Tim peered inside Maggie's through the window, wondering if Lou was working today. He was in town and in desperate need of coffee, but was also trying to avoid anyone that was part of the Bartlett family.
He saw Lou serving customers behind the counter in her pink uniform and decided that even if Maggie's served the best coffee in town - thanks to that coffee machine he had gotten them -, he was still going to get his coffee someplace else today. It wasn't worth facing her daughter and her pestering him with questions.
Just as Tim was about to turn around, he bumped into someone.
"Hey, watch it", he heard a familiar voice say. It was Ty. The younger man was just about to exit the diner after having a lunch. "Tim."
"Hey, Ty", Tim nodded and lowered his gaze, already feeling ashamed about his actions even though he thought he had been so clever about them all this time and didn't think anyone had even noticed what he was doing.
"You going in?" Ty asked and pointed his thumb toward the place.
"Ah, actually, I just remembered there was this thing I had to go to and I…" he started his poor excuse and let his hands finish the sentence by pointing them to different directions. Ty's eyes narrowed and he studied Tim's behavior, already slowly figuring him out.
"Haven't seen you around Heartland lately", Ty pointed out, getting to the root of the problem. Tim quickly checked Ty's face to see what kind of speech he would have to put up this time.
"Well, you know me, I'm a busy guy", he laughed nervously.
"The girls sure miss you", Ty said.
"Yeah. I miss them too, but I can never stay too long and Caleb has things under control, so…" Tim said. He had never been much of a man to give Caleb any credit, so something was definitely fishy here.
"But Caleb's an ex-rodeo cowboy, not a farmer", Ty pointed out.
"Well, so am I. And I did good", Tim said.
"You sure this doesn't have anything to do with Jack?" Ty decided cut to the chase.
"Jack? Wh-why would it?" Tim stammered. It was enough to give Ty the confirmation. Ever since Jack's condition had worsened, Tim had no longer stepped inside the house. It was something Ty would have been thankful for if it had happened years ago, but since it wasn't about respecting his wishes to have his home as his own, but instead avoiding Jack and everything he was going through, it made Tim seem like a coward. Not that Ty had ever thought of him as anything else.
"Because as you know, he is getting worse", Ty said and watched Tim's reaction. The cowboy pulled his chin down to his chest and seemed to be in distress. "And it would really mean a lot–"
"Don't you think I don't know that?" Tim hissed at him then. Ty waited. He saw that Tim was just about to get something off his chest. "That I don't know what goes inside those walls? That I wouldn't wanna be there and be a man enough to face as my—"
"As your…?" Ty urged him on.
"My… only friend is dying…" Tim finally admitted.
"He's not dead yet. He's not gone yet", Ty said and squeezed Tim's shoulder. He was running out of time and needed to get back to the clinic. "I gotta go. But just think about that."
Tim stood there, feeling paralyzed by his own words. Yes, Jack was his only friend, as sad as it was. A friend that had stuck with him all these years, knowing all the dirt he had on his hands but still inviting him over his threshold. And Tim couldn't face the thought of having no friends at all, even though he was already slowly burying himself into that kind of situation on his own.
Tim looked at Maggie's again and then turned around. He wasn't going to drink his coffee there today. He didn't feel like talking to Lou.
Jack woke up from his nap. He looked around and realized he must have dozed off while sitting on his chair and listening the clock ticking away on this slow afternoon. But what he didn't know was what had woken him up. He just knew something was going on. He had that feeling a lot, but he could never really put his finger on it.
The old man walked around the living room, looking for clues, until he heard noises from the kitchen.
"Lisa…?" Jack said. It was one of his moments of clarity. He remembered his wife, her working in the kitchen and making chili for the whole family. He remembered his proposal and their wedding. He remembered most things that every other man would remember about his wife. He felt connected to the world and grateful for it.
Jack walked to the kitchen, but instead of seeing Lisa baking a pie - or rather trying it and then somehow succeeding in burning it -, he saw a worn out hat on the table and an old cowboy making coffee.
"Tim…?" Jack voiced.
Tim turned around and felt nervous about facing the man who was fading out of his reach. So Jack did remember who he was… Tim put up an alarmed smile and raised a mug in his hand to give Jack some visuals.
"Feel like having a coffee?" he asked.
"Sure", Jack nodded and took a seat. And even though this probably did not mean much to Jack, because he could hardly remember when Tim had been here the last time, it meant everything to Tim. To have Jack still accept him as part of the family, even though he was nowhere near as worthy of his friendship as he should have been. Things were still as they had always been.