Chapter Ten
Bo sat in his room thinking about the coming years ahead.
Where would he be? What would he be doing? No one had the answers to these questions.
He was pulled out of his musings when a familiar white pickup truck turned in to the drive.
Quickly, Bo pulled away from the window just far enough so that the occupents of the truck couldn't see him, but he could see them.
The truck pulled to a stop and sat there motionless for a second before the doors to both the passanger side and driver's side opened.
Slowly, Uncle Jesse and Luke exited the truck and stood outside the house.
'Can't believe Uncle Jesse still remembered the address!' Bo thought as he wiped the silly grin off of his face.
Why was he grinning? And more importantly, why was he happy to see them?
After what he had been through, why should he even want to see them! But he did.
Bo watched Mrs. Archer usher them into the house and waited until he barely heard the front door close, before he exited his room.
Slowly, and with great care he crept to the foot of the stairs and looked down into the living room, just in time to see Luke flop down on the couch and gaze around the room.
"Ah Jesse, welcome to the Duke Manor, I trust you had a safe drive?" Sarah asked.
"Yes. I have come to see Bo." Jesse said, not bothering to take a seat.
"Mr. Duke is very busy, sir. Perhaps it will be best if you come back later." Sarah suggested.
Bo had to stifle a giggle.
'Mr. Duke is very busy? Ha!' He thought.
Tearing his gaze away from his uncle, Bo focused on Luke, who had a slightly scared and mournful look on his face.
"Who is that?" Sarah asked, motioning to Luke.
"He's my oldest nephew, Luke." Jesse replied, motioning for Luke to stand up.
Luke stood and shook Sarah's hand.
"And why are you here, young man?" Sarah asked.
"I..I'm here ta see my cousin ma'am. An' to apologize to em'." Luke stammered.
"Apologize?" Sarah asked.
"Yes ma'am. When Bo was livin' with Uncle Jesse and I, back at th' farm, I treated him badly. Mostly cuz' I was jealous, I guess, but I know what I did was wrong, an' now I want ta try and make it up ta him, trouble is, I'm almost 'fraid ta face him." Luke admitted.
Bo's mouth dropped open as Luke admitted this.
Luke Duke, afraid of his younger cousin? Bo thought he would never live to see the day when Luke Duke would admit this!
Standing up, Bo said, "Ya can't seriously believe that I'd buy that!"
Jesse and Luke both nearly jumped out of their skin as they whirled around to see Bo walking calmly down the stairs.
"Bo!" Luke said in amazement.
"Hey cuz', Uncle Jesse." Bo said as he walked into the room and stopped right in front of them.
"Bo..I..I..I..I.." Luke stammered.
"Lemme guess, cuz'. Yer sorry." Bo said.
Luke looked Bo in the eye and nodded his head.
"Yeah. I was so jealous of you, that I threw away them beginning's of a perfectly good friendship and drove ya to the point where ya felt ya had to run away."
Bo broke Luke's gaze as he looked away for a second, at a loss for words.
"I know that ya have no cause or right ta forgive me for what I said and did, but I hope that you'll find it in yer heart ta forgive me." Luke said softly.
Bo sighed, but said nothing as he turned to Jesse.
"Bo. You were right when ya said that I had failed you. I left ya high and dry without carin' fer ya or nothin'. I wasn't a father figure, heck I wasn't even a friend that ya could go ta talk too, and fer that I am deeply sorry. I hope that we could start over, try ta be a close knit family, but this all depends on what you want." Jesse said.
'I want that too, Uncle Jesse.' Bo thought as he looked from Jesse to Luke and back.
"You're right. I have now right ta forgive ya, but I'm a goin' to anyway's. Because that's what family's do, they forgive. An' I concider ya both ta be a part of my family." Bo said.
Luke knew that that was a close to an 'apology accepted' as he'd ever get.
A smile grew on his face and within two seconds, Luke had ingulfed Bo in a huge bear hug, to which Bo gratefully returned.
"I missed ya cuz'." Luke whispered into Bo's ear.
"Seriously?" Bo asked.
"Seriously. Life got kind'a dull without you 'round." Luke answered truthfully.
Bo chuckled, then stepped back to allow Jesse to hug him also.
When they parted, Luke as the question that everyone was wondering.
"Are ya gonna come back to the farm?"
Bo looked at his cousin for a second before he replied, "I don't know yet."
