Chapter 28

Lisa rode back to Heartland with Georgie on Friday afternoon. It was the longest she had been at Fairfield since the accident. Lou picked Katie and Lyndy up from school and then picked Georgie and Amy from the ranch and drove them all to the airport since their flights were around the same time.

Jack and Lisa stood on the porch and waved to the girls as they left. Once they made the turn onto the road from the driveway, Jack went out to the barn to finish up some work. Lisa went inside and started making dinner.

Jack could have stayed in the house after the girls left, but he was kind of nervous about having a weekend alone with Lisa. He wanted to move their relationship forward, but he didn't know if he and Lisa were on the same page about that. Sure, they flirted and were being more affectionate with one another, but he knew that there was a big difference between flirting and the occasional touch or hug and being in love and wanting to be married.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Lisa had a lot on her mind. She had finished a week of working part-time at Fairfield. It had been good to be back at Fairfield, but it had been hard and stressful. Each day, she'd spent more and more time there as she got more comfortable being there. Her memory loss was still not known to her employees. Even if they suspected something, they didn't let her know. Her relationship with Jack was still a big question mark to her, but her job was something she knew how to do, and she was good at it. Going back to working in person had given her some much needed confidence, and she felt more like herself. It had also been a welcome break from thinking about her relationship with Jack constantly. There weren't constant reminders of it everywhere she looked at Fairfield. There were some, though. Lisa was surprised, although she shouldn't have been based on her bedroom, that there were a couple of pictures of them on her desk.

Jack finished up his work and went back to the house for dinner. As he sat on the bench in the entryway and took off his boots, he was reminded of how much he loved Lisa. She was beautiful and he loved just watching her.

Lisa turned around to grab something off the table and noticed Jack watching her. "Are you watching me?"

Jack got up from the bench and walked into the kitchen. "Guilty. You just looked so beautiful. I couldn't help myself."

"I look like a mess. My hair is messy, and I'm tired after being at work all day." Lisa appreciated how much Jack thought she was beautiful, but she still thought he was crazy.

"Doesn't change the fact that you're beautiful. And even if your hair is messy, you aren't a mess." Jack enjoyed reminding Lisa how beautiful she was.

"Someone should teach you the difference between fact and opinion," Lisa said snarkily.

Jack couldn't help but laugh. "I know the difference, but I also know that it is a fact that you are beautiful. It doesn't matter how tired you are, how messy your hair is, or even how injured you are. You will always be beautiful. Just accept it!"

Lisa rolled her eyes at Jack. "Fine. I'll accept that you believe it."

"I'll take it," Jack said while smirking.

Lisa sat down at the kitchen table. "Dinner will be ready in about 30 minutes. So, how are you liking your new truck? You said this morning that you needed to pick up some feed from Maggies today. How did that go?"

Jack joined Lisa at the table. He could tell she was trying to change the subject, so he just let it happen. "I hate to admit it, but I really like my new truck. The latch on the gate of my old truck was finicky. It was nice to be able to open and close it and know that it would work every time. Next weekend, when everyone is back home, I want to take Katie and Lyndy out for ice cream in my truck."

"Aw, the girls would love that. I hope they all have a great time away this weekend." Lisa wondered if she'd be included in the ice cream outing. She hoped so, but she would have to wait and see.

"Well, it worked out that they are all out of town now when we wanted to go on a date. It would have been hard to go on a real date with the family around. It's hard to figure us out when we're kind of living under a microscope. I know they mean well, but we don't really need their input," said Jack.

"It's true," Lisa agreed. "I'm glad that they care about us, but I don't really need any pressure. Figuring everything out has been hard enough."

"Am I making things hard on you?" asked Jack.

"No?" Lisa sighed. "It's never on purpose. It's just the fact that you have a long history with me that I have no memory of. That's hard to wrap my mind around. It can be kind of awkward as well. You know intimate details about me, and I'm not quite sure how to handle that."

Jack reached over and put his hand on Lisa's. He felt bad that he knew their entire history, and she only knew almost 4 weeks. "It's hard for me to know how to handle it, too. I do have all these memories that you either know nothing about or only know about them from my point of view. It's not fair. I'm sorry. I wish I could fix it."

"I know you do. That's why I don't say much about it. It's just hard, but there's nothing we can do to change it. And you're right. It's not fair..for either of us. In some ways, I'm tired of talking about it. Talking about it doesn't fix it." Lisa was frustrated, and it was starting to get to her.

"Let's just not talk about it tonight. Let's just have dinner, and then we can just do whatever we want tonight. I was thinking about watching the hockey game. If you want to join me, that is fine, but you don't have to. You can do whatever you want." Jack could see Lisa was about to lose it, and he knew that he needed to back off and give her some space.

"Okay, I might watch the game, or I might just bring my laptop out here and watch a movie with headphones. Thank you for being so understanding. I think I'm just tired. It has been a long week, and spending all that time at Fairfield making sure that no one knew what was really going on with me took a toll on me."

"I totally get that. I didn't get a chance to read the paper yet today, so I'm going to go sit on the couch and read if that's okay with you."

"That's fine with me."

The two of them did their own things before dinner and after dinner, but they were still near each other. They both realized how much pressure they had been putting on themselves, and they needed a night of just not worrying about it.

Even the next day, they didn't avoid each other, but they also just gave one another space. When Jack came back to the house for lunch, he began to wonder if going on a date that night was still okay with Lisa. "Hey Lis?" he called as he took off his boots.

Lisa walked into the kitchen from the living room. "Yes? Do you need something?"

"I was just wondering if you still want to go out tonight. It's totally fine if you don't. I just wanted to make sure it was okay," explained Jack.

"You know what, I do want to go out. It sounds like fun to get dressed up and go somewhere different and have a good meal with you." As much as Lisa was nervous, she was determined not to let that get in the way of going on a date.

"Okay, I was looking forward to it, and I'm glad that you are as well." Jack was thankful that Lisa wasn't backing out of their date.

After lunch, Lisa had Jack help her wash her hair, and they both got cleaned up. Lisa wished that she could curl her hair, but it had blown out nicely, and she knew that she could work with that.

The closer it got to time to leave, the more nervous both of them got, but neither one of them said anything. They just kept it to themselves because they knew that ultimately, it wouldn't change anything. They still wanted to go out.

A little before it was time to leave, Jack put on his suit. When he came out of the bedroom, Lisa was sitting on the couch and looked up at him. She thought he looked very handsome and she thought the suit fit him very well. "I like that suit. Is that the one I had made for you?"

Jack chuckled. "It's the only suit I own. I don't usually wear it to go out to eat, but this is a special occasion. It's kind of our first date. Or well, the first date you remember with me."

It was then Lisa's turn to get dressed. She put on her new dress and found some cute heels that matched. Once she was dressed, she grabbed a pashmina that would keep her warm and moved things from her current purse to a fancier one that matched the outfit.

Jack had been nervously pacing the living room, and when Lisa walked out of the bedroom, he stopped in his tracks. "Wow. You look incredible. That dress is perfect. You're perfect."

"Well, thank you. You look very handsome as well." Lisa touched Jack's shoulder to feel the fabric of the suit.

Jack looked at Lisa. He was blown away by how beautiful she looked and wanted to just take her into his arms and kiss her. Instead, he asked, "Are you ready to go?"

"I am. So where are we going?" Lisa was very curious where they were going for dinner.

"You'll see when we get there," answered Jack.

Once they got outside and Jack had locked the door, he held out his arm to Lisa and helped her down the stairs. He then helped her into the truck and went around to his side.

Jack drove them to a very nice restaurant in Lake Louise that they both really enjoyed. He loved the way LIsa's eyes lit up when she saw where they were going.

"Oh, I love this place. Have we been here before?" Lisa was surprised that Jack was taking her to a place like that.

"We have. It's one of our favorite places in Lake Louise to eat. There was a new place we had talked about trying before the accident. I thought about getting reservations there, but we love this place and even though it's more fancy and expensive than I usually like, the food is delicious. It's not pretentious like a lot of expensive restaurants, though. I appreciate that. We don't go out for meals like this often, but it's nice a couple of times a year."

Once Jack and Lisa were sitting at their table, they looked over the menu. Jack already knew what he was going to order. He got the same thing every time being a creature of habit, but it was good, so he figured he shouldn't mess with a good thing. Lisa was still looking over the menu when he put his down after making sure he still wanted what he always got.

Lisa looked up at Jack and caught him staring at her. She smiled shyly at him and said, "What?"

Jack shrugged. "Nothing. I was just enjoying the view." There was a beautiful view of the mountains from where they were sitting, but Jack's eyes were completely focused on his wife.

Lisa pointed to the window. "The beautiful view is that way."

"It is beautiful," Jack agreed, "but my current view is even better."

Lisa rolled her eyes and went back to looking at her menu. She was amused by Jack and how much he was flirting with her. It made her feel special.

Once they ordered their food, Jack reached across the table and held Lisa's hand. "I'm glad that we're here. It's nice to be on a date with you."

LIsa squeezed Jack's hand. "I agree."

"Did I ever tell you about the time that Katie's friend Parker made us a lasagna and set us up on a date in Tim and Jessica's apartment?"

"No. You told me that they made lasagna using ketchup once. This wasn't that time, was it?"

"No, I didn't have the ketchup lasagna, and you can't remember it. I'd say not remembering that lasagna is a silver lining to all of this." Jack realized he was getting sidetracked. "Anyway, you were getting ready to go out of town, and I thought you were excited about it, and I thought that I was helping by just trying to stay out of your way. I had even suggested that we go out to dinner one night, but then Parker came in the house after scraping up her arm and asked what was for dinner. You offered to make something for them before we left, and I felt guilty about all you had to do and canceled going out to dinner. I regretted it and said so at dinner, which I guess Parker heard. Her parents are both psychiatrists, so she was always trying to help people with their problems. The next night she told us that there was a leak in the loft, but when we got there, she had the table all set and made sure we knew that Amy and the kids had dinner all taken care of and we were having a romantic dinner on our own."

"Aw, that was sweet of her." Lisa thought Parker sounded like a sweet kid and wished that she could remember her.

"It was, and it did give us a chance to talk. You let me know that you were getting tired of traveling. You were happiest at home with the family and not out traveling all over the place. We had a good long talk about it. The next day, you set up a picnic and fishing excursion by the pond to do something nice for me before you left on your work trip. I miss you like crazy when you travel so it was good to hear that you felt the same way." That time by the pond was one of his favorite memories of Lisa.

"So even though we've been married for over 10 years, we still struggle with communication at times?" In a way, it made Lisa feel a little better that they still struggled with things at times. She had been putting pressure on herself to do and say the right thing all the time.

"We're human. We make mistakes and say and do the wrong things, but we always figure it out in the end. We've been through a lot. It's part of the reason why I won't give up on you or us. We didn't go through everything we've been through to give up now. Plus, if we hadn't had that misunderstanding about your traveling, then we wouldn't have had a beautiful moment by the pond." Jack looked over at Lisa lovingly.

The waiter brought over the appetizer just then, which distracted them from their conversation. Once the appetizer was taken away, Lisa looked at Jack thoughtfully. "I'm glad that we did this. It has been nice to spend time together like this and get to know you better."

"I agree," said Jack. "It almost reminds me of when we first started dating. That was a good time in my life. I'm so glad that you made me pay attention to you. My life is better now because of it."

"Even now?" Lisa was always feeling bad about how her amnesia was making life so hard for Jack.

"Yes, even now. You're still here, and you haven't left me. We're on a date at a nice restaurant and you look so beautiful. My life may not be easy now, but it's not bad." The rest of the dinner, they spent time with Jack telling her stories from when they were dating and when they first got married.

The waiter asked if they wanted to see a dessert menu. "No, thank you," said Lisa. She then realized she should check with her date. "Is that okay with you, Jack?"

"Yes, it's fine. We have some pie and ice cream that we can have at home." He'd had an enjoyable meal, but he was ready to be home and out of his suit.

As Jack was paying for the meal, they heard a woman's voice say, "Lisa Stillman? Oh my, I haven't seen you in 15 years."

Lisa turned around and saw a woman who was dressed in very expensive clothing approaching them. She thought the woman looked familiar, but she wasn't sure who it was. "Oh, hello! How are you? Have you met my husband, Jack Bartlett?"

The woman turned to Jack and just barely hid her surprise that Lisa was with someone like Jack. She held out her hand for a handshake and introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Ophelia Bennett. My husband used to own race horses, and we'd see Lisa at the track sometimes. He did it more as a midlife crisis thing than anything, so we got out of the business after a while. It was just too expensive to do as a hobby. Not that we couldn't afford it, but if we're going to spend our money on something, I'd like to see a return on that investment."

Lisa nodded and said, "Yes, it is expensive. That's why I also breed horses. That's where a lot of my money is made. Horse racing can make you a lot of money, but horses are extremely expensive and eat up a lot of your winnings."

"Yes, horses are terribly expensive. I don't know how you do it. So Jack, was it? What do you do?" asked Ophelia.

Jack wasn't anxious to talk to this woman, but he didn't want to be rude. "I'm a cattle rancher. I raise organic beef with my family."

"Oh, wow. That must be a big job." Ophelia seemed surprised by Jack's answer.

"It is, but I love it. I don't do it alone. My former son in law also works with me." Jack was trying to keep his answers short so that they didn't have to keep talking to this woman.

"Former son-in-law? Is that not a problem for your daughter?" Ophelia asked.

"No, my daughter passed away many years ago. Her ex-husband showed up around that time to spend time with his daughters and my granddaughters, and he never left." Jack was not really anxious to discuss this with a stranger, but he realized that he kept giving her more things to discuss.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for your loss." Ophelia turned to Lisa and said, "Lisa, I didn't know you had any children."

"I don't. Jack's daughter is from his first marriage with his late wife. I didn't meet Jack until after his daughter passed." Lisa was ready to get out of this conversation as well and gave Jack a look to let him know she was ready to go.

Jack pretended to look at the time on his watch. "Lis, we should get going. I need to check on the horses tonight, and I have an early morning tomorrow with everyone out of town. It was nice to meet you, Ophelia."

Lisa was thankful Jack picked up what she had tried to communicate with her look to him a moment ago. "Yes, it was so nice to see you again. We do need to get home."

Jack offered his arm to Lisa, and she took it, and they made their way out of the restaurant toward the valet.

Lisa was thankful that she'd gotten cold while they were eating and had put the pashmina on. It mostly obscured the view of her cast and sling. She really didn't want to get into a discussion about her accident with a woman she couldn't remember.

They both laughed once they got into the truck. "Isn't it just my luck that we ran into someone I apparently know or used to know?" Lisa felt like she should have known that could happen at a fancy restaurant in the area.

"Good thinking, introducing me so that you could find out her name." Jack was glad Lisa had been quick on her feet back there. "Let's get home."

"Yes, there's pie and ice cream at home," Lisa said happily.

When they arrived back at Heartland, Jack helped Lisa out of the truck and walked with her up to the front door. Before he unlocked the door, he turned to Lisa and pulled her into a hug. "Thanks for agreeing to go on a date with me."

Lisa leaned back and looked up at Jack. "You're welcome." Lisa reached up and gave Jack a gentle kiss. It was a short kiss, and they stood there looking at one another, and then Lisa kissed Jack again.

In his attempt to pull Lisa closer, Jack dropped his keys. The noise pulled them out of the kiss. "I'm sorry. I dropped my keys." Jack grabbed his keys off the porch and unlocked the front door. He wasn't sure what to say about the kisses. He had hoped that they would kiss again soon, but he didn't want to scare Lisa off by making too big of a deal out of it.

After they walked into the kitchen, Lisa stopped and turned to look at Jack. "Are we going to talk about what just happened?"

"I was letting you take the lead on that. I didn't want to scare you off," said Jack.

"You won't. I was the one who kissed you…twice," Lisa pointed out.

"That's true. You did. How are you feeling about that?" asked Jack.

"I don't know, but I wanted to do it. I've been wanting to, but I was too scared until tonight." Lisa was freaking out inside, but she was trying to maintain a calm exterior.

"I wanted to kiss you too, but I've been trying to give you space to figure things out. I would like to kiss you again. We got interrupted by me dropping the keys." Jack hoped that Lisa would be willing to kiss him again.

Lisa stepped forward to stand directly in front of Jack, so he leaned down and kissed Lisa. This time, he was able to pull her closer. As they were kissing, Jack ran his hand up and down her back. His mind wandered to how he missed kissing Lisa and that he didn't often kiss her like that while standing in the kitchen. It made him even more grateful that they had the house to themselves.

Lisa pulled away from the kiss first. "Why was I so afraid of that?"

Jack lightly stroked Lisa's cheek with his knuckles. "I want to say that you shouldn't be afraid, but I can understand why you were. Kissing me now is different from kissing when we first started dating."

"Yeah, you're right. It's why all of this is hard. You have almost 2 decades of experience with me, and I have about a month with you." Lisa pressed her forehead into Jack's chest in frustration.

"Well, let's not worry about that stuff right now. I did enjoy kissing you, though, and I would like to do it again sometime. All you have to do is say so or just do it, and I'll gladly reciprocate." Jack stepped back from Lisa and looked around the kitchen as he tried to figure out his next move. Then he remembered why they had turned down dessert at the restaurant. "Would you like some pie and ice cream?"

Lisa's eyes lit up at the suggestion. "Yes. That sounds amazing. We skipped dessert at the restaurant so we could have it at home. I'm glad we did. Who knows if I would have lost my nerve to kiss you if we'd stayed for dessert."

"Well, when you put it like that, I'm really glad we came home when we did." Jack pulled the pie out of the fridge and the ice cream out of the freezer and dished it up for them. They sat down at the kitchen table to enjoy it.

Lisa felt relieved in a way that she had worked up the nerve to kiss Jack, but at the same time, she was still uncertain about so much. She was thankful that they had a weekend without the family being around. It was when the family was home that made some things difficult. She didn't always know how to act around Jack when they were around. He seemed to know and understand what she was thinking most of the time, but all they saw was the chance for them to get back together.

Jack saw that Lisa was lost in thought and patted her hand. "A penny for your thoughts?"

Lisa took a moment to speak, trying to find the right words, "I was just thinking that it was so nice that we had this weekend at home to ourselves. I don't know what to do when the family comes back. I know that I don't want to kiss or be affectionate in front of them. I don't want to confuse Katie or Lyndy about things. This is all confusing enough as it is."

"I can understand that. We'll keep it just for ourselves now. That's kind of what we've been doing, except there hasn't really been any kissing. I know you're still figuring stuff out. The girls might not understand that." Jack liked to keep his relationship somewhat private, so he had no problem with Lisa's thoughts on keeping things between them until they figured things out more.

"Exactly. Thank you for understanding. You're a good man, Jack Bartlett." Lisa was so thankful for Jack. He had been so kind and patient with her and understood her so well. Sometimes, she felt like he knew her better than herself.

Lisa stood up from the table, having finished her dessert, and stepped over to Jack. "I need to get to bed. I'm exhausted." She kissed Jack's lips gently and then went to get ready for bed.

Jack sat at the table, playing the day over in his mind. It had gone better than he thought it would, and he hoped that their relationship could keep moving in a positive direction. He grabbed some things out of their bedroom while Lisa was in the bathroom and was sitting on the couch almost ready for bed when she came out.

Lisa stopped in front of Jack and squeezed his shoulder. "Goodnight. Thanks for a great date."

Smiling up at Lisa, Jack said, "You're welcome. Goodnight."

With Jack on the couch and Lisa in the bed, they both thought about the weekend and their date, especially. They had a lot to think about and consider, and they both hoped that they would be able to make some progress with their relationship.

To Be Continued