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"I better get going. I'll show myself out." Edwin turned and left the house.
Lisa sat back down at the table and took a deep breath, and sighed, "I'm glad that's over."
Jack patted Lisa's hand. "Me too. It seems like everything can continue like it has for a while. I feel better knowing that Georgie will be there. I'm not crazy about lying to people, but I do understand you want to protect your business."
"I just hope Dan doesn't find out. He'll try to take over my business if he does." Lisa knew she had some horses with Dan 17 years ago, but she wasn't sure if they were in business together at the present time.
Jack and Amy look at each other. Jack motioned for Amy to leave, and she excused herself from the room and left the house.
"What? Why did you get weird about Dan? What's going on?" Lisa demanded.
Jack took Lisa's hand in his gently. "We need to talk."
Chapter 14
Lisa pulled her hand away. "Okay, now you're scaring me. Is Dan already trying to take my business?"
Jack shook his head. "No. I can say for certain that Dan isn't trying to take your business."
"Then why did you and Amy get so weird just now?" inquired Lisa.
Jack closed his eyes and took a deep breath to prepare himself to give Lisa this news. He'd seen how she'd taken the news the first time. He didn't know how she'd take it now. "Last year, you got word that Dan passed away. He'd been sick."
Lisa's eyes filled with tears. "What? Dan died? I used to joke that he was going to live forever just to spite me. I can't believe he's gone. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"I wanted to, but you are already dealing with so much. I had plans to tell you soon. You didn't take the news well the first time, so I was waiting until you were a little more settled here before I dropped that bombshell on you." Jack hated seeing Lisa sad, but he was glad that they were finally having this conversation.
"What do you mean by saying that I didn't take it well? How did I take it?" Lisa asked.
"You were hurt, and I could tell that you were, but at first you pretended like nothing was wrong. Dan didn't tell you he was sick, so you found out he died in a text from Val Stanton. You found out he was sick from his sister."
"Val Stanton? Oh, she must have loved telling me that news."
"If I remember correctly, she didn't know that she'd broken the news. She thought you already knew. I can't really speak to any of that, though. All of my focus was on you and being there for you. It took a few days, but you finally admitted that you were upset and you wished that he'd said goodbye. I don't know if this will surprise you, but his family asked you to speak at his funeral."
"They did? Wow. You know, I always liked them. Even when things went south with Dan," Lisa said quietly. She was trying to take in everything Jack was saying, but at the same time, she wanted to go to her room and cry.
Jack patted Lisa's hand. "Hey, are you okay?"
Lisa looked up at Jack. He was being so gentle with her. She was already on the edge of losing it, and seeing Jack's kind eyes looking back at her, she couldn't hold back the tears anymore. Jack stood and pulled Lisa up into a hug. She stood there in her husband's arms and cried while he rubbed her back. Her tears were from the grief of Dan dying, but they were also because she was grieving losing her memories.
After Lisa calmed down a bit, Jack pulled back a little bit and looked at Lisa. "I'm sorry you have to go through this again. It's not fair."
Lisa nodded. "None of this is fair. I'm not just crying about Dan. I'm grieving the memories that I've lost."
The couple heard the door to the house open, and they backed away from each other. They understood what was going on, but they weren't ready for questions about their relationship or lack of a relationship.
Tim walked into the kitchen and saw Lisa and Jack looking upset in the dining room. "What's going on? Did Jack say something stupid, or did Lisa do something to hurt Jack?"
"It's nothing like that!" Jack exclaimed.
"Yeah, because that's never happened," Tim said sarcastically.
"It really isn't like that," Lisa insisted. "I just learned about something sad that happened. That's all. I'll be okay. Jack didn't do anything wrong."
"You've already got Lisa defending you even though she doesn't remember you. Or are you defending her even though she hurt you? Man, she's not gonna sleep with you just because you're nice to her. It's a miracle she fell in love with you once. I hope her memory comes back so you have a chance to get her back." Tim was being his usual filterless self.
Jack wanted to stop Tim before he said something worse. "Okay, that's enough. You're not going to come into my house and insult me or my wife."
Tim scoffed. "Wife? She's barely your friend right now."
"Okay, that's really enough. Get out. Now." Jack had approached Tim and was pointing toward the door. He was done dealing with Tim for the day, and he was so angry at him for going after them like that.
Tim put his hands up in defeat and said, "Fine. I'm going." He stormed out of the house.
Lisa was standing there completely stunned by what she'd just witnessed. She'd been warned about Tim, but she didn't see that coming. "I don't understand what just happened."
Jack walked back over to where Lisa was standing. "Tim is what happened. I swear he has no filter whatsoever. I'm so sorry that you had to witness and experience that."
"What was he even talking about? When did I hurt you?" Lisa was feeling defensive after everything Tim said.
"I don't know. You could ask Tim what he meant." Jack was ready to throttle Tim for his behavior.
"I have no interest in talking to him if he's going to be like that." Lisa wanted to leave the house, but she felt trapped. She wasn't allowed to drive and quite honestly didn't think she could, especially with her cast.
Lou walked into the house just then. "Hi guys, how's it going?" Neither one of them really said anything in response, so Lou went into the dining room to see what was going on. "What happened? Did the meeting with Edwin go badly?"
Jack looked over at Lou. "No. It was your dad. He came in here and was rude to both Lisa and me. He said things that even if he thought them, he had no business saying."
"What? What happened?" demanded Lou.
Jack sighed. "Lisa had just found out about Dan passing away, and she was upset. Your dad came in when Lisa had been crying, and I was sad for her that she had to go through that again. He didn't even give us a chance to explain, and by the time he was done talking, I don't think either one of us wanted to explain. He suggested that I'd said something stupid or that Lisa had done something to hurt me and insinuated that it was a common occurrence. When we said it wasn't what he was thinking, he got all rude and made it seem like I have ulterior motives for being nice to Lisa. I won't repeat what he said because you don't want to hear it, but let's just say it wasn't appropriate. I kicked him out. If he tries coming back for dinner tonight, I will kick him out again."
Peter came out from the bedroom where he had been working just then. "I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but from what I heard, that's a pretty accurate summation of what happened. I'm sorry, Lisa. He's usually nice to you. I'm sorry that you got rude Tim so soon. Unfortunately, I'm pretty used to it at this point. He's always hated me."
Lisa was still trying to understand the family dynamics. This was one she didn't understand at all. She didn't feel like she could question things yet. She hadn't even been there for a week yet, but she was going to ask Jack later. She felt like she could ask him. Insulting Amy and Lou's dad didn't seem like the best idea at the moment. She turned to Peter. "Why would he hate you? You seem like a very nice guy."
Peter laughed. "He hated me because I was with his daughter, and he was all protective of Lou. Then, when I was able to help the family in ways that he couldn't, he took it personally. He never treated Ty that way. He could be a little pushy and rude with him, but never the way he is with me. Tim mostly just tolerates me at this point, and I'll take it over constantly, sarcastically calling me 'the general' and insinuating that I'm evil or something."
Lou rolled her eyes and then looked at Lisa. "Please ignore my dad. He means well, but he doesn't always express it in the right way. He really just doesn't have a filter and says whatever he thinks out loud. He's gotten better since marrying Jessica, but he still needs a lot of work."
Jack laughed and said, "That's the understatement of the year. He needs more work than someone could do in a lifetime." Lou and Peter joined in and laughed too.
Lisa wasn't sure what was so funny, but she also realized that she didn't have the history that they all did with Tim. It would be something she had to come to terms with in order to continue to stay at Heartland.
Jack could see that Lisa wasn't as amused as they were and stopped laughing. Peter and Lou walked into the kitchen while joking around. Jack watched them walk away and then turned back to Lisa. "I guess you aren't amused."
"No. I don't really understand. I don't have the same relationship with Tim that you all do. It's going to take some time to deal with it."
Jack led Lisa into their room so they could have a little more privacy. Once he closed the door, he turned around to talk to Lisa. "Listen, I'm not happy with what Tim did either. I'm actually still pretty angry about it. He insinuated some things that are false. I'm not being nice to you so that you'll sleep with me. That's probably how Tim would be, but that's not me. I just want you to be happy and healthy. That has been and will continue to be my priority."
Lisa was touched by Jack's care for her. She appreciated that he made it clear that sleeping with her wasn't his goal. It didn't surprise her. He didn't seem like someone who would do that, but it was nice for her to have that confirmation. "Thank you for saying that. I didn't think you were trying to sleep with me. Even when you're affectionate with me, it never goes beyond just being sweet and supportive, and you never expect me to reciprocate."
Jack smiled a little. "If you ever wanted to reciprocate, I wouldn't complain, but I would never expect you to if you don't want to. I really try to keep it in check, but we have close to two decades of history with each other, so I forget sometimes."
Lisa tried to stifle a yawn. "Sorry. I think this afternoon was a lot for me."
"It's fine. Why don't you take a nap or at least lie down for a while. Nothing is happening here. I'll wake you up for dinner, and if we can't keep Tim away, I'll take ours to go, and we'll go somewhere else to eat."
"Thanks, Jack. I could use some time to myself. I'm not used to living in a house with lots of people." Lisa laid down on the bed, and Jack left to give her some space. After Jack closed the door, Lisa closed her eyes and tried to process her day. Meeting with Edwin, learning about Dan's death, and dealing with Tim were all a lot on their own. Somehow, fitting it all into one afternoon was just too much. Lisa began to cry silently. She didn't know how to deal with any of it and was thankful for some time on her own so she could start coming to terms with everything.
Jack went into the kitchen where Lou was starting dinner and talking to Peter. When Lou saw Jack was alone, she asked, "Where's Lisa? Is she okay?"
"Yeah, she will be. Today was just a lot, and being in a house with all these people and not a lot of privacy is hard for her sometimes. It was hard at times, even when she did have her memory." Jack sat down at the kitchen table and let out a sigh.
Lou went over and gave him a hug. "How are you doing? This isn't easy for you either."
"No, it really isn't," Jack admitted. "I don't always know how to be there for her. I try to remember what she was like when we met and treat her more like that because that's more like who I'm dealing with now." Jack stood up and announced, "I'm gonna go for a ride. Call me if you need me." The day had been hard, and he realized he wasn't the only one who needed some time on his own. Getting away from the house for a while to just ride and think was what he needed. He noticed that Tim's truck wasn't there when he went out to the barn. He hoped that Tim had figured out he wouldn't be welcome at dinner. Once he got his horse tacked up, Jack rode off and tried to clear his head.
When Jack returned from his ride, he noticed that Tim wasn't back. Feeling relieved, he took care of Blue and went back to the house. Lou informed him that when he entered the kitchen, dinner would be ready in about half an hour. She also asked him to move Lisa's laptop so she could set the table. Jack picked up the computer and quietly entered his bedroom. Lisa was asleep, so he set the computer down on the desk and then stood and watched her sleep for a minute. He was so thankful that she was still at Heartland with him, but he was fully aware that she could leave eventually. He didn't want that to happen, but he would never force her to stay. He was determined to enjoy every minute he had with her while he could. If she did get her memory back or she did fall in love with him again, he promised himself that he would never take it for granted.
Lisa began to wake up. She groaned, not only from being stiff, but also because she had a headache and felt congested from falling asleep crying. She opened her eyes and saw Jack standing there looking at her. "How long have you been standing there?"
Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Not long. I was just putting your laptop in here because it was still on the table, and it's almost dinner time. How are you doing?"
Lisa sat up and said, "I'm okay, I guess. Today has just been a lot." Her eyes started to fill with tears again. "I'm not sure I'm up to eating dinner with the family today. I'm not even hungry."
"Are you sure? Being around the family might take your mind off of things for a bit. If you absolutely don't want to come out for dinner, can I at least bring you a plate or something?" Jack asked.
"Maybe. I'm really not hungry, though. I might just have a snack later if I do get hungry." Lisa got out of bed, opened up her computer, and turned it on. There was a password, and she had no idea what it might be. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know the password for this, would you? I had a feeling there would be a password, and I wanted to get that figured out so that if I couldn't sleep in the middle of the night and want to work on stuff."
Jack shook his head. "No, but I think I have it written down somewhere. You gave me a list with all of your passwords, and whenever you change one, you update it for me. It's in the top drawer of my nightstand." He opened the drawer and found the little notebook where things were listed. "Here you go. It's all in here. When we went over our wills a couple years after we got married, the lawyer told us to do this because he had seen too many couples not have access to each other's computers, phones, and accounts and it made everything so much more difficult to take care of when something happened to one spouse. I'm sure he meant death or a nursing home and not amnesia, but I'm glad he suggested it.
Lisa found the password for her laptop and entered it. "Thank you. Hopefully, how I do business hasn't changed that much, and I'll be able to figure out what I've been doing lately. I don't really feel like dealing with this tonight, but I wanted to make sure that I could use it when I'm ready." She decided to lie back down in bed and rest some more. Her head was killing her, and she just wanted to be alone for the time being.
Jack left Lisa to be alone. He wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing, but he knew that if she knew he was always there for her. He'd made that abundantly clear over the last six days. He had to trust that she knew that and let her deal with things in her own way. He couldn't fix everything no matter how much he wanted to. He had dinner with Lou, Peter, Amy, and Lyndy. Katie was working a shift at Maggie's, and Tim and Jessica didn't show.
A little while after dinner, Lisa made an appearance in the living room. She needed to go to the bathroom, and she was starting to get a little hungry. It was obvious that she'd been crying, but no one made any comment about it. They were a little awkward, but they just tried to welcome her to join them as if nothing was going on. She appreciated it.
Peter stood up and said he needed to go pick Katie up from work. Jack signaled for him to wait. "I could go get her. It might be nice to go for a drive. Lisa? Do you want to come with me?
Lisa thought getting out of the house seemed like a good idea. "Sure. That actually sounds nice. I just need help getting my shoes on."
Jack smiled. "Of course." He turned to Peter and Lou. "We'll be back with Katie in a little bit."
Jack and Lisa left to go pick up Katie. Lisa enjoyed getting out of the house for a bit. She had been feeling a little trapped at Heartland. Spending time with Jack and with Katie sounded nice. They didn't say much on the drive to Maggie's. It wasn't an awkward silence. Neither one of them had really felt like talking and enjoyed the silence. Katie was just walking out when they pulled up. She had a huge container of fries and chicken strips and a few pieces of pie. Jack had a feeling that Lou had clued Katie in on the fact that Lisa hadn't had dinner. He knew it was killing Lou to not say more, but he was thankful she was keeping her opinions to herself.
As they were pulling out of Maggie's, Jack asked, "Hey Katie, would you have any interest in getting some ice cream? How about you, Lisa"
Katie's faxe lit up. "That sounds so good, GG. I haven't gotten ice cream with you and Lisa in forever."
"Ice cream always sounds good to me. Let's go," said Lisa.
The three of them ordered a scoop of their favorite flavor and sat down outside to eat it. Katie chatted away about her day at school and her evening at work.
Lisa devoured her ice cream. When Jack noticed, his eyebrows went up in surprise. Lisa just shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I was a little hungrier than I realized."
"I have way more fries and chicken strips than I could or should eat. Would you like some, Lisa?" asked Katie.
Lisa laughed. "Your mom told you I didn't have dinner, didn't she?"
Katie tried to pretend she didn't know what Lisa was talking about but eventually gave in after Lisa looked doubtful. "Okay, fine. My mom told me to get you something to eat. I figured this would be easy to eat one-handed."
Lisa smiled at Katie. "Thanks, honey. You're a sweet kid. I'd love some more food. I think this ice cream just jump-started my appetite."
Katie went to the car and got the food and handed the box to Lisa so she could start eating before the fries got too cold. Once Katie and Jack were done with their ice cream, they all got back into the Porsche to head home.
Lisa enjoyed listening to Katie's stories and getting to know her. She was such a sweet, thoughtful kid, and Lisa felt proud that she was her godmother and great-grandmother. Lisa ate over half of the fries and chicken strips on the way home. When they arrived back at the house, she handed the box to Katie. "Can you carry this in for me? I need my one good arm to catch me in case I fall."
Katie took the box and picked up the pieces of pie and went into the house while Jack helped Lisa get out of the car and up the stairs to the house. When they got to the door, she stopped and looked up at Jack. "Thanks for suggesting this. It was nice to get out. The ice cream was delicious. Even the fries and chicken strips that were getting cold tasted good to me. I didn't know I was that hungry."
Jack smiled down at Lisa. "I thought you'd like to get out. I was just planning to use the ice cream to get some food in you, but Lou was Lou and took care of you even more."
"Well, thanks for thinking about me. I don't want you to think that I was pushing you away today. I just really needed time on my own to process everything." Lisa didn't know how she was going to deal with everything. She realized that no one was meant to take in this much information about their life at once. She almost felt like she'd time traveled.
Jack knew his wife better than she thought. He knew she needed a little time to process things on her own. It was just when she didn't tell him at all that he got worried. "We all process things in our own way. I went for a ride earlier to think and clear my head."
Lisa was a little jealous of Jack at that moment. "Going on a ride would be so nice. I can't wait to get this cast off. I'm so tired of it already, and I have weeks left. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something. I can't keep depending on the family to help me bathe all the time. I was thinking about hiring someone to come and help me."
"You know I'd help you if you'd let me, but I get why you aren't comfortable with that. You can do whatever you want, though. This is your home, too. You don't need my permission. I'm not that kind of husband. We are willing to help you out here, but if you want to hire someone, I'll support you." Jack knew that the truth was he probably wouldn't be crazy about it, but he wanted Lisa to be comfortable with him.
"Okay, I'll call someone first thing on Monday morning to come and help," said Lisa.
As they were about to go inside, Tim stopped them. "Hey, can I talk to you?"
To be continued