Chapter 30

It was a rainy Tuesday morning. Jack had just gotten back from dropping Lisa off at Fairfield. He had hoped that he could convince her to have lunch with him again after going to Maggies the day before for the first time since the accident, but she had too much to do and packed herself a lunch to have at work. Jack got to work at Heartland. He had plenty to do, but he wasn't crazy about the rain. It always made his arthritis worse. It was part of the reason that he had tried to get Lisa to go out to lunch again. He had been looking for an excuse to get out of the rain and spend more time with his wife.

Meanwhile, at Fairfield, Lisa was running around like a chicken with their head cut off. There was a lot to do before the races her horses were entering. Edwin and Georgie were going with the horses to the races, so there was a lot of work to do before they left. Lisa enjoyed the hustle and bustle of her job. She wished that she was going to the races too, but she wasn't quite ready for that yet.

When they finally sat down for lunch, Lisa sent a text to Jack to make sure he could still come pick her up at 5:00. Georgie and Edwin were leaving at 4:00, and Amy and Lou were planning to have dinner in town with Lyndy and Katie. Jack and Lisa were looking forward to having some time to themselves in the evening.

Jack got Lisa's text and replied, letting her know that he would indeed be able to pick her up. He put his phone away and got back to work. His mind was on his wife, though.

After Lisa saw Edwin, Georgie, the horses, and the rest of her employees who were leaving for the races, she went back to her office to get caught up on paperwork while she waited for Jack to come and get her. A little before 5:00, Lisa started to clean up her desk so that she would be ready to go when Jack got there.

As she was just finishing up, Jack came into the office. "Are you ready to go? It looks like it's about to start raining hard again. Let's get home before that happens."

Lisa looked up and was so happy to see Jack. "Hey! I am ready to go. I was just finishing up cleaning my desk. It was a mess, and I didn't want to come back to that. Let me just grab my purse, and then we can go."

On the way home, Lisa could see what Jack meant about the rain. "That sky looks ominous. I'm glad we're getting home now. I'd hate to think about driving in a storm."

When they got home, Jack let Lisa into the house and then went to the barn to check on the animals and make sure that they had water and food before it started storming. The rain started coming down as Jack was walking back from the barn he started hurrying so he didn't get completely drenched. As he was walking up the steps, he didn't notice the leaf and stepped on it. His foot slipped out from under him, and he went flying forward. He caught himself on the porch just as he was about to smash his face into the wood.

Lisa, who had been relaxing on the couch after an extremely busy day, heard the crash and went running to see what had happened. She found Jack getting up from falling on the steps very slowly and gingerly. As she came forward, Jack held up a hand to stop her.

"Lis, don't come out in the rain. You can't get your cast wet. I'm coming in. Can you get me a towel?" asked Jack.

Lisa ran to get Jack a towel and handed it to him as he was coming into the house. "Jack, are you okay? What happened?"

Jack took the towel and began trying to dry off a bit. "I think I slipped on a leaf that was on the porch. My foot slipped out from under me, and I went flying forward. Thankfully, I caught myself before my face hit the porch."

"Thank goodness you're okay. I can't exactly drive you anywhere, and the girls are in town." Lisa saw that Jack was still dripping wet. "I think you're just going to have to take those clothes off there. That rain is really coming down now, and you got completely drenched."

Jack looked down at the little wet spots on the rug and the little puddles on the floor. "You're probably right. Can you get me a laundry basket to put my wet clothes in? I'm just going to go ahead and take a shower." He took off his shirt and then sat down to take off his boots.

When Lisa came back, she was surprised to find Jack shirtless. "Oh, um, here's the basket. I'm going to go into Lyndy's room until you're in the bathroom." Lisa dropped the basket and quickly walked away.

Jack sat there feeling bad that he kind of forgot about Lisa's memory loss and the fact that she wouldn't be comfortable seeing him that way. Once he got his wet pants off, he made his way to their bedroom to grab clean clothes and went into the bathroom.

Lisa stepped out of Lyndy's room once she heard the bathroom door close. She couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation. She knew that she was his wife, but she had no memory of what he looked like in any state of undress. Now she had seen him without his shirt on. If she was being honest, she hadn't minded the view. She felt her cheeks get hot. She didn't know what that meant regarding her feelings, so after she put Jack's wet clothes in the washer, she went and laid down on the bed.

When Jack came out of the bathroom, he didn't see LIsa anywhere, so he went to their bedroom. He found her lying down in bed, looking at her phone. "Hey, Lis. I'm sorry about earlier. I wasn't thinking."

Lisa continued to look at her phone. "It's okay. It's not like you were naked or something. It was just weird for me. I mean, guys go shirtless all the time. I just have no memory of you like that, and it surprised me."

Jack sat down on the end of the bed. When he sat, he winced a bit. "Ow."

Lisa sat up and looked Jack over. "Are you in pain? Did you hurt yourself on the stairs earlier.?"

"I think I tweaked my back a little bit. I'll be fine." Jack's back hurt pretty bad, and he had a feeling it was going to hurt worse in the morning.

"Okay, if you say so," said Lisa.

"I made stew for dinner. I'm going to go check on it." Jack got up and went to the kitchen. He hoped Lisa didn't notice him wince in pain when he got up.

Lisa saw Jack wince, but let it go for the time being. She knew he was trying to downplay how hurt he was. Realizing she was still pretty tired after work, she laid back down.

Jack checked on the stew and then went to check on Lisa. Seeing that she was lying down again, he let her be. He knew she'd had a busy day at work and that she needed some time to decompress.

Lisa had been lying down for a while. She decided to get up and see what Jack was up to. When she went out to the living room, she found him asleep sitting up on the couch. She couldn't help but laugh a little bit. She thought he looked kind of cute like that and then shook her head and thought, "I need to get it together."

Jack heard Lisa's laugh and woke up. He opened his eyes to see her looking at him. He reached out, grabbed Lisa's hand, and pulled her down to sit next to him. The movement hurt him, though, and he winced in pain.

"Jack, you're hurt. Do we need to take you to the doctor?" Lisa was concerned about Jack's pain level.

"No, I'm fine. I'm just a little sore."

"You can't sleep on the couch tonight. Not with a bad back. You're sleeping in your bed tonight." Lisa knew the couch would just make his back pain worse.

"That's not necessary. I'll be fine. Besides, where would you sleep?" he asked.

That hadn't exactly occurred to her, but she wasn't going to be deterred from making sure Jack slept in a bed. "I can sleep in the same bed. We did it before when I had a bad dream. We're both adults who respect each other. I'm not worried about you being inappropriate or anything like that."

"Okay, I'm not against sharing a bed, but what are we going to say to the girls? They're going to notice if they get up during the night and I'm not on the couch." Jack really didn't want to confuse the girls about things. Lisa and him were in a good place at the moment, but they weren't exactly solid yet.

"Do we have to say anything to them?" Lisa wondered if they really needed to make it such a big deal.

"Have you met Lou?" Jack quipped.

Lis laughed at that. "Okay, good point. We'll just say that you hurt your back, and we both need a bed to sleep in. Is that good enough? I still don't think we really have to say anything until they do, though."

"I guess. I think we just need to be honest. I know you aren't ready to tell them about any of the progress we've made in our relationship, and I support that. If we don't say anything, it looks like we're hiding something. I mean, we are, but they don't need to know that."

Lisa knew that Jack was right, but she hated to admit it. "Yeah, you're probably right. Okay, we'll tell them. But not until bedtime so they don't have a lot of time to talk and get themselves worked up about it. Let's just make it super casual. Do we mention the time you stayed after I had a nightmare? They never knew about that."

"If they make a big deal about it, we can say that I stayed with you once before when you had a nightmare. Just to show that it's not a big deal. I am looking forward to sleeping in the bed. I've missed it." Jack missed sleeping next to Lisa as well, but he didn't want to mention that and freak her out. "You know, I should go check on the stew. It should be about ready."

"Okay, I'll go get bowls and spoons. Do you want to eat in the kitchen or the dining room?" Lisa asked.

"You know what. The kitchen is fine since it's just the two of us tonight."

They made their way to the kitchen and got prepared for dinner. Lisa was enjoying just having a relaxing evening at home with Jack. She felt bad that he was in so much pain, though.

After eating the stew and taking care of the dishes and leftovers, the couple moved back to the couch in the living room. Jack wanted to watch the hockey game. Lisa didn't really care about hockey, but she wanted to spend time with Jack, so she sat down next to him to watch the game. Jack put his arm around her, and she leaned against him. They sat that way until they heard the door open when the girls got home. He moved his arm from around Lisa. She smiled shyly at him and scooted away from him a bit.

Lyndy ran into the living room first. "We had dinner at Maggie's!"

Jack and Lisa chuckled at the girl's excitement. Lisa patted the spot next to her on the couch and invited Lyndy to sit down next to them. "What did you have for dinner?"

"I had a cheeseburger, fries, and a milkshake!" Lyndy said excitedly.

Amy came in and directed Lyndy to the bathroom to brush her teeth so she could get ready for bed. Katie said hello and excused herself to her room to finish some homework.

Lou walked into the living room and sat down in one of the chairs. "How was your day? Did Georgie get off on her trip, okay?"

"It was extremely busy getting ready to send the horses and everyone to the races. I know you didn't plan it this way, but it was nice to have a quiet evening after the chaos of today."

"Oh, I bet. Sometimes, you just need to sit in silence after an extremely busy day. Grandpa, how was your day?"

"Oh, it was mostly fine." Jack inwardly cringed because he knew that he'd just invited questioning from his oldest granddaughter.

"What do you mean by mostly fine?" Lou asked, looking at him concerned.

Lisa filled Lou in on what had happened. "He had a little spill on the front steps. He was rushing back from the barn in the rain and slipped on a leaf on the steps. He almost ate the porch."

"Oh, no! Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" asked Lou.

"I tweaked my back a little bit, but nothing major. I'll be just fine." Jack brushed it off in an attempt to get people to not worry or make a big fuss.

Lou looked worried anyway. "You can't sleep on the couch like that. It's already not great for your back."

"We already discussed it. We can share the bed in our room. I'll be fine." Lisa was very matter of fact hoping that Lou wouldn't make more out of the situation than was actually happening.

"Are you guys ready for that? It's kind of a big step."

"Well, it's not the first time." Lou gave Lisa a look, so she knew she had to clarify quickly. "No, not like that. I had a nightmare a while back, and I asked him to stay with me that night after he came in to check on me. He was a total gentleman. I'm sure he will be once again. I trust him. You are right that he shouldn't sleep on the couch with an injured back, but I can't sleep on the couch with my injured arm. We'll just have to make do. We're quite the pair, huh?"

Lou looked at them a little skeptically. "Okay, well, I'm glad that Grandpa won't be on the couch. I worry about him when he doesn't have a tweaked back."

"I'm just fine, Lou. I'm a grown man. You don't have to worry about me." Jack snapped at Lou.

"Come on, Jack. Your family cares about your well-being. Be nice." Lisa gave Jack a stern look.

"Thank you, Lisa. It's true. We just want you to be healthy and not in pain, Grandpa. Is that so bad?" Lou looked frustrated with her grandfather.

Lisa could understand Lou's frustration. They just wanted Jack to be okay and healthy. She didn't understand why that made him grumpy.

Jack huffed. "No, it's not a bad thing. I just don't like being fussed over. I just want to do my thing and not have people worrying about me like I'm some invalid."

Lou rolled her eyes. "No one thinks you're an invalid. That's an issue that you need to work out for yourself."

"Let's change the subject so your grandfather isn't the subject of our discussion anymore," suggests Lisa. "How was your day, Lou?"

Lou told Lisa and Jack about her day and had some funny stories about crazy customers being demanding.

While Lou was talking about her day, Amy joined everyone in the living room after getting Lyndy put to bed. They all sat and chatted about their days and the latest news around Hudson.

After a while, Jack started to nod off. Lisa nudged him and told him to go to bed. Jack got up and went to brush his teeth. He then kissed Amy and Lou on top of their heads and went into the bedroom and shut the door.

Amy looked at Lisa with a confused expression. "Grandpa is sleeping in your room? Are you going to sleep there too?"

"He tweaked his back earlier today. He and I decided that he shouldn't sleep on the couch. I can't sleep on the couch with my arm this way." When Amy started to say something, Lisa continued, "It's not a big deal. He stayed with me one night not long after I got out of the hospital. I had a nightmare and didn't want to be alone. As I told your sister already, he was a gentleman, and I trust him to be one now as well."

"Wow, okay. I had no idea about the nightmare. I'm sorry. Those can really mess with you when you wake up," Amy sympathized.

"Yeah, it was after his old truck was brought here. I dreamed about getting into an accident in the truck. We couldn't figure out if it was a memory or just my brain trying to put together the details I heard about the accident. Everything was so hard then. It's still hard now, but it was so fresh and new then."

Amy gave Lisa a sympathetic look. "I can't imagine how hard all of this has been. You've been doing so well, though. I've been impressed with how much you have taken on and just worked through it."

"Me too," Lou added.

Lisa was grateful for the support from Amy and Lou. "Thanks. I don't always feel like I'm doing that. I've had plenty of moments where I just wanted to run away and hide and hope that my memory comes back. The longer I go without it returning, the more I've realized that I've just got to figure out the life I want and get on with it. I think that I'm far from really figuring anything out, but I've made progress. Georgie has been a great addition to my staff and has been a buffer for me. I'm starting to think about the fact that she will need to go back to her life in Florida, and I will no longer have that buffer. I will have to figure things out on my own. It's scary, but life doesn't stop just because I don't always know what I'm doing and feel lost."

"What about Grandpa?" Amy asked hesitantly. "Where does he fit into all of this?"

Lisa sighed and thought for a moment. "I don't know. We have gotten closer, but I know that it's not as much or as fast as he would like. However, I can't just make myself feel the way I did before the accident. I'm missing over 17 years of experience. So, for now, we're good friends in a really complicated way that includes me referring to him as my husband when talking to people who don't know about my amnesia. Your grandfather has been so patient and kind with me, but I know he's struggling too. He just doesn't show it as much."

"I didn't realize that you had all of this insight, but I guess we haven't talked much lately," Lou admitted. "I think you'll be just fine in the long run. Be patient with yourself and give yourself time to figure things out. Grandpa loves you, and he's not going to give up on you. We won't either."

Amy nodded in agreement. "Lou's right. I think we haven't always known how to handle this, so we've stepped back, but that was wrong of us. We're going to help out more and be there for you more."

"Thanks, girls." Lisa felt like she might get emotional, so she excused herself to the bathroom to get ready for bed. She gave Amy and Lou hugs on her way to the bedroom. She was nervous about sharing a bed with Jack, but she also knew that it needed to happen.

Jack had gone to bed because he was falling asleep on the couch, but after he went to bed, he couldn't fall asleep. He'd heard bits and pieces of Lisa's conversation with Lou and Amy. He was proud of all of them for how they handled it. The girls didn't pressure Lisa too much, and she took the time to explain how she was feeling about things. He had hoped that they would get closer. They were the most important people in his life, and he wanted them to understand one another better. When he heard Lisa coming to bed he considered pretending to be asleep, but he wanted to make sure that Lisa could find a comfortable position in bed before he turned off the light and went to sleep.

Lisa was surprised to see the nightstand lamps still on when she entered their bedroom and Jack sitting up leaning against the headboard. "You're still awake? I thought you'd be sound asleep by now."

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "You know how it is. You're falling asleep on the couch, but by the time you're done getting ready for bed, you're awake again."

"Yeah, I hate it when that happens. So… I need to change into my pajamas. Can you close your eyes?" Lisa felt awkward about everything, but if she was being honest, it wasn't as awkward as she thought it would be.

"Sure. That's fine." Jack closed his eyes. In a way, it made him sad that he had to close his eyes, but he wouldn't dream of doing anything to disrespect her.

Lisa got changed as quickly as she could. Once she was decent, she stood next to the bed and said, "You can open your eyes now."

Jack looked at Lisa and smiled. "Are you sure you're okay with me being here?"

"Yes. You can't sleep on the couch with your back hurting like that. We'll be fine sharing. We have before."

"Okay, well, I'm starting to get sleepy again." Jack turned off the lamp on his nightstand and moved to lie down. "Do you need help getting your pillows set up?"

"I don't know?" Lisa climbed into bed and began rearranging her pillows and figured out a comfortable way to lay. "I'm okay."

Lisa turned off her bedside lamp as well. "How is your back feeling?"

"It's not great, but I'll be okay." Jack replied quietly.

"You're still planning to get up and do chores in the morning, aren't you?" Lisa had learned that Jack was up and out in the barn before sun-up no matter what.

"Yes. I need to take care of the horses. It's part of running a ranch." He knew where Lisa was going with her line of questioning.

"You could have had the girls help you. I'm sure Amy would step in for you in a heartbeat. If I wasn't disabled right now, I'd be helping you, too." Lisa knew that Jack was stubborn and would get up in the morning no matter what, but she couldn't help but try to convince him to stay in bed a little longer and get more rest.

Jack patted Lisa's arm. "I'll be okay. The horses need to be watered and fed."

"You're so stubborn," said Lisa.

Jack couldn't see Lisa's face, but he could hear in her voice that she was simultaneously exasperated and amused by him. He started to laugh.

"Stop it. It's not funny," Lisa protested.

"I'm sorry. I was just imagining your face, and it was very cute." Jack sounded simultaneously amused and in love.

Lisa responded, "You're ridiculous. Go to sleep."

"Okay, fine. Goodnight, Lis."

"Goodnight, Jack."

To Be Continued