Chapter 64 – A Change in Jack

Wednesday morning, Jack got up with his alarm without so much as a complaint. Even though he was having a wonderful dream, he knew that he had a lot that he needed to do that day and he just hoped that everything worked out. Shortly after Jack's feet hit the floor, Nathan raised his head off his pillow and looked at Jack.

"Morning." Nathan said, his voice was still rough with sleep.

"Morning." Jack chirped.

"Someone is in a good mood this morning." Doug groaned.

Jack was ready to head upstairs as Nathan and Doug pulled themselves from their beds. Lee had rolled over and pulled the blankets back over his head.

"I am heading upstairs." Jack said. "Will someone please wake Tommy or at least attempt to. Trust me when I say that you don't want me to wake Tommy this morning. I may be in a good mood, but I am more likely to throw him in the pool than actually wake him."

Nathan and Doug looked at each other and exchanged grins at Jack's comment.

"I got it." Nathan said. "Where are his clothes?"

"On the dresser." Jack said as he went out the door.

Jack made a quick stop at Elizabeth's door. He knocked but there was no answer, so he continued up to the kitchen. When he walked into the kitchen, Gran looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

"Morning, Gran." Jack said. "Nathan and Doug should be up shortly. Nathan was going to attempt to wake Tommy. Lee might join us and I didn't hear any movement in Elizabeth's room."

"Okay." Gran said. "There are leftover breakfast casseroles or I can make oatmeal."

"This is fine." Jack said dishing up two pieces of the egg and bacon casserole to warm up.

"Coffee?" Gran asked.

"Please." Jack said.

Gran poured Jack a coffee and set it down in front of him. She wanted to talk to him, but she wasn't sure what to say. She couldn't help but hear what had happened the night before and she was concerned about where his head was. After Jack had said a quick prayer, his phone chirped. Jack quickly pulled it out and looked at it.

"No phones at meal time." Gran said gently. "Please."

"Sorry." Jack said. "It was Grandpa John. I will talk to him later."

"Thank you." Gran said.

Jack was half done with his first helping when Nathan and Doug entered the kitchen. Gran quickly made them each a plate. Nathan went straight for the coffee. Doug was right behind him. Nathan and Doug sat down and said a quick prayer before eating. A few moments later, Lee wondered up as well. Elizabeth was right behind him. Gran quickly got them settled with breakfast.

"Tommy up?" Gran asked.

"I went in there." Nathan said. "He didn't want to get up. He missed breakfast yesterday, apparently he didn't learn. His choice."

"At least you did what you were supposed to in trying." Gran said.

"I think that this is even better the next day." Nathan said with a grin.

"Thank you." Gran said. "Okay boys, I have a couple options for lunch."

All four boys looked at her.

"We have plenty of stuff to make sandwiches and have a lighter meal." Gran said. "Or I can do a roast."

Nathan looked at Jack and Doug, then over to Lee. They all seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"How about sandwiches for lunch." Nathan said. "Then we can sit down and have a roast for supper."

"That works." Gran said. "There are plenty of leftover salads from last night as well as fresh fruit and veggies. I figured with the bonfire tomorrow and the charity event this weekend I was going to spend the better part of the day baking."

"I will help you." Elizabeth said. "But Lee and I need to get some stuff done for the show."

"You guys take care of that." Gran said. "If you have time, you can help me. I plan on doing some more baking tomorrow as well."

"In that case." Doug said with a grin.

"What do you want?" Gran asked.

"Fresh bread and peanut butter rice krispies." Doug said.

"I think we can handle that." Gran said.

"Any other requests?" Gran said, looking at the rest of the group.

Jack had a silly dimpled grin on his face. Elizabeth looked over at him and shook her head.

"What is that look for?" Jack asked.

"Because you obviously want something." Elizabeth said. "So what is it?"

"Gran knows." Jack said. "At least what I want her to make."

"I will see." Gran said. "It might have to wait until tomorrow. But I promise I will make them before you leave."

"Thank you." Jack said.

"I assume that there is something else that you want." Elizabeth said.

Jack looked at her for a moment.

"Yes." Jack said. "But it will have to wait until later."

Elizabeth smiled at Jack, she thought she knew what it was that he wanted and was glad that he didn't want to make a big deal of things in front of everyone. She wasn't sure how she felt about rubbing it in everyone's face especially after how things had ended when they had walked away the night before. Jack got up and took his dishes to the sink. He rinsed them and put them in the dishwasher. He then filled his travel mug with coffee. He also made one for Nathan and Doug.

"Lee, heading down to the stable with us?" Jack asked.

"Do you need help?" Lee asked. "Otherwise I thought I would get started on stuff for the show."

"Do that." Jack said. "I was just asking to see if I needed to make a mug of coffee for you."

"Thank you." Lee said. "But I am good."

"If you don't have your computer." Jack said. "Feel free to use mine."

"Login password still the same?" Lee asked.

"Yep." Jack said.

As Jack walked over to place the travel mugs in front of Nathan and Doug, he stopped at Elizabeth. He leaned down and kissed her cheek.

"If you want." Jack said. "I was thinking of getting you on a horse this afternoon."

Elizabeth turned and grinned at Jack and when she did, he dropped a quick kiss on her lips. Everyone stopped and watched Jack and Elizabeth. It was about that time that James and Charlotte walked in followed by Thomas. Elizabeth ducked her head and blushed a bit when she heard them coming into the kitchen area.

"Thank you." Elizabeth said. "Now go, you have a lot to do."

"Yes, ma'am." Jack said, giving Elizabeth a dimpled grin.

Jack didn't say anything to his parents or grandfather that had walked in. It wasn't that he was upset with his grandfather, but Jack wasn't going to give any of them a chance to ruin his good mood. He just went over and pulled on his boots. Before heading out the back door, he turned and looked at Nathan and Doug.

"Don't take all day." Jack said.

He didn't wait for either to respond, but quickly headed out the door and quickly made his way down to the stables.

"What is with him?" James asked.

"I don't know." Charlotte said.

Nathan just looked at Doug and then Elizabeth. Elizabeth gave them a small shrug of her shoulders and went back to eating her breakfast. Doug and Nathan quickly finished their breakfast and took their dishes to the sink just as Thomas, Charlotte and James were sitting down. Doug and Nathan had barely gotten out the door when Tommy had drug himself into the kitchen area and plopped down in a chair. Gran quickly set a bowl of oatmeal in front of him with a couple sliced strawberries.

"Can I have some coffee or an energy drink?" Tommy said not looking at anyone.

"No." Charlotte said. "Eat, because we are almost ready to head out."

Tommy let out a small huff, but was otherwise ignored by the rest of the people at the table. Gran did set a small glass of orange juice in front of Tommy before sitting down.

"So what is the plan?" James asked.

"I am going to get some baking done for tomorrow and the weekend." Gran said.

"Lee and I are going to work on stuff needed for the show." Elizabeth said.

"Sounds like at least a short ride this afternoon for both of us." Lee said.

"I have some stuff that needs to be done." Thomas said. "I was hoping to use the office up here."

"That won't be a problem." Gran said. "I will get you the wi-fi password, Elizabeth should have it, but I can also get it for you Lee.

"That would be great." Lee said. "I will check the laptop first. I have a feeling that Jack might have already put it in there."

"Char and I are going to be in the office." James said. "But we might try to get over to the stud farm. There is stuff there that needs attention as well."

"Very well." Gran said. "Sandwiches, salad, fruit and veggies for lunch. I am going to put a roast in for tonight."

Gran looked around at the people sitting at the table. There was something that she wanted to say, but she was going to leave it be for the time being but she was going to make sure that it was dealt with before the weekend. She didn't like when there was discord in her house. She knew that a lot of it had to do with Tommy, but she also knew that words had been exchanged between Jack and his parents and she wasn't going to let that sit for long. As much as she loved her daughter, Gran knew that she was in the wrong when it came to the way that she spoke to and handled things with JP.

"Sounds good." James said. "Tommy you have about five minutes and we are leaving. I suggest that you finish and get ready. I will not ask again."

Tommy just glared at his grandfather, but made no move to hurry up. Thomas watched the entire thing but didn't comment. He had said enough to Tommy the night before and it didn't seem to make a difference.

"Mom." Charlotte said. "If we get busy, I will let you know about lunch."

"Okay." Gran said. "I figured that the kids would want to eat about noon, so whatever. I can always make a few sandwiches and send them back down with JP."

"I will let you know." Charlotte said.

Charlotte looked over at Elizabeth and Lee. She basically glared at Elizabeth, but then softened her look when she looked at Lee. She decided to just ignore Elizabeth and talk to Lee.

"Lee." Charlotte said. "If you need anything, please let me know. I will look for the file from the last show that we did."

Neither Lee or Gran missed the way that Charlotte dismissed Elizabeth.

"Thank you." Lee said. "We have a pretty good list going, but I wouldn't mind having a look at it."

Charlotte nodded. She then walked over to her husband and whispered something in his ear. She then headed to get her boots on. James was pulling his boots on as well. Seeing Tommy still sitting at the table, he gave his son a nudge and motioned toward the door. Tommy didn't do anything, but took another bite of his strawberry. When Charlotte was ready, she walked back over to the table, grabbed Tommy by the arm and physically pulled him toward the door.

"Hey." Tommy yelled.

"You were told." Charlotte said. "Let's go."

"I am not ready." Tommy huffed.

"Too bad." James said.

James handed Tommy his boots and grabbed his other arm, not allowing him to sit down and put them on. Tommy was still in his shorts and tee-shirt. Neither James or Charlotte cared as they had told Tommy what the rules were. They were half way across the pool deck before Tommy was able to pull his boots on. When they had left, Thomas looked over at his mother-in-law and then to Elizabeth.

"Has that really been what it has been like?" Thomas asked.

"Yes." Gran said.

"Despite taking everything away from him." Elizabeth said. "And making him clean tack all day, he still has an attitude with everyone. I don't know what is worse – this or the way he spoke to people before."

"From what Jack said." Lee added. "Tommy thinks he can put up a fit and you are going to give in. Tommy also doesn't think that you are really going to send him away to school and that he is still going to get a car and his trust fund on his birthday in a couple weeks."

"Seriously?" Elizabeth said. "I was standing right there when Charlotte told him otherwise."

"I heard it as well." Gran said.

"May I speak freely, Mr Thornton?" Lee asked.

"Go ahead." Thomas said.

"Tommy has never been held responsible for his actions." Lee said. "Even when you would punish him in the past, he would bully and threaten staff to get his way. The staff are afraid of him and that is probably why he thinks that he can do what he wants. The staff need their job, so they don't say anything to you, but they are terrified of Tommy and what he would do. I have personally seen him lash out at them several times when he didn't get his way. It is not just your staff, but those at Doug's house and mine as well."

Thomas took a moment and thought about what Lee had said. He looked at his mother-in-law and the look that she gave him, Thomas knew that Lee wasn't making things up. Not that he would do that anyway, but Thomas found it a bit shocking to actually hear it.

"Thank you for telling me." Thomas said. "I guess Tommy is in for a rude awakening. He is most definitely going away to school and not only is he not getting a car, but he isn't even getting his driver's license."

Lee and Elizabeth shared a look before turning back to Thomas.

"Now if you will excuse me." Thomas said. "I have some work that I need to do. I will be in the office."

Thomas stood up, leaving his dishes on the table and walked out of the dining room. Elizabeth saw that Thomas was all words and no action. Everyone else, except Charlotte had put their own dishes in the sink and/or dishwasher. Elizabeth noticed that it had been that way since they had come. She knew exactly where Tommy got his attitude and sense of entitlement. She looked over and saw that Gran was not happy.

Elizabeth wondered how long Gran was going to let things go. As much as Elizabeth didn't like the tension and discord, there was a part of her that wished that they would just deal with it and get it over with. Elizabeth wanted to have a conversation with Jack. She wanted to see where he was and how he was dealing with things, but there was a part of her that just wanted to forget the past and look to the future. There was also a part of Elizabeth that realized that nothing that she could say or do would change the way that Charlotte felt about her. Elizabeth made the decision to just try not to make things worse, but she wasn't going to keep putting herself out there to be hurt by Charlotte or Thomas. She had been hurt enough and was finally learning that she could stand up for herself and not let people push her around, no matter who they were.

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