Luke quickly decided that this wasn't something he wanted to discuss with Bo right now. "Umm, yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just…." he quickly looked around and spotted a cardboard box that contained some of his old belongings. "……going through some of my old baseball cards." He finished, grabbing a handful and holding them up for Bo to see.
"Oh." Bo replied. "Well are you going to help me move this mower out? The back wheel is jammed and it's not very light.
"Okay, just a sec." Luke replied as Bo went to tinker with the mower. He quickly turned back to his box as if he were closing it up and used the opportunity to slip the paper into his pants pocket. This was something he was definitely going to have to speak with Jesse about.
Soon Luke was down from the loft and had helped Bo to move the mower outside. Just as Jesse returned in his pickup truck, the telephone rang. Bo ran inside to answer it as Jesse turned the motor off.
"Uncle Jesse." Luke said, rushing up to his elder. "I have to talk to you."
"About what?" Jesse replied solemnly.
"Well….." Luke began, half surprised that he had approached his Uncle so quickly. Now that he had his attention, Luke suddenly felt very uneasy about confronting Jesse on the matter. While it was true that Jesse didn't approve of one snooping around in other's affairs, he himself had broken his own rule about keeping secrets from the family.
It was then that Luke noticed how sad his Uncle looked. "What's the matter, Jesse?"
"That was Daisy on the phone." Bo announced as he came back outside, allowing the screen door to slam shut behind him. "She said that Susan had her baby this morning and she's going to stay with her a couple more days." Daisy was away from home in Capitol City visiting with her childhood friend.
"I hope you got Susan's number, Bo, 'cause were gonna need it to let Daisy know where home is."
"What?" Bo asked.
"Jesse, you're not making sense. What happened with Boss today?" Luke coaxed.
Jesse relayed the conversation with Boss to his nephews, omitting only a few details. "So it looks like we're going to be looking for a new place to live."
"That's just crazy." Bo replied. "Uncle Jesse you just found out about Big Daddy, and I know that has to be a shock. You'll come around in a few days and beat Boss at his game."
The boys knew that Jesse had always been very fond of Big Daddy and to have been excluded from his memorial service and funeral was hurtful for him.
"No, boys, there's not going to be a fight. There's nothing we can do but pack up and move on."
"Jesse." Luke replied as his uncle trudged to the door, waving him away as if he were shooing a fly. "Bo, I want to talk to Jesse alone, do you mind?"
"Uh, no." Bo shook his head. "I'll start loading the back of Jesse's truck for the orphanage."
As Bo began loading the truck, Luke went into the house and found Jesse in his favorite armchair, his head in his hands.
"Uncle Jesse. We don't have to do this. We don't have to move." Luke began.
"Luke, I've been to talk to J.D. Big Daddy left a large inheritance behind and J.D. is 10 times as rich today as he was yesterday. We can't win the money battle this time."
"Yes we can." Luke sat down and faced his Uncle. "I know, Uncle Jesse, I know."
"You know what?" Jesse asked, looking up at his eldest nephew.
Luke sighed, still a bit nervous about revealing himself to Jesse. He then swallowed and pulled the paper from his pocket and handed it to his Uncle.
Jesse's eyes widened when he saw what Luke had given him. He didn't even have to unfold it to know what it was. "Did you tell anyone else about this?"
"No. I wanted to talk to Bo, but then I thought I should keep quiet until you could explain things to me."
"I think you should keep quiet forever. What good would result from Bo, or Daisy, or anyone else for that matter to know about this?"
"Well, Jesse, I don't have a real clear understanding of the entire situation, but I think I know enough to realize that the more people that know about this, the better the chance that we can keep our farm."
"That you are right about." Jesse sighed. "But when you put the whole thing in perspective, what would you rather loose? The farm? Or….." He trailed off, allowing Luke to finish the thought for himself.
"Part of me agrees with you, but the other part thinks that this should be common family knowledge so we can all decide together what to do."
Uncle Jesse laughed a defeated laugh. "All that stuff."
"What?"
"That loft is jam packed with old stuff, and what do you find but the one thing I tried to keep you away from."
About that time Bo came in from outside. "I finished loading everything outside onto the back of the truck. Did you find anything in the pantry that you wanted to send?"
"No, Bo. I didn't have time to look. But that will be fine. You go ahead and take what you have over there."
Bo sensed an uneasy silence. "Is everything okay?"
Jesse looked at Luke, then at Bo. "Come over here, son. We need to talk."