Chapter 188 – Jack's Surprise
It was almost three when the four vehicles approached the farm. Even Jack was wide-eyed when he saw the huge press corp out front of the main gate. They were grateful for the police escort, otherwise they would have had trouble getting close to the gate. The state and local police were able to push the press back enough that the cars were able to get through. Once the gate was closed, the two cars that held Jack, Elizabeth, Doug, Nathan and Frank headed up to the house. The other two turned off and went to park.
"Has it really been that bad?" Jack asked.
"Since this morning." Chris said. "We are working to clear them, but having trouble."
"We had a little trouble at the hotel this morning." Jack said. "I ignored them, but they were snapping pictures like crazy. Doug, Frank, and Nathan got Elizabeth out of there."
"Good." Chris said. "I am sorry, but until we can get a handle on this, Devin has advised me not to let you go off property."
"Well." Jack said. "We have guests coming tomorrow. So, I don't need to go anywhere until Church on Sunday."
"Talk to your grandfathers, please." Chris said.
"I will." Jack said. "But I am still not ready to make a statement to the press."
"I asked you to think about it." Chris said.
"I know." Jack said. "I just don't like being in front of the camera."
"I know that." Chris said. "But you are going to have to learn, at least some."
"He is right." Elizabeth said. "I know that you don't want to do it, but please talk to your grandfather. I trust you to keep me safe, but we shouldn't be prisoners on the farm like we are."
Jack let out a frustrated breath.
"Let's talk to everyone once we get in the house." Jack said.
The group pulled up to the garage. They grabbed their bags.
"I will take these downstairs." Doug said.
"I will help him." Frank said.
Frank and Doug took the luggage downstairs. Jack, Elizabeth and Nathan went into the house through the garage. Jack was not surprised that Gran was in the kitchen baking. Lee was putting cookies into containers at the table. When Jack looked toward the front room past Lee he was surprised. It took a moment for Jack to even speak.
"When did you get that?" Jack said, pointing to the piano.
"Yesterday." Gran said. "Your grandfather thought it was time to get one, so you can play. The tuner was here this morning so it is all ready for you."
Jack let go of Elizabeth's hand and slowly walked over to the piano. He ran his hand along the mahogany and then lightly across the keys before taking a seat. Once Jack was seated, he flexed out his fingers and wiggled them, before positioning them over the keys. Jack then closed his eyes and played a couple scales before he began playing a song from memory. Gran smiled as she watched Jack. Elizabeth stood frozen listening to Jack play. Doug and Frank came up and froze as well, they turned and saw the piano. Doug stood slack-jawed as he listened to Jack playing. No one knew what Jack was playing, but it sounded amazing and the smile on Jack's face was proof enough that he was more than happy. When Jack finished, you could still see the smile on his face. Jack stood up and went to give his grandmother a hug.
"Thank you." Jack said.
"You need to thank John." Gran said. "We only agreed to have it here since you will be spending time here."
"Thank you again." Jack said. "I have wanted a real piano for a while now, but didn't want to ask."
"I am glad that you like it." Gran said. "But there are things that need to be done. We have been baking and are almost done. Abigail is going to make a run into town tomorrow and pick things up for us. She will go to Primal and the farmers market. So if there is anything else, please let me know so I can let her know."
"We will." Doug said.
"What was that song that you were playing?" Frank asked.
"I don't know." Jack said. "Just something in my head. I don't even think I could repeat it. I was just playing whatever came to me."
"Like we believe that." Doug quipped.
Jack turned his head, stuck out his tongue at Doug and then gave him a dimpled grin. Jack then turned his attention back to his grandmother. As much as he wanted to get out and check his horses, he wasn't going to be rude to his grandmother, especially since they were so late getting back. He saw that she was baking, but had taken time to speak to them, so he was hoping that he could go check on the horses.
"JP." Gran said. "An Amazon package came for you. It should be on your bed. You don't have to stay up here, I know that you are probably chomping at the bit to check the horses."
"I will look later for the Amazon package." Jack said. "We should go check the horses and maybe get some riding in."
"Go." Gran said, with a wave of her hand.
She understood that Jack needed to check his horses and make sure that everything was okay. It wasn't that he was being rude, it was just how he had always been. Besides, she knew that Rocky and Rainbow had arrived, so she knew he would be anxious to check on them as well.
"I will stay up here." Elizabeth said.
"I will too." Frank said. "I can help your grandmother."
"Supper at six thirty." Gran said.
"We will be back before that." Jack said.
With that, Jack, Doug and Nathan headed down to the stables. After the boys left, Gran turned to Frank.
"So are you staying?" Gran asked.
"I was going to ask you about that." Frank said.
"You are more than welcome to stay." Gran said. "I heard that JP wants you to be the property manager for the new property. So, you are more than welcome to stay. Just let me know if there is anything that you need."
"Thank you." Frank said.
"Right now, I am only planning to stay maybe through the weekend." Frank said. "Then I will head back to the city and wrap things up there so that I can be back for the show here and then I will probably stay."
"Very well." Gran said. "If that changes please let me know."
"I will." Frank said. "I was going to look into getting an apartment until the place was ready for me on the new property. I don't want to overstay my welcome."
"Thank you for that." Gran said. "But I think you might get an argument from JP and the others. We have plenty of room for people to stay, so there is no need to rent another place."
"As long as you are sure." Frank said.
"I am." Gran said.
"That is very nice of you to let us all stay here." Elizabeth said.
"I love having a houseful of people." Gran said. "As long as you can follow the rules and not create discord, I don't mind. I also expect you all to chip in and help."
"Of course." Frank said. "So what do you need help with?"
"Go wash your hands." Gran said. "Then I need help chopping some vegetables for platters. There is also some fruit to cut up. I am almost done with this batch of cookies. I have two large roasts for supper. There are carrots, potatoes and onions in the crock pot as well."
Frank washed his hands and grabbed an apron.
Jack, Doug and Nathan got down to the stable. The first thing that they saw was Rocky and Rainbow in isolation on the side of the stable. Jack and Doug went over to greet the horses. Nathan walked over as well.
"Who are these two?" Nathan asked.
"Rocky and Rainbow." Jack said. "I didn't expect them here until later, but glad that they are here. They look good, but I am glad that I got the other horses for the girls."
"So if the girls are going to be riding the other horses that you bought." Nathan said. "What is going to happen to these two?"
"I was thinking of still using them for lessons." Jack said. "As long as they are sound. They could also be used as trail horses. They are healthy, for fifteen. I just know that they wouldn't be able to handle the stress of jumping the higher fences that would be required if the girls continue and want to move up. However, these two are really great for teaching others to ride. I might even use one of these guys to teach Opal to ride on since they are so calm."
"That sounds like a plan." Nathan said. "I am sure that Katie is wanting to get Opal on a horse. I am also sure that Opal can't wait to get on one."
Jack didn't say anything because he didn't want to pressure Katie, but he was hoping that Opal would want to learn to jump. He thought that maybe he could start her on hunter jumper and equation soon if that was something that she would want to do. He was hoping that they had a good foal for jumping and it could be trained by the time that Opal would need it for regular jumping. Doug could see that Jack was in his head and wasn't paying attention to them.
"Jack." Doug said.
"What?" Jack said, shaking his head.
"Let's head in and check the other horses." Doug said. "It looks like we might have a break in the weather, so we should get on the horses."
When they walked into the stable, they found Opal following Carlos around.
Elizabeth took a seat at the counter while Frank donned an apron to help. Lee had taken a seat next to Elizabeth. He wanted to hear about the trip, but Elizabeth wanted to know what had gone on at the farm.
"So how were things here while we were gone?" Elizabeth asked.
"Not bad." Lee said. "We watched Opal for a while yesterday. She helped Gran, Abigail, Becky and I finish baking in the afternoon."
"That sounds fun." Elizabeth said.
"It was." Gran said. "I got a lot of baking done and had a nice visit with Abigail. I am almost caught up with the baking, but knowing that there are extra houseguests coming as well as the holiday, I wanted to get a bit more done so that hopefully that next week, it won't be as much baking."
"Well, tell me what you need." Frank said. "I know my way around the kitchen, so since I am here, I feel I should help you. I also want to say thank you for opening your house to me."
"You're welcome." Gran said. "Here, can you make another batch of the sugar cookies? They are one of the more popular with the guys for the coffee break."
"I can do that." Frank said, taking the recipe that Gran was holding out.
"So the piano was a surprise." Elizabeth said.
"That was the point." Gran said. "When John learned that JP played, he insisted on getting one so that he can play and practice here. It will also allow Doug's sisters to keep up with their practice while they are here training for jumping."
"Well," Elizabeth said. "It was still nice of you to allow it in your home."
"Thank you." Gran said. "But both James and I realize that this house will at some point be home for you and JP, so it needs to change to fit you."
"That is nice of you." Elizabeth said. "But neither Jack or I are in a hurry to push you out. Jack had talked about building us a house on the new property to be ours."
"That is nice as well." Gran said. "But just know …"
"I know." Elizabeth said. "But I hope that you are around for a long time to see your great grandchildren."
Gran smiled and went back to her cookies. Frank liked listening to how patient Gran was with Elizabeth. He wanted to say something about the conversation that they had had in Toronto, but he didn't want to embarrass Elizabeth, so he wasn't going to say anything if she didn't. Gran wanted to hear more about Toronto, but she got the feeling that there was something that Elizabeth didn't want to talk about, so she was going to let her lead the conversation for a little bit and see what came of it. She knew that Jack had gotten the horses, but she wanted to hear what Elizabeth said.
"How were the horses?" Lee asked.
"Nice." Elizabeth said. "I really didn't look at them. I got distracted by the mini cows and goats."
"The horses were great." Frank said. "Jack got all three of them. They should be here later today or tomorrow. The last that he said they were at the customs holding facility near Ottawa waiting to clear paperwork. He had transportation standing by to bring them here."
"Good." Lee said. "I know that Jack was excited about these horses. He really wants to expand the jumping side of things and as long as Doug's sisters want to do it, he will provide them with anything that they need. He was excited to find as close as possible to twin horses for them as he could. He figured it would be easier since they share everything and both will ride both horses."
"He said something about that." Frank said. "You are right, these two were as close to twin horses as you are going to get. They are half brothers and they were raised by the same mare since one rejected her colt at birth."
"So tell me more about the mini cows." Gran said. "I have seen pictures of them and heard that several places had gotten them as pets. I have never seen one in person."
Elizabeth pulled out her phone and showed them some pictures.
"I would love to have a few of them." Elizabeth said. "I looked up online about them and realized that there are mini cows that you can milk and everything."
"Well." Gran said. "Make sure to talk to JP about that."
"I will." Elizabeth said. "I doubt that it will happen anytime soon, but I thought that they were so cute, and I wouldn't mind having a few even as pets."
Lee just shook his head, because he knew that Jack would be more than willing to get them to make Elizabeth happy.