CHAPTER 15
Daisy slowly opened her eyes: in her bedroom a warm and red light, sunset's light.
Her heart skipped a beat when she turned to the clock on the night-table, and a sudden heat rose from her feet to her face when she heard soft noises coming from the kitchen mixed with a good scent: uncle Jesse, Bo and Luke were back from town and they were cooking dinner, and for sure they already knew where SHE was and what she was doing.
"Enos…" she whispered his name but she got just a brief moan as answer.
His head was still on her chest and her right hand was still resting on his nape; the blankets covered him up to his head, her only comfort: if her family saw that scene (and they saw it for sure, Daisy knew it), at least those blankets spared her (and her family) the embarrass of her and Enos' nudity.
"Oh no!" she covered her face with her left hand, she regained her self-control and she gently moved, getting up without waking Enos up: inch after inch she slowly extricated herself from their hug and from his weight on her while he just had another moan and rolled on his back.
She grabbed her clothes and she dressed up, remembering that both Enos' uniform and clothes she took for him from her cousins' bedroom were on the living room's floor.
"Oh no!" another sudden rush of heat from her feet to her face when she thought of what Bo, Luke and uncle Jesse wondered when they saw those clothes on the floor after their coming back to the farm. And after that rush of heat, hundreds icy ants walked along her spine when she noticed Enos' uniform, perfectly folded and dried, resting on the bed: if she had just a little hope uncle Jesse, Bo and Luke didn't see her and Enos in bed (improbable hope but hope), that uniform was like cold water killing it.
Daisy looked at Enos, ready to shake him frantically and to shout him to wake up; she was going to have hysterics but Enos' peaceful and deep sleeping calmed her down: uncle Jesse, Bo and Luke watched her and Enos sleeping, she couldn't turn back time and it was pointless to have hysterics now.
She sat on the bed and she stared at Enos: his sleeping recalled her his words about his nightmares and about his bad day, so she simply decided it was better to let him sleep and to face her family all by herself.
She sighed and she stood up, walking to the door.
Closing the door behind her, she had another deep sigh and reached the kitchen.
"Hi Daisy, how's your flu?" uncle Jesse glanced at her as he kept on stirring the soup, in his voice a tone Daisy wasn't able to read: disappointment? Rage? Discomfort?
She glanced at Bo and Luke setting the table and she realized they were avoiding her eyes.
"I feel better, thanks," her throat was dry and her voice hoarse.
"Is Enos still sleeping?"
Daisy couldn't read into uncle Jesse's tone, and it drove her crazy: she would have preferred his open reproach, or a good spank as when she was a child.
"Yeah," she folded her arms around her chest, in defense and discomfort, and she looked down at the floor; she felt like a scolded child, but she wasn't a child anymore, so she looked at uncle Jesse and her cousins, her eyes lingering on any of them, "Ok, now… I know what you're thinking 'bout. I don't want to…," she took a deep breath and she thought of the most proper word to say, "… dishonor… this house, and I don't want to disappoint you with my behavior. It's the first time a man sleeps in my bed, I swear, and, anyway, it isn't…," she felt her cheeks burning, unable to keep on talking: it wasn't sex but love, this is what she wanted to say, but it was too much embarrassing.
"Well, bein' totally honest," Bo glanced at her and smiled, sweet and amused smile, "it isn't the first time a man sleeps in your bed. You should remember Boss."
Luke laughed and Daisy blushed, in her mind the time she found Boss Hogg in her bed.
"I know what I'm talking 'bout, Bo," she stared at Bo and then she glanced at Luke, "stop laughing, Luke."
Uncle Jesse softly coughed and Daisy looked at him, noticing his amused smile despite his attempt to hide it.
"Daisy, you love Enos, don't you?" uncle Jesse turned serious and he stared at her.
Daisy nodded, "Of course, uncle Jesse."
"And you and Enos are planning to get married, aren't you?"
Another nod, "Yeah, uncle Jesse."
"OK," uncle Jesse nodded and turned to the stove, "You aren't a child anymore, Daisy, though I still see you as a tomboy with long pigtails. You are a woman and Enos is a man, and you're goin' to get married," he turned again to her, his right forefinger pointing at her, "BUT…" he shook his head and he turned again to the stove, "… help me with the dinner, now."
Bo and Luke sniggered and Daisy understood: uncle Jesse wasn't angry but simply embarrassed of that talk and of that plain show she wasn't a child anymore, whereas Bo and Luke seemed just amused; she guessed they were amused 'cause the man in her bed was Enos instead of someone else (in the latter case, they probably wouldn't have been so amused), and she wondered how Bo and Luke were going to tease Enos of not being the oldest virgin of Hazzard anymore, since they weren't famous for their chastity.
She sighed in relief and she walked closer uncle Jesse, hugging him and resting her head on his shoulder, "Thanks, uncle Jesse."
Looking at the sunset outside the window she felt a new and complete happiness, and the idea of Enos sleeping in her bed while she was cooking dinner with her family was now soothing.
"Why was Enos' uniform drenched?"
A simple question from uncle Jesse, no anger nor reproach but just simple curiosity, and Daisy sighed, "Rain. Oh uncle Jesse, I think Enos is really suffering for what happened to Turk." She openly talked of how Enos came at the farm and of what he told her: his bad day, his panic attack and his nightmares.
Uncle Jesse silently listened to her and nodded, "I'm not surprised about it. It happened only a week ago and Enos needs time to get over it. He knows it, and it's why you have decided to wait before to get married: he isn't in the mood for a wedding, now, and he knows he has to move past this thing before to grant himself the happiness he deserves without any sense of guilty."
"You're right," Daisy nodded and smiled, "you're always right, uncle Jesse."
Uncle Jesse patted gently her shoulder, smiling, "I know I'm always right. OK, the dinner is nearly ready. Do you prefer to wake Enos up or to let him sleep? I suppose he didn't sleep very much along this week both because of his extra shifts and because of his nightmares."
Daisy pondered on uncle Jesse's words, "He's sleeping really deeply, so I think it's better to let him sleep. When he'll wake up, I'll cook something for him."
Uncle Jesse took a bowl and filled it with soup, "When he'll wake up, heat it up for him."
"OK, thanks," she smiled and she hugged him.
Entering her bedroom after dinner, Daisy looked at Enos and smiled: he was still sleeping, cuddled up under the blankets as a child.
"Are you really tired, sugar?" she whispered and she moved inside her room without turning the light on, just the moonlight guiding her in the darkness. She dressed her nightdress and she slipped into her bed.
"Daisy…. Daisy!"
His nervous voice and his gently shaking her woke her up.
She rubbed her eyes, "What's up, Enos?"
"What's up? DING DANG, Dais! It's night, 11 p.m., and I'm sleeping in your bed, at your farm! I'm naked! Bo, Luke and uncle Jesse are now sleeping in their rooms, but they probably saw us... this way… when they came back from town! And are you askin' me what's up?" despite his nervous tone he kept his voice low, not more than a whisper, hysterical whisper.
Daisy smiled amused, "Don't worry, sugar," she sat up and stirred, "Yeah, uncle Jesse, Bo and Luke came back from town while we were sleeping, and they saw us. OK. But they aren't angry. We had dinner without you 'cause you were sleeping so peacefully we decided to let you sleep 'til you needed it."
Silence except the soft rustling of blankets when he got up and dressed his underpants and uniform's trousers.
"See, uncle Jesse dried and ironed your uniform while we were sleeping. It means he isn't angry at you."
"What a comfort. Having uncle Jesse entering your room while I was sleeping naked on you and gently resting my dried uniform on the bed. Really a comfort!"
Daisy laughed at his sarcastic and embarrassed tone, "OK, I understand you're embarrassed, and I too was embarrassed and nervous when I woke up and I realized uncle Jesse, Bo and Luke were in the kitchen cooking dinner. But… they aren't angry, just a bit surprised, and embarrassed, but also amused. Trust me. I've already talked to them."
He sat on the bed and he scratched his nape, "You should've woken me up in order to face them with you."
"Enos, since we came back from L.A., did you ever sleep a whole night without nightmares?" Daisy turned serious, "You were sleeping so deeply I decided to let you sleep. Now, you are finally awake. Do you want to eat something? There's soup waitin' for you."
Enos sighed and nodded, "OK. I haven't eaten anything since this morning, and I risk to faint because of starvation… or maybe… it's fear what I feel in my stomach now."
"OK, come on," Daisy laughed, she got up and walked to the kitchen.
"Here's your soup," she took the bowl with the soup, she poured the soup in a small pot and she heated it up, "and in the fridge there are some sandwiches and your buttermilk."
While she stirred the soup she heard him moving in the kitchen, opening the fridge and resting the dish with sandwiches and the buttermilk's bottle on the table. Then he came closer her and took a glass from the cupboard, he walked back to the table and sat down, filling the glass with buttermilk.
In that intimate and relaxing atmosphere, Daisy imagined Enos and her in their future farm, her cooking dinner after his coming back from work late in the evening (as sometimes happened).
Few after, her elbow on the table and her chin on her hand's palm, she observed him eating.
"Do you like soup, Enos?" uncle Jesse's voice woke her up from her fancy. She read both amusement and sweetness in his voice; she looked at him entering the kitchen, taking a glass from the cupboard and drinking some water; then she looked at Enos who was turning pale and stiffening.
"Sir," Enos stood up and stared at uncle Jesse, "I respect this house and Daisy, so, if I offended or disappointed you, please, tell it and I'm goin' to face your anger and punishment."
Uncle Jesse raised his eyebrows, "Enos, I know you respect this house and Daisy, don't worry. I also respect you and I'm not planning to… punish you?!" in his voice surprise and, again, amusement, "BUT…" he pointed his right forefinger at him the same way he did with Daisy, the way he usually did when he reproached his nephews and niece for something, "… BUT…" he shook his head and sighed, "sit down and eat your dinner, now."
Enos blushed and folded his arms around his bare chest then he sat down, "Thanks sir."
Looking at uncle Jesse leaving the kitchen she smiled amused and glanced at Enos: his blushing was turning into a shy smile as he glanced at her.
When Bo and Luke entered the living room, in the morning, they saw Enos sleeping on the couch, while uncle Jesse was already in the kitchen and he was cooking breakfast.
They looked at each other and they burst out laughing, imagining Enos waking up in Daisy's bed during the night, his getting nervous and probably clumsy as usual, and then deciding to sleep on the couch, his sign of respect for uncle Jesse and for their family.
Old, sweet and clumsy Enos: their cousin in law.