Chapter 12

Later that morning when Daisy and Rosalyn returned, Bo was waiting at the kitchen table. She walked in and smiled at him, but he noticed it was different. It was nervous, almost forced, like something in her mind was taking over her entire being. He hadn't wanted to see it before, but now that he was looking for it… boy was it there.

"You okay, Bo?" He stood up and took her hand and began to walk out the door, looking back for one last reassuring nod from his older cousin. Luke gave him a wink and helped Daisy prepare some pot roast for lunch.

"Bo? What's goin' on?" He kept leading her outside and got to a little swing overlooking one of the fields and sat down in it. She followed suit, a little nervous as to where this was going. She ran her hands through his hair and turned his gaze towards her. "Honey?" Bo kissed her softly and held her chin with the tips of his fingers. "What was that for?"

"You care about me, right Ross?" She nodded, confused. "I care about you, too. I want to be there for you, but… I don't know, it's all been jumbled up these past 2 days. Something's bothering you, and you won't tell me. Rosalyn, I need to know. I need to take care of you."

She took his hand and pulled it away from her face. "Bo, I already told you why I'm so shaken up. I'm still getting over the shock of it all."

"No, Ross. Yesterday, when you was screamin' for me to help you outside Cooter's…" She felt her stomach tighten at the memory. "Something changed in you… we were happy, and you felt safe. But yesterday you just… you…"

"Bo, it wasn't anything."

"There wasn't no patrol car out there, honey. Cooter and Luke both vouch for that. What did you see?" She stayed silent and turned towards the almost completely risen sun. A tear formed at her eye. "Ross, baby, you need to let me help. We're in this together."

She stood up abruptly and walked away for a moment, then turned back and took a step forward. "We are not in this together, Bo Duke. You helped me get past it, and I thank you very much for that. You have no idea how grateful I am for you being in my life. But… This is between David and me. You are not a part of it. So stop trying to play hero and leave it alone. Just be there for me when I need you to." He stared at her, speechless, but she could tell it wasn't because she told him to back off. It was something else. "What's wrong?"

"David?" She gulped. How could she have been so stupid… "Why is David still in this? I thought you came here to stay away from him."

"I… I did…"

"Rosalyn, why is David back in this?" She turned away from him and closed her eyes, knowing Bo wasn't going to let it drop. "Ross, is he here? David. That's who you saw yesterday." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Ross, you need to include me in something like that! What if I hadn't been at Cooter's? What if you were out by yourself and you saw him? You don't want anything to happen again, do you?" She turned back to him, infuriated. She walked up to him and raise her hand to slap him, then though better, and simply left him with a both hurt and upset expression. That face hit him harder than any blow could have. She stormed off and jumped into the car she had rented a few days ago to tool around when she needed to. Bo watched her drive away and stood dumbfounded.

Luke ran out to snap him out of his daze. "Hey, where the heck is she goin'?" Bo couldn't look away from the dusty road, fresh with tracks. Luke turned him towards him sharply. "BO!" Bo looked at him with confused, sad eyes, still in the trance Rosalyn had left him in. "Bo? You alright, kid?"

"I went too far, Luke… too far…"

"Bo, stop mumbling and tell me what happened. Why did she drive off like that? Was it really that bad?" Be began to head to the General, apparently returning to reality. "Bo, wait up!"

"Get in the car, Luke. I'll explain while we chase her down." Luke was pretty confused, but hardly ever doubting his cousin's instincts, he climbed inside the General.

"Now, you mind explaining to me what the heck this is all about?" Bo sighed and waited for a moment, hoping to wait it out and evade explanation. "Bo Duke, you ain't gonna keep something that's apparently a bit of a big deal from me."

"Alright, alright, Luke. Calm down. Listen… Ross… before she came to Hazzard, she was in a pretty serious relationship, but he kinda roughed her up a little bit…" He forced himself to say it, knowing he would have to. He left out the details, telling as little as he possibly could out of respect for the woman he was falling in love with. "Well, you were right. That wasn't no cop car. It was… it was that guy she was runnin' from."

"Running?"

Bo nodded and continued. "Well, when I finally got that out of her, I guess… I don't know, I just wouldn't let it drop. I mean, I know that she still should've told me, but I made such a big deal… I guess I wasn't thinkin' about how stuff was comin' out of my mouth, and eventually I pulled my usual foot-in-mouth and almost got slapped in the face. Then she stormed off."

Luke soaked up all the information and contemplated what should be done. "Bo, if he's here, he won't hesitate to take her on site it sounds like. We've got to get to her."

"What the heck do you think I'm doin' right now?"

"Sorry, Bo. Hey, there she is in the distance!" Their attention turned to the little white sedan about half a mile ahead of them. "Come on, we're almost to her. Floor it, Bo!"

Right as Bo began to pick up speed, one of Roscoe's phony orange cones was blown from it's hiding spot up in a tree and right out into the middle of the road. Bo just barely missed it, but they went flying into a ditch right off the road. It was good and stuck in some mud, and a tire was actually knocked loose. Bo jumped out and ran for a few seconds and stopped, nearly collapsing on the road out of angst and frustration.

Luke ran to Bo's side and tried to pull him up. "Bo, come on, we've gotta get the General back in order!" Bo pulled his arm away from his cousin. "Bo, come on!"

His little cousin looked up and nearly broke his heart with the tears in his eyes. "Luke, it'll take at least a half hour to get the General out and fix that dumb tire!" Luke looked back at the tire he had missed earlier. "By then, she'll be home or on her way out of Hazzard… Luke, what if that creep's waiting in her apartment or somethin'? What if he gets to her before we do? It's all my fault. There ain't nothin' we can do now…" He began to sob into his hands, and Luke tried to pull him up again. Once more, he pulled away, but still got up. "Luke, can you get Cooter on the CB? I've got to get somebody to look after her… if anything happens to her… I don't know what I'd do…" Luke quickly contacted Cooter and began working on getting that car out of the ditch and back on the road.

"It's no use, Bo. This car's kaput for at least a couple of hours. I'll call Uncle Jesse back at the farm."

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Rosalyn wiped her tears for the umpteenth time, and pulled into the parking lot in front of her townhouse. She put some makeup over her tearstains and fixed her hair before getting out. She couldn't stay here… There is too much pain. Everywhere she goes she finds pain…

She went to open her door and checked her face again in her compact, but didn't have time to look. She dropped the compact and frantically turned around. Her heart was racing, and her mind was rushing with plans to get away…

Her breathing grew heavy and much faster, and she couldn't move from her position. "Hey, babe. It's been a while."