by: Marty Chrisman

Jesse was in the barn taking care of the goat when he glanced up and saw Kelly come into the barn. Daisy was at work and the boys were out in one of the fields fixing a fence that needed mending.

“Morning, Honey.” He said, as Kelly sat down on a bale of hay beside the goat. Jesse could tell that she had something on her mind, something important from the expression on her face. He waited patiently for her to tell him what was she wanted to talk about. Pulling up the old wooden stool, he sat down and started milking the goat.

Finally, Kelly said “Uncle Jesse, I need to tell Luke something but I don’t know how to do it.”

“Is it something important? Something he needs to know about?”

“Yeah,” Kelly admitted “But I’m scared to tell him. I’ve already told him so many secrets he didn’t know about that I’m not sure if he can handle another one.”

“Well,” Jesse said thoughtfully “If it’s that serious and Luke really needs to know about it, then I reckon you’ll find a way to tell him when the time is right.” He looked at her closely, then asked in a concerned voice “Is it something that could cause trouble between you and Luke?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Kelly said, rising to her feet “At least I hope not.” She sighed softly, almost wistfully “But it is gonna hurt him and I’ve already hurt him enough since I’ve been back.” As she started to leave the barn, Jesse said over his shoulder

“Luke loves you. Just remember that. No matter what, that boy loves you.”

As Kelly left the barn without answering, Jesse found himself wondering what more Kelly could have to tell Luke. And how many more secrets she had that none of them knew anything about. Whatever it was, he hoped Luke could handle hearing another secret cause this one sure sounded serious.

Kelly went into the house and called the insurance company. The adjuster had been to the house to survey the damage but it would be a another week or so before the claim was settled. In the meantime, Kelly still could not move back into her own home. As much as she loved the farm, she longed to be back in her own home so her and Luke could have more privacy. They were back to sneaking off to the hayloft whenever they could. Kelly smiled to herself. She had to admit it was fun, she felt like a kid again. Making love to Luke in the hayloft was a definite turn on.

She smiled as she glanced down at the tiny engagement ring she was wearing on her left hand. Luke had surprised her with it the night before. (In the hayloft, where else?)

He had told her about the ring that Jesse had given him and she knew that he was proud that Jesse had passed it on to him to give to her. She knew that she would be proud to wear it. Not that it really mattered, she just wanted to be Luke’s wife and spend the rest of her life with him. They had missed out on so much already. They had finally set a date. In just two weeks she would become Mrs. Lukas K. Duke.

But first, she knew that she had to tell Luke something that she had been keeping from him. And she had to tell him before the wedding. She decided that she would tell him tonight before she lost her nerve. She knew that Luke loved her. She just wished that she didn’t have to tell him yet another secret. And this was a big one.

She spent the rest of the day running some errands for Uncle Jessie and stopping by Miss Maybelle’s Dress shop for a fitting on her wedding gown. Four people stopped her on her way back to her car, to congratulate on her engagement to Luke. Lord, that seemed to be all anybody in town was talking about, the fact that one of the infamous Duke Boys was getting married. And to Kelly Dalton, no less, the girl who had mysteriously disappeared years ago. A girl that everybody assumed was dead until she mysteriously reappeared again a few months ago. Everybody in Hazzard was coming to the wedding. It was going to be the event of a lifetime according to some of them.

Actually, Kelly thought that some of them were just coming to see if Luke really got married or not. She didn’t care one way or the other if anyone came or not (except for the immediate family of course) all she cared about was marrying Luke.

After supper that night, Luke and Kelly went for a walk along the creek that ran through the Duke property. Kelly had been unusually quiet through supper and Luke had noticed. When they found a secluded spot, he pulled her down to the ground beside him and took her in his arms. They sat there in silence for a long time, just staring at the moon, until Luke finally broke the silence. “You gonna tell me what’s wrong?”

“What makes you think anything’s wrong?” Kelly asked, trying to keep her tone light and easy.

“Come on, Kell” Luke said with a soft laugh “ I know you, remember? What do you have on your mind? The wedding?”

“No, it’s not that.”

“Good,” Luke said in a relieved voice “I was starting worry that maybe you were having second thoughts.”

“I could never have second thoughts,” Kelly told him “Not about marrying you. That’s the one thing I’ve wanted my whole life.”

“Then what is it?”

“Luke, we’ve never talked about children……..about a family.”

“I just figured there was time for that later.” Luke told her in a puzzled voice, not sure where she was going with this. “Why? You wanna get started right away on a family? I mean, I’m okay with that if that’s what you want.” He smiled and nuzzled the side of her neck with his lips “I’d love to have to have a little girl that looked like you or maybe a son that looked like me…….as long as he doesn’t look like Bo.” When Kelly didn’t laugh at his joke, Luke’s voice turned serious “Kelly, tell me what’s wrong. You’re starting to scare me.”

“I can’t have children, Luke.” She said, the crack in her voice betraying her emotions.

Luke was quiet for several minutes, so long that Kelly started to get anxious. Finally, he said softly “Because of what happened that night?”

“Yes,” she admitted beginning to cry for real. Luke tightened his arms around her waist as she buried her face against his shoulder. He made soft soothing sounds, holding her close and letting her cry. In a muffled voice, she said “A doctor told me when I turned eighteen that there was too much scarring from internal damage for me to ever be able to have children.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“Because I was afraid to.” She said, straightening up so she could look in his eyes and drying her tears with the back of her hand. “I know how much family means to you. I didn’t know how you would react when you found out that we could never have a family of our own.”

“I guess I never really gave it much thought.” Luke admitted. “I just always figured that someday I’d get married and have a couple of kids.” He reached out to touch her cheek gently “But I love you and it doesn’t matter……..all I want is to marry you. We can always adopt somewhere down the line. There’s plenty of kids right here that need a good home.” Being an orphan himself, Luke knew what it was like to grow up without your own mother and father in your life.

“Are you sure or are you just saying that?” Kelly asked, the smallest hint of fear still showing in her eyes.

“I’m sure.” Luke whispered, kissing her deeply. “All I want is to be with you for the rest of my life.”