Chapter 245 – Pushing Boundaries

Elizabeth looked at Jack as he walked away and her face was sad. She knew that he needed to talk to his grandfather and also work some things out, but at that moment, she felt very alone. Both Gran and Trish saw the look on her face. They knew that she was struggling because Jack was struggling, but neither knew what to say to her at the moment.

"What do you think that it was that came from Thomas's firm?" Elizabeth asked.

"I would assume that it is the papers from court yesterday." Doug said. "It might be something else, but I would assume that was what it was."

"Oh." Elizabeth said. "I didn't even think about that."

"It is okay." Doug said. "They aren't here causing trouble, so there is no reason to think about what they are doing."

"I can't believe how much has changed in a month." Elizabeth said. "It is hard to believe that I didn't know any of you a month ago and the person that I thought was my best friend turned out to be someone that I hardly know at all."

"You all have had a lot of changes in the last month." Gran said. "If we are honest about things. I would say that all of you young people have had many life altering changes in the last six months or so. I mean think about it, other than Doug, you have all turned eighteen since the beginning of the year. All four of you have graduated from high school and taken steps toward college. JP is jumping again, competitively, that is something I didn't think I would ever see again. JP and Elizabeth have met, gotten engaged and are planning a wedding. There is the stuff with Charlie Kensington and his family. Then add in everything with JP and Elizabeth's parents."

"There is also the stuff with Tommy." Doug said. "I guess you are right, we have all had a life altering six months or so. I also have a feeling that there are many more changes coming before the end of the year."

"It will definitely be a year to look back on." Nathan said. "I haven't had nearly as many changes as Jack, Elizabeth, Doug and Lee, but I have had plenty of my own."

"At least you have each other." Frank said. "The summer after I turned eighteen I felt so alone. I had wanted to take a year off before school since I had no idea what I wanted and I didn't see a point of going when I had no idea what I wanted to study. I spent the summer working odd jobs around the ranches and in town. It was hard when I saw the people that I graduated with all head off school. Then nine eleven happened and knew exactly what I needed to do. Less than a week after that happened, I was on a bus heading from Kentucky to Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina."

"That must have been something." Nathan said.

"I had no idea what to expect." Frank said. "I mean I had known people that had been in the Army, but the events of the previous week had changed everything. I knew that I would be heading to combat at some point and some point soon after training. I got there and in a matter of days, we were told it wasn't if we would be heading overseas, but a matter of when. I was scared, but quickly put that aside and focused on training. I found very early that I had a good mind for navigation. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, but thought it might be something to look into at that point. I was initially assigned to the 504th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. I joined the Army in September 2001 and deployed for the first time in February of 2002."

"Wow." Trish said. "Mind me asking where you were stationed?"

"I did time in Afghanistan and Iraq." Frank said. "Mostly Afghanistan. That was where I was injured both times."

"Well." Father Mark said. "Thank you for your service. I was in middle school when it happened. I was so worried about my family in the city. Eventually, almost everyone came up here just to get out of the city."

"Yes." Gran said. "Thomas and Charlotte brought JP up here and stayed for months."

"That was a stressful time for me." Trish said. "I ended up taking the kids out of the city and staying with friends in Philadelphia. I talked to James almost every day, but it was hard to be away from him for months. We left the city the week after the towers fell and didn't come back until December."

"That must have been stressful." Elizabeth said. "Especially given your husband's job."

"It was." Trish said. "He was a station chief at the time, but he spent time down at ground zero. We lost quite a few friends."

"I am just glad that Thomas and Charlotte weren't in Manhattan at the time." Gran said. "It was bad enough being where they were. Thomas would have been near ground zero if things had worked out. He was supposed to move into the new offices in August, but there were delays and finally was told he wouldn't be in until October. His new offices were supposed to have been close to the World Trade Center complex. I don't remember exactly where, all I remember was that it was really close. The building he was supposed to move into received damage and took another year or more to rebuild. All I know was that when nine eleven happened, Thomas never got his new offices down there. He ended up getting different offices in Midtown near the Diamond District."

"I remember hearing about that." Trish said. "I think the offices he was supposed to have moved into are actually lawyers' offices to this day."

"I think that might be one of the only places of real significance that I have been to in the city." Elizabeth said. "I mean I have been in a few theaters on Broadway. I have been to Columbia and Central Park, but as we didn't really do museums or things other than where the school took us."

"That is a shame." Father Mark said. "There is so much to explore in the city. I wish I could take a month and just spend it at several of the museums."

"Maybe one day." Gran said.

"Maybe." Father Mark said. "The city has changed so much since the last time that I have spent any amount of time there."

"New York City is always changing." Trish said. "At least that is what my husband says."

The twins had finished cleaning up from lunch and were looking at their new piano books while the others talked. Elizabeth was glad to learn more about Jack's family and friends. At one point, Father Mark excused himself from the conversation and went over to the piano to play with the twins. He closed the lid on it so that it was quieter and didn't disturb everyone talking at the table.

Jack got to the office door, took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" John asked.

"Jack, Sir." Jack said. "There was a delivery from Dad's firm."

Peter unlocked the door and let Jack in.

"Thank you." John said. "It is the final paperwork from yesterday and a few other things I needed."

"Okay." Jack said. "Anything I need to know about Ma and yesterday?"

"She will only be allowed at family events if we are all in agreement." John said. "It also clearly spells out what is and isn't acceptable behavior. It also clearly lays out the rules for contact. There is a copy in there for you. I can see you get it later."

"Sounds good." Jack said.

Jack turned to leave, but stopped and turned back to his grandfather.

"Sir." Jack said, timidly.

"Yes." John said, looking up after hearing the tone of Jack's voice.

John saw Jack was struggling with something.

"Is there a problem?" John asked.

"I have a question to ask." Jack said. "But I don't want to upset you."

John motioned for Jack to have a seat. He then put his pen and paperwork down, giving Jack his full attention.

"I haven't talked to Elizabeth yet." Jack said. "But I have been leaning more and more toward not having Ma, Dad and Tommy at the wedding."

"Tommy, I can see you not wanting him to be a distraction." John said. "But are you sure about your parents?"

"Yes." Jack said. "They weren't supportive and Elizabeth and I talked about keeping it small. At least at the church. We really only want those close to us that support us. There is a longer list for the reception here at the ranch. I thought about maybe inviting them up for the reception, but wasn't sure how to do that without having them at the ceremony."

"I see your dilemma." John said. "Mind me asking who made the cut for the ceremony?"

"The Burkes and Coulters." Jack said. "The Averys plus Caitlin. Major Thompson and family. Nathan, Devin, Frank, Gran, Grandpa and you. Obviously, Father Mark since he will be performing the ceremony. There might be a few other people, depending on how we do the wedding party. Elizabeth wants Rosemary, but only if she apologizes and changes her attitude. That might also mean Rosemary's parents. We thought about asking Opal to be the flower girl, so that would mean her mom would come. I was also thinking about a couple other specific employees. Elizabeth and I were going to finalize the list today or tomorrow."

"What about extended family?" John asked.

"Another thing I need to figure out." Jack said.

"Can I suggest something?" Peter said.

"Sure I am for all suggestions at this point." Jack said.

"I would suggest your Uncle Conrad and Aunt Heidi since they will be here because of the races." Peter said. "I would suggest you might also call your Uncle Chris and Aunt Molly and at least extend an invitation. They might not be able to get away, but you should invite them. When you talk you can let them know that if they can't make it, you will understand."

"That would work." Jack said. "I just don't want things to get out of control. The more people we invite, the harder it will be to keep quiet. The last thing either Elizabeth or I want is media attention. We also both want a small wedding. It is not like we need the gifts. I was actually going to suggest to Elizabeth that we pick a couple of charities and if people wanted to do something then they could make a donation in our name."

"I understand that." John said. "Let me think about things and see if there isn't something we can come up with about the family and keeping things quiet. I like the charity idea. You do know that doesn't apply to James, Margaret and I. We have things that will be gifted to you for your wedding. Things that have long been earmarked for that event."

"Thank you,I understand that." Jack said. "Elizabeth, might not fully understand, but I think she will once you sit us down and explain things. Honestly, as much as I want to marry Elizabeth and start our lives together, I am feeling very overwhelmed about the actual wedding. I will let you get back to work. We will talk later."

"Wait, hold up." John said. "What are you feeling overwhelmed about and how can we help?"

"A lot of things." Jack said. "I didn't realize how much went into wedding planning and then doing it on a short turn around is even harder. Then there is the marriage prep stuff that Elizabeth and I have to do. I don't mind doing it, but it is just taking time that I hadn't planned on. Then there is the anxiety about wedding night. I don't want to hurt Elizabeth and at the same time, I want it to be special for the both of us. I … … um … … just … it is embarrassing."

"Peter, will you give us a moment?" John said.

Peter left the office and went to the library.

"I get that you are embarrassed to talk about certain things." John said. "However it is much more acceptable to talk about such things in this day and age. I was also a virgin on my wedding night to your grandmother. Except, back in my day, we weren't told much about things and I wasn't all that sure what I was supposed to do. It took hours for us to be comfortable to move forward. There is no one way that is right for everyone. The best I can tell you is to talk to Elizabeth and make sure you are both ready and comfortable before moving forward.

The other thing that I will tell you is that I would bet money on it that Elizabeth will be just as nervous as you, if not more. She might have had one experience before, but it wasn't a pleasant thing and she was very young. I am sure that she will be worried about satisfying you. Just from listening to Rosemary and knowing some of the things that happen in this day and age, I am sure that Elizabeth has heard plenty about what she is supposed to do to satisfy a man. She will be not only thinking about those things, but what happened to her might also be in her mind. You are going to have to take things easy and just feel your way through things with her."

"Pretty much what Father Mark told me." Jack said.

"Speaking of wedding night." John said. "Where are you taking her? Or are you taking her anywhere?"

"I am not sure about the wedding night." Jack said. "The last thing I want is to stay in the house here. However, on Saturday morning, I was hoping to be able to take Elizabeth somewhere for a few days, maybe a week."

"What were you thinking?" John said.

"She loved Toronto, but we didn't really get to see anything." Jack said. "I was also thinking about Montreal. The other thought was maybe the condo in Florida."

"I will block off the jet." John said. "You just let me know where. What about security on the honeymoon?"

"That was another thing that we needed to talk about." Jack said. "As much as I love Nathan, I really don't want to have to take him along. The same with Devin. I just think that it would be too awkward. I was wondering if we went to Canada, if you might be able to get some shadow security that is much less intrusive and that I don't personally know."

"I think Canada would be easier." John said. "At least for security purposes. I have no problem getting a couple of security teams and a driver for you. Just let me know if you need help with anything."

"Thank you, I will." Jack said. "My first thought was Toronto for a few days. I was just thinking maybe we could do Toronto for three days or so and then maybe we could fly up to Montreal for two or three days as well."

"Sounds good." John said. "Just let me know. I would get on it, as far as the hotels. Please let me know if you run into trouble booking anything. I can make some calls. So if you get married on the seventeenth and leave for the honeymoon on the eighteenth, when do you need to be back in the city?"

"Thank you, Sir." Jack said. "I will work on that this afternoon. I want to check a few things out. I do want to keep it a surprise for Elizabeth, at least until we are on the jet. Let's see, I think orientation is like the twenty-eighth. I would want to be back in the city at a reasonable hour the day before."

"I understand." John said. "So even if you came back on the twenty-fifth or the twenty-sixth it would be fine. You would just have to decide if you want to stop here or go right to the city. Anything you have up here can be arranged to be back in the city. I would assume that Doug and Lee would leave the week after the wedding to get ready for school anyway. I planned on sending Nathan back to the city with them and waiting for you there. If Doug and Lee are fine with it, Nathan can stay in the large three bedroom with them. I haven't spoken to Nathan about this yet, but it would make more sense. No use in him keeping that overpriced tiny two bedroom in Hell's kitchen if we can accommodate him at the building."

"I agree." Jack said. "I will talk to him about it. The other thing I just thought about, we will need to arrange for additional horses in the city. We have two now. I want Elizabeth, Nathan and Lee to each have one of ours if we are going to go riding."

"I will deal with it." John said. "I will figure out who should be up there and will probably talk to the stables."

"Thank you." Jack said. "I will work on things and talk later."

"Very well." John said.

Jack got up and left his grandfather. He stopped in the library and let Peter know that he was done and would talk to them later.

Elizabeth saw Jack coming down the hall and stop in the library. She then watched him pause a moment before heading downstairs. She quickly got up and followed Jack downstairs before anyone could stop her. Elizabeth caught up to Jack before he got to his room.

"Jack." Elizabeth said.

Jack didn't turn around, but dropped his head. As much as he loved Elizabeth, he needed to take care of a few things before he spoke to her.

"We need to talk." Elizabeth continued. "We have to finalize the wedding guest list. We also need to talk about last night and this morning."

Jack sighed. He knew that they needed to talk, but he didn't have the energy at the moment. Before Jack knew it, Elizabeth had walked around and was standing in front of him. She reached to take his hand, since his head was still down. The moment that she brushed her fingertips down his wrist, he felt electricity shot through his body and he felt like he was on fire.

"I understand that you are tired or whatever." Elizabeth said. "If you don't want to do wedding planning or to talk, can we just sit together? Maybe you will feel like doing those things later."

Jack raised his head and looked at Elizabeth. His gaze locked on her lips. Before Jack could stop himself, he was kissing Elizabeth and backing her against the wall. Elizabeth, while initially surprised, started kissing Jack back. She was surprised when Jack backed her into the wall, essentially pinning her there with his body. His other hand had started on her hip and quickly slipped under the hem of her shirt and was caressing the delicate skin of her lower back. As much as her brain was telling her that they needed to stop, what Jack was doing to her felt great. Eventually, Elizabeth wrapped her arms around Jack's neck and was playing with the hair at the nape of his neck, which was only driving him more wild.

Finally, Jack broke the kiss as his lungs screamed for air. He still held Elizabeth against the wall. Both could feel the excitement arcing between them.

"We need to stop." Elizabeth rasped.

"I know." Jack rasped back, before kissing her again.

It was Elizabeth who pulled away this time. She moved her hands to Jack's chest and tried to push him away from her a bit. There was a part of her that didn't want to, but the logical part of her brain was telling her to stop.

"Jack." Elizabeth said barely above a whisper. "We need to stop. We made a promise."

Jack was kissing her neck and had run his hand to the small of her back under her shirt. He wasn't thinking and only wanted Elizabeth at that moment. Elizabeth had closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall. She was loving the way that Jack was making her feel. She knew that they needed to stop, but there was a large part of her that didn't want to stop either.

Both were broken from their thoughts of passion when Jack let out a little yelp. When they turned and saw Doug standing there holding some ice, they jumped apart.

"What was that for?" Jack said, turning his passion to anger directed at Doug.

"It was the only thing I could think of to stop you both." Doug said. "Neither of you heard me calling your names. Jack, you asked me to help keep you accountable to the vow that you made six years ago. As your best friend, I was just doing my job."

"Seriously." Jack said. "Ice down my shirt!"

Doug just looked between the two of them. Their faces were flushed and they were breathing hard.

"Hey." Doug said. "If you weren't standing on the carpet, I was thinking of throwing the bucket of ice water on both of you. Elizabeth please go to your room and calm down. Jack, I think you need to go take a very cold shower in the gym."

Elizabeth blushed, ducked her head and slipped into her room. Jack was also red-faced, but he was not in the mood to calm down. He felt like he was standing on a cliff on fire and all he wanted to do was jump off the edge into the lake below. Every nerve fiber in his body was on fire. All Jack knew was that he had never felt what he was feeling at the moment and it had physically hurt to stop. When he turned to face Doug, he realized how hard his body was. He had tried not to think about it, but it was all his brain could think about. He wanted Elizabeth more in that moment than he wanted air to breathe. He wanted her so bad, it literally hurt.

"Jack." Doug said.

It took a second for Jack to focus his eyes on Doug.

"Are you listening to me?" Doug asked.

Jack nodded.

"You were about two seconds away from taking Elizabeth right here on the floor of the hallway." Doug said. "You were the one that asked us to not leave you alone with Elizabeth for too long because you were having a hard time maintaining being a gentleman. From what I just saw, I agree and also from what I saw, you weren't being a gentleman. Be glad that it was me who came down here and not one of your grandparents or Father Mark."

Jack hung his head, as his body started to come down off that ledge, he realized that Doug was right. He had crossed a line and he wasn't in the mood to stop.

"Go cool off." Doug said. "I won't say anything, but I will be keeping a closer eye on you."

Jack just nodded before carefully walking past Doug toward the gym.