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- As Things Change
- Part XXXVIII
One week later…
-
- Nora wakes slowly, opening
her eyes to see Bo smiling at her. “Mornin’ sleepyhead.”
-
- She stretches. “What
time is it?”
-
- “Almost 10.”
-
- She rolls over with a smile.
“Why did you let me sleep so late?”
-
- He props himself up on his
elbow. “Because we can. When was the last time it was this
quiet in the house and we have nothing pressing to do?”
-
- “That’s true. With
Matt away at camp, we don’t have to get up before noon if
we don’t want to.”
-
- “We should have sent
him to camp years ago.”
-
- She playfully swats him.
“That’s our son you’re talking about.”
-
- He grins as he pulls her
close. “I know and I love him but it’s nice to have
you all to myself for a week. Whatever will we do with all that
time?”
-
- She chuckles as she kisses
him. “I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
- She snuggles in beside him.
“It’s been a crazy week, hasn’t it? Rex’s
wedding and getting Matthew off to camp...”
-
- “It has been a whirlwind.”
-
- “But it was such a beautiful
wedding. Lauren was radiant and little Miki was adorable in her
flower girl dress. She’s such a cutie.”
-
- “I thought Marcie was
going to die of embarrassment when she ran up the aisle when
she saw you.”
-
- Nora smiles. “I can’t
help it if she likes me. She just wanted to show me her dress.”
-
- “If you say so…
I thought Balsom was going to pass out there for a minute.”
-
- “He was a bit nervous.”
-
- “A bit? He barely got
through the vows. I didn’t know his voice could go that
high.”
-
- She grins at him. “I
seem to remember someone being rather tongue-tied at our first
wedding too.”
-
- “Can you blame me? I
was marrying the love of my life. Of course I was nervous…”
-
- She rolls her eyes. “You
are so smooth...”
-
- He kisses her. “I mean
it. Even back then, I couldn’t believe my luck. Some days,
I still don’t.”
-
- She looks at him seriously.
“We have so much to be thankful for. Starting with our amazing
son. He looked so handsome up there in his tux.”
-
- Bo smiles. “Like father,
like son.”
-
- Nora cracks up. “You’re
too much, Buchanan. I can’t believe my baby boy is all grown
up.”
-
- Bo nods. “And taller
than both of us. Wonder where he gets that from?”
-
- “No idea. Must be your
side of the family. It is cute when he leans his elbow on your
shoulder…”
-
- Bo frowns. “It’s
pretty funny when he has to bend over to hug you, too.”
-
- “It’s not that
bad.”
-
- “If you say so.”
-
- “Did you see him dancing
with Kallie? We’re going to have to keep an eye on those
two. I don’t want to be a grandma any time soon.”
-
- “I talked to him at
the ranch, the rest is up to him.”
-
- “Why doesn’t that
make me feel any better?”
-
- “He’s a good kid,
honey. But he’s a teenager. We’ve done what we can
and now we just have to trust him to make good decisions. You
were the one who gave him permission for the bikini camp."
-
- "Ski camp. Now that
he's back with Kallie, I doubt he's going to jeopardize that
by fooling around at camp. That's one good thing about them getting
back together."
-
- "That's true. You've
done a good job loosening up a bit on him. He needs the freedom
to start finding his own way. We owe him that. And we did buy
him that car…”
-
- “Please don’t remind
me of that.”
-
- Bo decides it’s time
for a change of subject. “What’s on your agenda for
today?”
-
- She glances at the clock.
“I have a meeting with Andrew to discuss the adoption center.
How busy is your day? Maybe we could meet for lunch?”
-
- He shakes his head. “I
have to be at the office. Since Balsom is off on his honeymoon,
it’s my turn to mind the store.”
-
- “Okay, but you’re
not working late, are you?”
-
- “Nah. We’re not
that busy these days. I think Balsom has been turning people
away while I was out and he was preoccupied with the wedding
and Lauren’s cravings.”
-
- She climbs out of bed. “I’ve
got to get going. I’ll meet you back here tonight.”
-
- They both get dressed and
go their separate ways. Bo runs a few errands before heading
to the PI office. Nora goes to the Community Center for her meeting
with Andrew. He discusses his ideas for the adoption center and
gives Nora the name of a local architect to help her with some
building ideas. Nora calls the architect as she leaves Andrew’s
office and he agrees to meet her for coffee. She heads over to
the coffee shop, orders her favorite high octane and slips into
a booth to wait. A short while later the architect enters the
shop. He is a tall, handsome man, early 40s, carrying a leather
folder tucked under his arm. He waves to Nora as he goes to the
front to order. He gets his coffee and approaches the booth.
“Mrs. Buchanan? I’m Nathan Marshall,” he says
in a slow Southern drawl.
-
- “Nice to meet you. Please
call me Nora.”
-
- He slides into the booth
opposite her, flashing an easy smile. “Only if you call
me Nathan.”
-
- She smiles. “That’s
quite an accent you’ve got there. Where are you from?”
-
- “Macon, Georgia, ma’am.
Born and raised.”
-
- “Andrew told me you're
new in town. I’m interested in hearing your ideas for the
Center.”
-
- He gives her another charming
smile. “It’s an honor to discuss this project with
you. My condolences on your recent loss.”
-
- “Thank you. This project
is very important to me because of what we’ve been through
recently. It made me realize how vital family is and I want to
give more kids a chance to have a family.”
-
- “I understand.”
He zips open the folder. “I spoke to Andrew about this last
week and took the liberty of drawing up a few ideas, just to
give us a starting point. Of course, I’ll need your input.”
-
- Nora smiles. “I like
a man who gets right down to business.”
-
- He chuckles. “I was
intrigued by this project after my discussion with Andrew. I
had some thoughts, so I put them to paper. It’s my understanding
that you want to expand on the existing Community Center?”
-
- Nora nods. “Yes, we
want to be a part of the Center in order to combine the resources
and outreach.”
-
- “That makes a lot of
sense.” He rolls out the drawings on the table in front
of them. “Let me know what you think.”
-
- Nora leans forward to inspect
his work. She reaches into her purse and takes out a notepad
and pencil. “These are very detailed sketches.”
-
- “Yes, ma’am. But
they’re just preliminary. You feel free to just jump in
and tell me what you want to see.”
-
- Nora starts to throw out
ideas based on his drawings and soon they are engaged in a lively
back and forth exchange. Bo walks into the coffee shop and sees
them in an animated discussion. He has no idea who she is with.
He stands back and watches them for a few minutes, neither aware
of anyone else in the shop. Bo turns and leaves without approaching
them.
-
- After a time, Nora glances
at her watch. “Oh! I’m sorry, Nathan. I have to run.
I didn’t mean to take up so much of your time.”
-
- “Not at all. You’ve
been quite helpful in pointing me in the right direction with
your ideas.” He rolls up his sketches. “You are certainly
a lady who knows what she wants. I’ll incorporate your ideas
and get back to you.”
-
- Nora puts her notepad into
her purse. “I’ll want my husband Bo to see your sketches
too. I wanted to get the ball rolling before I brought him in,
but I want his input.”
-
- “Of course. Does that
mean I get the contract?”
-
- “Yes, it does. I’m
impressed with what you’ve done so far and look forward
to seeing where we can take this. Just have the contracts sent
to my office at the Community Center and we’ll take care
of the legal stuff.” Nora holds out her hand. “I look
forward to working with you, Nathan.”
-
- He takes her hand and kisses
it. “The pleasure will be all mine.”
-
- Nora is surprised by his
gesture. “Well, you certainly are a charmer.”
-
- He laughs as he releases
her hand and they walk toward the exit. “My momma would
be proud to hear you say that.” He holds the door for her
and they exit the coffee shop. He gives her a slight bow. “Until
we meet again, Nora.”
-
- She chuckles. “Goodbye,
Nathan.”
-
- Bo is sitting in his office,
sulking. He has no idea who the man is that Nora was talking
to but the way they were huddled together unnerved him. He is
brought out of his funk by his phone buzzing on the desk. He
picks it up, glancing at the ID as he flips it open. “Hello.”
-
- “Bo, where are you?”
-
- “What do you mean?”
-
- “I mean, you said you
weren’t working late. When will you be home?”
-
- Bo glances at the clock on
his computer. “Guess I just lost track of time.”
-
- “Are you busy at work?
Did something happen?”
-
- “No, nothing like that.”
-
- She’s puzzled by his
tone. “Well, when are you coming home?”
-
- “Are you at home?”
-
- “Yes.”
-
- He takes a deep breath. “I’ll
be there soon.”
-
- “Okay. Love you.”
-
- “You too.” Bo flips
his phone shut, powers down his computer, locks up the office
and heads home. He walks into the living room as Nora looks up
from the couch. “Hi. How was your day?”
-
- He shrugs. “It was okay.”
-
- She gets up from the couch
with a frown. “That doesn’t sound promising.”
She walks up to him and kisses him. “Come with me. This
will make you feel better.” She takes him into the dining
room where the table is set for a romantic dinner for two. She
picks up the matches to light the candles. “Will you pour
the wine, please?”
-
- Bo is just looking at the
table, not moving. “What’s all this?”
-
- Nora takes the lids off the
dishes. “Dinner is served. Don’t worry, I didn’t
make it myself. Nigel was kind enough to bring it over and set
everything up.” He just nods. She sets the lids back on
the plates. “You’re not hungry?”
-
- He shrugs. “How was
your day?”
-
- She goes to him and puts
her arms around his waist. “It was terrific. We can talk
about that later. You don't look so good. What’s wrong,
sweetheart?” He doesn’t put his arms around her. She
pulls him close. “Did something happen at work today?”
-
- He slowly shakes his head.
“No… I…”
-
- She looks at him oddly. “What
is it, Bo?”
-
- He finally looks down at
her. “I stopped by the coffee shop today…”
-
- “When? I was there this
afternoon…”
-
- He nods. “I saw you…”
-
- She pulls back. “Why
didn’t you come over?”
-
- “You looked like you
were pretty engrossed with your companion…”
-
- “My companion? Bo, that
was Nathan Marshall.”
-
- “I see.”
-
- “I want you to meet
him. He’s going to be the architect for the new Center.”
-
- “Architect?”
-
- “Yes. Andrew gave me
his name and I set up a preliminary meeting at the coffee shop.
Why didn’t you let me know you were there?”
-
- “You seemed to be having
a pretty animated discussion.”
-
- “Yes, I’m very
excited about him. He has some great ideas and he really seems
to get what I’m…” She stops and stares at him
as a big smile crosses her face. “Bo… You’re not
jealous, are you?”
-
- He shakes his head. “No.
No… I just…”
-
- “You are!” She
puts her arms back around his waist, kissing his cheek. “I
think it's sweet that you’re jealous but honestly, it was
a business meeting. I love the ideas he has for the addition
to the Community Center.”
-
- “I’m not admitting
I was jealous.”
-
- She cocks her head at him.
“Really? Why didn’t you join us then?”
-
- Bo thinks for a minute, trying
to figure a way out of this one. He finally looks down at her.
“You know, it’s times like this I regret marrying a
lawyer. You know exactly how to box me in. Okay… I was maybe
a little jealous… Maybe…”
-
- She grins triumphantly. “No
maybe about it, cowboy.” She kisses him. “But you have
absolutely zero reason to be jealous of Nathan or anyone else.
I love you. Only you.”
-
- He shrugs as he looks down
at her. “It has been a rough couple months with Asa and
Matthew…”
-
- She pulls back and looks
in his eyes. “And you think that would make me want out?
Bo! If anything, the past few months have made me fall even more
in love with you.” He looks away but she puts her hands
on his cheeks and turns him back to face her. “Hey…
I mean it. I was the one who was going crazy with worry about
Matthew after Asa’s death but you were steady as a rock
– for both of us. You never wavered even though I know how
hurt you were, and still are. You took Matthew to the lodge and
I know how hard that was for you. But you did it, for OUR son.
That meant the world, not just to him, but to me too.”
-
- He finally puts his arms
around her. “I’m sorry, Red. I guess I just get scared
sometimes…”
-
- “Don’t apologize.”
She kisses him. “I was scared too, right after Asa died.
I’ll tell you what you told me then – just keep talking
to me, okay?”
-
- He nods, leaning down to
kiss her. “I love you so much and our life together.”
-
- “I know. I feel the
same.” She motions toward the table. “Which is why
I arranged for this wonderful meal for just the two of us.”
-
- He pulls back the chair for
her. “I have an idea for that, too.”
-
- She takes a seat. “An
idea for what?”
-
- He opens the wine. “Well,
we have an entire week to ourselves, right?”
-
- “Right. Assuming Matthew
doesn’t break anything at ski camp…”
-
- He pours the wine and takes
a seat. “He’s going to be fine, Red.” He reaches
into his suit coat pocket and pulls out an envelope and hands
it to her. “What’s this?”
-
- “Open it.”
-
- Nora opens it and pulls out
a travel brochure, she gives Bo a quizzical look as she flips
it open. “Cape Cod?”
-
- He nods, with a big smile
on his face. “Yeah! It’s perfect, isn’t it?”
-
- She shakes her head. “We
can’t go. What if something happens to Matthew at camp?”
-
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