The Course of True Love Never Runs Smooth

Between Mitch’s murder case and their new connection as parents, Bo and Nora have been spending a lot of time together. Will everything that’s happened in the past keep the old feelings from rising to the surface, or will it take a person from their past bent on revenge to make them realize that the course of true love never runs smooth.

Prologue:

Bo and Nora have finally told Matthew the truth about who his real father is. He had a hard time understanding the “adult” stuff but he was happy that his “Uncle” Bo was now his daddy. Now that he knows Bo and Nora find themselves together more than they ever thought they would be again. Dinners, baseball games, trips to the movies…to the outside world they were a family…in their hearts becoming a family was still a dream…a dream not yet fulfilled…

 

Chapter One:

Bo glanced at his watch as he took a swig from his coffee cup. He winced as he swallowed the cold liquid.

“Midnight”, he sighed as he stretched his arms above his head, rolling his neck trying to relieve the stiffness that a full day at his desk had caused.

Oh well he thought to himself as he tried to mentally brace himself for the fight he knew he was going to have when he finally got home. Gabrielle hasn’t been too happy with him lately, especially after he cancelled their vacation because of the investigation. He stood up and threw a few files in his drawers, locked them and switched off the desk lamp. Their constant fighting was really beginning to wear him out and as he thought about it he was suddenly tired. He’d decided earlier that night that he wasn’t going to let Gabrielle make him feel guilty any longer. He had a job to do and he had a son to get to know. He shut his office door and headed down the hallway. He looked towards her office and noticed that the light was still on. (Okay, I have no idea if the DA offices and the station house are on the same floor but for the purpose of this chapter they are lol)

He walked up to her office and stood in the doorway. She hadn’t heard him walk up so he took a few minutes and just watched her work. She had her glasses on which meant one thing, she was as exhausted as he was. He looked around her office and laughed at the half eaten chilidogs and basket of French fries. She must really be engrossed in her work he thought, if she let junk food go to waste.

“Burning the midnight oil, I see.”

Nora jumped at the sound of his voice.

“My God, Bo, you scared the pants off of me.”

“Hmmm…now that would’ve been quite a sight.”

Nora felt her face turn red as the small memory hit her full force.

“Well I could say the same thing about you—(she noticed his raised eyebrow and mischievous grin) about the midnight oil that is.”

“Oh—well yeah this case is going to take awhile I’m afraid.”

“Yeah looks that way.”

“So are you heading out soon?”

“Yeah I probably should. Matthew’s at a friend’s house for the night, but he’ll be home bright and early tomorrow morning. It would probably be a good idea if I try to get more than just a few hours of sleep.”

“I’ll wait with you and we’ll walk out together.”

“Sounds good, let me just clean up this mess and we can leave.”

“Here let me help.”

He reached across the desk to pick up the basket of forgotten food, and she did the same. Their hands touched for a moment. Nora quickly pulled her hand back, but not before his touch had had its effect on her.

“Get a hold of yourself, Nora” she thought to herself. “It was just an innocent touch. She walked over to the corner of the office and threw the trash in the can. “If it was so innocent why is your heart racing?”

She turned around and looked up at Bo who was leaning against the doorjamb. She felt her knees go weak for a moment. One smile is all it’s ever taken. She decided she better get their conversation back on track. The case, the case was a neutral subject, nothing personal, keeps things professional.

“Um—so I spoke with that eyewitness today, you know, the one who came forward with Troy and Lindsay’s alibi?”

“And”

“And, according to the eyewitness, a (looks down at her notes) Jeremy Swift. He’s a tugboat captain and he says he saw Lindsay and Troy “together” on the docks that night.”

“What took him so long to come forward?”

“He said he’d been out on a voyage, or whatever they call it, for the past three months, and he just got back into town and heard that we were looking for anyone who was near or saw anyone near the docks that night.”

“You believe him?”

“He hasn’t given me a reason not to.”

She picked up her briefcase and walked over to the door, flipping the light off as they walked out into the hallway. She locked the door and they made their way to the parking lot.

“Okay so we can mark Troy and Lindsay off our list of suspects. We’ve already cleared Jess, Blair, and Walker.”

“Which leaves us Dorian and…”

She looked side wards at him noticing how his brow was creased in thought. She felt her heart skip a beat but she instantly pushed the feelings down.

He looked side wards at her as he thought about what she’d just asked him. He hadn’t realized until tonight how much he’d missed talking about cases with her, how much her face changes when she fired up about a case. He thought about Gabrielle sitting at home waiting for him so he pushed the feeling back down.

“Earth to Bo.”

“What…oh sorry, right so that leaves us Dorian and well any one of Mitch’s followers, and enemies he may have made in Europe, family members of his supposed followers. Mitch was a man with many enemies, Nora and I’m afraid his reign of terror may stretch way beyond Llanview.”

“More nights burning the midnight oil, I guess.”

“Yep.”

He smiled at her. Why did he suddenly feel so energized by just the thought of more hours working side by side with her?

She returned his smile, suddenly feeling energized by just the thought of more hours working side by side with him.

He walked her to her SUV. She unlocked the door and threw her briefcase on the passenger seat. She turned around and faced him. She could smell his familiar cologne and her breath caught in her throat.

“Well I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Bo, it is tomorrow.”

“Oh, yeah well then I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

“Bye Bo.”

Bo closed her door and walked towards his jeep a few spaces away. He climbed in and waited for her to begin to back out. She waved as she drove past. He put the jeep in reverse and pulled out of the parking space. She made her left hand turn towards home; he made his right towards the garret. Neither one of them noticed the car pull out from the side street and follow Nora home.