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As Things Change - Part XXV Bo and Nora are sitting in the living room, silently watching the rain fall in the garden beyond the patio, glancing occasionally at the clock on the mantle as they wait for their son to return. They look at each other when they hear the front door open. Nora squeezes his hand as they stand together. “Mom! Dad! Where are you guys?”   Matt dumps his gear in the foyer and goes in search of his parents. He walks into the living room and sees them standing beside the couch. “Where’s the fire? I was having fun out with the guys and you drag me back here…” He stops as he approaches and sees the looks on his parents’ faces. “What happened?”   Nora looks to Bo, waiting for him to speak first. Matthew stares at his mother. “Did you two have a fight…”   Nora shakes her head quickly. “No, sweetie. It’s nothing like that.”   “I can see you’re upset. You sounded freaked out on the phone. What is it? Dad?”   Bo takes a deep breath. “Maybe you should sit down, son.”   “No. You’re scaring me. What’s going on with you guys?”   Bo walks toward him. “It’s not us, son. This is about your grandpa.”   “What about him? I guess he’s not here yet because of the storm, right?”   “No. That’s not why he’s not here.” Nora walks up beside Bo, putting her arm around his waist as he takes another deep breath. “Grandpa had a heart attack…”   “Oh, so he’s in the hospital. I guess we better head back to Llanview.”   Bo looks directly at his son. “Grandpa didn’t make it this time. He died, Matthew.”   He backs away from his father, slowly shaking his head. “No, that’s not possible. He was coming down to the ranch.”   Nora moves toward him. “It’s true, Matthew. Renee called earlier this afternoon, right before I called you.”   “No, the lines were bad. I could barely hear you. Maybe you misunderstood.”   Bo shakes his head. “I spoke to Renee a little while ago when the lines were better. He was working in his study. Nigel found him when he went to tell him it was time to leave for the airport.”   Nora takes Matthew in her arms. “I know this must be a shock for you, sweetie.”   He moves out of her embrace, shaking his head. “Grandpa can’t be dead. He was coming down to the ranch. He…”   Bo moves toward Matt but he backs away. “We know how hard this is for you.”   “I’m going to my room.” Matt turns and leaves the room. Nora goes to follow him but Bo holds her arm. “Let him go, honey. He just needs a little space.”   Nora turns and puts her arms around him. “He’s going to need us, Bo,” she whispers.   He pulls her close. “I know. I’ll talk to him. Let’s just give him some time to process this.”   She kisses his cheek. “You’re right. Are you hungry? I could make us something?”   He smiles at her sadly. “Sure. Thanks, honey.”   Matt slams into his room and angrily pushes open the door to the balcony, stepping out in the rain to stare out at the ranch. He thinks maybe the water will wake him from this nightmare. It has to be a nightmare. His grandpa can’t be dead. He hears his cell phone chime and ignores it.   Rex tries Bo’s cell again but can’t get through. He tosses the phone on the sofa in frustration. Lauren takes his hand, pulling him down beside her. “That’s not going to make the signal any better.”   “I know but I have to do something. It sucks that I can’t get through and talk to them. Maybe I should call Nigel and get the ranch number.”   Lauren leans her head on his shoulder. “I’m sure they have plenty on their plate right now.”   “That’s why I should be helping them. There must be something I can do.”   “If you can’t get through to them by morning, we’ll call Nigel. How’s that?”   He reluctantly shrugs. “I guess so.”   Matt walks back in from the balcony, pulling off his wet shirt. He hears his cell chirp, notifying him of a message. He digs his phone out of his pocket, flipping it open to check the message. He sees it’s from Kallie and plays back the message. “Hey, Matt. I heard about your grandpa. I’m sorry. Call me.” He flips the phone shut, tosses it on the nightstand and makes his way to the bathroom, turning on the hot water.   Bo knocks softly on Matt’s door, pushing it open when he gets no response. He hears the water running in the shower and pulls the door closed again. He makes his way back to the kitchen. Nora is putting the finishing touches on a plate of sandwiches. Bo takes a seat on a stool. “Matt’s taking a shower.”   “I hope he comes down later. I worry if he shuts himself off by himself…”   Bo grabs a sandwich off the plate. “I know. Like father, like son.”   “I didn’t mean it like that.”   “It’s okay, Red. It’s natural that’s where your thoughts would go.” Nora continues putting together more sandwiches. “Honey, I think you’ve got enough food for now.”   Nora looks at the stack of sandwiches on the plate. “Who would think when I’m worried I cook. Well, not so much cooking as putting together…”   Bo gives her a slight smile. “You do what you can.”   “Yeah.” She grabs a couple of the sandwiches and sets them on a plate, adding a bag of chips beside them. She grabs a soda out of the fridge. “I think I’ll take these up to Matt. He’s probably hungry after his long trip back.”   “I’m going to go down to the stables to talk to Chuck. I’ll see you in a bit.”   Nora walks upstairs with the plate, knocking softly on Matt’s door. She can hear the TV inside. When she gets no response, she pushes open the door and sees Matt sitting on the bed, punching the buttons on the remote. Nora walks into the room. “I brought you something to eat.”   He doesn’t look at her. “Thanks, Mom. Not really hungry right now.”   She sets the plate and soda on the nightstand. “How are you, sweetie?”   “I’m fine.”   She sits on the bed beside him. “Matthew, look at me.” He looks in her eyes. “Talk to me, sweetie.”   He shrugs. “Not much to say. Grandpa died. When is our flight tomorrow?”   “We’re on the first flight out so we need to be up early.”   “Fine. I’ll be ready.”   “That’s not what I want to talk about.”   He sighs. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Mom.”   Matt’s phone chimes and he ignores it. Nora glances at his cell. “It’s Stevie. Don’t you want to get that?”   “I’ll call him back.”   She picks up the plate and holds it out to him. “You really should eat something, Matthew.”   “I will. Just leave it on the table.”   Nora reluctantly sets the plate down. “Okay.” She puts her hand on his face, turning him to look at her. “I love you, Matthew. I know this is hard but your father and I will help you through this. You just have to let us.”   “I know, Mom.”   She leans in and kisses his cheek. “Okay. You come downstairs when you’re ready.”   She gets up and walks to the door, turning to look at him as she leaves the room. Matthew continues changing the channel on the TV until he gives up and turns it off. He tosses the remote on the bed and reaches for his phone. He listens to Stevie’s message. “Yo, Matt. It’s all over the news about your grandpa. I know you’ll be coming back. Call me.”   Nora picks up the phone in the living room. “Buchanan residence.”   “Nora, I’m so glad to reach you. How are you?”   She sits on the sofa with a sigh. “Viki. It’s so good to hear your voice. We’re all in shock. I can’t believe Asa is gone.”   “I know. Clint is trying to reach our kids and get them back here for the service. Renee told me about the weather down your way. Are you going to be able to get out?”   “We’re on a commercial flight in the morning. The pilot couldn’t get Asa’s plane down here. But the storms seem to have moved out so we should get out in the morning.”   “Do you need someone to pick you up?”   “No, thank you, Viki. I’m sure Bo has made arrangements with Nigel.”   “How is Bo taking this?”   “So far, he seems okay. It’s Matthew who seems to be shutting down. I’m hoping he’ll talk to us tomorrow but he’s not saying much right now.”   “It’s a lot to process for a boy his age – and he adored Asa.”   “Yeah, he did. He’s been waiting to show Asa his riding skills when he came down.”   “I’m sorry, Nora. I know you’ll help him as much as you can.”   “Yes, and Bo will too. I’m pretty confident of that.”   “Call me when you get in tomorrow.”   “I will. Take care, Viki.”   “You too. Goodbye.”   Nora hangs up and walks into the kitchen as Bo is returning from the barn. “How’s Matt?”   Nora walks into his arms. “He’s withdrawing, Bo. I can see it. And he won’t talk to me.”   “Let’s just give him some time, Red. This is a huge blow for him.”   “I know. I just want him to talk to me.” She pulls out of his arms. “Do you want me to make dinner?”   He shakes his head. “I’m not really hungry. The sandwiches were enough. We probably should turn in early anyway. We need to leave here at the crack of dawn to make our flight.”   They walk arm in arm up the stairs. Nora enters their room and Bo continues down the hall to Matt’s room. He knocks softly and pushes the door open. The lights are out and Matt is on the bed. “You turning in, son?”   “Yeah, I’m tired.”   “Okay. We need to be out by 5am to get our flight.”   “I’ll be ready.”   “See you in the morning.” Bo pulls the door closed and heads to his room. Nora watches him as he closes the door. “Did he say anything to you?”   “Not much. He said he’s tired.”   “Oh.”   He walks over and sits beside her on the bed. “I know what you’re thinking. Let’s just give him a little space and see how it goes.”   “If you think that’s best.”   “I do. For now…”   Matt waits until he doesn’t hear any noise from his parents’ room and he slips out of his bed, making his way down the stairs and out of the house. He heads down to the stables, stopping in front of Spunky’s empty stall. He walks inside and sits on the hay, wishing he could say goodbye to his horse before he has to leave the ranch, not knowing when he’ll get a chance to come back. He picks up the pitchfork and cleans the stall, just to have something to do. He makes his way to the end of the row of stalls, choosing a handful of apples from a barrel. He takes them back to Spunky’s stall and sets them in her food trough for her to find when she returns. He walks out of the stall, staring at her nameplate. “Bye, Spunky. Hope I get to see you again someday.” He makes his way back to the house and quietly returns to his room.   Bo is lying in bed, Nora’s head on his chest, listening to her rhythmic breathing. He watches her sleep for a while before gently easing out from under her and getting out of bed. He quietly pulls on his jeans and a shirt, making his way out of the room, down the stairs and out of the house.   A short time later, Nora shifts in the bed and reaches for Bo. When she is met with an empty bed, she rolls over and sits up, looking to see if he is still in the room. Discovering he is gone, she slides out of bed, finds a pair of shorts and a polo and quickly dresses. She walks down the hall and quietly pushes open Matthew’s door. Seeing he is in bed, she closes the door and makes her way downstairs, searching the rooms for Bo. When she doesn’t find him in the house, she grabs a jacket in the mud room and heads down to the stables. She peeks in one and finds it empty so she makes her way to the next one. She peers in and sees a figure standing in front of one of the stalls, scratching the head of one of the horses. She walks toward him. He looks her way when he sees her approach. “This was Asa’s favorite horse. She’s getting too old to be out riding these days, but she was a beauty in her day.” He continues stroking the horse’s head, the horse clearly enjoying the attention.   Nora smiles. “He did know his horses.”   “When we were kids, Asa would come down to the stables every spring and choose one of the colts to be his special project. He would work with that horse the entire season and damned if those weren’t the best horses every year.”   “That’s a beautiful memory, Bo. I happen to think Asa excelled in a lot of things. He was pretty good at business and he did a decent job raising a most exceptional son.”   Bo grins. “You’re kinda biased, honey.”   She puts her arms around him. “Maybe. I know you are your own man but there’s a lot of Asa in there too. I see it in the way you both treat Matthew. And I’m grateful every day that my son has the two of you to look up to.”   He smiles sadly. “And now it’s all on my shoulders.”   “I know you’re up to the challenge. We’ll get him through this – together.”   He pulls her close. “I’m not going to let you down – or him.”   “I never thought you would.” She leans up and kisses him. “We should try to get some sleep. It’s an early start in the morning.”   “I’m really not tired. You should get some rest.”   She shakes her head. “How about a glass of that wine we bought? We can toast Asa with a good Texas vintage.”   “I think he’d appreciate that.” He puts his arm around her waist and they walk out of the barn together.   Next morning… Bo and Nora are packed and ready to go, having stayed up all night drinking wine and reminiscing about Asa. Matt hasn’t slept much either. He’s all ready to go when Nora checks on him. They find Blake waiting in the foyer when they head downstairs. Blake holds his hat in his hands, speaking softly. “Grandpa asked me to take you folks to DFW.” He holds out his hand to Nora. “Let me take your bag.”   Bo shakes his head as Nora gives him the suitcase. “You don’t have to drive us, Blake.”   He shakes his head. “It’s no trouble. I’m really sorry about Mr. Buchanan. We’re really going to miss him around here.”   Nora smiles at him. “Thank you, Blake. And we really appreciate the ride.”   “Yes, Ma’am.” He puts his hat back on and makes his way out to the Jeep. When the luggage is loaded, Matt hops in the back seat. Nora decides to get some juice for the trip and Bo wants to leave a note for Chuck before they depart. Blake climbs into the driver’s seat and looks in the mirror at Matt. “I’m sorry about your grandpa, Matt. I know you really wanted him to see you ride.”   Matt shrugs. “It’s no big deal.”   Blake frowns. “Of course it’s a big deal. No shame in admitting it.”   “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not talk about it.”   Blake nods. “If that’s how you want it. I’ll take good care of Spunky for you. She’ll be here when you come back down.”   “Thanks. I doubt we’ll be back anytime soon. It took us years to get here in the first place.”   “Maybe. But now that you’ve seen what you’re missing, I hope you come back soon.” Blake holds out a piece of paper to Matt. “Here’s my cell number, if you’d like to talk or if you just want to know how Spunky’s doing.”   Matt takes the note. “Thanks, Blake. I really appreciate everything you did for me… It was cool having someone my age to hang out with.”   Blake nods. “Same for me. That’s why I hope you’ll stay in touch and come back soon.”   Matt pockets the slip of paper as Bo pulls open Nora’s door and she climbs in. He closes her door and climbs in the front beside Blake. Nora hands Matthew a bottle of juice. Blake puts the Jeep in drive and makes his way down the long driveway toward the highway. Matt stares out the window, taking one last look at the ranch he’s grown to love in the short time they’ve been there, knowing it would never be the same again.   TBC