Disclaimer: I don't own the Dukes of Hazzard, not making any money, just cheap thrills.
Warnings: OOC(Out Of Character)
Rating: FRT
Bold and/or indicates the balladeer.
Surprising Love
Chapter 3
"Come on," Bo said, moving for the door of the Boar's Nest.
"Where are we going?" Luke asked, catching up to Bo just outside the door.
"To find Daisy and Rosco, where else?" Bo replied, hurrying to the General.
"Bo, what are we gonna do if we find them?" Luke asked, bringing his cousin to a halt.
"What's wrong with you Luke? I thought you wanted to stop her from dating Rosco too."
"I did, but now I'm wondering if we should," Luke said, surprising Bo.
"Of course we should! He's completely wrong for her, besides it's probably some scheme he's cooked up with Boss."
"I've been thinking about that Bo. I keep thinking about what would've happened to us if Jesse and Daisy hadn't accepted our relationship. Then there's the way Enos was acting in there," he said, hooking a thumb towards the bar.
"Oh come on Luke, he's just upset is all, he didn't mean what he said," Bo protested.
"That don't excuse him Bo," Luke snapped, getting exasperated. "Think about it a minute, he can't hardly talk to Daisy because he feels uncomfortable. He doesn't take responsibility for that, instead he tries to blame us for making him uneasy, and Daisy for not waiting. I tell ya Bo, the more I think about it, the more I think maybe Daisy's right to move on."
"Okay, but with Rosco? You surely don't think she should be dating him, do you?" Bo asked, not at all sure what Luke was thinking.
"Wellllll...no I don't like that, but I ain't sure we should be interferring either."
"So what should we do? Just let her date him until he makes his move and we know that it is a scheme cooked up by Boss?"
"Nope, we check things out, find out if they are up to something and what it is."
"Thank goodness, ya had me scared there for a minute cousin," Bo said, clapping Luke on the shoulder and moving to the General.
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"Hey Daisy," Luke greeted his cousin as he came into the kitchen from outside.
"Hey Luke, breakfast will be ready in a few minutes," she returned, glancing over her shoulder.
"Okay, I'll just get washed up, Bo and Uncle Jesse will be in soon."
"Good morning sweetheart," Jesse greeted, stepping up next to her and giving her a small kiss on the cheek.
"Morning Uncle Jesse," Daisy replied brightly, turning back to the stove, finishing up with the eggs.
"Hey Bo," Daisy greeted a moment later when she heard the back door open once more. Turning to the table, a plate of eggs in one hand and bacon in the other, she nearly dropped them. "Oh honey, what happened?" she asked, quickly setting the plates down and stepping to her cousin's side. Reaching up, she grasped his chin, turning his head so that she could get a better look at his split lip.
"Ain't no big deal Daisy, just a little disagreement," Bo answered, pulling back and trying to leave the room.
"Okay," she said. Hands planted on her hips, she moved into his path, blocking his escape. "What aren't you telling me?"
"I ain't hiding nothing Daisy," Bo denied. "It's just a split lip, now will ya please let me go wash up so we can have breakfast?"
"Who did you have a disagreement with?" she asked, refusing to move.
"Enos," he mumbled reluctantly, recognizing by her stance that it would be useless to argue.
"Enos! Why would Enos hit you?"
"Well I hit him first," he admitted.
"WHAT? Why would you do that?"
"He said something I didn't like," Bo replied, hanging his head down.
"What could he have said that was so bad? Bo?" she asked when he didn't answer.
"He saw you and Rosco headed to Cedar City, he was kind of upset about it..."
"Oh no, and he blamed you and Luke, didn't he?"
"Well he said that he was having trouble talking to you cause of me and Luke."
"So that's why you hit him?"
"Nah, he snapped at us like it was our fault and I told him not to blame us cause he couldn't talk to you. He said it was our fault cause we didn't act like normal men, that's when I hit him."
"Then he hit you back?"
"Yeah, but don't be mad at him Daisy we worked it out between us," Bo plead, not wanting to cause problems between them.
"I'm glad y'all worked it out Bo, now it's my turn!" Daisy declared, stalking towards the back door.
"Daisy Mae Duke!" Jesse yelled as he came into the kitchen. "Where do you think you're going?"
"I'm going to have a talk with Enos Strate, a long overdue talk," Daisy replied.
"Not right now," Jesse ordered. "You sit down, have breakfast and calm down first," he told her, his tone of voice making it clear he'd tolerate no arguments.
"Yes sir," she sullenly said, moving back to the table and taking her seat.
Jesse waited for his three kids to sit down, then bowing his head he asked a short blessing. "You got in pretty late last night Daisy, how was your date?"
"It was wonderful Uncle Jesse," Daisy answered, a dreamy far away look on her face.
"You're kid..." Bo started, stopping when Luke kicked his shin.
"So Daisy, where'd he take you?" Luke asked, hoping she hadn't caught Bo's reaction.
"To an art gallery in Cedar City, then we had dinner at a little Italian restaurant. Did you know that Rosco paints? He really loves art, I could see it in his eyes when he was telling me about the different paintings in the gallery."
"Rosco paints?" Bo asked, nearly choking on his milk.
"Yes Bo, I know it's a surprise but you don't need to sound like that."
"I'm sorry Daisy," he apologized.
"Must've been an awfully good restaurant as late as you got in," Jesse observed.
"It was, but we didn't come straight home after dinner. We went up to..., well we went somewhere and watched a meteor shower. Rosco said it was the Leonid shower, he told me we can't usually see it here. It was beautiful Uncle Jesse, I've never seen anything like it," she said, the memory shining in her eyes.
"Sounds like you had a real nice time sweetheart."
"Oh I did, in fact I'm going out with him again next Sunday," she informed them, giving a look around the table that dared them to object. Standing up, she began to clear the table, carrying the dishes to the sink for washing. A short time later, she had finished cleaning the kitchen, and hanging the dishtowel on the rack, she left the room.
Coming outside a few minutes later, she climbed into her jeep and drove off before any of them could protest.
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"Howdy Enos," Rosco greeted his deputy with a cheery smile.
"Hey Sheriff," Enos returned quietly. He kept his eyes averted from the older man's face, knowing that if he didn't, he might hit him.
"You okay Enos?"
"Fine," he replied. "I'd be better if ya wasn't dating my girl," he mumbled under his breath.
"What's that?"
"Oh, I said I better get these files sorted by date," Enos stuttered out.
"Okay, well then ya better get to it," Rosco agreed, turning to his own paperwork.
"Yes sir."
"What in the world happened to you?" Rosco asked as he caught a glimpse of his deputy's face.
"I, uh, got into an argument."
"So we got us a prisoner?"
"No sir, I didn't arrest him."
"Well why not ya dipstick? It's illegal to hit a police officer, even you should know that."
"Cause it was my own fault, I said something I had no right to say."
"Let me get this straight, you said something that got this other fella mad enough to hit you? You, who wouldn't say boo to a mouse," Rosco asked in disbelief.
"Yes sir, I did," he confirmed.
"Alright, I want to know who it was that hit ya, then I want you to arrest him."
"I don't think you want me to do that Sheriff," Enos protested.
"Why not? It wasn't Boss that hit ya was it?" he asked, thinking that would be the only person Enos could be talking about.
"No sir, Mr. Hogg wouldn't do that...I don't think," Enos said.
"Then who was it?" Rosco demanded.
"Bo Duke."
"Why wouldn't I want you to arrest Bo?"
"Cause you're dating his cousin," Enos replied, letting the anger he'd been hiding come to the surface.
"How'd ya find out?"
"I saw you last night, headed to Cedar City. Saw Daisy sitting in the front seat with ya, her head on your shoulder. How could you do it Sheriff? Ya know how I feel about Daisy."
"I know Enos, I didn't plan it, but... Well, you ain't been talking to her much lately, and there was some trouble that kind of involved Jud," Rosco started to explain.
"Don't you dare explain Rosco!" Daisy interrupted, stalking into the office, surprising them both. "Enos Strate I want to talk to you!" she demanded.
"I'm sorry Daisy, I didn't mean to hurt your cousin," Enos aplogized.
"That ain't why I'm here, well not exactly," she informed him.
"Then why are ya here?" Enos asked.
"I'm here to tell you that who I date is my business, and if you wanted a claim on me you should've said so before."
"You know how I feel about you Daisy," Enos protested.
"Oh I know ya get nervous around me, and I know ya got a crush on me, but if it goes any deeper than that I wouldn't know. Rosco, please stay," she called out as she saw the older man moving towards the door.
"You want me to stay?" he asked, sounding surprised. "I thought, well the way you're talking I thought you..."
"You thought I was giving Enos a chance to say something and then I'd just forget about you," she finished for him.
"Something like that," he agreed.
"Oh Rosco," she soothed, moving to his side. "Enos had his chance, that's what I was trying to tell him," she softly explained. With an angry toss of her hair, she turned back to the deputy, "As for you, just leave me alone and don't you be trying to blame my cousins either. It ain't their fault that you can't get past your fears and bigotry, so you better not be harrassing them any."
"I ain't no bigot Daisy," Enos protested.
"Aren't you? Ya haven't spoken to Bo or Luke in months, and you've barely talked to me, why is that?"
"It ain't cause I'm a bigot, I just ain't been comfortable around them is all."
"Daisy, he's right that's not the same as being a bigot."
"You're taking his side? After the way he acted," she said incredously.
"What do ya mean the way he acted?"
"He saw us going to Cedar City last night..."
"He told me that," Rosco interrupted.
"Yeah? Well did he tell ya that he went to the Boar's Nest and tried to blame my cousins for it. That he was mad cause I didn't wait for him to finally work up the nerve to talk to me, did he tell ya that? No? I didn't think so," she said, when Rosco shook his head. "I'll bet he didn't tell ya that he mouthed off to them, got Bo mad enough to hit him. Heck, with the way he's acting I'm surprised he didn't arrest Bo for it, and you better not be thinking about it either," she warned the deputy.
"I didn't arrest Bo cause I realized he was right to hit me," Enos offered. "I'm sorry Daisy, you're right about it not being their fault, but you can't say ya didn't know how I feel about ya."
"So what? You think that means ya got some claim on me? I can't go out with anybody else cause you've got feelings for me, that it?"
"I ain't never said anything before about who ya go out with Daisy, but the Sheriff's my boss, and I thought he was my friend." Enos defended himself.
"Are you listening to yourself? I can't go out with Rosco cause he's your boss and friend, but it's okay if I go out with other guys. Well I don't need your permission Enos and neither does Rosco."
"What about me?"
"What about you Enos?"
"Are ya just gonna date the Sheriff now and not even give me a chance?"
"It's alright Daisy, maybe ya ought to just go out with Enos, he's closer to your age anyway," Rosco quietly suggested.
"Thanks Sheriff," Enos said, a big grin spreading across his face.
"Thanks Sheriff? What am I, some prize to be handed out to the winner?"
"Now Daisy, I didn't mean it like that," Enos explained. "I just meant that I appreciate the Sheriff stepping aside and giving us a chance."
"There is no us Enos, and after this I don't think there ever will be! As for you Rosco, how dare you offer to step aside like that. You aren't to blame for me not going out with Enos, that's his fault. Unless maybe you just don't want to go out with me?"
"No!" Rosco quickly denied. "I loved taking you out last night Daisy, and I do want to go out with ya again. I just don't know if it's a good idea, I mean you're family don't approve and everybody in Hazzard figures you'll end up with Enos someday, why fight it?"
"Aw Rosco," she softly spoke, reaching up to caress his face. "I don't know where you and me are headed, maybe we'll just have a few dates and some fun before deciding we should be friends only. Then again, it could be that you're the man I'm destined to spend the rest of my life with. I don't care who disapproves, I'm not willing to throw away the chance based on what other people think."
"You sure?" he asked, his eyes focused warmly on the woman in front of him.
"I'm sure," she confirmed, not even noticing when Enos fled the building.
Well now don't that just throw your hat in the creek?
TBC
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