To retire or not to retire? This topic has been weighing heavily on both Jack and Lisa's minds lately. For Lisa, Fairfield had hit a rough patch but seems to have bounced back in a positive light, allowing her the opportunity to think about buying Platinum Bow. For Jack, Tim has been off with Jessica so he's been tending to the cattle on his own when the opportunity to buy Mitch's herd came up so he could expand Heartland Beef. After some discussion, both Jack and Lisa decided that they would both ramp up their businesses versus slowing down. They had plans and yes they'd do them but growing both businesses to be even more successful was a small part of that plan. Jack bought the herd and accompanied Lisa to the auction to buy Platinum Bow, much to his shock at the price tag. They then toasted each other for their business ventures pushing forward. Platinum Bow had a case of Potamac Horse Fever in which he recovered and off to the races he went, Lisa traveling with him. She's returned now to Heartland where things are busier than ever. For Lou, it's juggling the Mayoral duties, a long distance relationship with Peter, and Maggies. Amy is still working with client Horses, the center, and raising Lyndy. Katie is finishing up the school year and trying to find her way in the world and family, confiding in her friend Parker. Georgie is in Florida with Quinn, so communication is via FaceTime, text, or email unless Lou and Peter go to visit occasionally. Tim returned with Jessica announcing they were now married, so she's been working on her Photography business while Tim is regaining focus on rodeo school and the herd for Heartland Beef with Jack.
Lisa came in one afternoon from Fairfield, Katie was in the kitchen "Hi honey" she said as she set her purse down on the bench. Katie looked up from the journal she was reading that Jack found of Lyndy's. "Hi Lisa", Lisa was curious as she came around the table "What are you reading?" Katie held up the journal "GG found some of GG Lyndy's journals in storage. She was a great writer". Lisa smiled "yes, your GG has told me about her lyrics and stories." She then turned to get washed up so she could start supper "Where is your GG?" she asked as she looked out the window, his truck was there but didn't see any signs of Jack. "I think he's out with Grandpa checking on the herd." Katie got up "I'll get the table set" as she headed to her room to put the journals up before setting the table as Lisa made supper. Amy and Lyndy came in a few minutes before Jack and Tim who were debating something about feed. Both Lou and Jessica were out of town for a few days. The family made their way to the table, conversations shifting to the events of the day. Amy and Katie were doing dishes after they finished, Jack reached for Lisa's hand "Come on" as he led her out the door. They started off on a walk, a little ways down the path Jack stopped and turned to Lisa. She looked at him with a questioning look "What?" He leaned down and kissed her "Nothing, I just wanted to kiss you. I didn't get a chance before dinner and haven't seen you all day." She smiled "mm, I would have welcomed that greeting earlier." He took her hand "So what were you and Tim debating about?" He shook his head "Just Heartland Beef stuff, he wanted to go with a different feed and I said no. We aren't changing it, you know him if he thinks he can save a buck, he will. I had to remind him of the last time when he got that contaminated feed from Stumpy." Lisa chuckled "yes, I remember that. Honey, you need to do what's best to keep the same quality up." Jack kissed the side of her head "That's what I told TIm. How was your day?" he asked shifting the conversation to her "It was good, I have a few prospects that I'm looking at. I'm also working on some things for the France side of the business." They made their way back to the barn, Jack did night checks while they were out there "Lis, you mentioned France, does this mean you're going to have to leave again? He asked as he was closing the barn door. Lisa sighed "Possibly, I don't know yet. It might be a couple weeks or so before I would have to leave." He turned the lights off "Well you do what you gotta do, you know I won't stand in your way." She leaned up and kissed him "Maybe I can convince you to come with me?" He returned her kiss "Lis, we will see." They went into the house and got ready for bed, settling in each other's arms for the evening.
The next day, Katie was reading the journal outside at the picnic table when Lisa brought Lyndy outside. Lyndy went to play while Lisa sat at the picnic table "Hi honey" Katie looked up "hi" Lisa tilted her head "something wrong?" Katie sighed "No, not really." Lisa reached across the table "If you need to talk, I'm here. What are your plans for the summer?" Katie shrugged "I guess staying around here, mom has been going back and forth to dads. I feel like a third wheel sometimes. I thought about getting a summer job." Lisa thought for a minute "well honey, I'm sure you'll find something to do. Have you told your mom and dad how you feel about going back and forth with them?" "No, you know how mom can be. I don't want her getting all funny about the situation, I'm glad they're making it work don't get me wrong." Katie stated. "Anyways, I'm sure Parker and I can also help Amy with Lyndy." Lisa stood up, "come on let's go take a walk, Lyndy likes to pick flowers", reaching for Katie's hand. They collected Lyndy and headed to the field, Lyndy picked a bouquet of flowers "Lisa, can we give these to mommy?" Lisa took the flowers "of course. Say girls, what if we go get an ice cream?" Both girls agreed and they went back to the house. Lisa texted Jack "Taking the girls to Maggies for ice cream" so he knew where they were in case he came home before they got back. He responded "okay". The trio went to Maggies for sundaes. Lisa's trainer called as they were finishing up, "Girls, I need to stop by Fairfield on the way home." Lisa helped Lyndy down from the stool. Arriving at Fairfield, Lisa took the girls to her office. "Lyndy, be good for Katie, I'll be back in a few minutes. Katie, I'll be right outside." Lisa walked out to go talk to Harry and Chuck. Meanwhile, Lyndy found the coloring book and colors that Lisa had for her when she's with her at Fairfield. Katie saw a draft of an article, she picked it up and was reading it. Before long, Lisa walked back in and Katie quickly put it down "sorry, I didn't mean to snoop." Lisa picked it up "It's okay, honey. I want to redo the website and this company said they could help write articles but so far I haven't been impressed. I will most likely end up doing it myself." Katie picked it up again "I can see why you're not impressed. It doesn't look like they know anything about horses." Lisa chuckled, "I agree, come here" she hugged Katie "Come on, what do you say we go shopping?" Katie smiled "Like we used too, when I was younger? You used to take me for a sundae, bring me here to see the horses and go shopping." Lisa smiled "We sure did, we had many sleepovers too." Katie took Lyndy's hand "I looked forward to those. I miss those days." Lisa wrapped her arm around her "And here I thought you outgrew spending time with me." Katie shook her head "No, I know you're busy, so I never said anything." They got in the car, Lisa turned to her "Katie, honey I am busy but I am always here for you." Katie leaned over and hugged her "Thanks, Lisa." They headed off to go shopping, the girls coming away with new clothes. When they got back to Heartland, Jack was on the porch. Lyndy was out of the car "GG, want to see my new clothes?" as he met them on the walkway. He wrapped an arm around Lisa, kissing her head "I thought you were going for sundaes?" She looked up at him, "we did, then we went to Fairfield, I had to take care of some business, and then decided to take the girls shopping." Katie helped Lyndy inside "come on Lyndy, let's show GG our new outfits" once the girls were in the house, Lisa held Jack back "I think Katie needed it, Jack she's feeling a bit lost it seems." Jack nodded "Yeah, her and I talked a week or so ago, she is trying to find her way. She's not into horses like Georgie and with the Peter/Lou situation, she doesn't know her place." Their conversation stopped as the girls came out to show Jack their outfits, Lyndy twirled around in the dress. "Don't you look pretty, girls. Did you have a good day with Lisa?" Lyndy said "Yes" as she ran off to her room. Katie agreed "Yes, I'm going to go read before dinner, if that's okay?" Lisa nodded "Sure." Jack wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer "You spoil those girls, Lis." She smiled "It was just a couple outfits, no big deal" He kissed her "Katie, told me you found some of Lyndy's old journals for her. She's been reading them lately." He nodded "yeah, she reminds me a lot of her, Lis. I thought it would be good for her to know more about her great-grandmother Lyndy. Found them in some boxes we've been storing." Lisa moved her hand to his face so he was looking at her "I think it was a great idea" smiling at him "that's one of the things I love about you, you're a very thoughtful and generous man, Jack" leaning in to kiss him. Lyndy came running back in the room, interrupting them. She stopped at Lisa with a book "Do you want me to read with you?" Lyndy climbed up in her lap "please". Jack got up, squeezing Lisa's shoulders as he walked behind her as she opened the book to read to Lyndy. He went into the kitchen to start supper.
The next day, Lisa was making breakfast when Katie came into the kitchen. "Morning honey, do you want some breakfast?" Katie sat down "Yes, please" Lisa set a plate down as Amy and Lyndy came in, Lyndy climbing up on a chair. "Morning, Lisa", Amy opening the fridge and getting the orange juice out. "Here you go, little miss" Lisa said as she set a plate down before turning to finish the dishes. When she was done she set the towel down "Girls, I gotta get to Fairfield, I'll see you all later." as she was headed to get her keys and purse. "Bye Lisa." At Fairfield, Lisa was busy with meetings and it turns out she does have to go to France. She sighed at the thought of leaving Jack, this was part of it when they decided to move forward. She knew he understood, however it didn't leave them missing one another any less during these times. She finished up her day by early evening and headed back to Heartland. Jack was busy making supper when she came in "Hi". He set the towel down as she came across the kitchen to greet her, giving him a quick kiss. "Hi" Parker and Katie came in a few minutes later "Hi girls" Jack greeted them. Lisa set the table before everyone came in for the evening. After dinner, Lisa was doing dishes when Katie came in with the last of the plates "Lisa, I have a question." Lisa turned her head to look at Katie, "what is it?" Katie picked up the towel "nevermind it's silly." Lisa touched her arm gently, "Katie, what is it? I'm sure it's not silly." Katie took a deep breath "well, I was thinking about that article on your desk." Lisa nodded, indicating to her to keep talking "Could I try writing it for you?" she put her head down, biting her lip waiting on Lisa's answer. Lisa dried her hands and touched her arm gently "I would like that" pulling her in for a hug. Katie let out the breath she was holding "Really!?" Lisa smiled "Of course, I think it's a great idea. You can come with me to Fairfield tomorrow if you want." Katie hugged her again "Yes, thank you Lisa." Jack walked in, smiling seeing them "What's going on in here?" Katie pulled back from Lisa "Lisa is letting me help her with a project for Fairfield." Jack stopped behind Lisa, placing his hands on her shoulders. "That's great, honey." Together they all finished the dishes, Lisa poured them each a glass of wine. She handed one to him as they went to settle on the couch in front of the fire. After a few minutes, Lisa glanced up at him "Jack, I have to go to France in a couple weeks." He looked down at her "Lis, I said I wasn't going to stand in the way, I meant it. How long do you plan to be gone?" he asked. "Should be two weeks at the most. I have a couple clients coming to look at horses and need to look at a couple horses while I'm there." He detected some hesitation in her voice so he set their glasses on the table, taking her hands "Lisa, we have been apart far longer than two weeks. The other night, you asked me if I could go with you. Now, I would love nothing more than for us to go together but I can't this time. I'll be right here waiting for you when you get back." He moved his hand to her face, bringing it closer and kissed her. She smiled, "I'll hold you to it, cowboy." kissing him again.
The next few days flew by, Katie went with Lisa to Fairfield to work on the articles. Lisa returned to her office, Katie turned her laptop towards her "Here look…." Lisa put her glasses on and read the screen. Katie watched her intently as she read the article, anxious for a reaction. Lisa simply took her glasses off and looked at her "Katie, this is fantastic." Katie's face lit up "Really, I can work on it some more…." Lisa shook her head "no need, honey this is great. This can go on the website immediately. I have a couple more that need to be redone, if you're up for it." Katie hugged her "Yes, I would love too. Thank you Lisa." Lisa moved to her desk "No, I should be the one thanking you. I didn't know when I was going to find the time to get that done too." Her phone rang "It's Jack….Hi Honey" she looked at the time "yeah everything is fine, I lost track of time. We will be home soon. Alright, love you." She set her phone down. Katie looked up "Everything okay?" Lisa turned her laptop off. "Yeah, your GG was checking on us, it's getting late and supper will be ready soon." They were soon headed back to Heartland, while Lisa was driving she glanced over at Katie "Did you tell your mom, you were helping me?" Katie shook her head "Yeah I mentioned it." Lisa didn't press the topic anymore. They got home just as Jack was putting supper on the table. He heard them come in, he kissed her "Hi" she smiled "Hi there, sorry we are late. I got tied up." she said."I was just checking on you." They all sat down to eat. "Katie, Lisa's not overworking you at Fairfield is she?" asked Jack, causing Lisa to chuckle and gently swat his arm. "No, it's been great, she's letting me do some writing for the website updates." Jack smirked, "Good on ya." Lisa's hand made it to his as it usually does during supper, smiling at each other. The family continued the conversation about the day's events as they usually do to catch up with one another. As Jack and Lisa were getting ready for bed, Lisa turned the covers back "I was thinking that maybe I'd call Lou and see if Katie could go with me to France" looking at him. He stood on his side "I think she'd like that" They got in and Lisa settled snuggled next to him "The other day, she said she missed the time we spent together when she was younger. I remember many sleepovers at Fairfield." Jack wrapped his arm around her and pulled her even tighter against him "she always did ask for those, especially when you were off traveling, couldn't wait for you to get back so you could spoil her with a sleepover." She glanced up "I know, I couldn't wait to get back here either. Aside from the sleepovers, I couldn't wait to get back to you. I love you." She leaned up kissing him, shifting to align more with him, wrapping her arm around his neck as he put his arms around her. "I love you" as they settled in for the night.