dinner, especially when football started. He just didn't have the same sort of passion for the game as Lavon, Zoe and most of Bluebell. Zoe cheered while Lavon yelled and Didi just rolled her eyes.

"You're missing a great game!" Zoe called to them. "Detroit just intercepted and ran it back to the 9 yard line. If they score, they'll tie it up. Green Bay is going down!"

"Hush, girl," Lavon said, never looking away from the TV.

"Ain't the man supposed to be watching football and the woman supposed to be in the kitchen?" Didi asked Wade.

"Dr. Hart don't follow any other rule, why'd she follow that one?" he replied. The clock expired on the first half of the game.

"Halftime," Lavon announced, clapping his hands together. "Who wants beer and who wants wine?"

"Beer," Wade answered.

"Wine," both Didi and Zoe replied. Zoe walked over to the crockpot to check her macaroni. She lifted the lid and stirred it with a spoon.

"I think it's done," she announced. "Someone try it for me?"

Didi was busy with the last of the casseroles and kept her back to Zoe. Lavon and Wade exchanged looks.

"It's your turn," Lavon told him as he passed him a beer.

"How's it my turn?" he asked. Zoe frowned, offended that they were going to argue over who had to try the one dish she'd been put in charge of.

"I tried her gumbo. That should give me a lifetime pass on trying anything Zoe Hart cooks."

"I saved your kitchen from ruin the last time she cooked. You owe me," Wade argued.

"Someone try the damn macaroni!" Zoe stated. Lavon and Wade looked at each other. Lavon raised an eyebrow and nodded at the crockpot. Just like Lavon knew he would, Wade sighed and turned to Zoe.

"The only reason I'm doin' this is 'cause you're a doctor and you have to try and save me if find myself in a life-threatening situation after I eat this."

"Shut up and try it," Zoe said, holding out the spoon with a few macaroni noodles on it. Wade leaned down and timidly tasted the macaroni off the end of the spoon. Zoe watched his face, hopeful but not expecting a pleasant reaction. Wade chewed, his face one of surprise – the same sort of surprise Lavon had worn when he'd tried her gumbo. "How bad is it?" she asked, clearly disappointed.

"Actually, it's good," Wade said. "Real good." Zoe shook her head.

"Don't lie to me," she told him.

"I'm not," he insisted. "It's actually really good."

"It is?" Zoe asked, not quite believing him.

"It is?" Lavon echoed. He opened the utensil drawer and retrieved a fork. "Let me try it," he said. He speared a forkful, blew on it to cool it off, and then popped it into his mouth. Zoe waited for his reaction.

"Well, Big Z, it looks like you done finally found something you can cook," he said. Zoe's eyes lit up.

"Really?" she asked. "It's actually good? As in, it's edible and everything?"

"It's a Thanksgiving miracle," Lavon announced.

"And I didn't even have to pull out the 'ol fire extinguisher," Wade added, smiling at Zoe. She smiled back in a self-satisfied kind of way.

"I told you you could do it," Didi said, removing the turkey from the oven. "All you had to do was follow the recipe. You keep doing that and soon you'll be able to cook most anything. That's how I learned." She opened the pantry and scanned the shelves. "Did anyone think to get cranberry sauce?" Wade, Zoe and Lavon all shook their heads no. "Well we can't have Thanksgiving dinner without cranberry sauce," she said.

"Ain't the grocery store open half the day?" Wade asked, already heading towards the door. "I'll go pick up a couple cans."

"Thanks, Wade," Didi replied. He nodded at her and then looked at Zoe.

"Want to go?" he asked. Zoe glanced at the TV.

"Will we be back in time for the second half?" Wade rolled his eyes.

"That don't matter," Didi said. "Zoe is settin' the table and Lavon, I need you to help me with this turkey."

"And there are my marching orders," Zoe commented. Wade grinned.

"I'll be back," he announced on his way out the door.

Nearly an hour later, Wade still hadn't returned.

"Where is he?" Didi asked, tapping her fingernails on the counter impatiently. "Everything else is ready. I need to get that cranberry sauce so I can put the rolls in the oven."

"Think he's okay?" Zoe asked, feeling a little anxious. It should have been a short trip, 15, 20 minutes round trip for just a couple cans of cranberry sauce. Irrational images of his Camaro overturned in a ditch between the store and plantation filled her head. She did her best to push them away, not sure where they were coming from. Besides, she was the town doctor. She was even on call. Surely she would have been called if something had happened to Wade.

A few minutes later, the rumble of his car was heard. She breathed a sigh of relief, wondering why she'd been so worried in the first place.

"Sorry it took me so long," he said as he opened the door carrying a small bag. "I, uh, found someone walkin' along the road and it took me a little bit to convince 'em I won't some axe murderer or anythin' like that." He pushed the door open and stepped inside. A well-dressed woman who looked travel-worn and extremely out of place followed him in. Zoe gasped.

"Mom!"

So Zoe gets to keep the practice another quarter at least, Wade learned to cook from his Momma, Zoe successfully cooks something (using my favorite Paula Deen recipe for mac and cheese!) and Mrs. Hart has shown up... Dun Dun Dun...

Thanks for reading and reviewing!