A/N: Looks like we're still having disappearing/reappearing chapter issues on this site, but unfortunately, there's nothing I can do, except for keep on updating every Wednesday and hope my reader peops get to see each new chapter at some point. Thanks so much to those who managed to leave a review on the previous. Now, let's fix this Zade! :)
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 7
"I'm getting married... today!"
Zoe woke up to a ringing cell phone, and just as soon as she answered it, Annabeth's joyful voice proclaiming how happy she was to know that this was her wedding day. It made Zoe smile in spite of herself. In spite of the fact she had gone to bed in tears and had barely slept at all in the hours that followed. In spite of knowing she had to face Wade Kinsella today and deal with him for several hours before he finally got out of her life, hopefully forever.
The only way she was going to get through was to put all of her focus on Annabeth, and later, Joel, ensuring that the day they had so been looking forward to might just run smoothly at last. It certainly started off well. Zoe headed over to Annabeth's place and was met there by the bride herself, plus the very pregnant best friend from down south, Lemon Breeland.
"Well, technically, I'm Lemon Hayes now," the pretty blonde with the very large bump had explained, as she offered her hand. "But me and AB go way, way back, so she still has a habit of using my maiden name. Are you married, Dr Hart?"
"No, not married. Not engaged, not even dating."
Zoe wasn't sure why she said it like that, almost deliberately making herself sound like a sad case. Not that there was anything wrong with being single. Her focus was her job, her work, her very important contributions to the world of medicine. After she got through explaining all of that, somehow, she only felt more stupid. Not because her achievements weren't as great as she said, because Zoe knew they were. She just knew she was saying too much, overemphasising too much, almost overcompensating for something that she didn't want to think about.
At least the conversation was quickly steered back to the wedding, without too much trouble, and the morning passed quite cheerfully, in a mist of hairspray and a shower of glitter. The bride was soon ready for her big day, and her two best friends with her. There was still a half-hour to spare before they had to leave for the hotel and the ceremony, which afforded Lemon the chance to visit the bathroom, again!
"I swear, I didn't know one person could ever go so much. After I'm done being pregnant, I'm sure I should never have to go again," she declared, waddling away one more time.
"Poor Lemon. As much as I am looking forward to having this baby, seeing her like that is just... Makes me wonder how I'll ever cope."
"You'll cope," Zoe assured the bride, a hand on her arm as she smiled at her. "You'll be a great mom, AB, and the pregnancy part is so small compared to the whole lifetime of being a parent. I swear, you and Joel were just made to raise kids. You'll be so good at it."
"I hope so." Annabeth smiled back at her. "I know Lemon and Lavon will be amazing parents too. You know, I honestly think you'd be a pretty excellent mother yourself, if you ever wanted to be, that is," she said, tilting her head as she looked at her. "I mean, look at how you kept such a cool head through all the issues with my wedding. You have organisational skills I could only dream of, and I know I'm no slouch, plus you just... you keep it together. Even when things aren't right with you and you'd rather be anywhere else, you show up and you do your best, at work, and for your friends."
The knowing look in her eyes was one that Zoe had seen many times before. Annabeth was smart, so very smart, and not just when it came to book learning either. She had intuition like nobody else Zoe knew, which helped her to be an excellent medical professional, but also didn't hurt when it came to being a best friend.
"You wanna tell me what happened?" she asked softly. "Was it Wa-"
"I'm fine," Zoe told her, shaking her head, knowing she couldn't handle the line of questioning that was evidently coming, not now. "I promise, AB, there is nothing the matter with me that won't be fixed by you and Joel having the best wedding ever. That is the only thing that matters right now. The only thing," she repeated firmly, the second her friend opened her mouth to say more.
"Ugh, I really hope that's it now until after the ceremony, but don't worry, I know where all the ladies rooms are at the hotel, just in case. I made sure of it, given how things are with me," Lemon explained as she returned from the bathroom. "Are y'all having some super-secret meeting without me?" she checked then, looking between Zoe and Annabeth, with a none too friendly expression on her face.
"Lemon, you know better than to ask that." Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I have no secrets from you. I was just thanking Zoe for all her hard work these past few days. She really got this wedding back on track when it tried, several times, to fly off the rails. And yes, I know, you would've done the same if you could, but the fact is, Zoe did it and I am grateful. However, I am also so happy to have you here," she confirmed, reaching to grab a hold of Lemon's hand and squeeze it tight. "I couldn't imagine getting married without the two of you being there. Y'all mean the world to me."
"No, no. Don't test the waterproof mascara!" Zoe urged her fast. "There are no guarantees with that stuff and we so do not have time to start over!"
A lot of sniffling turned into laughter, and then, the three women made their way downstairs to meet the car that would take them to the hotel for the ceremony. On the way, Zoe text Joel, to ensure he and the rest of wedding party were ready. Within seconds she got confirmation back that all was well, swiftly followed by another text she didn't share with the group.
'Is everything okay with you and Wade?'
Zoe didn't even want to know why Joel was asking her that. There were a million things that Wade could have said to make him wonder, but Zoe wasn't sure she had it in her to ask what they were. At the same time, she knew she had to answer Joel's question, else leave him to wonder and worry all through his wedding ceremony. Thinking for a moment, she then quickly typed and sent a reply.
'Everything's fine, no problems here.'
It wasn't a real lie, just a small white one, if even that. Everything was fine with the wedding and with 'here' being taken to mean the car on the way to the wedding, well, there were no problems within.
Of course, things were not okay with Zoe and Wade, but then, she didn't really see why they had to be. They weren't the bride and groom. Just two people who met a couple of days ago and wouldn't see each other again after tomorrow. It really didn't matter if they were friends or enemies, or just what they were, mere passing acquaintances, as Zoe was sure Jane Austen said once in a book she had been forced to read for high school English.
"Zoe?" Annabeth said her name with just a hint of panic.
"No problems," she confirmed like a reflex, finding a smile for the nervous bride. "I promise, Joel has just confirmed that everything is fine at the hotel, which I mostly knew already anyway. Like I told you, the flowers are in place for the ceremony, the reception is set up in the blue room. The reverend and the rabbi both showed up on time, all set for your ceremony. All the guests are in their seats, and most important, Joel is waiting for you at the end of the aisle. Nothing can go wrong, AB, I promise."
Maybe that was a foolish thing to say, because wasn't it always when a person in a movie said 'nothing could possibly go wrong' that everything always did? Still, Zoe was pretty certain that after all the things that had gone sideways pre-ceremony, the actual event itself ought to be flawless.
Thankfully, within the hour, she had been proven right. It was a beautiful wedding. Unconventional in a lot of ways, with no family present from the bride's side and only a few showing up for the groom, a bunch of good friends gathered in place of more traditional roles, and an odd hybrid Judeo-Christian ceremony performed. Still, it was just this side of perfect, as far as Zoe could tell.
It made her happy, at least until it started to make her sad. All the talk of happy ever afters that followed on from the ceremony into the reception had Zoe reaching for the punch a few too many times, perhaps. Everybody was so happy, so contented, so damn in love! If they weren't attending the wedding with their other half, they were talking about how great the special someone in their life was, not to mention all the chatter about worthy work, life-affirming endeavours, and the wonder of family.
Zoe knew bitter wasn't a good look on her. She didn't like wearing it, not one little bit. She tried to put on her best smile, and it wasn't so hard, because she genuinely was happy for Annabeth and Joel, for Lemon and Lavon, for all the happy people gathered at the small but wonderful wedding reception. Unfortunately, she was also not-so-happy for herself, even though she had the job she thought she wanted and friends around her.
She didn't really have family, or the kind of community that the folks from Bluebell, Alabama could boast. There wasn't exactly an overabundance of those most important things in her life, like fun and laughter and love.
"You know, I get that we don't know each other all that well, but I'd say from what I seen so far, you'd rather be anywhere but here right now," said a voice beside her.
Zoe looked up and smiled genuinely at the sight of a man she had never thought to meet in real life until today.
"You were a great linebacker, Lavon Hayes," she said honestly, "but I didn't know you also read minds."
He chuckled at that, taking the empty seat beside her, joining her in watching couples dance and friends laugh together. "It ain't that so much. I'm just good at reading people, knowing what's going on. Comes with the mayoral role. I also noticed that you were looking a lot at a certain person, but trying not to let him know you were looking..."
When he trailed off, wearing a significant look, Zoe sighed, knowing there was no point in denying anything, feeling that there was no reason why she should anyway, possibly because the alcohol was beginning to loosen her tongue.
"Wade dates a lot, doesn't he?"
"I don't know that I would strictly call it dating," Lavon considered, "but he knows a lot o' women. He's popular with them, as you might say."
"Mm-hmm," Zoe agreed, taking a long drink from her glass and staring very hard at Wade Kinsella.
Before, she had been hoping he wouldn't notice, but now, she wanted him to know. Wanted him to see she was there and she was watching. Zoe didn't even really know why she was trying so hard for his attention all of a sudden, or maybe she did and she just didn't want to admit it, even to herself.
"Uh, it's prob'ly not my place to say, but if you and he-"
"Nothing has happened with me and Wade," Zoe told Lavon very fast, finally shifting her gaze to look back at him instead. "Nothing, nada, zip, not one thing."
Lavon looked at her curiously. "Why do I get the feelin' that somehow that is the problem here?"
Before Zoe could formulate an answer to that, she realised they had company. Either Joel was wavering back and forth in front of her, or her eyes were drifting in her head. Unfortunately, Zoe was pretty sure it was the latter. "Too much punch," she said absently.
"What? Zoe, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she insisted, pulling herself to her feet and finding herself surprisingly steady once she was up, in spite of her high heels. "You need me for maid of honour duties?"
"Well, kind of." Joel squirmed a little. "Tradition dictates that you and Wade really ought to be dancing together, and you know how AB is about tradition..."
"Fine. I'll dance with Wade. I mean, who wouldn't want to dance with Wade?"
She said it too loudly, she knew that she did, when she noticed all eyes turning to stare at her, as she made her way across the floor towards the best man. Behind her, she was sure Joel and Lavon were trying to decide if she was okay and/or what they should do about it, but Zoe didn't care. She headed straight for Wade and grabbed the hand not holding a beer, before he had a chance to protest at all.
"Come on, cowboy. Time to dance."
She almost fell on her butt when she suddenly realised he wasn't coming along to the dance floor with her. Instead, he stood stock still, even actively pulled her back towards him.
"I don't know that you're in a real fit state to dance right now, doc," he told her, turning her to face him again. "'Sides, seems to me we'd be better off havin' a conversation."
"I don't know what..." she began to tell him, but Wade didn't exactly give her a chance to finish, pulling on her hand and urging her to follow him out of the room into the empty hallway beyond. "Hey, let go of me!" she protested then, yanking her hand free from his grasp. "Seriously, what do you think you're doing?"
"I'm trying to talk to you, you crazy woman," Wade told her crossly, "and not where the whole damn wedding can hear. You really think AB wants people gettin' mad at each other at her reception? 'Cause I don't."
"You don't have any reason to be mad at me," Zoe told him, folding her arms across her chest and turning away a little.
"No, maybe I don't, but you seem to be awful mad at me for somethin', and I wish to God I knew what it was."
"Oh, like you don't know!" Zoe countered, realising a little too late she was being very, very loud and moderating her tone before she went on. "You're an ass, Wade Kinsella."
"I'm an ass?" he echoed, shaking his head. "Try it again, sweetheart, 'cause that dog don't hunt. Okay, if I am such an ass, why do you like me so damn much? 'Cause I know you do. I know you come up to my room last night lookin' for a good time, and far as I can tell, you're only so bent outta shape, 'cause I was already havin' some fun with somebody else."
"The maid!" Zoe yelled right in his face. "You were having sex with the maid, Wade. Could you be a bigger cliché?"
"Could you be any more jealous, Zoe?" he countered, immediately making her back up a step.
She didn't expect him to call her on it so bluntly. She didn't expect to be lost for words when he did.
"You don't... I would never..."
"Keep tryin', doc, you might even get a sentence out if you keep on goin', but either way, nobody's buyin'. You like me, I know it, and you know it, and God knows, if I thought you were the type that could handle a one-night stand-"
"How do you know that I'm not?" she asked him crossly. "I know I said before that I wasn't going to sleep with you, but I never said I couldn't. You don't know me!"
"I know enough!" Wade insisted, just as loud and just as in her face as she was in his own. "I know what AB and Joel told me, before we ever even met, sweetheart, and every time you and me got close, I had their voices ringin' in my ears, okay?
"Joel pretty much begged me on his knees not to hurt the girl he looked to like a sister, and as for AB, well, let me tell you, for a real sweetheart of a person, she can get damn specific about what she will do to a man if he messes with her best friend like that."
There was absolutely no doubt about what he meant when he said that, and the surprise of hearing that Annabeth had made such threats, and that Joel had pleaded so hard, all in her name, set Zoe's mouth into a perfect O of shock. It took a few seconds, and then a few more, for her anger and alcohol-fogged brain to process everything Wade just said.
He did like her. He wanted to be close with her. The implication was very clear. He wanted to kiss her and take her to bed, he really did, but he didn't feel he should. Annabeth and Joel had both all but made him promise he wouldn't make use of Zoe, because she wasn't that kind of person. Because they loved her too much to see her hurt by a serial bed-hopper. That was incredibly sweet and caring, and she couldn't love them more for what they had tried to do. At the same time, as Zoe stared at Wade and Wade stared back at Zoe, she couldn't think too much about her friends and what they thought was the right thing.
"It's not their choice."
A little confusion creased Wade's brow. "What now?" he checked, staring hard at Zoe.
"I mean, as much as I love them for trying to look out for me, I'm a grown woman, Wade. AB and Joel, they don't get to decide what I do, what we do. You know, if there was anything we did want to do."
The grin that produced on Wade's face ought to have been enough to make Zoe change her mind. He was so big-headed and stupid sometimes, she had learned that fast in the last two days, but she also saw how sweet he could be, how funny, how charming. Plus, if he were any hotter, well, Zoe was pretty sure that wasn't physically possible.
"You got somethin' in mind for us to do, doc?" he asked, moving in closer.
"Maybe," she admitted only that much, even as she leaned in to him some more. "But you think way too much of yourself, Wade Kinsella."
"I promise you, Zoe Hart, I never had any complaints."
She believed that. It was why she threw herself at him the same moment he threw himself at her, the two of them falling into a series of deep and searing hot kisses that could only lead one way. Zoe was okay with that now. In fact, she was more than okay with it.
To Be Continued...