Chapter Twenty

Family Strength – New Beginnings

A/N – I have to say that was another fun chapter to write. I feel like I am repeating myself. Anyway big changes are coming to the ranches, the family, and the business. The holidays are approaching as well and with this group it is always an adventure. What's in store – we shall see. Enjoy!

Family life had returned to normal after Maddie's big day, blue ribbons for each of the twins at the science fair, Lyndy's continued growth in her horsemanship abilities as well as her relationship with Wyatt and JT working hard to pull himself up on everything. Amy and Ty have been deeply involved in the operations at the ranch as well as with each other. Geoergie and Steven continued to enjoy married life. Georgie has had a little time off from the Olympic team and has been solely focusing on her responsibilities at the Equine Center as well as her new husband. Steven is a few months away from becoming a vet and has really step up his work with Ty, Scott, and Cassandra. Speaking of Cassandra, she and Caleb have been off for a few weeks taking care of their new baby boy, Ben. Jack, Lisa, Lou, Katie and even Tim and Casey are good. The business is humming along and now it seems that there has been more interaction with Lisa's Fairfield operation. When Lisa needed the help with her horses, she used the Equine Center exclusively. Amy and Ty were preparing for their first tandem lecture at the University of Calgary which would be later in the year.

One morning, after the kids left for school, Ty and Amy were working on their lecture before they went about their work for the day. JT was quietly playing under the desk Amy was at. He liked playing there because it seemed like a cave to him. They were both startled when Any's phone rang. She picked it up and said hello. Ty watched as a worried and tearful look came over her. She meekly said, "Ok, we will be there as soon as we can." She looked at Ty bursting out in tears barely being able to speak, "Ty something is wrong with Grandpa, Lisa just went with him in an ambulance to the hospital. I told Lou we would meet her and Georgie there." Without speaking she packed a quick bag for JT as Ty grabbed the truck keys. Ty talked to two of the ranch hands to let Caleb know when he got in and they would call him later. Within 5 minutes they were on their way for the 20-minnute rialto Hudson hospital.

As they pulled up, they parked in the ER lot and immediately saw a tearful Georgie waiting for them. Amy and Georgie launched into each other's arms as Ty, in tears as well as Ty JT came up behind them. JT knew something was wrong and was very quiet in his father's arms. Georgie took a breath, "The paramedics think he had another heart attack. Mom said Lisa found him on the porch and he was having trouble breathing. He had just got back from a meeting with Tim. Follow me and we can go see my mom, she is sitting with Lisa." Amy and Georgie walked quickly to be with Lisa and Lou. Lisa jumped up into Amy's arms as the four women hugged tightly. Lisa reached over and touched Ty and JT's faces gently. They sat down as Amy said with love in her eyes, "Georgie told us what happened, have you heard anything yet Lisa." She took a breath and answered her step great granddaughter. "Well the doctor was just out and said he is stable, and they do believe it was another heart attack. The don't know how bad yet but he is responding to the treatment they are giving. When they asked about what happened, I told them what state he was in when I found him. Girls he was mumbling something about Tim, so I figure their meeting didn't go well." Lou and Amy reacted as expected cursing their father for most likely badgering him with something.

Lisa continued, " I have to say this, he would never admit it, but this ranch work is getting tough for him. He is not getting any younger and along with the stress of dealing with Tim, we have to figure out how to get him to slow down." Ty interrupted, "I am sorry I should have said something earlier but a few weeks ago I walked out of the Heartland barn and saw him sitting on a bale of hay and he seemed winded. He looked at me and said that he was just resting and, in his words, said with a smile, "Cutting wood is a young man's work." "I told him he should go in and rest, but he asked me to go get his heart pills and not tell anyone, especially you Lisa." Ty looked down and felt ashamed, "I should have said something, but you know how he is, he made me promise. I kept an eye on him for a week or so and he seemed ok, so I forgot about it." Lou spoke sharply, "Ty you should have told us. We needed to know." Before he could respond, Lisa spoke up. "Lou, I know you are upset, but this is not Ty's or anyone else's fault. Your grandpa is stubborn, and Ty is more like a son than a great grand son-in-law and he is hurting just as much as you." Lou calmed down and hugged Ty as an apology, She also took a concerned JT in her arms and hugged him to. As they all took a breath the doctor came out.

They were pleased when they saw it was Dr Holt, who know Jack and the family well. "Hey guys, I'll get right to the point. Jack has had a Myocardial Infarction, sorry heart attack. It seems it was instigated due to some a stressful event that happened earlier that morning. On a scale of 1-10 it was a 6. Not too bad but because of Jack's history it is a little more serious. He also was not taking his meds regularly and we had a frank discussion about that. I am not going to lie, this is serious but with rest and recovery as well as him keeping up on his meds he will be fine. Jack is not a young man, but he is as strong as an ox and hardheaded as one too." As he finished, Lisa had to ask, "Did Jack say what this event was that got him so worked up." The Dr. dropped his head down and said, "that is a question you will have to ask him." Lisa again spoke up, "I understand and thank you so much. You are a great friend of our family. We will keep him on track." With that the four women looked at each other and headed into his room with determination on their faces. Ty looked at JT and said, "Little man, I think we should stay put, we need to stay out of this." JT smiled and smacked his daddy in the face.

Jack look up as the four most important women in his life came through the door. His welcoming face went away when he saw their look – he was in trouble. As he started to talk, Lisa raised her hand. "Jack it is not time for you to talk. What is wrong with you, you haven't been taking your meds and Dr. Holt said something upset you so much this morning that you are here now. Jack Bartlett, you," Lou grabbed her shoulder stopping her rant. She took a breath and continued for Lisa, "Grandpa you have to realize how many people need you. Do you remember when Georgie came into our life. You bonded to her and even now she still looks up to you. Katie and Amy's kids, you are their GG and mean everything to them. Grandpa, you were a father to Amy and I and you helped mold us into what we are today. And Lisa you are the love of her life." Lou took a breath and Amy stepped in tearfully adding, "and Ty grandpa, you helped saved him and are a father to him. Look how many time you brought him back to us, to me." The room laid silent as Jack look up, "I know I have been a fool, not the first time. And I am sorry. When I was on the porch, I kept thinking about all of you and how I let a stupid conversation impact me so much." Lisa's head snapped up – what conversation?"

"Give it up grandpa," Lou demanded. Jack sighed and said, "Well I was talking to you father, and he made a decision without talking to me about some feed he bought for cheap. He is always cutting corners. Well we came to find out that the feed may have been contaminated, and our herd could be in jeopardy of being culled. Well good news the herd is Ok, but I told him I was done and didn't want to be a partner with him anymore. Words were exchanged and we kind of got into a fight." "Grandpa!" Amy screamed. "Well anyway he got a good lick and hit me in the chest. Is seems that caused the irregular heartbeat that brought on the heart attack. Doc says I am good to go, all healed up." The four women sat in silence not believing what they were hearing. That their dad, who had a life full of foolish decisions had done this. Amy and Lou were speechless, looked at each other and got up to leave. "Girls, what's up, where are you going," Lisa said trying to stop them. Lou looked back with conviction in her eyes, "Amy and I are going to take care of this, once and for all. Grandpa, when you and Lisa are ready to come home call and we will have someone come and get you." Before they could say anything, the girls were gone.

Ty saw Amy and Lou heading his way and he got JT ready to go. As they approached JT reached for his mom and she took him into her arms and hugged him. "So how is Jack?" Lou said abruptly, "He is good, we will explain in the ride home. After we drop you off, we are going to Big River, this ends today." Ty quietly got JT in his seat and headed home. The raid was not very informative but he kind of realized what was up. Amy and Lou pulled up to Big River, noticed that Tim and Casey's trucks were there and knocked with authority on the front door. Tim answer and could tell he was in trouble. The walked past him and went to the kitchen where Casey was reading the paper. She looked up and Tim sat down wondering what they wanted. Lou started, "We just got back from the hospital, Grandpa had another heart attack." Casey put her hand to her mouth looking genuinely concerned. Tim responded, "Well is the old man, ok?"

Amy erupted, "Yea dad he is no thanks to you. He said you guys got into a fight over some stupid feed thing and you punched him in the chest. Dad that was the cause of the heart attack." As silence fell upon the scene, Tim said, "Well he pissed me off, accusing me of something when all I was doing was trying to save a buck. We kind of had words." Lou spoke with intention, "Words, you had words, you hit him so hard that it affected his heartbeat and cause the heart attack. What is wrong with you." Casey stormed out of the room in tears. "Well I didn't mean to hurt him and to be honest I think our partnership may not be the best idea. Tell him I am sorry." Tim reasoned. Lou and Amy stood up as Amy said earnest, "We have had it dad, this is ending. We will get back with you later but for now stay clear of Heartland, we don't want you to hurt him again." The united sisters walked out to their truck as Casey approach them in tears, Girls I am so sorry, please tell Jack I hope he is ok. Can you let me know when he gets home, I would really like to see him." She smiled and hugged them. Tim stood in the doorway that maybe he had gone too far this time.

After getting a call from Lisa, Ty had Lyndy and Katie watch JT and went to pick them up. When he walked into the room he went to Jack with tears in his eyes and hugged the most important man in his life. Since this had happened, he couldn't stop thinking about the things he had done for him – picking him up in Calgary after his ill-fated trip to be with his father, giving him a belt buckle after his Bull ride and the Caleb / Amy thing, taking him on the one-way ride when he was screwing up again messing up school, work, and his relationship with Amy, going with him to spread his dad's ashes and everything else throughout his life. He was his father, and he knew Jack felt that Ty was his son. Jack looked at him and said, "I am good Ty, don't worry, let's get back to Heartland."

Over the next few weeks things settled a bit and Jack was feeling much better. Lisa and Lou pushed a new diet that Jack hesitantly accepted and made sure he took his medicine. When he would protest Lisa would pull out picture of all his great grandkids to guilt him. He succumbed. Lou and Amy were a little concerned when at a family dinner one night. Jack and Lisa mentioned that they had a meeting with Tim and Casey at Big River earlier that day. When asked about it Jack held up his hand and said, "You will all find out soon enough." The conversation faded from their thoughts until a couple of weeks later, Lisa sent a note to Lou, Amy, Ty Georgie, Steven, Scott, Caleb, and Cassandra that they wanted to meet with them at Fairfield, Lisa's high end breeding farm.

Fairfield was a family business she had grown into a formidable operation that had produced world class thoroughbreds that participated in races throughout North America and Europe. She had horses of her own and boarded and stable other high-end horses for prominent owners. For several years the Equine Center was used to provide their services for horses under their care. A recent product of Fairfield Stables, Gallant Prince raced in the Triple Crown races placing in the money at each one. Katie and Lyndy were going to be on kid duty and also would be taking care of Ben, Caleb, and Cass's son. Jack and Lisa said they would need a few hours, so the kids were set up at the Miracle Ranch since they had the most room. So the stage was set. They all headed over with great anticipation of what Jack and Lisa had to talk about. None of them were prepared for what they we about to hear.

When they walked into the room they were taken aback. The meeting room was set up with coffee, juice, bagels, assorted snacks, and fruit. There was a projector on the table with a screen set up and an easel, pad, and markers. Each seat had a glass with water at it already, additional water pitchers, a tablet of paper and pen. They noticed that Jack and Lisa were at the end of the table and a pile of very formal handouts stacked between them. Caleb whispered to Ty, "Wow this looks like a board of directors meeting." Jack overheard them and chuckled, "Well not really Caleb, we did not invite your CEO Ty." Everyone chuckled and settled down as Lisa asked them to grab whatever the needed from the snack table and have a seat. After everyone was seated, Lisa stood up and was the first to speak.

"First of all you all need to be at ease that what we want to talk about today is a good thing. I know a lot has happened lately, but I can assure you that Jack and I have been planning this for quite some time. His heart attack and the reason it was caused just made up realize that we needed to expedite things." She paused to take a drink. Everyone was impressed with Lisa and her professional way of speaking. If made it clear that she was a formidable woman and a loved member of their family. Amy and Ty chuckled to themselves as she whispered in his ear, "Look at Grandpa's eyes, god he loves her." Lisa continued with a glint in her eyes as Jack held her hand, "Jack and I have watched each of you as you have grown not only your businesses but your family over the years. I am not your blood relative, but we feel so proud that our grandchildren, their families and friends have been so successful. The ultimate reward to a parent or grandparent it to see their family be successful and happy and we have not been disappointed." She paused and Jack stood up as well. She turned on the projector and the screen lit up. The first page had something on it that took everyone's breath away.

Heartland Equestrian Experience

"Everything For You And Your Horse"

Lou spoke up, "Grandpa, Lisa what is going on?". "Well, Lisa and I have been thinking that is time we step back from things and my heart attack reinforced that. We want to relax a little more, enjoy all of you and your families as well as traveling a bit more." He smiled as he continued. "Like Lisa said we are so proud of each and every one of you. What you have all accomplished over the years is nothing short of amazing and we have an idea we want to share that will even make the family and our businesses stronger. And that family includes Scott, Cass, and Caleb too. Earlier you joked about needing Maddie our self-appointed CEO here and Caleb you said when you walked in it looked like a board of directors. Well everyone look around because everyone in this room is our Board of Directors." Again Jack was smiling as he went around the room. "So, I propose if the Board agrees that Lisa becomes the CEO, with assistance from Maddie and Lisa wants me to be the President." Everyone shook their heads as Lisa took over, beginning to understand what they were talking about. "Well in a nutshell here is what we propose."

The six distinctive companies, Heartland Ranch, Fairfield Stables, The Equine Center, Maggie's, The Dude Ranch, and the Hudson Veterinary Clinic currently run independently but are often aligned in many ways. In fact over the past few years that alignment has grown. Sharing of horses, vet needs, housing for families, catered food, surgical work and so on happen almost daily. So from a 20K' view here is our vision. We want to create a company that encompasses each one of these businesses allowing them to still be separate but benefit from being part of a whole. The move makes financial sense, especially from a tax perspective, streamlines the interaction, reduces supply cost because we can buy in bulk and most of all provides our combined clients a one stop shop. Expereince, for everything they need. We are confident aligning things like this will make us more nimble and more flexible at the same time. Staff can be shared when needed somewhere else, equipment can be utilized with more consistently and less down time and services can be share at a reduced cost."

She took a breath and saw that there were lots of questions. "I see by your faces there are a bunch of questions so before I go through the presentation, can we agree to allow each one of you a single question?" Everyone shook their heads in agreement. Starting from her left Lou was first, "I completely understand the business and tax advantages. As my mind runs at 100KPH the only question that comes to mind is, Grandpa, what about your cattle?" Lisa looked at Jack as he answered her. "Well as you all seem to be aware of Lisa and I went to see Tim and Casey late last week. I will be selling my herd to Tim at a reasonable cost and allow him free grazing rights for 10 years. He will have complete control of the cattle busness, the hiring of hands and so on. His business will not be included in the new organization outside of the fact that we will purchase beef from him." Amy went next, "I understand what this means and initially it sounds good but there seems to be a lot of details to work out. And what changes will happen to this group?" Lisa stepped in, "Well honey we still have a lot of things to work out, we have just built a framework that needs a lot of things filled in. But to repeat, Jack and I want to be less active in the operation and we know this is what is best for all of us, our families, and our staff. And to the second question, that is the beauty of this idea, What you do now won't be much different from what you do moving forward. We feel there will be less restrictions on things we want to do as individuals because we now have the rest of the organization to lean on." A lightbulb look click with many in the room.

Ty was next with misty eyes, "Lisa and Jack I have been watching everyone if the room and I am sure we all believe this is the best. You both mean the world to all of us but personally I hope this doesn't mean you both will fade out and not be engaged with the business and the family." Jack went over to Ty and put his hand on his shoulder, "I assure all of you, we are not going anywhere, we just feel it is time to step back. As the President and CEO we will be engaged as much as we have always been, we are just making sure we can enjoy ourselves more. That enjoyment includes watching you and your families flourish and grow." As they went around the room, they answered everyone's questions. Scott, who had owned and built his business from scratch was last. He commented, "I am more than happy with the potential this venture brings to my clinic and to this family, my family. As Ty can attest, Marion brought us in to this group and made us into men but most importantly how to love and be loved. My question is a business related one. How will the operating reports be laid out. Will we keep the individual business as subsidiaries and roll up to Heartland Equestrian Experience?" The question made sense to some, but others were a bit perplexed.

Jack deferred to Lisa as she spoke up and moved back to the presentation. "To clarify for everyone, every subsidiary will have a separate Operating Report that records and tracks expenses, assets and income. A company must have a favorable OR in order to be successful and viable. She went through the next three slides and showed overview of the Fairfield, Miracle Ranch and Heartland operating budgets and results. As you can see all are operating well and producing profits. Profits can be used to make improvements to a company to generate more income and in most cases are shared with employees. In Fairfield's case if we have a good year, every employee benefits. Looking at Lou and Scott, I imagine that your operating reports are favorable as well." They concurred and nodded yes Lou adding, "Yes the Dude Ranch has been flourishing and that was the reason we were able to add three more cabins. They were added without the need of a loan." Lisa recognizing Lou's financial knowledge continued. "Well my first recommendations is that you become the CFO of the new organization!" Everyone smiled and agreed.

Lisa went to answer Scott's question, "So to Scott's question. As I said, each of the 6 subsidiaries will have their own operating budget that will roll up into an overall operating report of Heartland Equestrian Expereince. Although each business is separate the link will be this budget and a number of shared expense lines on the individual reports. This will be the link that ties everything together." Lou politely jumped in, "While I was in New York, we did this a lot. These shared lines on the Operating Report allow for shared expense on common items like supplies and items all facilities use. The benefit is cost saving because you can buy in bulk, but the profits realized affect the overall organization. It's a win-win and the difference between a profitable and non-profitable company." Lisa said, "That is correct, and I like your explanation much better. It's good to see our CFO in action." Lou smiled. Lisa continued to go through the rest of the deck that detailed how the new world would look. Their recommendation was that the Board would be employees of the larger organization and the others would fall where they are now. A clause would be placed in everyone's employment contract that they may be asked to work another part of the business. Salary would remain with their home-based company.

After she finished, she looked at the group for any more questions. Jack and she could see the drain that this revelation had brought on to them. Well there is one more thing. In order to protect this project, which I expect to take up to 6 months, everyone will need to keep this under wraps. Jack and I debated this as in most cases a non-disclosure document would need to be signed by everyone here. It is not a personal thing but a business thing." Lou shook her head in agreement, "Yes I think I have signed a hundred of these, in fact some are still active." Jack continued, "I personally am uncomfortable asking you all to do this, but this is a democracy, and all decisions must be discussed and agreed upon by the group. We will meet regularly during the development in private so confidentially is necessary. After we will meet regularly to keep updated on the bottom line and make any decisions as a group. So what does everyone think?" Everyone sat whispering to the person next to them. After a minute or so, Amy and Lou stood up as Amy talked. "Lou and I love everyone in this room with all of our hearts and are more than comfortable going with an honor code rather that a formal document. We are sure mom would want it that way" Lisa smiled and as Jack grabbed a bottle of Champagne and glasses said, "Ok its agreed upon, the first of many things we will decide as a group. Grab a glass and join us in a toast. Welcome to the new journey we will all be partaking. Here is to family, friends and Heartland Equestrian Expereince, Cheers." Glasses clinked and hugs abounded. Ty added, To new beginnings."