She'd studied his eyes when they were in the Registry Agent's Office and could tell there was something he wasn't voicing to her. She knew him well, better than he probably expected. At one time, she might have said she could read all of his thoughts, but he'd dumbfounded her with his admission weeks ago that he'd tried to spare her of a lifetime of taking care of him. Still, she could see something in his eyes. Jack's eyes always told a story, hers did too, as he'd told her that her eyes often sparkled and gave off a radiance that he could just see the joy. She knew there had been plenty of times they hadn't sparkled, especially in the last year, just as she now noted something in his eyes today that gave her pause. As they stepped outside the building, Lisa noticed a city park across the street and decided a walk was in order to get to the look she'd noted.
"Let's take a walk," she told him and looped her arm through his, glancing up at him as they stepped outside. He looked down at her, surprise evident on his face, and she nodded across the street to the small city park. Walking around it wouldn't take long, and she hoped she could get to the bottom of things. Snow covered the park, but the walkways had been cleared, perfect for what she intended.
He nodded with his head, "We have plenty to do today, Lise," the arm not looped with hers, gesturing, and the manila folder that had all of their paperwork was raised in that gesture. He shook his head at her.
She made a face at him, a sort of grimace, but she nudged them toward the park anyways, giving him a small smile. "I'd like to take a walk, just for a bit. Would you indulge me, please?"
"Okay," he said with a single nod and lightweight chuckle in his voice. "Just worried you won't get everything done you want to have ready."
"No," she patted his arm, "this is good. I think we need a walk."
The two were quiet as they crossed the street, and thankfully, the street area was quiet. They weren't in the downtown area of Calgary, somewhat on the outskirts, and it was peaceful this late afternoon. She gripped his arm with her hand looped through it, enough that he noticed and gave her a warm smile as they walked. As soon as they reached the walking path for the park and started down it, she glanced up at him with a look on her face. Jack saw it and chuckled, shaking his head at her.
"Something's on your mind," he told her. "I know that look."
"Yes, you do," she said a nervous laugh escaping. They walked, and she started to talk, gesturing with her free hand, "Inside there, getting our marriage license-"
"Oh, you mean where the woman was giving you the once over like how in the world is this beautiful woman interested in this old, washed-up cowboy?" Jack chuckled at that, and Lisa swatted at his arm, grateful he was happy, at least it seemed.
"No, if anything," she brushed her hair from her face and gave him a smirk, "she was jealous, thinking that she was closer to your age and should have found you first." Jack started to laugh too, but Lisa met his gaze and continued with her original thought, "I noticed a look in your eye in there, and I wanted to ask you about it."
He eyed her and shook his head, "A look in my eye."
"I know that look," she repeated to him what he'd just told her, and he sighed, shaking his head.
"I was extremely happy to hand over my divorce paperwork for her to process, but you," she gently swayed her hip at him to bump his side, "your eyes glassed over when you handed over Lyndy's death certificate, and I wanted to talk to you about that."
He looked up first, sighed, and then, he glanced down at her. She held his gaze and gave him a sympathetic smile. The two stopped walking, and Lisa turned to look at him, grasping for his hand instead of looping her arm through his.
"Lise, I'm fine. It was," he tried to find the words, and he couldn't, so he shook his head and just sighed, giving her a sympathetic smile.
She squeezed his hand, "Jack, I want more than anything to marry you, and I love you more than you can probably imagine. I know sometimes memories or situations just hit you out of the blue, and that's what I wanted to find out. I just want to make sure you're okay with this, with us," she met his gaze and studied his eyes. "It's okay for you to talk to me."
He squeezed her hand, just as she'd done to him and nodded, "I want to make it very clear to you that I absolutely 100% want to marry you. I have no doubts about that. Since you can read me so well," he rolled his eyes, and she chuckled slightly noting he had a somewhat teasing tone to his voice, "yes, it did hit me out of nowhere, handing over that paperwork. I haven't had to look at her death certificate in a really, really long time, and," he paused, trying to find the words. Lisa waited, and Jack finally continued, "It was just like it was final all over again, her dying I mean, and I'm not sure you can understand it, but it has nothing to do with you right here right now. It was almost the last of that part of my life finally closing. You know," he dropped his head shaking it, "awhile back, Tim, that idiot, made a reference to a door closing and there's always an opening. He was trying to convince me to keep trying with you, which I'll never admit to repeating anything Tim said," he winked at Lisa, and she grinned. "Something hit me about that in there today, that it's more like padlocking it shut now, and I can't really describe it more. I'm very much in love with you and am so glad we have this," he held up the manila folder containing all of their documents, specifically their newly obtained marriage license.
"Tell me about your wedding," she encouraged him, and he frowned, shaking his head.
"Only an idiot would do that the day before he's marrying a gorgeous woman," he smiled at her. "Of course, only an idiot would go on blubbering about his deceased wife on a second date. Any woman with her sanity would go running after that."
Lisa smiled brightly and shrugged, "I'm not any woman, and yes," she nodded her head, "probably insane to be doing this, but you know they say love makes you do crazy things."
"I can definitely confirm that," he winked at her, but Lisa nudged him with their joined hands. "Who in their right mind would wait seven years to propose to the most wonderful person out there?" Jack gestured to himself, "Apparently, this idiot, that's who." Lisa started to laugh, finally giving him a sad smile as she made a face. They both chuckled for a moment at Jack's comment. She nudged him again, hoping he would open up. Finally, he sighed and nodded.
"Lyndy's parents wanted this big wedding. Neither of us cared anything about that, but we indulged them. Honestly, we had both said we would just like to get married there at Heartland, but we did the big church wedding that her parents wanted. They invited everyone they knew. We didn't care about anyone there, really. I remember she had her long, flowing hair, and her mom had insisted on this ridiculous large bouquet of flowers." Jack started to laugh at the memory, and Lisa smiled warmly at him while he just shook his head. "Turns out that her maid of honor, a friend she'd grown up with, was allergic to one of the flowers in that bouquet, and she sneezed the entire ceremony." Lisa burst out laughing and covered her mouth. Jack started to really laugh too. "It was pretty bad. Eventually, Lyndy just turned back to her and took the flowers back, but it was like she yanked them back. Some even fell on the floor. I think her parents were mortified it had caused a scene, but," he shook his head, "neither of us cared. We just wanted to be anywhere else. We also almost forgot to cut the wedding cake."
Lisa titled her head at him and shook her head, "How could you forget to do that? Mine was terrible, I mean the whole cake cutting thing. It should have been a sign of things to come. I told Dan I'd kill him if he smashed cake in my face, and," she rolled her eyes, "wouldn't you know it-guess what he did?"
Jack made a face and groaned, "I don't have to guess. I can see Dan now shoving cake all over your gorgeous face. That man is an idiot to ever do anything to cover up that beautiful face of yours."
She chuckled, patting his hand and nodded, "Yes, it even fell from my face onto my wedding dress. I was so mad. I still am not sure how I moved beyond that to even leave with him," she rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean to digress. Tell me about forgetting to cut the cake."
He pulled her to his side tightly and shook his head, "I'm not sorry you said that at all. Sometimes, it is easy to forget we both had lives before we even met. No, some of the rodeo guys were intent on decorating my truck, and I didn't want them to touch it. No scratches or anything. That truck was my pride and joy." Lisa rolled her eyes, nodded, and chuckled. "I remember running outside when I heard they were messing with it. Lyndy followed, and we talked about just getting in right then and there and taking off."
"Which was before the cake," Lisa nodded, understanding. "What stopped you?"
He sighed, "Her parents came outside and threatened us within an inch of our life to come back inside and do things properly. We didn't care, but they all did. They wanted us to talk to everyone, eat, cut the cake, and we just wanted to leave. Finally, when we were able to get out of there, we high tailed it to the fishing cabin where," he chuckled, "we hadn't thought about the fact we had no food there. Then," he winked at Lisa, "we were wishing we had more of that cake."
"Sounds like a very sweet wedding and reception, even if you couldn't do it your way," she looked up at him with a fond smile. "Thank you for sharing."
He squeezed her hand in his, "Thank you for asking, for noticing, and," he paused first, "for loving me, all of me, memories and all. I don't want you to think anything has changed, Lisa. I'm very, very happy."
"I am too," she grinned, "but I also hope you don't want to talk about my wedding because I really want to forget it." She gave him a hopeful shrug and added, "I am thrilled about replacing that mess with new memories, wonderful memories tomorrow with you. I thought I was so deeply in love when I married Dan, but I see now that it was nothing at all, not compared to the love I have for you, so thank you for loving me."
Lisa could feel he was studying her eyes, and he leaned in and kissed her cheek sweetly, "Thank you for making me feel so loved by saying that. Tomorrow is going to be an absolutely wonderful day."
"To new memories, very, very happy ones," she smiled up at him. Jack paused in his steps, leaned in and kissed her deeply, Lisa happily gripping his shoulders to return the kiss. They smiled when they broke apart, and Lisa reached for the manila folder. Jack studied her as she opened it, curious as to what she was doing.
"See all the stamps in my passport," Lisa opened her passport and showed him. Jack nodded, silently, eyeing her for what she was getting at. "You know I love to travel, but I would trade every single stamp, every single trip, all of it, to just be with you Jack. I mean that. I know I'll travel a lot still, but I want you to know no amount of travel is more important than you. If it ever seems like that, I want you to tell me, and I'll fix it. I know I get focused and throw myself into things, but my heart is with you, not with some jet-set lifestyle of travel. I mean it, and I expect you to hold me to it. After everything we have been through, I just want to spend time with you, be with you, and no travel can compare to that."
He gave one single shake of his head at her, "I'm not asking you to change, Lise."
She looked him in the eye, "No, but you did ask me to marry you, and in agreeing to that, I'm telling you that you are the most important part of my life. France," she rolled her eyes, "tore us apart once, and it's not about to ever again."
"I love you," he told her, and she smiled brightly, the two pulling into a tight embrace. He kissed her cheek, and then, they turned toward each other again for another deep, lingering kiss.
Lisa pulled her head back and met his gaze, "You sure you are okay now? I'll listen to any memories you have, even if they are just popping into your head right now."
"I'm great," he winked at her. "You are truly amazing, and I appreciate you making me talk. I can't wait to marry you."
They were quiet for a moment, just looking at each other, both smiling, and Lisa finally nodded up at him with a small smile, "You do realize you are finally getting your Heartland wedding, even if it is at the dude ranch. It's still on Heartland."
Jack, who was already smiling, broke into an even bigger smile, as he pulled her toward him again, kissing her head, "You are correct, and that makes tomorrow even more perfect in my book."
"Good," she smiled and pointed to the folder, "because as crazy as we might be, this province has given us permission to marry each other, so," she smiled brightly, "let the craziness begin."
Jack, still with his hand in hers, pulled her hand up to kiss it, and he nodded at her, holding her ring finger, "First, we need to get that wedding band. If you are this giddy and excited to wear one ring," he winked at her, and she giggled, "I can't imagine what putting a second ring on that finger will do to you. Let's get out of this cold and continue on with our day. License was purchased, but I still have some big money to spend today," he winked. "I believe I promised a ring and a romantic dinner for the lovely lady."
"You did," she chuckled. "Who knows," she winked at him, "we might actually pull off this private, intimate wedding after all."