Let Me Down Easy

Several weeks had passed since Wade had found himself chasing after the frantic blonde known as Miss Lemon Breeland in the Bluebell market. Planksgiving had come and gone, as did the festivities that came along with it. Zoe Hart and George Tucker had proved to be the true saviors of the Bluebell holiday, but Wade had heard the epic tale of the prim and proper Lemon Breeland chastising Mr. And Mrs. Tucker for their rude behavior. George had told him that Lemon even dropped a H-bomb before angrily storming out leaving two very baffled and speechless in-laws in her wake.

With every ending of a holiday, only led to the beginning of another which in this case meant the most important one of all, Christmas. Wade had been graced the pleasure of finding the perfect Christmas tree for the town square. It was to be grand in stature, but not over powering. Lush and full but not bushy, as per the request of the one and only Ms. Lemon Breeland.

Due to his own stupidity, Wade had found himself locked in a jail cell with George Tucker. The two friends coming to blows over Zoe Hart and though George didn't know it, Lemon Breeland. Both women seemed to have a soft spot for the small town lawyer, and Wade found it unfair that he held on to Zoe while he had already promised his life to Lemon.

After the heated confrontation, and the countless hours spent in the very uncomfortable nine by nine cell, Wade was ready to be done with his day. Upon stepping inside, he stripped himself of the clothing that he had been stuck in for the last twenty-four hours. And unfortunately for him, his day wasn't over yet due to the fact that he had a late shift at the Rammer Jammer right after the crowning of the Miss Cinnamon Cider Pageant.

Wade wasn't in his gatehouse for more than ten minutes before he was right back out, fresh out of the shower, a new set of clothes and his keys in hand. The keys made a jingling sound as he spun them around his finger and a light whistle escaped his lips. He was just about to open his car door when he heard the crunching of the dirt road, signalling that he wasn't alone. Not so far off in the distance he caught sight of perfectly styled golden blonde hair on the opposite side.

"Lemon?" Wade called as he watched the blonde haired female freeze in place before turning around. She was quite far away and it was now dark so he couldn't tell if it was her but judging by the fact that she responded to the name, he assumed he was correct.

The moment Lavon Hayes shut the dark wood door in her face, Lemon felt as if she had had the wind knocked right out of her lungs. Another person who she thought would always be there for her was turning their back. Her legs felt as if they were about to give out from underneath her. In small shuffling steps, she backed herself up against the railing of the porch, gripping desperately to the secure wooden pillars. Her body was wracked with another round of sobs as small feminine grunts of anger and frustration left her throat. The saltiness of her tears lingered on her lips and tongue.

Her cheeks were stained with tears as she was sure her silk blouse was as well since she could feel the salty liquid stream down to her jaw and then seemingly disappear. With one look back at the closed door, Lemon forced herself to stop crying as she began to head back to her cherry red vehicle.

She could feel the warm Alabama breeze blowing lightly against her body and the twinkle of the Christmas lights adorning the surrounding greenery of the mayor's front yard. As the dirt road crunched beneath her feet, Lemon felt as if she were a lost child, unsure of where to go or who to ask for help. Her sinuses were stuffy, and her eyes were more than likely rimmed with the unattractive redness that typically occurred when her emotions got the best of her.

She had been so consumed in her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed one of Lavon's two tenants standing outside his house, that was until he chose to call out her name.

"Are ya lost?" Wade cracked an amused smile as her frail frame began moving towards him slowly. His amusement was short lived as he mentally kicked himself for calling out to her. Wade was supposed to be distancing himself from her and closer to Zoe Hart, someone who was actually available.

The moment Lemon heard Wade call out her name, she felt as though her heart had stopped and her stomach churned. She had been so consumed in her emotional breakdown that she had wandered from Lavon's porch to her car unaware of the bartender lurking closely about.

She just prayed to the lord above that he hadn't seen her on the porch of Bluebell's mayor. The last thing she wanted to do was get into that long and complicated story. Luckily for the blonde's sake it was dark and the only light came from Wade's small porch several yards away.

Lemon contemplated dashing to her car and taking off, but something inside told her to turn around and find solace in the man who had been there for her in the past. The southern belle cleared her throat, getting rid of the lump that had formed.

"I was in the neighbourhood." She forced herself to say, in an attempt to mask her emotional overload. Her delivery wasn't exactly convincing but if Wade's dumbfound expression was any indication, it seemed to work.

"Pretty sure it's about ten miles out of your way." Wade furrowed his brows while Lemon remained silent. He let out a heavy sigh before rubbing the back of his neck and took several steps towards her. Wade wasn't at his most cheerful but he'd be damned if he were to leave Lemon alone in the dark.

"Look Lemon, I just spent the past twenty-four hours in a jail cell with your fiance, I—" He stopped mid-sentence upon taking in the sad, disheveled appearance of the thin southern belle. Her eyes were slightly red, and it was a damn near miracle that her mascara wasn't running like the girls from the movies typically had.

In any other scenario, anyone who knew Lemon, knew that she wouldn't be wandering around in public without making sure she was anything less than presentable. However, seeming presentable was the least of her worries at the moment and Wade could see that by the deeply sad woman in front of him.

"Can I come in please?" The blondes mumbled request was reminiscent of a scared child asking for permission to do something they weren't allowed to do. Her sad blue eyes were practically begging for him to say yes and if Lemon Breeland was good at anything, it was getting what she wanted.

"Yeah, I have an hour to kill before my shift." Wade said before moving out of the way for her. She moved slowly towards his front door, stopping only when he had to unlock it and held the door open for her. She took several small steps inside Wade's gatehouse before planting herself in one spot, her thin arms wrapped securely around herself.

"It's kinda messy." He mumbled and casually attempted to pick up the scattered clothes but it made little to no difference with the extent of the chaos. "I wasn't expectin' company."

"It's fine." Lemon assured. Ignoring the fact that if it were any other day she'd surely tell him that living in the midst of a pig sty was no way to live. Luckily for Wade, she had several other things on her mind and his cleanliness was definitely not one.

Wade stood awkwardly, unsure of what to say since what was making her so upset was still unknown to him.

"Ar—are you alright?" He asked softly, not wanting to startle her, to which she broke out into more tears. "Whoa." Wade said as he held up his hands as if something he had done had triggered it.

"I saw her, Wade. She's thirty miles outside of town and with a new fa—fam—I can't even damn well say it." Lemon couldn't quite spit out the word 'family' to describe the new people in her mothers life because for thirteen plus years, it was herself, Magnolia and Brick that were Alice Breeland's family.

Wade took a step closer while her fragile shoulders shook in sync with her sobs. "Saw who, Lemon?" He furrowed his brows in confusion. Clearly he hadn't been updated on the happenings of Lemon Breeland because he was completely and utterly lost.

"No one, it's not important." She mumbled almost inaudibly to herself, her eyes darted everywhere but at him. Her sobbing had ceased, and she was slowly trying to pull herself back together.

The bartender stared blankly at the blonde as the room was filled with a stark, almost eerie silence. Lemon brushed away the tears from her cheeks and pursed her lips together, seemingly embarrassed over her sudden outburst.

"I—I'm sorry, I don't know what's come over me." The uptight southern belle lightly dabbed at her eyes while her lower lip trembled. "I sound like a ramblin' fool."

"Lemon, it's fine." His features softened at the mess of a woman before him. Though he didn't say it aloud, he couldn't help but wonder why her behavior had become so erratic as of late. "You wanna to sit down for a drink and tell me what the hell is goin' on with you?" Wade offered kindly by pulling out one of the chairs at the small, weathered kitchen table.

Lemon smiled lightly before shuffling silently over to the chair and getting comfortable. The bartender silently moved past her, garnering a curious gaze from Lemon. With the flick of a switch, the small gatehouse was filled with the soft sound of the local country radio station.

"I'll have sweet tea if you have it." The blonde requested but was met with a look of disapproval.

"Darlin' it's whiskey or beer. So what d'ya feel like?" Wade asked with a quirky grin as he looked through his small collection of alcohol. One would think that being a bartender he'd surely have his place of residence well stocked but growing up with a father that drank til the last drop in the house was gone. Wade opted to stick to beer and one or two bottles of hard liquor just in case of emergencies like this.

"Whiskey, I guess." She huffed with a defeated sigh and before she knew it a small glass of whiskey was put in front of her along with a couple of tissues. Her blue eyes peered up as she flashed him a faint smile of thanks before reaching for the tissues.

Wade turned the chair across from her around before lounging on it backwards with a glass whiskey for himself in hand. He stared at her for a short moment, watching her dab at her teary eyes with one hand and spin her glass along the table with the other. Meanwhile, Wade took a generous amount of whiskey in his mouth, wincing slightly as he felt it burn his throat but enjoying the sensation all the same.

"Another?" Wade asked, noticing she had all but chugged the glass he had given her. Lemon's blue eyes glanced down at the empty cup, somewhat surprised at her speedy downing of the drink.

She wouldn't consider herself much of a drinker but the craving for alcohol in her blood hadn't yet been satisfied. Lemon nodded her blonde head before running her fingertips along the table top as Wade poured her another drink. Once he was finished, he pushed the glass towards her just as he wiped up the spilt whiskey.

"How'd the pageant go?" Wade asked, almost cringing at how stupid the question sounded when it was written all over her porcelain face. However, he decided that small talk would be easier to get going rather than divulging into the real issue that had turned her into the emotional mess from several moments ago.

Lemon cracked a small smile, she appreciated that he didn't demand her to tell him what was on her mind, she'd divulge when she was ready. That had been why she had come to Wade in the first place, he was easy to talk to and made her feel at ease whenever she was in his presence. For the most part anyway.

"Just peachy. I went head to head with wouldn'tchya know it, Doctor Zoe Hart. Always has to stick her nose in somehow." Lemon's sarcastic tone of voice didn't go unnoticed, in fact, Wade was positive that even dimwitted Tom Long if he were present, would've picked up on it.

"Don't ya need to be in high school for that thing?" Wade quirked a curious brow her way as Lemon shook her head.

"She was coachin' Rose Hattenbarger like I was with Magnolia. I let my feud with Dr. Hart get in the way of makin' Magnolia feel like this was about her, you know like my mother used to..." The blonde breathed, in a state of mind where she was scolding herself and feeling as if she could do no right. "Am I a terrible person, Wade?"

A bemused chuckle escaped Wade's throat and a slight smirk lingered on his lips but soon disappeared when Lemon shot him a less than amused glare. His face went straight just before he rose his brows.

"You're seriously askin' me that?" He questioned, somewhat shocked that she was asking him what kind of person she was. As far as he was aware his opinion hadn't seemed to matter. Lemon's delicate, manicured fingertips that traced the rim of the glass stopped at his question, her blue eyes shifting upwards, wordlessly telling him that she was dead serious in her line of questioning.

Wade let out a large sigh before speaking. "Lemon, you're not a terrible person. Are you a little difficult to deal with? That's puttin' it lightly." Lemon's eyes went wide and her mouth parted slightly due to his brutal honesty but he cut her off before she had a chance to interrupt.

"Are you high strung and the biggest perfectionist I know? Without a shadow of a doubt. But you what? You mean well and care about those that are lucky enough to be close to you. So whatever is goin' on with your mother, it's her loss that she doesn't get to see the woman you've grown up to be." He concluded with a wide grin so she knew he was sincere in what he was saying. However, a part of him was yet again cringing at the cheesiness of that words that had escaped his lips. "And that's all the cheesiness my stomach can handle tonight." He finished his long winded speech with his last mouthful of whiskey.

One side of Lemon's pursed pink lips curved upwards and her eyes softened. "Thank you, Wade."

He could've sworn he saw her faintly blush at his compliment before he downed the last bit of whiskey left in his glass and shot her a quick look. Lemon's curious gaze lingered on him before she brought her glass to her lips to hide the shy smile forming behind it.

"What were sayin' earlier about a jail cell?" A perfectly shaped brow was quirked his way. Wade let his chuckle rumble lightly in his chest before informing her further.

"Uh, well let's just say that lookin' for your perfect tree was a little harder than expected." His eyes shifted up to take in her guilty expression and he instantly felt guilty for putting it on her. "Not that you had anythin' to do with us spendin' the night in jail."

A faint smile crept onto Lemon's lips before she pursed them back into a straight line. "Trespassin' I assume." She muttered with a hint of amusement. "What in heavens name did y'all do for twenty-four hours?"

Wade's mouth curved into the crooked smile of his just as he leaned across the table towards the blonde. "Well Lemon if I told ya, that'd be breakin' the promise your fiance and I made to never speak of it." Wade let his smile linger, all the while giving her the wrong ideas. He leaned back to his former position and watched her features turn into ones of confusion and worry. "We actually had a good chat, George and I."

Lemon's eyebrows rose in surprise as did her anxiety. "About?" She had been trying to have a conversation with George for weeks but luck hadn't been on her side. Every time she got close to catching a moment of his time, something came up. She was beginning to think that George just didn't want to talk to her since he seemed to have time for Wade and even Zoe Hart.

Wade paused for a moment, thinking his words over carefully. "He did most of the talkin', I just sat there and listened to him go on and on about how much he loves you." Wade explained with a casual roll of his eyes. "Sickenin', really." The last thing Wade wanted to do was have Lemon feeling even more insecure. Telling her of his and George's discussion of Zoe would only do more harm than good.

Lemon's posture straightened and a hint of a smile played on her lips. "You're lyin'." She muttered with a weary look.

"Believe me, I wish I was." He replied with a light laugh to hide the painful truth that left his lips. "I'm assumin' he's not aware of any of this." Wade turned the topic a little more serious as Lemon's head dropped and her eyes were downcast to her neatly folded hands.

"We've haven't been in a good place lately." She revealed with a meek tone, slightly embarrassed that she had troubles speaking to her own fiance. After all she was Lemon Breeland, she wasn't supposed to show the world that she was having problems. She thrived on being perfect and everything in her life following suit. It wasn't until recently that she realized it was more exhausting than it was beneficial.

"So you come to me?" Wade chuckled, amused on the outside but underneath it all, confused.

Her piercing blue eyes shot up with a warning glare."I don't take kindly to you laughin' at me, Wade." Without a sound, Lemon pushed her chair out and quickly got to her feet. She immediately felt lightheaded due to the pure alcohol that was now surging through her bloodstream. Her hands gripped the edge of the table before she slowly lowered herself back onto the chair.

"Careful, Breeland. You downed that whiskey pretty damn fast." He was clearly amused by her almost accident as evident by the pearly white grin beaming at her.

"Sorry if I feel like I can tell you just about anythin'." She continued as if she hadn't almost lost her balance. If she as good at anything, it was recovering quickly and appearing as if she hadn't been phased at all.

"Just about anything?" Wade prodded with a devilish smirk to which Lemon fought the smile that was threatening to cross her mouth.

"A girl never reveals her secrets." She countered with her signature Breeland sass and pursed lips to boot. Wade let his smile fade as he got up

"With all due respect Lemon, I think you should talk to George." He pointed out, letting his head speak over the sudden rush of alcohol pulsing through his veins. "He's your fiance and by some grace of god he loves ya, so don't screw that up. Alright?"

Her blonde head shot over to him with narrowed, icy blue eyes. "Thanks for the pep talk." Lemon scoffed with a slight edge to her tone before looking away, clearly in no mood for his attempt at jokes.

"I'm jokin' Lemon." He began to repair the damage. "It's quite obvious why he loves ya. You're opinionated, feisty as all hell and you're you know...easy on the eyes." Wade suddenly said after a silent beat passed between the pair. He had let his feelings speak before his head and drinking straight whiskey wasn't going to help that. Before he got himself into a irreparable situation, Wade got up from his seat to take his empty glass over to the sink.

"Sounds like you're describin' Zoe Hart." Lemon quipped but her smile lingered as she stared down at her second glass of whiskey. She was unsure if she was upset enough to finish it off. Her mind was telling her to quit while she was ahead but the need to forget about her entire day was strong. Without a second thought, Lemon rose, albeit slowly, to her feet and made her way over to the kitchen sink to pour out the remaining liquid.

"Well that's a waste." Wade cracked with a knowing half smile as he looked over at the blonde. Her face was downcast into a somber expression, looking just as lost as she had when he found her broken on his doorstep. "You two have more in common than you might think."

"I've already had a bad enough day, please don't make it worse." Lemon mumbled with a slight pout, looking like a sad child rather than the strong woman he knew she was. Wade threw his had back in laughter before wrapping a casual arm around her delicate shoulders.

"She ain't that bad ya know." He shared, his mind partially still on his and George's conversation inside the small confided cell. Most prominently on George insisting that him and Lemon were meant to be and would remain that way until the day one of them took their last breath.

After his best friends assurance that Zoe was simply a reminder of his past life in New York and Lemon as the real deal, Wade was now more than ever eager to take a chance with the young female doctor. After all, the woman before him was spoken for and by his best friend no less. Even for a man with as few morals as himself, making a move on his best friends girl was not something he would ever do.

"You're just sayin' that cause you like her." Lemon shot back with a little bit of venom in her tone, giving him a glimpse of the woman he had become accustomed to over the past year.

Though Wade was fairly sure the venom in her voice was meant for Zoe and not himself. After all she had no reason to be upset with him, he was free to do as he pleased. He was an eligible bachelor who was always on the prowl, though he had been proclaimed a lifelong bachelor by many. While she had a loving fiance who was the striking image of what she had always wanted in a man.

He shrugged, playing it off, but by Lemon's less than convinced look that he caught out of the corner of his eye, he could tell that she wasn't having it. The thin blonde to his left was far more perceptive than the people of Bluebell gave her credit for.

"Honestly, I'm not surprised you like her, she seems like your type." Lemon drawled casually, surprising both of them by her semi-nice comment towards Zoe. He was just waiting for her quick turn around, the nice comment that was typically soon followed by a halfhearted insult. "She's feisty and opinionated so she'll keep you on your toes if nothin' else."

He knew by the look on her face that Lemon was threatened by the good doctor. Surely if she saw some potential in the New Yorker, her fiance did as well. After all George and Zoe shared a bond over the city that never slept that neither himself or Lemon would ever quite understand.

"Sounds like someone else I know." Wade nudged his shoulder with hers, silently telling her that the two arch enemies held a similar trait. He watched Lemon's face scrunch up briefly before relaxing into a very faint smile.

They stood like that for several minutes with only the radio playing in the background. It wasn't until Wade felt her bony shoulder brush his arm did he realize that she swaying along with the music while a light hum left her naked pink lips.

Before Lemon had a chance to get a word out, Wade had one hand wrapped around her wrist and gently pulled her out into an open space on the floor. He hesitated at first, unsure of how to go about holding her. Wade didn't want to offend her by doing something she deemed inappropriate, with him being the way he was and she the way she was, the chances of that were high.

In the midst of his thoughts, however, she had taken it upon herself to move her body close to his. Her head immediately found its familiar spot on his shoulder while her arms hung loosely around his neck. Wade cracked a small smile to himself before snaking his hands around her waist, feeling the silky fabric of her blouse on his fingertips.

A faint sigh escaped from her pink lips, though Wade was unsure if it was one of contentment or one of worry. He lightly rested his scruffy chin on top of her head of blonde curls, letting himself get lost in the music and the moment. He felt her inhale a deep breath before she spoke.

"I couldn't stop thinkin' about my mother today, especially when I was with Magnolia." Her sweet southern drawl whispered almost inaudibly over the music. Wade remained silent but rubbed her back gently to tell her that he had heard her and was waiting for her to continue. He felt the woman in arms take a long winded breath before continuing.

She slid a hand down his arm and gripped it tightly as she pulled herself back to look at him "My mother lives in Daphne. I found out last year, but I went to see her today. She—she has another family...another daughter, Wade." There was a slight crack in her perfectly enunciated speech which then led to her burying her face in the crook of his neck.

It took Wade a moment to digest Lemon's big news, it definitely explained a lot of her wishy-washy behaviour within the past several months. It took him another moment to realize that George clearly had no idea about it because the way she broke so easily to him, told him that she was desperate to talk to someone, probably anyone, about it. Wade had just happened to have been the closest warm body.

"I'm sorry..." He whispered softly into her blonde hair as his fingertips rubbed circles against the silky fabric of her lose fitting blouse. Wade had a hard time coming up with anything other those two simple words, he should have been used to comforting her but he was at a loss for words.

They remained like that for several minutes, he could feel a slight dampness where she laid her head but from what he could tell it was minimal compared to times past. By the time Wade caught sight of the clock out of the corner of his eye, their feet were barely moving anymore and her tears had stopped a least a song and a half ago. If Zoe or Lavon were to catch them in their current position there would surely be an endless amount of intense questioning involved.

"We should probably get goin' I have my shift and you need to be there when Magnolia carries on the Breeland tradition." Wade gripped her hips lightly and broke their embrace, Lemon managed a faint smile on her pale, slightly chapped lips.

"You think she will?" A slightly gleam crept into her blue eyes at the thought of Magnolia carrying on the Breeland women tradition. It was then that Wade knew that Lemon would be okay. She had her real family, the ones that didn't leave her when things got hard. The ones that loved her despite her faults and flaws.

"I won't lie to ya, Lemon. A part of me is rootin' for the underdog." Wade cracked a smile at the thought of geeky little Rose Hattenbarger winning the pageant. Though by the look on Lemon's face, she took his comment in reference to someone else.

"You really like her don't you?" Lemon's blue eyes met his, her curious gaze studying his features. By her reaction, Wade knew who she was referring to but he wasn't quite sure if he was ready to commit to an answer. "Dr. Hart, I mean." She clarified in a soft voice.

"On the other hand, I also happen to have a soft spot for the Breeland girls." Wade's smile only widened as Lemon rolled her eyes, a clear sign of the Lemon he knew making her residual comeback. Lemon shuffled towards the door as he removed his keys from his pocket and followed her outside.

"I appreciate you listenin', Wade." She said softly as the pair stood on his dimly lit and very cluttered porch. Wade couldn't help but notice how severely out of place she looked dressed in her silk blouse and long flowing white skirt with the array of old car parts, tools and random odds and ends that didn't fit inside his compact home.

"What are friends for?" He said casually, catching both of them off guard. Ever since her showing up at the Rammer Jammer, the pair hadn't yet acknowledged what they were to one another.

They had once been what Wade would constitute as friends but they had since drifted apart and continued on with their lives. George was the one thread that connected them. With any other person, Wade would've surely said they had worked their way back to being friends but Lemon wasn't just anyone. Lemon didn't have a large quantity of friends and that was mainly due to the large wall she had put up many years ago.

"Yeah...friends." A Cheshire like grin inched across Lemon's lips as she shyly looked down to the ground. What Wade didn't know was that Lemon had never thought of him as anything other than a friend, even with the months they didn't speak.

Without a word, Lemon took several steps towards him. Her hands slipped onto his shoulders as she ever so slightly rose on her tiptoes and placed a gentle kiss on Wade's scruffy cheek. He felt his breath catch in his throat merely by her close proximity. Before pulling away she wrapped him in a loose, friendly hug before taking a few steps back to look at him with complete sincerity.

"Dr. Hart would be lucky to have a guy like you." A soft, genuine smile stretched across her lips as she brushed some blonde curls that had fallen out of her clip behind her ear.

Wade hadn't intended to but he found himself staring at her in awe. His eyes took in her flush cheeks, only exaggerated by her soft pink blush, and sparkle that danced off her jewelry when it caught the light from his porch. It astounded him how even despite the numerous amount of tears that had been spilled she still looked better than most girls on their good days.

"Even if, bless her heart, she doesn't deserve it." Lemon mumbled just loud enough for him to hear and he fought the temptation to smile. Not because he thought it was funny nor true, but because even despite her shattered nature she still had that bite in her tone that was distinctly her.

"Lemon..." Wade started in a warning tone, Lemon flashed a modest smile before turning on her heels. He watched her make her way down the small set of steps and half way to her car before she cast one last glance over her silky shoulder.

"G'night Wade." Her sweet southern drawl said as he smiled back with a faint nod of his head.