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Bonds of Trust -- Part I   This story is a follow-up to ‘Ready or Not’ and a continuation of all the others. It’s a little different... Enjoy!   Bo and Nora are settling into married life again – with the added fun of raising a teenager. Matthew is in his freshman year of high school, dealing with all the challenges that entails.   Early spring… Bo is sitting behind his desk when the door to the PI office opens and Nora walks through. His face lights up. “Hi. What brings you by?”   Nora tosses her purse in the chair and comes around the desk to give him a kiss. “I was in the neighborhood.”   He pulls her into his lap. “I like that.”   She laughs as she tries to wriggle free. “Bo! Where’s Rex?”   He whispers in her ear. “He’s out on assignment this afternoon.”   She turns and kisses him. “That doesn’t mean someone else couldn’t walk in right now.”   He tries to stand them up. “You’re right. Maybe we should move to the inner office before someone sees us.”   As if on cue, the door opens and Matt walks in. “Mom, I saw your car…”   Nora jumps away from Bo, looking guilty. “Hi, sweetie. What are you doing here?”   Matt closes the door, shaking his head. “What’s with you two? This is a public office. Anyone could walk in.”   Bo tries to hide his grin. “You’re right, son. Your mom should be more careful.”   Nora shoots him a look. “It’s your father who needs to watch himself…”   Matt holds up his hands. “Come on, you guys. I know you’re both to blame.”   Nora glares at Bo one more time before turning her attention to her son. “What are you doing here? How did you get here?”   “I saw your car so I told Stevie’s mom to drop me off here.”   “Is something wrong?”   Matt leans against Bo’s desk. “Nope. I just figured you could give me a ride home.”   Bo looks at him suspiciously. “And?”   Matt grins. “And maybe we could swing by the mall and get me those new cleats? Baseball practice starts in 2 weeks.”   Nora chuckles. “That sounds like something for your dad to deal with.” She picks up her purse. “I’ll see you boys at home. Pick up something for dinner on your way.” She gives Bo a quick kiss and walks over to Matt. He brushes aside her attempt at kissing his cheek, so she ruffles his hair instead. “See ya, tough guy.”   Bo watches Nora leave before turning his attention to his son. “What really brings you by?”   Matt shrugs. “Just the cleats. Honest. Where’s Rex?”   “He’s working on a case today. Did you need to talk to him?”   “Not really. I’ll call him later.”   Bo tosses the files on his desk into his inbox as he stands. “Let’s get you those cleats.”     Nora decides to pop into the coffee shop for a late-afternoon pick-me-up. She is standing in line when she sees Stevie’s mom enter the shop. “Brenda, hi.”   She looks up, not recognizing who is calling her name and hesitantly smiles. “Hi, Nora. How are you?”   “I’m great. Thanks for dropping Matt off at Bo’s office. It gave them an excuse to go buy Matt his cleats for baseball. Is Stevie planning to play this spring?”   Brenda shrugs. “I have no idea what that boy is up to most of the time. Baseball is Nathan’s domain.”   Nora smiles. “I try to stay out of the ‘boys’ stuff as much as possible too.” She notes that Brenda seems a little distracted. “Are you okay? Would you like to get a table…”   Brenda shakes her head quickly. “No, no, I’m fine. I don’t have time. Nathan will kill me if I’m late with dinner again.” She looks at her watch. “You know, maybe I don’t need any more caffeine today. I’ll see you, Nora.” She hurries out of the coffee shop.   “That was weird,” Nora mutters to herself as she steps to the counter to place her order.     Bo is dodging through the shoppers, headed for the shoe department in the back of the sporting goods store. Matthew follows him, hands in his pockets, wearing his best teenage frown. “Dad, you could just give me the money and I could get them myself. You can wait in the car.”   Bo glances back at him. “What are you talking about? You wanted to come get your shoes.”   “I just meant you could drop me off. I never thought you would come in the store.”   Bo stops in the middle of the aisle. “What’s the matter? Are you embarrassed to be seen with your old man?”   Matt shrugs, glancing around. “No. I just think I’m old enough to get my own baseball gear.”   Bo crosses his arms. “But not old enough to pay for it?”   “If you raised my allowance, I could.”   “Nice try. Maybe if you were more responsible for your stuff and helping out around the house, we could talk about it.”   Matthew sighs. “Can we just get the shoes and go?”   “Has Stevie gotten his yet?”   “Not that I know of. I haven’t asked him.”   “So you didn’t talk about it when you stayed at his house last night?”   Matt looks at the floor, avoiding Bo’s eyes. “No,” he says quickly. “We didn’t talk about anything like that.”   Bo looks at him curiously. “Something happen at Stevie’s last night?”   “No. Why would you ask that? I just said we didn’t talk about the shoes. Can we just drop it?”   Bo turns and makes his way to the shoe department. “Fine by me. You’re acting really strange, Matt.” Bo starts to look through the rows of shoes. “I figure you could use the same brand as last year, just a bigger size.”   Matt changes gears again. “Did you remember Mom’s birthday is next week?”   Bo stops his search and turns to his son. “Next week? Are you sure?”   “Yeah, Dad. Mom didn’t want me to remind you but since you forgot last year, I thought you might want to redeem yourself this year.”   Bo is lost in thought, with a small grin on his face. “Next week, huh? Guess that kinda slipped my mind.”   “Can I ask you something, Dad?”   “Sure.”   “You know about guys hitting women, right?”   Bo stares at his son, wondering where these weird conversation tangents are coming from. “Yeah, it’s called domestic abuse.”   “Is it still illegal if it’s your wife?”   “What?”   “I mean like if you hit Mom.”   Bo is taken aback by the question. “I would never hit your mother, Matthew. Men don’t hit women. It’s the same rule we taught you about boys hitting girls. Why are you asking about this?”   Matt shrugs. “No reason. We had a lecture about it in Health class. I was just curious, that’s all.”   “Well, it’s most certainly against the law – even if it’s your wife. It’s just not done. You understand?” Matt nods. “Let’s get your shoes and get out of here.”   Matthew found the cleats he was looking for. Bo frowns when he sees the price but they check out and head back into the mall. Matt hears someone calling his name. He smiles when he turns and sees Kallie walking up to them. “Hi, Kallie.”   “Hey, Matt. Mr. Buchanan.”   “Hello, Kallie.”   She turns her attention to Matt. “You didn’t tell me you were coming to the mall tonight.”   Matthew holds up his bag. “Cleats for baseball season.”   “Right. I saw the schedule posted in the school newspaper. I can’t wait to watch you play.”   “I’m glad you want to come see us.”   Bo looks at his watch. “We gotta go, Matt.”   “Would you like to have dinner with me?” Kallie asks. Matt looks at Bo. “Can I?”   “It’s a school night, Matt.”   “My mom is picking me up at 8. We’ll be home early, Mr. Buchanan.”   “Come on, Dad. I finished my homework. We’ll just be hanging out at the mall.”   Bo sighs, knowing he shouldn’t give in. Matt looks at him pleadingly. “Fine, but make sure you’re home by 9. Your mom will have my head if you’re late.”   “We’ll drop him off before then. Thanks, Mr. Buchanan.”   Matt hands the bag with the cleats to Bo. “Thanks, Dad.” He holds his hand out. “Money for dinner?” Bo digs in his pocket and pulls out his wallet, handing a few bills to Matt. “You’re the best, Dad. See ya.” He takes Kallie’s hand and they walk away.   “Bye, Matt.” Bo looks at his watch again. “Nora is going to kill me if I’m late with dinner.”     Matt and Kallie head to the food court. Matt buys them burgers and they slide into a booth in the corner to watch the other teens hanging out.   Nora is sitting on the couch watching TV when Bo comes through the door. “Hi,” he says, as he walks over and gives her a kiss.   She looks around him. “Did you lose something?”   Bo looks toward the door. “Lose something?”   “Like our son?”   “Oh! Nope, he’s not lost.” Bo sets the takeout bag on the coffee table and digs in. “I got Chinese. All your favorites.” He holds the container out to her. She makes no move to take it. “What?”   “What? Where’s Matthew? You do remember he was with you, right? Are you going senile?”   “Funny, Red. We got Matthew’s shoes and then we ran into Kallie. She invited Matthew to dinner…” he stops when he sees Nora frowning at him again. “I know it’s a school night but he said he finished his homework and Kallie said her mother was picking her up. He’ll be home by 9.”   “So you left him at the mall? Unsupervised? With his girlfriend?”   “Well, I… It wasn’t like that, Red. I know what you’re thinking.”   “Yeah, I’m thinking he’s too young to be out on a date on a school night without adult supervision.”   Bo sits beside her. “It sounds so sinister when you put it like that.”   “Bo! He’s too young to be dating! Let alone being on his own at the mall doing heaven knows what.”   He wraps his arm around her. “Honey, relax. I’m sure they’re just stuffing themselves with burgers and trying to look cool to the other kids.”   She glares at him. “That doesn’t make me feel any better.”   He smiles. “I know how to make you feel better.”   She shoves him away. “Don’t even think about it.”   He playfully kisses her neck. “We’ve got the house to ourselves until 9. I think we should take advantage of this.”   Nora stands, grabbing the takeout container and heading toward the kitchen. “Think again, Buchanan. Until I see my son safely returned to this house, you’re not getting any. Sorry.”   TBC