Chapter 40
Jack went out to the kitchen. Lou was sitting at the kitchen table looking at her phone. She looked up and said, "Hi, Grandpa. How's it going?"
"It's going well. I was just checking on Lisa. She laid down after she got home from work today. She said you were trying to contact Georgie." Jack leaned against the counter.
"Yeah, I wanted to spend some one-on-one time with her before everyone else got home." Lou was distractedly looking at her phone.
"She'll probably be home soon. She just wanted to get a ride after she and Lisa finished at Fairfield. She was off before Lisa and I even got into the house." Jack sat down at the table.
Lou looked at her grandfather as he sat down with her. "How's Lisa doing? Is she down from Georgie leaving?"
"Lisa's okay. She's going to miss Georgie, but I'm not sure that it's much more than any of us will miss her. I think for her it's just a little different because Lisa has come to depend on her at Fairfield."
"How are you two doing? Not that you'd tell me, but has there been any progress there?"
Jack laughed and said, "You're right. I wouldn't tell you, but we're fine. It is what it is. Lisa has a lot to deal with, and I'll be there for her because she's my wife. I love her, and I promised to always be there for her no matter what."
Lou grinned at her grandfather. "Lisa is lucky to have you. You are a good example to me and to everyone on how to be there for their partner. It's not just this, which is bigger than anything you've ever faced. But even with all the traveling that Lisa has done, you've been so good about it. I've never been as good about it with Peter."
"I haven't always been so good about all the traveling Lisa does. We've had many arguments about it. You just might not have been around for them. It took us a long time to work through it." Jack thought back to their last fight about it. They had both gotten very snippy with each other, but they had worked it out, and both of them were honest with each other. It turned out that they weren't that far apart on how they felt about it. The problem was that they just hadn't communicated how they really felt.
Georgie came into the house just then. "Hi, mom!"
"Did you have a nice ride?" asked Lou.
"Yeah, it was really good to get out and ride. It will probably be my last one here in Alberta for a while," replied Georgie.
"I was hoping to get some one-on-one time with you before everyone else got home and called you a few times."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Georgie apologized. "I realized while I was out that I had left my phone sitting on Katie's desk when I dropped off my luggage after Lisa and I got home. I'm home now. What do you want to do?"
"I didn't have any specific plans. I just wanted to spend time with you because we don't have much time left before you leave and I'm going to miss you like crazy."
Jack decided to give the mother and daughter some space. "I need to go get some work done out in the barn. I'm just going to let Lisa know that I'm going." He got up from the table and went back to the bedroom.
Lisa had been looking through her emails and texts a little more to learn about her relationships with her colleagues and clients. She knew that she needed to really study that now as she was going back to work without the buffer of having Georgie there.
When Lisa heard the bedroom door open, she looked up to see her husband walking into the room and shutting the door. "Hey, how's it going?"
"I'm good." Jack sat down on the end of the bed facing Lisa. "I just wanted to give Lou and Georgie space so they could have some mother daughter time. I think I'm going to go out to the barn and get some work done out there unless I can convince you to go on a trail ride with me."
"Hmmm, a trail ride does sound nice. Especially if it's just the two of us. How are we going to explain that to Lou, though?"
"We can just say that we decided to go for a ride because you wanted to get outside for a while."
There was a knock on the door just then. "Grandpa?" Lou called through the door.
Jack walked over and answered the door. "Yes?"
"Georgie and I are going to pick Katie up from school and then go get manicures," answered Lou.
"Okay, have fun," replied Jack.
Lisa appeared behind Jack, "Have fun!"
Jack jumped. He hadn't heard Lisa get up from the bed. "You scared me to death!"
Lou and Lisa both laughed at Jack's reaction.
"Hey, it's not funny!" said Jack in protest.
"It was a little funny," said Lou.
"Oh, I found it very funny. I didn't even mean to scare him. It just happened." Lisa laughed again.
Jack just grunted in response.
"Well, we need to get going. Amy said she was picking Lyndy up from school, so you don't have to worry about her." Lou walked away, and Jack closed the door.
Lisa smiled at Jack. "So, it looks like we're free to go on our ride without any explanation."
"Looks like it." Jack grabbed Lisa's hand and began leading her out of their bedroom. He stopped by the door to put his boots on, and Lisa joined him to do the same.
Once they had their boots on, Lisa remembered that her phone was still in the bedroom and quickly grabbed it.
Jack stood in the kitchen waiting for Lisa to come back. When she did, he was struck by how beautiful she was and pulled her into his arms, and kissed her deeply. They were lost in the kiss when they heard someone clear their throat. Jack and Lisa broke apart to find Peter standing there holding a suitcase.
Jack cleared his throat and coughed a bit. "We didn't expect to see you this weekend. We thought you came last weekend because you couldn't this weekend."
"It ended up that I could, and I wanted to surprise Georgie. I don't know when she'll be on Canadian soil again. So…This is new." Peter gestured towards Jack and Lisa. "Are you two officially back together?" Peter was looking between the two of them with an amused expression on his face.
"We are." Lisa put her arm around Jack and smiled at him before looking back at Peter and continuing. "It's new. Very new. We aren't planning to say anything to the family this weekend. We don't want to take any attention away from Georgie. We'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything to anyone."
"Of course," Peter agreed. "You'd never hear the end of it from Lou and Tim. We all know how they are. I'd actually encourage you to tell Georgie soon, though. It will make her very happy. She told me last weekend that it was something she wanted to happen before she left for Florida. Maybe just don't be kissing in the kitchen if you don't want people to know."
Jack laughed nervously. "Okay, we'll keep that in mind. We're actually on our way to go for a ride. We'll see you later." Jack led Lisa out of the house to the barn.
Once they were out of the house and down the stairs, Lisa laughed a little at being caught. "So much for keeping it completely under wraps for a little while."
"I think of anyone in the family to catch us, Peter was probably the best. I don't think he'll say anything," said Jack. He was trying to reassure Lisa as much as himself.
Lisa had been to another physical therapy appointment since the last time she had ridden a horse. She had been working on the exercises that they gave her to build up the strength in her arm. She was feeling stronger and didn't need as much assistance getting up on her horse. Lisa was really proud of herself for that. The idea that she couldn't get up on a horse on her own hadn't sat well with her, and she had worked hard to get closer to making it happen. She was almost there.
"You're getting better at that. I'm proud of you!" Jack was happy to see Lisa regaining her strength. He knew she didn't like not being able to get up on a horse by herself.
The couple headed off on their ride, and Jack took her to one of his favorite spots. "We haven't ridden up here in a while. Even before the accident, we've been pretty busy and don't always have time to go for rides together."
"Oh, Jack. Thanks for bringing me here. It's beautiful." Lisa was in awe of the scenery. It made her grateful that she lived in Alberta.
Jack leaned over in his saddle and kissed Lisa. "You're welcome. It's one of our favorite spots. We haven't been able to come here because you couldn't ride, but I've been wanting to bring you here again ever since we started working on rebuilding our relationship."
"Well, thank you for bringing me here now. It really is beautiful." Lisa looked over at Jack. She loved him so much it was overwhelming. "How did I end up with such a wonderful man? I never imagined my life turning out like this."
"I didn't either. When Lyndy died, I accepted that I would just be a lonely widower for the rest of my life. Instead, I met you who turned out to be the most wonderful woman in the world, and I love you more than I thought was humanly possible." Jack reached over to take Lisa's hand and kissed it.
"You already got lucky today, Cowboy. You don't have to lay it on so thick," Lisa teased.
Jack blushed a little bit. "I'm doing no such thing. I'm just being honest about my feelings. I wouldn't be against getting lucky again, though."
Lisa couldn't help but laugh at Jack's enthusiasm towards her. "I don't know if that's happening at Heartland today, but we could always sneak off to Fairfield sometime this weekend. It's just sitting there empty. I was planning to bring you there on Sunday to tell you I love you, but I got impatient."
"Well, I'm glad you got impatient. Today has been a pretty great day." Jack got down off his horse and motioned for Lisa to do the same. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply. He was so happy that not only could he kiss Lisa, but he also didn't have to hold back on sharing his feelings when he was around her.
Lisa leaned back in Jack's arms and looked up at him. "I love you so much.
"I love you so much, too." Jack kissed Lisa again.
They walked together with their horses for a bit and sat down on a large rock that was nearby to where they were. They both still held onto the reins for their horses as they sat watching their horses eat the grass in front of them.
Lisa leaned her head on Jack's shoulder. "It's so beautiful out here. I'm glad you suggested that we go for a ride. It has been good to be on a horse again. I knew I missed it, but these two rides I've been on have made it clear just how much I missed it."
"It has been good to get out here and ride with you." Jack turned and kissed Lisa's hair. "You look great on a horse."
"Stop. I do not." Lisa felt her cheeks getting hot as she blushed.
"We'll just have to agree to disagree about that." Jack smirked at Lisa when she lifted her head from his shoulder and looked up at him. Jack leaned over and kissed Lisa.
After Lisa broke away from the kiss, she said, "We should probably start heading back to the house. We've been out on our ride for a while."
"Okay, fine. I would have been happy being here kissing you for a while." Jack kissed Lisa on the cheek.
"I know. Me too, but everyone is going to wonder where we were, and we don't want to alert their suspicions about what we were up to. It's bad enough that Peter caught us earlier." Lisa was still kind of embarrassed that they had been caught kissing like a couple of teenagers.
"Fine, we can go back to the house now." Jack stood up and held out a hand to Lisa.
Lisa accepted Jack's hand and stood up with him. "I promise that I'll make it worth your while later."
"How much later?" Jack smirked at Lisa.
"You're ridiculous. You're lucky I love you so much." Lisa shook her head and laughed.
Jack laughed as well and helped Lisa back onto her horse before getting back on his own. "Okay, let's go."
"Lead the way, Cowboy." Lisa grinned at Jack.
The couple made their way back to the barn. They were laughing and joking as they rode up.
Tim and Amy were standing outside talking. "You two are in good moods. I figured you'd be distraught because Georgie is abandoning you," commented Tim.
Lisa rolled her eyes. "I'm going to miss Georgie, but I understand that she needs to get back to her life in Florida."
"Dad, leave Lisa alone. And Georgie, too. She isn't abandoning Lisa. She's going back to Florida because her horse is better." Amy sounded exasperated with her dad.
Jack and Lisa dismounted their horses and led them into the barn in order to untack them and brush them out before putting them back in their stalls. Lisa had enjoyed getting out to ride and wanted to do it more often. She hoped that life would not get too crazy for her with Georgie leaving and that she would still have time for fun things like that with Jack.
On the walk back to the house, Lisa realized that she felt almost giddy about her relationship with Jack and wasn't sure how she was going to keep it under wraps all weekend. "I have a feeling that I'm going to have a hard time containing myself this weekend around you."
Jack smirked and looked over at his wife. "I know the feeling. We could just say something so that it's out in the open and we don't have to hide anything anymore."
"I know, but I really don't want to take any attention away from Georgie. This is her last weekend at home, and she deserves to be the center of attention right now." Lyndy came out to greet them as they were walking up to the house. Lisa was thankful for the distraction of her youngest great-granddaughter.
"GG! Lisa!" Lyndy launched herself at her great grandparents and threw her arms around them.
Jack picked her up. "Hi, kiddo. Did you have a good day at school? Are you ready for summer break to start next week?"
Lyndy nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! I'm going to ride Harley every single day. I'm going to miss seeing my friends at school, though."
Lisa patted her back. "I bet your mom will organize some playdates for you, and you'll still have barrel racing as well."
Jack kissed Lyndy on the cheek and put her down. "We're going to go inside. If you're looking for your mom, she's in the barn."
"Okay!" Lyndy ran to the barn to see Amy.
"I wish they could bottle that energy," commented Lisa. "Other than my memory, one of the main things I really want back from 17 years ago is my energy. I just don't have the stamina I once did."
"I hear you there. Thankfully, I have all these younger and feisty women living with me to keep me young." Jack chuckled and winked at Lisa before heading into the house.
Lisa stood there, smirking at him for a second before joining him. "You're ridiculous."
"Maybe, but you lo…" Jack stopped himself before saying what he wanted when a family member could potentially hear him.
"Good job catching yourself there, but I know what you were going to say, and you're right. I do." Lisa walked off to their bedroom and shut the door.
Jack looked around and noticed no one was in the kitchen or living room, so he followed Lisa into the bedroom. "I love you too," he said quietly.
Lisa had been looking at the clothes in her drawer, trying to decide if she wanted to change. After Jack said he loved her, Lisa shut the drawer and walked over to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
The kiss got a little more intense. Jack broke away for a moment and locked the door. "I didn't want anyone interrupting." He went back to kissing his wife and wrapped his arms around her. Jack was never again going to take for granted being able to do that.
Lisa leaned back. "Won't the locked door signal something is going on in here? We should probably stop and pull ourselves together here. You can kiss me all you want after we go to bed tonight. How does that sound?"
"That sounds perfect." Jack gave Lisa a quick but passionate kiss and then unlocked the door and walked back to the living room.
Lisa went back to looking for some clean clothes that didn't smell like horses and chuckled at Jack being willing to do what she wanted with the promise of kisses. She figured she'd let him get a little frisky, too. Lisa heard Jack talking to Peter out in the living room. She didn't feel like facing him after he caught them earlier in the day. Once she changed her clothes, she decided to lie down and look at her phone for a bit.
Amy and Lyndy came into the house, so Lisa got up and joined people in the living room. Lyndy came and sat down next to her. Lisa was struck by how sweet her youngest great granddaughter was, and it made her heart clench. She put her arm around the little girl and pulled her close to her side.
Lou, Georgie, and Katie came in shortly after with pizzas for dinner. Lou didn't see Peter sitting there, but Georgie and Katie did and ran to greet their father. "Dad! You said you couldn't be her this weekend! What are you doing here?" Georgie looked so happy to see her father.
"I didn't think that I could, but then I was able to work it out and wanted to surprise my girls. I don't know when you'll be back in Canada again, Georgie." Peter stood and pulled his daughters into a big hug.
Lou had walked into the living room when she heard Peter's voice. Peter walked over to Lou and kissed her. Lou looked up at him and said, "I'm so glad that you could come this weekend. Georgie was just saying how bummed she was that you couldn't be here."
"I'm glad that I can be here too. I'm always thankful to have time with my girls." Peter looked toward the kitchen. "Do I smell pizza?"
"Yeah, Georgie wanted pizza for dinner, and I was happy to not have to cook. Come on, everyone. Come get yourself some pizza. Katie picked out some sodas as well." Lou walked into the kitchen to pull out plates and cups.
Lisa noticed Lyndy and Amy watching the scene in front of them, and both looked a little sad. Because she didn't remember Ty, she sometimes forgot the tragic way that they lost him. Lisa's heart broke for them. The last couple of months, they had become such an important part of her life. She couldn't imagine how hard it was sometimes to see Lou's happy family.
During dinner, Lisa enjoyed spending time with the family. Knowing the change in her relationship with Jack, it gave her a measure of peace to be there and enjoy really being part of the family. If she was honest, being a wife was still overwhelming for her, but it didn't seem as scary as it had at one time.
To Be Continued
Author's note: Sorry for the delay with this chapter. I had some pretty major writer's block for the last week. As frustrating as it was, I'm glad that I took the time and let the story come to me. Once again, thank you for all your reviews. They are much appreciated.