by: Marty Chrisman

  After finishing his own breakfast, Bo joined Luke outside to do the morning chores. The boys worked in a comfortable silence as they milked the goats, fed the livestock and gathered the eggs. They usually did the chores together because it seemed to go faster that way. Bo noticed that Luke seemed to be distracted, lost in his own thoughts, but he didn’t think anything about it.

Like Jesse said everybody was entitled to a bad day and Luke could get into a dark mood sometimes. It had been like that ever since he’d come back from Viet Nam after being a P.O.W. for almost four months. He never talked about the things he’d seen or done in the war but he had been different when he came back to the farm. For months after he first came home, he’d had terrible nightmares and some nights he didn’t even sleep at all. He had gradually come out of it but there were still times when he would slip back into one of those black moods. And when he did, Bo had learned that it was best to just let him alone until it passed.

Luke had always been the quiet more reserved cousin. He kept his thoughts and feelings to himself. He rarely opened up to anyone except Bo. The two boys were closer than brothers and shared just about everything. But Bo knew that there were still some things that Luke had never shared with anyone not even him and Bo doubted if he ever would. There was a part of himself that Luke kept carefully locked away from everyone and any secrets that were hidden in that part of his mind would stay hidden away unless Luke himself chose to share them.

After finishing their morning chores, the boys spent another long day helping Jesse in the fields. Planting time was always a busy time on the farm and the boys usually fell into bed at night, too tired to do much more than eat before going to sleep. They worked hard and they played just as hard. Jesse understood that and tried to allow time for the boys to have fun. On the weekends, other than their usual morning and evening chores which mainly consisted of caring for the animals, the boys had time to spend on themselves and their other activities.

Everyone in Hazzard County seemed to be getting ready for homecoming. Booths were being built and tents were already being set up in Hazzard Square for the event. And posters were going up all over town advertising Sierra Dawson as the star attraction both at the big concert and as a featured attraction at the Boars Nest for three weeks afterwards. All the red blooded males in Hazzard were busy trying to think up ways to meet the pretty country music star. And all the single men were fantasizing about meeting her for a little romance even though they all knew how unlikely that was to happen. But you never could tell, after all she was single too, and this was Hazzard County where stranger things had happened.

Everybody seemed excited about her coming to Hazzard except Luke. Bo thought that was strange because he knew that Luke was a big fan. He had every CD she had ever recorded even the first couple she’d done which were almost impossible to find anymore. And he always seemed to want to be alone when he listened to them. It wasn’t like she was the first big star to come to Hazzard either. Between the big concert each year at homecoming and Boss Hogg’s celebrity speed trap there’d been a lot of big name talent come through Hazzard and both boys had met most of them. Heck, Waylon Jennings was even an old friend of the Duke family. So to say that Luke’s reaction to Sierra Dawson coming to Hazzard was a little unusual was an understatement.

The two cousins were in town running some errands and watching everyone rushing around setting up for the homecoming which was scheduled to start the next day. Bo was looking forward to the activities even if Luke wasn’t. He hoped Luke snapped out of his mood soon, it was starting to get on Bo’s nerves. He didn’t even seem to be that excited about the annual Miss Homecoming beauty pageant and that was usually one of Luke’s favorite events. (Especially since he had usually dated most of the contestants)

“Come on, Luke” Bo said in an exasperated tone “What’s with you lately? You usually get into homecoming.”

“I guess I’m not in the mood for it this year.” Luke said flatly, staring out of his window at another poster on a store front advertising the big concert.

“You wanna talk about it?”

“No….there’s nothing to talk about.”

“Well, something’s got you all bent out of shape.” Bo said refusing to let the subject drop. “This ain’t like you.”

Luke just stared out of the window refusing to answer. Giving up, Bo stomped down on the accelerator and sped down the street, squealing the tires as he turned the corner and headed out of town. Luke remained in a silent withdrawn mood all afternoon, even Jesse noticed it. Later that evening after Daisy had gone to work and the boys were getting ready to go to bed, Jesse looked up from his favorite chair where he was reading a book and said “Bo, you go on to bed.” He looked at his oldest nephew solemnly “Luke, I wanna talk to you.”

Bo glanced at his cousin, who merely shrugged his shoulders to let Bo know that he had no idea what Jesse wanted to talk to him about. Luke turned around to see what his Uncle wanted while Bo went on upstairs to their room. Jesse waited until he heard Bo shut the bedroom door and then he motioned for Luke to sit down on the couch. Luke sat down and looked at his Uncle questioningly.

“All right, Luke…..out with it. What’s got you acting like a bear with a thorn in his paw for the last few days?” Jesse asked gruffly. “And don’t tell me that nothing’s wrong. I know you better than that. And you ain’t getting up till you tell me what’s been bothering you lately.”

Luke sighed. He knew he was stuck. He had never lied to Jesse and he wasn’t about to start now and, the truth was, he needed to talk to someone before he went crazy.

“Do you remember the girl I told you about that I met while I was in the  Marines…..just before I got shipped out to Viet Nam?” he asked in a quiet voice

“The one you were really serious about?” Jesse asked “The one you were thinking about marrying….”

“Yeah…that’s the one.” Luke said with a thin smile. “It was one of those once in lifetime things….when you just know its right…and you just wanna be with them no matter what….”

“I know the feeling.” Jesse admitted, waiting patiently for Luke to get to the point of his story. He knew that Luke had to tell this in his own way and he couldn’t be rushed.

“I never told you the whole story….cause there were some things I didn’t wanna go into….”

“Go on…”

“I told you that she sang at a club near the base and that’s how we met. What I didn’t tell you was how good she was. I knew she was good enough to make it if she ever got the chance. She could sing, she could write songs, she could play three different instruments…” Luke paused to gather his thoughts “Just after I got my orders to go to Viet Nam….she got offered a recording contract with a major label in Nashville. She didn’t wanna go….she just wanted to stay where she was and wait for me to come back. I couldn’t let her do that….she was too talented…so like a fool I made her promise me that she’d sign the contract and give it a shot.” His voice caught as he finished “Then I shipped out and I never saw her again….” He took a deep slow breath and then looked at his Uncle, his eyes filled with sadness and regret “Uncle Jesse, that girl was Sierra Dawson.”

“What?” Jesse exclaimed in a totally surprised voice. This was the last thing he had expected to hear Luke say. It took Jesse a moment to gather his thoughts. He didn’t want to say the wrong thing. “So that’s why you’ve been acting so strange….you don’t wanna see her while she’s here.”

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to avoid her….not if she’s gonna be staying in Hazzard and appearing at the Boars Nest for three weeks…” Luke said

“Maybe you shouldn’t avoid her. Maybe it’s time the two of you talked about what happened.” Jesse suggested

“It wasn’t her fault, Jesse.” Luke said “I was the one who chose not to get in touch with her when I got back……I was too messed up because of what happened over there….and she was already hot…climbing the charts….I figured she didn’t need an old boyfriend showing up to complicate things.”

“So you just walked away from somebody who wanted to love you….”

“Hell….I ran away.” Luke said with a thin smile “As fast as I could run.” He looked at his Uncle for understanding “And I’ve regretted it every day for the last eight years. It was the worst mistake I ever made.”

“Then I reckon you need to tell her that, not me.” Jesse told him

“Hell” Luke said momentarily forgetting Jesse’s rule about using profanity “I don’t even know if she’ll talk to me.”

“There’s only one way to find out.” Jesse said, shoving himself to his feet. He left the room to go to bed leaving his nephew alone to decide what he was going to do when Sierra Dawson finally showed up in Hazzard.