Jack woke to the cool, early morning light filtering in through the slightly moth-eaten dude ranch curtains. He could tell from the white light that it snowed for most of the night, that and the slight chill in the room. Lisa was still sound asleep in the bed next to him, the blankets pulled right up under her chin, her face relaxed in her slumber. That was nice to see, Jack could tell she had been stressed lately. Not that she would say it to anyone, she was too proud. Jack wasn't naïve enough to not see that quality in himself too, Lisa had always been quick to point it out when it came to the surface in him over the years, after all.

Jack eased himself out of the bed as smoothly and quietly as possible, as not to wake her. The clock over the fireplace told him it was not yet 7am. He laid an extra blanket over her small frame so the cold wouldn't wake her until he could get the fire restarted. He walked quietly over the cold floor to the fire place and began the long process of bringing it back to life.

Finally he had some flames flickering among the logs in the grate. Jack sat back into to the armchair wrapping a blanket around himself until the fire began to generate some actual heat. Lou and Lisa kept the cabins well stocked with warm blankets for the cold nights Alberta often had. As Jack sat in the chair he tried to let his thoughts wander to distract him from his aching joints. In recent years arthritis had flared up in his hands and knees, the cold weather always aggravated him more than usual now. Lisa knew how difficult certain things could be for him, but Jack tried to hide it as much as he could from Amy and the others, they would only insist on doing more of the chores he had done and loved to do all his life, he wasn't about to let someone else take over now. I'm not in the ground yet, he thought to himself in typical Jack fashion. His mind drifted as the flames in the grate steadily grew higher. Lately, the thoughts weighing on his mind quite often were how things were going to go in the future, his arthritis was only going to get worse. Jack couldn't bear the thought of Lisa being tied down to taking care of him, she didn't deserve it. But they'd been over it so many times in the past and Lisa wasn't having any of it.

"We've been through this. Before we got back to together, we went through this," she would say, "I love you, I don't care if I have to take care of you, because I know if, down the line, if it comes to it, you wouldn't hesitate to do the same for me. So just drop it."

She was adamant, but Jack couldn't help but feel guilty over the whole situation. She was so much younger, there was very little chance in the roles being reversed now. He hated to think about the fact that when he was gone, she would have no one to care for her in her old age. He knew Amy and Lou would be there of course, but they have their own families, and Lisa would know that too, she'd hate to take up there time and effort like that.

Jack shook himself, stop it, he thought sternly, no point getting bogged down on all that now, I'm not in the ground yet.

Not wanting to let his thoughts get the better of him, Jack got dressed and put on his coat and boots. Some fresh air, he decided, was what he needed. He dropped another log into the fire, kissed Lisa on the forehead before leaving and quietly shutting the door behind him.

It had indeed snowed, at least lightly, for most of the night, there was almost a foot of it in some places. Jack pulled on his gloves and stepped off the porch, heading for the trail that circled the lake, enjoying the crunch of the snow at each footfall. He made a slow pace, his stiffness hindering him, but he didn't mind. The fresh air and crisp silence around him calmed his toiling thoughts. His breath misted the air in front of him with each exhale. The sun was already clearing the cloudless horizon, a hazy orange glow surrounding it, hinting a break in this cold snap would be soon to come. Slowly the world around Jack was coming to life, birds flitted around the trees and surface of the lake, rabbits slowly edged their way into the daylight in the snow covered fields surrounding him. Jack felt at peace, this was his home, he couldn't imagine a more beautiful place than Alberta.

By the time the dude ranch cabins were back in view, the sun had fully cleared the horizon, the day was well and truly underway. Jack's face was flushed with the cold and it would probably take quite a while for his hands to return to a normal body temperature, but nonetheless Jack was far in the better of his walk. He partly knew Lisa would have woken by now, but just in case he took off his boots and left them on the porch quietly before opening the cabin door. As he had suspected Lisa was no longer asleep. She was sitting slumped in the armchair in front of the fire, but she didn't turn around at the sound of the door, she must have dozed off again waiting for Jack to return. Jack hung up his coat and hat and made his way over to her. He slowly edged around the armchair and hesitated over her, she was indeed asleep, her chest rising and falling with each breath. Jack didn't know whether or not to wake her. He was about to sit in the armchair opposite her and leave her be when Lisa stirred in her seat and blearily looked around her. Her eyes fell on Jack and she smiled tiredly, he bent over her and she stretched up letting her mouth meet his halfway.

"Good morning sleepy", he straightened up.

"Good morning," yawned Lisa, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Do you want a cup of coffee?" asked Jack walking over to the coffee pot on the table in the corner of the room.

"Oh yes please, it's about time I woke up properly," laughed Lisa, fidgeting in her seat until she got comfy again. The cabin was quiet except for the crackling of the fire and the sound of Jack fumbling with the coffee pot. He was having trouble, what with his hands still being so cold from his walk, he couldn't quite get them to co-operate. After a few moments Lisa intervened.

"Will I get that?" she asked from her seat.

By now Jack was frustrated with himself, "No Lis, I am perfectly capable of making a cup of coffee" he snapped.

"I know you are, I'm just saying you've been out in the snow and all maybe I could just g-"

"I don't need you to give me a hand!" Lisa fell silent, Jack's words hung in the air of the silent room until he handed her her cup.

"Thank you"

Jack sat in the second armchair brooding in silence, the clear headspace he had found on his walk a distant memory. His mind was in just as much turmoil now as before. Just great.

Lisa finally broke the silence, "Ok, I give up, what's eating you?"

"What do you mean?"" Jack stared unblinking into his mug.

"Now don't you even try it, just spit it out so you can stop tearing yourself to pieces."

Jack was torn. He knew he should say what's on his mind but they'd been over the topic so many times already, mainly because of him, he felt stupid bringing it back up again, it would only add to Lisa's stress, she didn't need that. But Lisa was staring expectantly at him, What the heck, he thought, here goes nothing.

"Lis, it's just you know, lately, uh the last few years, even before, I know I've said it, and you've told me, it's just that…" he stuttered and rambled and finally faded out, he just couldn't find a way to say it quite right, to rationalise his worries aloud. Lisa shook her head and stood up, letting her blanket fall to the ground next to where she had abandoned her coffee cup.

She stood in front of him and lifted his chin to look him in the eyes, up close Jack could see the goose pimples on her arms and across her bare shoulders, "Jack, I know where you're going with this. Now I know why you looked like you wanted to throw that mug across the room when you sat down. Because you know we've been over this more times than I can remember, you're too damn proud, not to mention stubborn.." Jack grunted indignantly.

"Hey now! You know I wouldn't have you any other way, but I'm also not gonna have your pride stopping me from helping you when you need it, because you are all I have Jack, you know that, especially since, since…" Lisa looked away, blinking back tears.

Jack sighed, he'd been afraid of this. Lisa had been so stressed recently because just last month her sister and nephew, Ben had been killed in a car accident. They had been coming to visit her, they hadn't seen each other in years and her sister wanted to meet Jack and the family. Their car collided with a truck on the way to Fairfield from the airport.

Her sister's ex-husband had disappeared after the divorce years and years ago and Lisa was left to organise the funeral. Jack had helped of course, but since then Lisa hadn't mentioned it and Jack didn't know whether she wanted to talk about it or not, so he had reluctantly kept quiet.

He pulled her onto his lap and just held her while she wept, until she was ready to speak again.