Well This Is Just Swell
Chapter 6: It’s a Date
When the boys got home about forty five minutes later Bo noted several vehicles in the yard. “I thought you said everyone was busy.” He said, pointing out the cars to his cousin as several people came out of the farmhouse.
“I guess everyone was so worried they decided to come welcome you home.” Luke said, shrugging. “Look, there’s Kendra. You better ask her about the dance before one of those other guys beats you to it.”
The past few days had been crazy for Kendra. She had had guys surrounding her day in and day out. The dance was in a few days and it seemed weird to the brunette that all these men didn’t have dates yet. She must have rejected 15, maybe even 20 guys. They wouldn’t leave her alone. They had even followed her when she went to the Duke farm to welcome Bo home. They were driving her crazy. After what seemed like forever, the white Jeep pulled up with the blond Duke in the passenger seat. She squeezed her way through the men to reach the vehicle. She finally got through and was able to reach Bo as he got out of the Jeep.
“Hey, ya look much better.” She said as she gently hugged him, being careful of his shoulder and wrist.
“Thanks.” he said as he hugged her back. Pulling away, he caught a glimpse of all the men and realized that they needed to go someplace by themselves. “Can we talk alone?”
“Sure.” She knew exactly where to go. It was the only place they could ever be alone. They walked side-by-side to the barn and slid in, hoping that no one had noticed. They made it to the ladder that led up to the loft, but Kendra stopped short, remembering what had happened to Bo recently. “Can you make it up there?”
“Ah… probably not…” Bo admitted sheepishly. “But I think over there would work.” He pointed to the corner of the barn where a couple of bales of hay were stacked. It was out of the way and easy to miss.
“Alright. After you.” She moved to the side and let him walk over to the stack first. After he was seated, she walked over and noticed he was looking out of a crack in the wall, laughing. She was very curious, so she walked over to him and looked out of another crack in the wall. The men that had followed her there were searching all over and appeared confused. They couldn’t find the brunette anywhere; Kendra laughed as she sat on one of the bales.
“I’m glad to be away from them.” She said. Bo turned his head away from the crack and looked at her.
“It is a nice place to go to, but why are you happy to get away from them?” He was confused. He figured any girl would love to have guys surrounding her and wanting to be around her.
She shrugged her shoulders and focused on a spider on the floor. “They’ve been following me around since news of you bein’ in the hospital spread around town.”
“Why would they do that?” It seemed really weird to him that they would act that way.
“I guess they were scared of you, and of course ya weren’t around so they probably thought it was a good time.”
Bo chuckled. Everyone knew that Bo cared for her as a sister and that he cared for her a lot. But they also knew that Luke loved her like a sister too. They must have thought that he was tougher than Luke. “I tell you, I don’t get the guys in this town just as much as I don’t get the girls most of the time.”
That made her chuckle. Bo always knew how to do that. “Yah, I don’t either.” She paused; she knew she needed to tell him why they were following her. “They are all asking me to the dance.”
Bo looked at her hoping that she would say more. He didn’t enjoy knowing that so many of them wanted to ask her. “Did you say yes to any of them?”
She looked back at him. His blue eyes seemed bluer than normal to her. “No. I couldn’t think about goin’ to the dance when I knew that you were in the hospital.”
Bo’s mood lightened up inside. He still had a chance to ask her and go to it. “Well what if someone asked you now, since I’m out of the hospital?”
She gave the blond a curious look. It seemed weird for him to be asking all this. “I don’t know. It just depends on the guy.”
Bo nodded his head and pretended to not really care. Hopefully she’d say yes. “What if it was me that asked?”
She kept giving him a curious look, but inside her heart was thumping faster than normal. She thought she knew what he meant, but she could never be sure with him. “Are you…?” She couldn’t find the right words to finish the sentence.
Bo knew that she knew what he meant. “Yes, I’m asking you to go to the dance with me.”
She didn’t say anything for a few minutes. Her heart was beating extremely fast and that made it hard for her mind to work. She finally comprehended what he had said and knew exactly how to answer. She had rejected all the guys because she was hoping that Bo would get out of the hospital in time for the dance and would ask her. She gave him a sweet smile before she replied “I would love to.”
“Great.” He was glad that she had said yes. He really wanted to go to the dance. This all reminded him of when he asked Kendra to go with him to another event. “Remember all those years ago when I asked you if you could go with me to my first high school dance?”
She remembered it quite well. It was the visit where she first developed a crush on Bo. She was a mess because of it, but Bo was a mess because he was nervous about the dance. “I sure do. I think that’s the only time I’ve seen you so nervous.”
Bo chuckled as he remembered. He had been nervous. His friends were all going to the dance and they'd convinced him to go too, but he couldn’t get a date. He felt lucky that Kendra was visiting that week, because he knew she would love to go. At least he hoped she would go, because he didn’t want to go without a date, looking like a fool to all his friends and the upper-classmen. She said she could and her Aunt Ann approved. Daisy let her wear one of her old dresses and she looked good in it. But it was just hours before the dance when he started to get really nervous. He kept himself in the loft for most of the day. It was only when Kendra came up and talked to him that he calmed down. It was a great night though. They danced, laughed, and just had a fun time.
Kendra remembered the events of that night differently. She just thought that it was going to be a normal visit. They hadn’t had anything planned. Then, only a few minutes after they got there, Bo had said he wanted to talk to her in the loft. They were now sitting beneath that same spot where he had asked her to his high school dance. She had said yes, but she was hiding some feelings inside; feelings of love. It all came to her the instant she saw him. She hadn’t even brought a suitable dress, so the next day she and Daisy went looking through all of Daisy’s old clothes for something she could wear to the dance. They found a dress that was perfect for her. She looked so beautiful, and her Aunt Ann and Uncle Joe were crying when they saw her. It was hours before the dance when Bo started acting weird. She hadn’t seen him all day and Luke had finally told her that he was in the loft. She went to talk to him, not caring that she was already in her dress. Sitting with him, she was able to get him to feel more comfortable. They had such a fun time; they had agreed that they would never forget it.
“I think the picture’s up in the loft still.” Kendra says after a few minutes of silence.
“Really? You think?” He wasn’t sure if it was still up there or if Kendra had taken it home.
“Yah.” She got up from the bales and walked to the ladder. She hoisted herself up so she could dig around in the trunk in the loft. Finally she found an old shoe box at the bottom. She sat on the floor and laid the box in front of her. She sorted through the pictures and soon found what she was looking for. “Told ya.” She said after climbing back down and handing him the photograph. She sat back down next to him and placed the shoe box between them.
He picked up the picture and looked at it. “You were right. I can’t believe how little we were and how different we looked.”
She chuckles. “I know. It’s….”
She was cut off by the sound of Luke yelling. “They’re gone!”
Bo and Kendra looked at each other. They both knew they had talked about all they needed to. She was just happy and grateful that all those men were gone and would leave her alone for a little while. Bo slid the picture back to her. She tucked the picture back in the shoe box and returned it to the trunk in the loft along with everything else she’d removed during her search. She climbed back down the ladder and smiled at Bo. They both walked out of the barn at the same time and spotted Luke, who was on the back porch.
“You weren’t in the loft, were you?” He didn’t want his cousin to injure himself and have to go back to the hospital.
“No Luke. I’m not goin’ to do something stupid like that.” Bo told his cousin as he sat beside him.
Luke glared at Bo but soon lost the look and a smile appeared. It was then that two patrol cars and a tow truck drove up to the house; all there to see the blond Duke who was finally out of the hospital.
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