Chapter 228 – Jack Checks on Midnight's Run
Twenty-five minutes later they were sitting down to a lovely lunch. Once everyone was seated, Gran looked at Father Mark.
"Lets pray." Father Mark said. "In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Heavenly Father, we come to You on this beautiful day that You gave us. Please bless our conversations and help us to remember to be kind to others. Watch over us as we ride or play in the pool later. Bless the time we will spend in worship. Finally we ask that You bless this food to our bodies and the hands that made it. Amen. In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen."
"Amen." Echoed around the table.
Gran and Trish picked up platters and started passing food around the table. Overall they had a nice leisurely lunch. Conversation centralized around the coming week and the two shows. Many of the adults sitting around the table knew that there were several heavy topics that still needed to be discussed, but for the sake of the children at the table, they chose not to speak of them around the table. It was easier to focus on the upcoming holiday and the two shows. The girls were excited to jump at the Coal Creek show, but also to watch their brother and uncles at the Sugar Creek show. They already viewed Nathan as an uncle. They knew about the schooling show at the end of the month at Schenectady and in Cooperstown the weekend after. The girls also knew that they could potentially jump at Cooperstown. They were hoping to talk Jack into the shows. Jack wouldn't commit, but agreed to talk about it more the following week.
By the time they were done eating and visiting, Cody had fallen asleep again. This time it was in Jack's arms. The girls got permission to go swimming after the table was cleared, food put away and dishes done. Maddie, Missy and Becky started on cleaning up. Peter was torn as to what to do. Part of him wanted to go swimming, but the other part of him wanted to hang out with Frank, Nathan and the guys. Either way, he started helping clear the table before he got in trouble.
"Can Father Mark and I be excused?" Jack asked. "I want to go check on Midnight's Run and thought Father Mark and I could talk."
"Yes, you may be excused." Gran said.
"Either give Cody to me or lay him on the couch." Bill said.
"I will put him on the couch." Jack said. "Also there are horses if anyone wants to go for a ride. I had some trail horses brought over and are in the paddock behind the stable."
"Thank you." Doug said. "Go on, I know that you have been worried about Midnight's Run. We got this. We will have our phones if you want to find us."
"Thank you." Jack said.
Father Mark and Jack cleared their plates and then took a side by side to go check on Midnight's Run.
… … … …
After Jack and Father Mark left, the kids continued to work to clear the table.
"Doug, Lee." Gran said. "What are your plans for this afternoon? Nathan, Frank. What about you?"
"I don't know about anyone else." Frank said. "But I would like to go for a ride. Also Manny invited me over to watch some of the races if I wanted. But if you want me to stay closer to the house, I have no problem with that. Otherwise, I hadn't made plans. I know that Jack talked about a few different options last night."
"You are free to do whatever." Gran said. "Manny has a little place over by the stables where he hangs out to watch the races on Sunday."
"He sent me directions." Frank said.
"Just let us know if you leave the property so we don't worry." John said.
"Also there will be music probably starting around four or five." Gran said.
"Noted." Frank said.
"Boys?" Gran asked.
"I was hoping to work a little with the new horses." Doug said. "I know Jack was hoping they would be ready for next week. I know it is Sunday, but with the holiday this week and all the other stuff going on, I thought it might be better to just keep busy. I would rather work with the horses at this point. Even if he hasn't shared everything, I know that Jack is going through a lot and I thought that getting the horses ready and making sure everything else is done is the best course of action."
"I wouldn't mind helping with that." Nathan said.
"I will do the video." Lee said.
"Just be aware of others around you." James said. "I am sure if you are working with the new horses, you might draw a crowd. I am thinking of a certain small child."
"Of course." Nathan said.
"Ladies?" Gran asked, looking at Caitlin and Elizabeth.
They looked at each other and both shrugged their shoulders.
"Us ladies are going to sit out here and visit." Gran said. "That way we can keep an eye on the girls in the pool."
"Maybe we can watch the guys for a bit." Caitlin said. "Then who knows, maybe a ride. If we do, I will keep to the internal trails."
"That sounds good." Elizabeth said. "I also have an idea, but we can talk about that later."
"Very good." Gran said. "John, what about you?"
"Us guys are also going to go back to work in the office." John said. "We are working on something that is time sensitive, so the more that we are able to do the better. Peter and Andrew are probably coming back to help as well."
"Please come get us when the guys start the music." Bill said. "We will find a good stopping point and come out at that point. I promised Jack that I would play a couple of songs with them today."
"Understood." Gran said. "Feel free to take a carafe of coffee with you."
"Thank you." John said.
"Peter." Abigail said. "What did you want to do?"
"Can I go down and watch the horses?" Peter asked.
"Yes." Abigail said. "You are free to go in the pool if you want as well."
"I know." Peter said.
Seeing Peter's dilemma, Doug jumped in.
"Hey, Pete." Doug said. "We will probably jump in the pool after working with the horses. It will be nice to cool off a bit."
Peter smiled. Abigail liked that Doug, Lee and Jack included Peter even if he was younger.
"Then we should probably change into some riding clothes and head down." Nathan said.
"Let us know if you need anything." Gran said.
"We will." Doug said, getting up.
… … … …
As Father Mark drove the side by side, he wondered how Jack was doing. He had several questions he wanted to ask, but wasn't sure where to start. Fortunately, Jack beat him to it.
"There is so much I want to talk about." Jack said. "But I don't know where to start. I feel like what was left of my world has spun out of control. Nothing makes sense. My emotions are all over the place. I try to focus, but I can't and then I can't even seem to control my body."
"Whoa." Father Mark said. "Slow down. Tell me what happened with Midnight's Run. One thing at a time."
Jack quickly summed up what happened with Midnight's Run and how worried he was.
"Alright." Father Mark said. "I can see how you are worried about the horse and what is going to happen. I will help you with the track officials if I can. I also think reviewing the video from that day would be helpful. It might show something that people might have missed."
"I forgot about the video." Jack said. "I was thinking about so many other things."
"I am sure Manny or someone else already saved it." Father Mark said. "I get you are worried about the horse, but accidents happen and until you have more information there is no point in worrying. I know that you own Midnight's Run, but let the trainers, jockeys and hands do their jobs. If and when they need your help, they will ask. That said, I think seeing the horse will help you see that everything is being done.
I think that there is more to your feeling out of control. I get that it hasn't been an easy weekend. With Rosemary, Devin, the press conference and then Jenna today. However, Rosemary is gone now. There is nothing you can do about what Devin told you. You need to come to terms with it. From what I understand, you started it and pushed for the information even when Devin wasn't sure he should tell you. Now that you know, you need to deal with it. Nothing is going to change the past. You need to find a way to live in the present while looking to the future."
"You are right." Jack said. "I pushed Devin to tell me even when he cautioned me. I thought knowing what Ma was hiding would make things easier, but all it did was complicate matters more."
"So talk to me some more about what else is going on." Father Mark said.
Jack looked around and saw they were almost to the thoroughbred stable.
"I don't think we have enough time to get into it." Jack said. "But I will say, I feel like I am thirteen again at times and it is getting annoying. It is affecting my relationship with Elizabeth and I can't explain it to her. Yet at the same time, she doesn't understand why I have set the boundaries I have."
Before Father Mark could question Jack more about what that meant, Jack jumped from the side by side and walked purposely toward the stable. Father Mark sat there for a moment and then he realized he might understand what Jack was talking about. He closed his eyes, shook his head and prayed for wisdom. He knew that he was going to have to sit down and have an uncomfortable talk with both Jack and Elizabeth. He thought about it for a moment and wondered if it wouldn't be better to have Bill and Abigail have that conversation with them, but he wasn't sure he could ask them. He would have to think about it a little bit more.
… … … …
The guys got up and headed down to change into clothes to work with horses. Caitlin and Elizabeth sat at the table until the guys came back up. James, John and Bill headed back to the office. The girls went to change into swimwear. Peter also went to change into his casual clothes that they had brought.
Once everyone had started to leave, Gran looked at Caitlin and Elizabeth.
"Elizabeth, Caitlin." Gran said. "You are more than welcome to stay up here and visit with us. You can go watch the guys or you can go for a ride. If you wanted to hang out and just watch TV, I wouldn't mind. My point is that I want you to feel free to do what you want to do. I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything just because someone else is doing something."
"I understand." Elizabeth said. "I didn't want to say anything with everyone here, but what I would like to do is talk to you ladies, Caitlin included about my wedding. If Jack and I get married as we want and have tentatively planned with Father Mark, then we don't have a lot of time to get everything done. I was looking last night before bed and I think I found my dress. I am a sample size, so it should be easy to order."
"So when do you and Jack want to get married?" Gran asked.
"We talked about and as long as we can meet Father Mark's conditions." Elizabeth said. "We have reserved the church for August seventeenth. Both Jack and I want a small family wedding. Only those people who are important to us will be there. Father Mark suggested that we maybe get a tent and have a reception here in the backyard."
Gran sat there stunned for a moment. Trish reached her hand over and put it on Gran's arm.
"Are you okay with this?" Trish asked.
Gran took a deep breath.
"Yes." Gran said. "As long as Father Mark feels you are ready, I won't object. So it looks like we have some planning to do. Elizabeth, go get your laptop. I will grab mine as well as my tablet."
"I will grab my Ipad and the girls as well." Trish said. "That way we can all have one to look at. I think our afternoon will be busy planning."
"Thank you." Elizabeth said. "I haven't told Jack that I was going to say anything, but I know he won't mind. We didn't want to say anything in front of Rosemary and we really just want to keep it to a minimum of people until we have to at this point."
"I understand." Abigail said. "We won't say anything, but we have just over six weeks to plan this wedding, so we need to get going."
"I agree." Trish said. "Let's get the computers and tablets then meet back in a few minutes. Also if you want to change into something more comfortable, please do that at this time as well."
"I am good." Caitlin said.
"Then if you watch Cody for a moment." Abigail said. "I think I will put some jeans on and get out of this dress."
"Come up to my room Abigail." Trish said. "I am going to run to get the girls Ipads first."
The ladies all got up to go change and grab their computer/tablet. Elizabeth was so excited. She was glad that she had talked to Jack a little bit about what he wanted and they were on the same page. She just hoped that he wasn't mad that she said something. She realized that just over six weeks wasn't a long time to plan a wedding. She was hoping that they would be able to get everything that they wanted. It wasn't going to be a huge wedding so it shouldn't be that hard, Elizabeth thought.
… … … …
Jack walked into the stable and right up to the hand that was sitting near Midnight's stall.
"How is he doing?" Jack asked.
"Better." The hand said. "I still think he has a bit of the tranquilizer in him. He has drunk some, but not really interested in the hay."
"Midnight has always been more of a grass and grain horse." Jack said.
Jack pulled a mint out of his pocket and crinkled the wrapper. It took a moment for Midnight to respond, but his ears did flick forward. Jack stepped closer, but held the mint in his closed hand for a moment. Finally reaching for Midnight's muzzle, he let him have the mint.
"You, going to be a good boy and let me check you?" Jack asked the horse.
Midnight just nudged Jack's hand looking for another mint.
"Only if you are good and let me check you." Jack said.
Midnight stomped his hoof.
"Nooo." Jack said, continuing to rub Midnight's muzzle.
Jack felt Midnight relax a little under his hand so he moved to open the stall.
"Back, boy." Jack said.
Midnight took a step back so Jack could enter the stall.
"Father Mark." Jack said. "Can you come stand on the outside of the stall? I want you to hold his halter for a moment."
"Let me grab a lead rope for you." The hand said.
"I don't need it." Father Mark said. "I am familiar with horses and this horse in particular."