Chapter 28: General Meet The General
The next couple of weeks went by at a hurried pace. Jo and Stephanie began planning the wedding on their end in New York while keeping everyone in Hazzard in the loop. Daisy and Kira had gone up for a weekend to help Jo shop for a dress and Jo was able to pick out the dresses that she wanted the other three women to wear while making sure that the design would flatter all three women who would serve as the bridal party.
Now Jo was flying down to Hazzard for Christmas to spend it with Luke and the rest of the family. Reluctantly, she had agreed to invite her father to go with her and was waiting for him to join her during her layover in D.C. Finally, she saw her father coming over to her dressed in civvies.
"Well, it seems that you do have clothes other than a uniform. Please tell me you didn't pack it," Jo joked as her father sat beside her as they waited for their flight.
"Very funny, Joanna. I just figured that I should try to blend in a bit while in Hazzard," Thomas replied while feeling out of place without his uniform.
"I don't think I've ever seen you in jeans before." Jo gave her father a hug and laughed at his reply.
"Well, it just seemed that suits or slacks would stand out. I still don't know how I let you talk me into spending Christmas in Georgia."
"Come on, it's been years since we've spent Christmas together. And besides that, I think that you just might enjoy yourself. Maybe you and Jesse can go over old war stories together or something. You know, he was in the Army in Korea. You might be surprised; you two may find that you have more in common than you think."
"We'll see," Thomas said skeptically.
~01~
Luke went out to the car to get ready to head out to pick Jo and the general up at the airport in Capital City when he came up short. Jo wouldn't mind riding in the General Lee but somehow he doubted that her father would be as inclined to climb in through the windows to get into the stock car. Behind him, Bo watched as he glanced back and forth between the car and their uncle's truck. Figuring out what had given Luke a reason to pause, Bo went over and put his arm across Luke's shoulders in the casual way that he'd been doing for years.
"You know, you might as well as be yourself. The general should know the real you from the beginning. That includes our own General here," Bo popped the roof of the car with one hand as he spoke. "No sense in trying to pretend that you're somethin' that you're not. You rarely go anywhere without this orange flying machine of ours. Why should today be any different?"
Luke looked between his cousin and their shared car for a moment then nodded to himself as he agreed with his cousin. "You're right. Might as well introduce both of the Generals to one another right from the start."
Luke slipped through the window and put the car in gear and headed to the airport. Hopefully the general won't take his means of getting out to the farm badly. But as Bo had said, he might as well as be himself.
~01~
Jo and Thomas Hart got off of the small commuter plane that they'd taken in from Atlanta and went to retrieve their luggage when they saw Luke waiting for them at the luggage carousel.
"How was the flight?" Luke asked as he grabbed for Jo's suitcases as they rode by him on the belt after he gave Jo a quick kiss.
"Long. We got delayed in Atlanta," Jo said as she slipped an arm around Luke's waist.
"Well, at least ya'll made it here safe and sound." Luke led the way to the orange stock car just a bit nervous. He walked around to the back of the car and started to load the luggage into the trunk.
"An interesting looking car." Thomas eyed the car, noting the paint job. "You race this thing?"
"Yes sir. Bo and I've have raced ever since we gave up runnin' 'shine. You actually use some of the same skills runnin' from the revenuers as you do on the track keepin' ahead of the other drivers."
"Is that so?" Thomas exchanged a look with his daughter and knew that she was waiting for him to say something positive to her future husband. "I suppose you used some of those same skills in 'Nam, too. It wasn't just luck that helped you make it back from over there, was it?"
Luke looked up at the general and considered the statement. Slowly he nodded. "They learned real quick to use those of us from the country when it came to trackin' and avoidin' the enemy over there." When Thomas went to reach for the door, Luke spoke up once more. "The, uh, the doors are welded shut. You'll need to climb in through the window."
Luke waited until Jo's father climbed in before helping Jo in and slipping in behind the wheel of the stock car. As Luke was driving through Hatchapee County towards the Hazzard County line, Luke was extra careful of the speed limits and drove in a relatively sedate manner since he had his future father-in-law in the car with him. That, however, did not stop Sheriff Loomis from pulling in behind the racecar with light and sirens going.
"Damn," Luke said as he glanced into the rear-view mirror.
"You weren't doing anything wrong," Jo said as she twisted to see the police car coming out of a side road towards them. "Why is he coming after you? This isn't fair."
"Angel, around here, you don't have to be doin' anythin' wrong. Not as long as your name is Duke." Luke gave his fiancée and her father a glance then remembered Bo's advice before he left the house. "Hang on."
Luke changed gears and sped up as he ignored the look that General Hart was giving him. Luke made a beeline to the county line, figuring that once he was out of the sheriff's jurisdiction that he'd give up on the chase. Luke put the car through the usual turns and fish tails as he put some distance between him and Sheriff Loomis as he headed towards one of his and Bo's usual escape routes. When he went off road in a meadow towards the creek, Jo braced herself knowing what would be coming next.
"Brace yourself and hang on," Luke said and he once again changed gears and pointed the car toward the dip near the bank.
"Wait a minute. What are you doing?" Thomas put a hand up on the dash and did as Luke suggested just before the car and its three passengers went airborne. When the car came to rest on the other side of the creek, Luke looked back and watched as Loomis pulled up short of the creek.
"He's alright. He knows better than to try to follow me across that creek."
"Do that often?" Thomas asked the younger dark-haired man.
"A couple times a week. Though usually it's just for fun." Luke smirked at the usual reaction to the jump that outsiders tend to have after a jump. "General, you might as well know that things run a bit different out here than they do up in the big cities."
"So I see. Isn't jumping a car like that tough on it?"
"It can be. You have to know what you're doin'." Luke gave a slight smile since he knew what he was doing. The rest of the drive went by without incident and soon they were pulling into the farm yard. Luke went to grab the luggage as Bo came out to help him. Daisy came running out and hugged Jo as she greeted her.
"Welcome back, sugar! We're goin' to have such fun. I'll go ahead and get 'cha settled into my room."
Thomas cocked a brow as Daisy mentioned that his daughter would be staying with her. Somehow he had thought that he'd have to brace himself for seeing his daughter bunking in with her soon-to-be husband.
"Bo, carry the general's luggage on into the guest room," Jesse said as he came out onto the porch to greet his house guests.
"Yes sir," Bo said as he made his way past him through the door. Jesse waited for Luke to walk in with Jo's bags before he walked over to her father.
"You seemed surprise about somethin' there, General. Despite what you might think about my boys, I don't run a bawdy house here. I've never let them boys bring girls in under this roof to sleep with them without the benefit of marriage first. They're all grown adults but I make sure that they all follow certain rules while they live under my roof."
"I apologize for making the wrong assumptions. I'm still getting used to all of this," Thomas said to Jesse.
"That's alright. I suppose I'd be the same way if it was Daisy that was gettin' married. Come on in. We were just about ready to sit down to supper."
Jesse led the way on into the house and soon the Dukes and their guests all began to relax into the evening. The main topic around the table revolved around the upcoming wedding and then moved onto the celebrations that would be taking place during the days leading up to Christmas that week.
"General, do you sing any?" Bo asked as he reached for seconds.
"Why?"
"Well, we always go carolin' on Christmas Eve. Figured that if you sing, you could come along."
"Can't say that I ever have," the general said in response to Bo's question.
"Don't look at me, Bo. I don't sing either." Jo laughed as he turned to ask her. "I'll just stand back and enjoy hearing the rest of you."
"Well, actually, half of the folks that go every year can't carry a tune in a bucket any way. It's still fun though."
"I'll take your word for it," Jo said as she gave him a smile.
After supper, everyone gathered into the living room and Daisy convinced the boys to get their guitars out and the family all started to sing along as they played various Christmas Carols. Luke took extra pride in his singing since Jo hadn't ever gotten to hear him sing before and enjoyed it when she started to compliment him and Bo on their singing voices.
"Any requests?" Luke asked, "What's your favorite Christmas song?"
"I don't think you'd know it," Jo said, knowing that Luke would take that as a challenge. "It's a bit old. It was written during the Civil War."
"Try me." Luke gave a lopsided grin as he waited for the song title.
"Christmas Bells."
Bo chuckled, "Darlin', we know that one. Johnny Cash recorded it several years back. Now I know that you said that you can't sing but that don't matter none. We'll play it if you agree to sing along."
"You're going to regret asking that," Jo said from beside Luke as he balanced his instrument on his thigh.
"We don't mind suffering a bit." Luke ducked to dodge Jo's hand as she went to swipe at him for the comment. Luke and Bo began to play the song and Jo reluctantly sang along with the Dukes as quietly as she thought that she could get away with it.
"I'm surprised that you knew that one," Jo said.
"We're real big on history around here. Especially when it comes to the Civil War. If it has anything to do with it, we'll most likely know about it." Luke smirked as started to play another song.
~01~
The next day, Luke took Thomas up to the cabin by way of the newly made driveway that he'd cut into the woods and gave the general his first look at where his daughter would be living in about a month and a half. Luke explained how the family had gone in together to renovate the old cabin as a surprise.
The general gave the cabin a thorough inspection of his daughter's future home. It looked cozy enough, with the fire place in the newly furnished living room and the kitchen that seemed to be waiting for intimate dinners for two. The perfect home for just the two of them. A bit rustic looking but with the newly installed modern conveniences it would blend perfectly with the history that the cabin silently spoke of what it had seen in its years and the promise of a bright future for the soon-to-be newlyweds who would soon occupy its walls.
"Well, your family must really care for you to put this kind of work into a place for you to have a place of your own," Thomas said as he checked the craftsmanship of the addition to the cabin.
"Like I told you before, I'm really close to my family," Luke replied.
"So I've seen."
"How about your family? Jo's never really gone into tellin' me much about her family. Does she have cousins, aunts, uncles?"
"No. I was an only child and her mother took off when she was little so there's no one on her side either," Thomas said regrettably.
"Took off?" Luke knew that Jo had grown up without a mother, but he didn't realize that her mother had abandoned her.
"She couldn't handle the military life. After a while, she just walked away from it." Thomas looked off with a blank stare as he thought about Jo's mother for a moment.
"I didn't realize-"
"Joanna was too young to remember. Just do me a favor, don't mention that you know. She'll bring it up if she wants to talk about it. Otherwise-"
"Understood," Luke said with a slight nod.
"What about you? You and your cousins were all raised by your uncle?"
"My Uncle Jesse took me in when I was four. I was stayin' with him and my Aunt Lavinia while my mother was in the hospital after givin' birth to my little brother. There was a fire and very few folks got out. A nurse was able to get my brother out and raised him, my folks didn't make it."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Uncle Jesse was the best father I could have asked for. We might not have always had a lot but ain't none of us ever doubted that we were loved. He's the reason I'm the man I am." Luke looked away back towards the car to hide the emotion that always tried to make itself known whenever he thought about his parents. "I think we'd best head on back. I promised Jo that I'd take her out to the Boar's Nest."
"That's the bar that you were fighting in the first time I saw you?"
"You were there for the fight?"
"You were just finishing up when I walked in. Care to explain that?" Thomas crossed his arms as he waited for Luke to do just that.
"Most folks around here know better than to lay hands on Daisy while she's workin' out there; especially when any of the rest of us are there. Out-of-towners sometimes need to be convinced that it ain't such a good idea to mess around with any of the female Dukes unless you're willin' to take on the rest of us. Four men were harassin' Daisy that night. When they grabbed at her, I jumped in. From there, it just spiraled out of control."
"So you were protecting your cousin?" Thomas thought back to the fight that he'd seen between the Dukes and the four truckers.
"Yes sir. Like I said, you take on one Duke; you get the rest of us. Daisy sometimes doesn't think that she needs the rest of us watchin' over her, but it's ingrained in us. The same way it will be with Jo. Even if I ain't around, if any of the others see anyone givin' her a hard time, then they'll have to take it up with which ever Duke is around. She won't ever have to worry about bein' alone. Once a Duke, she'll have more family than she'll know what to do with. And by default, that family will be extended to you too, sir."
"Well that makes me feel a little better. Fighting in defense of your female family members is a bit different than just fighting for the hell of it," Thomas said as he followed Luke out to the stock car.
Luke considered telling the other man that it doesn't always work out quite that way but thought better of it. So far, things were going well on the general's first visit to the farm and while he had taken Bo's advice about being himself and was just trying to be honest, too much honesty may not exactly be all that helpful in building a bridge with the older man. Instead, Luke dropped the subject and the two men got into the stock car and headed back to the main house of the farm.
