In 1998, Adam Chandler wants Adam Jr. to come home, and along with him comes Dixie, who refuses to have anything to do with Tad at first. Tad's biological mother Opal had married Dixie's uncle Palmer, and when things start to sour in their marriage, Tad and Dixie get together to help them out. After tailing Palmer to New York City, they find themselves sharing a hotel room. Their true feelings for each other surface. Needing time to think things out, they make a plan to meet at the top of the Statler Building if they each decide they really love each other and want to be together. Tad sits waiting for hours to see if she would show, but, while on her way to meet him, she fell ill. Tad believes she did not come because she decided she did not want to reconcile. Dixie cares so much for Tad that she does not want to burden him with her health problems – a failed kidney and a weak heart. With Liza's help, he soon learns about Dixie's condition and goes to her. He stays by her side, proving his undying love, and once again proposing marriage to her. She accepts, and in 1999, Tad and Dixie marry for the third time.