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Ride the Wind   Nora dropped her fork and put her napkin up to her mouth. "Bo if you don't stop making me laugh I'm going to have indigestion all day!" Bo looked around innocently. "Hey, I'm sitting here in the diner minding my own business eating breakfast. You came and sat down with ME! Besides you've got it all wrong Nora. There's no better cure for what ails ya than laughter. I can tell you've been spending way too much time in Fitzie's courtroom.. with that milquetoast Sam," he mumbled into his napkin. Nora almost spit out her coffee. "What was that last thing you said?" "Want the rest of your toast, mam?" Nora raised her eyebrows, letting him know she KNEW that was NOT what he said. She pushed the plate towards him. "Help yourself." Bo reached across the table and took a slice of toast. She couldn't help remembering the days when they ate off each other's plates without asking. Nora stood up.. not really wanting to go. "Well, I wouldn't want to keep Fitzie waiting." "Oh, Nora, I almost forgot. Can I borrow your son?" "I don't know, he's a pretty expensive date, Bo. Are you sure you're up to it?" "Oh, yeah," Bo thought to himself, "she's interested. She's definitely flirting with me now." He continued.. "Well you know as Police Commissioner I get invited to certain activities. And I really like to share those activities with my special friends and Matthew has become one of my special friends." "He enjoys your company too, Bo. When do you want him ready?" Bo deliberately looked down, pulling out his wallet and throwing the tip on the table. "I'll be at your house to pick him up at five-thirty." Nora started for the door. "Fine. See you then." She took another step, and stopped, looking back at him. "Five-thirty tonight or tomorrow night?" Bo walked up to her and stopped just inches from her face. "That's five-thirty tomorrow morning, Red." He continued past her toward the door of the diner. "Wait just one darn minute, Buchanan!" Bo looked at his watch. "Don't you need to get to court, Counselor?" Nora sat her briefcase down on the table beside her. "My son is not available at 5:30 in the morning, mister." "Is that Matthew talking or is that his Mom talking? I mean, I'd seriously hate for the boy to miss a once in a lifetime event because his mother was too lazy to get out of bed and get him ready." "I beg your pardon? I am not too lazy to get up that early, even though it is a Saturday, Bo Buchanan. And besides, you haven't even told me what this once in a lifetime event is!" "That's a surprise, Red. But I'll give you the obvious. It has nothing to do with the lake, the lodge or fishing." "Bo, if you think I'm going to let you take my son out at 5:30 in the morning without telling me where, you've got another thing coming." "Well, Nora, I guess you'll just have to come with us. Throw on some jeans, comfortable shoes, maybe bring a windbreaker. See you at 5:30 bright and early." He opened the door of the diner and walked out. "Bo, come back here!" She watched him walk past the diner window and wave.   Nora breezed through her hearing with Fitzie. Later in her office she kept catching herself smiling about something Bo had said at breakfast and wondering about the next morning. Talking to herself, she absent mindedly stuck a pencil in the pencil sharpener. "Just admit it, Nora, you're glad he asked you to go. You are! It may not be fishing but you sure took the bait." She threw what was left of the pencil into the trash. Nora left the office early to tell Matthew. He was beside himself with excitement. He even wanted to go to bed early, thinking it would make the morning come sooner. The next morning when the alarm clock went off, Nora bounded out of bed, not the least bit sleepy. Her inner self refused to let her outer self be calm. "I'm going to see Bo today. I'm going to see Bo today." It was like a little tune that wouldn't turn off. Matthew was watching out his window at the still dark sky when Bo drove up. "He's here! Come on Mom. Uncle Bo is here." He ran downstairs and opened the door before Bo had a chance to even ring the bell. Matthew jumped into his arms. "I'm ready for our secret 'venture, Uncle Bo!" "So am I!" And then loudly-- "Is you're mother up YET?" "Uh, yes, I'm up," Nora said coming down the stairs. "And I'm up for whatever challenge you can dish out, Buchanan." "Alrighty then, let's hit the road!" Bo headed out the door with Matt on his shoulders. Nora noticed Bo had on one of her favorite flannel shirts and jeans. "Oh my word, does that man look good in jeans or what?" she thought. She took a deep breath. "Get a grip Nora!" She took another look in the mirror. "Not bad for 5:30 am."   It wasn't long before Nora could tell they were heading for the countryside, but Bo still wouldn't tell them what was up. After about 20 minutes they turned off the highway onto a two-lane dirt road. As it got lighter outside, Nora could see pasture land and wildflowers still wet with dew. "It won't be long now," Bo said. "Are you ready Matt?" "Ready Uncle Bo!" The road took a wide turn up a small hill and there it was-- a field full of hot air balloons. There must have been 20 of them. All in various stages of inflation. "WOW!" Matthew yelled. Bo parked the car and helped Matthew out. Dawn was breaking and crews of the balloons were rushing around getting ready to launch. The big fans filling the balloon envelopes hummed. Others took shape on the horizon as their propane burners warmed their insides.   "Woo hoo. Here we go!" The crew of a yellow and green balloon jumped into their wicker basket and it began its slow ascent into the pink-fingered sky. Matthew began running towards it.. waving. Bo and Nora looked at each other and took off after him. As the balloon climbed, Matthew jumped up and down, up and down as if he thought he could reach it. Soon balloon after balloon took flight in a symphony of reds and oranges, deep blues and golds. Nora spread a quilt on the ground and the three of them lay down on it. "This is the most beautiful, most peaceful thing I've ever seen," she sighed. Matthew didn't feel like staying put for long. He begged to go watch another balloon being filled. He and Bo left Nora lying on the quilt. A feeling of serenity washed over her. Was it the beauty is the sky? Or was it watching the two most precious people in her life enjoy each other so much?   She saw Bo walking towards her alone. "Matthew is with Mike Benson and his wife, Diane. He's the guy who invited me out here today. See that great red, white and blue balloon over there. They own it, and they've invited us for a ride. Want to go up?" She instinctively reached for his hands. "Oh Bo, I'd love to if it was just me, but I'm a little scared for Matthew. Is it really really safe?" "Well, I know Mike is extremely safety conscious. He lets his own two kids go up. Ballooning is the family hobby." Bo put his hands on Nora's shoulders. "Matthew doesn't even know it's a possibility so if you want to say no, he won't be disappointed." "But I want to say YES!" Bo wanted to go just as much as she did. "How about we just go up and come back down.. and not really go anywhere. Maybe just a five minute ride?" "Up, up and away," she yelled. Bo grabbed Nora around the waist and hugged her.. and they took off running toward the balloon.   Bo gave Mike the thumbs up and then went to Matthew. "Hey, buddy, want to go for a ride?" Bo knew from his face, Matthew's answer was yes. "Can we Mommy? Please, can we?" Nora nodded and Mike jumped into the basket. Diane and other members of the crew held the lines while Bo helped Nora into the basket, then handed Matthew to her. Then he climbed in himself. Mike fired the fuel jets and the balloon began to rise. Soon they were at an altitude equal to some of the other balloons. Others looked far away and far higher. Mike tried to talk on a level Matthew could understand. "Heat makes the balloon go up, and releasing heated air from the top of the balloon makes it go down." Mike used his hands to explain how to make the balloon move horizontally. "The wind blows in different directions at different altitudes. To move a particular direction, we go up or down to the right level and then ride the wind." * Matthew beamed. Nora squeezed Bo's arm and whispered. "I don't think Matthew has EVER listened so intently to anything before." "Yep, I think Captain Mike is Matthew's new hero," Bo whispered back. "I don't think so, Bo. Matthew knows the difference between someone giving him a ride and someone who gives him the world. And that's what you do, Bo. You've taught him so much about love and respect." "Thanks, Red. But the pleasure is all mine."   Back on the ground, all the balloon crews got together for a big pancake breakfast. Matt sat with the Benson kids and Bo grabbed the chance to spend some time alone with Nora. "Hey, Red, I have a question." He paused a moment. "Does Matthew's mother like me as much as he does?" Nora looked into his blue eyes, which at that moment, matched the sky. "Let's see what we've learned today. The buoyant force that lifts the balloon is equal to the weight of air displaced by the balloon. So a larger balloon will generally have a higher upper altitude limit than a smaller balloon." Bo had a worried look on his face. "Huh?" "Well, I'm bigger than Matthew and my emotions are far more highly developed than his.. so consequently.." "Nora," Bo interrupted, "could you talk on a level I can understand, please? "Bo Buchanan, you take me to heights where the air is so thin I can hardly breath. I feel like I'm riding the wind right now just looking at you." His frown turned into a smile and he leaned over and kissed her.. softly, gently. "Higher, Bo, higher." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her passionately. He stopped to catch his breath. "If we go any higher I may fall off the face of the earth." Nora rested her forehead against his. "Oh, we're not even close to heaven yet, Buchanan. Not even close."   The End   * "Marshall Brain's How Stuff Works"