Lisa started smacking her hand around trying to turn off the alarm that was persistent and driving her crazy. Finally, she snapped out of her haze, realized she was sitting in her living room, and it wasn't an alarm, but her phone. She groaned as she shifted after falling asleep with her legs propped on her coffee table and with an irritated face, looked at her watch, wondering who was trying to call her at this late hour of 8:00-oh-she frowned to herself. Her nodding off all the time was driving her crazy, but she fumbled around for the phone, sighing when she found it and saw it was Jack.
"Hi, Jack," she said, clearing her throat, even it sounding a bit raspy. She looked to the widows, and even with her shades drawn, she could see that it was still light outside, the haze of the day visible. The days were getting longer; it was almost May, and this far north, she did enjoy that. She'd slept hard and for quite some time.
"Lisa, are you alright?" Jack asked her immediately, and she stood up trying to stretch out the kinks in her back and stiffness in her legs. "I'm outside and have been ringing your doorbell."
"Oh," she said, now embarrassed. "I had fallen asleep. I'm sorry," she said, now moving through her living room.
"I am sorry to wake you," he told her. "It wasn't my intention. You're usually a night owl, and I didn't realize you were going to bed this early."
"Not going to bed," she sighed. "Just fell asleep. Hi," she said, reaching the door and opening it to Jack there, his hand braced against a pillar as he spoke to her.
"Oh, hi," he said, and the two ended their phone call. "Look, I am sorry."
"It's okay," she said with a reassuring smile and nod. "Come in," she told him, and with that, he nodded to her and took off his hat as he stepped inside.
"Why don't we head to the kitchen," she told him and closed the door as he waiting for her direction. "I haven' eaten yet. I guess I fell asleep a couple hours ago when I promised myself I would sit for a few minutes before making some dinner."
"Oh, that reminds me, and I'm glad you said that," Jack nodded to the door and pointed to it. "I have food in the car. I'll meet you in the kitchen."
"Alright," she said, and the two went their ways, Lisa a bit surprised at the mention of his bringing food again. Lisa was glad for the moment of composure as she walked into her kitchen and started to turn on the lights. She had a pretty good idea why Jack was here this evening, just a day after their trip into Calgary. He'd told the girls; she knew it. She knew it the moment her phone started blowing up that morning, and she hadn't wanted to really talk to anyone. Lisa wasn't sure what might be said or accused. She did love those girls like they were her own family, but that also meant that she knew them. They sometimes couldn't stand anyone else having the spotlight. She did get that and knew they loved their family, especially Jack. She'd given so much to the family over the years, and she often felt the girls didn't want her around unless she was helping them. In her mind, it didn't seem to go the other way; it wasn't easily reciprocated. Amy was usually better about it than Lou, but both gave her that vibe. There was no telling what messages might be on her phone. She'd ignored it all day and was definitely curious about Jack's visit tonight. She did have to admit he'd really hurt her by not saying anything until now to the girls, but when she'd asked him that in Calgary, she already knew the answer. She'd known the answer because of this-that the second the girls would have found out, they'd have started calling and texting her, just as they had. So, yes, she'd prodded at Jack because he deserved it. Truthfully, though, she had expected him to drag things out more than he had, so the fact that he'd told them this morning, well, that was at least better than she'd expected coming from Jack. She could have seen him trying to hide it up until the baby's birth or something. He'd already done that with their engagement that they'd decided to not proceed with. Jack hated dealing with conflict or difficult situation especially when he was part of it.
"Sorry about that," he said, as he walked back into the kitchen, and that snapped Lisa out of her thoughts. Her deep thoughts had left her leaning back against her stove, and when Jack walked in, she looked over to see he was carrying quite a bit of food.
"What's all this?" Lisa asked, her eyes surveying the scene. He was loaded down with things.
"Well, ahh, a little of this and a little of that," he said, nodding to her countertop. He appeared to have brought a couple of casserole dishes, and then there were two bags of food. "So," he said sheepishly, looking down but then at her and met her gaze, "I told the girls."
"Yes, I know," she said holding up her phone. His eyes widened at that, and she waved her hand in front of her. "I haven't spoken to them, but they started blowing up my phone at barely 8:00 this morning. You Bartletts and Flemings have a thing with 8:00-AM and PM."
His reddened face seemed to resort back to its original color as she explained that while the girls had called, she hadn't spoken to them. It worried her a little, wondering just how badly that conversation had gone, but here he was.
He nodded for just a second and then titled his head at her, "You knew I hadn't told them because you knew they'd call."
She pursed her lips, met his gaze again and shrugged, "Can you blame me, Jack? I knew because I know you and your family. Jack, I've known you for years now. I know you probably better than you think. I've been your lady friend to people, even girlfriend was hard for you to spit out to people, so yes, I knew you hadn't said a word."
He glanced down and nodded, and with that she sighed and walked forward, toward the food. He looked up, and she then could see the sadness in his eyes, "I am sorry about that, Lise. I'm trying to do better. I really am."
She gave a nod and tried to move beyond that tense moment by gesturing to the food again, "So, what is all this? Does Maggie's have anything left?"
"Actually, none of this is from Maggie's," he said as he pulled the last of the things out of the bags. "It's all from the girls," he said with a small shrug, "mostly Lou, but that's probably for the best. You don't want to eat Amy's cooking. She's great with horses, but not with cooking. She did help, though, and she ran out to get a lot of the things."
Amy's eyes widened in complete surprise as she gestured to everything. She could see a couple of casseroles, some bread, muffins, and a few containers of what looked like salads of various types, "The girls did this?"
Jack nodded and bit his lip, "Yep, they did." He gave a slight grunt, "I'm not going to pretend the conversation with them went overly well, but the bottom line is that after we talked, we all discussed ways to help you. Lou made a lasagna and some other meat casserole. My stew is in there," he said, pointing at her, "and I know you like that. I made it, as you know no one else can make that. Amy put together some salad, and well," he fumbled around the counter with his hand, "there's plenty of food. You can eat or freeze. Oh," he reached for a covered dish, "this might be the right timing. You said you hadn't eaten?"
"No, I haven't, Lisa stood there now, arms crossed, absolutely shocked at this gesture. She looked with interest at the plated, covered dish.
He nodded, uncovering the plated dish to reveal a roast beef dinner. He gestured toward her microwave, "I made beef for dinner tonight, and I thought you might like some too. I know it's your favorite." Lisa stared at him, wide eyed, totally shocked at the kind gesture.
"I'm speechless," she finally said, with a hand, giving him the go-ahead to put the food in the microwave. He moved quietly around to do so, and she just watched. After he'd pushed a couple of buttons-without incident as he'd at least used it before-he turned back to her. Lisa stood there, mouth still open.
"The, ah, girls have come a long way from Lou barely being able to make pancakes," he chuckled lightly, leaning back against the counter as he reminisced. Lisa leaned back against where she was standing too and smiled at that old memory as well, the very early days she'd starting hanging around Jack. She looked up when he continued, "I think you'll find that the lasagna recipe is yours, Lise. Believe it or not, the girls have learned a lot from you over the years. Lou has definitely adopted a lot of your recipes, so they wanted to make sure you had some food."
"Well, it is very kind," she said with a firm nod. "It's not necessary, though Jack. I hope you told them I'm not an invalid."
"No, no," he shook his head. "I'd really rather not discuss the girls and how things went at home right now, another time, please. I did want to bring this over, though, and hopefully talk through a few things."
Lisa pursed her lips and looked to the microwave as it finished. Jack pulled her plate out, offered it to her, and she accepted it as their eyes met.
"Okay, we can talk," she told him.
"Where is most comfortable-table or living room while you eat?" Jack asked. "I will grab us a couple glasses of water."
"Actually, the living room works. My back is killing me from falling asleep where I did," and Jack nodded. She made her way into her living room with its very modern with plush furniture. It had a very different warmth than Jack's place did. Lisa had a center ottoman that worked as a coffee table as well. She already had a tray on it she used for meals like this. She situated herself and waited for Jack. He sat at the end of her couch, turned to face her. He gestured for her to eat her food while he got comfortable.
She started to eat, and she glanced in his direction. He appeared to be collecting his thoughts. She was right when he let out a sigh and began talking.
"Lisa, I need you to know that I'm not ashamed of you, nor this pregnancy. You've been quite the opposite to me. You've made me very proud, and I've felt like the old stick in the mud you've had to drag around all these years. You have your fancy life, and that's not me. I realize I can't hold you back, nor do I want to hold you back. I suppose I was comfortable with how things were and as you have said, we're just at opposite ends here, trying to make sense of our lives."
Lisa listened, and when he paused, she took a break from her eating and shifted to face him as well, "Jack, at this point, I feel we are just miles and miles apart on so many things. That's no way for either of us to live."
He nodded and looked to his glass of water, "My coming to grips with the baby, though, Lise, I need you to know that it isn't me being ashamed. A lot of it is some sadness, some realization of where we were and where we are now. It's a lot of me wanting to kick myself for being this old, for thinking through what is to come. I told you it's been nearly 50 years since I've done this, and even back then, I was clueless. All men were. Women got pregnant, and they had babies. There weren't all these tests and exams, and the men certainly weren't as involved as they are now with the pregnancy part and all that. I was out with the rodeo for a lot of it, and I know I missed things. I mean, I know we've said that Marion would be just a little older than you, which we dealt with that when we started dating, the age difference, but that's how long it's been. I think of all then that I taught her, that I am going to be too old to do anything now."
"Jack," Lisa said, reaching over to touch his leg as he sat, "none of my moving, any of it is just about your age or your ability with children."
He nodded and gestured with his hand, "I can still think about all I won't be able to do."
"You've always said age is just a number," she reminded him with a nod.
He lightly chuckled at that, "True, but take something like riding a horse. I'll be 80 when this baby is 10, and my riding won't be what it was. I won't be able to teach him or her how to drive. If I'm alive, I'll be what, 86 or so. My goodness, Lise, I'll be lucky to have a license at that age."
"What are you saying, Jack? None of this is something that can be helped or changed. Life is precious, all of it. I'm sure you never imagined losing Marion at her age. It's not fair the girls lost her, so beating yourself over the what if's and the age issue doesn't help. You could outlive me for all we know!" Lisa exclaimed. Jack nodded as she spoke. "There is no guarantee in this life of any kind. That's what still keeps me worried, that something will go wrong. Just because I got pregnant doesn't guarantee I'll deliver a healthy baby.
He sat forward and clasped at her hands, "I'm going circles in my head, just trying to let you know what I can do to help you, to be there for you. I just hate this idea of yours to move, Lisa." Lisa stared at where he was now holding her hand. The two dropped into a short silence.
Lisa sat back, pulling her hand away from his and wiped hair from her face. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, "I need to simply things, Jack, in so many ways. I want to cut down on my travel. You know I spend a good amount of time in Florida. I want to spend time in France, have the baby grow up with all of that culture."
"What about me? How do I fit?" Jack asked.
"You fit as the baby's father, and I hope as someone I can still count on for things related to the baby," she said pointedly at him. "I told you already that staying here, just assuming the status quo works, isn't working for me."
"I won't be able to be around the baby on a daily basis, and that's one of the things I am already regretting with this situation. As I said, I know I won't be around forever, and what time I do have, I want this baby to know I am here, that he or she is stuck with me, however awful that is," he said, sighing.
"I've thought about that," Lisa nodded as he spoke. "I have. It's not perfect, Jack. You see that with Lou and Peter already. They are trying to make it work, and even though I have my opinions on that, it's not my place just as whatever we work out isn't anyone else's business. I will still have some business here in Alberta, but I'll just focus my main operations in Florida. There are a couple of places up for sale that I'm checking into down there. Trips back here will be less, but will still happen occasionally. I've built up a good client base around here too. Things are much quieter for you in the winter; there isn't the upkeep at the ranch as it is in the summer. We can work out some longer stays then."
Jack sighed heavily, shook his head, but he didn't say anything. The two were quiet for several moments. Finally, Lisa cleared her throat.
"Thank you for dinner, for all of the food. I can only begin to imagine the conversation with the girls, and I'm sure they aren't happy about things, but I do appreciate their kindness," she told him with a small smile.
He nodded, "Well, truthfully, the last few years, you've been the one to sort of teach them to always jump in to help out others. I mean, of course, back when Marion was around, the girls were younger. Lou was away at school. You're right; the conversation wasn't smooth, but in the end, we worked together to do something to help you."
"Well, please thank them. I'm sure I'll run into them in town," and with that, Jack's eyes widened at the thought of now explaining it to all of Hudson. Before that could be addressed, Lisa continued, "I'm going to make a trip to Florida hopefully in the next few days before the ultrasound appointment to check on the properties that are up for sale."
"Fine," Jack said with a small frown as he looked down to the floor. "I should get going." With that, he stood, and Lisa stood too.
"I'll lock up," she told him and started to follow him down the hallway. He turned again.
"Are you planning to move before the baby is born? Are you going to leave here and have this baby in Florida?"
She pursed her lips, "I've thought about that, and it will be easier to have the baby here and then go right away. I have thought about a lot of scenarios, and I'd prefer to not have extra paperwork with two Canadian parents and then a child born abroad. Besides that, I won't deny you of that."
He gave her a nod with that, the answer at least seeming to one that wasn't something he would have to argue.
"I'll speak to you soon," he told her. He turned at the door, and she stood there, her hands clasped in front of her. She looked so alone, so he stepped toward her and both seemed to gravitate toward a hug. Nothing was said until he stepped back and quietly uttered, "Night."