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As Things Change - Part XII Bo pulls up in front of Asa’s mansion. Matthew gets out of the Jeep and makes his way to the door as Bo pulls out of the driveway. Nigel opens the door. “Master Matthew. I wasn’t expecting you.”   “My dad had to meet Rex so he dropped me off here.”   “Of course, come right in.”   “Is Grandpa here?”   “He’s on a teleconference at the moment. I shall tell him you’re here.”   Matthew motions to the stairs. “Don’t bother him. I can hang out in the video room.”   Marcie is waiting in Michael’s office when he comes through the door. He walks over and gives her a kiss. “What brings you by?”   “I was talking to Lauren…”   “Has she told Rex about the pregnancy yet? I can’t wait to tease him.”   Marcie shakes her head. “No. That’s a whole other story.”   “What is she waiting for? It’s not like she can hide it forever.”   “She’s trying to find the right time…”   Michael interrupts. “Does she think he’ll bolt?”   “Michael! I didn’t come here to talk about Rex and Lauren.”   “What’s wrong?”   “Lauren told me that Nora is leaving town on Saturday. I wanted us to meet with her to discuss adoption so you can meet Miki. I’m going to call her. Can you go with me tomorrow?”   Michael shakes his head. “I told you I’m leading a seminar tomorrow on ER procedures. I may not make it home tonight because I’m still preparing my slide presentation.”   “Please, Michael. Can you give me 5 minutes? This is really important to me.”   He takes her in his arms. “I know that. I’m really sorry but this is an all-day seminar. It’s been planned for months. It’s the first one I get to run by myself so I’m a little nervous. Can we meet with her when she comes back?”   “I guess. But I wanted you to meet Miki. I really would like to move forward with this…”   “Well, there’s no reason I can’t meet Miki before we meet with Nora, is there? Maybe Andrew could answer our questions about adopting. We can talk to him about it when my schedule slows down. I have to be in Harrisburg on Monday. Why don’t we meet with Andrew when I get back and if I feel comfortable, he can introduce me to Miki?”   “Oh, Michael. I would love that. Thank you.”   He leans down to kiss her. “You can set it up. I have to get back to work.”   “Of course. I’ll handle all the details. Don’t work too late.”   He smiles as she pulls away. “I’ll try.”   Matthew is holding his cell phone to his ear. “Come on, Kallie. Pick up.”   “Who are you talking to, boy?” Asa booms from the doorway.   Matthew snaps the phone shut. “No one, Grandpa.”   “Nigel said Bo dropped you off. Something wrong?”   “He had to go meet Rex for a case. It was closer to drop me off here than at home.”   Asa takes a seat opposite him. “It’s good to see you. I hear you’ve quit the baseball team.” Matt nods. “Any particular reason?”   “Not really. I just didn’t want to play anymore.”   “That simple?”   He nods again. “I just wanted a chance to go away to camp instead of being stuck here all summer.”   Asa gives him a knowing wink. “And it has nothing to do with girls in bikinis?”   Matt blushes. “Nothing at all.”   “At the end of the day, girls are always the reason, son. Any new ones I should know about?”   Matt shakes his head. “Girls are trouble. I might as well tell you because I’m sure my dad will when he gets here. They got called into the principal’s office today because my history teacher thought I cheated on my test.”   “Did you?”   “No, but this goth chick in my class cheated off of me. She’s the one who got me into the fight last week too.”   “Did your parents know she was the one who caused the fight?”   Matthew scoffs. “No. I didn’t exactly want to tell them that she got me into trouble. How lame is that?”   Asa nods with a small grin. “Very, I would guess.”   Matt sighs. “Problem is, now I have to retake the test and I’m going to miss the end-of-year picnic tomorrow.”   “And you were meeting some filly, right? Probably the person you were trying to call just now.”   Matt grins. “Good guess.”   “Your old grandpa still knows a thing or two about dating, boy.”   “I wish I knew more about how it works.”   Asa chuckles. “You’ll get there. Just give it time.” He gets up from his chair. “Why don’t we head down to the kitchen and have Nigel rustle us up a snack.”   Bo and Rex walk into the PI office. “Thanks for the save, partner.”   Bo drops a folder on his desk. “Make sure that doesn’t happen while I’m at the ranch. I won’t be around to bail you out.”   “No worries. Now that you vouched for me, John’s goons will lay off and let me do my surveillance. Where were you anyway? I had to call three times before you picked up.”   “Nora and I were in the principal’s office this morning so I turned it off and I forgot to turn it back on.”   Rex grins. “What’s the squirt done now? Must be serious for you to get called in.”   “He cheated on a test.”   “Matthew? That’s surprising. He seems smart enough to do it the legit way.”   Bo takes a seat behind his desk. “Turns out he refused to help another girl cheat and she did it anyway. Matthew has to retake the test.”   “A girl, huh? Is he interested in this girl?”   “I don’t think so. He claims she threatened to tell Kallie he was sleeping with her if he didn’t help her.”   “Whoa! Nora must have loved that one.”   Bo shakes his head. “Don’t go there. We haven’t had a chance to discuss that yet. I dropped Matthew at Asa’s so I could bail you out. Nora is waiting at home.”   “I would love to be there to see the fireworks!”   Bo frowns at him. “Don’t you have a proposal to worry about?”   Rex rolls his eyes. “I may need to rethink that plan.”   “Why’s that?”   “Lauren has been so cranky all week and she’s driving me nuts. She’s had the flu so maybe that’s why. She’s never really been sick since we’ve been together so I haven’t seen this side of her.”   Bo laughs. “Get used to it, Balsom. You’re asking for ‘sickness and health,’ after all.”   “I know. I’ll try to be nice.” He motions toward the door. “I’m going to head out. Thanks for the assist with the cops. Are you going to be in tomorrow?”   Bo gets up and walks toward the door. “If anything comes up before I leave, I’ll drop by but don’t count on me being here.”   “No prob. Have a great trip.” Rex and Bo leave the office, locking the door behind them.   Nora is in her room trying to squeeze her suitcase closed. She gives up and pulls the flap open. “I shouldn’t need this much stuff. Maybe I’ll just buy new stuff when I get there…” She begins to pull clothes out of the case, piling them on the bed. The phone rings and she absently picks it up. “Hello.”   “Hi Nora, it’s Marcie. Do you have a minute?”   Nora sits on the bed. “Sure. What can I do for you?”   “I heard you’re leaving on a trip.”   “Yes, Bo has been wanting to take Matthew down to the ranch for a while now. Since he’s not playing baseball, we decided this is the perfect time.”   “How long will you be gone?”   “We’re not sure, actually. We’ll be down there for 2 weeks. Bo said we could stay up to a month, but I think that may be pushing my tolerance of ranch life. Did you need something?”   “Well, I spoke to Michael but he’s too busy to meet with you regarding the adoption information we discussed…”   Nora smiles. “So Michael is open to adopting?”   “Yes, he promised to meet with Andrew next week.”   “That’s wonderful. I can give Andrew the name of a friend who will cover while I’m away and if Michael has any legal questions after your meeting, he could help you. Or, if you’re not comfortable with that, I’d be happy to meet with you when I return.”   “Thank you so much, Nora. I really appreciate your kindness.”   “It’s no trouble, Marcie. I’ll talk to you soon.” She hangs up and turns her attention to the suitcase, pulling out another stack of clothes. Matthew and Asa are stuffing themselves with sundaes. “If my mom finds out about this, I’m toast.” Asa waves him off. “Don’t you worry about your mother. It’s just a little snack.” Matt grins, as he pours more chocolate onto his ice cream. “Says you. Hey, are you going to tell me about the surprise Grandma Renee mentioned?” Asa shakes his head. “Why not? Is it something that’s going to get me in trouble with Mom?”   Asa shrugs. “I can handle Nora.”   “Then why won’t you tell me?”   “Because it’s something I need to SHOW you when we go up to the lodge.”   “Is it a Jet Ski?”   “You have Jet Skis at the lodge.”   “Yeah, but not the really fast ones. Mom would freak.”   “You’re just going to have to wait and see.”   “But we’re leaving for Texas as soon as I get out of school. There’s no time.”   “It’ll keep, Matthew.”   He sighs. “I’m sorry I didn’t go up with you the weekend you wanted to go. If we had gone, I wouldn’t have gotten in the fight and been grounded all weekend.”   Asa shrugs. “It’s okay. I understand you wanting to be with kids your own age.”   Bo strolls into the kitchen. “Hanging with kids his own age seems to be a bad choice for him lately.”   Asa glares at him. “Leave the boy alone. You want me to tell him about all the fights you got into when you were his age?”   Matt smirks at Bo. “You were fighting? Let me guess – over a girl?”   “No. I was merely defending myself – there is a difference.” Asa scoffs. “Hogwash, boy. You threw the Dillon kid into the horse pond when he was dressed in his Sunday best. Why don’t you tell your son what that was about?”   Bo squirms. “I’d rather not.”   Matt cracks up. “Busted! What was her name?”   “Never mind that. We have to go. Your mother is expecting us to bring dinner and you know how she gets when she’s hungry.”   Matt stands. “Yeah and I’m in enough trouble.”   “Yes, you are. We still have to stop by the mall and get your gear. Let’s go.”   Asa follows Bo and Matthew toward the front door. “Enjoy the ranch. You’ll have plenty of land to explore down there. Don’t wear out my horses and don’t get lost.”   Bo grins. “I think we’ll be okay.”   “We need to get Mom on a horse.”   Asa chuckles. “That would be a sight to see.”   “You should come down with us, Grandpa.”   “Your mother would love that.”   Matt shrugs. “You said yourself we should spend more time together. You know the ranch better than anyone. It would be fun.”   Asa nods. “I have business meetings coming up but maybe when I’m finished I’ll take a trip down. How long will you be there, Bo?”   “We don’t have any firm plans. We’re going to play it by ear when we get there.”   “See, you have time, Grandpa.”   Asa gives Matt a hug. “I’ll think about it. You have fun and I’ll see you soon.”   Bo claps him on the back. “Take care, Pa.” He turns to Matthew. “Let’s get you home. You have a History test to study for.”   Asa has a huge grin on his face as he watches them walk out.   TBC