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Country music and the sounds of excessive celebrating from Boss and Lulu’s anniversary party drift out of the Boar’s Nest and down to the gas pumps where J.D. finds Lulu staring up at the sky.
Coming up behind her, J.D. calls out, “Sugar Plum, what are you doing all the way out here by your lonesome? The party’s back inside!”
Lulu releases a few sniffles while she tries to compose herself. “I’m just catching a breath of fresh air, J.D.. Why don’t you go on back inside and I’ll be along shortly.”
Hearing the distress in his wife’s voice, Boss walks around until he’s standing directly in front of her only to discover tears cascading down her cheeks. Shock and concern fill his countenance as he reaches out to cradle his wife’s face and asks, “Lulu, honey, what is it? What’s wrong?”
She attempts a small smile and dabs her eyes with her handkerchief. “Oh, it’s nothing really. I’m just being silly.”
“Lulu Hogg, there ain’t nothing silly if it’s upset you this badly.” His no-nonsense tone softens as he takes her hands in his own. “Now tell me what’s wrong.”
She lets out a weary sigh and turns away from Boss to stare up at the night sky again. “I was just thinking of those children that we saw earlier at the playground when we drove over here.” Her voice suddenly becomes light and joyful. “They looked like they were having so much fun and they were so lively!” Her smile slowly turns into a pained grimace. “It just made me wonder that if we had children, if they would have acted like that?”
Boss remains silent as he stares mournfully at his wife. Every so often, throughout their married life, Lulu’s heart and mind would wander down the path that they hadn’t been blessed with or meant to travel. He can still recall the day that Lulu found out that she could never have children. It was a week before their wedding and Lulu had seen the doctor for her annual check-up. After receiving the devastating news, she had headed straight to J.D. with an offer to call off the wedding before she turned tail and went back home to her mama and brother, Rosco. Stunned and heartbroken, he had turned to his oldest friend, Jesse Duke, for his advice. Jesse’s words of wisdom were forever etched into his memory.
“She wants to call off the wedding! All of our plans for having a little girl with Lulu’s smile and a little boy with my cunning and good looks,” he shakes his head disbelievingly, overwrought with grief, “gone in a puff of smoke! What do I do, Jesse?”
“What do you think you’re going do about it? You dang fool, you convince her to marry you, of course! Just like you did the first time! Tarnation J.D.,” he grumbles in exasperation, “the two of you have enough love between you to last your whole lives with or without children and besides that, you can always adopt.” Jesse starts wagging his finger in J.D.’s face. “Now, don’t you let this chance pass you by. I’ve seen the gleam in your eye when you outrun the law while running shine and the way your eyes light up when you’re holding a fistful of cash but I have never, ever, in all my born days of knowing you, seen anything like the way you look at Lulu Coltrane!” He gave his oldest friend a hard stare. “Do I really need to say anything more?”
He didn’t, Jesse was right as usual and Boss was forever grateful for his advice. Although, he’d never admit it to him. When Lulu, begins to turn away, he grabs her shoulders and turns her back to face him. “Lulu, honey, we’ve been through all this before and I thought we both made peace with our decision not to have any children.”
“I know, and I did make peace with it when chose not to adopt. With your climb up the ladder of success requiring all sorts of meetings and social gatherings, all your wheelings and dealings, it didn’t seem right to take in children only to have to neglect them for business. I agreed with our decision then and I still do but..”
Boss’ reaches out and takes one of her hands in both of his and gives a quick squeeze to encourage her to continue. “But?”
“Is it enough for you, J.D.? Has our life been enough for you, with just me?”
Boss steps closer and pins her with his steely gaze. “Lulu Hogg, I want you to rid yourself of any ridiculous notion that our life together has been a punishment. If anything, it has been a privilege to be your husband. And as for being enough for me, you are everything that I have wanted in this life.” His expression is smug as he declares, “I wanted to run shine and I did, I wanted to be Commissioner of Hazzard County and I won the election. In other words,” he proclaims while he gives his wife a very pointed look, “there’s nothing that I have that I didn’t want.”
“Oh, J.D.!” gushes Lulu as she throws her arms around his neck and pelts him with kisses. “You darling, dear, sweet man!” Smack, smack, smack. “I love you so much!” One more quick kiss to his lips before she pulls back and eyes him shrewdly. “I never knew that you could be such a charmer.” She gives him a mischievous smile. “Did Jesse teach you how to sweet-talk a woman?”
Boss instantly howls, “What? Jesse Duke teach me something? That’ll be the day, that old coot couldn’t teach a Sunday school! Why –“
Lulu hoots with laughter, startling J.D. into silence. “Calm down" J.D., honey! I was just fooling you.”
“Fooling me?” he questions in an outraged voice. “Here I was trying to comfort you and you were just shucking and jiving me?” He aims a pout in her direction. “I thought we were having a moment.”
Lulu chuckles softly. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry but I couldn’t help teasing you to lighten the mood.” Her laughing tone instantly changes to one more serious. “You were right though, we were having a moment and it was a perfect moment.” She smiles softly at him. “Everything that you said was just perfect.”
He holds her close and nuzzles his cheek against her own. “That’s better, and Sugar Plum?” He draws back for enough to lift her hands to his mouth to brush a kiss across her knuckes, “I love you too.”
Lulu’s laughter fills the air, carefree and full of joy. She releases his hands and swipes her remaining tears away. “I was right, you are a charmer.” She has a final sniffle and then suggests, “How about we spread some of that charm back inside?”
Boss grins in satisfaction at his wife’s usual upbeat demeanor and counters, “Why don’t you go in first and freshen up? I’ll be right in after you.”
“Alright,” she consents readily, “but don’t take too long.” She tosses a wink at him. “And make sure that you save some of that charm for later.”
His chuckle is as dirty as Boss himself. “Oh, you can count on that, Sweet Cheeks.”
Lulu’s responding laughter only fades once she enters the Boar’s Nest while Boss lights a cigar and is finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. A true one at that. Because after all these years, he feels and he hopes that this will be the last time that Lulu has any doubts over their not having children. He and Lulu had a good life together and maybe children would have made it better but they’d never know and at this moment, he wouldn’t change a thing. He may be a man who liked to take chances but losing what he had with Lulu wasn’t a gamble that he was willing to take. His heart and his life was full of his love for Lulu. She was happy and for him, that was enough. The sound of a throat being cleared behind him catches his attention and he turns around to discover his brother-in-law, Rosco, stepping out of the shadows.
“Boss,” he begins before the other man has a chance to protest on Rosco’s eavesdropping, “I heard what you said to Lulu and I have only one thing to say to you.” The sheriff’s eyes reflect all the love and gratitude that he has for the man before him. “If I didn’t know that you were the best man for my sister when you married her, I’d know it now.”
A huge grin broadens on Boss’ face and he puffs on his cigar while clapping Rosco on the back. “Why, thank you, Rosco. You know how I’ve always appreciated your ability to state the obvious.” He starts pushing Rosco in the direction of the Boar’s Nest. Now come on, brother-in-law, it’s time we rejoin the party and celebrate the best decision of my life!”
The End