Deep in the Heart of Texas - The Sequel - Part 5
When Nora woke it was 5:00 p.m. She felt like she had slept an eternity. She got up and went to get Rebecca who had just started to cry.
Nora went to the kitchen to start dinner. As she moved about the kitchen, Rebecca watched her from her highchair.
N: Oh Becca, I certainly hope you didn't inherit mommy's inability to cook! Rachel's a good cook, so maybe you'll be lucky too.
Nora stared into the refrigerator. She took out the defrosted chicken she forgot she put in there in the first place.
B: Hi girls!
Nora jumped. She didn't hear or see Bo come into the kitchen. He showered Rebecca with kisses and she giggled.
Nora was rinsing the chicken in the sink. Bo came up behind her and put his arms around her waist and started to kiss her neck.
N: Breasts or legs?
B: Is that a trick question?
She shoved a chicken leg in his face.
N: Chicken! The chicken!
They laughed.
B: Oh! Well, in that case, how about both?
N: Okay. Bo, will you go and pick up Matt for me?
B: Sure. I thought he was staying overnight.
N: Nope. I thought I told you that this morning.
B: Must have been when we were fighting.
N: Very funny.
B: I'll take Becca with me. They haven't seen her for awhile.
N: If you leave now, dinner will almost be ready by the time you get back.
B (to Rebecca): I think mommy's trying to get rid of us.
N: Of course not…..I was just saying.
B: Do you need me to pick up anything else?
N: No, we're okay. Oh, maybe something for dessert.
B: Sounds good! See ya later!
Nora kissed them both and started washing the lettuce. She started to think about the great meals they shared while at the Buchanan Ranch. She looked down at the lump of lettuce in the bowl. She sighed sadly. 'Oh Nora, stop beating yourself up. You're a great wife and mother', she said out loud seemingly talking to the lettuce. She reluctantly took out a bag of frozen french fries from the freezer. 'Only because they're Matt's favorite.' 'As opposed to my own homemade french fries.' Nora cracked up laughing at herself…'Yeah right.'
She left the kitchen and headed to the den. She went into the closet to look for some pictures from their time at the ranch. She pulled down a box and a piece of something almost clunked her on the head. She screamed.
She picked it up and it appeared to be half of a broken plaque made out of a thin piece of gray slate. It read "An old the catch live" with a fish in one corner.
'What the heck is this?', Nora asked. She didn't find the other half of it. She left it there and continued to look for the photos. She would ask Bo about it when he got home.
She found the box of photos and left them out in the den while she checked on dinner.
Bo and kids returned sooner than expected.
N: That was fast.
M: They had plans.
Nora laughed at Matthew's response.
N: Oh they did, did they?
B: Yeah, they are having dinner with some big shot.
M: Yeah, some big shot.
N: What's for dessert?
B: I stopped by the diner and got a homemade apple pie.
N: Oooooh, did you get matching ice cream?
B: Matching ice cream? (He laughed) Uh, yes I did.
N: Well, you can't have apple pie without vanilla ice cream.
They went into the den and they looked through some of the pictures. Matt entertained his sister doing his best impressions of animal sounds.
Nora grabbed the half of the plaque and showed it to Bo.
N: What is this?
Bo laughed when he saw it and then he became serious. He
went to the closet and pulled out the other half of the plaque
that Nora couldn't find. He had it hidden.
He put the two pieces together and now it read "An Old Fisherman
and the Catch of His Life Live Here". Nora thought it was
so cute, but she had no remembrance of it.
N: Did Matthew break it?
Bo shook his head.
B: No, honey. I broke it.
N: Why?
B: We had this plaque hanging in the hallway at the old house. Hank gave it to me for my birthday one year. I wasn't crazy about the 'old' part, but Hank thought it was hysterical! You guys would never let me live it down. You really loved it. (Bo smiled at thought)
N: It's sweet.
B: Well, after we broke up and I moved out, I got drunk one night and I smashed it in half. It was so weird. It broke almost perfectly in half - right down the middle.
N: Why'd you keep it?
B: I don't know. As a reminder I suppose. But, it survived through all my moving around and here it is. I can't believe you found it. I almost forgot about it.
N: Well, it almost killed me by falling on my head! But, I think you should glue it back together and we'll hang it up again….Unless you don't want to.
B: I would love to hang it up again. The sentiment is still true.
N: It certainly is. And don't you forget it!
Nora kissed him.
N: I'm so sorry. (She started to cry)
B: Red, please…..Don't cry. There's no need to cry or apologize. We've healed. Just like the plaque is going to heal. (He wiped away her tears)
N: You're right. You are absolutely right! The whole thing is very symbolic if you think about it. There's glue in the desk. I've got to check on dinner. But, don't glue it without me! (She laughed and she seemed to bounce out of the room)
They shared a great dinner together. Both kids were asleep faster than usual and snuggled in their beds.
Bo and Nora settled in for a night of old movies in front of the TV.
N: Wait! We forgot to glue the plaque back together.
Bo put the movie on "pause" and they went to the den. Bo lined each half of the plaque with the special glue. They each held a piece and pushed it together. They held it for a few minutes. The plaque came together nicely. It looked like it was never broken. They left it on the desk to dry and decided they would check it tomorrow. They kissed and hugged each other, turned out the lights, and went back to their movie.
TO BE CONTINUED……
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