(for disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 7

Wade was pretty sure that Zoe Hart was going to be the death of him. It was a strange thing to be thinking about a doctor, he was well aware, but these past few weeks, things had been getting harder and harder, and that wasn't exactly a badly phrased statement either!

It wasn't as if he made a secret of the fact that he liked her or that he wanted her. For a while there, she had seemed kind of willing too, although she had some reservations. Wade was well aware that Zoe was not the one-night stand type and that she was all kinds of determined not to date in any way in Bluebell, since she only planned on staying for the one year. In the beginning at least, he had been okay with the idea of nothing serious happening between them. Even lately, he told himself he would be a fool to want a relationship with her or with any woman. Still, he was starting to suffer some from being so close to Zoe and no closer.

When they finally got to share a nice dinner together, a couple of days after Earl's last rooftop escapade, they had a real fine time. Zoe took him to a more diner-style place in Daphne that she clearly had Lavon's help in picking out. Nothing too fancy, but a decent eatery. Food was good, conversation was the same, and it felt real comfortable between the two of them.

Two drinks in, Zoe started getting her flirt on and Wade started to think maybe, just maybe, things were going to be different that night. That maybe all her talk of 'friends only' was starting to fade from her mind. No such luck. Not that he could really complain when she made a point of telling him there was a real pretty girl two tables over making eyes at him.

"I'm going to the bathroom," she told him, rising from her seat. "Maybe you should go make sure she knows you and I are just friends, then ask for her number?"

Wade opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out, and just like that, Zoe was gone, disappearing through the door to the ladies' room. He turned around to glance at the attractive blonde who was absolutely giving him the look, and of all unholy things, Wade realised, he wasn't interested.

That seemed to be the beginning of the end, or maybe it was the end of the beginning, he wasn't sure. The fact was, from that moment on, Wade realised that maybe what he wanted from Zoe was more than just sex. Not that he stood any much more chance of a relationship than he did one night of amazing fun. Zoe pressed her 'we're just friends' bit a little too hard, both in front of other folks, and when they were alone together.

Not that Wade could blame her exactly. She wasn't trying to hurt him, he didn't believe she had it in her to do such a thing, but Zoe was beautiful and smart and funny, and if he didn't know any better, he'd say he was falling in love with her or some such. As it was, he knew he liked her, way more than he liked any other girl in a real long time, if ever.

The worst of it was, she clearly liked him too. Maybe not in exactly the same way, but still. She seemed to go out of her way to spend time with him, to talk to him, to be around wherever he was. Also, in a pinch, it was him she called for help, and God help him, if he didn't always come running, no matter what.

When the heatwave came and he convinced her to come out of her shell a little, Wade harboured real hopes of getting Zoe to just let herself go, let her crazy out. He managed to get her as far as jumping in the pond with him for a refreshing swim, plus a water fight, that almost got a sexy kind of out of hand, but the second they got close, she backed up like she always did. Mussed up his hair and rolled her eyes at him, like he was her brother or her dog or something, not a guy that wanted her so bad it was killing him.

Then not long after the heat broke, there was the Leon Mercy incident. Wade actually saved Zoe's ass on that one, when she got herself caught in a literal trap in the woods. Helped her figure things out with the so-called ghost that actually turned out to be a real person, hiding from his family, after faking his own death.

Of course, before all that, he had found himself sleeping on the couch at the carriagehouse, a stone's throw from the bed, containing a half-naked Zoe. That had damn near killed him. In fact, there was a whole list of moments, big and small, that felt as if they were chipping away at Wade's sanity. He really wasn't sure he could hold out much longer, but then Zoe would say something about how happy she was to have such a great friend, how Wade was just the best or some such. How could he ever try anything with her, try to tell her he felt more for her than she knew, when she was just so darn happy to be buddies?

Wade knew how to be a heel, he had his fair share of practice at such behaviour over the years, but with Zoe, he just couldn't bear to do it. God only knew what exactly he would do to cope, but for her, he figured he was just going to have to find a way.


"Hey there, Dr Hart."

Zoe's head hit the bar with a thud, startling her awake and making her sit up so fast she almost pitched right off the back of the stool instead.

"Woah. Hey, you okay?" asked George Tucker, quickly helping to set her right.

"I, uh... Sure, yes, I'm fine," she told him, shaking her head slightly. "I was just..."

"Falling asleep in your lunch?" he checked, biting his lip and fighting a smile, apparently.

Zoe smiled too, sure she looked pretty silly doing exactly as he had said, practically sleeping in her food. Her hand came up for a face palm and then she sighed.

"I haven't been sleeping so well lately," she told him, continuing quickly before he had a chance to ask if there was any particular reason for that, "but it's fine, I'm a doctor, I know what to do. I'll be okay, honestly."

"Well, that's good." George nodded, though he looked a little confused.

That was fair, since Zoe was well aware she gave her answer and explanation a little too quickly and vehemently, given the subject. As if George, who she hardly knew, would be questioning her on why she wasn't sleeping at night anyway. Of course, he wouldn't. That would be crazy.

Zoe figured that was okay, because she felt like she was going crazy herself in the past two weeks and more. Ever since that night when she finally got around to taking Wade out to dinner, as a thank you for all his help with the gumbo contest. Ever since she looked at him across the table, all wide smile, beautiful eyes, great sense of humour, and innate charm, and she realised that she could really fall for a guy like him. In fact, she realised that she actually was falling for Wade Kinsella and, immediately, her mind went into panic mode.

"Are you sure you're, okay?" asked George then, snapping Zoe from her thoughts. "I know you said you were but... well, you seem more than just tired. You look as if there's something serious on your mind."

"There is," she agreed. "I mean, of course, there is. I'm a doctor. I have patients with needs who are always on my mind. As they should be, obviously."

"Obviously." George nodded in agreement, but he still looked bemused by her behaviour, which was still fair, Zoe thought. "Uh, anyway, I should be going," he said, picking up his to-go coffee and sandwich from the bar. "You take care of yourself, Dr Hart."

"Sure, I'll do that. You too, George Tucker."

She forced a smile as he raised a hand to wave goodbye and was gone. That time when Zoe's head hit the bar it was because she put it there, hard. She really did need to knock some sense into herself, she was well aware, but she wasn't convinced it would work. Her 'doctoring skills' as Wade liked to call them, ought to tell her that kind of thing didn't work, but she was really out of any other smarter ideas at this point.

Maybe it was foolish to fight what she was feeling when it came to Wade. Zoe knew he liked her too, that they could probably have the most amazing time together, if she just let herself go. She thought about it. When the heatwave came and everybody talked about losing their inhibitions in the 104-degree heat, she really wanted to. There were moments when she so very nearly did, not least in the pond, her near-naked body so close to Wade's own, a perfect opportunity to just let something happen, but she backed out. She knew she had to, it was the only sensible option, but Zoe had been regretting it ever since.

Wade never said anything about it. No matter how close they got, no matter what almost happened but never quite did, he never complained or even shied away from being her friend. He saw other women, Zoe knew he did. She heard them over at the gatehouse sometimes and she hated it, but what could she do? She kept on telling Wade the same thing that she told herself. That just friends was better. Safer, more sensible, the only good choice, really. Unfortunately, as the days went by, turning into weeks, Zoe was beginning to forget why that was.

Her good friend Wade continued to be just that, helping her out when she seemed to be dealing with a ghost, and then, when she really was dealing with a man in genuine need of some sound advice. Leon Mercy, the man that she and Wade had sort of, kind of, brought back from the dead. That was a miracle, in a lot of ways. Zoe couldn't help but wonder if the bigger miracle wasn't how she hadn't collapsed yet after so many nights of waking up from erotic dreams about Wade that she knew she couldn't do anything about.

Not that that was exactly true. Zoe supposed she could do something. She could go over to Wade's place at any time he was home and make it plain that she wanted what he was offering. Not that he had offered in a while, but still, she was fairly confident that, Wade being Wade, he really wouldn't turn down sex from her, or from any woman, truth be told.

Maybe that was why she never actually did it. Zoe wasn't sure she could bear to be one in a long line that had fallen in and so easily out of Wade Kinsella's bed. She wanted more. God help her, she really did, and for the life of her, Zoe had no idea what to do about that.

"Well, I'll be damned!"

She looked up sharply at the sound of Wally's exclamation, turning on her stool to see what had sparked such a stunned reaction. Zoe was amazed to see Wade walking into the Rammer Jammer, mostly because he had his arm around a pretty blonde in a very short skirt, the biggest grin on her face as she looked adoringly at him.

"Hey, Shelley, how about a couple of beers?" he called to his friend. "And then, how about two more for my wife."

For the second time in the space of a few minutes, Zoe felt like she might slide right off her stool onto the floor, and this time, she wasn't sure she cared if anybody caught her at all. Nothing could hurt as much as the horrible twisting of her stomach on hearing the news that Wade, her best friend, the man she had started to feel so much for, was married and clearly had been this whole time.

To Be Continued...