Chapter 234 – A New Week
Monday morning came early for some members of the household. John was up at five like he usually was. He wasn't sure what time that the kids would get up, but he wanted to get his normal workout in. He quietly made his way downstairs only to see James and Margaret sitting at the table.
"Morning." Margaret said.
"Morning." John said. "I was going to get a workout in before the day got crazy."
"That is fine." James said. "You know where things are."
"I am going to assume that you will be working in the office again." Gran said.
"Yes." John said. "Bill will be back at some point. I am sure that Peter and probably Andrew will be here closer to eight. Like I said, we are trying to gather information."
"This is the swingers club." Gran said.
"Yes." John said. "We are making headway, but we don't have enough to put a stop to it. We might be able to make a dent, but for me, that is not enough at this point."
"Good luck." James said. "Let me know if there is anything else that I can do. I will be down in my office. I will also be heading over to the thoroughbred stable when Dr Matthews gets here."
"Of course." John said. "I probably won't see you until lunch then. I better get moving."
John headed downstairs. James finished his breakfast, kissed his wife and left the house. He had a lot that he needed to do. It was a new month and new fiscal year. He still had a few foals information that needed to get registered and that would be done for the year. He was already looking at the potential foals for the next year and was hoping that they could come up with some potential names for them so it wouldn't take so long.
John got downstairs and saw Jack sleeping on the couch. He shook his head. He knew that his grandson was struggling if he was sleeping with the TV on. He knew that he was going to have to have a conversation with him to see how he was doing. John went to the gym and got a workout in. He toweled off when he was done and then headed back up to his room to shower and change.
As John took a shower, he wondered if it was something that had happened over the weekend or was it finally the totality of everything that had happened that had finally caught up with Jack. He had seen the cracks in Jack's armor that he had put up. John knew that it was only going to be a matter of time before Jack wouldn't be able to hold everything in and he would break down. John just hoped that they were able to pick up the pieces and it wasn't like before with Laura. He didn't think that anyone would be able to handle morose Jack again. John also knew that if Jack fell into that moroseness, he was going to demand that they push the wedding back.
When he was back in his room, John sat on his bed and said a prayer for Jack and everyone else, but very specifically Jack and that either Father Mark or Frank were able to get Jack to open up and talk about things before it got too bad. John knew that Jack didn't like to talk about things and just push off his feelings, but he knew that wasn't healthy. He had always tried to get Jack to talk about things and had been pretty good about until Laura was injured and then he didn't know how to reach his grandson who was hurting so much.
After his prayer, John dressed in more casual clothes. Even though he was going to be working, he wasn't going to be in the office. John grabbed his black on black plaid checkered waffle henley. He paired it with a worn pair of Ariat jeans. He finished the look with a pair of house shoes, they are like slippers but nicer. They can also be worn outdoors if needed. It was much more casual then he would normally wear to the office, but he wasn't at the office, but he was at the ranch and he could relax. He only had two things he had to take care of and they both could be done over the phone.
Down in the boys room, Nathan was the first up, just a few minutes before the alarm. When the alarm went off while Nathan was in the bathroom, Doug rolled over to shut it off and then sat up. He looked around and Frank was getting up as well. They both looked at Jack's bunk and saw he wasn't there. Frank wondered if he was already up or if he hadn't come back at all.
Frank, Nathan and Doug all got up and ready. They left Father Mark and Lee sleeping. They came out of their room to find the girls just coming out of theirs.
"Morning, girls." Frank said.
"Morning." Maddie mumbled.
"Whatever." Missy mumbled.
They walked down to the sitting area and saw Jack asleep on the couch. Maddie was going to wake him, when Doug grabbed her arm and turned her toward the stairs. He wasn't sure what was going on with Jack, but knew that he needed his sleep.
"If he is sleeping out here." Doug said. "Leave him alone. Let's go. We have horses to deal with."
When they got upstairs, the girls each grabbed an energy drink while the guys grabbed a coffee.
"Jack is still sleeping." Frank said. "Let him be even though he is in the sitting room. He had a rough night."
"I will." Gran said. "Breakfast?"
"We will go turn the horses out first." Doug said. "It is mostly flat work for us today. The girls have jumping practice with Marco at ten."
"Understood." Gran said.
The group headed out to deal with the horses. The girls didn't know it but their Morning riding lesson would be with Bubbles and Squeak. They got down to the stable and started getting the horses brushed and turned out. There were ten horses they needed to deal with. They did have to muck stalls as Tommy was still doing that, but they had to brush each horse and make sure they were fed. All but the three new ones were in the stable and those three would have stalls when brought in for the night. So ten of the fifteen horses in the stable belonged to Jack and his friends. He hadn't thought it possible to fill just that stable with active jumpers.
Half an hour after Nathan, Doug and Frank had gone to deal with the horses, Father Mark got up and Lee rolled out of bed as well. They also got ready and headed up. As they walked down the hall, Elizabeth came out of her room.
"Morning." Elizabeth said.
"Morning." Lee said. "The guys went to deal with the horses already."
"Good." Elizabeth said.
As they got to the sitting room, Elizabeth froze and looked over at Jack sleeping on the couch.
"Let him be." Father Mark said. "He needs it."
Elizabeth nodded and they went upstairs. When they got there, Father Mark immediately went to the library while Lee and Elizabeth went to the kitchen.
"Morning Gran." Elizabeth said.
"Morning." Gran said. "The others should be up shortly to eat. They just went to turn the horses out."
"I think I just want to sit with a cup of coffee for a minute." Elizabeth said.
Elizabeth poured her coffee and added her caramel creamer. She then sat down in one of the chairs, drawing her one knee up to her chest. She held her coffee and inhaled its fragrance. After taking several sips, she looked around.
"Where is everyone?" Elizabeth asked. "I mean I know the guys and the twins are dealing with the horses."
"James is already down working in his office." Gran said. "John is in the office up here. He was up early and got a workout in. Trish is currently working out downstairs. Father Mark is doing his morning prayers in the library."
"Oh." Elizabeth said.
Lee sat down at the table with a cup of coffee as well. He looked at Gran and she wondered if he wasn't also hurting.
"How are you doing, Lee?" Gran asked.
"I am okay." Lee said. "It is hard to see everyone struggling. I was hoping for a quiet summer. It has just been so much over the last year or so."
"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked.
"Senior year of high school stuff." Lee said. "Applying to colleges, waiting to get in. Deciding to go together. Deciding about the apartment. The growing tension at the Thornton household. Watching Jack struggle with figuring things out. Him putting in so much time and effort into the business and no one but John really seeing what Jack wanted.
Then add in all the stuff at my house. Dad struggled this last year with a number of employees leaving and new regulations he had to deal with. The anniversary of my brother's death. It all hit hard. I tried to be positive for Jack and Doug, but they knew I was struggling. We had talked about this summer being one last summer before the responsibilities and demands of university studies. It was supposed to be a relaxing summer up her laying by the pool and leisure rides on the horses."
"I am sorry." Elizabeth said. "I guess I messed everything up."
"That is not what I am saying." Lee said. "I am excited to see Jack jumping again and excited about something. But I also know the toll that all this conflict is taking on him. He might not say anything, but I can see it because I have seen it before. The flexing of his hands, the snap responses, needing more and more time to himself. Not sleeping well at night. The need to make everything right."
"You are right, Lee." Gran said. "Which is why I encouraged Father Mark to spend some more time around here. I also think it is why John pushed to have Frank stay. Even offering to hire people to move all his stuff down here. He sees the difference that they make with JP, not that you and Doug don't."
"I know what you mean." Lee said. "Elizabeth, this is nothing against you. We can all see that you and Jack are meant to be together. This is just not how anyone thought this summer would go. Jack committed to jump in three shows and potentially up to six. Him standing up to his parents and cutting them off. We are all trying to adjust to this new side of Jack on the fly.
I am not saying it is bad, it is just different. We all knew Jack worked with the horses and took an interest in the business. Doug and I had no idea how involved Jack really was. It wasn't that he was hiding it, but more that we didn't see how much he was quietly taking on."
"Oh." Elizabeth said. "I guess I have been so wrapped up in my own stuff, that I didn't realize that Jack was struggling. For that I am sorry."
"It is okay." Gran said. "Just be more aware. I know you are getting married, but you need to understand that Jack is starting to take on the equivalent of three or four full time jobs. He has a hard time delegating and letting people do stuff they are fully capable of doing. He is going to have to learn that.
One of your jobs as his soon to be wife is to help him with that. Gentle reminders to let people do their job. Another part is going to be taking things off his plate that you can do. You will still need to talk about things."
"So you being able to handle the household." Father Mark said, coming over. "Just do it and let Jack know what he needs to know. Another big one will be to make sure all the schedules are coordinated. At least as much as you can until you decide if that is something you need to hand off to a personal assistant or secretary down the road. Do you see what I mean?"
"I think so." Elizabeth said. "Like Frank and I getting together and picking out a few options for the motorhome and the modular."
"Yes." Father Mark said.
Father Mark gave Gran a kiss on the cheek before he sat down with his own cup of coffee.
"I will check in with Jack later." Father Mark said. "He needs rest. I don't even know if he is going to get on a horse today."
"He said he was going to ride Midnight." Elizabeth said.
"I know." Father Mark said. "But I am going to assess his mental health before he goes near a horse. Grandpa James will back me up if I say that he is not riding. Jack might not be happy, but we will try to keep him safe."
"Thank you." Elizabeth said.
"You get your morning prayers done?" Gran asked, looking at Father Mark.
"Yes, Gran." Father Mark said. "Thank you for checking."
"So you are required to pray everyday?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes." Father Mark said. "It is one of the few things priests are required to do. Ideally, we would pray five times a day from a book called the Breviary. Another name for those prayers is the Liturgy of the Hours. There are exceptions if you are traveling or ill. However you are supposed to at least try to do morning and evening prayers."
"So you will do them, even while on vacation?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes." Father Mark said. "Just because I am on vacation, I don't stop being a priest. If someone would need confession or last rites, I would do it. We start praying multiple times a day when we start our training so it becomes second nature to us. I have been doing it for so many years now, it feels weird when I miss one."
"What happens then?" Elizabeth asked.
"I would pray the prayers I missed as well as the next one when I sit down again." Father Mark said. "In the last ten years, I have only ever missed doing them all when I have been extremely sick or traveling where it wouldn't be conducive to prayer. Such as driving."
"Oh." Elizabeth said.
"Don't feel bad." Father Mark said. "You didn't know and we have told you to ask if you didn't."
The group from the stable had come in while Father Mark and Elizabeth had been talking. After washing up, they poured themselves a drink and took a seat around the table.
"What would everyone like for breakfast?" Gran asked.
"I was going to toast some waffles." Nathan said.
"Me too." Doug said.
"We will have waffles as well." Maddie said.
"I think I will just have some fruit and yogurt." Elizabeth said.
"That sounds good." Father Mark said.
Nathan and Doug got up to start getting waffles toasted for everyone. Frank pulled out the cooked bacon and heated some up. He also got the platter of fruit and brought it to the table. Elizabeth got the bowls and granola while Father Mark grabbed the yogurt.
"If everyone will come over." Father Mark said. "I will say a quick prayer."
Everyone moved over toward the table.
"In the Name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen." Father Mark prayed. "We come to you this morning and ask that you bless our day and keep us safe. Please bless this food to our bodies and the hands that prepared it. Amen. In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen."
Everyone echoed amen and then went back to getting their food ready. It took a little bit to toast enough waffles, even with two four slot toasters, but eventually, they were all seated around the table.