Here it is, the longest chapter yet! I hope you all are ok with what comes at the end of this chapter. Well no one will be ok with it but you will get over it I hope.
Thanks to TC for the awesome Beta work.
And on a heavier note this chapter and most of the chapters that follow are dedicated to my twin sister. My other half. My best friend. The other half of all the trouble I ever caused and all the good things I have ever done.
~~~Heartland~~~
Amy sat quietly on the tailgate of her new truck watching the party, wrapped in the security of Ty's arms. She smiled as her sister approached with two beers.
"Okay, brother. We sisters need some time to talk," Lou stated. "We haven't seen each other in months. We need to catch up a bit." Lou separated the newlyweds and sat down between them.
Ty pretended to look hurt. "Am I allowed to stay?"
Lou paused for a moment. "Of course. But I didn't bring you a drink, and we plan to ignore you and talk about you like you aren't here."
"Lou!" Amy looked at her sister in surprise.
Ty hopped off the tailgate and kissed his wife. "I think I am being kicked out." He mocked a hurt face and Lou kicked his leg. "And abused!" He proclaimed rubbing his shin in protest.
"You're lucky that's all. You did after all marry my little sister without me!" Lou wrapped an arm around her giggling sister as Ty strode off, looking of Caleb.
Amy recovered from her laughter and looked at Lou. "You're not really mad about our eloping are you?"
Lou considered the question. "Well," she finally replied, "I can't say that I am happy about it. But I am not surprised. You are not the type to make a fuss. You wouldn't want to go to any trouble for your wedding. It makes sense. And I am happy for you. Just wish I could have been a part of it."
Amy wiped away a tear. "It's not the wedding that matters," she said. "It is what comes after it. That's what's important."
"Jeeze, when did you become so philosophical?"
Amy flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Oh, you know, shortly after I began traveling Europe," she replied smartly. The two sisters giggled and Amy laid her head on Lou's shoulder. "So much has changed," she said with a sigh.
"Just because you left doesn't mean our world stopped." It was Lou's turn to sigh. "So tell me all about your trip."
Amy pulled away, her eyes glittering. "Oh, Lou!" she exclaimed with enthusiasm. " It was so awesome. I met all these people and they had some of the coolest horses! We went all over the place. I loved it. But I don't think coaching is the thing I really want to do. I don't know; I liked it. But it's just not what I want to do for the rest of my life."
"Rest of your life? Wow. What's brought on that?" asked Lou in surprise. "You have ages to figure out what it is you want to do."
Amy shook her head. "I don't know. I guess I just see all these people with a place in the world. I don't feel like I fit yet. I want to help the troubled horses, but I want to figure out a way to reach as many people as possible."
~~~Heartland~~~
Lisa smiled as her husband spun her around the makeshift dance floor. The music changed to a slow song and she burrowed her head into his shirt, wishing this moment would never end. "I have to go to France again," she murmured.
Jack looked down at her sadly. "When?" he asked.
"As soon as possible," she answered. "I close on the new house."
Lisa had sold the large villa she had purchased in order to fund her new project and had in turn purchased a small, ten acre place with a small house and a barn for her trips which she planned to make shorter to focus on her new venture. Her business would however require her to travel back and forth to France, but for much shorter time spans.
"How long you going to be gone?" Jack asked; this was the one thing they had yet to work out. Sometimes he felt they probably never would truly resolve the France issue. She had decided to go for shorter amounts of time. But Jack still disliked being away from her. Yet he didn't want to get on another plane anytime soon. He would prefer she didn't buy another house in France, but he knew that France was a place she loved and was going to be a very important part of her new business.
"Not too long," Lisa said in answer to his Jack's question. She looked up and smiled. "I was thinking about leaving on Monday, then flying back on Thursday."
Jack sighed. "Really?"
"Yes. But I won't be long." Lisa laid her head on his chest; she could tell he was disappointed.
"I know it won't be long." Jack pulled his wife close, still wishing she didn't have to go.
~~~Heartland~~~
Ty wrapped an arm around his wife as the couple headed for the house—their house. The last car had pulled out of the drive ten minutes ago and Ty and Amy had finished night check. It was well after midnight, yet it seemed as though it was only nine or ten.
Amy stopped as they reached the top of the porch and turned to look out up the sprawling landscape before them before turning and going inside. It was all theirs now. She had so much to do. Between her grandfather and Lou both having moved, the house was an absolute disaster. Boxes littered nearly every room. She vowed that by the end of the week before her first client horse arrived they would have the house in order.
Jun 27Part 2 of edits:
~~~Heartland~~~
Lou sighed as she collapsed on the couch next to Peter after Ty and Amy's Party. "I have to go into Calgary tomorrow to meet with my publicist. Do you need anything?" she asked.
Peter shook his head. "No. What about Katie? Your dad and I are going to an auction to buy some cattle."
Lou frowned. "I will see if Georgie can watch her; if not we can ask Amy or Lisa." Lou paused for a minute. "So… cows. Are you really gonna do this?"
Peter looked at Lou. "I want to. I really do," he answered honestly. "I don't want to be working away from home any more, but I can't not work. My grandfather was a cattle rancher. I loved helping him as a kid, and I like helping Jack and Tim. This is what I want to do."
Lou chuckled. "An oil guy turned cattle rancher. I never thought I'd see that!"
Peter smiled and said, "I never thought I'd be one! But I am really excited to do this."
Lou kissed his cheek. "Me, too," she said happily.
~~~Heartland~~~
Monday morning found Lisa cooking breakfast in their new home for the entire family. Dishes clattered as the family devoured two large
stacks of pancakes.
"So, Grandpa; Lisa: Why the breakfast? What was so important?" Lou inquired as she pulled another oatmeal butterscotch pancake off the stack in the middle of the table. "Lisa, I thought you were only going to be gone for a week."
Lisa took Jack's hand under the table as he began speaking. "In November, before Amy, left I asked Lisa to marry me and a few days later, we did."
Lisa smiled as all the girls gasped and Georgie clapped her hands together. "We wanted to keep it quiet for a while; just between the two of us."
The table was quiet for a moment before everyone began talking all at once. Jack held his hands up in an appeal for silence. "Okay, one at a time," he ordered.
Lou was of course rather upset as she stood up with a hurt look on her face. "Six months! Grandpa, I might understand a couple of weeks, but six months!"
Lisa nodded. "Lou, we had planned to tell you all when Amy came home for Christmas, but when Ty decided to fly over during break instead of her coming home, we decided to wait till everyone was together."
Amy smiled and squeezed Ty's hand under the table. "I suppose it runs in the family, Lou," she said. "You'll just have to get used to it." Amy then stood up and walked over and wrapped Jack, then Lisa into hugs. "I am so happy for you two!"
Suddenly the whole table was up hugging and congratulating the couple. Though Lou was still rather upset about the secret, she made her way over to hug and congratulate her grandfather and Lisa.
An hour was spent talking until Lisa looked up at the clock and it dawned on her that she had a flight to catch. "Oh!" she said suddenly. "Guys, I have to get a move on! I am going to hit traffic and parking at the airport is an absolute nightmare!"
"Lisa, I have errands to run in Calgary. I can drop you off at the airport," Peter said, looking around the table.
Lisa smiled and said, "That would be great!"
Lou quickly frowned at the plan. "Peter, I have to have the car today Katie has a checkup."
Lisa only shook her head. "No problem," she said. "We'll take my car. I won't be needing it for a few days; you are more than welcome to drive it."
Peter nodded in agreement and kissed all three of his girls goodbye and headed for the door. Lisa followed suit, hugging everyone and pausing to kiss Jack goodbye before grabbing her bag and following Peter out the door.
~~~Heartland~~~
Lisa sat quietly doing paperwork in the passenger seat while Peter drove down Centre Avenue on the outskirts of town. Traffic had not been too bad and now they were actually going the speed limit.
"Don't mind Lou," Peter said, referring to Lou's rather upset demeanor through breakfast. "You know she is only mad because she loves you two. You know how she is. Control freak and stuff."
Lisa looked up from her paperwork. "I know. I would probably have felt the same way. She and I are not so different, you know. She will get over it in time."
"It's just that you and Jack, and then Ty and Amy, and I think she feels very left out."
Lisa nodded. "I know," she said. "I suppose this eloping stuff runs in the family."
"It does, actually. Tim told me that he and Marion eloped. I suppose Lou missed that gene!" Peter said, smiling as he hit another green light.
Lisa smiled and looked over at Peter in surprise. "Really? I had-" Lisa didn't finish. A large Mac semi truck had run through the red light at the bottom of a hill on the cross street. Lisa said nothing else as she heard the sounds of metal shattering windows, and felt the car flip.
Peter only felt the impact of the truck hitting his side of the car. Suddenly every moment of importance in his life was playing back to him. His wedding; Katie's first steps; her birth; meeting Lou; his tenth birthday; Georgie's adoption; the house; the cows; Jack; Lisa; Amy; Ty; his mom; his dad; and once more his three girls.
~~~Heartland~~~
So it will be a week or so before I can get this next update this is a sensitive subject for me and I want to make it some of my best work. I have lost a family member in this way so car accidents are not something I take lightly. This is kind of my tribute to her. And in a way it's probably a way to project my grief in to something productive (I just finished a phycology class…).
I hope you will be kind in your reviewing. Please do let me know what you think. It really dose meen the world to me to read your comments, suggestions, encouragement, and thoughts on the chapters!
~Libby
