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- Bo and Nora
- Forever
Soulmates
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- Return To Sender
-
- After Colin was run out of
town, for the second time, life pretty much settled into a happy
existence for Bo and Nora. Bo sold the garette to Gabrielle and
Al and he moved into Nora’s house with her and Matt.
- That was only after they
found out Matthew was Bo’s biological child. On this particular
day, Bo was having a hard time dealing with the fact that Nora
was readying to leave with Matt for a trip to see her parents
in Chicago.
-
- He sat on the couch contemplating
the next five days without either one of them. Matt ran in with
a model car kit. He bounded up on the couch and sat next to Bo.
“Whatcha got there champ?”
-
- “A car model for Grampie…Mom
says he loves these…”
-
- “Very nice. Are you
going to make it with him?” Bo questioned his son.
-
- “I dunno…I never
did one of these” Matt answered.
-
- “I’ve never done
one of them” Nora corrected her son “Matthew, do you
have your toothbrush packed?”
-
- “Um….no…”
He jumped off the couch and ran up the stairs.
-
- Nora smiled as she watched
him. “He’s so happy” she said as Bo pulled her
down on to the couch next to him. “How bout his mom?”
he questioned while kissing her near her earlobe.
-
- “His mom…”
she closed her eyes and concentrated on Bo’s attention “his
mom couldn’t be happier”. She wrapped her arms around
Bo’s neck and brought her lips to his, pushing him back
against the arm of the couch, winding up on his lap. “Bo…you
know were this is leading…” she continues her onslaught
as she unbuttons his shirt.
-
- “And I love where it’s
leading…” he purrs as he pulls her closer to himself.
-
- “MO-MMY!!” Matthew’s
bellows from upstairs interrupts the amorous couple.
-
- Nora sits up and straightens
her shirt. Bo buttons his and smiles as he puts his hand on Nora’s
knee. “Saved by the bell.” Nora comments as she stands
up.
-
- Bo holds her hand, not allowing
her to move, “I’ll never get tired of him interrupting
us. Never.” Bo said seriously then breaking into a smile.
-
- “Just a minute sweetie”
Nora calls up to their son, she leans over and kisses Bo. “I
love you Bo Buchanan. Always have, Always will.”
-
- “Same here Red. Same
here.” Bo sat back on the couch smiling as Nora headed upstairs
to stave off Matthew’s latest trauma.
***************************
- After dropping Nora and Matthew
at the airport, Bo returned to an empty house. He stood in the
entrance and listened. No TV blaring from the kitchen. No chatter
on the phone from the den. No hollering from the backyard. He
walked over to the fireplace mantle and picked up the picture
of himself, Nora and Matt. He traced Nora’s face.
-
- “I am so lucky Red.
So damn lucky…I can’t believe what I almost lost.”
He chuckled to himself as he placed the picture back in its spot.
-
- “So…” he said
to himself, “guess a guy’s gotta eat.” He walked
into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. “What to eat,
what to eat…” he closes the fridge and pulls out a
three ring binder from under the counter. He laughed as he looked
at the cover. “Nora’s Cookbook” he said to himself.
“Cookbook….I love ya Red” He shook his head opening
the binder to the many take out menus carefully attached to the
silver rings inside. “Pizza it is…”
-
- Bo spent the rest of the
evening trying to watch wrestling. He missed Matt. He missed
how they would watch wrestling together, Matt sitting on the
back of the couch, always ready to put his father in a headlock.
This was the first time that the family had been separated since
he and Nora reconciled. He looked around the empty house and
decided to head up to bed. “The faster I fall asleep, the
faster morning will be here.” He turned off the TV and headed
up to bed.
-
- He clicked on the TV in their
room and settled in with a magazine. Not too long after, Bo nodded
off. The TV still on, lights still glowing. It was the phone
ringing that caused his to wake. He grabbed for the phone.
-
- “Buchanan” he said
groggily.
-
- “Hey Bo…did I wake
you? I’m sorry…”
-
- “Nora…you got to
your folks alright…I was just dozing…”
-
- “Bo…honey…its
only nine thirty…”
-
- “I know…I miss
you guys and it’s easier to just sleep the time away til
you get home…” Bo smiled as he pictured her face with
a hint of blush to it.
-
- “We miss you too.”
Nora reassured him. “Why don’t you go visit Hank?”
-
- “I just want to lay
here holding your pillow…how many more nights?”
-
- Nora frowned, “Too many…Momma
and Daddy send their love…”
-
- “Sorry I had to stay
for these meetings…”
-
- “It’s ok…you
wanna talk to your son?”
-
- “Our son…yes…lemme
talk to him.” Bo smiled.
-
- Matthew anxiously picked
up the extension, “Daddy!!”
-
- “Hey Matt! How was the
flight?” Bo smiled as his son spoke.
-
- “Daddy! It was sooooo
cool on the plane!! I got to see where the luggage goes and I
got to see where the pilot sits and I got to see where they make
the food and I got to see the bathrooms and mommy wouldn’t
let me go in by myself and then when we came out is was time
to eat and then….”
-
- Bo beamed as Matt went on
and on, “I miss you son…” Bo finally got in when
Matt took a breath.
-
- “I love you too Daddy…I
miss you…see you soon!” Matt handed the phone back
to Nora.
-
- “I’m gonna let
you go Commish…Daddy wants to take Matt for ice cream…I
love you Bo.”
-
- Bo swallowed hard. “I
love you too…take care and call me in the morning.”
-
- “I will….are you
going by Hank?” Nora asked before hanging up.
-
- “Nah…not tonight…take
care baby…night” Bo said as he hung up the phone. He
took Nora’s pillow and hugged it tight, drifting off to
sleep for the night.
****************************
- Bo spent the next day in
meetings with the mayor and heads of many different city council
members. This was election year, something Bo always dreaded.
-
- He sat through speech after
speech, trying to muffle his yawns, hide doodles behind his hand
and refrain from staring off into space. Hank kicked him under
the table more than once. When Bo thought he couldn’t handle
one more long winded old goat promising to save the city, the
group broke for lunch.
-
- “You think you could
maybe pay attention after lunch?” Hank asked as Bo sat staring
at the menu.
-
- “Huh?”
-
- “How long’s Nora
and Matt gonna be gone for?” Hank changed his line of questioning.
-
- This brought Bo out of his
trance. “Too long…man…I hate that I have to stay
here and send the two most important people in my life off alone.”
-
- “You’re not sending
them off anywhere…Nora chose to go visit her folks, simple
as that.” Hank offered.
-
- “Doesn’t make it
any the easier,” Bo frowned as he looked at the menu more
intently.
-
- “You got plans for dinner?”
Hank asked
-
- “Lemme check my calendar”
Bo looked around the diner “Nope, all clear”, he smiled.
-
- “Wanna catch a ballgame?”
-
- “Sure…we can eat
at the park…well, I suppose we should be getting back to
his honors chambers” Bo took out his wallet and paid for
lunch, “you can pick up dinner.”
-
- “And you can get the
tickets” Hank responded with a smile creeping across his
face.
-
- “You invite me and I
have to pay? No wonder Nora divorced you…” they walked
out of the diner.
-
- “She divorced you too…and
I don’t see a ring on that finger of yours…”
-
- Bo held out his hand and
looked at his empty finger, “I’m going to take care
of that soon enough” they hailed a cab and climbed in.
-
- “You’re gonna ask
her to marry you again?” Hank looked at Bo “you two
said things were perfect the way they are, you both said…”
-
- “I know what we both
said…but I’m having second thoughts…I want her
to know I’m here for her for the rest of our lives.”
-
- “I think she knows”
-
- “But she can’t
say she’s my wife”
-
- “You want ownership…”
-
- “I want to be Nora Buchanan’s
husband.” Bo answered quickly, shutting Hank down in mid
sentence.
-
- Hank shook his head and sighed.
**************************
- Bo grabbed the mail as he
headed into the silent house.
-
- “I gotta get a dog or
something…its just too depressing coming home to this empty
house.” He flipped through the letters, tossing them down
on the hall table.
-
- The letter on the top caught
his eye. He walked back to the table and picked it up. He looked
closer at it. It was addressed to him, with the garrett’s
old address. It was Nora’s hand writing. Stamped across
the front of the envelope was “RETURN TO SENDER, ADDRESSEE
UNKNOWN” in big red letters.
-
- He walked over to the couch
and sat down. He stared at the letter and wondered of its contents.
He rubbed his face and set the letter down on the coffee table.
He stared at it.
-
- “I don’t get it”
he said to himself “that’s obvious, you didn’t
get it Buchanan” he answered himself. “Oh hell, this
is stupid…it’s addressed to me…but how important
could it be…she never mentioned it…” He picked
up the envelope and torn it open along its side, blowing into
it to inflate around the contents.
-
- Peering inside, Bo drew out
the letter. He slowly unfolded it. It was all hand written, Nora’s
writing. He noticed the date. It was almost two years old. “So
much for speedy deliveries” He sat back and began to read:
-
- “Dear Bo-
I wasn’t sure if this was the best idea, but as of late,
nothing I do seems to be to great of an idea, so bear with me.
I don’t know where I am in my life, so to speak. I have
no past, my future seems to be anything but what I planned it
to be and all I can do is close my eyes and hope when I open
them, everything will be back to normal. So may times I have
closed my eyes and prayed to find you next to me when I reopen
them, yet every time, that just was not the case. Looks like
after today, that will never be the case again. Please don’t
get me wrong, I am happy for you. You found someone and you are
making a life for yourself. Melanie seems to be a wonderful person
and it would appear that she makes you very happy. For that,
I can smile. Your happiness was always my top priority, I guess
it still is.
I guess the reason for me writing is more to afford myself the
closure I so desperately am seeking. When you told me earlier
that you were marrying Melanie, my heart felt like it had been
ripped from my chest. I looked in your eyes and for the first
time in my life, I saw I wasn’t welcome in your life. And
I am afraid. Who am I Bo? I have no identity. I may look like
Nora Buchanan, but inside, I feel like an alien. I feel like
half a person. I can’t recall why we are not together. Sure,
I have been told why, but it doesn’t compute. I would never
sleep with another man. Never. I love you Bo. You are my life.
You were my life. Now you are Melanie’s life. And she is
yours.
I didn’t mean for this letter to put you in an awkward position,
I just wanted you to know that whatever happened between us,
whatever it was that caused me to make the worst decision of
my life , I am sorry…and I will regret it for as long as
I live. I hope somewhere along the way, you could find it in
your heart to forgive me. I know that what we had is over, but
if you could forgive me on a basic level, I may be able to find
some peace. Can’t guarantee it, but it would be easier to
move on.
Well, like I said, this wasn’t meant to be a guilt trip
or anything of that nature. I truly am happy for you. I hope
you and Melanie have many, many years of love and happiness.
I will always wish the best for you. Maybe one day we could be
friends again. I will always love you Bo.
Nora”
-
- Bo sat back on the couch.
He stared at the letter. He let out a sigh. “Nora…”
was all he could get out.
-
- He went upstairs and laid
down on the bed, still holding the letter. He looked at it again.
“I was such a jerk.” He rubbed his head and looked
at the ceiling. “Ah Red…what I put you through…I
was so consumed in my own world…I didn’t even stop
to think how much you were hurting…how confused and scared
you were.”
-
- Bo lost track of how long
he laid there, staring into space, trying to fathom just how
much they had been through, always coming to the same conclusion,
Nora’s nightmare was worse than anything he could have ever
imagined. The more he thought, the more he hated himself and
his stupid pride.
-
- “You’re a real
piece of work Buchanan…” he sat up and folded the letter
into a small square and tucked it in his shirt pocket “you
really have no idea how lucky you are, you could have lost her
for good…” he headed downstairs.
-
- The doorbell rang as he hit
the bottom step. He opened the door to Hank’s smiling face.
“You ready to watch the Phils annihilate?”
-
- “Oh” Bo grimaced,
“Hank….I ah…I can’t make it to the game tonight…I
got do something…” He pressed past Hank, leaving him
on the porch looking into the house.
-
- “Bo…you want me”
Hank started as Bo hopped in his car “to lock your house?”
Hank watched as Bo sped away from the house “I’ll take
that as a yes.” Hank closed the door, making sure it was
locked then walked back to his car and left.
*****************************
- “C’mon Mom!! Lemme
stay up….we’re on vacation!” Matthew begged his
mother.
-
- “C’mon Bubee…how
often do your father and I have our only grandson over for visits?
Let the boy stay up a bit longer.” Selma pleaded Matthew’s
case.
-
- “Its no wonder I became
an attorney…look how you work the judge.” Nora said
to her mother as she placed Matthew’s folded pajamas on
the end of the couch “twenty more minutes mister…and
no more plea bargains from your lawyer”
-
- “Grammie’s not
my lawyer…she’s my counsel”
-
- Nora looked at Matthew and
rolled her eyes. She’d been conned by her own son and mother!
“Well, then I’m going to take a bath, when I get done…to
bed mister!”
-
- “Can I call Daddy?”
Matthew asked
-
- “Yes, you can call Daddy,
tell him I will call him after my bath.” Nora instructed
as she headed to the bath.
-
- “You want some help
Matty?”
-
- “No Grampi, I can do
it” Matthew said proudly as he dialed his home. Matthew
held the phone from his ear and looked at his grandparents.
-
- “It’s the answering
machine…maybe Daddy’s not home.”
-
- “Well, maybe your old
dad went to get some supper.” Len reassured his grandson.
“Now…where were we…”
-
- “We were building the
engine on the car.” Matthew handed Len the tube of model
glue.
-
- Before they knew it, Nora
was standing on the bottom step in her bathrobe, rubbing her
head with a towel. “Ok mister…bed time.”
-
- “Oh mom!” Matthew
stomped towards his mother.
-
- “Did you talk to your
dad?” Nora asked.
-
- “No…the machine
got it.” Matthew walked past Nora “Night Grammie…night
Grampie…”
-
- “Night Matty…sweet
dreams.” Selma blew Matthew a kiss as Nora followed him
up the stairs..
-
- “I so wish they lived
closer, Len.” Selma said with a sigh. “I miss having
a little one in the house.”
-
- “I know…I do too.”
He leaned and gave her a kiss on the cheek “s’pose
the news is about to start. Sounds like that storms picking up
out there” A clap of thunder resonated through the neighborhood.
- Len put his feet up on the
ottoman and Selma picked up her crocheting. They settled in to
watch the news. A bolt of lightening flashed followed by a lower
rumble.
-
- Nora came down the stairs
a bit later, “How’d the Phillies do?” she asked
as she kissed her father on the top of his head.
-
- Len reached back and patted
her hand. “They won…but it was dumb luck.”
-
- “I take it they beat
the Cubs.” Nora smiled as she came around the front of the
couch and sat down with her father.
-
- “Everyone beats the
Cubs.” Selma shot Len a look. He spit his tongue out at
her. “I’ll fry that tongue up for the cat.” She
scolded.
-
- “We don’t have
a cat anymore.” Len reminded and spit his tongue out again.
-
- “Then it would be a
waste of a perfectly good tongue.” Selma quickly answered
back.
-
- “Momma!” Nora laughed
at her parents bickering “you have been frying up tongues
as long as I can remember!”
-
- “Ok my beautiful ladies…this
old man needs a few winks of sleep if he’s going to keep
up with that little ball of energy up there tomorrow.”
-
- Len stood and kissed Nora
on the forehead and made his way to Selma.. He whispered something
in her ear, something Nora couldn’t hear. It caused Selma
to giggle and playfully slap Len on the shoulder. “I mean
it” he told her sternly, pointing towards her face. Selma
playfully pushed his finger away, “we’ll see about
that!” she told him as he turned and winked at Nora. Nora
blushed slightly. She missed Bo.
-
- Selma watched Len head towards
the front and latch the deadbolt. Nora looked at her mother.
The love her parents had for each other had always amazed her.
They were so in tune to each other. She remembered how as a child
she always wanted a marriage like her parents had. As far as
she was concerned, their marriage was perfect.
-
- Nora’s mind drifted
to the failed relationships she had. Both had started as wonderful
marriages, both ended as horrible disasters. Probably what stopped
her from committing to Sam. But now she was with Bo again. And
the fact that they had decided to remain unmarried was in a way,
comforting to her. That fear she had of failure was all but eliminated.
-
- Len headed up stairs. A huge
rumble of thunder struck. Loud enough to shake the house. Len,
Selma and Nora looked at each other.
-
- “Some storm” Len
remarked. “Better make sure the flashlights have batteries”.
He turned to head back down. At the same moment, the door bell
rang. Again all three looked at each other.
-
- “Who the hell would
be out in this?” Len asked as he walked towards the door.
“Good Lord!” He opened the door briskly. “Bo!”
-
- “Bo?” Nora turned
around to see Bo standing with his duffle bag in hand, soaking
wet, grinning like an idiot. Nora jumped from the couch and ran
to the door. Bo stepped inside, soaking wet. Nora threw her arms
around him, knocking him back a step.
-
- “You want to come in,
Bo?” Len asked as he closed the door.
-
- Bo couldn’t answer at
the moment. Nora was kissing him as if her life depended on it.
“What are you doing here? She asked between kisses.
-
- He held her back a second,
“I missed you.” He kissed her deeply, neither of them
giving a concern that her parents were watching. “I missed
you so much.”
-
- When they finally finished
kissing, they walked into the living room. Selma got Bo a towel
and Len got him a cup of coffee. They invited him to stay. They
sat and listened to him talk of the meetings and how he missed
Nora and Matt. Len and Selma realized that their daughter needed
to be alone with Bo, so they decided to turn in. Nora said good
night to her folks and went up to check Matthew. When she returned,
Bo had changed into a pair of dry sweat pants and a tee shirt.
He was finishing up the sandwich Selma made him.
-
- “So Commissioner…what
brings you to Chicago…I know it wasn’t the hot dogs.”
Nora said as she sat down next to Bo.
-
- He sat for a few moments,
looking at her. Taking in her every detail. Her dark eyes, eyes
that could see through him to his soul, that beautiful red hair,
how he loved to run his fingers through it, the graceful curve
of her neck. Oh and that spot…that special spot right below
her jaw…when he kissed it, how it sent chills down her spine.
-
- “Yoohoo…Bo”
Nora waved her hand in front of his face, “Earth to Bo…”
-
- He saw her hand wave in front
of him, bringing him out of his trance, “Yeah…hey…”
he took her hands in his, “Nora…you have no idea how
much you mean to me…and I had to come here…”
-
- “To Chicago…”
-
- “To Chicago…all
the way to Chicago to tell you…I love you “ he sat
smiling, like a proud child.
-
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