by: Marty Chrisman

The next day, Shelby called her attorney and told him to make arrangements to have Cory cremated. There would be no service. He agreed and assured her that he would take care of everything. That only left one thing for her to do. She sat down and wrote four letters, sealing each one carefully. Sighing, she threw some clothes in a suitcase she found in the closet and left her bedroom. The boys were out in the fields with Uncle Jesse and Daisy was at work. She left the envelops with the letters she had written lying on the kitchen table, then walked out to her and threw the suitcase in the back seat. With one final look at the farm, she left.

When Daisy got home from work, she found the envelopes on the table. With a sinking feeling, she hurried to the bedroom that Shelby had been using. Just as she suspected, Shelby’s were gone and so was she. Daisy slumped down at the kitchen table wondering how she was going to tell Luke that Shelby had disappeared again. She picked up the envelope addressed to her and tore it open. Taking out the letter inside, she read:

Dear Daisy,

I know you are probably really angry with me right now for leaving but this is something I have to do. As much as I would like to stay, I can’t. The hardest part about leaving is knowing that I’m going to hurt Luke and I never meant to do that. Please watch over him and don’t hate me too much for leaving.   Shelby

            She was still sitting there at the table when the boys and Uncle Jesse came into the house from working in the fields. Immediately, the Duke men knew that something was wrong. “What’s the matter, baby?” Jesse asked her gently.

Daisy looked at her Uncle and her two cousins. In a quiet, carefully controlled voice she said “Shelby’s gone.” She saw the stricken look on Luke’s face and the pain in his eyes at her words and wished she could take them back but she couldn’t.

“Maybe she just went into Hazzard for something.” Luke said, not wanting to believe that she had really left

Daisy shook her and indicated the three envelopes still lying on the table. “She left us all a letter.”

Jesse and Bo both reached out and picked up the letter with their names on the envelope but Luke ignored the one addressed to him. Instead, he turned and left the house. Bo started after him but Jesse reached and touched his arm, stopping him.

“No…” Jesse said quietly “Let him be for now….he needs to be alone for awhile. If he doesn’t come back in a bit, then you can go after him.”

Jesse and Bo both sat down at the table and opened the letters addressed to them;

Jesse read”

Dear Uncle Jesse,

You will never know how much it has meant to me to stay here with you and the rest of the family. You have all done so much and made me feel so welcome. I’m sorry to disappoint you by leaving this way but I guess I just don’t have the courage to look at any of you and tell you that I’m leaving.  And I know that Luke is the one who’s going to be hurt the most. And that’s the one thing I regret the most. Please watch out for him.

Shelby

Bo’s letter was little more personal than the rest. He read:

Dear Bo,

I know how close you and Luke are. You have a special bond that can never be broken. Luke is going to need you now more than ever. I know how much I am going to hurt him by leaving and I need you to believe that I never meant for that to happen. I love him too.

But right now, I need to be alone. Please don’t let him hate me. I couldn’t stand the thought of that. Take care of him and help him thru this. You’re the only one who can 

Shelby

It was almost two hours before Luke finally came back into the house. Without a word to anyone, he picked up the envelope addressed to him and went upstairs to his bedroom. Sitting down on the edge of his bed, he stared at the envelope for several long minutes before finally tearing it open. He took out the letter and started to read:

Dear Luke,

This is the hardest letter of all to write. I have to leave for now. I need to be alone for awhile. I know you probably won’t understand and I can’t really explain. You and your family have done so much for me and made me feel like part of the family and I will always be grateful for that. If it weren’t you I may never have gotten out of the mess I was in. It hurts me to leave because I know how much it’s going to hurt you. And I can’t stand the thought that you’re going to be hurt because of me. I told you once that you were a dangerous man because you were the kind of man that women fall in love with…..and that’s true because I did. I can’t ask you to forgive me, that would be asking too much. All I can do is hope that you won’t hate me. Please believe me when I say that I will always love you even if I have to leave you for now. And right now, I can’t promise you that I will be back because I don’t know.

Shelby

Luke sat there for several long minutes staring at the letter in his hand. Then he slowly folded it and put it back in the envelope and stuck it under the mattress. He felt a wall closing tightly around his heart and his emotions as he slowly stood and went back downstairs. Shelby had made a choice and he could not change that. But he knew that he would never trust again or let himself get close enough to another woman to be hurt. It was the only choice he could make and still be able to get on with his life.