Yay for another quick update... I actually wound up combinding this chapter and what I had planned for the next one together, so I have one less chapter to write.

Next update will take a while, since I have some other projects that MUST be finished...

Next planned update: May 11th

Working Woman & Stay-At-Home Mom

After she laid Johnny down in his crib for his long afternoon nap, Lou wandered back into the living room. Jo was already there, having laid Yvonne down likewise just a moment ago. This was the routine: the babies always laid down for a four-hour nap after lunch, waking a short time before supper, around the same time Bo, Luke and Uncle Jesse would come home.

Sitting on the couch with an overtly inelegant flop, Lou sighed deeply. "This is so boring…" she practically whined. "We have four hours every afternoon that we have nothing to do with."

"We could just chat like we always do," Jo suggested, fighting the smirk that wanted to appear as she baited Lou.

"We always 'chat,' Jo. It's beginning to get just a little bit old and boring. We've exhausted all interesting subjects." Oblivious to the baiting, Lou asked, "Chat about what?"

"About you and your apparently rediscovered love for Bo, maybe," she replied, a smug smile working its way to her lips.

"Jo!" Lou protested, throwing an incredulous look at her sister. That only served to widen the smug, satisfied grin on Jo's face. "I don't think my relationship is any of your business."

Jo dropped onto the couch beside her. "I'm your sister. You are my business. I'm your twin. Everything about you is my business."

"It is not," Lou disagreed strongly.

"Oh, come on, Lou… It's been so obvious for the past week that something happened between you. There's been a whole lot less shouting matches, and you two don't always look like you're ready to kill each other. In fact, you look downright in love." She raised an eyebrow. "Something happen while you two were left here alone on Valentine's, Lou?"

Quickly standing in a deep reluctance to say anything at all to her sister—because Lou knew that'd only lead to a steady repetition of "I told you so"—Lou wracked her brain for a way to get out of here and away from the pestering. Something not entirely expected quickly presented itself.

"You know, I was considering what I could do in the afternoons," she quickly began to voice the excuse, "and I thought I could get a part-time job. We could use the money, and I could work just in the afternoon, while Johnny and Yvonne are taking their afternoon naps, so you don't get all overwhelmed."

Eyes narrowing at Lou's evasion of answering the question, Jo planted her hands on her hips. After so long of pestering Lou about her inability to reconcile with Bo, she'd expected her sister to be all too willing to share about her success.

Already moving towards the door, Lou grabbed her purse as she said over her shoulder, "Thanks for agreeing, Jo!"

The swift protest of "Hey!" was barely heard by Lou, as Jo shouted it at the door she had just closed behind her.

-+-+-+-

Driving through "downtown" Hazzard in her and Jo's old car, Lou kept her eye out for "Help Wanted" signs, but saw none thus far. Where were all of those signs that she saw before, when she wasn't looking for work?

It seemed before that Boss Hogg was always looking for an extra waitress at the Boar's Nest—not that Lou would take that job anyway—or the grocery store was looking for an extra cashier or bagger. Or that the bank was looking for a teller…

Where had all of the signs for those jobs gone?

Now that she needed one to show up, had they all just disappeared?

It just figured the moment she needed anything, it vanished. It seemed to be the story of her life.

But that wasn't something to think about now.

Hazzard was small, but there had to be somebody looking for a part-time worker. And it was small enough that Lou was almost certain if she put out word that she was looking for a job, someone would free up a place for her.

But she didn't want to wait long enough for the news to spread across Hazzard. She wanted to just come out and find herself a good job quickly.

That way she wouldn't have to deal with any crap from Jo.

As she passed it, a sign finally caught Lou's eye.

Finally! Lou thought, stopping and parking the car. Thank God, I finally found something…

-+-+-+-

After Lou left in a hurry, Jo truly had nothing to do. She was left here in an empty house, with nothing in particular to do, for four long hours.

At first, she considered finding some chores to do. After all, seven people lived here, and there had to be some sort of work to do. But when she attempted to search for a chore, she found none. Everything was clean and perfect.

Well, Uncle Jesse did run a pretty tight ship around here.

Sighing, she settled into a rocking chair on the front porch, since apparently there was nothing else to do. Slowly rocking back and forth, Jo sighed as she stared out across the landscape of the farm that laid out in front of her.

Out of nowhere, the beauty of the scene struck her, and her eyes began seeing it in a different way… Instead of a whole picture, she saw lines and mingling, mixing, contrasting colors.

Jo had only drawn as an inexpert child, with crayons and colored pencils, but she suddenly had the urge to capture the sight before her on paper.

Standing quickly, she hurried back in the house to find a pencil and paper… While she was searching fruitlessly, she suddenly remembered a very old paint set tucked away in her closet. Swiftly, she hurried into her room—quietly so as not to wake Yvonne—and drew the small box from the closet.

Just as quietly, she slipped back out of the room and onto the porch, once again retaking her seat in the rocking chair. The paint set sat in her lap.

Her fingers trailed across the lid for a moment as she remembered where it'd come from.

Jo and Lou's mother had been an amateur painter, with hopes of becoming great one day. When she discovered her terminal illness, those dreams had quickly been abandoned and she'd begun drinking.

After that, Jo had taken her mother's beloved paint set and kept it for her own, a reminder of the woman she'd once loved and admired.

For almost twenty years, she'd kept the small box of paints and brushes with her. She'd never opened it for the pain it brought back, and the dust on it was heavy. After inhaling sharply, she blew the dust bunnies off, revealing the name written on the box's lid.

Anna Johnson it read.

As she began taking the brushes out, Jo decided there just might be a bit of her mother's talent hiding in her somewhere, now was a perfect time to try and seek it out.

Just letting you guys know, there will be 4 more chapters after this one, then the book is done... And I promise there's some of Bo and Lou coming up in the next chapter. And one reviewer expressed reluctance to see Bo and Lou become completely and totally lovey-dovey, but y'all remember, this is Hazzard, and don't nothin' ever run smooth for long.