by: Marty Chrisman

Jesse was in the barnyard milking one of the goats when the familiar yellow Torino pulled into the driveway. He stopped milking and stood up as Shelby parked the car beside his pickup and climbed from beneath the wheel. He let his eyes sweep over her slender figure for just a moment. She wasn’t showing yet.

Shelby hesitated beside the car as Jesse walked over to her. With a warm smile, Jesse put his arms around her and gave her a hug. “Welcome home, little one.” He told her. When he released her, she had tears glistening in her eyes. “Come on in the house.” Jesse told her, slipping his arm around her shoulders “There’s some lemonade in the refrigerator. You must be tired after driving all the way from Atlanta.”

Shelby didn’t say anything until they were in the house and sitting at the table sipping their cold drinks. “Thank you, Uncle Jesse…..for letting me stay here.”

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by: Marty Chrisman

Shelby had just finished taking a load of laundry out of the dryer when she heard a knock on the front door. Sitting the basket of clothes on top of the dryer, she went into the other room to answer the door. She was startled to find Luke standing there.

“Luke, what are you doing here?”

“I told you I’d be back.” He told her

“Yeah, but I wasn’t expecting you back this soon.”

“Can I can come in?”

“Be my guest.” Shelby said with an elaborate wave of her hand, stepping aside to let him into the apartment. She crossed her arms across her chest and looked at Luke questioningly. “Alright, Luke..…what’s this all about?”

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by: Marty Chrisman

Jesse was the only one at home when Luke got back to the farm. Daisy was at work and Bo was out with one of the Johnson sisters. It was just as well since Luke wanted to talk to Jesse privately. Jesse put down the paper he was reading and looked at Luke as he sat down on the sofa. Jesse recognized the signals, Luke had something on his mind that he needed to talk about.

“About time you got home.” Jesse said offhandedly “Daisy left some supper for you in the refrigerator.”

“I ain’t hungry right now.”

“You got something on your mind?”

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by: Marty Chrisman

           The next day Jesse noticed that Luke seemed to be distracted. He acted like a man with a lot on his mind. Jesse knew not to push, if Luke needed to talk to him than Luke would have to be the one to come to Jesse. Luke wasn’t like Daisy or Bo, he was reserved and reluctant to share very much of himself with others. The only one he really talked to about how he felt was Bo.

            Even Bo noticed Luke’s preoccupation that morning as they were doing their chores. “You got something on your mind, cuz?” he asked, as he poured a bucket of grain into Maudine’s feed bin.

“Yeah, kinda.” Luke admitted

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by: Marty Chrisman

            Luke Duke threw the last bale of hay down out of the loft and climbed down the ladder. He was a ruggedly handsome young man in his late twenties with brown hair and sapphire blue eyes. His body was firm, lean and muscular from his years of hard work on the farm where he lived with his two cousins, Daisy and Bo and his Uncle Jesse. Luke had only been four years old when he came to live with his aunt and uncle after the death of his parents in a fire.

Reaching the bottom of the ladder, he grabbed his shirt which was slung over the side of the one of the stalls in the barn and slipped it on. He buttoned it as he headed towards the house for something cold to drink.

The Duke farm had been in the family for five generations and the weather-beaten two story frame house had seen a lot of tears and a lot of happiness. It was the only home Luke could remember and the only one he’d ever wanted. He couldn’t imagine living anywhere besides Hazzard County.

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