by: Marty Chrisman

It was almost three in the morning before the boys finally made it back home. The evening had turned out pretty much the way they had planned and they hated to see it end. But five thirty came early on the farm and they still had to get up and do their chores no matter how late it was when they got in from a date. Uncle Jesse didn’t cut them much slack even if they were both grown men. He made it clear that as long as they lived under his roof they still had to live by his rules.

Quietly and without turning on any lights, the boys made their way through the darkness to the bedroom they had shared since childhood. Stripping off their clothes, they crawled into their separate beds.

“Hey, Luke…” Bo’s voice said in the darkness “What do you suppose Lynn’s doing back in Hazzard?”

“I don’t know.” Luke said shortly. He wasn’t really in the mood to talk about Lynn. It had been enough of a shock seeing her at the Boar’s Nest. “But I bet Daisy does.”

“Well, then I guess we’ll just have to ask her in the morning.” Bo said sleepily. He rolled over onto his side and was soon sleeping soundly.

Sleep didn’t come so easily to Luke. He could have done without Bo bringing up the subject of Lynn Conway. Restlessly, he punched his pillow trying to get more comfortable. He knew that it was his fault that she had left Hazzard in the first place. He had acted like a real jerk and accused her of cheating on him because of a misunderstanding. They had gotten into a big fight both of them saying things they should never have said. Things that neither one of them could take back. Luke had figured they could work things out in a few days after they had both cooled down. They always had before. But it didn’t work out that way. Lynn had left town two days later without even saying goodbye or telling anyone where she was going. Luke never got the chance to tell her that he was sorry. And after seven years it was too late to say it now.

It seemed as if Luke had barely closed his eyes when Jesse knocked on the door to get them up. Groggy from a lack of sleep, Luke swung his legs over the edge of the bed and automatically started pulling on his clothes. On the other bed, Bo was doing the same. When they had dressed, they took turns in the bathroom and then went downstairs and into the kitchen where Daisy was busy fixing breakfast. They both mumbled something that sounded like “Good morning” on their way outside to do their morning chores.

A few minutes later, Uncle Jesse came into the kitchen. He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table to enjoy it while he waited for the boys to finish their chores and for Daisy to finish breakfast. Jesse was a bear of a man with snow white hair and a beard to match. He was in his early sixties but he had the strength and the stamina of a much younger man. But beneath his rough exterior there beat a heart of gold.

“Morning, Daisy girl.” He greeted his niece with a warm smile.

“Morning, Uncle Jesse.” Daisy said brightly. She looked at her uncle with a big smile, bursting to tell him the news “Guess what? Lynn Conway’s back in town.”

“Lynn?” Jesse said with a pleased smile. He didn’t really seem to be that surprised by Daisy’s news. He chuckled softly “It’ll sure be nice to see that little girl again.”

“I invited her to supper tonight.” Daisy told him as she turned her attention back to the eggs she was frying so they wouldn’t burn.

“Well, good….I’ll make some crawdad bisque.” Jesse volunteered. Jesse’s crawdad bisque was a rare treat that he only made on special occasions. He looked at his niece’s back and asked in a mildly concerned voice “Does Luke know she’s back?”

“Yeah, she came into the Boar’s Nest when the boys were there last night.” Daisy told him “But they didn’t talk to each other. The boys were with Cindy and Mary Anne.”

“Maybe now her and Luke will be able to work out whatever happened between them.”

“If they don’t kill each other first.” Daisy told him with a laugh “You know what it’s like when them two get together sometimes.”

“Well Luke’s matured some since she left and I sure Lynn has to.” A smile tugged at his mouth “But you’re right. Them two can go at it sometimes…especially when they both think they’re right.”

“Which is most of the time.” Daisy said as she put some bread in to toast. She turned her attention back to finishing breakfast.

Just then the boys came in from doing their chores. They quickly washed up at the kitchen sink and took their places at the table. Daisy dished up eggs, bacon, and toast and sat a plate on the table in front of each of them. Then she served Uncle Jesse and herself. As she sat down at the table, Jesse bowed his head and they said grace before they started eating.

“Hey, Daisy…” Bo started to say, earning himself a stern glance from Uncle Jesse for talking with his mouth full. Hastily, he swallowed what he had in his mouth and smiled an apology. “Daisy,” he said trying again “What’s Lynn Conway doing back in Hazzard?”

“Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Daisy answered with a grin “She’s coming for supper tonight.”

Luke had just taken a drink of his coffee when Daisy answered Bo’s question and it went down the wrong way making him cough.  “Sorry…” he apologized, coughing one more time to finish clearing his throat. .

“You alright?” Jesse asked eyeing his oldest nephew closely.

“I’m fine.” Luke told him, lowering his head to avoid the directness of Jesse’s gaze. He hoped it didn’t show on his face how uncomfortable he was with the idea of Lynn coming for supper.

“Uh huh…” Jesse said, turning his attention back to his own breakfast. Luke wasn’t fooling him for a minute. It was obvious that his oldest nephew wasn’t looking forward to Lynn having supper with them. He was acting as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rockers.

After they had finished breakfast Jesse sent the boys into town to pick up some fence posts so they could fix a fence in the back field. The boys climbed into the General and took off for town. Bo was only a couple of miles from the farm when a Hazzard County patrol car pulled in behind him with the siren screaming and the lights flashing.

“Dang it.” Bo said, glancing over his shoulder “Where did Roscoe come from?”

“We ain’t got time to mess with him right now.” Luke said “Lose him.”

“You got it.” Bo said with a grin stomping the accelerator to the floor. The General jumped forward with a burst of speed and the chase was on. As Bo swung around a curve in the road, Luke saw a yellow Torino in their lane directly in front of them.

“Watch it, Bo!” he warned his cousin, using one arm to brace himself against the dashboard.

Bo jerked the steering wheel sharply to the left and swung out into the other lane, passing the other car. As he swung back into his own lane, Luke glanced over his shoulder and watched with a surprised expression on his face as the yellow car deliberately did a U turn in the middle of the road, and then skidded sideways across the road, directly in front of the pursuing police car. Roscoe was forced to slam on his brakes to avoid hitting the other car.

“Who the heck’s in that yeller car?” Bo asked as he glanced in his side mirror in time to see Roscoe screeching to a halt. The patrol car spun sideways, stopping just inches from the other car.

“I don’t know but we owe ‘em one.” Luke said with chuckle. “They stopped Roscoe for us. Lets git out of here while we got the chance.”

The boys made it into town without any further problems and picked up the fence posts. When they got back to the farm, they spent most of the day repairing the fence that needed mending. When they finished that they gave the General an oil chance. They were just finishing up when a yellow Torino with tinted windows pulled into the driveway. The boys both recognized it immediately as the same car that had stalled Roscoe for them that morning.

The door on the driver’s side opened and Lynn slid out from under the wheel. Bo laughed and looked at Luke with a grin “Guess we know now who saved our butts from Roscoe this morning.”

“I should’ve known.” Luke said, shaking his head ashamed of himself for not thinking of it sooner “I taught her that trick.”

Lynn smiled brightly as she walked across the barnyard towards the boys. She looked at the General, admiring the powerful stock car. Looking at the boys, she smiled and said “I should’ve known it was you two running from Roscoe this morning. There can’t be two cars that look like that in Hazzard County.”

Her eyes met Luke’s gaze for a few moments. Luke was the first to look away unnerved by those big brown eyes that could still do funny things to his stomach even after all this time. Unfazed by his cousin’s obvious discomfort, Bo wrapped his arms around Lynn in a big bear hug and picked her up off her feet, twirling her around with both of them laughing. Sitting her back on her feet, Bo grinned and said “It’s good to see ya again, Lynn. Welcome back to Hazzard.”

“Thanks, Bo. It’s good to see you again too.” She told him with a warm smile. She let her gaze run up and down his lean muscular frame “You sure did some growing since the last time I saw ya.”

“And he still is.” Luke said in a teasing tone that was directed at Bo. “He’ll eat ya out of house and home.”

Luke glanced over his shoulder as the back screen door slammed and Daisy came out on the porch. “Hey, Lynn!” she said brightly “Come on in. Supper’s almost ready and Uncle Jesse can’t wait to see you.” Exchanging glances, the boys followed Lynn into the farmhouse.

As they entered the kitchen, Jesse greeted Lynn with a huge hug and a warm smile. “Welcome home.” He said in a pleased voice. He motioned for everyone to sit down so they could say grace. Automatically, Lynn took the seat she had always used when she ate with them as a child, beside Daisy and directly across from Luke.

“So what have you been doing since you been gone?” Daisy asked Lynn

“A little bit of everything. I’ve been in Savannah mostly.” Lynn replied

“So what made you decide to come back to Hazzard?” Jesse asked, taking a bite of his crawdad bisque and washing it down with his coffee.

“Got tired of the big city and I missed Hazzard. When Grandma died and left me the house, I figured it was time to come back.”

“That house has been empty for awhile. It must need some work done to it.” Jessie said

“It does but luckily nothing major.”

“Well, I’m sure the boys here wouldn’t mind helping you out if you need a couple of strong backs.” Jesse said volunteering their help.

“Uh…yeah” Bo said with a grin, embarrassed because he had been staring at Lynn. He had only been 13 when she left and he had forgotten just how pretty she was. “Be glad to.”

“Me too” Luke said automatically but not as enthusiastically as Bo. He had been staring at Lynn too but unlike Bo, he had never forgotten just how pretty she was. He had never forgotten anything about her. Whenever she glanced at him and caught him staring at her, he quickly lowered his head. From the faint smile that kept tugging at her mouth, he knew that she knew just how uncomfortable she was making him and he had a feeling that she was enjoying every minute of it.

“What are you gonna do about a job?” Daisy asked

“I figured I’d see if Boss needed any help at the Boars Nest.”

“Boss always needs help.” Daisy told her with a grin “He can’t keep anybody very long.”

“I bet ole J.D. is gonna have a fit when he finds out you’re back.” Jesse said with a chuckle. “You used to get in about as much trouble as the boys here did.”

She glanced at Luke with a wicked smile “Yeah, I used have a little help most of the time.”

“Like the time you drove old man Walker’s tractor into Hazzard Pond.” Daisy reminded her with a laugh

“I almost forgot about that.” Lynn said with a laugh “Except I never did tell anybody that I wasn’t the one doing the driving” She glanced at Luke with a grin “Was I, Luke?”

“Not that time.” Luke admitted with a thin smile “But you were the one who stole the sheriff’s car.”

“But it was still your idea.” Lynn reminded him sweetly. “Just like it was your idea to have a party in Seminole Canyon on prom night and everybody got drunk on Uncle’s Jesse’s shine.” Luke gave her a dirty look, flushing with embarrassment. That was one stunt Uncle Jesse hadn’t known about. Until now.

“You did what?” Jesse growled frowning at Luke “You’re lucky I didn’t know about that back then or you’d been eating your meals off the mantel for a month!”

Luke had finished eating and Bo was almost finished. Pushing aside his plate, he said “I’m gonna get started on my chores.” He looked at Jesse “May I be excused?”

Jesse nodded and Luke shoved himself to his feet, going out the back door before Lynn decided to reveal anymore embarrassing secrets from the past. As he stepped outside, he took a deep breath of the cool night air to soothe his ragged nerves. He was in no mood for a walk down memory lane. Most of his memories from the time he was eight years old until he was eighteen years old involved Lynn in one way or another. Both the good ones and the bad ones.