Hi guys!

Well, I wasn't planning on updating so soon lol but I guess your reviews nudged me in the direction of uploading another chapter! I just saw today that this story has over 11k views! Thank you guys so much for sticking here with me and my story. Your support means the world to me!

On a side note, the attic has two rooms... just wanted to mention my lil addition to the heartland house...

I don't have much more to say except enjoy!

Chapter 18.0

Amy and Lou were washing up the dishes the next evening after supper, Amy glancing out the window as Cindy, Jessie and Mallory chased each other around outside in a game of tag. 'They look like they're having fun.'

'Yeah, Cindy and Jessie really are close to each other.' Lou remarked as she wiped up a cup and placed it on the shelf. 'They remind me of you and I.'

'We weren't this close before mom died, were we?'

'No.' Lou sighed. 'No, we weren't.' She grabbed another cup from the drying rack, wiping it as she watched the girls play through the window. 'It's nice seeing them having some fun. Cindy and Jessie are going to take it hard when they get seperated next week.'

'I know. Jessie hasn't said anything, but I can tell it's hard on her.'

'Cindy too. That night they both showed up here, poor Cindy was a mess thinking Jessie's state was because of her.' Lou grabbed the plate Amy handed her and put it in the cupboard on top of the stack. 'They both have had it a lot harder than either of us. I can't imagine what Jessie has been through. Not having dad around when we were younger was hard, but the childhood Jessie had.' She shook her head. 'Makes ours seem like a fairytale.'

'And yet, looking at her playing with Cindy and Mallory now you wouldn't even be able to tell.'

'Jessie hides a lot inside her.' She replied quietly. 'You wouldn't remember much of how you felt when Dad left us, but I do. I guess I can relate to her a little.'

Amy looked at her, a wondering look on her face. 'What do you mean?'

'Oh, nevermind.' She smiled, shrugging it off. 'Hey, you missed a spot on that baking dish.'

'I was hoping I might be able to speak with you two for a moment.' Jack interrupted as he came in, grabbing another towel from the rack to help dry the dishes. 'That okay?'

'Sure.'

'Guess so.'

'Well, I was speaking with Lisa about Jessie-'

'And the two of you decided that you want to look after Jessie together.' Lou finished his sentence for him. 'Am I right?'

'Yes.' He replied, trying to figure out how she might have guessed that was exactly what they had decided. 'How did you know?'

'Grampa.' Amy spoke up, placing the baking dish on the drying rack. 'Anyone with eyes can see the writing on the wall with the way you two care about each other and Jessie. This isn't a surprise.'

'Well, would you two be okay with it? I mean, it would mean that Jessie stays here when Lisa is in France or away. There'd be another person in the house, and Lisa would be here a lot more-'

'Which would be a real shame.' Lou smirked as Jack rolled his eyes at her. 'I think it's a good idea. Jessie has really taken to the two of you. I think it'd be good for her.'

'What about you Amy?'

'I agree with Lou.' Amy pulled the plug in the sink now that all the dishes were washed. 'I like Jessie, I don't think her staying permanently would be a problem at all.'

'The only thing though Grampa, is where would she stay? In the house I mean. I don't think the authorities would really approve of her staying on the floor in the living room on a permanent basis. She would need her own privacy too, I don't think she'd be comfortable with bunking with Amy, Mallory or I. She'd need her own space.'

'That's one thing I didn't think of.' He sighed. 'That is a good question.'

'I've got it Grampa!' Amy replied, an idea coming to her. 'The attic! There's two rooms up there, we don't use either of them except for storage. We could move everything from one into the other and turn it into a bedroom. That way she'd have her own room, and since it's big enough, on the odd occasion that Lisa would have to stay over she can stay with her. It's definitely more suitable then the floor or the couch.'

'That's a great idea Amy!' Lou interjected before Jack could even get a word in. 'We could give it a new coat of paint, some curtains-'

'Your getting ahead of yourself Lou.' Jack reined her enthusiasm in. 'We don't even know if we can have Jessie stay here permanently yet, Lisa and I haven't even spoken to Clint about it. I wanted to check first with you girls before I spoke to him.'

'Guess your decorating skills will just have to wait a little longer Lou. Anyway, aren't you still working on the cabins for the dude ranch?'

'Well, yeah. They're almost finished.'

'Getting the attic ready for Jessie wouldn't be just a one day job, or even a one weekend job. It's going to take a lot of work.'

'How hard could it be?'

Lou got her answer, staring at the piles of junk stacked almost to the ceiling in the attic. The whole place was thick with cobwebs and dust, and as the three of them looked at it, they realised what they had just gotten themselves into. 'Maybe we just build another room?'

Amy chuckled. 'Oh, it's not that bad. Maybe the other side will have less.'

'Nope, it doesn't.' Jack replied, knowing very well how much stuff was behind the door behind him. 'It's just about as packed as this one.'

'What is all this stuff anyway?' She asked as she took a step in, brushing the dust off one of the boxes on the pile next to her. 'It looks like it's been here for centuries.'

'Most of this stuff goes back to almost when this place was built. I don't even know half of what the stuff in here is.' He picked up a newspaper dating back to World War 1. 'Here's something you can use for your history assignment Amy.'

'We could start a museum with the stuff in here.' Lou raised her eyebrows as she gave a low whistle. 'This could take awhile to get cleaned up for Jessie.'

'I guess it really should be cleaned up anyway, this stuff has been in here for a long time.' He grabbed another newspaper and handed it to Amy. 'Amazing the stuff you find up here.'

Amy laughed. 'I guess this is my history assignment done and dusted. That was easy. A lot easier than cleaning this up it would appear.'

'Where do we even start Grampa?' Lou sighed. 'It's going to take ages, and yeah, we don't even know if Jessie will be staying.'

'I think we clean it anyway Lou.' Jack replied. 'Getting cleaned out won't hurt it, and even if they say no, which I really hope they don't, we can still have a spare room for her so she can come visit.'

'Sounds good to me.' Amy folded up the newspapers, glancing around. 'I guess we could get started tomorrow after school.'

'We don't want Jessie to know about this though, do we Grampa?'

'No, I don't want her getting her hopes up.' He closed the door as they headed back down the stairs. 'Not a word for either of you too about any of this, okay? If they say no, then she won't get disappointed.'

'Alright.'

'I won't say anything.' Amy agreed, putting the newspapers down on her homework on the table. 'It's going to be pretty hard getting up there done without her knowing though.'

'Hard, but not impossible. I'm sure I can get Lisa to take her for a bit every couple of days, and there's other things we can keep her busy with. I'll talk to Ty and Caleb too, they can help get up there cleaned as well.' He glanced at the clock. 'First thing though, I need to go get those girls to finish their chores. Sounds like they're still running around out there.'

'You can't catch me Jessie!' Cindy teased as she ran away from her, playing with her and Mallory in the ranch yard the next afternoon. 'You're too slow!'

'Haha!' Jessie called after her, finally giving up the chase as she stopped to catch her breath with a pant. She sat down on the grass, holding her side a little as Mallory and Cindy came to join her. 'If I didn't still have these cracked ribs, I'd run rings around you!'

'Are you okay?' Mallory asked as she sat beside her. 'You're breathing pretty heavy.'

'I'm fine, these ribs are just reminding me I should have been taking it easy and I forgot. Again.' She turned to Cindy as the younger girl took a place on the other side of her. 'Give it a month, and you won't get away from me.'

'Yeah yeah, you said that.' She teased, nudging her with her shoulder. 'I'm just too fast for you, admit it.'

'Having fun girls?' Jack asked as he walked over, kneeling down to their level when he saw Jessie looked a little pale. 'Jessie, you don't look so good honey.'

'I'm fine Jack.' She looked down, away from him. She couldn't look at him. Not after what had happened the day before. She had been trying to avoid him the whole time, she was so ashamed and embarrassed of what had happened she couldn't bring herself to look at him. 'Just got a stitch, that's all.'

Jack nodded, believing what she said but knowing there was more to her quietness and silence she had been displaying towards him. He looked at Cindy and Mallory, motioning for them to go do their chores. 'Mallory, you need to check Copper and feed him. Cindy, can you look after Warrior for Jessie? I think she needs to get some rest.'

'Sure.' Cindy agreed, getting to her feet then helping Mallory get up. 'Last one to the barn is a rotten egg!'

Jessie shook her head as the two girls ran off to the barn. 'How on earth do they have so much energy?'

'They haven't just been in the hospital for a week recovering from bruised and cracked ribs, internal bleeding and lung trauma.' He replied gently. 'It's going to take some time for you to get your strength back.'

'That's what the doc said. I can't believe it's been just over two weeks since I got hurt. It's gone so quickly.'

'Now that you're out of the hospital, that is.'

'Yeah.' She chuckled shallowly. 'I hate hospitals.'

'I don't like them much either to be honest.' He extended his hand to her to help her get up, but she flinched away like he was going to hit her. Her eyes reminded him that while he knew he would never hurt her, she didn't know that. He had to remember that another man's hand hadn't been quite so gentle with her. 'Jessie, I'm not going to hurt you.' He assured her gently, taking his hand away from her though. 'It's getting cold, you need to go back inside.'

'I'm sorry Jack.' Jessie still wouldn't look at him. 'I-I don't know what happened. I trust you, but-'

'You always have that little voice in the back of your mind telling you to be careful. When someone's hand comes inside your personal space your fight or flight kicks in.' He saw her nod. 'I understand Jessie.'

'I don't want to be scared all the time Jack.' She admitted. 'I want to trust you, I really like you. You've been so good to me, even though I've been pretty rotten to you sometimes. I just wish I wouldn't react like this. I know you won't hurt me, but I can't stop reacting like this.'

'Jessie, it's not your fault sweetie. I understand. I should have asked first so you weren't caught off guard.'

'I don't want to flinch and turn into a coward everytime a guy puts his hand towards me Jack. It's embarrassing, especially for you to see me like this.'

'Hey, you don't need to worry about that. I don't judge you for what you've been through or how you react.'

'Still. I don't like anyone seeing me like this.' She sniffled. She hated showing how vulnerable and broken she was at the best of times, but especially not to Jack. He was a guy, it was way different than if she broke down in front of Lisa. 'I'm really sorry about yesterday too Jack. I shouldn't have acted the way I did.'

'You don't need to apologise honey. I know it was hard what you had to hear.'

Jessie nodded again. 'If I can't take Warri with me, can he stay here please till I figure out what to do with him? I can't keep imposing on your generosity with him staying here till I turn eighteen, it's just not logical.'

'What are you going to do with him?' Jack frowned, wishing he could tell her he and Lisa were trying to get the legal right to look after her but knowing he couldn't. If they said no, it would devisate her. 'Are you going to sell him?'

'I don't know.' She shook her head. 'I can't sell him, but I can't keep him here either. Neither of those options would be good for him in the long run. I guess I could return him to his homeland, he could run wild again but I'm worried he's been around me too long he'd have forgotten how to survive in the wild. Then there's the other option. I don't want to do it Jack, but I'd rather put a bullet in him then have him sold and have someone abuse him again or get himself killed by the other stallions in the wild.' She sniffled. 'I guess I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. I don't know what to do.'

Jack could understand the struggle she was going through, no wonder she'd been so upset and down the last couple of days. Having this burden on her mind, it was no surprise she had reacted the way she had. He'd seen the connection they had with each other, it was unlike any connection he'd ever seen. He could only imagine how he'd feel if he were in her shoes and had to choose what to do with Paint. Even though if Paint had to be sold, he would be able to be handl it, there was no way it was the same for Warrior. There was only one person who could handle him, and she was sitting in a mental mess in front of him. 'Jessie, don't go making your mind up anytime soon. You need to really think this through, don't do anything rash. Warrior is welcome to stay as long as it takes, even till your eighteen if need be.'

'I don't like being in debt to anyone.'

'Well, you kinda already are, so having Warrior here is only a little more. You'd rather that, then putting him down. Wouldn't you?'

She nodded. 'Yeah. I hate being beholden to anyone though.'

'I can understand that. A person has their pride, don't they?' She nodded again. 'Just don't let your pride get in the way of people trying to help you, okay?'

'Okay.'

'Let's get inside now, shall we?' The wind had started to pick up as the sun slipt behind the mountains. 'It's getting chilly out here.' He stood up, rubbing his knee as it protested. 'Would you like a hand up?'

'Sure.' She smiled as she took his hand, Jack helping her to her feet. She winced as she put her hand to her side. 'These ribs have a way of reminding me when I overdo it.'

Jack looked at her, a slight look of concern on his face as they walked to the house. 'Are you sure you're okay?'

'I'm fine Jack, just shouldn't have been running as much as I did. The doc said light activity was alright.'

'The key word you missed there was 'light' by the looks of it.'

'Yeah yeah.' She rolled her eyes. 'And I don't think saying I've had worse will do much to reassure you either.'

'No hon, you're right there.' Even though Jessie herself hadn't said much about her past to him, Lisa had. It pained him to think that another man, her father, could treat his own daughter so terribly. He couldn't imagine doing that to Marrion when she was little, yet he knew not all men were like him. Even with his temper, he had not hit Marrion in anger. He'd hated when he'd had to spank her for being disobedient, but he couldn't imagine beating her with a stockwhip like Jessie's father had done to her. 'I want to show you not all men are like the men you've known and been around. We're not all like that.'

'You have Jack.' She replied as he opened the door for her and helped her take her coat off. 'I watch you. I watch you with Lisa, how your always kind and loving towards her. I've seen you with Lou and Amy. I know your a good person. I wouldn't still be here if you weren't.'

'I'm not perfect, I still have my faults Jessie.' Jack put his hat on the rack and followed her to the living room, putting more wood on the fire as she went and sat down. 'I don't like change for one.'

'I never would have guessed.' Jessie snorted, laughing then immediately regretted it. 'Jack, don't make me laugh. Please.'

'Sorry.' He smiled, enjoying the little laugh she had had. It made him happy when she smiled, when she laughed. She deserved some happiness, and even with what she was going through she still showed that little childish spark from time to time. 'I'll add that to the list. Making Jessie laugh while she has cracked ribs.'

'Stop, stop it!' She teased, trying to ease the ache in her side. 'It's not funny.'

'Alright, alright.'

'What'd I miss?' Amy asked as she walked out from her room, holding a couple of books that she placed on the table. 'Sounds like a party going on in here.'

'Jack was saying one of his faults is that he doesn't like change and I said you'd never have guessed it.' Jessie replied, noting the books Amy had been carrying. 'What are you working on?'

'History assignment.'

'Fun. I like history.'

'I don't.' She sighed as she sat down to work on her assignment again. 'Hey, do you want to do it?'

'I'm pretty sure that's not allowed, as much as I'd love to help.'

'Oh, pretty please?'

'Amy, really? History isn't that bad.' Jessie got up, walking over to see what she was working on. 'World War 1 hey? Where'd you get that newspaper from?'

'Gramps found it, don't ask me where.'

'Well, it's pretty old. I think its real.' She looked at the brown, weatherd pages. 'When you're finished with it, can I have a read?'

'Sure.'

'Do you want to have a chess game Jessie?' Jack asked as she walked back into the living room. 'A losing game.'

'A losing game? Who won yesterday after Lisa and you swapped sides hmm?' She teased him as he got the game out. 'I'm game, if you're happy to get beaten again.'

'Your on.' He smiled, seeing that spark in Jessie's eyes again. She'd be alright, it would just take time and patience, but she'd be alright. He could feel it. Jessie was strong, she'd had to be. It was that strength that was her greatest weakness, and her greatest strength. He could only hope though that she'd learn she didn't have to hide how she felt anymore, he wanted her to be able to be comfortable in telling him if she was struggling with something, but for now he had a chess game to worry about. 'Alright, you go first.'

'Mallory, can I come in?' Jack asked as he knocked on her half-opened door.

'Sure.' She put her book down she'd been reading as he walked in, scooching over in her bed so Jack could sit down. 'I haven't done anything wrong, have I?'

'No, no Mallory.' He chuckled. 'No, it's nothing like that. I wanted to speak with you about Jessie.'

'Jessie?' Mallory echoed as she sat up, her interest perked. 'What about Jessie?'

'What would you say to her maybe staying on a permanent basis?'

'You mean, like living here?'

'Yeah.'

'Um Jack, hello. I could see this coming.'

'So did Amy and Lou.' Well, he wasn't surprised that they weren't surprised. Lou and Amy had made it quite clear they'd guessed he'd want to do that. 'What would you think though? Would it be okay with you?'

Mallory nodded. 'I like Jessie, even if she is a bit different-.'

'Different?'

'You know. Mature. Old Soul.'

Jack chuckled. 'Yeah, she behaves quite differently from your immature antics.'

'Immature?' She rolled her eyes. 'Whatever. I think it's a good idea Jack.'

'You wouldn't get jealous?'

'Me? Jealous?' She scoffed. 'Do you think I'm a whiny school girl or something Jack?'

'I don't think I'll answer that Mallory.'

'Jack!' She grabbed a small cushion, hitting him with it as he laughed. 'That's not funny.'

Jack grabbed the cushion, pulling it out of her grasp then handed it back to her once she'd calmed down. 'So, are you okay with it?'

'Yeah. Jessie's alright. I like her. What about Lisa though?'

'We're going to be looking after her together.'

'How's that going to work?'

'Not that that's any of your concern Mallory.' She rolled her eyes again. 'But please, don't mention anything to Jessie. Lisa and I don't want to get her hopes up.'

'Don't worry Jack, my lips are sealed.'

'Okay, you have a good sleep. You want the door closed?'

'Na, Cindy still has to come back anyway. Night Jack.'

'Night Mallory.' He remarked, patting her shoulder as he got up and headed back out. Lou was working on her laptop, Amy still working on her homework as he came in. 'Amy, it's time for bed.'

Amy yawned as she nodded, closing her books. 'Alright, I'll have to finish that tomorrow.' She gave Jack a kiss on the cheek. 'Night gramps, night Lou, night Jessie, night Cindy.'

'Night Amy.' Lou didn't even look up from her laptop. 'Don't forget we need to go look at those horses tomorrow after school.'

'I won't.'

'Night Amy.' Jessie remarked as Amy headed down the hallway, then she looked down at Cindy. 'Probably you should be going to bed too, I'm not far off it.'

'Can't we have just one more chess game? Please?'

'Cindy, it's late.' Jack interjected. 'Jessie needs her rest. Off you go, the chess board will still be here in the morning.'

'Alright, alright.' She gave Jessie a hug. 'Night Jessie.'

'Night Cindy. Sleep well.' She yawned as she got off the couch and climbed onto her cot. 'Night Jack.'

'Night Jessie.' Jack walked over to her, kneeling down beside her stretcher. 'You have a good sleep. If you have a nightmare, you know you can come get me and I will sit up with you.'

'You don't have to do that for me Jack.'

'I want to Jessie.' He went to place his hand on hers, but stopped halfway, watching her eyes as if he were asking a silent permission. Jessie nodded, holding onto his hand. 'You'll be okay.'