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- As Things Change
- Part XVIII
Matt has been shadowing Blake at the ranch, enjoying having someone
his own age to hang with while Bo works with Chuck. Nora is spending
her time by the pool or taking walks in the gardens. She has
avoided the stables and any ideas of her riding a horse. Matt
brags about his proficiency on Spunky so she feels better about
allowing him out of her sight.
-
- Bo walks into the living
room late in the afternoon, drinking a glass of sweet tea. He
finds Matthew sitting in a chair listening to his iPod. “Where’s
Mom?”
-
- “She went to the store
with Stefi. Mrs. Soliz is supposed to be back tomorrow so Mom
didn’t want her to find an empty fridge.”
-
- “Good thinking. She’s
very protective of ‘her’ kitchen so she’d probably
relapse if she finds out Mom was in there.”
-
- Matt laughs. “Stefi
has done a good job of keeping Mom out.”
-
- “Wise move. So, what
are you up to today?”
-
- Matt shrugs. “Blake
went off with a crew to the west pasture.”
-
- Bo sits in the chair opposite
Matthew. “And you weren’t invited?”
-
- “Just didn’t feel
like going out today.”
-
- “Bored with ranching
life already?”
-
- “Not really. I thought
I would try out the pool. Mom seems to like it.”
-
- “So you wouldn’t
be up for a little driving lesson?”
-
- Matt drops his iPod. “For
real? You’ll take me out?”
-
- Bo nods with a smile. “I’ve
got Asa’s old Jeep gassed up and ready.” He tosses
the keys to Matt. “Show me what you got.”
-
- Matt jumps off the couch.
“Let’s go before you change your mind.”
-
- Marcie knocks softly on Andrew’s
door. He motions her in and sets down his pen. “Hi, Marcie.
How are you?”
-
- She takes a seat in front
of his desk. “I’m good. Great, actually. I wanted to
make an appointment with you to meet with Michael.”
-
- “Any particular reason?”
-
- “We’re interested
in adoption.”
-
- “That’s terrific.
You and Michael will make wonderful parents.”
-
- “You really think so?”
-
- “Of course. When would
you like to meet?”
-
- “As soon as possible…
If you have time.”
-
- He opens his calendar. “Okay,
I have openings tomorrow? Morning or afternoon?”
-
- “Morning. Michael has
the day off and I’d like him to meet Miki soon.”
-
- Andrew is surprised. “You’re
thinking of adopting Miki?”
-
- Marcie nods. “That’s
what we discussed. Is that okay? I mean, you haven’t found
another home for her, have you?”
-
- “No, no. I just…
Nora said you were interested in adopting a baby. She never mentioned
Miki.”
-
- “Oh… Well, maybe
I didn’t make it clear to her. We would qualify to adopt
her, wouldn’t we?”
-
- Andrew smiles. “Of course,
Marcie. I’m thrilled that you would consider adopting her.
She’s a terrific little girl.”
-
- “I think so too. Will
she be here at the Center tomorrow?”
-
- He nods. “Her foster
mother has a new job so she’s enrolled in daycare here.”
-
- “That’s perfect.
I can get to know her when I volunteer.”
-
- Andrew nods. “That’s
a great idea.” He glances at his watch. “If you’ll
excuse me, I’m sorry to cut you off but I have a meeting.”
-
- Marcie jumps up. “Of
course. Thank you so much for fitting us in tomorrow. I know
Michael is excited to talk to you. See you later.” Andrew
waves as she hurries out of the office. Her cell phone rings
and she digs it out of her purse. “Hello.”
-
- “Hey Marcie.”
-
- “Lauren! Are you all
right? Where have you been? I tried all weekend to get in touch
with you. What happened with Rex?”
-
- Lauren laughs. “Slow
down, Marcie. I’m fine. Rex is fine.”
-
- “What happened when
you went home?”
-
- “We talked…”
-
- “And?”
-
- “And we worked it out.
We’d like to have dinner with you and Michael tonight. Are
you free?”
-
- “Michael is coming back
from Harrisburg. If you could make it a late dinner, we could
meet you.”
-
- “That’s fine. How
about Rodi’s?”
-
- “That’s good for
us. Are you going to tell me what happened?”
-
- “I’ll tell you
all about it tonight. See you.”
-
- Marcie frowns as she snaps
her phone shut. “Hope that means good news…”
-
- Matt is navigating along
the back roads of Asa’s ranch, Bo watching his every move.
Matt has a tight grip on the wheel, concentrating on the road,
trying not to go too fast. Bo smiles. “Relax, Matt. You
don’t need a death grip on the wheel. Take a deep breath.”
-
- He sighs. “I just don’t
want to screw up so I have to wait another year before you take
me out again.”
-
- “I’m not as bad
as all that.”
-
- Matt glances at him with
a frown. “Yeah, Dad, you are.”
-
- “Well, I’m much
more comfortable with you behind the wheel of Asa’s old
Jeep in the back fields of Texas than I would be in Llanview
with my new Jeep. You’re doing fine.”
-
- Matt relaxes a little. “Thanks.
So how come you’re suddenly okay with me driving?”
-
- “I’m not ‘suddenly
okay’ with it, I told you we would drive and now we’re
driving.”
-
- “Dad, we were supposed
to drive back in Llanview.”
-
- Bo looks out the window.
“Well, I prefer the wide open spaces. You have to cut me
some slack. I never had to teach Drew to drive, so this is all
new to me.”
-
- “I forgot about that.
Sorry.”
-
- Bo smiles at his son. “Don’t
be sorry. Let’s just enjoy this experience.”
- He points to a sign. “Take
a right up here.”
-
- Matt hits his signal. “The
sign says that leads out to the highway?” Bo nods. “Are
you sure? I mean there’s real traffic on the highway.”
-
- “I’m aware of that.
I think you can handle it.”
-
- Matt smiles at him as he
makes a right hand turn and heads toward the highway. “Where
are we going?”
-
- “There’s a small
town about 5 miles up. You can practice on city streets. Not
much call for farm driving in Llanview, is there?”
-
- “Nope. This is sweet!”
Matt eases the Jeep onto the highway and accelerates.
-
- “Just keep an eye on
your speed. This isn’t my jurisdiction, so you’re on
your own if you get busted.”
-
- Nora walks into the kitchen,
her arms loaded with grocery bags. Stefi is right behind her.
“You don’t have to do that, Mrs. Buchanan. I can unload
the groceries. You’re not supposed to be working.”
-
- Nora sets the bags on the
counter. “It’s okay, Stefi. I’m happy to help.”
-
- She shakes her head. “Don’t
tell Mrs. Soliz you were in here. She freaks if anyone is in
her kitchen.”
-
- Nora laughs. “It’ll
be our secret. Would you like a glass of tea?”
-
- “Sure.” Stefi continues
putting away the groceries as Nora pours them both a tall glass
of sweet tea. Stefi joins her at the table. “Are you enjoying
the ranch?”
-
- “Yeah. It’s a beautiful
place.”
-
- “Not what you’re
used to, I guess?”
-
- “No, our house in Llanview
is definitely different from this place. I’m not much of
a green thumb so I enjoy getting out to the gardens and seeing
all the flowers.”
-
- “The ranch has lots
of places to explore.”
-
- “Yeah, Matt is loving
that.”
-
- Stefi looks at her shyly.
“He seems nice. Not stuck up or anything…”
-
- She stops and covers her
mouth. “I shouldn’t have said that. Sorry.”
-
- Nora smiles at her. “It’s
okay. We’ve never taught him that he’s anyone special
– except to Bo and me. Being a Buchanan in Llanview is different.
Asa may be bigger than life, but the rest of us are pretty normal.
At least we think we are…”
-
- Stefi smiles. “Yes,
Ma’am. It’s been fun having you here. When Mr. Buchanan
visits, he yells a lot. You folks are a lot quieter!”
-
- Nora laughs. “Thank
you. I’ll take that as a compliment.”
-
- Matthew is navigating the
narrow streets of the little town. Bo has him pull over and practice
parking between cars. When the Jeep is parked, Bo opens his door,
pointing to the nearby Dairy Queen. “How ‘bout dinner?”
-
- Matt shrugs. “Sounds
good to me.” He climbs out of the Jeep and joins Bo on the
sidewalk. “I’ve never tried this place before.”
-
- Bo smiles. “You are
in for a treat, my boy.”
-
- They enter the restaurant,
place their order and take a seat in a booth. Matt looks at Bo
with a sly grin. “So, I did okay. See, you were all worried
for nothing.”
-
- “Don’t get too
cocky. We haven’t tried parallel parking yet.”
-
- “We learned about that
in Driver’s Ed. It looks simple.”
-
- Bo chuckles. “Yeah,
we’ll see about that.”
-
- Matt looks at him cautiously.
“Can I ask you something?”
-
- “Sure. Anything.”
-
- “Do you really think
I’m not good enough to be a Buchanan?”
-
- Bo is taken aback. “Where
did that come from? Of course I don’t think that.”
-
- “I know how disappointed
you are that I keep screwing up. I’m not doing it on purpose.”
-
- Bo shakes his head. “Oh,
Matthew. I owe you an apology, son. I was mad the day we talked.
I certainly never meant to imply that you’re not fit to
be a Buchanan. Hell, I don’t even know what that means myself.”
-
- “It was really stupid
what happened with Raven.”
-
- Their food arrives at the
table. Bo takes a sip of his soda, staring intently at his son.
“She would never admit this, but I think you’re a lot
like Nora. You want to help people and don’t think they
have bad intentions. That’s one of the things I love most
about your mother so how could I resent that trait when it comes
to my son?”
-
- “But you think it makes
me a sap.”
-
- “I never said that.”
Bo takes a deep breath. “I just wish you would be better
about reaching out and letting people help YOU. You want to help
everyone else but you don’t want to ask for help. You get
that from your mother too.”
-
- Matt grins at him. “Mom
says I get that from you!”
-
- “Ha! She is mistaken.
But in all seriousness, never doubt that I am proud to call you
my son. Messing up is part of growing up. I forget that sometimes,
but that’s my fault, not yours. As Asa pointed out, I did
it too. Don’t beat yourself up about it, okay?”
-
- “Thanks, Dad.”
-
- “We both have a learning
curve here. As long as we keep talking, we can work through it
together. Deal?”
-
- Matt nods. “Deal.”
He decides it’s time for a change of topic. “Is it
true that Rex is coming down here with Grandpa?”
-
- “Yeah, I talked to Asa
this morning and he’s fine with it.”
-
- “Do you know why they’re
coming?”
-
- Bo shakes his head. “Not
a clue. I’m sure it has something to do with him proposing
to Lauren.”
-
- “You think she said
no?”
-
- “Given that she’s
coming with Rex, I doubt it. I don’t know what they’re
up to.”
-
- “Maybe they just want
a vacation.”
-
- “That’s possible.
Have you talked to Stevie about coming down?”
-
- Matt frowns. “He can’t.
His mom got his final grades and she’s threatening summer
tutoring. It’s no big deal. Blake is fun to hang out with.
And Stefi’s okay.”
-
- Bo takes a bite of his burger,
diving into the topic he’s been assigned by Nora. “So,
you want to explain this Raven thing to me?”
-
- Matt takes a long drink of
his soda. “I knew we were going to talk about this. Let’s
just say… It got a little out of hand…”
-
- “To say the least. Were
you interested in this girl?”
-
- “No. She’s this
goth chick who dresses in black – totally not my type.”
-
- “I see. And she seemed
to know exactly what button to push with you.”
- “What do you mean?”
-
- “She threatened to tell
Kallie you were sleeping with her as a way to get you to help
her.”
-
- Matt starts to squirm. “Yeah,
but I didn’t help her cheat even when she said that.”
-
- “But she thought you
would… How did she know that telling Kallie would bother
you?”
-
- “Dad, why are you questioning
me like I’m a perp?”
-
- Bo sits back with a grin.
“I’m not. Does it feel like that?”
-
- “Yeah.”
-
- “Am I making you nervous?”
-
- Matt rolls his eyes. “Just
ask what you’re really getting at. What did Mom tell you
to talk to me about? I know she’s behind this.”
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