Watching him from the doorway of her office, Lisa was almost overtaken by emotion. She didn't know why just quietly watching him had gotten to her, but it had, maybe the thought that things could be so different right now. Jack could have died with that fall, and sure, this was its own horror, but her cowboy was alive and well, sort of. He was at least part of her life again, even if this was torture trying to get him to remember things. She realized he may never regain his memory and just might live out the last years of his life missing out on some of the best 18 years of it, but it was what it was. She was going to fight for him, for them, and right now, he was standing here in front of her, alive, well, and at least curious about their lives together. She'd take that, too, over the animosity he'd shown those first days, not that she blamed him, but this Jack, the one that had been at least trying the last few days was a welcome relief to the one that had been fighting her initially.
He must have sensed that he was being watched because Jack turned around and spotted her in the doorway. She smiled, nodding at him, as she walked further into her office to join him where he was look at the photos on the wall.
"I can tell you are really good at your job and really love your horses," Jack said, nodding to the wall. She had a showcase of photos of winning horses, the spot where he was currently standing was full of the recent ones of Bow winning the Derby. Framed articles, pictures, and ribbons were all hung together in Bow's area. Lisa smiled at Jack's compliment.
"I really do. I love these horses, and wow, the memories," she chuckled looking around at all the pictures hanging around the room. As she met Jack eyes looking at her, she quickly schooled her features, realizing she'd brought up the one thing he couldn't do easily-remember. "Sorry."
"Why are you sorry? Lisa, this is incredible," he said, shaking his head. "I had no idea. I knew you bred horses, but I suppose I didn't realize you raced so many as well."
"Yes, it's like one for the other," she shrugged. "Winning race horses are prized and sought out for breeding, so yes, it goes hand in hand."
"Your Platinum Bow is a beautiful horse," Jack pointed out the picture of his with the Derby floral spread over him after his win. She watched as Jack stepped to look at the next picture, one of Lisa there with her prize-winning horse. "I can't imagine how excited and proud you were at the Derby."
"Bow is a wonderful horse, and yes, the Derby, I just wanted him to do well. I'd had a mishap that week. His original jockey broke his leg, and it looked like I was headed there with this fantastic horse and no jockey. I had several try for the spot, but none could match my original until his cousin up and surprised me, being the perfect match for Bow. It was just such a surprise, such a wonderful gift."
Jack nodded as he listened to her, glancing at Lisa as she finished. He pointed to the derby picture with Lisa and Bow, "So, I didn't go with you? That seems like a pretty big deal, no ordinary horse race."
"No," she pursed her lips and glanced down, clearing her throat. She decided to face him head on since he had directly asked her about this. "You didn't go with me, not because I didn't try, didn't offer. I would have loved for you to go with me. You've always had a standing invitation for any of my work trips, but you stay at home. You were my first call within seconds of Bow winning. I was so happy, so proud, and I wanted to share that with you. You watched the race at home," she nodded, giving a small shrug. "I had to be gone another six weeks after the derby with the racing circuit, and I wish we could have done that together."
She heard him grunt slightly as he looked back at the picture. He looked at her, looked directly into her eyes, "Well, I can't pretend I remember, but I'm sorry you had to go alone because that is a big deal, a huge deal. My injured self is telling you that I should have gone with you." Lisa's expression changed to one of shock. She smiled softly at him.
"Thanks, Jack, for saying that. You were very proud of me, but we both know you aren't one to want to travel, but yes, as wonderful as that was, I would have loved having you there, having you in some of these pictures with me. You're mentioned in a few of the articles, ones talking about Bow and his owner. They did a basic biography of me, and well, that brought up you, but thank you."
The two grew quiet, Jack studying more of the pictures. He pointed to one that had Lisa grin.
"You look so young here," and as soon as he said that, he started to backpedal, "I mean, not that you look old now. I mean," he sighed and dropped his head. Lisa laughed, stepping closer to him, as he'd moved down the wall of photos. She put her hand on his back and patted it.
"I know what you mean, and yes, you'd be a fool to not say I was young. I was 25, and that is my ex-husband, Dan, and that was the first horse we jointly owned that finally won a race. It was a sad little race, but we finally had a winner. The very first race we entered a horse into, that horse came in dead last." She pointed to the framed article, "That was the very first race, you see, circled at the bottom, our horse."
Jack studied the photo, and Lisa was pretty sure he was studying Dan more than anything. She hadn't brought him up much, just when Jack asked about attending a funeral and what she'd briefly told him about being divorced. Jack looked over at her, "I like that saying on the photo-'Nowhere to go but up' and that's true. If you start by winning every race, well," he said with a shake of his head, "you're going to lose sometime."
Lisa nodded, pursing her lips. She stood there, next to the framed article Dan had given her, "I like it too. I told you Dan passed away last year. You and Dan were always snipping at each other. We didn't see him a lot, but it was just always the case when we did. We hadn't spoken or seen Dan in a few years, so finding out last year he'd passed away was a shock. I later learned that he'd been sick for some time, but he hadn't told me and well, didn't say goodbye before he passed. After the funeral, this came in the mail, and I do treasure it because we had a few good years together, and you were very supportive through all of that. I appreciated it very much. We have always been good at supporting the other when talking about our first spouses, and that meant a lot, not that I wanted to tell you things about my ex-husband, but I eventually did. Looking at all these photos," she said with a spread of her hands at the massive amount on the wall, "yes, it is incredible I started with one sad, losing horse and went all the way to the Kentucky Derby and won."
Jack nodded as she explained and then eyed her, "Did Dan know you'd won the Kentucky Derby?"
Lisa smiled and nodded, "He did, and," she started laughing, "he sent me a bushel of apples."
Jack started laughing too, shaking his head at her, wondering what the joke was with apples. Lisa gestured as she explained, "When our first horse kept losing, we started trying to figure out why. Turns out he was having trouble eating apples and running. He had some allergy to apples, and instead of being good for him, they were making him swell, which obviously wasn't good for racing. So, we banned apples for him, and that was really quite the funny gift for winning the derby."
Jack burst out laughing at that, and the two enjoyed a few moments of laughter. When they calmed down, Lisa reached for his hand and gave him a nod, "You sent two dozen lilies to me at my hotel, along with cheesecake from apparently this amazing local bakery nearby. You'd had Amy help you look that up because I love cheesecake. We talked on the phone that night for a couple of hours, and I was just so excited and in disbelief about Bow."
Jack smiled at her, nodding, and then he gestured to the wall, "Well, this really is incredible, Lisa, your career here with some just fabulous looking horses, and I'm real sorry if I haven't supported you as you should have been."
Lisa's eyes hopefully did not show the shock she felt at his admission. Instead, she tried to change the subject, "Ahh, would you like to meet Bow? I took care of a few things, but I still need to speak to Edwin, my stable manager. I can show you Bow."
"Oh, he's here?"
She nodded, "I own him outright, or we do, even if you always say this is my business," she nodded to Jack, "no inventors anymore. That was its own mess last year, and I was really stressed. I'm so glad to be done with the investors breathing down my neck. Bow had a bruise that left him out of racing for some time, and I was terrified he'd broken his leg. He's doing just fine now, but he's as attached to me as I am to him, so come on," she said, looping her arm through his as she looked up at him, "Let's go and find our prize-winner, Bow."
As they walked through Lisa's stables, Jack was quiet, taking it all in and stopping frequently to pet many of the horses. She had a full stable at the moment, and as they walked, she explained the lineage of several. She could tell Jack was really interested in that; he loved horses, and no memory loss had changed that. He was still great with horses, speaking quietly to several and gently giving them all a once -over. As they neared the horse training area, she pointed out to it.
"Ahh, there's Edwin now, and look, he has Bow with him. I don't let all of my stable hands work with Bow. Edwin and just a couple of others can, but he's just too valuable. Come on," she said, this time putting her hand in his. Lisa saw Jack glance at their joined hand, but to his credit, he didn't pull away. Lisa continued to explain things to Jack as they walked toward Edwin. "Now, Edwin knows you had an accident, but I have not shared your medical issues with anyone here. That's not their story to know. You and Edwin obviously know each other, but I think you'll be fine. He has a daughter Lyndy's age. The girls are very good friends, and oh, by the way," she turned her head to look up at Jack with a small grin. "Edwin is divorced and went out with Amy a few times, but the two are just friends."
"Geez," Jack sighed, shaking his head. "Really?"
Lisa hummed, "Oh Jack," she swatted at him, "she's a grown woman, 32, not 15. She's been married, had a baby, been widowed, so yes, she's also dated or is dating. Do not give her a hard time. She's struggled with it enough and did not think she could date anyone else ever. You have been the perfect ear for her, going through something similar, and she has said seeing the two of us so happy is what has given her the courage to even put herself out there. Now, Edwin is a perfectly nice man, but give your granddaughter credit that she knows what she wants and was mature enough to give it a couple of dates to then mutually decide friendship was the better choice."
"Okay, " Jack nodded. "Does she share all of her dating woes with me?"
"No," Lisa chuckled, swatting at his arm. "I know that would terrify you to learn it. She shares a lot with me and Lou, but Lou has been in her own world trying to get back on track with Peter. Amy talks a lot about moving on with you, about not losing the memories of your spouses. Between the two of us," she nudged him, "we get the whole story."
"Edwin, hi," Lisa said to him as he walked with Bow toward them.
"Lisa, Jack, good to see you," he nodded. "Just exercising Bow as you can see. Jack, you are looking well. I heard about your accident, and I'm glad to see it wasn't worse."
"Edwin," Jack nodded at him, not giving away he had no clue who this guy was. Lisa watched the interaction, and Jack continued before she could say anything more. "Nice to see you and thank you for the concern. Still dealing with some broken ribs, but I know it could have been worse. Hate Lisa had to see that."
Lisa looked up at him, surprised at that admission only because he'd not said anything more about his actual accident since she'd told him. She smiled softly, breaking the grip she had on Jack's hand, and lowered her sunglasses now that they were facing Edwin and the afternoon sun.
"Bow seems to be settling in nicely," she gave a nod to her horse. She turned to Jack, "He had been sent to stud down in Montana, a prize winner there as well and just returned."
"Oh?" Jack nodded at the horse. "Well, I suppose he's had a great week then." That had the adults all laughing. Edwin and Lisa started to discuss business, and as they did, Lisa almost jumped when Jack leaned in, gently touching her back and said, "I will make my way back to the office and see you when you finish." She glanced his way and gave him a small smile as she nodded. She watched as Jack quickly and quietly shook Edwin's hand before stepping away. Watching Jack, Lisa remembered just how smooth and collected he could be in situations, even in ones like this where he clearly was not comfortable or familiar with things. It had been one of those qualities she'd loved in him right away all those years ago.
When she finished with Edwin, Lisa made her way back through her stables, glancing at her watch, and noting that with the time, the stables were starting to empty for the day. She spotted her cowboy about halfway down, standing there talking and petting one of her horses, Thunder Road, and she crossed her arms and smiled at him as she approached.
"Something about him, he's got a great personality," Jack said, looking over, his hand on Thunder's halter. Lisa dropped her head, not before she started to grin, and when she looked up at Jack, she continued to nod.
"You helped pick him out when I went to an auction last year."
Jack raised an eyebrow, and he shook his head, "I promise you that I don't remember that, wish I did."
"I'm sure that's the case, but it is fascinating that of all the horses here, you are taken with that one."
He nodded and waved his hand toward the outside, "Bow's temperament, liked that too, the little I saw of him."
She laughed, "You almost had another heart attack when you saw what I bid on him at that auction. Oh, that was quite the day. I really took you by surprise."
He raised an eyebrow, "Do I want to even guess?"
"Probably not, let's just say he wasn't quite a million dollars, Thunder either."
Jack whistled, nodding at her, and as Lisa nodded toward her office, Jack stepped away, falling in step with her.
"I'm all set for today. I'm glad I was here. My vet stopped by, and I wasn't aware he was coming, so that was good to chat with him as well. All in all, a good afternoon here."
""It's quite the operation," Jack said. "You keep this place in tip top shape too, not that it is a surprise."
"Well, how about a cup of coffee up at the house? We can grab my things from the office and head to the house." Jack nodded, and the two were quiet as they walked, Jack waiting for her at the office, and finally, after dropping some paperwork in her car right there by the stable, they walked the short pathway to the house, Lisa noting that Jack spent a lot of time looking around.
"Can't believe you gave this up," he said, gesturing and added, "I mean, to live at Heartland. It's quite the property."
"She shrugged, meeting his eyes, "A house is not a home without the people you love in it. It got lonely here alone, and it was silly the two of us going back and forth."
"So, did I spend much time here?"
"Some," she offered, waving her hand. "We still do, sometimes, on occasion. It's almost like a getaway here in town for us. Remember how I told you that the rest of the family uses the dude ranch. Well," she nodded to the house, "our dude ranch, so to speak," and with that, they both started to laugh. She shrugged, "Rough life with a multi-million dollar getaway as your second home. Anyway, you do have plenty of things here-clothing, toiletries, more glasses," she grinned at him, "but we stay here on occasion, if something is going on late or very early for the stable or just if we want to get away. It's nice, really, with the full house, to have the peace and quiet here. You'll also see that the views from my back patio are to die for, nothing like it around."
Once they were in the house, Lisa sighed, and wiped at her head, looking over at Jack, "You know, I really could use a minute to freshen up. I'm so hot after being outside with my trainers."
"You go and shower, whatever you need to do," Jack told her. "I'll figure out my way around your kitchen and make some coffee, if you still want some?"
She grinned, "We both still like a good cup of coffee even on a hot day like today. Are you sure you're okay in the kitchen?"
"I'll manage, even if I don't remember your kitchen," he told her. She gave him a quick nod of thanks, and the two went their own ways. Before Lisa started up the stairs, though, she turned.
"Oh, Jack," she said, and he paused in the doorway of the kitchen and turned back to her. Lisa waved her hand, "It's our kitchen, not mine, just one of two kitchens we have," she shrugged. "You had finally started to see this as ours, not just mine, a few years ago, and even though things are a mess, I hope you'll work on that again." Without waiting for a response, she started up the steps again, shrugging out of the white blouse she had over her navy blue t-shirt, hoping to not leave Jack alone too long.
Feeling much more refreshed, Lisa stepped out onto her back porch, spotting Jack sitting in the very comfortable outdoor patio chairs the two always enjoyed. She hummed and nodded as she walked toward him.
"Much better, both me and this temperature out here. Looks like it's going to be a beautiful evening."
"That it does," he said, putting his cup down on the small table between the chairs. He gestured to her cup, "I remember you said we both drink our coffee the same?"
She smiled as she nodded, getting comfortable in her chair, "We do. So, like the view?" Lisa made eye contact with Jack, and then, she gestured to the rolling green hills in front of them. The area was all fenced, and several of the horses had been let out for the evening. She had different caliber of horses, some that were not put out to pasture because of their stock, but others that were. Then, there was Bow who had his own area, a very spoiled and deeply loved horse, and Lisa glanced to her left and saw he was outside for the evening as well.
"Some of the nicest views around," he said with a roll of his head. "Got a quick nap in right here, maybe 10 minutes," he added, shifting in his chair to look at her. "You look like you are feeling more refreshed."
"Definitely," she nodded, now in light green ankle length summer pants and a cream colored blouse. She fanned her face, "Just still a bit hot, but feeling much better."
"I wandered around while I made the coffee," Jack explained to her. "Saw the living room with some pictures I hadn't seen, found more of my glasses lying around," he said with a chuckle and a nod to her. Lisa grinned.
"I told you that we have them everywhere. Never know where we will be and need to read something. This getting old thing isn't fun, all the changes and all."
"No, it's not, and I am definitely seeing that. Here, I woke up and thought I was 67, found out I'm 85."
"I'm sure that was really a shock, still is," she said with a nod to him. "I'm sure you're finding that your body doesn't do what you want it to at your age, not to mention learning you've had a heart attack and broken more ribs than I can count in the last 18 years."
"No," he said quietly, dropping his head to look at his cup of coffee. "It's a lot to take in, and then, on top of it all, learning I've had this whole life I can't remember and a wife not even as old as I thought I was."
She frowned, nodding as she shifted in her chair, "You were worried about our ages from the start, some of which you shared, and some of which you tried to hide until it about destroyed us." He gave her an inquisitive look. Lisa sighed, shaking her head, "You pushed me away after your heart attack. Your doctor wanted you to go to Arizona to rest and recover for at least a month, and the plan was for me to go with you. I'd come back from France after we'd had the fight to end all relationships, incredibly worried about you, and that seemed like it was our chance, our chance to get back on track. Anyway, before that trip could happen, you pushed me away. We had a major argument, and you told me it wasn't a good idea I go with you to Arizona. So, I left-you, Hudson, Canada. I went back to France. Eventually, I came home to sell Fairfield, and in all of that, we had it out finally, and you admitted to me that part of pushing me away was your concern about our ages, that I'd be somehow stuck taking care of you. Jack, I have never seen being with you as some sort of obligation or would even think that in the future. I told you then and am telling you now, I am not stuck with you. I love you, have since almost our first date."
"Hmm, thanks for telling me that," he said quietly, looking over at her. "I really do wonder about that, our age difference and wonder what must have been going through my mind. I guess it shocks me that I'd even consider it, courting you with our age differences. I mean," he waved his hand, "we've already discussed that you're younger than my daughter, and I just hope I didn't see it, you, as some replacement for her. I guess I'm trying to wrap my head around getting up the courage to date you, to think that you would see anything at all interesting about some old cowboy because when I look in the mirror, I don't see it at all," he chuckled. Lisa was about to speak, but Jack added, glancing at her, "So, tell me, where did I take you on our first date, and how did that develop?"
Lisa grinned and then started to laugh as she shook her head. She looked over at the confusion on Jack's face and then started to explain, gesturing with her hand, "Well, nowhere, I mean, you didn't ask me out on our first date. I asked you."
"Seriously?" Jack asked, his mouth hanging open. "I couldn't even get that right?"
"No," she chuckled. "I think that, no," she nodded, "I know you were attracted to me, and we'd spent some time around each other. I told you about Ben, that he was living here, and I was having a tough time with him. You offered to have him come live and work at Heartland, so I was getting to know you through visits to see Ben. We'd flirted a little," she grinned and then reached over and smacked at his hand, "okay, I'd flirted a lot with you, not at all unwelcoming, I might add," she grinned at Jack. "It made you slightly uncomfortable at first, but I think that was mostly the idea of just dating at all. You weren't sure how you felt about that, with the girls watching, with whatever unresolved feelings you might have about Lyndy, just all of it, maybe about this younger woman flirting endlessly with you. Your head was trying to catch up to my attempts at flirting. We were really starting to become good friends, talking most days and all. You'd even had me over to eat with Ben, and well," she shrugged, "for me, it was just so lovely, so nice. I really liked you right away. I could see through the gruff exterior you try to put out there, and I was impressed with how well you were handling things with Amy, with Lou, with just losing Marion and all. So, our first date, I invited you to one of my horse auctions."
Jack raised an eyebrow and gestured, "I sat through one of your horse auctions and wasn't turned off by that?"
"No," Lisa swatted at him again, laughing a lot now. She shook her head, tried to stop laughing and looked him in the eye. "It should not surprise you to know we never made it to the auction."
Jack's eyebrows rose, and he tilted his head, trying to figure out this first date. As Lisa watched him try to process, even try to remember, he shook his head, and then, she chuckled quietly seeing his face turn red. She reached over and patted his hand, putting him out of whatever misery, whatever maybe improper thoughts he could be having, "Your truck broke down."
He rolled his eyes and started to laugh, dropping his head as he nodded. "Good, I mean, I was trying to figure out, well," he said, looking at her almost sheepishly. "Truthfully, I'm shocked by so much of what my old self did, I really had no idea what you were going to say."
"Yes," she grinned, "your pride and joy, that rusting piece of metal, well, you insisted we take your truck, and then it broke down, overheated. We even disagreed on that," she grinned. "You didn't want to think it had overheated. So, we had a picnic instead. I'd brought along things for a surprise picnic, one I planned for after the auction. Well, we had a lovely picnic while your truck cooled off. It really was just so nice, and we did a lot of talking, a lot of laughing. I really felt comfortable with you, and I think you did too. I mean, I know you did. We've always talked, and that day, we learned we had a lot more in common than I think we realized. By the time we got to the auction, it was nearly over. We ran into Dan outside, and well," she frowned, making a face at Jack.
He groaned, "What did I do? Please tell me I didn't have some jealous thing with your ex-husband."
She nodded, "Sort of. Dan told you I was his wife, which is something he did all the time just to irritate me and almost put some claim on me. He knew we'd come together, and while he didn't know of a possible romance, it was like he wanted to ruin anything that may. You drove off, just left me there, but I did not know why at the time."
"Wait a minute," Jack shook his head at her. "I drove off, on our first date? I just up and left you? Why?"
"As I said," she rolled her head, "Dan has a way. Later on, you told me that you didn't want to get into the middle of someone's marriage. I think you felt it was the honorable thing to do, thinking that I'd just set up a date while married," she chuckled. "To be fair, you didn't know me that well, but at the same time, it was a little deflating thinking that you would ever believe I'd do something like that."
Lisa studied Jack's face. He was truly horrified learning all of this. She let him process things, sipping at her coffee while he did. When Jack seemed to calm down, she eyed him, and he nodded almost a silent apology at her.
"Well, if I wasn't the biggest idiot in the world for doing that, I have to say, I can't believe you'd even give me another chance. Does that make us both idiots-me for leaving you and then you for believing I had any redeeming qualities?" Lisa grinned at that and shrugged.
"I suppose it does," she winked. "We cleared things up the next day, and you were very pleasantly surprised to find out I'd been divorced for years. "Oh the look on your face," she shook her head, "I can almost still see it. You were horrified with how you'd acted, so that was our first date. I was abandoned at a horse auction," she burst out laughing. Finally, after sulking a bit, Jack started to laugh too, their eyes glancing at each other and the two continuing in their laughter.
Jack finally cleared his throat, "Well, I certainly hope after all that I was man enough to admit my mistake and then ask you out on a proper date as a man should do."
She smiled warmly at him over her cup of coffee and nodded, "Oh, you did. You asked me out on our second date."
"Which was?" Jack looked at her, almost afraid of the answer.
"The fishing cabin," she grinned, and seeing Jack's surprised look, she nodded, "yup, a day trip to the fishing cabin."
Jack's surprise was evident, and he tilted his head at her. She continued, first reaching to squeeze his arm, "If that doesn't tell you how much you liked me from the start, despite our age difference, I don't know what does. You didn't tell me until we were there that you hadn't brought anyone there since Lyndy. You did tell me all about her on that date, that you'd spread her ashes there, that you'd had your honeymoon there-"
"I went into all those details about my late wife on our second date?" Jack looked at her, horrified. "I can't believe I did that, and then, that you would ever want to see me again."
Lisa shrugged, shifting in her seat, "Well, just as your grand gesture of taking me to the fishing cabin showed how much you liked me, my continuing to see you and asking more and more about Lyndy was my way of showing you that I cared, that I was in this too, whatever it was, as we called it for a long time."
Jack was silent again, absorbing the details. He eyed Lisa and asked, "Did the girls know what was going on?"
"Not at first, but the town always talks," she grinned. "They knew you were taking me to the cabin, and oh," she chuckled, nodding at him, "they tried to get information and tease you about it. You were very adamant from the start that our private life was our private life; we weren't discussing dating or anything else with them. After that date, though, we did really seem to turn a corner. We started getting together for coffee and pie in town. I started coming over more regularly, and by then, Ben had moved back to Fairfield. The girls grinned and goaded us the first few times, but very quickly, we just seemed to fall into a routine, seemed to be accepted to them."
Jack nodded, "I hope they were polite to you. I wish I remembered."
"All good teasing aside," she said waving her hand. "It does seem so long ago, stopping over in the evening, sometimes for dinner with all of you, sometimes bringing dinner for all of you, sometimes to watch the hockey games late into the evening," she chuckled. Jack raised an eyebrow at Lisa.
"You watch hockey?"
"No," she swatted at him, grinning and then shrugging. "It was winter. Hockey was always on, and it was always a good excuse for me to stop by. I don't have any interest in hockey," she burst out laughing, "still don't, and you know that you watch it some, but really aren't that into it. It's not like we have favorite teams or anything. "Back then, we still had the girls lingering about. Remember, Amy was only 16, then, and," she shrugged, "it was just nice, spending evenings with you, sitting on the couch with the fire going, sipping at coffee or wine, or both," she rolled her eyes. "We both just really cherished those cold winter evenings," she paused and nodded, glancing at Jack, "I mean, watching all that hockey."
Both burst out laughing, and Jack seemed to let his mind wander, taking it all in as he nodded. Lisa continued speaking, "I used to spend a lot of the winter in France, and that year was no different. I traveled to Toronto with Ben in December and spent Christmas with Ben and my sister before going to France, and that was hard to leave you because we were really getting into a nice routine. I realized then how much I missed you, but we hadn't been dating that long. Between technology and the time change, we kept in touch, but it wasn't constant. When I left that December, we agreed to just see where things were when I came back."
"And?" Jack gestured, "I mean, I guess we decided to keep seeing each other?"
Lisa rolled her eyes, "I came back a month early," she said, laughing as she shook her head. "I missed you, a lot, and it seemed like you missed me too."
"Seemed like? Was I that quiet about a relationship with you?"
"No," she said, standing with her empty coffee cup, gesturing to Jack to hand over his cup. She leaned over his chair, teasing him, as she grinned at him, close but not right in his face, "I was only teasing about seeming like you missed me. You missed me a lot; we both did. It's moments like those I still treasure and wish you could remember. I had a knack for surprising you and coming home early. The night I surprised you and showed up at Heartland, well, it was right before dinner, so I ate with you and the girls, and then," she grinned, "we watched a lot of hockey that evening, well until midnight or so," she said, standing up and shrugging. "Good thing the girls never followed hockey because truthfully there wasn't a single game on that night." Jack burst out laughing. She pointed at him, "I'll return with more coffee."
He nodded, but gestured at her before she stepped away, "You weren't swayed by any French men while you were away?"
Lisa bit her lip and shook her head, "Not a single one. We really do have a lot in common, Jack, because in all the years I was divorced, I didn't date, no one more than a dinner or two, and I just," she paused, shaking her head. "I just wasn't into something causal, some sort of fling. I wasn't into sleeping around. That wasn't me, and as much as people say that's really not possible, it absolutely is, and I just poured myself into my work. I know it sounds crazy, but I wasn't brought up like that, and it just wasn't me, so no, there were no French men who even lit a candle to you. That is something we've discussed, that neither of us came into our relationship with all this dating baggage. You'd not dated, and as I just told you I hadn't found anyone interesting to purse anything beyond a dinner or so. You, Jack, are the only man I seriously dated after my divorce, and as I see it, without knowing it, we were just waiting for that right person-we were just waiting for each other."