Final Disclaimer: I own nothing from the Dukes of Hazzard except for the story line and Jezebel Rinehart.
Luke sat at the Boars Nest's bar and stared at his beer. He sat there transfixed on that beer. He would occasionally swirl it around, watch the foam bubble up and then unwilling die back down. An on viewer would have thought him emotionless if he didn't occasionally glance over his should to where Bo and Alice were having their date and open jealousy would dance in his troubled blue eyes.
It had been a month since Jezebel left Hazzard, and there was neither word nor sight of her again. Life had gone back to normal for almost everyone. Boss was still scheming. Rosco was still not getting his fifty percent of fifty percent. Bo was still carefree as ever and happier now that he was dating Alice. Everyone had everything go back to normal, except for Luke.
He tried to convince himself he was only consumed by his anger and loathing for Jezebel, instead of his growing curiosity about her and her conduct. His curiosity consisted of such questions as, why did she dress up as Red? Why did she have to break a window? How come she let herself gets shot? And, the most frequent questions that bounced around his mind, why did she kiss him? Did she feel anything when she did? And why, oh why did he feel something when she kissed him?
Luke went back to staring at his beer when Cooter walked in. Cooter spotted Luke and sat down next to him, and asked, "How's it going?"
Luke shrugged and didn't look up from his beer. Cooter, trying to get Luke to say something coherent, kept talking. "That looks a little flat; want me to get you another one?"
Luke shook his head and swirled the beer again.
"Okay," Cooter said defeated and looked around for Daisy. He saw her on the other side of the room and quickly strode over to her.
"Hey Cooter, what can I get for ya?" Daisy greeted.
"I'm fine, but I see Luke hasn't change," Cooter told her.
Daisy shook her head sadly and said, "He's been like that everyday since, well, you know. Nothing any of us say seems to help him. Uncle Jesse says you just got to let a bleeding heart mend itself, but I'm afraid it won't do any good if he stays all by himself like that."
Cooter nodded his head in agreement. "What Luke really needs is to go out on date with-"
He stopped short. His eyes were on the front door and the girl who just walked in. Dressed in plain, white dress, her strawberry blonde hair flowing freely over her shoulder, a newspaper in her hand and her green eyes scanned desperately across the room, she was the last person Cooter, Daisy, or Bo ever wanted to see. Jezebel Rinehart had returned.
"Oh no," Cooter muttered and Daisy followed his gaze.
Daisy sprung into action. She quickly strode over to Jezebel and said quietly, so Luke wouldn't over hear, "You need to leave, now."
Jezebel stood her ground and said, "I'd really like to speak to Luke."
"Well he doesn't want to speak to you," Daisy told her angrily. Then she added more forcefully, "Now leave."
"I'd rather hear that from Luke," Jezebel told Daisy.
"Too bad, leave."
Cooter made his way over to Daisy, thus now it was two to one. He stood up as tall as he could go and said, "I suggest you leave now before we throw you out."
Luke was now watching Cooter and Daisy, wondering whom they were talking to. Then Daisy shifted to the left and Luke saw her. He didn't know to feel, so he didn't feel anything at all, for the moment.
Jezebel looked between the two of them, and did not feel discouraged. She came her for one reason, and she wouldn't let them stop her. She smiled at them and said, smugly, "If you're trying to intimidate me, you'll need a lot more then a waitress and a mechanic. So please let me talk to Luke."
Cooter huffed and threatened, "If you weren't a girl, I'd-"
"You'd what?" Jezebel responded. "Everyone has been saying if I weren't a girl they'd hurt me. Well, here's your chance. Pretend I'm not a girl and take a punch at me. If you have the guts to do it, I'll leave and won't bother you or Luke again."
She had been looking at Cooter while she said that, but she never once limited the deal to him. Daisy took a swing at her.
Jezebel stumbled slightly from the shock, but mostly from the pain. Daisy had hit her right at her jaw. Jezebel moved her jaw around, and said sadly, "Okay, a deal's a deal. I'm going."
As she turned around to leave, Luke came up to them and asked, "Doesn't any care what Luke wants?"
Before any of them could say something, Luke took Jezebel's free hand and led her over to his seat at the bar. He looked down at his hand and let his hand holder hers for another second. Then he let go of it. He sat down and signaled for her to do the same.
Jezebel sat down quickly, but before she could saw anything Luke asked, "What brings you to Hazzard again, Scarlett?"
Jezebel cringed. So he hadn't felt that spark of passion that she felt when she kissed. Her heart sank when she realized this and said sheepishly, "I came back to finish what I started."
"Which is what? Besides framing innocent people." He had missed her, but now that Luke saw her again he couldn't help keeping his temper under control.
Jezebel handed him the newspaper and said, "Getting my story."
Luke gave her a curious look and unfolded the newspaper. It was the New York Times. "Ah, a Yankee's paper. We don't get many of those down here in Hazzard."
"I figured that. Try page six."
Luke silently unfolded the paper and turned to page six. There was an article called, "Southern Hospitality," by Jezebel Rinehart. He went on to read about how the hospitality was becoming a thing of the past, and how today there was no loyalty. Of course, there were always exceptions and the little towns down south were the exceptions.
Especially a little town in Georgia called Hazzard.
Luke stopped reading there and anger started brewing in the pits of his stomach. He threw the paper down angrily and said, "I can't believe you. Using Hazzard for your own personal profit. You no good Yankee."
Jezebel kept silent and wished Luke had finish reading, but wasn't going to tell him to do so. She looked down at the ground and fiddled with her thumbs.
"What, no come back?" Luke sneered. His temper was flaring and he didn't have control of it any more. "And you are normally so rhapsodic with insults."
Jezebel stared at him with confusion and Luke sneered, "Yes I know a big word, guess I'm not a biggest hick in the world."
"No, your cousin Bo is," Jezebel responded automatically.
"Go back to New York."
"See ya then," Jezebel said and walked out quickly so Luke wouldn't see her start to cry.
Luke stared after her. He wanted to go after her, but his legs wouldn't move. He gazed down at his beer as Bo came up on his left and Enos on his right.
"Was that just who I think it was?" Bo asked angrily.
"Yeah, that was Jezebel," Luke answered gloomily.
"Well, Boss better not catch her," Enos said as he order a glass of milk. "He's pretty upset about that article she wrote. He says he'll skin her alive if he sees her again."
"Why?" Luke asked. "That article is about hospitality in the south."
"No, it's about how most of the south is hospitality, but there's always crooks. Then she goes on to talk about Boss' schemes and just Boss in general. Of course, Boss denies it and the federal government is investigating him. He's in a worst mood then a cat without a couple church mice to play with," Enos told them.
Luke grabbed the newspaper and scan through her article. Enos was right. Jezebel had told every reader of the New York Times about Boss Hogg and his schemes. He dropped the newspaper and said, "I got to go," right before he ran about of the Boars Nest.
Luke slipped into the General's driver seat and sped off, talking to himself. "All right, Jezebel would probably be heading back to Atlanta. The quickest way to get there is to cut through Chickasaw county. The quickest way to get there is by Blackbird pond."
As Luke turned a corner, Rosco pulled out from behind a bush with his sirens blaring. "Oh Flash, we get dem now!" Rosco said to his dog. "I'm in hot pursuit. I love it, I love it."
"Shoot, no time to chuck and jive him. I'll just have lose him," Luke mumbled to himself, as he turned sharply.
The end of General Lee was swaying with a trail of dust following it, and much farther behind was Rosco. Luke was speeding like a mad man and there was no way Rosco could keep up. Luke sped up to a creek and jumped over it. He landed, a somewhat rough landing, and drove on. When Rosco attempted to jump it he landed his car, nose down, in the creek.
Luke slowed his speed down and tried reaching Jezebel on the CB. He didn't get an answer, and kept heading towards Chickasaw county. He slowed down at Blackbird pond and tried the CB again.
"Luke Duke calling Jezebel Rinehart, Luke Duke calling Jezebel Rinehart, come in Jezebel."
The answer Luke got wasn't on the CB; it was the sound of singing from the pond. Luke pulled his car over and walked over to the pond. The singing stopped and Luke saw Jezebel leaning against her car, wiping away some tears. She had changed. She was no longer wearing the white dress, instead some shorts and shirt tied at the stomach. She stood up quickly, upon seeing Luke and turned her back on him.
"Were you singing?" Luke asked, trying to remember the words she just sang.
"No."
Luke ignored her lie and asked, "Why didn't you tell me that your article exposed Boss Hogg?"
"It doesn't matter, it's he said, she said anyway. The police can't use it as serious evidence," Jezebel told him with a shrug, and wiped at her eyes.
"Were you just crying?" Luke asked trying to peer at her tear stained face.
"No. I don't cry over ignorant hicks."
"Oh, you haven't changed," Luke said. "You're still self-centered and egoistical."
"I'm egoistical? You're the one thinking you have all the girls heartbroken."
"You, you… God, you're so irritating!" Luke paused and asked with a smile, "Are you heartbroken?"
Jezebel turned from him angrily and walked towards the pond. She picked up a stone a skipped it. The stone skimmed across the water three times before falling into the dark depths of the pond. She watched the ripples slowly fade away and answered, "I didn't come back for you. I came back to show you I can drive cars and write an article, while you can only drive cars."
Luke walked up next to her and also skipped a rock. His rock went across the pond five times. "Yes, but I can also skip rocks," he said smugly.
Jezebel picked up another rock and skipped it. It sailed across the surface and connected with the water's surface eight times before sinking.
"I can skip rocks too, and I do it better."
Luke laughed angrily and yelled, "Why don't you just leave! You're not wanted here, and I don't care if you wrote an article exposing Boss. I want you to leave!"
"Fine," Jezebel yelled back. "I didn't even want to come back here. I just thought I owed it you people."
"Then leave," Luke snarled as he turned his back on her.
"Gladly."
"Wait," Luke said suddenly.
Jezebel obeyed. She hadn't moved from the spot. Luke came up to her and wrapped his arm around her waist. She didn't object. He took his other hand placed it on the back of her neck. He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her. The kiss started off softly, but intensified ever second their lips stayed together.
Once Luke pulled away, Jezebel stared at him in awe with a sweet smile. He looked at her silently till he couldn't take it anymore. He turned around and said, nastily, "Now you can leave."
Jezebel stopped smiling. She couldn't move for a moment, it hurt too badly. He kissed had kissed her only to spite her. That hurt more then anything she could imagine. She shut her eyes and bite her lip, trying not to cry. Once she felt she had her emotions under control, she tried to move.
Her legs wouldn't move. She tried lifting her right leg, but it would budge. She looked down and saw she was standing halfway up to her knees in mud. She felt the mud ooze in-between her toes and around her legs. Jezebel grimaced at the sensation and tried to pull her legs up. She pulled with all her might and ended up falling on her back.
Luke was on his way to the General when he heard Jezebel fall over. He turned around and saw her sprawled out on her back with her feet stuck in the mud. Luke started laughing and had to lean against the General to remain standing.
Jezebel ignored Luke's laughter and managed to pull her left leg out of the mud. She stood up shakily and tried brushing some off the mud. She jerked her leg violently and fell over again, only this time she fell into the water.
This made Luke laugh even harder. Yet, the laughter stopped abruptly when Jezebel didn't resurface. Luke rapidly kicked off his shoes, and striped off his shirt. He dove in the water and found Jezebel unconscious on the bottom of the pond. He grabbed her and lifted her up to the surface. Luke pulled her out of the water and laid her on the ground.
Jezebel had a cut near her hairline, Luke assumed she hit her head on some rocks and that's where the cut came from. He checked her vital signs and was relieved to find she had a pulse and was breathing.
Luke brushed some hair from Jezebel's face and said, "Come on Jezebel, wake up."
Luke stared at a weak looking Jezebel. She was passed out on his bed, her hair still damp from her little swim in the pound. The doctor told Luke that Jezebel would be fine and should wake up in a couple days, at the most. Still, Luke was scared out of his mind. He'd had been so nasty towards her, and now there's a chance she wouldn't wake up. He wanted to say he was sorry to her, just like she had wanted.
"You need to get some rest," Jesse told Luke as he came into Luke's room.
"I would, but my dream keep's coming back," Luke told him.
"Really," Jesse said casually, as though Luke had just said what they were having for dinner.
"Yeah, the one where I go to Blackbird pound and some little girl is singing in the moonlight," Luke explained. "And how over the years I've gotten older, but the little girl always remained the same."
"No kidding," Jesse responded nonchalantly.
"Yea, only now the little girl is all grown up. Want to know who the girl looks like?"
"I have a feeling you are going to tell me."
"She looks exactly like Jezebel, funny huh?"
"Not really, it was always Jezebel. That dream did happen when you were six, I just never told ya."
Luke shook his head and asked, "Uncle Jesse, what if she doesn't wake up?"
"She will Luke. She's a Rinehart, and they bounce back quickly," Jesse guaranteed him. He turned to leave and added, "Oh, just so you knows, Enos and Rosco are staking out our house. Apparently Boss doesn't like a Rinehart hanging out with us Dukes."
Luke laughed quietly, but stopped when he heard Jezebel groan and roll over. He walked over and placed his hand on her cold shoulder. Jezebel jumped at his warm hand and said, "Go away Enos."
Luke slowly removed his hand and asked, "Are you ok Jezebel?"
"I don't want to talk about it Enos," Jezebel mumbled.
"Why not?" Luke asked, doing his best Enos impression. He figured this would be the best way to figure out what was going on in Jezebel's head.
"I finally understand why you never told Daisy."
"Don't talk like that," Luke said.
"Oh why not? I thought I'd come back and take a chance with Luke, and he still hates me. Not that I can blame him though," Jezebel added remorsefully.
"No, he doesn't hate you," Luke told her.
"That's sweet of you to say, but he does hate me and I would hate me too if I were him."
"You don't know that."
"What's wrong with me Enos?" Jezebel asked, sounding as though she was about to cry. "I really like Luke, and I still screwed it up. I don't understand why I do that. I like someone, and then they get to know my and they end up hating me. Why do I bother to try and start something with them?"
"You really like Luke?" Luke asked amazed.
"Yeah, I'm stupid like that," Jezebel told him. She sounded somber and saddened. She sighed and added, "I really like him Enos. I mean really, really like him."
Luke was about to say something when the door in the kitchen opened and they heard Enos greet Daisy. Luke grimaced and Jezebel's eyes widened in shock. She had truly believed she was talking to Enos. She rolled on her side and faced Luke. She groaned when she saw it was him and covered herself in the covers.
Before Luke could say anything to explain himself, Daisy knocked on the door. She opened the door and popped her head in. "Hey, Enos wants to know how Jezebel is," she said.
"She's fine," Luke said curtly before shutting the door.
He turned back to Jezebel, who was trying to stand up without feeling lightheaded. "You should lie down."
Jezebel laughed bitterly and started walking towards the door. "Yeah, like I'm going to stay here after I made a fool of myself," she murmured.
As she reached for the door, Luke stopped her. "Get out of my way Luke."
"You really should be resting," Luke told her.
"Please get out of my way," Jezebel said quietly, as she tried to step around Luke.
Luke didn't say a word. He threw one of his arms around Jezebel's back, and then used other one to scoop up her legs. Jezebel cried out in fright and from the sudden motion, and quickly wrapped her arms around Luke's neck.
"Don't drop me," she whimpered as she pressed her body closer to his.
Luke's body was warm, which felt so good compared to Jezebel's cool skin. She nuzzled her head against Luke's neck and closed her eyes. She inhaled softly and found Luke smelt like firewood. It was tough to explain, but Luke's aroma smelt like firewood crackling under the flames of fire.
Jezebel smiled as she looked up at Luke. "Thank you," she whispered to him as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"It was nothing," Luke said.
"You could have just left me, but you didn't and no one would have blamed you if you had. Thank you."
Luke didn't say anything. He just stood there with this helpless girl in his arms. This was the same girl who betrayed him, and who just admitted to liking him. The same girl that has never left his mind since she arrived in Hazzard. He placed Jezebel on the bed and muttered, "You should get some rest."
He motioned to leave, when Jezebel grabbed his hand.
"Luke, I'm sorry."
Luke sat down and took hold of Jezebel's other hand. "It's all right. I forgive you, and I don't hate you."
Jezebel smiled and mouthed the words, "Thank you," before taking a deep breath and closed her eyes.
A couple minutes after Jezebel feel asleep, Alice and Enos stormed in arguing.
"I'm telling you, she's going to Chicago," Enos exclaimed.
"And I'm telling you she's going to work for Atlanta Daily News!" Alice cried.
"She's going to work for the Chicago Tribune," Enos replied.
"Shh," Luke whispered pointing to Jezebel. He paused and then asked, "Wait, what about Chicago?"
"She got offered a job there, and I'm pretty sure she's gonna take it," Enos informed him.
Luke down sadly, but his head picked up when Alice snorted and said, "Shows how much you know, she's taking the job in Atlanta."
It appeared as though the two were about to duke it out when a moan interrupted them. They turned to see Jezebel waking up.
"Oh sorry, did we wake you?" Alice asked kindly.
"Yes," Jezebel answered groggily.
"We were just discussing about your job offers, and where you were going to end up," Enos told her. "Where are you going to end up?"
Jezebel groaned and looked between Alice and Enos. She quickly stole a glance at Luke, and saw he was looking down at the ground. She looked back at her friends and said, "Can you two excuse us? I want to talk to Luke for a second."
Alice and Enos walked out bickering quietly. Luke stared at the ground silently. Jezebel took a deep breath and decided to not wait any longer.
"I can stay in Atlanta and work, but that would mean we might cross paths or I can go to Chicago and we will probably never see each other again," Jezebel told him.
"So?"
"I want to stay in Atlanta," Jezebel said. "I want to stay close to…" She paused and it was obvious she wanted to stay close to Luke, but instead she said, "Hazzard."
"Really?" Luke asked, picking his head up and looking at Jezebel intently.
"But if you don't want to have me around, I'll go to Chicago."
Luke stared at Jezebel. She was letting him decide her future, and Luke didn't know what to say. He wanted her to stay, but it wasn't his place to tell her that.
"You should do what you want to do. I can't make this decision for you," Luke told her.
"Then I want to do this," she said, as she threw her arms around Luke and kissed him.
Luke wrapped an arm around her waist, and kissed her back. Once they broke away, Luke asked with a smile, "You're staying?"
"I'm staying," she answered and Luke kissed her again.
And that's the legend how Jezebel Rinehart got back to her roots, with a little help from the Duke family of course. Night y'all.
A/N: ok, thanks for reading everyone and sorry for the long wait.I might make a the sequel. It would envole Amy Creevy coming back and y'all know that means trouble for Jezebel. So, would any of you be interested in that? and just thanks for reading this story. I hoped you like it.