A/N: Thanks to readers who have stuck with the story to this point. The following chapter is the final for Part One of Secrets, Bittersweet Memories, and Dolly Parton Goodbyes. I have enjoyed the journey. Part Two is in my head, but will likely be a few months before new chapters are posted. I have to time travel to the 23rd Century for a while and feed my Star Trek fanfic. A special thanks to WENN9366 who may recognize a nod to her DOH fanfic in this chapter.
Chapter Fifty Nine: Epilogue to Part One
"That was some important information to be leavin' out, don'tcha think?" Bo had said, with indignant consternation.
Daisy hadn't known herself they were married until she read the first page of the letter. Guess it wasn't that complicated after all.
Even after she told them, she had only related the bare bones basics about the woman who was now Mrs. Enos Strate; born in South Korea, American citizen, worked for her uncle's accounting firm, played the violin, they met at a fancy dress soiree, and they were trying to adopt Soonie's niece – period. Anything else was just too tangled up with everything else in Enos's life right now. You pretty much had to 'be there.'
The fact that Enos was married to someone other than Daisy, although few in Hazzard had ever thought that would ever happen either, still eclipsed the fact that he had quit the LAPD and would be living seven thousand miles away. The very notion was absurd. The news had spread like a wildfire in the San Fernando Valley, with Daisy encouraging Rosco to fuel the flames as much as he could. Everyone should think Enos had lost his mind when he lost his heart and that he had given up everything to be with his new wife. To a certain extent, that was the truth. Living in Korea would get them that much closer to getting custody of little Gem. But it wasn't the whole truth. Only a few people on the planet knew that and Daisy felt it a privilege, along with the responsibility, to be one of them. She had her role to play.
Bo's reaction had not been that much different than anyone else's at the supper table on Monday evening, except that he was convinced the tale needed to be retold – again and again. Luke was the silent one. He said nothing about it, just sat out on the front porch, long after everyone had gone to bed, before he finally picked up the phone and made the call that would change his life.
Thanksgiving Day, 1997
Hazzard, GA
Life moves on and so does Hazzard; Thanksgiving Day chores beckoned. Company was coming.
Luke had gone out very early in the morning without telling anyone where he was going. When he showed up at the farm again mid-morning, accompanied by Sophie and her children, Caleb who was eight and Emily who had just turned five, his introduction nearly obliterated the news about Enos. Now Bo would have a new story to tell.
But even Bo was silenced, and suddenly on his best behavior, when Annie Poe, casserole dish in hand, showed up at the front door with Rosco P. Coltrane on her right, Cooter Davenport on her left and Flash waddling on into the house like he belonged there.
"We found this pretty little thing walkin' on the road," Cooter said, beaming. "When she said she was headed here for Thanksgivin' dinner..."
"See, her car broke down 'bout half mile down the road, so Flash an' me said she should ride with us...kwew, kwew." Rosco cut in.
"You did not. Didn't even see her 'til I told you."
"Did too."
"Did not."
"Ooo...You..." Rosco mangled up his mouth and stuck out his chin to Cooter. "You think you're the beez knees since you been up there in Washington rubbin' elbows with all them grafttin..."
Uncle Jesse rolled his eyes. "Cooter! Rosco!"
They said in unison, "Yes, sir." Rosco juggled to catch his hat when it flew out of his hand and before it landed on the floor.
Taking Annie's arm, Jesse led her away from the bickering twins. He patted her forearm and whispered, "Don't' worry, darlin' we'll set you far away from them two yahoos."
"I really don't mind, Mr. Duke. They are both very sweet."
"Miss Annie," he said, scratching his head, "I don't believe I ever heard Sheriff Rosco described as 'sweet' b'fore."
Daisy waited until Annie and Uncle Jesse made it into the parlor before she grabbed Rosco around the neck and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"I saved the turkey neck just for you," she said.
"Oh, Daisy, thank you. You know, ooo, you've always been my favorite Duke. Hey, Cooter, did you know Daisy's got Doctor in fronta' her name now?" Rosco, blushed and tittered as she led him into the parlor.
Cooter's eyes widened and he sneaked a peek out the window for those porcine aviators that never showed up in D.C.
"Daisy," Bo said when he pulled her aside, "What's she doin' here?"
"What's who doin' here. You mean Sophie? Weren't you listening when Luke said they were gettin' married, Bo?"
"Not Sophie. Her...Annie."
"Not sure. Wait. I bet it's because she was invited." Daisy was enjoying this.
"Well, who in tarnation invited her?" He tried to keep his voice down.
"I did." Daisy gave him a mischievous smile and was already walking into the kitchen with Bo following close behind, trying not to draw attention to the fact that he was practically chasing her down.
"Wha'd ya' go an' do that for?"
"Why shouldn't I and what's it to you if I asked Annie to come for Thanksgiving?"
"I, well, I..."
"I, well, I...you havin' trouble with your words today Bo?" Ignoring his silent, red-faced protest, she called into the parlor, "Hey, everybody, dinner's ready!"
About halfway through the meal, Rosco got up from the table. "Ya'll don't go anywhere, cuz' I got somethin' I gotta' get out o' my cruiser." He looked down at Flash. "Now, you mind they don't go anywhere, Flash. I'm gonna' be back with a surprise. Kwew, kwew."
"Wonder what he's up to?" Luke said, and then turned to Sophie to explain, "Ain't nothin' good ever come of Rosco's surprises."
"Well, don't you worry, Luke," Daisy said, patting him on the shoulder, "for a change, it's nothin' to fret about, unless you wanna go and pretty up or something."
"What the heck are you talkin' about?"
Rosco came back into the room with a hand held camcorder protruding from his face and waving his left arm like he was Cecil B. DeMille. "Now, when I say 'action' ya'll say 'Hey.'"
"Rosco, what the heck are you doin'?" Uncle Jesse said.
"I'm recordin' this for posterity...well, an' for the dipstick..." Daisy gave him a look. She'd already taken him to task for the 'dipstick' remarks. "I mean Enos," he corrected himself. "See he gave me this for my birthday. That's why the box was so heavy, ya' see. It was way down at the bottom under all those...Well, it was under other stuff..."
Sophie's son, Caleb, who, in contrast to his very vocal sister, had been quietly withdrawn through most of the meal, got up and studied the camera with great interest.
Rosco showed him the viewscreen and said, "See...Don't need none o' them cassettes nor nothin.' This here's state o' the art technology. They call this a proto-type 'cause it ain't even out on the market yet. Tell you what, you take the camera...and use that button right there. That's the one and I'll go over there and say hey to the dip...Enos."
Rosco finally exhausted himself and picked up Flash to leave, 'cause he was havin' Thanksgiving dinner with Lulu and Mama.' Everyone else was lounging around the parlor or on the porch in a tryptophan coma when Daisy disappeared into her bedroom.
When she came back down carrying two packages, one gift wrapped, the other wrapped in one of Uncle Jesse's bandanas, she found Bo and Annie sitting in the front porch swing. Bo immediately sprang to his feet like he'd been shot from Hazzard's memorial cannon.
"Uh, hey, Daisy," he said. "You fixin' to runin' away from home?"
Daisy was confused at first then realized he was pointing at the bandana wrapped package. She smiled. Wearing one of Uncle Jesse's old cardigans, the one with pockets that hung down nearly to mid-thigh, she did look like all she needed was a long stick and the hobo couture would be complete.
"Bo, mind if I steal a few minutes with Annie? You know, girl talk," she said, sticking her hands in the sweater pocket.
"Course I don't, we got football to watch anyway." Even though he was a little flustered, he couldn't help looking down at Annie and saying, "Glad you could come to dinner. Maybe we'll run into each other again sometime." And then he went back into the house.
Daisy couldn't help staring. Annie was about her height with short, strawberry blonde hair and piercing green eyes. Sitting down next to her on the swing, Daisy handed Annie the package she had wrapped in some gift paper.
"What's this?"
"Just something a very special friend sent me and I thought you might like it. Go ahead, open it."
"Your friend won't mind?"
"No, he won't mind. You being a librarian and all, it was meant for you and I'm not a real Poe fan. My tastes run more to Charlotte Brontë."
Annie looked a little confused but took the paper off anyway.
"Considering your choices at the library," she said, "that doesn't surprise me."
"I think maybe you'll like the poem that starts on page forty three the best," Daisy said, squeezing Annie's hand. "Thanks for comin' for dinner, Annie. Hope we can see more of you in the future."
While Annie explored the book of poetry, Daisy got up from the swing, picked up the hobo bundle and set out toward the stream.
After Daisy was out of sight, Bo went back out on the porch and found Annie with her head bent over the open book and tears on her cheeks. She closed it when he sat next to her. "Annie, what's wrong? Did Daisy say somethin' to upset you?"
Annie smiled at him through happy tears. "No. Just the opposite."
Bo was both elated and terrified when she leaned in and put her head on his shoulder.
Nearly halfway around the world, Enos and Soonie were just waking up when Daisy reached the bank of the stream that ran behind the farm in Hazzard. It was less than a mile from the house, so the walk there, although brisk, gave her more time for mind wanderings.
One of the larger flat-topped stones offered a perch on which she could breathe in the crisp, clean air. She would only be able to enjoy this peace for a few more months before she would be living in North Atlanta, working on an environmental research project at Emory University.
Kneeling on the stone, she put her hand in the stream to feel the cold water flow through her fingers. The last time she'd been here, she'd told Uncle Jesse that her love for Enos when she was sixteen 'was the most real and true thing she'd had in her life before or since.' That was truer now than ever before, just not in the way either of them had imagined back then.
There are matches made in heaven, loves that last a lifetime, and the "I shall but love thee better after death" kinds of love. And then, there was the Enos and Daisy kind of love that defied definition.
Back on the bank, she drew a box of matches from the pocket of her sweater and laid the package on the ground next to some stones that had been previously used for a fire pit. After digging a little trench, she lined up some tiny tinder sticks over it, then added a layer of small kindling to that. She lit the match under the stack and, one by one, burned the missing letters.
The rest would be burned later, all four hundred and seventy six of them. She didn't need anything written on paper to remember. She would remember every word. But this one, the last one, the one rolled into a scroll with a diamond ring to bind it together, she couldn't give up. It was the key she had needed – the thing that told her she could let go and move on.
When she returned to the house, everyone had gone. Bo had driven Annie home because it was nearly dark, Cooter had gone on earlier to see his family, and Luke had gone back to the motel to stay with Sophie and her kids. Only Uncle Jesse was still at home, napping in the parlor.
Even though she had wanted to talk to him, she didn't want to disturb his rest. But he called to her as started up the stairs.
"Daisy, is that you?"
"Yes, Uncle Jesse." Daisy walked into the parlor and sat next to him on the sofa.
"You smell like smoke, baby girl. What have you been up to?"
"I was down at the stream and built a little fire to keep warm."
"Nights are startin' to git colder. Glad you had the sense to come back b'fore dark."
She put her arms around his neck and hugged him tight and they sat like that for a few minutes until Jesse finally asked, "You ever gonna tell me what's really goin' on?"
"Someday, Uncle Jesse," she said. "Right now, I just need you to trust me and not ask questions that I can't answer."
"Can't or won't?"
"Both. But there is something I can tell you. Something Enos wanted you to know that I didn't tell the others."
"What's that, sweet girl?"
"He found the place where Uncle Jamie might be buried and he's going to visit there as soon as he can."
Daisy left Uncle Jesse in the kitchen making a pot of coffee and went up to her room knowing he was thinking about his younger brother, James, who went to Korea in 1950 and never came home.
Opening the chifforobe, she shoved her underwear off the slats that comprised the bottom. Covering it with her unmentionables was how she used to keep the boys from getting too curious until they got older and she just had to start locking her door. Now, it was just a habit. She slid one of the slats across another to reveal her secret hiding place. Before depositing the letter and the ring into their makeshift time capsule, she un-scrolled the letter and read it again. With Dolly singing in her ear, she said one last goodbye to the past and whispered...
"I will always love you too, Enos. Always."
A/N: As some of you might have guessed, the Dolly Parton Goodbyes are the words written in his last letter, the only one he ever actually sent to Daisy. Dolly Parton's song, I Will always Love You was written in 1973 as a goodbye (professional breakup) to Porter Waggoner. She reprised it in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas in 1982, as well as being featured in several other movies. Then Whitney Houston recorded the song in 1992 for The Bodyguard. Dolly likes to tell the story of when she first heard Whitney's version: she was driving and was so overwhelmed (believe it or not, it was the first time she had heard Whitney sing it) that she almost wrecked her car.
Although Whitney Houston's version is very powerful and definitely a great tribute to Dolly's song, the version that most represents the mood of this story is the Dolly Parton/Vince Gill duet you can find on YouTube (not the live rendition but the one posted by Musicete). It is beautiful and well worth the listen.
From the very inception of the idea for Secrets, Bittersweet Memories, and Dolly Parton Goodbyes, the music and lyrics have been the inspiration for Part One. I wanted to give Enos and Daisy a way to say 'goodbye' and 'hello' at the same time. Hope I've done it justice.
END PART ONE
Introduction to PART TWO: Long, Long Journey
"There are some men in this world who are born to do our unpleasant jobs for us…"
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
