Chapter 27: I told Ya So
Over dinner, Jebb's younger sisters tried to compete with Kelly Anne for their oldest cousin's attention. They rarely got to see any of the other Dukes since they rarely left Placid and seldom had visitors. In fact, they hadn't seen Luke since Thanksgiving. He did his best to placate his youngest cousins as they told him of their latest dance recital and of how Emma had taken a wrong step and caused the rest of the girls around her to trip. (Emily was the one telling on her twin while Emma sat there sulking.) Emily then asked if Luke would go to their next recital the following weekend, looking at their oldest cousin expectantly.
"I'm sorry girls, I got to leave to head back to Hazzard first thing in the mornin'. Otherwise, I'll be breakin' my probation."
"No, you don't, Luke," Pauline chimed into the conversation. "You see, I called your probation officer."
Luke's face fell, "You didn't? Why?"
"I explained that what with Jebb's leg, we could use a little extra help around the farm here." She looked over at her husband John. He had walked in on her calling Jesse asking if Luke could stay a while not more than five minutes before the boys drove up. He hadn't known that Pauline had already called J.D. already though. "I was able to get Boss Hogg to give you a two-week pass. Just until my brother's boys get back from their trip to Tennessee."
"But Aunt Pauline, I have to have that in writing if I don't want to get in trouble with the state."
"Look at your paperwork, honey. I called right after your Uncle Jesse called out here yesterday."
Luke pulled out his wallet where the paper giving him permission to leave Hazzard was at. Sure enough, Hogg had given him a two week pass Due to a family emergency. Luke looked up and saw a look in Jebb's eyes that was a cross between sympathy and an I told you so look. It looked like he should have heeded his cousin's warning. In fact, Pauline was there talking to Kelly Anne and the two of them were making plans for him and her during the week. One of those plans included having Luke take Kelly Anne out on a picnic. And neither woman so much had asked Luke's opinion on the idea.
"Not so fast, Pauline. I seem to recall you tellin' Jesse that we had chores that need to be taken care of." Luke looked over at his Uncle John as he spoke. "It's chores that you said needed to be done, and it's chores that are goin' to get done. Luke, make sure you get to sleep early tonight. The two of us have got some fences to mend tomorrow."
"Yes sir."
Luke saw a look exchange between his aunt and uncle. It was obvious that Pauline wasn't happy that her husband was overriding her plans to throw Luke and Kelly Anne together. But she wasn't about to say anything about it. Not just yet. His Uncle John was the only person that he'd ever seen to actually make Pauline back off. Luke couldn't remember the last time he had been happy to have fences around that needed mending.
Glancing over at Jebb, he saw him smirk slightly while trying to keep his mother from seeing it. Luke reckoned he might need to find out just what sort of plans to expect Jebb's mother to have in store for him. Especially since it looked like Luke wouldn't be leaving for home the next morning.
"So, you'll be out of here right after breakfast, huh, Cuz?"
"How was I supposed to know your mom had already talked to Boss?"
"I tried to warn ya. And it looks like Kelly Anne is just as empty-headed as her sister. I swear, the only thing their momma must have ever taught them was to just smile and nod anytime someone looks their way. I ain't never known neither of them to express an opinion on anything yet."
"Yeh, they make the bimbos that Bo dates seem like geniuses."
"Seems to me, ya'll both do your fishin' in the same pond, Cuz." Jebb couldn't help but rib him a bit. "I'd better warn ya of one thing, though. Them girls may be dumb, but they were raised Prim and Proper. If you so much as try to get to second base with Kelly Anne, you'll find yourself engaged."
"You're kiddin'?"
"Nope, and seein' how their daddy's the minister in town, you just might find yourself livin' through a SHORT engagement."
"How'd you manage to avoid the stroll down the aisle so far then?"
"It ain't been easy. What with Mom throwin' Mary Ellen my way every chance she gets. Tryin' to be gentleman keeps me from gettin' hitched but also makes her think that I'm interested. I was kind of plannin' on stayin' out of Placid as much as I could with the hopes that she'd move on to someone who wouldn't mind gettin' stuck with someone with a turnip for a brain. So much for that plan."
Luke actually started to feel guilty for being upset about a two week stay here while this was Jebb's life whenever he wasn't on the racetrack. And he'd been ducking Mary Ellen since before Christmas. Luke supposed he ought to be Duke enough to handle the same thing for two weeks.
At least one good thing could come of this. He'd get to spend some time with his Uncle John. Next to Jesse (which was far more of a father to him than an uncle) John was his favorite of his uncles. John was the youngest of Jesse's remaining siblings. He was just a year older than his own father would have been if he was still alive, though nearly thirteen years younger than Jesse. Despite the hard work waiting on him the next morning, he was looking forward to spending the day with John.
"I'm sorry things worked out that way for ya." Luke turned down the covers on the spare bed that was in Jebb's room then an idea struck him, so he turned around back towards his cousin. "You know, if I didn't know better, I'd swear Kira had something to do with Pauline contacting Boss."
"Nah, not her style. Gettin' ya back by just sendin' my mother after you with that being the same thing you two did. That's too predictable. You've already experienced her kind of revenge. Besides, it wasn't her idea to run me off the road."
"I reckon you're right. I guess that this is the kind of thing that I was expectin' though. I'll just bet Kira will love it when she hears about Pauline and Kelly Anne."
"That she would. At least my pop will be doing some interference, even if it does mean a lot of back breakin' work for ya. Speakin' of which, you'd better get some sleep. Pop will probably have ya'll workin' all over Placid to keep ya busy. Night, Cuz."
"G'Night."
The next morning, Luke and his Uncle John were in the back forty of the farm. They'd come out right after breakfast and got to replacing some of the old fencing that looked a little worse for wear. Ordinarily, John wouldn't have bothered replacing the fence just yet, but it had been the best excuse he could think of the night before once learning of his wife's plans to meddle in his oldest nephew's love life. Luke, like any Duke boy, will settle down when he's good and ready. Stunts like Pauline's will only serve to keep the rabbit running.
It was bad enough that she'd been pulling that sort of thing with Jebb. At least he'd been doing alright walking that tight rope that he'd been forced to walk out on. Luke though, wasn't used to that sort of thing. Oh sure, his nephews were good with the ladies, but the girls that they dated in Hazzard were ready for the same kind of fun that the boys were out looking for. And they weren't from Placid.
Over the course of the morning, the two Dukes spent the time, while working, talking about nearly every subject imagined. Of course, J.D. Hogg was mentioned as well as some of the schemes that he had invented over the years to try to connive the Duke farm away from his eldest brother. John knew that Hogg had come close a couple of times, too.
He wondered if his nephews had ever considered what they would do if they had ever actually lost the farm. He was pretty sure that Bo would return to the NASCAR circuit. Everyone in the family knew that he belonged there. Luke though. He was a tough nut to crack. He doubted that Luke's dream really was to follow after his baby cousin (practically his baby brother) all over the country watching him make left-hand turns. Sometime before it was time to stop for lunch, John was able to work the conversation toward such things.
"You mean to stand there and tell me that there ain't nothin' that you'd ever dreamed of doin'?"
John wiped the sweat from his brow and looked at his nephew. He knew that Luke opened up to very few people. Fortunately for him, he happened to be one of them. He could remember when Luke was a teenager, some of the things that he would confess to. John never broke his confidence by going to his brother but had found ways to push Luke's conscience to eat at him on those times that he felt that Jesse should know of whatever deed Luke had revealed in his confidence to his youngest uncle.
"Are you kiddin'? The two times that I left Hazzard, both for my tour in the Marines and when I went on the circuit with Bo, I got so homesick I couldn't stand it."
John nodded his understanding at that. "I know what ya mean. I ain't lived in Hazzard in nearly thirty years and still get homesick from time to time."
Luke gave his uncle a funny look. He'd never really thought of his uncle still missing Hazzard. After all, he had a wife, family and a farm of his own. Yet he still considered the Duke Farm in Hazzard home.
"Don't give me that look. You ain't the only one that grew up in that old farmhouse you know." John grinned at his nephew as he reached for another fence post. "The point is I couldn't let that feeling of being homesick keep me from livin' my life. And I know that the farm will still be there when I need to see it."
"You sound like you're trying to convince me to leave the farm tomorrow or somethin'."
"Nah. I know you and Bo will be there for Jesse just as long as he needs ya. I just think that ya owe it to yourself to at least be honest with yourself. Even if you never follow your dream, you should at least allow yourself to have one."
Luke thought about what his uncle was saying. Yes, there was one thing that he'd always thought about doing. He looked at his Uncle John.
Dang it. This is the same sort of thing he'd do when he was a youngen and had a secret. Funny how his Uncle John could loosen his tongue when no one else could.
At least he knew that his secret would always be safe with him. Just like all of his others had always been. Oh, he hadn't liked keeping it from Jesse when he first told him of his decision to join the Marines. But he had let Luke be the one to break it to the rest of the family
"I suppose there is one thing, but it ain't like I could go right out and do it tomorrow anyway."
John just cocked his head, waiting for Luke to continue. When he didn't, he frowned a bit. "You ain't plannin' another stint in the Marines, are ya boy?"
"Are you kiddin'. If I had that planned, Bo would kill me."
"And my brother would likely bury the evidence once Bo was done." John inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, what is it then?"
Luke tried to stay silent, but he never could hide anything from his Uncle John. "You ever heard of Smoke Jumpers?"
John paused as he wracked his brain for the term. "Them fools that jump out of airplanes with parachutes to land in the middle of wildfires out west?"
Luke smirked at the description. Yeh, he'd be a fool to want to do that he supposed.
"They are all highly experienced firefighters, Uncle John. But yes, they jump out of planes sometimes. I really got a kick out of parachutin' in the Marines. Got a real rush out of it. I guess I figured that it'd be a way to get that same rush and help folks at the same time. But you're right, I could never take off and leave as long as Jesse needs me. It wouldn't be right."
Before he could say anything else to Luke, John saw Kelly Anne coming out with their lunch. It looked like his wife was still trying to find a way to push Luke with that girl. He reckoned he'd have to take care of that latter. As well as pick this conversation back up.