Part Two:

Nora’s eyes slowly fluttered open as the sun shone through her bedroom window the following morning. She rolled over and looked at the clock. It was just after six in the morning. She sat up and pulled her legs tight against her chest as she thought back to her conversation the night before with Bo. She wanted to tell him that he wasn’t to blame. That he had been and still was the only man in her life that she could truly count on to be there for her. He wanted to take the blame for something that was never his fault; the destruction of their marriage, the end to them.

Her thoughts drifted to Steven Havers and how once again she had believed and trusted someone who did nothing but play her, who made a fool out of her. She had trusted Sam and in the end he betrayed her and cost Bo and Matthew precious years that they’ll never get back. She’d believed Troy’s lies about Lindsay, ignoring her own suspicions. She let him change her, something she swore she’d never let a man do. Now she had almost been suckered in by Steven. She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of Matthew running up the stairs and down the hallway. Her bedroom door swung open and Matthew ran into the room, jumping up onto the bed, “Hey there, sport,” she tousles his hair, “your dad still asleep?”

“Yeah,” he crawls over and sits down on her lap, “I made sure I didn’t wake him up.” He looks over at her. Nora notices that he has something on his mind, “What’s up, sweetie? Do you have something you want to ask me?”

“Yesterday when you and daddy were at work, did you…did you and him have a fight?”

She looked down at him; surprised by his question, “Why would you ask that?”

Matthew shrugged, “He kept talking in his sleep last night.”

“What did he say?” Matthew looked down at his lap. Nora tilted his chin up, “What was he saying, Matthew?”

“He kept saying that he was sorry, sorry for everything, sorry he hurt you when he walked away.” Matthew looked his mother in the eye as she tried to keep from showing him how his father’s words had affected her, “Mom, why did daddy say those things?”

She paused for just a moment before answering, “People say all sorts of silly things when they’re asleep.” She brushed a few strands of hair off his face and cupped her hand under his chin, “Your father would never hurt me, Matthew, okay, never, I promise.” She pulls him onto her lap and hugs him, “Your daddy loves you so much, Matthew, and I don’t want you to worry about your dad ever leaving or hurting you or me, okay?”

“Okay,” She kisses him on the forehead and he jumps off the bed. He walks towards the door and then turns back around, “Love you.”

“I love you too, sweetie. Go ahead and get dressed and I’ll go wake up your dad.”

Nora climbed out of bed and grabbed her robe off the back of the chair. She freshened up and went downstairs to wake Bo. When she got to the bottom of the stairs she saw Bo sitting up on the couch, putting his shoes on. She walked over and sat down across from him on the coffee table. He looked up and smiled, “Hey there, Red.” He looks around the room awkwardly, “Guess I was pretty tired last night.”

“Yeah, you were both out by the time I got home, so I just let you sleep.”

They both just looked at each other for a moment, “So how did Dr. Havers seem last night?” He asked to break the silence.

“Jealous of you, that’s for sure.”

“Me?”

“Well us…or what he thinks is between us.” She stands up and busies her self with folding the blanket.

Bo stands up and walks over to where she was standing, “I don’t understand?”

She shook her head, “I don’t know it was just weird. He seemed to get so angry when I said I needed to be home by nine; that you were here waiting.”

“I want you to stay away from him, Nora.”

“You’ll get no arguments from me.”

“That’s a first,” he said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.

She was about to tell him what she and Matthew had talked about earlier but the sound of Matthew coming down the stairs interrupted her, “Mom,” he yelled halfway down the stairs. Seeing that his dad was still there, “Dad,” running over to where they were standing, “can we go to the diner for breakfast,” looking back at his mom, “all of us?”

Bo looked over at Nora who nodded, “Sure, I’d love to have breakfast with you guys.” He grabs his jacket, “I’m going to go out to my truck and grab the change of clothes I keep in there. I’ll be right back.” He glanced back over at Nora before walking out the door. When he returned a few minutes later Matthew was the only one there; flipping through the channels, “Where’s your mom?”

“She went upstairs to get dressed.”

Bo nodded and walked behind the couch, “I’m going to go upstairs and shower and change,” tousling Matthew’s hair, “then we’ll go get some grub.” Matthew just nodded as he watched TV.

A half hour later they were on their way to the diner. They walked through the doors, laughing together. Carlotta looked up from the counter and smiled, happy to see the three of them together. She walked up to them, “Good morning, Matthew.”

Matthew sat up on his knees trying to be as tall as he could, “Morning, Mrs. Vega.”

They ordered their meals and ate amongst lively conversation. Matthew kept looking between his parents, the looks they were giving each other not going unnoticed by him or by Carlotta.

Carlotta walked back over towards their table forty five minutes later. She held the cookie jar out to Matthew, who looked over at his mother before taking one. He reached in and grabbed one for himself and one for each of his parents, “Thank you.”

A few minutes later, Matthew climbed out of the booth and went over to talk to a friend from school. Nora looked back at Bo. She reached out and laid her hand on his. Bo looked down at their hands and back up at her, “We need to talk, Bo, about last night, in your office.”

“Yes, we do.” He looked over at Matthew, “For his sake and ours.”

Nora glances down at her watch, “How about dinner tonight. I’ll call MaryAnn and have her stay with Matthew, and we can go somewhere private and talk, just the two of us.” She looks over at Matthew, “I need to spend a few hours at the office and pick up my car.”

“I’ll make the reservations, how about that new Italian restaurant on Main Street?”

“Sounds perfect; pick me up at seven.”

“Seven it is.”

Matthew ran back over and plopped down beside Nora, “Can we go to the park?”

“Your mom has to go into the office for awhile, so looks like it’s just me and you champ.”

Bo pulled into the parking garage ten minutes later. They all walked into the station together so that Bo could get something out of his office. He stopped by her office to get Matthew a few minutes later. He reached into his pocket and handed Matthew a couple of dollars, “Why don’t you go down the hall and get us some snacks for later.”

Taking the money, “Okay, bye mom.”

“Bye, sweetie, listen to your dad,” she yelled to Matthew’s back. She walked around and sat behind her desk. She looked up at Bo reading the expression on his face, “I’ll be fine, Bo.”

“Johnson is right outside; promise me you won’t try to ditch him.” She gave him a look, “I’m serious, Nora.”

“I promise, but…”

“No buts, Nora. I’m not taking any chances; no one else I care about is going to die or be hurt by this maniac.” She nods, knowing exactly what and who he was talking about.

Across town Steven sat behind his desk looking through an old yearbook. He ran his fingers over the picture, then over the name written below, “Nora Hanen…” he whispered as he ran his finger back over her name, “You don’t even remember me do you or what you did to me. You won’t be able to ignore me now.”