Chapter 22

Jack was out in the barn doing chores early in the morning when Amy joined him. She was planning to go to town in the morning and then to Fairfield to work with some of Lisa's horses so she was getting her chores done early. As they were walking out to the barn, Amy asked, "How are you and Lisa doing? I noticed that you disappeared after dinner."

Jack stopped and thought for a moment. "We're doing okay. It's been hard, but we're dealing with things and talking them through. That's what we did after dinner. I would appreciate it if you and Lou could take an interest in Lisa a little more. I know this is a tired conversation at this point because I've gotten on you two in the past about treating her better and taking an interest in her life. She needs it even more now. I can't be the only person who takes care of her and helps her. It puts too much pressure on us."

The two started walking toward the barn again. "I'm sorry, Grandpa. I will. You two were always just such a team, and I guess I forget that you aren't now."

"Lisa isn't just my family. She's your family too. You may not call her grandma, but she considered you and Lou her granddaughters and herself as your grandma. Even now, with amnesia, she has commented that she never imagined that she'd be a grandma and a great grandma, but I think she loves the idea. I know she did before the accident. She never had children, so you guys are a chance for her to have offspring to care for." Jack was always proud of how Lisa took on caring for family and didn't let blood relations define who was family for her.

"I never thought about it like that. She's just been your wife. I know she has introduced me to people as her granddaughter, but I've never felt comfortable calling her my grandma," Amy admitted.

"Lisa knows that. Well, she did anyway, but I need you to look at her as more than just my wife. She loved you all so much before the accident, and I think she's starting to love you all again." Jack needed his family to understand how much Lisa cared about them.

"What about you? Is she starting to love you too?" asked Amy.

He wished he knew. "You know, I have no idea about that. I don't think so. She kind of freaked out yesterday after I brought her over to the dude ranch and showed her where we got married. I think she's feeling lonely because she feels like everyone here is on my side and just wants us to get back together. I told her that there weren't any sides here, but if there were, I'm always on her side."

"Aw, Grandpa. You're being so good to Lisa. I hope she does fall in love with you again even if she doesn't get her memory back."

"I hope that too, Amy, but the pressure needs to be taken off of Lisa. It might be good that we're moving the cattle tomorrow and Saturday. I think she needs a break from me." Both Amy and Jack went off to get their work done.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Lou was making breakfast and was getting Katie and Lyndy up for school. Lisa woke up to Lou calling upstairs for Katie to get up. Lisa looked at her phone and saw it was only a little after 6. She didn't want to get up yet so she tried to go back to sleep. The hustle and bustle of getting the girls up and ready for school proved to be too loud and Lisa finally gave up and got up.

She sat on the side of the bed for a moment and ran a hand through her hair. The conversation she had with Jack the night before came to her mind. She didn't know if she overreacted or if she just got overwhelmed. She reminded herself that Jack was her husband and that he had a right to want to be back with her. He probably wasn't able to control his feelings about everything any more than she could. She realized that she was really only taking Jack's feelings into consideration as far as how they impacted her. It occurred to her that she might not be thinking enough about how this was impacting him. He loved her and was willing to do anything for her. He was squashing his own desires to make her more comfortable and she felt a little guilty about that. She was starting to wonder if she was developing feelings for Jack, but she was scared to let her mind go there. She wasn't sure and this wasn't like a normal relationship where people spend time together and figure out if they want to be more than friends. She had already been more than friends with Jack and she didn't want to lead him on and then decide in the future that she didn't want to restart their romantic relationship.

Realizing that she had gotten lost in thought, Lisa shook herself out of it and got up to get some coffee. She hoped that helped her to wake up a bit. Walking out to the kitchen, Lyndy and Katie were sitting at the table eating breakfast. They both greeted her cheerfully. "Hi, girls. How's it going this morning?"

"I'm so tired. I stayed up too late working on a paper for school," said Katie. "I had it done early, but then I decided to change part of it. I'm glad that it's almost the weekend!"

"I'm going to Rebecca's house after school tomorrow. We're going to have a sleepover!" Lyndy was practically bouncing out of her chair with excitement.

Lyndy's excitement over her upcoming sleepover made Lisa chuckle at the adorable little girl before she turned and got her cup of coffee.

Lou walked into the kitchen, "Oh! Hi, Lisa! How are you feeling today?"

"I'm okay. I woke up earlier than I planned, and I couldn't go back to sleep. Lots of coffee is in order." Lisa held up the coffee pot before putting it back.

"I know that feeling. I wanted to ask how Georgie has been doing at work?" Lou looked expectantly at Lisa.

"She's been great. I'm very impressed by her. It has been so nice to have someone on site who can take care of some of the administrative stuff who knows what's going on with me. I'm going to be sad when she has to go back to Florida." Lisa hoped that reassured Lou about Georgie. She knew Lou tended to worry.

"It's been nice to have her so close to home again. I didn't realize how much I missed her."

"I'm glad that she is getting to spend her free time with you and Katie. I know she has missed you all as well." Lisa took her cup of coffee and went into her bedroom. She pulled out the get well card and started to study all the photos and names. There were a few she wasn't sure how to pronounce. She would have to talk to Georgie about that the next time she was at Heartland. Seeing Fairfield in the background of the photos and seeing the horses made Lisa miss her stables. It was not only her childhood home, but it was where she really stood on her own two feet after her divorce from Dan. It had a lot of significance for her. She still couldn't believe that she had moved out and into Heartland, but she didn't expect to be married again. After her divorce from Dan, she had thrown herself into her work and was very happy and successful. She wishes she could remember meeting Jack and really everyone at Heartland. It's clear that this family became the most important part of her life, and she just wishes that she could remember it.Lisa was lost in thought when Jack knocked on the door. She didn't hear anything until Jack opened the door. She jumped a little in surprise. "It's a good thing I wasn't holding my coffee just now."

Jack walked fully into the room. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I was just checking on you to see how you were doing today."

"I'm doing okay. I was just kind of lost in thought just now," said Lisa.

"What were you thinking about?" asked Jack.

"I was just wishing that I could remember things like dating and marrying you, deciding to move out of Fairfield into Heartland, and just everything. I wish that I could remember everything." Lisa disliked not knowing things.

"I wish you could remember those things too, but have patience. It has been less than two weeks since the accident. You have an appointment with the neurologist next week, right? We can talk to them about all of this then." Jack hoped that the neurologist would have answers for them.

"You're right. I'm just feeling impatient and wondering if I'll ever get my memory back. It's hard enough dealing with my arm, but also, dealing with my brain not working is even more frustrating. I just want to get my memory back and be able to get back to my life, however that looked, and move on from this."

Jack didn't know how to deal with this. Of course, Lisa wanted her memory back so that she could get back to work and all of that, but it seemed like she wasn't against being in a romantic relationship with him. As much as she fought it and said she wasn't ready, she seemed ready to get back to her old life. It made him wonder what she was afraid of with pursuing a relationship with him now. He didn't want to push her, but it was a discussion that they were going to need to have eventually. "Well, you know that I'm here to help you with whatever you need."

"I know. I appreciate it. Like I said, I'm just feeling impatient." Lisa was starting to feel stir crazy and she just needed to see some new scenery.

"Would you like to go for a drive tonight after dinner?" Jack offered. "I know you're probably getting stir crazy."

Lisa's jaw dropped. "How did you know? I literally just had that thought. I am getting stir crazy. I need to see some different scenery."

Jack chuckled. "I've known you for over 17 years. Of course I know what's going on with you."

"Do you know everything?" Lisa was nervous that he knew she was starting to wonder about having feelings for him and her fears about that.

"I don't know everything, but I do know quite a bit. You've been my wife for over 10 years. I've lived with you for 6 of those years. There isn't much that I don't know at this point." Jack cringed inwardly. He was trying to not scare Lisa, but sometimes he couldn't stop himself from saying what was on his mind.

"Okay, let's go for a drive today, but can we go earlier? It's dark after dinner so I won't be able to see anything." Lisa enjoyed seeing the scenery and seeing what was the same or different.

"Sure. We could go out for dinner, but I know you are worried about running into people you know but don't remember. What if we go to another town? I'm sure we could find something." Jack wanted to make Lisa happy. So much of her life was limited to the ranch house since she couldn't drive and was avoiding people until she could get a handle on things or she got her memory back.

"That sounds good. I just need to get out of the house and away from Heartland for a little while. Thanks for trying to help me with that." Lisa felt like it might be a date, but she was too desperate to get out of the house to care.

When Jack came back to the house for lunch, Lisa was sitting at the table eating a sandwich. She smiled at him and said, "I made you a sandwich when I saw you come back to the barn."

"Thanks. You didn't have to do that. I could have made it." Jack did love it when Lisa took care of him, but he felt awkward about it without a romantic relationship.

"It was no trouble. It's nice to do things without help even though it takes me twice as long," Lisa said, sounding annoyed and rolling her eyes.

"Well, I appreciate it, but don't feel like you have to do that for me all the time. I know you like to take care of people, but I am perfectly capable of making my own sandwich."

"I keep forgetting how well you know me. I do like to take care of people. It's been frustrating that I can't do much and won't be able to for a while." Lisa wanted to do what she could to help out around the house. Everyone had done so much to help her, and she wanted to repay their kindness.

Jack ate his sandwich very quickly and got ready to go back out to work. Lisa's eyes went wide when she realized how fast he'd eaten. "The food wasn't going to escape off your plate."

"I know. I just have a lot of work to get done before we move cattle tomorrow." Jack got up and washed his plate before heading back outside.

Lisa didn't have much work to do and was feeling extra tired after waking up so early. She decided to lie down and take a nap so she wasn't falling asleep in her dinner with Jack later.

Jack finished his work and came back to the house. He was filthy and sweaty, so he wanted to get a shower and change his clothes before he took Lisa to dinner. It was very quiet in the house, so he wondered if Lisa was asleep. His suspicions were confirmed when he went into the bedroom to get clean clothes. He wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep, but he decided that he would wait until after his shower to wake her up. They had plenty of time to get ready to go.

Jack hadn't tried to be super quiet while he got his stuff for his shower because he knew that he was going to wake Lisa up soon. The noise woke Lisa up. She had slept harder and longer than she'd intended. As she woke up, she realized that she was sweaty, her mouth was dry, and she had a splitting headache. She got up and got a glass of water and took some ibuprofen. She knew that she was going to have to get cleaned up and change her clothes since the ones she was wearing were wrinkled and sweaty. She sat down on the couch while she waited for Jack to get out of the shower and sipped on her water.

When Jack came out of the bathroom, he was surprised to see Lisa up. Her face was red and had lines on one side from the pillow, and her hair was messy. He also thought she looked adorable. "Hey, how are you doing? I was going to wake you up after I got out of the shower."

"Not great. I napped for way too long. It was one of those naps where you feel like you've gone to another dimension and wake up feeling sweaty and out of sorts. I had to take some ibuprofen and drink some water because I have a terrible headache. I must look like a mess, too." Lisa gestured to her messy hair and tried to smooth it down.

"Maybe a little bit of a mess, but still cute." Jack smirked, remembering their previous conversation.

Lisa rolled her eyes. "I am not cute."

Jack looked amused. "We'll just have to agree to disagree here."

"Fine. I'm going to go get cleaned up. I'd kind of like to wash my hair, but I think I'll wait until tonight." Lisa got up from the couch and went to get cleaned up.

About an hour later, the two were sitting in Lisa's Porsche, ready to go to dinner. Lisa had her phone out, and she was looking for restaurants in the area they were looking to go to. "We don't have a lot of options. It's either a bar, a fast food place, or something kind of fancy. I'm okay with fast food. A burger and some ice cream sound pretty good to me."

Jack pulled out of the parking space and started heading up the drive. "I think I know a place that fits that description."

"Yeah? Are you going to tell me where?" Lisa asked.

"It's nothing special." Jack answered. "It's just a place we've been to before when we went out for a drive once. They have really good burgers and milkshakes."

Lisa was quiet as they drove to the restaurant. Her head was still killing her, and she was wondering if they should have still gone out to dinner. Despite the pain, she was happy to be getting away from the house for a little while.

Jack noticed Lisa was kind of quiet, but he figured she still had a headache, so he didn't say much. Without realizing it, he started humming a song as he drove.

Lisa looked over at Jack when he started humming. She hadn't heard him sing before and thought he had a nice voice. She was surprised at how much the singing didn't bother her headache. It was almost comforting to her. She wondered if this was a song he had sung around her before and if it had any special meaning.

Jack noticed Lisa looking at him and realized he'd been humming. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was humming. I was trying to be quiet because it seemed like you still had a headache."

"I do, but strangely, the humming didn't bother me at all. It was kind of comforting. It made me wonder if the song had any sort of meaning for us in the past." Lisa was very curious about the song and why it hadn't bothered her headache.

Feeling a little bit of hope that Lisa's memories were trying to get through, Jack smiled at Lisa and then turned back to look at the road. "Yes. It's called 'The Bridge.' My first wife, Lyndy, wrote it. I found it in a guitar case when Lou was cleaning out Marion's room to make it into a nursery for Katie. You and I had an argument around that time about me going to France. I was supposed to be getting a plane ticket, but I kept putting it off. You had just about had it with me, and we weren't really speaking. There was a wedding for Val's daughter, Ashley, and my stable hand, Caleb. Amy and I ended up singing that song at the wedding. Amy had announced it as a song that was written by her grandma. After the wedding, you commented that it was a beautiful song and asked if I missed Lyndy. I admitted that I did sometimes, but that I loved you all the time. I didn't go to France then, but I went about a year later."

"Wow. Can you sing me the song? I'd like to hear the words." Lisa was caught up in the story, and she wanted to know more.

"Okay. I hope that I can remember all the words. I haven't sung it in a while." Jack took a deep breath and began singing.

Lisa sat and listened to Jack sing this song that she knew had special meaning to both of them before. The words were beautiful, and tears began to form in her eyes. She felt his love for her pour through the lyrics of the song. She didn't think she was ready for any sort of relationship with Jack, but the song was making her question that.

Jack finished singing the song right before they got to the restaurant. Really, calling it a restaurant was generous. It was a dairy bar that also sold burgers, fries, and hot dogs, but they had enjoyed it before, and he figured they weren't likely to run into anyone they knew there. He looked over at Lisa, and she was wiping tears from her eyes. He pulled into a spot toward the back of the shop and reached over to pat Lisa's knee. She looked up at him, and he found himself leaning over to kiss her. He stopped short when he realized what he was doing, but Lisa wasn't pulling away, so he closed the distance and pressed a short yet gentle kiss onto her lips. He wanted to kiss her more deeply, but he knew he was pushing his luck as it was. He pulled back and looked at Lisa. She looked surprised, but also happy. "I'm sorry if that was too much. I missed kissing you."

"It's okay. Don't get in the habit of it just yet. I think I got caught up in the lyrics of the song and wondered what our relationship must have been like. I guess I was curious what it was like to kiss you." Lisa was panicking a little on the inside. Although she had enjoyed the kiss, she didn't know how to feel about anything.

"I promise that I won't make a habit of it unless you give me the go-ahead. I think I was curious, too. I wondered if it would be the same or not." Jack didn't know what to think.

"Was it the same?" Lisa wasn't sure what answer she wanted.

"No, but I don't think I'm the same. I haven't been nervous about kissing you in a very long time." Jack blushed a little at that.

"How about we get some food?" Lisa suggested. "It might take our minds off of kissing or romantic songs."

"Good idea. Let's go get some food." Jack hopped out of the Porsche and moved quickly to Lisa's side to help her out of the car. They walked over to the window and ordered burgers, fries, and milkshakes. After their food came out, they sat down at one of the picnic tables that was out in front of the dairy bar and ate their food.

Lisa felt her headache finally begin to subside as she ate her dinner. The food was delicious and really hit the spot for her. They both focused on eating their food instead of talking. Neither one knew what to say.

As they were finishing up their food, they heard a man's voice say, "Jack Bartlett? Is that you?"

They turned to look, and there was an elderly cowboy standing there next to the table. Jack stood up when he recognized the man. "Joseph Miller?"

"Sure is. How have you been? I can't remember the last time I saw you. It must have been 30 years ago." He turned to look at Lisa. "I don't think I've met you before. Are you his daughter? Marion, was it?"

Lisa blushed, and Jack quickly stepped in to correct the man. "No, that's not Marion. Marion passed about 17 years ago. This is my life, Lisa Stillman. We met shortly after Marion passed through my granddaughter, Amy."

Jospeh looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry, young lady. I didn't mean to make things awkward here." He turned to address Jack. "Last I'd heard, you were still with Lyndy."

"Lyndy passed a while before I met Lisa. I had no intention of getting married again, but then I met her, and well, I changed my mind." Jack looked back at Lisa and smiled at her. She looked a little unsure about how to act, so she stayed sitting down.

Joseph noticed Lisa's arm in the cast and the sling, and his eyes got wide. "Oh my, what happened to your arm?"

Lisa realized she would need to stand up. Jack walked over to help her out of the bench of the picnic table. She turned to look at the older man. "We got into an accident in Jack's truck almost two weeks ago. Thankfully, Jack came out relatively unscathed, but the passenger side of the truck hit a tree. I'll be in this cast for quite a while, but Jack has been taking good care of me."

Ever thankful for Lisa's ability to make people feel comfortable, Jack stood and smiled proudly as Lisa spoke. Turning back to address Joseph, he said, "How could I not? I feel awful that I didn't get hurt and my beautiful wife did."

Lisa laughed and bumped her shoulder against Jack's bicep. "It's not like you did it on purpose. If one of us was going to get hurt, it's probably better that it was me. I'm younger and I don't have to ride horses for my job."

"What do you do for work, Lisa?" asked Joseph.

"I own Fairfield Stables in Hudson. It's a horse breeding operation. I mostly focus on race horses, but I've been expanding to hunter jumpers as well." Lisa was proud of her successful business.

Jospeh looked very surprised. "Wow, so you're one of those fancy horse people. How on earth did you end up with an old cowboy like Jack?"

Jack jumped in to tell the story because he wasn't sure how much Lisa remembered. "Hey, I wasn't as old 17 years ago. My granddaughter, Amy, worked with one of her horses. Then her nephew stayed with us for a little while, and we got to know each other better. Lisa asked me to come with her to look at horses at an auction. That's a whole story for another time, but after that, we started dating. Other than a brief period when I was being an idiot, we've been together ever since."

Lisa put her arm around Jack to sell it. She looked up at him and smiled. She could tell he knew what she was doing and went with it. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her a little closer. Lisa was ready to be done talking to this man before he started asking too many questions. She looked up at Jack and said, "You know, we should get back home." She looked over at Joseph and said, "It was lovely meeting you, but I'm getting tired, and Jack is moving cattle tomorrow."

"Oh, sure. Don't let me keep you. It was nice meeting you too. Jack, it was great to see you again." Joseph and Jack shook hands.

Jack and Lisa made their way back to the Porsche. Once they got inside, they chuckled at how that had gone. "It's a good thing that it was someone you know and not someone that I know. It could have been bad."

"Yeah, I had that thought as well. Let's head home. I do have a long day ahead of me tomorrow." Jack pulled the suv out of its parking spot and drove home.

On the drive home, Lisa knew she needed to bring up the kiss, but she didn't know how, so she just didn't mention it. They talked about the weather and the food they had for dinner. The kiss was an elephant in the room, but they just ignored it.

To be continued

Author's Note: I didn't expect to have another chapter done so soon. I'm on vacation and got caught up enough to have two chapters ahead of chapter 21 done (I'm always at least two chapters ahead of what I've posted), but I've had some free time and inspiration while away from home so I've been writing a ton. It's harder to edit on my phone so hopefully I haven't missed anything or made any huge errors.