For the next few weeks, Rosalyn and Bo were inseparable. They had picnics nearly every other day, Bo sang to her sometimes, and they spent many nights lying under the stars just talking and holding each other.
One day as she, Bo, and Luke were in town doing a little grocery shopping for Uncle Jesse while Daisy was at work. "Oh hold on, I forgot a bag." Luke turned around and ran back across the street into the store. Bo took the opportunity and leaned in to kiss Ross. She dodged him and laughed as she ran to the General. He caught her and pulled her close.
"Don't you think we know each other well enough for a public peck on the cheek?" She smiled and blushed.
"I think I know you well enough to call you Beauregard," she said as she pinched his cheek. He frantically looked up to check that Luke, who was nearing the General with the forgotten grocery bag, had not heard it.
"Sssh, Ross. Luke and Daisy don't even know that! Only Uncle Jesse!" She laughed at his embarrassment and kissed Bo softly and swiftly before turning to get in the car.
"Hey Bo, Luke! I got that upgrade part you wanted for the General in today!" Cooter was waving from the window in his garage as he yelled from down the street. The boys looked up at him and then at each other in excitement. They had been waiting for this for a few weeks now. When Bo had spun out into the tree and they went with Cooter to get some parts for him in Atlanta, they had heard about something to enhance suspension without hindering the speed – exactly what the General needed.
Bo looked to Ross with pleading eyes, like a child waiting for his mother to say okay. She smiled and shooed him away, deciding she'd take a look in the flower shop while they were gone. She grabbed her purse from the passenger seat and looked across the street where she was headed. She was frozen. Oh my… She tried to make herself move, but his gaze was entrancing. The man across the street gave a mischievous smirk before walking a little closer. She finally found the strength to move, and her speed picked up as she ran towards Cooter's shop. She looked back, and he was crossing the street.
"BO!" She ran to the door and banged on the door as hard as she could. Seconds later the door flew open and she was in Bo's protecting arms.
"Ross? What the heck's goin' on? Are you okay?" He checked her over and tried to get her attention, but her eyes were fixed on the last place she had seen him. Where'd he go? He had disappeared, giving an unsettling feeling to her. She snapped out of it and looked up into Bo's scared blue eyes.
"I'm sorry… I though it was Rosco… and uh, I thought he was gonna try and arrest y'all again… it was uh… just Enos though…" Bo was too frantic over her sudden outburst that he hadn't heard a word she said. He kissed her forehead.
"Don't do that to me again… I was so scared something was happenin' to ya…"
While he calmed her nerves, Luke and Cooter were talking about their suspicions. "I didn't see no patrol car driving by, did you Luke?"
"No, I didn't."
"You reckon she was hallucinatin'? Maybe it's the heat?" Cooter rubbed his head as he wondered about it.
Luke shook his head. "Nah, I think she ain't tellin' Bo the truth, Cooter. Somethin' ain't right." He was silent for a moment as he watched Bo help Ross into the General. He turned to Cooter, shaking his hand. "Well, we'll probably be back by later to get that part into the General. Much obliged, Cooter." They waved goodbye and headed home in silence while Ross gazed out the window the whole way. Luke knew she was hiding something, but what could it possibly be?
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That night after dinner, Bo took the General up to Cooter's to get their new part put into it, but Rosalyn decided to stay at the Dukes' until he got back. He offered to take her home, but she told him quietly that she wanted to have a night alone, just talking and enjoying each other's company, to which of course he agreed. Who wouldn't?
Uncle Jesse and Daisy had headed outside to do their evening chores, and Luke had just walked in after finishing his. He saw Rosalyn leaning against the sink looking out the window. She seemed really tense and nervous about something.
"Somethin' troubling you, Ross?" She jumped and turned around only to sigh in relief that it was Luke. "Whoa, calm down, now. What's the matter with you? You've been actin' funny ever since this afternoon at Cooter's. You don't really seem the type of gal to be shaken up by a patrol car."
"Well, then… I guess I'm still a little emotionally out of it." She tried to make the air lighthearted… Tried being the operative word.
Luke turned her around towards him. "Ross, I gotta tell ya, I didn't see no patrol car driving by today at Cooter's. You sure that's what had ya all shook up?"
She pushed him away, irritated, and turned around to wash dishes. "I'm sure, Luke. I've got to finish these dishes like I promised Daisy."
He knew when to quit – when you're behind. He shut his mouth and shook his head and headed upstairs to get ready for bed early. He had a sick feeling in his stomach, but it wasn't his body that was troubling him.