She thought she heard a clicking sound and opened her eyes to find a hint of sunlight streaming in the window. She brushed the hair from her eyes and started to sit up.
"Morning," she heard and turned to find Jack walking back into the room, food in hand and the door closing behind him.
"Hi," she said, shaking her head. "What time is it?"
"Almost 8:00," he told her. "You were sleeping peacefully."
"8:00, really? That is hard to believe," she chuckled and then yawned, "because I seemed to be awake all night, but," she paused and glanced at him. He was freshly dressed with a crisp shirt on she hadn't remembered seeing before and dark jeans. He definitely didn't look like he was doing farm work today. "You have been up, showered, and all?"
"Mmm hmm," he said, sipping at his coffee. He walked toward her and handed her a cup, "I brought you some tea. They had this chai, and it's some local blend. If you don't like it, they have other flavors downstairs. The outdoor patio has a nice view. I had a cup of coffee out there already and read the paper."
"It does," she nodded. "What time did you get up?" Lisa asked, shaking her head. "I actually feel like I slept pretty well, and I know it was at least after 3:00 the last time I looked at the clock.
"I got up about 5:30," he told her and continued, "ranching hours," with a wink.
"Hmm, yes, I'm aware of ranching hours," she said, trying the tea. Her eyes perked up. "Oh, this is good. Thank you."
"I was a little surprised you were still asleep. I spilled my toiletry bag all over the tile floor in the bathroom earlier," he said looking down and chuckling. "It was pretty loud, and I thought for sure I'd be greeted with the Lisa look of death. You slept through it."
"Wow," she shook her head again. "Well," she stood and rubbed at her side where she was not comfortable, "my bladder can't sleep anymore. Excuse me."
"I'll sit out on this balcony we have here," he told her. "I picked up some muffins downstairs too. They had chocolate for you," he gestured with the bag. "There's a container of fruit too. If you wanted to go down to their breakfast café, we can do that instead."
"No," she said turning by the bathroom area, "a quiet breakfast sounds perfect."
It was almost an hour later before Lisa was dressed and joining Jack on the balcony. She'd apologized a few times for moving so slowly, but that was part of her problem right now. She wasn't moving around like she was used to; everything was taking much longer. That was torture too, knowing she wanted to move faster. When she finally stepped outside, the sun was shining brightly, and she slid on her sunglasses.
"Beautiful morning," she said as she grunted trying to sit down in her chair.
"It is," Jack nodded, sipping at another cup of coffee. He'd gone back downstairs about a half hour ago to get fresh coffee and tea for them. "Montana is certainly beautiful. How are you feeling?"
"Ahh," she said and made a face. He nodded, giving her a sympathetic smile.
"You are looking pretty worn out, Lise. I don't think most people will really notice that, but I do. Are you sure you'll be okay sitting at this auction?" Jack eyed her.
She sighed and nodded, "I am feeling incredibly worn out, yes. I feel every bit my age and worse. I will be okay today, but I'm not sure I'm up for much of anything else today. I can absolutely see why most women my age aren't having children. All I want to do is make it through the auction and eat, but even the thought of that," she sighed and rubbed her side, "he's giving me so much heartburn, food isn't even tasting good. Do you have anything you want to do?"
"Nothing planned here," Jack waved his hand. "I did ask the desk about somewhere for dinner. There's a local Italian place they couldn't stop raving about. I had them make an early reservation for 5:30 if that's okay with you."
She smiled and nodded, "That sounds perfect. I'll bring my bottle of antacids," Lisa chuckled and rolled her eyes.
"If it's bothering you too much, eating Italian-" Jack started to say, and Lisa shook her head.
"Jack, water seems to give me heartburn," she chuckled. "Dinner sounds good."
"Italian it is," Jack nodded. "So," he tapped on the paperwork on the table. Lisa had given it to him while she was getting dressed. It was information about the auction today, "I looked over the horses. How much are you willing to pay for some of them?"
Without missing a beat and while wiping at her mouth, she explained, "I'm willing to go up to $800,000 on two of them, $650,000 on a couple of others, each," she said, meeting his gaze. The max I want to spend today is two million."
Jack almost choked on his coffee, "$800,000 for a horse? Yeah," he chuckled and nodded to her, "much different than the auctions Amy and I frequent."
Lisa chuckled and broke off part of her muffin, "Yes, slightly."
"I've been with you to these before, but I don't think I've seen you spend that much," he told her.
"I haven't, not for some time. I bought one in France that was $850,000 awhile back, but these are some amazing horses with fantastic lineages. This is ahh, very posh today," she said with a small shrug.
"I see that," Jack nodded. "I'm the fish out of water."
"Ehh," she shrugged, waving off his comment, "you're with me. You'll be just fine. Is that shirt new?"
Jack nodded as he finished chewing the last of his muffin, "Lou got it for my birthday. First I've worn it."
"Oh," Lisa said quietly, hoping she didn't turn red there for sticking her foot in her mouth. Jack's birthday had been shortly after his heart attack. It had been the first time in years and years she hadn't been there on his birthday. She'd sent him a text, "Happy Birthday," and had gotten back, "Thanks." That had been it. She shook her head of that painful memory and gave him a warm smile. "It's a good color on you."
"I'd ask if that dress is new," he said quietly, nodding to her, "but I know it has to be since you had to get a new wardrobe and all for the baby. Looks comfortable but also very Lisa-like," he said with a wink.
She looked down at her very comfortable, very stretch maternity dress. It was simple and mostly cotton for the summer heat, fitted, but not tight, and it went to just below her knees. It was a steel blue color, with a V-neck that fit her well, and it had caught her eye in France. Back then, she thought she'd never fit into it, with it being the only size left in the store, but she'd bought it thinking that it might just have a loose fit for her. Sadly, she'd discovered there was nothing loose about the dress now; she needed every bit of it, but was glad to have a chance to wear it. She'd paired it with flat dress sandals, really missing some of her heels, but there was absolutely no way her feet were getting into those anytime soon. She'd pulled her hair back because even in the air conditioning, she was so hot. It was unbelievable a baby could make her this warm all the time; she dreaded to think what menopause would do for hot flashes if a baby was this bad.
"Oh, thank you," she said about his dress compliment. "I found it in France and convinced myself it would never fit, that it would be too big, but here I am, needing all of the dress. I might have to wear this a lot over the next few weeks because it's the first time I've been comfortable in any clothing for some time. Everything just feels tight all over. So," she said with a small smile, "the dress seems to be just what I needed. I am glad I get to wear it."
"No complaining here," Jack said with a wink, and the two looked out over the lake.
"Maybe we could take a small walk," he nodded down to the dock area, "that is, if you are up for it?"
"The doctor said walking is good for my blood pressure, so yes, let's try that as soon as we finish. That sounds like the best plan for the morning."
With the auction set for early afternoon, Jack and Lisa arrived just after noon. They had split another turkey sandwich, this one picked up in town, because neither was terribly hungry, but with the auction, they wouldn't eat again until their early dinner. Jack pulled into the parking area and followed Lisa's guidance as to where to go. He pulled up to a trailer and looked over to her, gesturing.
"Please tell me that Dan didn't drive your Fairfield Stables trailer here," he said frowning. Lisa had apparently been looking for that and had directed Jack to park next to it. She rolled her eyes.
"Are you kidding me? I don't want him near anything I own. I stable those couple horses we jointly own, but that's it. No, that's my stable manager, Harry," she smiled at him and reached over to pat his hand on the console. "You've met him many times. See, someone from Fairfield was coming; I wasn't coming alone."
Jack's mouth was open as he glanced back from the trailer to Lisa, and he shook his head as he put it together, "You mean, you were going to come with Harry? Why didn't you tell me? Harry is fine. Yes, I like Harry."
Lisa opened the door and as she tried to push herself out of her car, she looked back over her shoulder and lowered her sunglasses, "You were very sweet to be worried about my traveling down here. Riding with Harry didn't come up. You said you didn't want me to drive here, which I just hadn't mentioned I wasn't going to be doing anyway. Besides," she said as she finally stood and turned back to him, still sitting there almost speechless, "no offense to Harry, but you're better company." With that, she closed the door, shifted her paperwork, and was ready to go to work.