It ended up being a perfectly beautiful morning for a ride along the ridge. The fall colors were fading to winter, but the sky was bright with just a few clouds in the sky. The two approached a clearing they'd stopped at before, and Lisa looked over to Jack, silently pleading.
"You're not the only one who needs a break," he told her, nodding to a tree where they could leave the horses. They rode up, and Lisa groaned getting out of her saddle. Jack held onto Paint and tried to help her down at the same time. When she was finally down on the ground, she put her hands on her knees.
"Oh my goodness, that hurt so much," she told him. She was almost unable to stand upright.
Jack, with both horses' reigns in his hands, looked over at her, somewhat concerned, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," she waved him off and stood, trying to walk normally. "Remind me not to do that again," she said with a smirk.
"Wait a year to ride?"
"That and have a baby, especially at my age," she sighed. She met his gaze and shook her head, "I certainly hope riding gets easier over time."
He frowned, "Well," he chuckled, "we can definitely keep you riding and another baby is definitely not in the cards," he said with a firm nod. She agreed, smiling and nodding back at him. "Sorry about that, Lise. I hate seeing you in pain there. You know," he paused and pointed to her, "I seem to remember a certain cushioned saddle that might help you."
Lisa burst out laughing and nodded at Jack, "I believe I called that that 'Cadillac of Saddles' didn't I?"
"Your gesture was sweet, but I didn't like everyone laughing at some new, fancy cushioned saddle especially on a cattle drive, but for you," he nodded to her.
She nodded back, "I'll keep that in mind, maybe I will get something like that because I am glad to be riding again. I've missed it a lot, but wow, I'm not sure I'll walk correctly again."
"Let's find somewhere to rest and have a cup of coffee," and with that, the two set up their small picnic. Besides the coffee, Lisa had surprised Jack with a second loaf of that pumpkin bread. The two broke off chunks of it as they relaxed on the blanket Jack had packed.
"That first time we ever had a picnic," he nodded to Lisa, and she smiled brightly at the memory, "thinking about that now, you didn't seem to upset you missed out on that horse auction."
She batted her eyes at him and grinned, "I wasn't upset at all. The auction was just a way to spend time with you. I knew you were nervous being around me, but I also felt like we had this connection. I rolled the dice, so to speak, hoping to take you to something, somewhere, you would feel comfortable so we could just talk and spend time together. The auction was the excuse for the picnic or rather for the day. Can't help that your old truck broke down before the auction, which was fine because we still had that nice picnic. It would have been a shame if we'd made it to the auction and you took off after Dan's 'wife' comment," she rolled her eyes, "because we wouldn't have had the picnic."
"So, you're saying my old, amazing, wonderful truck," he paused as she chuckled and he grinned, "really that it's breaking down was the start of all this?"
She quietly chuckled and grinned at him, "Ehh," she shrugged, "maybe so."
"Gosh that was a long time ago," he sighed. Lisa could see his mind had drifted, and he finally pulled himself back to the present and looked over at her. "I really wish you could have met Marion. You would have really liked her and how she was with horses."
"I wish that too," she smiled softly. "Tell me," she said shifting her stance to now lying flat on her back with her hand behind her head to prop her up and sighed, "oh that's better." She looked up at Jack as he leaned back against the tree where they were sitting, "would Marion have liked you with me?"
He smiled to himself, nodding as he thought about that idea, "She would have teased me to no end about dating you, just about my being quiet and private about it. Remember how Mallory constantly felt she needed to give me dating advice?" Lisa laughed at that, nodding. She decided to shift again, putting her head on Jack's outstretched leg and sighing as she got comfortable stretching out again. "Marion would have been the same way, the adult version. She would have given me grief to no end, but," he smiled at Lisa, "she would have loved you and loved seeing me happy. She told me on many occasions I should go out, socialize, do things, but I just had no interest. I told her if I ever met anyone I wanted to spend time with, she'd know it."
"And you never brought anyone at all around Marion?" Lisa asked.
"Nope," Jack shook his head, nodding at her. "Never found anyone interesting, and when I finally did," he nodded sympathetically, "it was shortly after she died. So, you my dear, came into my life at just the right time, I suppose."
"I would have enjoyed meeting her too, and I hope you can dig out some of her baby pictures. I'd love to see if she and John look anything alike."
"They do, and I can," he nodded to her. "You'll see it. I see it just every now and then."
"Speaking of John," she mentioned, "he has his first set of immunizations tomorrow at his checkup."
Jack groaned aloud and shifted his head from side to side. Lisa started to laugh and sat up watching him, "Lise, immunizations already?"
"Yes," she said, matter of fact. "You know he has to get them. Jack," she smiled and gave him a sympathetic glance, "I know you hate seeing him upset, but he will be okay. You don't have to go to the appointment. I'll take him. I have errands to run in town anyways."
"I just hate him crying over shots," he sighed, "or," he rolled his eyes, "having to lie on his stomach and be miserable or-"
"You hate anything that upsets him," she laughed, reaching over and smacking his arm. "Alright," she sighed, "I'll always be the bad parent. You can be the fun one, the Tim," she grinned at him, "of parents."
He waved his hand at her, "I'm not Tim."
She shook her head, "I'm not sure. He loves to be the fun dad, and I'm betting if Marion was still alive, he'd still find a way with grown daughters to be the fun one."
Jack sulked briefly, but Lisa reached over from where she was stretched out and clasped his hand in hers, smiling, "I don't mind you being the fun one, the one who protects him, I mean," she rolled her eyes, "it's not like I won't protect him, but I also understand things like, oh, say, medical advancements such as immunizations that are painful for a second, but necessary for his health."
"I'll go to the appointment," he grumbled, and she laughed again, shaking her head.
"I really don't mind," she told him.
"Well, we can both take him. I mean, it's not like it's a bad deal, at least for us. Sure, John it's not fun, but we can make a morning out of it, run your errands, go to his appointment, get some lunch in town."
"Sounds like a date," she winked, and he smiled back at her.
"We should probably head back," he said, gesturing to the sky. "Looks like a front is moving in, cold and dark coming." Jack stood, and he helped Lisa who groaned again and had trouble standing again, shaking her head at the situation.
"I don't know how I'll show up to work, like this," she hobbled back to her horse. "I wouldn't change anything, but this is kinda brutal." Jack helped her back onto Cinders, where she reached down to pat at Cinders. "Thanks again for having Harry bring Cinders over. It's nice to be on my own horse."
"I know what you mean," he said, patting Paint. "Not sure how much longer Paint will be up to the task, but I sure hate the idea of having to break in a new horse."
Just as Jack mounted his horse, his phone rang. Lisa waited while he took the call. She could tell it was something about the fishing cabin. When he hung up, he nodded to her.
"Another stop during tomorrow's errands," he explained. "Initial blueprints for the fishing cabin are done."
"Really?" Lisa asked, shocked. "That was fast."
Jack nodded, "He said things are slow this time of year, so we are getting in at a good time, plus, it's a simple design. We can swing by, pick them up, and see what we think."
"It's definitely a date," she grinned. "Now, let's head back before it rains," she nodded to the sky Jack had pointed out not long ago. "I don't like the looks of that. What happened to our beautiful day?"
"Mountains and moisture," he grumbled. "Let's head home."
The two didn't time their ride exactly right because before they even reached the ranch gates, the sky opened, and it began to pour. With the temperatures just above freezing, it made it absolutely miserable, and they moved as quicky as they could toward the barn.
Amy came running toward them, a full raincoat on as they approached the barn, and at least any issues they all had were pushed aside as she grabbed the reigns of both horses.
"I was getting worried with this rain," Amy yelled to them as they both tried to dismount while she tried to get the horses into the covered barn area. Jack moved much easier, and he turned quickly to try and catch Lisa as she tried to dismount, not particularly gracefully either.
"Got you," he told her, and she was finally on the ground, both soaked to the bone. Lisa wiped the hair from her face and used her hand to wipe off her face before really focusing on where they were. Amy now had both horses and had put Paint's reigns over the hook near her and then turned to deal with Cinders.
"Are you okay?" Jack asked her, laughter coming from him as he asked. "I can't believe the sky just fell out on us like that."
"I'm fine," she said, leaning over again, waving him off. "Just too old to be having a baby and jumping back on a horse," she sighed.
"You sure?" Jack asked, trying to help her stand. He noticed Amy watching with a bit of concern and told her, "It's been more of an adjustment to riding again than either of us thought. She's a little sore."
"Oh," Amy said, making a face, empathizing with her. "I can't imagine."
Lisa finally stood, tilting her head and breathing out the pain she was feeling. "Well, that was an interesting ride. Oh, Jack," she frowned, "your jeans are soaked through."
"So are yours," he gestured. "Man, that was a whopper of a storm." Lisa met his gaze and chuckled at his apparent new favorite word, 'whopper.'
"Lisa," Amy called to her as she was trying to already brush out Cinders, "this is a gorgeous horse. I haven't seen this one, have I?"
"Cinders," she told her, "and no. I had planned to sell, but a certain horse only behaves for me, or so it seems. So, now I have a very expensive riding horse."
"Lise, you need to get inside and get a hot shower," Jack told her, trying to brush off the excess water that had collected around her collar and down her back.
"Guys," Amy said, and both turned, the events of the evening prior still there, "I really need to apologize. I have no excuse, and Lisa," she met her gaze, "you were the first person to really believe in me training horses. I still remember you not wanting to turn one of your gorgeous horses over to a 15-year-old, and you did. You stood up for me, and you told others about me. I let my imagination run wild, and I'm sorry. I know you can't forgive me, but I'll work to gain back your trust. I know I don't like people asking about things with Ty and me, and I'm sorry I even went there with you and Grandpa." She looked to Jack, "Grandpa, I'm sorry too. I forget you're fully capable of living your own life, and sure," she smiled at the two of them, "I know you love each other. I'm crazy about John, and I just wanted you to know. I think it's really great you got married, and yeah," she nodded, "you're right that you can do things however you want, so if getting married in France was it, well," she shrugged, "I'm glad you did. I promise that I will do better, and Lisa, I promise I am going to do better with you because yeah, you've been the mom," she rolled her eyes, "and grandmother," she rolled them again, "for a really long time, and I don't know what I would do without you."
Jack eyed Lisa, and she sighed, looking down briefly. She looked up and met Amy's sympathetic gaze. "Amy, I do appreciate that. Honey, I've loved you since you stood up to me at Fairfield, telling me you could work with my horse. I loved your spunk, your attitude, and over the years, I just love you. That doesn't change I'm very hurt by you, by all of you, what was said, what was thought, and quite honestly, how I've been treated. I don't want this to come between us, but at the same time, things cannot go on as they have been. As I said, I'm here to stay, and I hope we can get beyond this. I really do because Jack and I are your biggest supporters, but we need the same in return."
"I know," she said, glancing to Jack. "I'm so sorry, Grandpa. I know that memory, your birthday, telling us about your wedding, it's ruined forever, and I can't change that, but I'm going to do better. Even Dad kicked my tail, and that doesn't happen."
"You, all of you," Jack added, "hurt both of us, Lisa especially, Amy. I, for one, am tired already of rehashing it. Actions speak louder than words. Lisa's been all action with all of you for years, and somehow, the words you threw at her were terrible. Now, I expect you can take care of the horses because we both need in dry clothing. Lisa's there freezing," he nodded, and Lisa was there very cold and starting to feel the dampness.
"Of course," she nodded to them. Jack put his arm around Lisa's back and nodded to the house.
"Make a run for it?"
"Can't get much wetter than we are," she told him, and with that, they ran, or tried to run. The morning had started off with a wonderful ride but ended back with the cold reality.