Chapter 23
The next day, Lisa was mostly on her own. Katie and Lyndy left for school in the morning, and Amy, Lou, and Jessica were off helping Jack and Tim move the cattle. Tim even got a couple of rodeo school kids who they were considering hiring as part-time ranch hands to come out and help so that they could get the cattle moved quickly.
Lisa enjoyed having the house to herself. She was still getting comfortable being there. She had mostly stayed in the bedroom to work because she didn't want to take over the house, but with everyone gone, she moved to the dining table and took the opportunity to spread out the way she liked to. Once Katie was home, she put everything away so that they could spend time together. Lisa wanted to get reacquainted with Katie. They sat and chatted about school, friends, dirt bikes, and Katie's writing. Lisa loved getting to know her and was impressed by the girl. She was a bit of an old soul, and Lisa appreciated that because she had been the same way when she was younger.
At dinner time, Georgie showed up with some Chinese food, and they watched movies and talked. Once the movies were over, Georgie and Katie smiled at Lisa like they wanted to say something but were unsure.
"What is it, girls?" Lisa asked.
Katie sat up and thought for a second before asking, "Are you going to get back together with GG? He loves you a lot, and I know you loved him a lot, too. My childhood wouldn't have been the same without you here."
Lisa smiled at Katie. She knew the girl just wanted to make sure that her world wasn't going to change too much. She had been through a lot of changes in her short life. Understanding that she and Jack had been a constant amid lots of changes in her life, Lisa's heart went out to her. "Honey, I wish I could tell you that yes, of course that's going to happen, but I just don't know. I'll still always be in your life. You're family now no matter what happens with your GG."
Katie beamed at that. "Okay. I get it. I'm not trying to pressure you or anything either. I just like you two together."
"Me too," Georgie added. "I like you two together, too."
Lisa sighed. "I know you do. This Sunday will be two weeks since the accident. Jack and I didn't get together two weeks after we met, and that's kind of what it's like right now for me. Give me time to figure things out."
"Okay, we will," Katie promised. It was getting late, so Lisa sent Katie to bed.
After giving Katie a hug goodnight, Lisa sat down on the couch with Georgie. "How's it going at Fairfield? Are you getting on okay? Are my employees treating you well?"
"It's good. I think they weren't sure about me at first, but since I do have experience working there and I treat everyone well, they came around pretty quickly. It has been interesting to do your job for a bit. I didn't realize all that you did before this. You always made it look pretty easy, but there are a lot of moving parts at all times, and they all have to work together."
"Good. I'm glad that they are treating you well. You are doing a great job, from what I can tell, not being on site. I'm very thankful for you and all that you've done the past week."
Eventually, Georgie joined Katie upstairs in her room, and Lisa went to bed as well. Lisa enjoyed spending time with Katie and Georgie. They were sweet and funny, and she was thankful that although they were curious about things, they didn't try to pressure her about her relationship with Jack. As she was falling asleep, Lisa wondered how Jack was doing. She had been spending so much time with him that she had never had a chance to miss him. She didn't think that she missed him, but she was wondering how the cattle drive was going.
In the morning, Lisa woke up to giggles coming from the kitchen and the smell of pancakes and bacon. She went out to see Georgie and Katie talking quietly and laughing together while making breakfast. They turned toward her when she entered the kitchen.
"Lisa, we didn't wake you, did we?" asked Katie.
Lisa waved her off. "No, honey. This food smells good, though, so I wanted to come out and see what you had going on."
Georgie motioned to the table. "Go ahead and have a seat. We're almost done making it. Do you want any coffee? I made some earlier."
"Some coffee would be great, but I can get it myself." Lisa got up to get herself a cup.
Katie put her hand up to stop Lisa. "You've done so much for us over the years. We want to do something for you. Let us spoil you a little bit. You've been spoiling me my entire life."
Lisa was touched by the girl's gesture. She didn't remember spoiling them, but she knew it sounded like her. "Thank you, Katie. You're a sweetheart."
Breakfast was delicious, and Lisa had fun spending more time with Georgie and Katie. She didn't realize how much having a little girl time was good for her. It was different from Lou and Amy. They were kind and helpful, but they held back a little bit with her. The younger ones didn't have the same history, so they were more free with her.
After breakfast, Georgie and Katie cleaned up while Lisa went to get cleaned up for the day in the bathroom. When she came out, Katie asked, "Do you need help with washing your hair?"
"Yes, that would be great. Your GG helped me with it the other day, and I ended up with water down my back." Lisa laughed at the memory.
Katie giggled. "That doesn't sound fun. I can't promise I'll be any better, but I'll try."
"Thanks, honey." Lisa gave Katie a hug.
Katie did a better job than Jack. Lisa didn't have to change her clothes after she got her hair washed. Georgie and Katie offered to help her do her hair. Lisa wasn't about to turn them down. She had just been dealing with her hair, however it dried after she brushed it out, but she loved the idea of it actually being done.
Lisa did a little makeup after her hair was done, and she started to feel more like herself. There was so much about her current life that she didn't recognize, but being dressed and having her hair and makeup done helped her to feel better. She was still surprised sometimes when she looked at herself in the mirror. She kept expecting to see a woman in her early 40s and not her late 50s.
After spending the evening and the morning with Katie and Georgie, Lisa enjoyed having a little time to herself. Georgie drove Katie into town for her shift at Maggies and went to go grocery shopping for herself at Fairfield. Lisa didn't feel like working or thinking about work, so she decided to go for a walk down to the pond. It was pretty there, and she thought the exercise would do her good and give her a chance to think.
Walking down to the pond, Lisa thought about the last couple of weeks. She had experienced so many changes and so many new things. It was overwhelming, and she was still trying to process everything. Working from Heartland, the last week had been a welcome distraction from her worry about her love life and how she was going to handle that. There was no manual on how to deal with waking up with amnesia and forgetting she had a husband and had inherited a family through him. She still wasn't sure what to do about Jack. She did care for him, but it wasn't love. If she had been forced to characterize their relationship, she would have said they were friends with maybe a little bit more, but even that wasn't entirely accurate because that was only how she felt. Jack had a completely different point of view on the subject.
Lisa wasn't ready to go back to the house after she walked around the pond, so she walked back behind the house into the woods a bit. She saw the outhouse that Jack had told her about, and she also saw a treehouse. She was starting to get a little tired, but she was enjoying being outside, so she climbed the steps to the treehouse and sat down on the little porch. She scooted back and leaned against the house. The nice weather combined with sleepiness led to Lisa falling asleep there.
Meanwhile, Jack, Tim, Lou, Amy, and Jessica were coming back from moving the cattle. They were tired and dirty and ready for showers and some sleep. They had needled Jack a little about Lisa and how everything was going with her, but he made it clear that he wasn't interested in talking about it, so they mostly avoided the subject.
After they got back to the barn, they all untacked their horses, brushed them out, and put them out in the paddock. Amy and Lou were discussing who was going to get a shower first while they walked up to the house as Jack trailed behind them. He had missed Lisa terribly while he was gone and spent most of the time wondering how she was doing. They had been spending so much time together in the previous two weeks, more than they did sometimes, when Lisa had her memory. He generally loved being around Lisa, but her amnesia had made it extremely challenging. Jack thought that the time apart might be good for them so they could focus on something else, but instead, he just ended up thinking about her the whole time he was gone.
Entering the house, Jack felt nervous about seeing Lisa again. He wondered how she'd been. Amy and Lou had gone to their rooms to get stuff for their showers. Jack looked for Lisa. He called out, "Lis? We're home." He didn't get a response. He thought maybe she'd fallen asleep, but she wasn't in the bedroom or on the couch. In the back of his mind, he wondered if she had left. It had been one of his biggest fears after the accident. He decided to go down to the pond, but she wasn't there either. He looked around as he tried to think of where she might have gone. He decided to walk around behind the house. There was a path there to the tree house, so he went there.
As Jack walked up to the treehouse, he stopped in his tracks. Lisa was sitting on the porch of the treehouse sound asleep. He breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of his wife. He didn't realize how afraid he had been that she had left. He quietly climbed the stairs to the treehouse and squeezed Lisa's hand. "Lis, wake up. You fell asleep at the treehouse."
Lisa began to stir and opened her eyes to Jack, looking at her very concerned. "Hi, I didn't mean to fall asleep, but I went for a walk and got tired, so I sat here to rest. It was such a nice day that I didn't want to go back inside," she said sleepily.
Jack cupped Lisa's cheek and said, "You scared me to death. I thought that you had left when I got back and you weren't in the house or down by the pond."
"I didn't leave. I'll admit that I was hoping to be out of here quickly when I agreed to go home with you in the hospital, but I'm okay with staying with you now. I don't know where I would go or how I'd get there anyway." Lisa looked up at Jack and took in the expression on his face. It was a mixture of relief, fear, and love.
"Well, next time you go for a walk, could you leave a note so I'm not scared to death again?" Jack wasn't sure his heart could take another scare like that.
"Sure. I can do that." Lisa tilted her head and looked at Jack. "So, how was the cattle drive?"
Jack sat down on the treehouse porch next to Lisa. "It was fine. I'm pretty tired, and I need a shower, but I'm letting Lou and Amy battle it out for who gets the first shower."
Lisa sighed. "I miss showers. It will be so amazing when I can finally take one."
"I bet. It's probably hard to feel clean bathing the way you do now. I wish I could help you with that." Jack knew as soon as he said it that he'd said something stupid, but he hoped Lisa hadn't noticed.
"I'm sure you do," Lisa said, smirking.
Jack cringed inwardly. He knew he should have known that he couldn't get anything past Lisa. "Not like that. Okay, maybe a little like that, but really, I just want to make you more comfortable."
Lisa gave Jack a look and pursed her lips. "You seeing me naked would not make me more comfortable. I know that probably disappoints you, but it's true."
As much as Jack missed being intimate with Lisa, he could understand how she was feeling. "No, I get it. I wouldn't be comfortable with you seeing me naked if the roles were reversed. I'd probably take it all even less well than you have, knowing how much I hate change."
"Are we really having this conversation right now?" asked Lisa.
Jack blushed and stared straight ahead so he didn't have to look at Lisa. "Yeah, I guess we are."
Lisa saw Jack looking straight ahead and was amused. "I suppose it's something we may have to discuss eventually, but we don't have to yet. I'm not really ready to think about that. I'm still a little freaked out about the kiss." Jack looked over at her in surprise, so she patted his knee and clarified what she meant. "I wanted it to happen, and I enjoyed it, but it's just overwhelming. It's weird to think that I'm sort of uncomfortable kissing my husband."
Jack wondered if there was anything he could do to help. "Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?"
"No, I just need time. I think I might be coming around, but I'm really not sure, and I don't want to get your hopes up." Lisa didn't want to hurt Jack if she could help it.
"I can appreciate that. There is no pressure from me. You take all the time you need to figure things out. I'm not going anywhere." Jack meant what he said.
"Thanks." LIsa smiled at Jack.
"So, are you ready to go back inside?" asked Jack.
"Yeah, sleeping the way I did out here was not very comfortable, but it was so pretty, and I was enjoying the nice weather we're having. Hopefully, the walk back to the house helps loosen up some of my muscles. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm getting old. I'm reminded every time I look in the mirror, but this is another reminder." Lisa hated feeling so old. She'd forgotten the aging process, so it all felt very sudden to her.
"You're not old. If you're old, then I'm ancient." Lisa gave Jack a look, and he started to laugh. "Hey now!" Jack protested.
Lisa couldn't contain her laughter anymore and joined in. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. You aren't ancient. We're both just getting old." She sat up straight and scooted to the edge of the porch. "Okay, old man. Can you help this old lady stand up so I can get down these stairs? I didn't really think it through when I sat down up here."
Jack chuckled at Lisa. "Sure. Let's get back to the house." He helped Lisa down the stairs, and they made their way to the house.
To Be Continued
Author's Note: Happy Friday! Thank you for your patience with the story. Also, thank you for your reviews. They really do help me stay motivated. I've been home all week, but I had to do a lot of rewriting and also recuperating after vacation. We were gone for eleven days, and it took three days to get to Santa Fe where we stayed and then three days to get home. My husband and I have been exhausted all week. I'm hoping to get caught up with sleep this weekend so that I can get back at this a little more. I wrote ahead before we left and managed to do a lot of writing while I was gone that ended up having to be rewritten once I got back home. I finally managed to get back to where I need to be in order to post another chapter today. Hopefully I can get another chapter written tonight while my husband is at a baseball game with a friend, but I may just veg out on the couch and watch some stupid tv until I fall asleep or play The Sims and mess with their lives instead of the Heartland characters. I haven't decided yet!