Chapter 39
Although most of Lisa's stress for the past week had been about deciding on if she was going to tell people about her amnesia, she was also extremely busy with her job as she prepared for Georgie's departure. Everyone was sad she was leaving. On Friday, she had a going away party for her at lunch and then gave everyone the afternoon off except for a skeleton crew. She offered those who took it overtime. A few people jumped at the chance, but most were excited to have some paid time off.
Georgie moved out of Lisa's house after the party with the plan to stay at Heartland until her flight on Sunday. Lisa gave her a ride so that no one had to figure out how to get the truck Georgie had been using back to Fairfield. "Thanks for the ride to Heartland. I know you're going there too, but thanks, just the same."
"You're welcome. I'm just so thankful for all the help you've given me. I'm going to miss you. Your mom is going to miss you even more." Lisa was going to miss having Georgie around to pick up the slack. She had gotten spoiled the last several weeks.
When Lisa and Georgie arrived at Heartland, Jack was sitting on the porch drinking a cup of coffee. He got up and walked down to the Porsche to greet his wife and great-granddaughter. "Hello, ladies. How was your last day, Georgie?"
"Hey, Jack. It was good. I'm going to miss everyone, but I'm excited to get back to Florida." Georgie grabbed her luggage and made her way to the house. She turned around before she got to the porch. "I'm going to drop off my luggage and go for a ride."
"Okay. Have fun." Jack turned to face his wife. "Hi, how are you doing?"
"I'm good. It was nice to get done early today. I've been working so much this week compared to the last several weeks." Lisa yawned and then continued, "I'm ready for it, but I do get tired faster than I remember, but I don't know if that's normal for me or not."
"It's somewhat normal. We've both talked about retirement and stepping back from our businesses in the last few years. We decided to do the opposite and ramp up, but it has come with the struggle of being busier and being tired more often." Jack reflected on their time together and apart and decided to see the silver lining in the accident, which allowed him more time spent with his wife. He decided that he could do without the amnesia and the broken arm, but he would never complain about spending time with Lisa.
"Well, I'm going to lie down and take a nap since I'm home so early." Lisa was feeling exhausted after being so busy all week.
Jack thought that sounded like a great idea. "I'm pretty tired too. Can I join you for this nap?"
"Sure." Lisa bumped her shoulder against Jack's arm as she walked past him to go to the house.
Georgie was on her way outside as they were going in. "See you later."
Jack called after her, "Have fun on your ride."
"Are we alone?" asked Lisa.
"Yeah, everyone else is off the property today. We have the house to ourselves." Jack pulled Lisa into his arms and kissed her. After getting lost in kissing his wife, Jack backed away. "We need to stop for a second."
"What? Why?" Lisa was confused by what was happening.
"Because my desire to be with you is getting too strong, and I need to calm down and maybe go take a cold shower," replied Jack.
"Oh." Lisa smiled a little at her husband. "It's nice to know that I'm wanted. Just so you know, you're wanted as well."
"Yeah? By who?" Jack knew she was being cheeky, but he couldn't resist teasing Lisa a little bit.
"Who do you think?" Lisa decided to play his game.
Jack knew he could get Lisa with the thought he just had of a silly response. "There was an elderly lady at the grocery store who was kind of making eyes at me last week."
Lisa rolled her eyes and walked away. "I'm sure she did. You're very handsome. Are you going to ask her out?" she called over her shoulder as she walked towards their bedroom.
Jack walked over and grabbed Lisa's arm to spin her back to face his direction. "I know you're messing with me because I messed with you, but just so you know, I don't plan to ask anyone out except for you for the rest of my life. I don't say that to pressure you. I'm just letting you know that you're it for me."
"Wow. Did that charm get you a lot of ladies on the rodeo circuit?" Lisa had the thought, "Two can play at this game." She then turned around and walked toward their bedroom again. "I'm going to lie down."
Jack went to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on his face. He knew that he needed to calm down if he wanted to take a nap with Lisa. He tried to think about other things to take his mind off of what he wanted to do with his wife.
Lisa quickly changed into some lounge clothes and laid down on top of the covers. She looked up when Jack entered the room and quietly said, "Hey."
"Hey,' Jack responded. After lying down in bed, he looked over at Lisa. She was on her side facing him, and her legs were curled up a little. He decided to lie the same way facing her. He reached out and ran a finger down her cheek. "You are so beautiful."
"I'm really not, but it's nice that you think I am." Lisa grabbed the hand that had just been touching her face and kissed the back of it.
Jack leaned over and kissed Lisa. It started off as a short kiss, but it very quickly transitioned to being way more. He couldn't get enough of her. He pulled her closer to him and pressed his body to hers. He had one arm behind her head and another around her waist, holding her close to him.
Lisa was overwhelmed by what was happening, but she didn't want to stop. She felt so loved and cherished by this man, and it was so special to her that it almost made her cry. She hooked a leg over his and pulled herself partially on top of him. That move made Jack hold her even closer.
Even though Jack knew that they needed to stop before they went too far, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He wanted to make love to Lisa and had been missing it since the accident. He rolled so that he was partially on top of her.
Lying on the bed under Jack, Lisa knew that they needed to stop and talk before they went too far. Eventually, she put a hand on Jack's chest and pushed him up.
Jack looked down at Lisa and saw that she looked nervous. He rolled off of her and sat up. He pushed his hair back and ran a hand over his face. He didn't know what to say.
Lisa sat up as well. She looked around the room as she tried to figure out what to say. Her plan had been to take Jack over to Fairfield on Sunday and tell him that she loved him there, where they had more privacy. Now, Lisa was wondering if it was silly to wait when the opportunity had presented itself a couple of days early. It occurred to her that they were alone now, and they could still go to Fairfield on Sunday to be alone if they wanted as well. She finally got the nerve to speak. "I don't want you to think that I didn't want that. I really do."
Jack reached for Lisa's hand. "I get it. I never want to push you to do something before you are ready. I love you. Your happiness is what is most important to me."
Realizing that Jack had misunderstood her, she added, "No, that's not what I mean. I just think we should talk about it before we go any further."
"What are you saying?" asked Jack. He looked hopeful yet guarded.
Lisa took a deep breath and looked at Jack. Her heart was racing, and her palms were sweating. "I was planning to wait until after Georgie left to have this conversation, but I don't want to wait. I love you, Jack. Maybe I have for a while, but I realized it a couple of nights ago when I fell asleep in your arms."
Tears began to form in Jack's eyes. He had been trying so hard not to get his hopes up that Lisa would ever say those words to him again. Now that she had, he was overwhelmed. He leaned over and kissed Lisa and then rested his forehead against hers. "I have been waiting for you to say those words ever since the accident, and I wasn't sure that I would ever hear them again."
Seeing the tears in Jack's eyes made her emotional. She knew how much this meant to him. "I know you have. It's part of the reason that I didn't want to wait anymore." Lisa felt a weight lifted off her shoulders. She knew that Jack deserved to know as soon as possible, and she wanted to be with him too.
Jack kissed Lisa passionately and pushed her back onto the bed. He had missed being with Lisa so much, and he didn't want to wait another second. He felt her hands unbuttoning his shirt. He pulled back for a second and looked at Lisa. "I just want to check and make sure that you're sure."
"I am. I can't say that I love you as much or the same as I did before since I don't remember, but I know that I love you." Lisa stroked a finger on his face. "Now, where were we?"
Jack smiled at Lisa and began kissing her again. He almost couldn't believe what was happening, but he decided that if he was dreaming that he didn't want to wake up. Stopping seemed like a stupid idea to him when all he had wanted for the past two months was being handed to him.
Sometime later, Jack and Lisa were basking in the afterglow of being together for the first time since the accident. Lisa was lying on Jack's chest, and Jack had his arms around her.
"So much for taking a nap." Lisa laughed, and Jack joined her. "I mean, I'm not complaining."
"I'm not complaining either. I've missed being with you," said Jack.
Lisa's phone beeped, and she groaned.
Jack held her closer. "Don't look at it."
"What if it's important? What if it's the family saying that they're on the way home?" asked Lisa.
Jack sighed. "Okay, fine. I probably do need to go take a shower before people get home. I don't need them knowing what we just did."
Lisa giggled. "No, we don't. Actually, can we not say anything about this change in our relationship for a bit? This weekend is about Georgie, and I don't want to steal her thunder."
"I'm okay with that. Let's take a few days to just enjoy this without anyone's input." Jack got up to head to the shower.
Lisa had turned to get her phone, and when she turned back, Jack was standing there in just his underwear. She whistled for him.
Jack blushed and waved her off. "Stop it."
"Sorry. Wait. I'm not really sorry." Lisa looked at him challengingly.
Jack just shook his head and finished getting dressed so he could get to the bathroom. He grabbed some clean clothes and left the room.
Lisa laughed quietly to herself after Jack left the room. She'd had no intention of doing that so soon, but she was so glad that she had. There was just something about connecting to Jack in that way that had made her love him even more. Jack had been so gentle and loving with her. Lisa had never felt more loved and cherished before.
A beep came from Lisa's phone again, and she remembered that she was still holding her phone in her hand. Looking down, she saw that she had a couple of texts from Lou. She wanted to know if they were home yet because she was planning to come home to spend time with Georgie before everyone else got home, and Georgie hadn't answered her texts. Lisa responded and let her know that Georgie was out on a trail ride and might not have service where she was. She laid back down on the bed and waited for Jack to get out of the shower.
Once they both had showers, they went back to the bedroom to talk. They hadn't really talked much before and knew that they probably should. They sat down next to each other on the side of the bed. Neither one knew what to say at first.
Jack decided that he should say something. "So that was unexpected, but very nice. I've missed being with you in that way."
"It was unexpected for me too. Like I said before, I was planning to tell you on Sunday that I love you, but the opportunity presented itself earlier, so I went with it. If nothing else, my accident taught me that life can change in an instant, and I didn't want to wait for what I had planned when a pretty perfect moment was happening right then." Lisa rested her head on Jack's shoulder. She wanted to be close to him and knew once everyone was home that she'd have to not show him affection like that.
Wrapping his arm around Lisa, Jack said, "Well, I'm glad you didn't wait. I know you don't want to tell the family just yet and I'm okay with that, but it's going to be hard for me to contain my happiness right now. This is different from when we got married and didn't tell anyone. We had been broken up for quite a while and had just gotten back together when we got married. We've been married for over 10 years now. People are hoping that we'll be back together. In a way we have been for the past few weeks, but now it feels like we're officially back."
Lisa smiled when he said, "officially back." It made her so happy to know that they were. She just wished that she could remember their relationship before the accident. "How do you want to tell people that we are back together? Do we just let our actions speak, or do we make an announcement?"
"I don't know. Let's get through this weekend, and then we can figure something out." Jack kissed her hair and wrapped both arms around her.
"I'm going to tell Georgie before she leaves. Quite honestly, she'll be the least surprised of anyone in the family that we're back together. I just don't want to take attention away from her this weekend. Who knows when we'll get to see her again. I want her to know that even though my memory hasn't come back yet, at least we're together."
"That's sweet of you to want to tell her before she leaves. I love the relationships you have with Georgie, Katie, and Lyndy, and it's been nice to see you rebuilding those even before we started working on building our relationship back up. The way you have taken on my family and loved them as if they were your own flesh and blood for the second time has made me love you even more than I already did. You're amazing." Jack was looking at Lisa with so much love. He almost felt like he needed to pinch himself. He had been trying so hard not to get his hopes up that Lisa would ever love him again, and here they were in love again.
"Of course I love them. It would be hard not to. They are amazing people, and they are your family. I don't know that I loved them before I started loving you, but it was easier to love them because I could just be this older person and maybe a mentor to them without any of the expectations that came with loving you. Not that you put those expectations on me, but they were there regardless. I do love you all, but clearly, the way I love you is very different." Lisa stood up and moved to stand in front of Jack between his knees. She placed a hand on his cheek and bent down to kiss him.
Jack pulled Lisa closer and deepened the kiss. He was about to lean back and pull Lisa with him when he heard the front door close and then heard Lou's voice call out.
Lisa backed away and looked toward the door and then back at Jack. "I guess we better pull ourselves together here and hold off on any more kissing until later. "
"I suppose you're right." Jack stood up and smoothed his shirt while Lisa was also straightening her clothes. "I just wanna do one thing before we go out there."
"Oh? What's that?" asked Lisa.
Jack pulled Lisa into his arms and kissed her one more time. When he pulled away, he said, "That's to last you until later."
Lisa stood there, looking a little stunned. "What day is it?" she asked jokingly.
Jack chuckled. "No idea. I'll go out there first and say that I was checking on you because you had laid down to take a nap."
"She knows I'm awake because I texted her back while you were in the shower because she couldn't get a hold of Georgie. You can go out there first, though. I'll lie down so that if she sees in here, it's the truth." Lisa moved to her side of the bed and laid down and watched Jack go out to talk to Lou. She sighed happily as she thought about how her day had gone so far. It wasn't anywhere near how she envisioned it, but she was extremely happy.
To Be Continued