An orange Charger was racing down Mill Pond Road, heading toward home, the blond driver loudly singing Christmas carols, sounding pretty good. As he went flying by the junction for the Hazzard Crossroad, he did a doubletake and pulled to a sliding stop just beyond the junction. What the….?
The blond slid from the car window and walked toward the young woman sitting on a suitcase next to the road. His heart melted when he saw that she was crying. He walked closer, a bit cautiously, not sure he should intrude. “Miss?”
The young woman jumped and toppled backwards over her suitcase at the sound of the young man’s voice. She looked up at him with brilliant green eyes, her long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail.
“Easy, there,” Bo said, giving her a wide smile and offering a hand.
“P…please….l…leave me alone…” The woman said, huddling in on herself and shying away from the outstretched hand.
“It’s okay, honey, I won’t hurt you,” Bo reassured, crouching down to make himself seem smaller.
“Just leave me alone!” The woman nearly yelled, then she burst into tears once again.
“I’m sorry, Ma’am, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
”Please, oh please, just leave me be…”
Bo sighed, not sure what to do…he was taught to respect people’s privacy, but also taught to help friends, and in the Duke family, a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet. Rather than push, or walk away, Bo took a seat on the ground and waited.
After several minutes, the young woman looked up. “What are you still doing here?” She asks with a frown.
“You looked like you could use a friend.”
”Why do you care?” She asked with a scowl.
“Because, I do,” Bo answered, as though it were as simple as all that, and for him, maybe it was.
“I don’t want you to care,” she growled.
“Too late,” Bo answered with a disarming smile.
The woman finally looked at Bo, “You don’t give up, do ya?”
Bo chuckled, “nope, never.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Well, it’d be nice to know who I’m talkin’ to.”
“I could say the same thing,” she answered back.
“Okay…my name’s Bo Duke. And you are?”
“Stacy Whiteling”
”Well, nice to meet you, Miss Whiteling.”
“Mrs. Whiteling, you may as well call me Stacy.”
”Okay Stacy. Mind if I ask what you’re doing out here in the middle of Hazzard County, no car, no bus, no transportation in sight?”
“I was walking, toward the closest town.”
”That’d be Hazzard.”
She snorted “What a name!”
“Hey now, I’ve lived in Hazzard all my life, and it’s a fine town – even if the name does sound a bit…odd.”
“Sorry,” she smiled at him, a bit sheepishly. “And I’m sorry for rippin’ your head off.”
”Ain’t no problem, ain’t the first time, won’t be the last,” Bo answered, smiling. “You know, I could give you a lift into town, drop you off somewhere.”
The young woman shook her head, “I don’t wanna be no trouble.”
“You won’t be, come on,” Bo answered as he stood and offered her a hand up.
The brunette looked at him, at the outstretched hand, then, almost shyly reached for it. Bo drew her up and held her hand as they walked over to the General. At the passenger side door, she put her suitcase in the open back window, then reached for the handle.
“Ya gotta go in the window.”
”What?” she asked in disbelief.
”My cousin and I race him, so the doors don’t open. It makes the car safer.”
“Wow, ain’t never seen nothin’ like this,” she said as she gamely got one leg up on the door. Ever the gentleman, Bo put one arm around her back, and the other under her legs and helped her scoot into the car.
“I gotta tell ya, Bo Duke, this is the most interestin’ car I’ve seen in a long time,” she said with a small laugh.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Bo answered, sliding into the driver’s seat, starting the car and putting it into gear.
Stacy laughed at that.
?Should I drop you off at the hotel? The bus stop?” Bo asked a few minutes later, pulling into the center of town.
Stacy shrugged, “I ain’t sure, know anyone in town lookin’ for help?”
”No, sorry, most of the stores are family-run.”
”I should’ve known,” Stacy sighed, resting her head on her hand, her elbow on the doorframe.
“I’m sorry, I don’t really know where else they might be lookin’ for anyone.”
”Ain’t your fault, Bo. You already done more for me than I might expect.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for the ride,” she struggled a moment, then got herself out of the car window.
“Hey, where are you gonna go?”
”Don’t matter, I’ll figure somethin’ out,” she answered, getting her suitcase. “Thanks again!” She smiled, more a real smile, as she waved and walked away from the orange car.
Bo watched her walk away and wondered about this girl who looked so lost one minute, and self-confident the next. Finally he dropped the car into gear and headed toward home.
“What’s eatin’ ya?” Luke Duke asked Bo as the Duke family sat around the kitchen table finishing supper later the same evening.
“Nothin,’” Bo answered, glancing at his cousin.
Luke shook his head, not believing his younger cousin for a second. “You sure?”
“Yes, Luke, I’m sure,” Bo answered. “Excuse me.” Without waiting for an answer he got up from the table and headed out the door to the back porch, barely grabbing his jacket as he passed the coat hook.
“What is his problem?” Luke grumbled, picking up his plate and heading to the sink, obviously frustrated.
“Luke, you know Bo’ll talk when he’s ready.” Uncle Jesse said from the head of the table.
“Yeah, Luke,” Daisy added as she stood and started picking up dishes, “you know how he gets.”
“Don’t mean I gotta like it.”
Daisy laughed and Luke turned to glare at her, “what’s so funny?”
“You, you’re just the same way when there’s somethin’ you don’t want to talk about.”
Luke grumbled and leveled a blue-eyed stare at his cousin, then rolled his eyes and walked out of the kitchen, heading for the room he shared with Bo.
Daisy headed to the door once she and Jesse were finished with dishes. “Don’t wait up for me, I’m going to see Nancy Sue at the boarding house.”
“You be careful,” Bo said as he came into the kitchen.
“It’s the boarding house, what could happen?” Daisy smiled at him, leaning up to kiss his cheek.
“It’s Hazzard – anything could happen.” Bo smiled at her. “And you’re a Duke…”
Daisy shook her head, “I’ll be fine. See you later,” She answered, leaning up to give Jesse a kiss as well.
“I hope so,” Bo said to Jesse as he watched Daisy walk out the door.
“I’m sure she will be.”
Bo nodded, then headed for the door himself.
“Where are you off to?”
“Just going for a walk, I’ll be back in a bit,” Bo answered, shrugging into a denim jacket.
“See you later,” Jesse answered, watching as Bo left the kitchen. The white-haired man shook his head and went to start a pot of coffee.
Daisy stood on the porch and rang the bell at the boarding house, her arms wrapped around herself against the chill of the night. “Hey there,” She smiled at her friend as the door was opened.
“Hi, glad you could come over,” Nancy Sue smiled, stepping back so Daisy could enter.
“Me too!” Daisy laughed “Oh, honey, I’m so excited for you!”
“Thanks, Daisy,” Nancy Sue answered, grinning. “I can’t believe that Rob and I will be married by this time next week.”
”I know! It’s great,” Daisy grinned, walking with Nancy Sue into the living room – the only room guests were allowed in, without special permission.
“I’m so excited!” Nancy Sue said, taking a seat on a couch, then glanced across the room at a new boarder, the young brunette gave her a sort of sad smile.
“Excuse me,” said the young woman as she stood and headed out of the room.
“Who’s that?” Daisy asked, watching the woman leave.
“Oh, that’s Stacy, she just moved in,” Nancy Sue answered, taking a seat on the couch and picking up the wedding gown that she’d been working on.
”She didn’t look too happy,” Daisy said, taking a seat next to Nancy Sue.
”I get the feeling that she’s not – though she won’t talk to anyone.”
”Oh,” Daisy said with a sigh as she picked up a section of the wedding gown and a needle, starting where she’d left off hemming the night before.
The next morning at breakfast, Daisy mentioned the new girl at the boarding house and how upset she seemed.
“That sounds like Stacy,” Bo said.
“You know her?” Jesse asked.
“I nearly ran over her on the road yesterday, gave her a ride into town.”
”Oh, so that’s why you were late getting home for chores,” Luke teased a twinkle in his blue eyes.
Bo glared at Luke, “for your information, Cousin, I behaved myself. She seemed too upset not to.”
“She say anything?”
“No, Uncle Jesse, she wouldn’t talk to me about it. I tried, but I didn’t want to push.”
”No, I wouldn’t want you to.” Jesse nodded and went back to his breakfast. “On a happier note, tomorrow we’re going to Atlanta.”
”What for?” Luke asked.
“Luke Duke, don’t you know what time of year it is?” Daisy asked.
“Yeah, it’s December.”
“Time to go Christmas shopping. And I need to get supplies so I can bake to send to the relatives – and I need to get some presents for some cousins I could name.”
”Why do we have to go?” Bo whined.
“Because I said so,” Jesse answered.
“Yes, Sir,” Bo and Luke said together, sullen at the prospect of spending the day in the city.
“I’ll just wait out here, Daisy,” Bo said, later that evening when he took Daisy to the boarding house to meet up with her friend Nancy Sue. They had just dropped Daisy’s Jeep off at Cooter’s for some repairs.
“You sure, sugar? We could just go home, Nancy Sue can handle one night by herself.”
“Yeah, I’m sure. Maybe I’ll go sit on the porch or something – but talking about weddings, and wedding dresses gives me the creeps.”
Daisy laughed at that, “Men,” she said, shaking her head and laughing all the way up the porch and into the house.
Bo slipped from the car and headed around to the side of the house where there was a little side porch. He stepped up on the first step and heard a quick intake of breath from the corner, then silence. Stepping closer he looked down at the woman sitting in the corner next to the house. “Stacy?”
“You again…” she said, but the tears were too heavy to hear the sarcasm in her voice.
“Yeah, me again.”
”Why are you always around?”
“I brought my cousin Daisy to see Nancy Sue.”
“She’s the one getting married in a week, ain’t she?” Stacy asked, sniffling a bit.
”Yeah, she is.”
“Poor thing, if only she knew what she’s getting into…” Stacy shook her head.
Bo moved closer and crouched down next to Stacy. “Oh, I don’t know, I’ve known Rob since he was in grade school, he’s a nice guy.”
“She’s one of the lucky ones then,” Stacy said, her voice harsh.
Bo contemplated that for a few moments…”wanna talk about it?” he asked gently.
“Ain’t much to tell…I wasn’t one of the lucky ones…now I got nowhere to go, and no way to get there…” she sighed. “I wish I’d listened to everyone. Mama said not to marry him, but I didn’t listen.”
“Where’s your mama now?”
”Tennessee, but I ain’t got a way to get there, even if she’d welcome me back, which ain’t likely.”
“You don’t know that for sure – do you?”
”No, but she hated him, and told me if I found out I’d made a mistake not to come running back…and now I got a really good mistake – and nowhere to go,” she pressed her hand to her belly.
Bo’s eyes widened at the gesture. “What do you mean by that?” he asked as he settled onto the floorboards next to her.
“I got myself knocked up – and my sorry excuse for a husband don’t want kids,” Stacy answered bitterly.
“Oh, Stacy…” Bo couldn’t help himself, he reached out and took her hand, and squeezed it.
“Why do you care, Bo Duke? I can’t quite figure it out,” Stacy asked after a few moments, turning green eyes onto the blond Duke.
Bo shrugged, “I just do.”
“You’re somethin’ else.”
“So I’ve been told,” he smiled. She returned the smile, looking a little more settled for it. “You know, you really shouldn’t be out here in the cold.”
“I know, but I can’t handle bein’ in the parlor while they’re workin’ on that dress, and I don’t want to just be up in my room all the time.”
”I understand about the parlor,” Bo said with a chuckle. “Tell you what, why don’t we take a walk?”
Stacy sighed, “Yeah, okay.”
Bo stood and offered her a hand, drawing her against him when she stood. “You know, you really don’t need to go through this alone.”
”I don’t want to risk his wrath on anyone who helps me.”
“Stacy…that sounds…”
“He beat me up, Bo, when he found out about the baby, “ Stacy’s tears started again in earnest.
Bo wrapped his arms around her and drew her tight against him, letting her cry. “I don’t even know if the baby’s still alive.” She cried against his shoulder. “I just wanna go home to Mama…”
“Sh…okay, okay, we’ll figure somethin’ out,” Bo soothed, but it took almost half an hour for her to settle, during that time, Bo held her and puzzled over her problem in his mind.
Later on that night, Bo walked into the bedroom he shared with Luke just as his older cousin was climbing into bed. “You were gone awhile.” Luke said by way of greeting.
“Yeah, Daisy and Nancy Sue have a lot left to do to get ready for next Friday.”
”I can’t imagine getting’ married, let alone on Christmas Eve.”
“Yeah,” Bo answered, as he changed into a pair of sweat pants and climbed into his own bed.
“You okay, Cousin?” Luke asked as he gave his cousin a worried look across the small room.
“I ain’t sure…” Bo answered, after thinking for a moment.
“How can you not be sure?” Luke asked with a smirk.
“Ain’t really anything for me to not be okay about – just…you remember I mentioned that new girl?
“Yeah?”
“She’s stayin’ at the boarding house.”
”Oh,” Luke said with a knowing grin.
“It ain’t like that, Luke,” Bo said, somewhat exasperated.
“Then what is it?”
“She’s hurtin’, real bad, and I don’t know if there’s anything that can help her or not.”
”Bo…” Luke sighed as he became frustrated with his cousin’s cryptic answers. “You know we’ll help her if we can.”
“I know, I just don’t see how we can.”
”Well, it’d help if you’d tell me what the problem is.”
Bo sighed, looked across the room at his cousin, then told Luke what he knew of Stacy’s story.
“Well…” Luke said when Bo stopped speaking several minutes later.
“I wish there was some way to get her home to her Mama, but I don’t even know if she’d take her in – and I don’t even know her name to find out!” Bo said in obvious frustration.
“Bo, easy cousin. We’ll do what we can, okay?”
“Okay,” Bo said with a sigh.
”Now, get some sleep, morning’ll come early and we need to go to Atlanta with Jesse and Daisy tomorrow.”
Bo sighed again, reached up and turned out the light, then settled in under the covers, “Night, Luke.”
”Night, Cousin.” Luke answered, settling in, though sensing it was going to be some time before he found true sleep.
The shopping trip the next day was a roaring success and the Duke’s came home loaded with packages, much to the boy’s dismay when they saw that Cooter had dropped off Daisy’s Jeep. Daisy laughed and took off right away to go help Nancy Sue more, leaving the boys to bring in all of the family’s purchases.
Bo watched her go, his thoughts turning to Stacy.
“What’s on your mind, Cousin?” Luke asked as he and Bo carried bags into the house.
“Stacy.”
”Bo…”
“Not that way, Luke, just, I wish there was some way she could be home for Christmas…but it’s only a few days away, and I ain’t sure how she could be.”
“Well, Cousin, this is the season of miracles,” Luke answered cryptically.
Bo simply nodded, though his demeanor suggested he still wasn’t sure how it would be possible.
“Hey, Sugar,” Daisy said, looking up from where she was frying bacon as Luke walked into the kitchen the next morning.
“Hey, Daisy,” Luke answered, giving her a tired smile.
“I got that information you wanted.”
”You did? How?” Luke asked, looking less tired at her announcement.
“Nancy Sue left me alone in the living room for a few minutes, and I did some poking around, found the registration book for the boarding house. Stacy is registered as Stacy Lovine.”
“Good work, Daisy.”
”Still ain’t sure what you’re going to do with that though.”
“Bo said she went to school in a town just outside of Nashville, I was going to have Scoop see if he could dig up anything, barring that, I was just going to start going through the phone books. At least with a name like that, it shouldn’t be too common.
“You gonna tell Bo?”
”Not just yet, not until I know that I have something concrete.”
“He could love you for wantin’ to help, or hate you for meddling.”
“I’m betting on the first,” Luke said with a grin, blue eyes twinkling.
“I’m sure you are,” Daisy said with a laugh.
Luke laughed and went to the phone to put his plans in motion.
“Stacy, you know I’d help you, if you’d just tell me your mama’s name,” Bo said as he and Stacy sat on the porch at the boarding house.
“Bo, thank you, I love you for it, but I have to respect her wishes, and her wishes were not to see me again for marrying Gary.”
“I can’t believe that any mother would throw you to the wolves when you’ve been through what you have, and being pregnant too.”
Stacy sighed, “Well, you don’t know my Mama.”
“No, I don’t. But don’t you think you should give her a chance to change her mind? For the baby’s sake, if not your own.”
”I don’t even know if the baby is alive!” Stacy yelled, as she turned her head away. “I’m sorry,” She started to cry with the words. “I’m just so worried and frustrated,” she said a few minutes later as the crying jag eased.
”Stacy,” Bo said, as he slipped an arm around her. “Come on, I think you need to go to the clinic, Doc Petticord will at least let you know whether the baby is alive.”
”I’m afraid.” Stacy admitted, as she looked up into Bo’s blue eyes.
“I know, but I’ll go with you.”
”Thank you,” Stacy leaned up and kissed his cheek. Bo smiled at her, warmly, stood up and held a hand down to her. She took it and let herself be drawn up against him. Bo slipped an arm around her and started walking with her toward the clinic across the square.
“Well, Ms. Lovine,” Doc Pettticord said to the young woman as she lay on the examing room table, “let’s see what we have, shall we?” He looked over at where Bo was holding Stacy’s hand, “Bo, would you please wait outside?
“I’d like him to stay.”
The old doctor raised an eyebrow, but nodded, “if that’s what you’d prefer.”
“Thank you.”
“Certainly,” the doctor answered as he started his examination.
Stacy looked up at Bo, and squeezed his hand as the doctor examined her heart and lungs, then took a stethoscope to her abdomen. She only looked back at the doctor as he stood up straight again.
“Well, Ms. Lovine, everything appears to be in order, there’s a very strong heartbeat.”
“Oh, thank God,” Stacy said, weeping with relief as Bo held her close.
“Doc, Stacy was hurt by her husband, is there any way that it would affect the baby?” Bo asked softly.
“Well, there’s always a chance, but we won’t know until the child is born, and I suspect that there are at least another 6 months before that happens.” Stacy nodded to confirm the amount of time. “You do need to take good care of yourself though.”
“I’ll do my best,” she promised.
“You should get checked at least once a month for the next 5 months, then every 2 weeks until the baby’s born.”
Stacy nodded, “I will, thank you, Doctor Petticord.”
“You’re welcome,” he smiled at her, then gave Bo a smile and left the room.
Stacy sighed, “I was so worried.”
“I know you were, I confess, I was too. But you heard the Doc, you won’t know for sure…”
“My baby’s alive, that’s all that matters for now, Bo,” Stacy said, letting him help her off the exam table. Bo nodded, but it was obvious to her that he was still worried. “Bo, you’ll understand someday, when it’s your own baby.”
Bo’s eyes widened and he had to laugh, “Ma’am, I don’t expect that for a long time.”
“When the time is right then,” Stacy said with a laugh as they left the office.
While Bo was seeing Stacy to the doctor’s office, Luke was in the Duke kitchen, wrapping up a phone call with his friend Scoop, who worked at the paper in Capitol City. “So, I need to find this woman’s mother, in a little town just outside of Nashville – and I can’t even guarantee that Lovine’s the right name.”
“You never make things easy for me, do you Luke?” Scoop laughed.
“Gotta keep you on your toes.”
“Yeah, yeah. Okay, give me a couple of hours, I’ll see what I can come up with”
“Thanks, Scoop, I owe you one.”
”Duke, you owe me so many I lost count,” Scoop said with a laugh. “Don’t worry though, I’ll collect one of these days.”
“I’m sure,” Luke said, smiling toward Uncle Jesse who’d just walked into the kitchen.
“Let me get to work, I’ll call you later.”
”Okay, bye.”
“Bye.”
Luke hung up the phone and looked at his uncle, “Scoop’s going to see what he can find.”
“Good, I ain’t sure what you’re doing is the right thing, but I can’t really fault you for trying either.”
“I ain’t sure it’s the right thing either, but…with the situation as it is, she needs her mama, if we can get her mama to take her back.”
Jesse nodded, “In the meantime, I need you to go look at that tractor, it ain’t runnin’ right.”
“Yes, Sir,” Luke answered, as he stood and put his chair back where it belonged before he headed out the door.
Jesse shook his head as he watched his oldest nephew go, he sincerely hoped that his kids knew what they were doing.
“I hate to leave you, Stacy.”
”Bo, you have chores and work at home, I’ll be okay, I can take care of myself”
“I know, but…”
”Bo, you’re sweet, and I appreciate everything you’re doing, but, I need to live my life for myself – and so do you.”
“Okay,” Bo conceded, he leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek, which she returned with a smile. “Can I stop by later?”
“Honey, I have a feeling I couldn’t stop you if I wanted to.”
“True.” Bo laughed, as he left her standing on the porch at the boarding house and headed for the car.
Bo pulled up to the farm and saw his cousin bent over the tractor parked in the yard, he slid from the orange stock car and headed toward Luke. “Hey Luke, need any help?”
“Yeah, hand me that wrench” Luke said, holding out a pair of pliers he was in exchange for the wrench.
Bo took the pliers and handed off the wrench. “What’s wrong with it?”
“Running shaky, think it’s the belt,” Luke answered without looking up. “How is Stacy today?”
“She’s good. Took her over to the doctor, she was worried that her husband had managed to kill the baby when he took after her. But the doc found the baby’s heartbeat.” Bo smiled as he thought about her, “She’s an amazing woman, she even said that that was all that mattered for now.”
Luke slowly turned to look at his younger cousin, catching something in his voice. “Bo?” he asked with a worried frown.
“Hmmm?”
“You ain’t fallin’ for her, are ya?”
Bo shook his head, “I like her, Luke, but I know how to be friends without fallin’.” Bo answered, sounding rather defensive to Luke’s ears.
“Uh-huh…” Luke answered, not sure about that, given Bo’s track record – and worried about his cousin’s heart getting broken.
“Boys! Lunch’s ready!” Daisy called as the back door slammed closed behind her.
“Be right there!” Luke answered, looking to his younger cousin again “Just be careful,” he said quietly as he headed to the house with Bo.
Bo nodded in answer and turned a bright smile on Daisy as they walked past her into the house. “Something smells good”
“Just ham,” Daisy said with a shrug as the boys headed to the bathroom to wash up.
About halfway through the meal, the phone rang and Luke jumped up to grab it. Bo gave him a quizzical look, because the standard rule was that the phone wasn’t answered during meals, the family figured that whoever it was could call back.
“Duke farm…Hey, Scoop!’ Luke said into the phone, “Yeah…yeah…okay…man, thank you.” Luke said, writing something on a piece of paper, “Yeah, I’ll let you know. Definitely, see you then. Bye.”
Bo looked at Luke as the older cousin took his seat again. “Must be important.”
“It was, kind of, I was waitin’ for him to call me back.”
”You were?” Bo asked, Duke curiosity warring with the respect for privacy instilled in him by his uncle.
Luke swallowed the bite of food he’d just taken and turned to his cousin. “Yeah, I was,” he paused and regarded his cousin for a minute. “I had him look to see if he could find Stacy’s mom through the newspaper.”
“Luke!”
Luke just looked at his cousin, trying to decide if Bo was upset or glad. Finally he decided that he was already in this far, he might as well go all the way. “He found her, just where Stacy said, in a little town, not too far from Nashville. I was going to call her this afternoon.
“But Stacy said her mom wouldn’t want anything to do with her.”
”You know as well as I do that minds can be changed.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“And what better Christmas present than taking Stacy home.”
“You mean…”
“I mean, if Stacy’s mom will accept her back, I was thinking of you and I taking her.”
Bo smiled at his cousin, “Thanks, Luke.”
“You’re welcome,” Luke smiled, though now he was convinced Bo was falling for Stacy.
“I think, Luke, you better let me do the calling,” Jesse said after a moment’s silence.
“Why?”
“I think she might take it better,” Jesse’s blue eyes bore in on his eldest nephew, “just trust me on this one, Luke.”
”Okay” Luke said, shrugging.
“I’ll call after lunch, while you two finish on that tractor.”
“Yes, Sir.”
After the lunch dishes were washed, and the boys had gone back outside, Jesse picked up the phone and dialed the number that Luke had written down. He was anxious about this phone call, he did not want to get in the middle of other people’s affairs.
The phone rang about ten times on the other end and Jesse was just about to hang up when the phone was answered, ”Hello?” said the voice of an older woman.
“May I speak with Lydia Lovine?”
”Speaking.”
“Ms. Lovine, my name is Jesse Duke, I hope I haven’t called at a bad time.”
“No, not at all. How can I help you, Mr. Duke?”
“Ms. Lovine, do you have a daughter named Stacy?”
“Yes…” She answered, her voice shaky “Has something happened to her?”
”She’s fine now.”
“Then why did she have you call me?”
“She doesn’t know that I’m calling you.” Jesse swallowed “She is fine now, but she could really use your help.”
“I told her not to call me if she ran into bad times with that Gary person she insisted on marrying,” she said, rather harshly.
“Ms. Lovine, please hear me out,” Jesse said with infinite patience, “she left her husband. My nephew found her walking along the road here in Hazzard a few days ago.”
“Walking? Why would she be walking?”
”She needed to get away, according to my nephew. Maybe I don’t have any right to tell you about this, but I know that if one of my kids was in trouble I’d want to know.”
”She’s in trouble?” Ms. Lovine asked with a hitched breath.
”She was. Her husband didn’t take the news that she was pregnant very well.”
“My baby? She….oh, God..she’s pregnant?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Oh God…”
Jesse could hear the tears and gave her a few minutes to cry.
“You must think I’m a horrible mother…”
“No, ma’am…I know you were doing the best you could at the time.”
“Thank you, oh thank you,” she said, her breath catching.
“Will you take her back?” Jesse asked after a minute.
“Yes! Of course!” She was crying again “I know I said I wouldn’t but I was just…so upset.”
“I understand.”
”Where can I come get her?”
“My boys’ll bring her to you,” Jesse said.
“Oh, Thank you! Thank you! Oh!” She started crying again.
“I’ll let you know when they get on the road,” Jesse said after giving her a moment to calm down.
“Thank you, Mr. Duke, thank you so much.”
“I’m glad to help,” Jesse said. “I’ll call soon.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Jesse was smiling as he hung up the phone and headed for the door.
Bo looked up as a shadow crossed in front of him. “Did you get in touch with her?”
“I did.”
“And?” Luke asked, as he turned from the tractor to join the conversation.
“She’ll take her back. I told her that you would bring Stacy to her.”
Bo sighed with relief, “Thank God”
“Thank you for talking to her Uncle Jesse.”
“I’m glad I could help.”
“Guess you better go talk to Stacy, Bo.”
Bo swallowed hard, “Yeah, guess I should.”
“Well, go on,” Luke encouraged as Bo didn’t immediately make a move.
Bo nodded and headed for the house to wash up before going to town.
Stacy heard the knock on the boarding house door and headed down the stairs, since she was the only one there. “Bo!” She smiled as she saw the blond on the porch. “You said you’d be by, but I didn’t think it’d be this soon.”
Bo laughed, “I couldn’t stay away. How are you?”
“Good, I took a nap and am trying to just…relax. I suppose I need to start looking for a job soon, but, I needed a few days.” She stepped back, “Come on in.”
“Thanks,” Bo said, stepping into the entryway.
Stacy led him to the living room, “Have a seat, can I get you something to drink?”
“No, thanks, I’m good,” Bo answered as he took a seat. He looked around the room, taking in the homey look, the fireplace mantle decorated for Christmas, the tree in the corner, the scents of pine and cinnamon filling the room.
Stacy saw where he was looking and looked around as well, “They did a really nice job, I like the decorations.”
“Yeah, me too,” Bo said as he sat on the couch and shifted a bit nervously.
“Reminds me of how my mama always decorated,” Stacy said, touching her belly, “I hope I can do the same for my baby.”
”Maybe you can,” Bo said, looking Stacy in the eyes.
Stacy nodded, though she looked sad. “I hope so.”
”Stacy…” Bo started to say but then he hesitated.
“What is it, Bo?”
“I don’t want you to be mad, but…”
“What?” Stacy asked, her voice a bit tight, she was obviously nervous.
“My cousin, Luke, found your mom.”
Stacy’s eyes widened, “What?” she asked in obvious shock.
Bo nodded, “My uncle called her this afternoon.”
Stacy snorted, “I’m sure she was thrilled to hear from someone on my behalf,” she said sarcastically.
“She wants you to come home.”
“What? How? Why?!” Stacy’s voice was rising with each word.
“Jesse told her what happened and he said that she was sorry that she’d told you not to come home.”
Stacy stared in disbelief, tears in her eyes, “I don’t know if I should be mad at you for going behind my back, or glad that you did.”
“I can’t answer that for you, Stacy, I can tell you we only did it because we care.”
“I know.”
“Do you want to go home?”
Stacy nodded hesitantly, “I do, but I’m scared.”
“I know, but it sounds like your mom really wants you home.”
“I don’t know how, I have no money, no job…” Stacy said, tears pouring down her cheeks.
“Luke and I’ll take you. We can leave tomorrow.”
“But tomorrow’s Christmas Eve.”
“I know, we can have you home for Christmas.”
“But the wedding?”
“Nancy Sue will understand. Besides, Daisy and Jesse can still go.”
“And Christmas? I’ll be with my family, but you may not be with yours, depending on the weather.”
“We’re with our family every day, we’ll have Christmas when we get back. How many years has it been since you’ve had Christmas with your mother?”
“Four,” she said, wiping tears from her cheeks.
“Then you need to go, if you want to.”
Stacy was silent for a few minutes, then she nodded, “I want to.”
“We’ll be by at 8 to pick you up. It’s about a 5 hour trip to Nashville.”
“Okay,” she said, wiping more tears from her eyes.
“Good,” Bo said, standing, then leaning down to kiss her cheek. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Bo.” Stacy said, as she caught Bo’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
“You’re welcome,” Bo said with a smile as he turned and headed for the door. He nearly got bowled over by Nancy Sue and Daisy as they walked into the house, laughing.
“Bo!” Nancy Sue laughed, as he caught her before she could trip and fall. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Bo said, smiling.
“Well, I need to get some sleep, I’ll see y’all tomorrow,” Nancy Sue said, stepping back.
“Actually, Luke and I won’t be able to be there.”
“What? Why?” Daisy asked, shocked.
“We found Stacy’s mom, we’re taking her home to be there for Christmas.”
“But, the wedding!”
“Daisy, it’s okay, I understand.” Nancy Sue said, smiling at Bo. “Though I’ll miss dancing with you and Luke.”
“You’ll have enough dancing with your husband.” Bo said with a smile “Congratulations, Rob is really lucky.”
“Thanks, Bo.”
“You’re welcome.” Bo said as he leaned and kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you at home, Daisy.”
“See you later, Bo.” Daisy answered with a sigh of disappointment.
The two women watched Bo leave, Nancy Sue smiling softly at her friend’s generosity, Daisy settling down after a moment, honestly pleased with her cousins, if a bit frustrated that they wouldn’t be there for the wedding.
The next day dawned bright and clear. Bo and Luke picked Stacy up as promised and the three of them headed out to Nashville, after making a quick stop at the courthouse to get the boys permission from Boss Hogg, their parole officer, to leave the state. The plate of cookies Daisy sent, and the holiday put Boss in a good mood and granted permission without even giving it a thought.
The drive was long, but uneventful, the General Lee drawing a few glances as they neared the city, but nothing to worry about..
Bo could feel Stacy shaking next to him as they neared her mother’s house, “Stacy, you okay?”
“I’m scared.”
“Don’t be, honey, you’ll be fine.”
”Bo’s right, Jesse said your mom really wanted to see you,” Luke said from her other side.
Stacy took a deep breath. “Sorry, I’m grateful to the two of you, just nervous.”
“It’ll be okay.” Bo said, taking her hand as he drove.
Stacy nodded and leaned a bit toward Bo, then reached for Luke’s hand, and gave him a smile too.
Not too much time later Bo pulled to a stop in front of a small, white frame house, the porch decorated in glowing Christmas lights, an evergreen wreath on the door.
“I can’t believe I’m here…” Stacy said quietly.
Luke smiled at her, gave her hand a squeeze and then slid out of the passenger window and leaned back in to offer her a hand. Stacy looked up at him then took his hand let him help get out of the car. Bo slid from the driver’s side and met them on the walk, just as the front door opened and a small black dog came out, yapping.
“Oh! Tuffy!” Stacy exclaimed, leaning down to greet the dog who was yipping and jumping around her, licking her chin, excited to see her.
“Stacy…” Said the woman who came out of the house. She was in her mid-fifties with graying hair and tear-filled green eyes.
“Mama…” Stacy said as she stood and walked toward the woman.
“Oh, Stacy…I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay, Mama, it’s okay…” Stacy said as she wrapped her arms around her mother.
”I’m sorry, Stacy, I love you.”
“Love you too…”
Bo put a friendly hand on Luke’s shoulder as they watched the reunion and gave his cousin a smile, silently thanking him for helping with this, and for understanding.
Luke grinned at his cousin, and could tell that neither one of their eyes were completely clear.
The woman finally stepped back, though Mrs. Lovine left her arm around her daughter. “Thank you so much for bringing Stacy back.”
“Our pleasure, ma’am.” Luke said.
“Lydia, please.”
Luke nodded, “I’m Luke Duke and this is my cousin Bo.”
“I owe you more than I could ever repay,” Lydia said, glancing at her daughter.
“Seeing Stacy happy is repayment enough,” Bo said, as he at the young woman.
“We should be going though,” Luke said.
“Thank you,” Stacy broke away from her mother then hugged Luke and kissed his cheek. “Thank you so much,” she whispered as she hugged Bo and kissed his cheek too.
“You’re welcome,” Bo said, holding her for a long moment before he stepped back.
“Are you sure you won’t stay for at least a cup of coffee?” Lydia offered.
“We appreciate the offer, Lydia, but we need to get back on the road.”
“You’re not going to try to make it all the way back to Hazzard tonight?” Stacy said.
”No, but we’ll go as far as we can, maybe we can catch some of Christmas at home,” Luke answered. “Take care of yourself, and keep in touch.”
“I will, you too.”
”We will,” promised Bo.
“Come on, cousin,” Luke lightly backhanded Bo on the stomach as he headed for the driver’s side of the car.
Bo gave Stacy and her mother another smile then slid into the passenger side of the car. The car rumbled to life and both boys waved out the window as they pulled away from the curb. Bo turned in his seat and watched until Stacy and her mom were out of sight.
Luke looked at his cousin, he knew that even though Bo would never admit it, his heart was breaking just a bit.
The boys drove about halfway to Hazzard before they decided to stop, the weather was turning colder and the snow was starting. The next morning they woke up early, to snow on the windows of the motel where they had spent the night. Sighing, they got ready to go and were back on the road around 7 am.
Four hours later – after a trip that should have been two hours at the most – the General Lee pulled to a stop in front of the farmhouse. Daisy ran out of the house, laughing and smiling, to greet them. Jesse followed at a more sedate pace, though the smile in his eyes showed how happy he was to see his boys, and how proud he was of them for caring so much for someone that only a week ago was a stranger.