Chapter 28: Just a Question That's all


"Uh, Boss. I don't understand all of this. Why are you going over the products that you sell in the drug store?"

"Because, you pea-brain. I need to cut some costs. Just like I did with some of the medicine that I found at a discount price a couple of months back. Now I plan to get a new shipment of the cheaper medicine and prescriptions tomorrow but I want to make sure that there ain't nothin' I'm over-lookin'," Boss said as he moved his cigar around in his mouth.

"Uh, Boss. These cheaper medicines and stuff. Ain't that dangerous to be messin' around with?" Rosco said a bit worried like.

"Course not. They still work. My supplier just ordered too much so he has to get rid of it all."

"But you're still chargin' folks the same for the cheaper medicines."

"Yeh, so?" J.D. asked with a soured expression.

"Well, it just seems a little-"

"Rosco, I'm just keepin' prices the same since they'll have to go back up once tomorrow's shipment runs out. It just makes it easier to keep the books straight if I keep the prices the same."

"Oh, well. I guess that makes some sense, I suppose. But what about-" Rosco started only to be interrupted.

"Rosco, would you just go back out on patrol? I have work to do." Boss turned back to his ledger and started scrutinize it once more.

"Alright. I'm goin'," Rosco muttered as he headed out even though it was getting late in the day for one of his usual patrols.

After Rosco left, Boss mused to himself, "If it ain't one thing it's another. One good thing about them Dukes findin' LOVE, they ain't been stickin' their busy noses in my business as often as they used to. Hopefully, they'll stay too wrapped up in their own little worlds to be messin' around in mine for a bit longer."

~01~

Bo said goodnight to his cousin and his wife and headed back out with Kim to take her home. The family had been through a lot today, between the tornado and the birth. Tomorrow promised to be filled with a lot of hard work. All of the animals would be moved into the other barns while the farmhouse was being rebuilt so they wouldn't be so far away.

Bo and Kim had just crossed the county line when an all too familiar car came in behind them. Looking around, Bo couldn't believe that Rosco was still at his speed trap this close to sundown.

"Oh come on, Rosco. You know that I ain't done nothin' wrong," Bo yelled into the CB.

"That don't make no never mind. You just pull that vehicle over this instant."

"No chance, Rosco. You want me, you have to catch me." Bo toed the accelerator and the orange stock car lurched forward.

Kim grinned at the now too familiar game of cat and mouse. After a few minutes, Bo took the chase off road and told her to hang on as he prepared to launch the General into the air. Bo jumped a dry creek bed and pulled over to watch for Rosco. When the patrol car landed in the bed, Rosco got out and Bo called for Cooter to make an evening pick up. He then put the car in gear and took back off.

When Kim leaned back to enjoy the ride to town she saw that the glove compartment had popped open when the car landed after the jump. Kim reached over to close it back when her eye caught a small black jewelry box in the corner of the compartment. Seeing it, her hand froze on the door to the glove box.

"Bo?" Kim had a feeling what was in that box but she could be wrong. After all, there wasn't a body alive in all of Hazzard that would think that Bo Duke was ready to get married.

Bo glanced down and saw that the glove compartment had fallen open again for the second time today. He cursed under his breath and pulled over. This is not how he'd wanted to give her that ring.

"Kim, I..." What? What is he supposed to say now?

"This can't be what I think it is," Kim said still in a bit of disbelief.

"Why can't it be?" Bo asked. "After all, I love you, and I don't want to be without you." Bo slid over on the seat and put his arm on the back of the seat behind Kim. "This ain't exactly how I'd planned this but..." Bo reached past Kim to pull the ring box out. "What do ya say? Will ya marry me?"

Kim stared at the box in Bo's hands and felt a mixture of happiness and intense fear. She'd been married once before and it had taken her years, and nearly cost her life, to get away from Ted once and for all. She'd vowed that she'd never make that mistake again. But would this be mistake?

~01~

Kira and Jebb were busy upstairs getting the boys ready for bed while Jesse puttered around downstairs. He'd rarely slept anywhere else besides the old farmhouse. He knew that he was blessed with the fact that he had family willing and able to help out while he was temporarily without a home of his own. Still, there was nothing like being in your own house. Finishing his ruminating, Jesse poured himself another cup of coffee and went to the window and stared out. Hearing movement behind him, Jesse saw that Jebb had come downstairs.

"You alright, Uncle Jesse?" Jebb asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee and joined his uncle by the window.

"I suppose. It could have been a lot worse today, I know. Daisy might have still been in the house when that twister came through."

"Yep. Luckily, everything worked out just fine." Jebb took a sip out of his coffee. "You waitin' up for Bo?"

"Old habits. I know that it'll be hard to sleep without Daisy here, too. But the least I want is to have as many of my kids under one roof as I can before I go to sleep."

"Well, I think I can understand that. Come on, let's go into the living room."

Jebb and Jesse headed on into the sitting room and began to relax from the day. Jesse and Jebb discussed the latest Duke and Jesse hinted at the fact that he thought that the boys could use a little brother or little sister of their own. When Kira got ready to head down to join the men, she overheard the conversation and figured that she might want to rescue her husband from their uncle.

~01~

Bo saw Kim's whole body go rigid as he waited for her to answer him. Shit! It was still too soon for her. She'd survived a marriage from Hell and here he was asking her to trust him enough to get married all over again. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her up tight against him. He had his answer already. She just wasn't ready. Bo rested his cheek on the top of Kim's head.

"It's alright. It's alright."

Kim melted into Bo's arms. Like every time in the past, she couldn't help but feel safe as he held her. Even before they had started to date. Kim couldn't help but remember the incident from a year ago that had put her in his arms for the first time, unwittingly of course. Though she didn't properly appreciate him at the time.

The two ate the small amount of food that had been left while they discussed the crooks plans for revenge as well anything else that Kim could remember from her drive to the house that Vinnie had taken her to. Afterwards the two prepared for the night...

It was getting late and it was time to try to get some sleep. Bo hoped that rescue wouldn't be far away but knew that he needed to be ready to help when it did get here. Glancing toward the door, Derk would be a problem. He knew that the man was likely still out there. Sighing in frustration, Bo got up and went over toward where Kim was at trying to get comfortable on the floor to try to get some sleep.

"Move over against the wall," Bo said gruffly.

"What are you doing? Get back on your own side of the room. It's bad enough that we have to-"

"Look! In case you didn't notice, that big guy has a major hard on for you. I wouldn't put it passed him to come in here for you while we're asleep."

"Oh come on, don't be so dramatic." Kim rolled her eyes.

"Kim, these guys ain't likely to care if you want them around or to touch you. Between the fact that it doesn't look like any of them has been out of prison for long and the fact that when you ain't talkin' you can almost pull off being attractive, they've been eyin' you like they're starved men and you are an eight course meal."

"Ooh! High praise from the great Bo Duke. And you're going to protect me I suppose? Isn't that like having the fox guarding the hen house?"

"Listen Sweetheart, I don't have to force any woman to sleep with me. Now my Uncle Jesse raised me right, and that means that I have to try my best to keep you safe. And right now, that means staying between you and the Incredible Hulk standing right outside of the door. You hear me? So scoot over," Bo said as he glared at the female doctor. Why couldn't she do just one thing he asked without fighting him on it?

Kim eyed Bo then glance toward the door. She hadn't thought about what Bo had just alluded to. She'd been concentrated on the guns earlier, not the men. Then she just noticed that Bo was crowding her space, not really thinking that he might have a good reason. Reluctantly, Kim slid over with her back to the wall and rested her head on her arm.

Bo collapsed onto the floor next to the lady doctor and tried to get comfortable next to her. This wasn't exactly the night that he'd been hoping for. As of midnight tonight, he was free man and he hadn't been planning on celebrating by sleeping next to a woman that he couldn't even enjoy doing so with.

Okay, so that wasn't the most romantic start to a relationship but there it was. After she and Bo had been rescued they'd called a truce to their lifelong mutual disdain for one another. Once they'd stopped fighting, the obvious attraction that they had for one another had then taken care of the rest. What was it that Bo had just said to her?

"Why can't it be? After all, I love you, and I don't want to be without you."

Sure, he'd said that when they were making love or were just cuddling. But just out there like that... Kim knew that Bo would never hurt her like Ted had. He'd risked his life for her to make sure that Ted could never hurt her again. And, he made her love him despite the fact that she had never wanted anything to do with love again after her last marriage. Kim grinned a bit when she realized how obvious her answer was.

"When?" Kim asked as she shifted in Bo's embrace.

"Really?" Bo pulled back to look down at Kim.

"Really, I may have issues at times but you're not the cause of any of it. Without you, I don't know what I'd do. Of course I'll marry you." Bo let out a rebel yell and pulled Kim up for a deep, long kiss. "So, does this mean that we head to Chickamahoney now?" Kim asked as Bo took the ring from its box and placed it on her hand.

"I think if we did that we'd have a lot of explainin' to do when we got back. Kira and Jebb were married there but the situation was a bit different. Plus a lot of us were there when they were married so it wasn't like they just ran off without telling anyone about it first. Not to mention I don't think that I could face your uncle if we did that."

"It was worth a shot." Kim shrugged as she leaned back into Bo's arms. "I've never been a fan of long engagements or big weddings."

"Me neither," Bo replied with a bit of a chuckle in his voice. Hit by a sudden thought he grinned as he suggested a date. "How about the twenty-eighth?"

"The twenty-eig...That's Thanksgiving."

"I know. Seems perfect to me. Your family will be in town, my family will be in town."

"And it's only two weeks away, Bo! How do you expect to get a wedding together in only a little over two weeks?"

"Shoot, if we set Daisy loose, she'd have it ready by tomorrow. Look, all the women who would have helped with the dinner could just fix it for a reception instead."

"Aren't you forgetting about the house? It's goin' to need a lot of work."

"So it'll keep me busy in the meantime."

"We'll have to figure out where we'll live-"

"The cabin's free," Bo responded quickly with a wide grin.

"You've got it all figured out. Don't you?"

"I've been known to think on occasion," Bo responded as he laughed. "What do ya think? Should we tell everyone that we have a weddin' to plan?"

"This is crazy. You do know that, right?"

"But... You're goin' to do it. Ain't ya?"

"So how do we tell them?"

"Well, first, I think we should go talk to your uncle. I can tell the others over breakfast." Bo put the car in gear and headed to town.

He drove straight to Kim's uncle's house and, for once, he didn't find it too cheery for his mood as he was taking Kim home. Pulling into the driveway, Bo parked and helped Kim out of the General. Taking her hand in his, they walked up to the house and went on in. Kim called out for her uncle and the two waited for the aged, white haired doctor to come out to the front room of the tidy house.

"Kim, after the day you've had, I wasn't really expectin' you home yet," Irving Appleby said as he came in from elsewhere in the house. "Bo? Well, this is a surprise. Is there anything wrong?"

"No sir. I just thought that it be best if I came to talk to you."

"What about?" Doc asked questioningly.

"About this," Bo said as he pulled Kim's hand up into view. When Irving saw the ring on his niece's finger, he had to smile.

"Then why don't we all sit down?"

~01~

Bo had gotten to his sister's late last night, as he planned, so everyone had already turned in for the night. Bo crept into the room that had been decorated for Jebb's sisters which was the only room not spoken for that had a bed in it (despite the fact that there were still plenty of rooms in this old house that had yet to be fully put to use) so he could get some sleep. Bo wished that he'd told everyone that he was staying over a Luke's. He wasn't home and he doubted that even Daisy got home until it was pretty late. Instead, he slept in a room with pink walls and pink blankets.

Despite the accommodations Bo was barely able to keep the grin off his face when he shaved for the morning after taking care of the morning chores. He just kept thinking about last night. Doc Appleby had to be the only one in the county who would have been happy about being told that his little girl was about to marry a Duke Boy. Bo explained his idea for the upcoming wedding and told the man that he was sure that he could get the family to pitch in and help them pull it off in time. Doc found the idea a bit amusing but wasn't about to tell them that they couldn't try to carry out their plans. Now Bo just had to go down and break the news to everyone downstairs.

Once down in the kitchen, Bo greeted Daisy as he made his way around her. She'd come over and helped with breakfast here since there was no one over at the other farmhouse and there was no point in cooking for just one. Instead, she was busy cooking for the family which gave Kira a chance to feed Mikey. Jay was still upstairs asleep like usual since he slept longer than his older brother. Bo ruffled the small blond head in the high chair as he passed him.

"Mornin'," Bo said as he made his way to the fridge. Looking inside, he saw that someone must have been thinking of him since there was some fresh buttermilk in the fridge. Grabbing it, he turned and went to find a glass but stopped short when his sister caught his attention.

'Have a good night? Or does sleeping in a pink room agree with you?'

'Why would you ask that?'

'Oh, I don't know. The fact that you look like you're about to float right out of here might be a clue. So? What's up?'

"Hey you two. It's too early in the morning for you to be keepin' secrets from the rest of us." Daisy kidded as she started to put the eggs on the table. "Alright, what's goin' on?"

"What makes you think that anything is goin' on?" Bo asked as he took a seat.

"Bo, Daisy's on to something. You never could keep a secret. Even when you were a boy, your face would give you away every time. So why don't you come clean and just tell me how much trouble you got into last night and how much it's gonna cost me," Jesse muttered as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Alright, I was planning to tell ya'll this mornin' anyway." Bo reached for a piece of bacon from the plate on the table but his uncle had none of it. He insisted that his youngest nephew maintained good manners at the breakfast table. "Last night, I asked Kim to marry me-" As soon as he had the words out of his mouth Daisy started to shriek in his ear as she jumped up from her chair and practically choked him as she hugged him. Bo should have known better than to sit beside his cousin. He'll be lucky if he didn't lose part of his hearing from her shrill screams. "In fact, we were thinking of maybe getting married on Thanksgiving since everyone on both sides of the family will be here anyway."

"Thanksgiving? Why, that's just in two weeks," Jesse said.

"I know."

"How do you expect to plan a whole wedding in just two weeks?"

"Kim doesn't want a big weddin' and I really don't care either way. Figured that we could just ask Reverend Joe Snider out to join us for dinner and-"

"And what? You and Kim could get married between courses?" Jesse said while Jebb had to hide his smirk behind his coffee cup as Kira turned and faced away under the pretense of attending the toddler as he tried to stuff his mouth with some eggs that were put on his plate. "Nope, you two will have a proper wedding," Jesse insisted.