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- As Things Change
- Part XXVIII
Bo walks up behind Nora. “What was that?”
-
- “Matthew was upstairs
with the kids and Rachel. He came down here and ran out the door.”
-
- She closes the door and sees
Rachel, Kallie and Stevie enter the living room. Nora walks up
to them. “What happened with Matthew?”
-
- Kallie shakes her head. “I’m
so sorry, Mrs. Buchanan. I said something that upset him.”
-
- “What?”
-
- Rachel sighs. “I don’t
think it was anything Kallie said. The kids were reminiscing
about Asa and Matthew got upset.”
-
- Nora turns to her husband.
“Bo?”
-
- He puts his arm around her
waist. “Let’s give him some space for now. Then I’ll
talk to him. It’s been an overwhelming day.”
-
- Nora turns to the kids. “Thank
you so much for coming. I’m sure Matthew is happy you were
here.”
-
- Stevie waves her off. “It’s
cool, Mrs. Buchanan. Tell Matt I’ll call him tomorrow.”
-
- Nora hugs him. “Thanks
for understanding.”
-
- Kallie nods. “We’re
his friends and he needs us right now, whether he admits it or
not. I’ll call him too.”
-
- Nora takes Kallie’s
hand. “Keep calling. He needs to stay in touch with his
friends.”
-
- “I will. I have to get
to work, but tell Matthew I’m sorry for what I said.”
-
- Rachel turns to Kallie. “I’ll
walk you out.”
-
- Stevie follows them out as
Nora turns to Bo. “We have to do something.”
-
- He pulls her close. “I
know. We will.”
-
- Matthew makes his way into
the stables. He opens one of the stalls, startling the horse
inside. “Don’t worry, buddy. I just need a place to
hide, I won’t bug you.” He takes a seat in the corner
of the stall. The horse walks up and nuzzles him, sniffing happily
when Matthew absently scratches her face.
-
- Bo walks into the study where
Rex and Nigel are huddled in the corner. Nigel turns to him.
“Can I get something for you, Sir?”
-
- Bo gives him a small smile.
“You’re off duty today, Nigel. I just wanted to escape
somewhere quiet.”
-
- Rex hands him a glass of
bourbon. “We’re celebrating with the good stuff.”
-
- Bo takes the glass. “He
would be hopping mad if he could see us.”
-
- Rex holds up his glass. “Maybe
he can. Here’s to you, big guy!”
-
- Nigel takes a sip. “Actually,
this is my stash. Mr. Buchanan always gave me a bottle to keep
me quiet about the deliveries. Bourbon isn’t really my drink
but I didn’t want to be disrespectful.”
-
- Bo chuckles. “You had
the patience of a saint with the old man.”
-
- “He was a kind man.
He just didn’t always show it.”
-
- “Try never.”
-
- Rex shakes his head. “That’s
not true. When I came over here to talk to him about Lauren,
he was cool.”
-
- Bo looks at him oddly. “What
about Lauren?”
-
- Rex downs the rest of his
drink. “I need a refill, Nige.”
-
- Nigel refills his glass as
Bo continues to look at him. “What about Lauren, Balsom?”
-
- Rex shakes his head. “It’s
nothing. Listen, I don’t want you to worry about the office.
I have everything under control so if you want to take a few
days…”
-
- Bo sighs. “I think I
need to. Matthew is shutting everyone out and I just don’t
know what’s going on with him. He was loving the ranch and
was so excited to show Asa what he learned. He’s having
a rough time with the suddenness of this.”
-
- Nigel goes to the desk, pulls
open a drawer and extracts an envelope. “Perhaps this could
help. Mr. Buchanan intended to give this to young Matthew this
summer. I’m sure he would still want him to have it.”
-
- Bo takes the envelope. “What
is this?”
-
- “Open it later. You’ll
understand, Sir.”
-
- Bo slides the envelope into
his jacket pocket. “Thanks, Nigel. I’ll take any help
I can get right now when it comes to my son.”
-
- Hank pokes his head in the
doorway. “Is this a private party?”
-
- Bo smiles. “Hank, come
on in.” He walks over and hugs his old friend. “Thanks
for coming. It’s good to see you.”
-
- Hank claps him on the back.
“Your old man was one of a kind. I wanted to be here for
you and Nora.”
-
- “It’s great to
see old friends. I just wish this wasn’t the occasion.”
-
- Rex hands Hank a glass of
bourbon. “He sure knew his liquor.”
-
- Hank takes the glass. “Thanks.
Do I know you?”
-
- Bo grins. “Sure, Hank.
You met Rex at the wedding, remember?”
-
- Hank chuckles. “Right…
You’re the PI partner. I’ve heard about you from Rachel.”
-
- Rex rolls his eyes. “You
can’t listen to her. She tried to poison me once so we’re
not exactly friends.”
-
- Hank laughs. “Rachel
said she liked you. And she spoke very highly of your girlfriend,
too.”
-
- Rex grins. “It’s
hard not to like Lauren. She’s terrific.”
-
- Bo smiles at Hank. “They
just got engaged. You have to excuse his gushing.”
-
- Hank holds out his hand.
“Congratulations. I hear you’ve been a big help to
Bo on some cases?”
-
- Rex nods with a grin. “We’re
like Batman and Robin, right partner?”
-
- Bo sighs. “Something
like that… His help comes in handy occasionally.”
-
- “Speaking of help, Lauren
and I can bring dinner this week?”
-
- Bo nods. “That sounds
good. Nora’s not much of a cook on a good day...”
-
- “I remember. Lauren
is an excellent cook. Lucky me!”
-
- Bo rolls his eyes. “Where
is Lauren? I haven’t seen her today.”
-
- “She’s a little
under the weather, so she’s at home resting.”
-
- “Is she okay? She was
sick before we left too.”
-
- Rex shakes his head. “She’s
fine. Just a little tired. I’m going to head home and check
on her.” He turns to Hank. “Good to see you again.”
-
- Hank nods. “Same here.”
-
- Rex shakes hands with Nigel.
“Thanks for the bourbon, buddy. Take care of yourself.”
-
- Bo walks out with him. “Thanks
for everything, Balsom.”
-
- “No problem, partner.
Take care of your family.”
-
- “You do the same with
Lauren. Bye.”
-
- Nora is staring out the windows
into the yard where Matthew disappeared. Rachel comes up behind
her. “He’ll be fine, Mom.”
-
- Nora turns to her with tears
in her eyes. “He’s my baby. And I can’t help him.
He won’t let me in.”
-
- Rachel hugs her. “Oh,
Mom. He’s a teenager. It’s perfectly normal for him
to have a hard time expressing his emotions.”
-
- Nora nods. “He’s
just like his father. That’s what scares me…”
-
- “You’re thinking
about Drew.”
-
- “I can’t help it.
Look what happened when Drew died. Bo pulled away and I reacted
badly and it destroyed us.”
-
- “But you got it all
back. And Bo’s not withdrawing, is he?”
-
- Nora shakes her head. “No.
He’s being patient and understanding with Matthew. He wants
to give him time.”
-
- “And you don’t
think that’s a good idea?”
-
- “Not if Matthew uses
it to pull away from us! I will do everything I can to hold onto
him. I won’t let this family fall apart.”
-
- Bo walks up to them. “Who
said anything about us falling apart?”
-
- Rachel kisses him on the
cheek. “I’m going to let you two talk. I’ll go
see if I can find my little brother.” She turns to Nora.
“I have a rental car. Why don’t I bring Matthew home
and you two can have some time to yourselves?”
-
- Bo opens the door for her.
“Thanks, Rach.” He closes the door and turns to Nora.
“What’s going on, Red?”
-
- She shakes her head. “It’s
nothing.”
-
- “No, it’s something.
Why do you think we’re falling apart?” She looks away,
not responding. “Hey. This is about Drew, isn’t it?”
He puts his hand on her cheek and turns her to face him. “This
situation is nothing like before.”
-
- “My mind knows that
but I just can’t help this feeling of dread…”
-
- “Honey, there is no
one lurking in the shadows trying to take me away from you. I
love you. We have a solid relationship with none of the problems
we were having when Drew died.”
-
- Nora looks unconvinced. “I
guess…”
-
- “And you’re not
going to try to get pregnant again, are you?”
-
- She frowns at him. “Hardly.
That ship has definitely sailed.”
-
- He takes her in his arms.
“See. There's no comparison. I will miss Asa and I am a
little stunned by his sudden death, but he had a long life. And
a good one, as far as I can tell. I wish Matt had been given
the chance to say goodbye but that’s how these things go
sometimes.”
-
- “I know you’re
right. I’m just scared, that’s all. I believe in us.
I do. It’s just that I see my son pulling away from me and
it brings me right back there…”
-
- He kisses her gently. “I
know. And I’m sorry I put you through that. I’m sorry
for everything that went wrong back then. But since we got back
together, we’ve concentrated on looking forward, not rehashing
the past. I want to do that now too.”
-
- She nods. “I’ll
try. I’m sorry.”
-
- “Hey, don’t be
sorry. I don’t want you to be afraid to tell me how you’re
feeling. But I want to make it perfectly clear this is a totally
different situation. My sole focus right now is on you and our
son. His well-being is my top priority. And I know it’s
yours. He’s having a hard time with this and he needs all
of our attention. But I want you to know that I’m here for
you too. I’m not going anywhere, okay?”
-
- Nora gives him a small smile.
“Thanks. I needed to hear that.”
-
- He kisses her. “Let’s
find Renee and say our goodbyes and head home.”
-
- Rachel walks into the stables,
standing at the entrance. “Matthew! I know you’re probably
in here. Don’t make me look through every stall.”
-
- Matthew sighs as he gets
up and walks out of his hiding place. “I’m down here,
Rach.”
-
- She makes her way down to
him, watching her step to make sure the path is clear of any
surprises. “I figured you would be hiding out with the horses.”
-
- He takes a seat back in the
corner. “Too many people up there. I just needed to be by
myself.”
-
- Rachel pulls over a stool
and sits beside him, eyeing the horse warily. “She’s
okay with us being in here?”
-
- Matt grins. “Yeah, she’s
cool. If she comes by you, just scratch her face – she likes
that.”
-
- She reaches up to scratch
the horse when she approaches. “Did you learn that on the
ranch?”
-
- “Yeah, Blake taught
me a lot.”
-
- “Who’s Blake?”
-
- “Chuck’s grandson.
He works on the ranch now. He’s just a little older than
me, so we hung out.”
-
- “That’s nice that
you had someone your age to show you the ropes.”
-
- “He’s nice. Everyone
was nice. Well, except maybe Sully. He yelled a lot – he
reminded me of Grandpa.”
-
- “I’m glad you enjoyed
your time on the ranch. Is that why you’re so quiet now?
You miss the ranch?”
-
- Matt shakes his head. “I
wish we were still there but that’s not why I don’t
want to talk to anyone.”
-
- “Care to share the reason
then?”
-
- He shrugs. “I’m
not sure how to explain it.”
-
- Rachel turns to him. “I’m
listening. Just tell me what you’re thinking.”
-
- He finally looks at her.
“It’s hard, Rachel. Knowing I’ll never see Grandpa
again or get to talk to him. It seems strange. He was going to
come down to the ranch so I could show him everything I’d
learned and he could see me ride Spunky…”
-
- “Spunky?”
-
- Matt grins. “Yeah, that’s
what I named my horse. Grandpa picked her out for me and he was
right – she’s amazing. I was riding her in a roundup
when I got called back because of Grandpa. I never got to tell
him he was right about my horse…”
-
- “I’m sure Asa would
have been proud to see you riding her. He always had a love for
horses.”
-
- “Even Sully said I was
a natural like Grandpa. I really wanted him to see me ride her.”
-
- “But he saw you ride
his other horses here, didn’t he? I’m sure he knew
how good your riding skills are.”
-
- He shrugs. “I guess.
But I got so much better on the ranch because we rode every day
and there was so much space. The ranch is awesome.”
-
- Rachel smiles. “I guess
that’s why Asa always bragged about his spread in Texas.”
-
- “For once, he wasn’t
exaggerating.”
-
- “It’s good that
you have so many memories of Asa. Even if you didn’t get
to show him how well you ride, you spent plenty of time with
him…”
-
- Matt gets up abruptly. “I’m
going back inside…”
-
- Rachel stands and grabs his
arm. “What’s wrong? Did I say something that upset
you?”
-
- “No, Rach. I just gotta
go inside. Mom and Dad are probably looking for me…”
-
- “No, they’re not.
I told them I would bring you home.”
-
- “Then can we leave?
I really just want to go home.”
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