Chapter 33
By Friday, Jack's back was better. He was able to drive and ride his horse again. Although he would never admit it, he was glad that he had gone to the doctor and gotten medication. On Friday afternoon, Jack came in from working outside. He was in an upbeat mood. "Hey, Lis."
"Hey." Lisa looked up from her computer. "How did it go today? Were you able to ride Blue?"
"It was good. Yes, it was good to ride him again. I missed it." Jack walked over to join Lisa at the table and kissed the top of her head before sitting down next to her.
"Good. I'm glad. I look forward to riding again, too." Lisa went back to working on her computer.
Jack tapped his hands on the table nervously, sat back in the chair, and then leaned forward.
Lisa turned to look at him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I just wanted to ask you about something," Jack said nervously.
"Okay. Go ahead and ask. I don't bite. I promise." Lisa gave Jack a reassuring smile.
"So, I was wondering what you want to do about the sleeping situation since my back is better. Would you mind if I kept sleeping in bed with you?" Jack didn't want to go back to the couch. Sleeping in his bed made it clear that he wasn't sleeping well on the couch.
"You know what? It would be fine with me. I always felt bad about kicking you out of your bed. We can keep sleeping in the same bed." Lisa thought it was cute how nervous he was.
"Okay, good. I noticed that I sleep better in the bed, but if you didn't want to keep sharing, I would have gone back to the couch." Jack felt so relieved that Lisa was okay with sharing their bed.
"That's sweet of you, but it's not necessary. We can share. Plus, we don't want your back to go back to how it was. Sleeping in a bed will be better for it." Lisa liked sleeping next to Jack. She could use his back as an excuse, but that was only a small part of why she wanted to keep their sleeping arrangement the way it was.
Jack, wanting to change the subject, asked, "How's it going for you? Are your horses ready for their races?"
"They are. I had video calls with their trainers earlier. They're all ready to go. I'm looking forward to seeing how these horses do. I just wish I could be there for either one of them. It's hard not going to watch them." Lisa had spent a lot of the week on the phone and on her computer with two of her horses in races in two different places. It was hectic keeping track of everything.
That night, Katie had been invited to hang out with Brandon and Ellie. They were going to go out for pizza and then watch a movie so Lou drove her into town. Brandon's mom was going to bring the kids home after the movie. During dinner, Lou lamented that her baby was all grown up.
Jack chuckled at Lou being a little dramatic, but at the same time, he knew how she felt. His great granddaughters were growing up so fast. "It will be okay, Lou. Now you know how I felt when you and Amy were getting older. It happens very fast. It seems like just yesterday that your grandma and I were bringing Marion home from the hospital, and now I have great granddaughters. I don't know where all the time went." Tears formed in Jack's eyes.
Lou noticed the tears and went to hug Jack. "Aw, grandpa."
He waved her off. "I'm fine. I just had the thought that I wish they could be here to see how you and Amy have grown up. They would be very proud of you."
Lisa gave Jack a sympathetic smile. Sometimes, she wondered how she dealt with the memory of Jack's first wife before. Knowing that she had been with Jack for so long, the times that she felt like she was living in Lyndy's shadow took her by surprise. It was more Amy and Lou who made her feel that way. Jack seemed to have worked through his feelings regarding Lisa and Lyndy's place in his life. Still, if Lyndy was still there, she wouldn't be, and that was kind of hard to hear. It made Lisa realize that her feelings for Jack were becoming more serious. Although Lisa would never begrudge Jack or his family their memories of Lyndy, sometimes she was a little jealous. It was something she didn't plan to voice to Jack because she knew that wasn't fair to him.
Jack saw the look on Lisa's face and knew he needed to change the subject. He would never apologize for missing his first wife, but he also never wanted to make Lisa feel bad or wonder if he loved her. He had seen that look on Lisa's face before when Lyndy came up. "Amy, how is it going with that horse you're working with? It seems like they're giving you some trouble."
Amy shook her head. "He is really having a hard time. He had been abused when his current owner rescued him. There's a lot to work through with this horse, and he doesn't trust me at all yet. I'm not going to give up on him, though."
"Good. You've worked miracles over the years with horses who everyone else had given up on. You humbled me a few times when I wanted you to stop. You never did, though, and you always got through to the horses." Jack smiled proudly at Amy. He loved her passion for horses and how she never gave up.
After dinner, they sat down in the living room and chatted. Tim noticed Jack sitting on the couch with Lisa instead of in his chair. "So Jack, since you're back to riding horses and all that, are you back to sleeping on the couch?"
Jack rolled his eyes and looked over at Tim. "Actually, no. We managed just fine this week, and we don't want my back to have a setback, so we'll keep the sleeping arrangements as they are."
"Wow, I didn't think you'd get Lisa to sleep with you again," joked Tim.
Lou gasped and said, "Dad, don't be crude."
Tim just shrugged his shoulders and smirked at the couple. "I wasn't being crude. If I was being crude, I would have said something else."
"Dad, stop. We don't need to have this conversation about Grandpa and Lisa. Ew." Amy shuddered.
"Let's change the subject. Jessica, what photos are you working on right now?" asked Lou.
Lisa mouthed "Thank you" to Lou and smiled shyly at Jack.
That night, after they went to bed, Jack and Lisa were lying there in the dark. Jack turned on his side to look at Lisa. "I'm sorry about Tim earlier. That man never knows when to shut up."
"It's fine. I'm used to Tim at this point. Thankfully, Lou got Jessica to talk about her photography and get us on another subject. She could talk about it for hours. I don't really care that much, but I was glad to have the attention off of us."
"Just the same, I still wish he would keep his thoughts to himself. Not every thought has to be vocalized."
Lisa couldn't help but laugh at that. "I'm pretty sure that Tim would disagree with you on that. He can't seem to keep any thought to himself."
On Sunday, Lisa was in a good mood. Both of her horses had won their respective races over the weekend. She was thrilled with the results. They were young and somewhat untested race horses, but she had a feeling that they had a lot of potential to do well in bigger races in the future.
In the afternoon, Jack was getting ready to take their great granddaughters out for ice cream. Lisa wasn't sure if she had been invited on the outing and didn't want to assume anything. Her face lit up when Jack asked if she was ready to go as the girls were getting ready to go.
Lyndy and Katie were excited to ride in Jack's new truck for the first time, and they were always excited for ice cream. "I love your truck, GG," said Katie.
"Me too," added Lyndy. "It's kind of pretty."
Jack grumbled a little. "My truck isn't pretty. Trucks aren't pretty."
"They are so," argued Lyndy.
Lisa patted Jack's arm and said, "I don't think you're going to win this argument, Jack."
Jack held up a hand in defeat. "Fine, my truck is pretty." He looked at Lyndy in the rearview mirror, and she looked triumphant.
Lisa loved spending time with Katie and Lyndy. They were so funny and sweet. She never imagined that she would be a great grandmother, and it still blew her mind that she had two beautiful great granddaughters. While they were sitting outside eating ice cream, Lisa began to laugh at the picture in front of her. Lyndy was a sticky mess from her ice cream. It was a warmer day than usual, and the ice cream melted pretty quickly. "You're going to need a bath when we get home, Lyndy."
Katie looked over at her cousin and began to laugh as well. "Oh, man. She's gonna get your new truck all sticky, GG."
Lisa pulled a pack of wipes out of her purse. "Amy handed these to me as we were leaving. I get why she did it now." Lisa began to clean Lyndy up.
Jack laughed as Lyndy continued to eat her ice cream, and Lisa tried to clean her up. "You might want to wait until she's done eating. She's just going to keep getting messy."
"GG is right," said Katie.
Lisa laughed and said, "You're right. There's no point in doing this until she's finished."
Once they were all done with their ice cream and Lisa got Lyndy cleaned up enough that she wouldn't get the truck all sticky, they all got into the truck to head home.
When they got home, the girls jumped out of the truck. Katie was walking toward the house, but Lyndy waited for Jack to help Lisa out on her side. As soon as Lisa got out of the truck, Lyndy gave Lisa and Jack a sticky hug around their waists. "Thanks for the ice cream."
The older couple hugged her back. Jack patted Lyndy's back. "You're welcome. Why don't you go inside and see if your mom can give you a bath."
Lynay said, "Okay, GG!" and ran inside.
Jack looked down at Lisa. "Did she get you dirty?"
Lisa looked down. "No, I think it's mostly dry now, but she was still a bit sticky. She'll definitely need a bath." Lisa turned to look at Jack. "Thanks for including me in going to get ice cream. It was fun."
"Of course you were included. You're my wife." Jack gave Lisa a quick side hug, and then they went into the house.
On Monday morning, Lisa returned to Fairfield for the first time since Jack hurt his back. Everyone was in a good mood after the wins over the weekend. Lisa was sitting in her office going over some paperwork. She enjoyed hearing the cheerful voices of her staff while she worked. Around mid-morning, there was a knock on the doorframe. She looked up to see Georgie standing there looking nervous. "Hi, Georgie. Come for a walk with me."
The two of them took a walk over to the house and sat in the chairs on the porch. Lisa had a feeling she knew what was coming and wanted to go someplace less busy and filled with people to talk.
After they sat down, Georgie leaned forward in her seat. "Lisa, this experience has been kind of amazing. I have learned so much from you. However, my horse is doing much better and I need to leave in about two weeks. A week from Friday will be my last day."
"I had a feeling this news was coming. I've been preparing for it. You have done an amazing job, and you have a position here whenever you want one. I'll admit I wasn't sure when Jack recommended you, but you put any fears I had at ease the moment I met you, and you have continued to impress me ever since." Lisa stood up and pulled Georgie up into a hug.
After Georgie pulled back from the hug, she nervously laughed. "I don't know why I was scared to tell you this. I should know better. You're doing an amazing job, too. I can't imagine dealing with everything you are dealing with and running this business. I was already impressed by you before the accident, but it is off the charts now."
Lisa felt bad that Georgie was worried to tell her what was going on. "Thank you, honey. You will be missed around here. Not just by me. The staff really like you and have accepted you in this role. In order to move back into that role full time, over the next two weeks, I'm going to be taking over more and more responsibilities from you to wind down your job here. That will also give you time to spend with any family or friends in the area before you go back to Florida."
"Wow, thank you. I know my mom will like that. I talked to my dad about coming home for a while before I go. He said he needed to move some things around, but he was already working on it. My mom doesn't know yet." Georgie looked excited to see her dad and to surprise her mom.
"Aw, your mom will be thrilled to have your dad back. She was just telling me the other day how much she misses him," said Lisa.
"How are you and Jack doing?" asked Georgie.
"We're okay. It's a process trying to figure things out," Lisa admitted.
"I've seen you be kind of affectionate here. I wasn't sure how much of that was just you trying to make your employees think that nothing had changed, but then one of the trainers said that they saw you making out on a dirt road near here. They said that they liked to drive down there and sit in their truck to have lunch, but they had to turn around. I haven't said anything to the family because I figured you needed space to work through everything before you officially announced anything." Georgie almost looked embarrassed that she had brought it up.
Lisa's face turned bright red. "Oh my god. I didn't know anyone saw us. That's really all we've done. I like Jack a lot, and I'm working on feeling more, but for right now, we've been keeping any developments in our relationship between us for now. I didn't want any extra pressure, and neither did Jack."
"I won't say anything," said Georige. "No one here knows about your memory, so they just thought their boss was acting like a teenager and thought it was a little weird. Someone suggested that you were being more daring because you survived that accident."
"I'm so embarrassed." Lisa put her head in her hand.
"Don't be. You guys can do whatever you want. Although I've lived with you and I've seen you kiss many times, I've never seen you even get close to that. However, you two have always adored each other, and I'm glad to see that it's coming back for you. Jack is miserable without you."
"Thanks, Georgie. I still haven't figured things out yet, but we're getting there slowly but surely."
That evening, Jack picked Lisa up from work and drove her home. He reached over and squeezed her hand. "How was work today?"
"It was okay. Everyone was in a good mood after the wins this weekend. I got some news that I knew was coming, but I still wasn't thrilled about it."
"What was that?" asked Jack.
Lisa sighed. "Georgie put in her two weeks' notice. She needs to get back to Florida. I knew this was coming, but I'm still sad about it. I really liked working with her."
Jack pulled Lisa's hand to his lips and kissed it. "I'm sorry. We always knew it was temporary, but I know it has been good to have her here."
Jack kissing Lisa's hand reminded her of the conversation she had with Georgie. "Oh, Georgie told me something that was kind of embarrassing. One of my employees saw us kissing when we parked on that dirt road."
Jack's face turned red. "What?"
"Apparently, one of my employees likes to eat his lunch on that road in his truck. Georgie said she won't say anything to the family. She was very supportive of us taking our time to figure things out on our own." Lisa was so embarrassed by the whole thing, but she had to give credit to her employees because they were completely normal around her.
"Well, now I'm embarrassed, too. How am I supposed to look at Georgie or any of your employees now?" Jack wiped a hand over his face. He couldn't believe that they'd been spotted. "You've been wanting to keep things quiet. I'm surprised you aren't more embarrassed."
"Oh, I am, but I trust Georgie not to say anything. She kept it to herself until now, and my employees all acted normal as well." Lisa didn't mind her employees thinking that she was in love with her husband. It didn't matter to her if that was true or not because it kept them from second guessing anything about her.
When they arrived back at Heartland, they went inside. Lisa sat down on the couch, and Jack sat in his chair.
"What time are you going to get your cast off on Friday?" asked Jack.
Lisa looked up from the email she was replying to and answered, "I think at 1:30. I need to double-check, though." She pulled out her phone and looked at her calendar. "Yup, my appointment is at 1:30."
"Okay, I'll pick you up at around 12:45." Jack was looking forward to Lisa getting her cast off, but at the same time, he was worried. Georgie was leaving soon, and her house would be empty. With her cast off, she would no longer need him or the family. He loved Lisa's independence, but now he was afraid that it would lead to her leaving Heartland.
Lou walked into the house. When she saw Jack and Lisa in the living room, she went in to talk to them. "Hey, how's it going?"
"It's going okay," replied Lisa. Based on the look on Lou's face, she knew that Lou had spoken to Georgie. "You want to know how I feel about Georgie leaving, don't you?"
Lou nodded. "Yes. She called me a little bit ago. She felt like it went okay, but she still feels bad about leaving. I'll admit that I don't want her to leave either and was kind of hoping that you would convince her to stay. I asked her to come to dinner. I want to get every minute with her that I can. She also wants to come and talk to dad. He gets so hurt when he finds out information from other people. He's still probably the last to know, and he hates that too."
"I'm okay, Lou. Georgie doesn't have to worry. I knew this was coming and have been preparing for that. We'll all miss her, and she always has a job with me, but I understand why she has to go." Lisa knew that Lou missed Georgie when she was away and was just wishing that she could live closer to them.
"Okay. She was just feeling bad about leaving. I'm kind of surprised that you're so okay with her leaving since your memory isn't back yet," Lou remarked.
Lisa's eyes went wide at Lou's last comment. "Well, she doesn't need to feel bad. I appreciate all that she has done, but I understand that it's time for her to leave. As for the other thing you said, that's not for you to comment on." Lisa loved working with Georgie, and she was going to miss her dearly, but she was okay with her moving on. She decided that she would talk to Georgie before dinner to make sure that the girl understood that she wasn't upset.
"Sorry. I was just trying to help." Lou walked off and went to her room and closed the door.
Jack watched the conversation between Lisa and Lou but didn't say anything himself. He felt like Lou was interfering with Lisa and Georgie when she didn't need to do so.
Lisa got up from the couch. "I just remembered an email I forgot to send. I'm going to go take care of that before dinner." She walked into the bedroom and closed the door.
Jack got up and followed Lisa. After he entered the bedroom and shut the door, he asked, "Are you okay?"
Lisa sat down on the bed and sighed. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm just kind of annoyed by Lou's questioning. If she wants Georgie to stay, she can talk to Georgie herself. I love the girl and wish she was staying, but that is her decision to make. I don't appreciate her questioning my ability to run my business either. That was completely uncalled for."
Jack pulled Lisa up from where she was sitting on the bed and pulled her into a hug. He kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry. I learned a long time ago to not get in between you two unless things get really bad. I can talk to Lou if you want."
"No, it's fine. I'll talk to her myself if she keeps it up. Otherwise, I'll just let it go." Lisa reached up and kissed Jack. "Thanks for the support. I appreciate it."
"You're welcome. It's no big deal, though. You're my wife, and I'll always support you," said Jack.
"Well, thank you anyway." Lisa looked up at Jack and smiled.
"I'm so proud of you for how you've handled everything. You're amazing." Jack dipped his head to kiss Lisa.
Lisa pulled away from the kiss and leaned her head on Jack's chest. "I like you. A lot."
"Yeah? Good. The feeling is mutual." Jack kissed the top of her head.
To be continued
Author's Note: Sorry for the delay with the latest chapter. I had some big rewrites I had to do in order to keep up with the goal of always having the next two chapters written before I post the current chapter. This chapter was just sitting there waiting to be edited while I worked all of that out. I was also not feeling well last week and into this week. I'm still not feeling great, but I was able to get more writing done the last few days and slowly but surely finished Chapter 35 and began Chapter 36. Thanks for all your reviews. I really appreciate them!