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As Things Change - Part XVII Sunday morning… Nora wanders into the dining room and pours herself a cup of coffee. Matthew is sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. She comes up behind him, ruffling his hair. “Morning, sweetie. Did you sleep okay?”   He continues eating his cereal. “Uh huh.”   Nora takes a seat. “What are you doing up so early?”   “Blake said I could help him with the horses today. I’m headed to the barn.”   “Just be careful. Those horses are big!”   He rolls his eyes. “I’ll be fine, Mom.”   She takes a sip of her coffee. “Your horse is beautiful.”   “She’s terrific. I named her Spunky.”   Nora smiles. “Why’s that?”   “When I tried to touch her face, she pushed me away.”   “Sounds a little temperamental to me.”   “I like that she has spunk. She was cool when I walked her later. I think I just have to win her over.”   “Well, make sure she's won over before you hop on her back.”   Bo walks into the room, stopping to kiss Nora on his way to pour himself a cup of coffee. “Hey, Matt. What’s on your agenda today?”   Matt gets up. “I’m helping Blake.” He kisses Nora on the cheek. “I’ll see you guys later.”   “Have fun, sweetie.”   Bo sits beside Nora as Stefi comes out of the kitchen. “You’re up. I’m so sorry breakfast isn’t ready…”   Nora smiles. "Don't worry about it, Stefi. You don’t have to wait on us. I can make our breakfast.”   Bo grins. “Don’t let her anywhere near the kitchen, Stefi!”   Nora swats him on the arm. “Hey! I can handle an egg or a waffle.”   He kisses her. “Only if it’s frozen.”   Stefi looks at them, confused. “Grandpa said I should make sure you have a good breakfast. Mrs. Soliz is sick so I’m filling in.”   Bo smiles at her. “It’s okay, Stefi. It’s a private joke.”   “Pay no attention to him. And don’t worry about cooking for us. We can manage on our own.”   “If you say so.” Stefi disappears back into the kitchen as Nora turns to Bo. “What are you up to this early, Cowboy?”   “Chuck and I are going to ride out to the east pasture and check on the fences. It looks like some of the cattle are missing and they have to be getting out somewhere. How ‘bout you?”   “I’ve got a copy of the latest crime novel with my name on it. I’ll be by the pool.”   “Sounds like fun.”   She looks at him seriously. “When are you going to take Matt driving?”   He sighs. “Soon, honey. He’s got his hands full with the horse right now. That should keep his mind off driving for the time being.”   “Don’t put it off, Bo. He really wants you to teach him.”   He nods, leaning in to kiss her. “I will. I promise.”   “And you’ll discuss that other matter?”   “Of course I will.”   She kisses him. “Thank you. Now go do your cowpoke stuff so we can spend some time together later.”   “Yes, Ma’am.” He leans in to kiss her. “Have a good day, honey.”   Rex is watching Lauren sleep in his arms. He lifts the cover to stare at her belly, trying to figure out if it’s gotten bigger and he just didn’t notice. She opens one eye and grins at him. “What are you doing?”   He quickly drops the cover. “Nothing.”   “You were peeking at my belly.”   “No, I wasn’t,” he says innocently.   “I totally busted you, Rex. Are you trying to figure out how soon I’ll look like a beached whale?”   He pulls her close. “Of course not. This whole thing is so new to me… I have a million questions. When do you see the doctor next? I want to go…”   She smiles at him. “Slow down, Rex. Now that you know, I want you involved in every second of this. I have a checkup with Dr. Conklin next week.”   “Is this doctor the best? I want you to have someone who knows what they’re doing.”   “Yes, she’s the best in Llanview. She was Nora’s doctor for Matthew.”   He nods. “Okay, that’s good. Not that I’m anticipating trouble, it’s just that I’m sure we’ll have plenty to worry about without wondering about the doctor…”   She silences him with a kiss. “You’re a nut. Who knew you could be this neurotic?”   “Wait until Bo gets back. I’m going to have a million questions for him.”   “We were supposed to call them, remember?”   He leans down to kiss her. “Yeah, that can wait. This can’t…” He pulls her on top of him and all thoughts of calling Bo are put out of their minds.   Matt walks into the barn, searching for Blake. He sees him at the end of the barn talking to Sully. Matt walks up to them and stands behind Blake, not wanting to interrupt their conversation. Sully looks over Blake’s shoulder and sees Matthew. “Oh, I suppose because you’re the owner’s kin, you get special treatment, huh?”   Matt shakes his head. “No, Sir. I don’t need special treatment. I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”   Sully points at Blake. “He’s supposed to ride out and help us with roundup today but he wants to stay here and babysit you.”   “Maybe I could ride out too.”   Blake turns to him, shaking his head. “You’re not ready for that, Matt. Not even with Spunky. She needs to get used to you and I don’t think you’re expert enough at riding for a roundup.”   Matt shrugs. “I could try.”   “No.” Blake turns to Sully. “Grandpa told me to help Matt with riding Spunky today. You got a problem with that, take it up with him.”   Sully glares at him. “I don’t take orders from some snot-nosed kid.”   Blake grins at him. “I’d love to see you call my grandpa that. I didn’t give the order, he did.”   “Never mind. We’re better off without you anyway. Make sure you at least clean out the stalls while you’re here.” He stalks off, muttering to himself as Blake turns back to Matthew. “I told you it’s not cool to piss him off.”   “And how. I’m sorry you got assigned to babysitting me. I’m sure you’d much rather be riding roundup.”   “It’s no sweat. I’d like to get you up on Spunky to see how good you are and then I can tell how much I need to teach you.”   “My grandpa lets me ride his horses in Pennsylvania but I don’t ride very often. I know the basics and Grandpa says I’m a natural.”   Blake nods. “That’s good. If you help me clean the stalls, we can take Spunky out to the pen and see how you do.”   “Cool.”   Rex and Lauren are lounging in bed, finishing the last bites of leftover pizza. He grins at her. “I guess your appetite is back?”   “Yes. And now that the nausea seems to be fading, I’m ravenous.”   He chuckles. “I see that. As long as the puking is over, I guess it’s a good thing.”   She sets aside her plate. “We really should get up and get moving. We have so much to do! I have to call my parents and Marcie and you have to call Bo…” She stops when she sees him shaking his head. “You don’t want to tell the Buchanans? Why not?”   “I have a better idea.”   “Better than telling them we’re engaged and having a baby? I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want them to know. Are you ashamed?”   He rolls his eyes. “Of course not. It’s just that this is such big news that I don’t want to tell people, I want to show them. How would you feel about a little trip down to the ranch?”   Lauren nods slowly. “Well, Nora did make the ranch sound amazing and if she’s down there, there has to be some redeeming qualities to it.”   “Are you up for it?”   “I’m sure it’s too early in the pregnancy for travel to be restricted but I’ll call Dr. Conklin and ask, just to be on the safe side.”   “Perfect! We have a plan.”   Nora is lounging by the pool reading a book when Bo walks up to her. “Hi, Red. Enjoying yourself?”   She closes her book. “I am. The weather is perfect. How are the fences?”   Bo shrugs as he sits beside her. “They need fixing. Chuck and I will take a team out next week after we get the new Jeep.”   “Want to go for a swim?”   He shakes his head. “Not right now. I saw Matt down at the stables. He looks good up on his horse.”   Nora sighs. “I can’t watch. I imagine all the bad things that can happen and I want to tell him to stop, but I know I can’t.”   He leans in and kisses her. “He’ll be fine, Red. You’re doing the right thing just letting him be.”   “I thought so. So if I can’t worry about one of the boys, I can worry about the other one. Has Rex called you yet?” He shakes his head. “Call him.”   “He’s a grown man, Nora. He doesn’t need to report in to us.”   “What if she said no and he’s depressed?”   Bo shakes his head. “I doubt that’s what happened.”   “But you don’t know because we haven’t heard.” She holds out her hand. “Give me your cell.”   “Honey, I don’t think…”   “Hand it over.” He reluctantly slips the phone out of his pocket and drops it in her hand. She leans forward and kisses him on the cheek. “Thank you.”   “It’s speed dial 4.”   She hits the button and puts the phone to her ear, grabbing Bo’s hand and smiling at him as she waits for him to pick up. “Hi, Rex. It’s Nora.”   Rex smiles at Lauren. “Mrs. B! How’s ranch life treating you?”   “The ranch is beautiful. How are you?”   He winks at Lauren. “I’m good.”   “Just good?”   “Yeah. Good.”   Nora is exasperated. “Rex! What happened with Lauren?”   Lauren is shaking her head at him as he teases Nora. “Is Bo around?”   Nora is puzzled. “Yes, he’s sitting right here.”   “Let me talk to him.”   She puts her hand over the phone. “He wants to talk to you. That can’t be good. She must have turned him down.”   Bo takes the phone. “What’s up, Balsom?”   “Hey, partner. How goes it? Is Nora bored already?”   Bo can hear Rex’s teasing tone. “You know how she is. I put her off as long as I could. Any news?”   Rex takes Lauren’s hand and kisses her ring. “Actually, yes. Lauren and I would like to take a trip down to the ranch and see this Buchanan spread for ourselves. What do you say?”   Bo is surprised. “You want to come to the ranch?” Nora gives him a questioning look and he shrugs. “Don’t you have cases?” Nora swats him on the arm. “Hold on.” He puts his hand over the phone. “What, Red?”   “Bo, maybe he wants to get away because Lauren turned him down.”   “He said Lauren too.”   “Well, that makes no sense. Why won’t he just tell us what happened?”   “Maybe if you let me talk to him, I could find out.” She glares at him as he puts the phone back to his ear. “When are you planning to come down?”   “As soon as possible.”   “Well, Asa is planning to come down end of the week. You could hitch a ride on the plane with him.”   Rex looks at Lauren. “End of the week?” She nods. “Yeah, we can do that. It will give me a chance to wrap my cases and Lauren can talk to John about some time off.”   “Sounds good. I’ll call Asa and make arrangements.”   “Thanks, partner.”   “You sure you don’t want to tell me what this is about?”   Rex grins at Lauren. “We’re sure. We’ll talk when we get there. Tell Mrs. B I’m still waiting for those pictures of her on a horse.”   Bo laughs. “Keep waiting. See ya, Balsom. Say hi to Lauren for me.” He snaps the phone shut and turns to face Nora. “They’re coming down with Asa.”   “What’s the big mystery?”   Bo shrugs. “Not sure. I guess we’ll find out when they get here.”   TBC