CHAPTER 10
"When do you think it started?" Bo passed the washed dish to Luke.
"Started… what?" Luke took the dish from Bo's hands, wiping it.
"When did you think Daisy start to love Enos? Or… when did she realize her feelings for him?" Bo washed another dish, passing it to Luke.
"I don't know," Luke shrugged, "you should ask it to Daisy," he wiped the dish and he put it in the cupboard.
Bo closed the water-tap of the sink and wiped his hands with a dishcloth, "I was just wondering… see, Daisy has dated Enos several times since she was a teenager, but she usually dated Enos when she wasn't dating someone else. I'm sorry to say it, but it was like if she used poor Enos when she was bored, using him in her pauses between her several crushes. Now, the last man she dated beside Enos was Darcy… two years ago, and two years are a long pause between Daisy's crushes. After Darcy she has dated nobody else but Enos; at the beginning I thought she was simply waiting for a new beau, but… now… I was wondering if it started two years ago, and how. Why didn't we notice it?"
"I don't know, Bo. Women are difficult to understand, Daisy is a woman, and we aren't able to read what's in her mind, despite she's our cousin. She's a woman. Do you understand women?" Luke smiled and shook his head.
Bo laughed, "You're right. But… I'm simply curious. And I'm happy for ol' Enos, 'cause he's had a great patience with Daisy."
Sitting at the table, uncle Jesse had a brief and amused laugh.
FLASHBACK
Daisy looked at Bo and Luke fighting with the Beaudrys.
Punch after punch, she looked terrified at her cousins falling down; she put her right hand on her eyes, unable to see their defeat.
Her attempt to show her independency was turning into the most absurd thing she has ever faced: she didn't want to marry Milo Beaudry, she just wanted to go back to her family.
Why did she decide to leave the farm and go living on her own? Just 'cause Bo and Luke acted as sort of jealous lovers when she was dating Darcy: she couldn't stand they spied her when she stayed with a man. She wasn't a stupid teenager.
She wasn't a stupid teenager, but she was a stupid woman, and now she was in danger and, as usual, her family had to rescue her.
Her family was there, now: Bo and Luke were finally managing to defeat the Beaudrys and uncle Jesse too joined the fight.
Family had to fight for each other.
She was with her family, now, finally free.
Smiling, she hugged her men (Bo, Luke and uncle Jesse), and she looked around her, enjoying the terse blue sky and the landscape.
But something was annoying her: where was Darcy? Her prince wasn't there to save his princess.
Walking along the road down the hill, her arms around Bo and Luke's waist, she was swallowing her hurt pride when she noticed Enos' patrol car sparkling in the sunlight: he was there to arrest the Beaudrys, and Daisy wondered if he took part in her rescue.
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Her hands tied behind her back, Daisy stared terrified at Enos walking in the glade, his hands up, as Scanlon pointed his gun to him.
"Do you want me, Scanlon? I am here!"
Her heart beating furiously in her chest, Daisy was waiting for the shot.
When her family and Cooter showed up, wearing Enos' same uniform, Daisy realized their plan: there was still hope.
She took advantage of Scanlon's confusion and she disarmed him, then she watched Enos running after him and stopping him: she was so proud of Enos.
That evening, Bo and Luke told her that Enos wasn't aware of their plan. In that moment, she realized Enos was going to sacrifice himself in order to save her: nobody, beside her family, has ever done something like that.
The prince was going to save her princess.
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"I know a deputy who'd do everything for Daisy," Bo grabbed the C.B. receiver.
A soft blushing coloured Daisy's cheeks when she heard Enos's voice, she smiled and she looked down at the grass.
Few after Enos was by her side, talking to Bo, Luke, uncle Jesse and Cooter about the best way to protect her: his surprising decision to bring her to his apartment at the Hazzard's Boarding House, where "Nervous" Norman Willis (the man who was after Daisy) couldn't find her, washed away Daisy's worrisome.
Walking to Enos' patrol car, Daisy smiled, overwhelmed by a strange joy: the idea of staying at the Boarding House with Enos was a new pleasure, to her, a new experience giving her a warm and relaxing feeling.
"A safe shelter": the way Enos called his apartment, and Daisy totally agreed with him, and not just because of "Nervous" Norman Willis.
That night, as many other times before, Daisy realized Enos was a perfect gentleman, the prince of that safe shelter, and she was the princess of his shelter.
A violent thunder exploded outside the window; the rain was turning into a storm.
"Enos…" her arms still wrapped around his waist, Daisy buried her face against his shoulder, "… you know… when you was having a shower I called the farm. I was thinking of uncle Jesse's words, now."
"What did uncle Jesse tell you?"
"He told me that the families of those cops are goin' to survive. God is goin' to help them, and they'll find the strength to move on. It's what a family should do: stay close during the storm, hugging each other against the wind," she avoided the part about grabbing her chance of happiness, "uncle Jesse knows what to say and how to say it, always. His words cheered me up, making me realize how lucky I am, having my family by my side. I was wondering about it… about the importance of a family when you face problems in life."
"You're right. Not just the importance of a family, but also of good friends. You Dukes are my best friends, the best friends I've ever had, and…" he paused, "… I'm happy you're here, now. If I had been here, alone, this storm outside, staring at the ceiling and thinking of Turk, I don't know how I'd have faced it," his voice gently trembled.
Daisy appreciated his words but at the same time she was disappointed: he was thinking of her as a friend. She parted from him and she sat up, looking down at him, "Enos, may I ask you… why do you think I've decided to come with you in L.A.?"
She held her breath.
Lying down, he slowly turned his head to her, looking at her with impenetrable eyes, his voice a whisper, "'Cause you were worried for me. You're a close friend, and you're always protective with your close friends. You're really sensitive and kind, Daisy. Thanks."
"So, you think I'd have done the same thing for Cooter… or Rosco… or Cletus… or any other person close to my family," she turned to the window, avoiding those eyes, "you think I'd have asked Cooter… or Rosco… or Cletus… to marry me if it had been the only chance to save them from goin' to jail," she felt a sudden heat rising from her feet to her face, "you think I've ever kissed Cooter… or Rosco… or Cletus… the same way I kissed you, for example when you left Hazzard, or when I was a deputy, or… at the lake when I asked you to marry me. Don't you?"
A new thunder exploded and the window trembled while images of their kisses flowed in Daisy's mind (and in Enos' mind too).
FLASHBACK
In her uniform, Daisy walked to Enos, she knelt down, she rested her hands on his shoulders, she gently kissed his lips and she finally caressed his hair.
He didn't answer her kiss, but she was happy: it was the first time Enos told her he cared for her. A serious and honest confession instead of his usual blushing and smiling showing her a childish affection and admiration more than this deep feelings.
Her kiss was her reward for his kindness and courage, a friendly kiss.
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She looked at him walking away from her.
She couldn't let him go that way: he was leaving Hazzard and she was losing him, forever.
She called him, stopping him.
In her white dress, she came closer him, she rested her hands on his shoulders and she kissed his lips.
He didn't answer her kiss and he looked at her with surprise and confusion, and maybe with pain too (the pain to leave her after her kiss).
"Bye Daisy," he parted from her and he walked away.
Pain on his face, and pain on her one: waving him goodbye, she held her tears back.
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The boat gently rolled on the lake's surface.
"Enos, do you love me?" she stared into his eyes, waiting for his answer.
"More than anything in all the world, Daisy," his eyes open wide in surprise for her question, Enos held his breath.
"And why didn't you ask me to marry you?" relaxing, she smiled and her eyes sparkled.
"I guess…. I guess I just haven't got the courage."
"Well, so I have to ask you then, 'cause if I wait you to ask me I'm gonna be the oldest bride in the town," she kept on smiling.
"I can't ask you to marry me with the chance to go to jail, it won' be fair!"
Feeling the pain in his voice, she turned serious, "It won't be fair if you didn't. Now, Enos, when people plan to get married, they think they're gonna share the good and the bad…. It's what marriage is all 'bout, sharing. OK, I figure that if we start with the bad things, the good ones will come later".
"Daisy Duke," his confusion and pain turned into a sweet and surprised smile.
Their lips came closer and closer until they kissed, a soft but firm kiss; she wrapped her arms around his neck and he grabbed her arms as the boat rolled on the water.
"I… I don't know, Daisy. I don't know what to think"
She turned to him, exasperated, "Enos! How can I show you I love you?"
"Well… you're telling it now, I suppose…" He was staring at her, the same surprise and confusion on his face as the day she asked him if he loved her, at the lake, "you're telling it, aren't you?" his confusion and surprise turned into a shy smile.
She said it. And it was simple, simpler than she thought of.
"Yeah… I'm saying it."
A new thunder was followed by darkness, inside and outside the room.
"A black-out," her voice pierced the darkness.
"Are you scared, Daisy?"
"I'm not scared if you are by my side, Enos."
The storm kept on raging outside the window while Daisy hugged Enos, pressing her lips on Enos' ones. And he answered her kiss.
A collection of flashbacks, here, from: "Daisy's shotgun wedding", "Enos' last chance", "Close call for Daisy", "Officer Daisy Duke", "Enos Strate to the top" and "Enos and Daisy's wedding"... Daisy's perspective. Hope you didn't find them too much boring. If you want to 'visualize' a collection of Enos/Daisy moments, look at my music videos (especially "Inner smile"), there's a link in my profile page. :-)