March was probably not the most ideal time for someone to have a wedding anniversary celebration in Alberta, as the melting snow made the roads and yards muddy and the atmosphere outside took turns with being gray and then all of a sudden somewhat sunny, but thankfully there were many beautiful indoor venues to choose from, and Mitch's parents had probably booked one of the best since the actual prime wedding season was still ahead of them.
Couple of days before the whole thing, Mitch had met up with his mother, Eileen, to prepare her for the ride with Maverick and thankfully she had been delighted by the opportunity. Bryce had been there for moral support, just to make sure Mitch was following Amy and Bryce's instructions right and keeping both his mother and his horse safe during the whole process. When Mitch's mother had taken few laps around the indoor arena, it looked like she had never even stopped riding. Mitch was happy to see the smile across his mother's face and later on she had thanked him for one of the best anniversary gifts she could have hoped for.
Today, Mitch stood in front of the old barn that had been turned into a rustic yet modern place to fit large amount of guests for different type of events. He had one of Bryce's stable hands with him to help with Maverick since he himself was mostly expected to mingle among the guests after helping his mother with her entrance. The place was beautiful and as the afternoon was getting darker, the absence of light pretty much faded the gray background out of existence and helped them get into the festive mood with the fairy lights set up around the entrance and the lanterns placed on the ground to light the path in.
When Eileen rode down the path toward the barn to meet her husband and the guests, someone who didn't know the occasion could have easily made the mistake of thinking this was their actual wedding because there was still so much love pouring out of their eyes as the old couple watched each other become closer with every step.
As Mitch walked by Maverick, he saw Melanie in the crowd, taking out tissues from her purse. The man flashed her a smile as she noticed him, and it almost made her embarrassed to be caught being so happy about other people's happiness.
After the party had started, Bryce's stable hand helped Maverick get loaded back to the trailer and taken back to the stables that were thankfully not that far away. Mitch watched as they disappeared into the darkness when the tail lights faded out and then got inside to meet the guests and take part in the games and numbers people had come up with.
Mitch played the part of the son of the couple celebrating the anniversary, giving a speech and making sure everyone were taken care of, but somewhere along the way, he was beginning the get tired of the questions about his girlfriend and wife and felt like he needed to get some air. As if he hadn't already felt alone, the intrusive questions only made him feel worse.
As he stepped outside, he felt how the degrees had dropped below the zero. When he sighed and let his gaze scan the yard, Mitch noticed a woman standing further and smoking a cigarette.
It didn't take long for him to realize it was actually Melanie.
Making his way to her, he felt like the annoying little brother who had just caught his sister red-handed. "You smoking again?"
Melanie jumped, hiding the cigarette behind her even though it did not do much difference anymore since Mitch had seen it with his own eyes. He walked closer, staring at her attentively.
"Don't tell Danny..." Melanie asked, looking embarrassed.
"I won't, but he will probably smell it on you", Mitch reminded as he put his hands inside his pockets to keep them warm. "I thought you quit before you got pregnant with Iz."
"I did", Melanie added, inhaling the smoke again, but looking far more guilty now. "But the stress is back. And I'm no longer breastfeeding, so..."
"Still, it's bad for you", Mitch stated the obvious.
"I know, I know. I'll quit again. Soon."
"What are you stressed about?" Mitch wondered, keeping her company.
"Work", Melanie scoffed. "Going back to work after a maternity leave has been harder than I thought. It's no longer about writing good stories, it has become more about getting those clicks. Whatever I suggest, it just doesn't feel interesting enough for my boss. Because what might get the clicks isn't necessarily something that is profound and important for people to know, but something like... "You've probably peeled your banana the wrong way all this time"."
Mitch's eyes narrowed playfully. "And you don't think that's important for people to know...?"
It made Melanie laugh.
"Seriously. I don't know if I've peeled my bananas the wrong way all my life! I need to read that", he continued, hoping to make Melanie feel a little bit better.
She looked at him with tenderness, appreciating the support.
"What about you? You getting those clicks and likes?" Melanie changed the subject because she didn't necessarily want to talk about work even though she had just been the one to bring it up.
"What do you mean?" Mitch asked.
"The dating app. How's that going?" she reminded. "I noticed you came alone."
"Ah, yeah, that..." Mitch sighed, looking around. "Well, I guess it's not going."
Melanie acted hurt. "What? I made you a great bio and everything."
"I know, but it just... it didn't feel right, so I deleted the whole app from my phone", Mitch admitted. "Besides, it was giving me these notifications throughout the day, and I was beginning to think that it's to trick me to spend more time on that app instead of finding myself a date. I just didn't see the point. - Hey, maybe you should write about that", he suggested jokingly.
"Your lousy dating life?" Melanie said, joking back. "I don't know, I think people might be depressed enough already..."
"Hey! I meant the whole app notification thing..." Mitch laughed, but wasn't actually hurt. "Then again, you're right. It's not going very well, so I've kind of decided to not really do much about it. I'm beginning to think the quest for finding love is actually making me look somewhat desperate. But, I mean, it's hard not to feel like a loser when I look at my parents, especially on their 30th wedding anniversary." He gestured toward the barn where they were being all lovey-dovey.
"There's nothing wrong in wanting to find someone to love", Melanie reminded, tapping ashes away from her cigarette.
"I know, but it's kind of taking over my brain, and to be honest I have other things to think about", Mitch said. He couldn't focus on something that would not necessarily become anything when he could dedicate his time and energy into something else instead.
Melanie listened. "Other things, like...?"
"My business", Mitch said. "One of my partners is dropping out, but we are thinking of taking another partner in. And I've been thinking of buying more heads to boost the business a little bit. There's even one Jersey cow in the mix", he added with excitement.
"Okay, I'm starting to see why you're having difficulties with the ladies..." Melanie commented. "You're excited about a cow. What's so exciting about it?"
"Well, for starters, I am in the beef business, I don't have cows. And as for Jersey cows, in particular, they have the highest butterfat and protein content of all dairy. If I buy her, I might even be able to make some butter for myself. Or for you guys", Mitch shared.
"Danny's lactose intolerant, remember?" Melanie said.
"Oh well, then I'll make the butter for you and Izzie", Mitch offered.
Melanie kept popping her head from left to right, thinking it didn't sound so bad.
"Yeah, sure, why not, I guess", Melanie said, dropping the cigarette on the ground and putting it out with her shoe. She coughed few times and took mints out of her purse. "Just don't get too caught up with those furry friend of yours. You might actually make a good husband for someone some day. I mean, who makes butter for someone? That's actually kind of sweet."
"I guess it's what they call my love language, or whatever", Mitch scoffed, recalling a time when a dating website had asked about his love language. "I do stuff for people I care about."
"I think there a lot of people out there looking for someone like that."
"I'll keep that in mind, but I think for now it's best if I just focus on myself", Mitch declared. "I mean, what is it that they say; life happens when you're busy making plans? Maybe I've been trying to make life happen more than I've been making plans."
"I guess it won't hurt to try that approach either", Melanie figured, throwing the mints inside her mouth. "Geez. It's getting cold here. Come on, let's get inside", she continued, shivering.
Mitch started following her as she started to make her way back into the barn. "Can I have the next dance? Part of the reason why I escaped outside is because my aunt Penny really wanted to dance with me."
"The one that kept squeezing Zach's butt at our wedding...?" Melanie recalled.
"That's the one."
"Yeah, sure, I'll save you from her. I guess I'll owe you anyway."
That same night, the family at Heartland was having dinner. Everyone was getting ready to eat with their full plates, when they heard the screen door open and close. People looked toward the mudroom curiously to see who it was, but when they did, it didn't exactly surprise them.
"Sorry I'm late", Tim said as he took off his boots, coat and hat before he entered the house properly. He, of course, wasn't technically late as he was never invited, but he was still nevertheless welcome to the table.
Well, to some degree.
"I don't see you for couple of days, you'd think I would be happy, but for once I was actually looking forward to you joining us any day now", Jack said over his plate.
Tim's eyes lit up, as if he had just heard the most wonderful - yet confusing - thing. "You missed me...?"
"Wouldn't exactly go that far", Jack said, almost choking on his food over Tim's assumption. "But I think you have some explaining to do."
"About what exactly?" Tim asked as he took a plate and started piling up food on it. Amy, Lou, Lisa, Lyndy and Georgie followed the exchange with curious ears while Katie was too distracted by the carrots she didn't want to eat but had to get rid of to listen to what any of them were saying.
"About our other grandpa", Lou joined the conversation as she couldn't hold it in anymore. She had tried to call Tim, to get some answers, but he had never answered or gotten back to her. Lou was beginning to think he was avoiding her.
Amy glared at Lou over the table, figuring it was probably not the best time to do this. She had hoped they would do this privately and not in front of everyone because it seemed to her the topic was probably somewhat sensitive to their dad.
"Yeah. I remember specifically asking you about your dad once upon a time and you said - and I quote - "he's gone"", Jack shared, joining Lou into this interrogation. "And I'm not sure what "gone" means to you, but based on what you said, I took him for dead."
"You told him too?" Amy asked from Lou when it was obvious Jack was up to date about this issue.
"Of course. I needed to know if he knew something that we didn't", Lou responded, shrugging. "Turns out he was just in the dark about this as we are. - So... Dad?" she turned her head toward the end of the table where Tim always sat.
"Well, if I had known this was going to be some kind of intervention, I wouldn't have come", Tim said, putting back his potatoes and looking like he was about to leave.
"Why can't you just tell us?" Lou insisted.
"Because it's my business", Tim said, putting his plate back and getting up.
"You mean... I have another grandpa too...?" Georgie asked with a confused tone, looking around to make sure she was getting this right.
"Turns out you do", Lou confirmed calmly, being the complete opposite of Tim.
"We just wanted to know what's going on", Amy tried to adjust the situation into something more favorable for Tim, feeling like the others were going at this from the wrong angle.
"It's Casey, isn't it? She told you?" Tim asked, looking around. When no one said a word, not to cast Casey in a bad light, Tim figured he had gotten his answer. "Damn it... She shouldn't have said anything."
"Doesn't matter. You should've been the one telling us about it in the first place", Jack said.
"Why?" Tim said. "It's not like you ever liked me that much either, so I wasn't going to kid myself into thinking you'd welcome my family into your lives."
Jack was trying to argue. "I don't see what the problem is; he was at your wedding with Marion and the girls visited him when they were little-"
Tim wasn't listening. "You may think that you're all welcoming and hospitable, but you're just bunch of judgmental people on your mighty horses who think you are better than everyone else, and somehow always getting mixed up in other people's businesses!"
With that said, Tim made his way back to the door, took his hat, put on his boots and grabbed his coat before he headed outside.
"Wow..." Lisa commented as they sat in an awkward silence. She wasn't about to state the obvious about Tim's comment because the timing didn't feel right.
"We shouldn't have attacked him like that", Amy said, and Lou was picking an accusative tone.
"It wouldn't have mattered", Lou thought. "Even if we had done that over the phone or privately, he would have done the same thing as he did now; left the conversation. It's obvious he doesn't want to talk about it."
"So why go off of him like that then?" Amy asked.
"Because we weren't going to get any answers by playing nice either", Lou said.
Amy sighed, poking her food.
"So... what? We just leave it be?" she asked. She didn't want to press Tim about it, but she also didn't want to be left in the dark like this now that she knew something.
"No, of course not", Lou said, matter-of-factly. "Golden Acres Nursing Home, you said?"
Amy nodded. "Yeah."
"And it was John Fleming, right?" Lou checked from Jack.
"Yes, that's correct", Jack confirmed.
"We don't need dad to find him, we can just go to see him anyway", Lou figured.
"Are you're sure that's a good idea?" Amy asked. "He won't know who we are."
"But we'll know who he is", Lou said, having a few memories of him of her own.
Amy couldn't deny that she was somewhat tempted, but she also felt guilty going behind her dad's back to see someone she didn't even remember ever seeing. It was as if she needed Tim's approval to know that it would be okay to do it.