Chapter 172 – Tuesday Morning
Tuesday morning, Jack was up before his alarm. He quickly got ready, hoping not to wake Nathan. Nathan sort of woke up, realized it was Jack so he rolled back over. Once Jack was dressed, he grabbed his phone and laptop before he headed upstairs. Gran was surprised to see Jack that early.
"You just missed your grandfather." Gran said.
"That is okay." Jack said. "I have some things to do. Frank said they should be here between twelve thirty and one."
"James said to let him know." Gran said. "He said he would come eat then. He took some cookies for a snack this morning."
"Thank you." Jack said.
"Do you want breakfast now or in a bit?" Gran asked.
"Let's wait a bit." Jack said. "I need to do something on the computer."
Gran went about her morning activities while Jack turned on his laptop. Gran set some coffee in front of Jack, but otherwise left him alone. Jack made the changes to the form for the Bishop. He then printed a copy, faxed it from the office as well as sent it electronically. He then checked a few other things and did a little business. By the time he had everything done he needed to, Nathan and Doug were coming up.
"What were you doing so early?" Nathan asked as he sat next to him.
"I needed to get some things done including the request for permission to marry from the Bishop." Jack said.
Nathan looked at him confused.
"Normally there is a six month wait to get married in the Church." Jack said. "Elizabeth and I are requesting he waive it and allow us to marry sooner."
"How much sooner?" Doug asked.
"Maybe this summer yet." Jack said.
Doug stopped his coffee cup in midair and just looked at Jack with a bewildered look on his face.
"Don't look at me like that Douglas." Jack said. "You and I both know, I know what I am doing. I can provide for Elizabeth and I. I will still go to school. I don't see why we should have to wait just because we are eighteen or someone else set some arbitrary rule. Don't get me wrong, I understand why there is a rule, but there are also exceptions. Elizabeth and I are not getting married for the wrong reasons and if we were twenty-five or thirty, I am sure no one would bat an eye about the short amount of time we have known each other.
Like I said, I can provide for us. We have a place to live and both know what we want. I don't see why we should have to wait just because we are young or haven't known each other for long. Nor do I think we should have to wait just because there are people that don't think we should be together for whatever superficial reason."
"I suppose." Doug said. "I am just a little surprised. I know you don't jump in without knowing, but even this is really fast for you."
"I understand why you feel that." Jack said. "But if you felt about someone the way I feel about Elizabeth, you wouldn't want to wait either. Also know that if there comes a day you feel like this, just know I will support you."
"I know you will." Doug said. "It is not that I don't support you, I am just wondering about all the other plans we talked about."
"What about them?" Jack asked. "We will still do them, they just may look a little different."
"What are you talking about?" Nathan asked.
"Long term plans for the future." Jack said. "What Doug is talking about is like step one hundred something when we are only on step four or five. When I talked to Doug and Lee about taking over Coal Creek, there were certain things that we wanted to do and accomplish. We will still do them, they just may not look exactly as we thought. Elizabeth has now been added to those long term plans as well as you Nathan. There are things I want, but I am getting ahead of myself."
"What plans for me?" Nathan asked. "I know you talked about keeping me on, but nothing was decided."
"All in due time my friend." Jack said, slapping Nathan on the back. "All in due time. Like I said, that is many steps down the road, I need to deal with the things right in front of me today. I haven't written out the updated copy of plans for Coal Creek and Thornton Thoroughbreds, but I can show you the one that was made when the decision to take over was made a year ago. It has a list of everything I want for this place, even if some of them are far-fetched and slightly unreasonable or unrealistic. I know that they are marked as such, but I still put them down as dreams. It also has a list of things that Doug, Lee and I want out of life and things we want to do."
"I would love to see that plan." Nathan said. "Maybe you should give Elizabeth a copy of that as well."
"Good idea." Jack said.
Jack hit a few buttons on his computer and once he saw what he wanted he shut it down.
"Now." Jack said. "I think we should have breakfast and go deal with the horses so we have time to relax this afternoon."
"What do you want to eat?" Gran asked.
The three boys looked at each other.
"Pancakes." Jack said. "If that is not too much trouble."
"I can make pancakes." Gran said.
The three boys set the table for themselves plus Lee and Elizabeth. They got the fruit out and made sure there was coffee. They were just sitting down to eat when Elizabeth came upstairs followed shortly by Lee.
"Join us." Jack said. "We were just going to pray."
Lee and Elizabeth sat down. Jack grabbed Elizabeth's hand and everyone bowed their heads.
"Heavenly Father." Jack prayed. "Thank you for this beautiful day. Please be with Frank as he drives Katie and Opal up here. Keep them and help them to be open to what we have here. Watch over us as we ride today. Keep us safe. Finally, bless this food to our bodies and bless the hands that prepared it. Amen."
"Amen." Elizabeth said before leaning over and giving Jack a quick kiss.
The boys had echoed the amen and exchanged looks over the two across the table. Elizabeth got up and got both her and Lee some coffee. Once Gran had made enough pancakes, she sat down.
"So what is the plan?" Gran asked.
"Well." Jack said. "Doug, Nathan and I are going to go work the horses here in a bit – flat work. We know the horses can jump. It is more about working them a little and building bonds. Then we are going to come back and workout. We will be done before my friend Frank gets here with Katie and Opal. Which reminds me, Gran, I am going to need your help to convince Frank to stay here and drive back tomorrow if that is okay?"
"I am okay with it." Gran said. "Mind me asking why?"
"Not only do I need to talk to him." Jack said. "But I also want everyone else to get to know him a bit as I have an idea. Beyond that, I worry about him driving back alone after having driven up here already."
"I agree he should stay." Doug said.
"Then I will make sure he does." Gran said.
"I have some stuff I would like to do online this morning." Elizabeth said.
"Me too." Lee said. "I also want to check the Sugar Creek registration. I also need to start a list of farms and stables coming here."
"You can do all those things." Gran said. "Don't forget that I need to take Katie shopping this afternoon."
"Rob and Katie will be going with you." Nathan said.
"I figured." Gran said. "Just know that you guys might have Opal this afternoon."
"We will be fine." Elizabeth said. "Between the five of us, we should be fine."
"Okay." Gran said. "I just wanted you all to be aware. What is the plan for later this week?"
"What do you mean?" Doug asked.
"Are you going to make a run into town on Friday?" Gran asked. "We will need things from the farmer's market as well as Primal."
"We will see how things are going in town." Jack said.
"Don't forget that both Abigail and Katie said they could pick up stuff for us." Elizabeth said.
"I know." Gran said. "I just wanted to let you know and see what you were thinking."
"I will be staying in contact with the other security and will make a call later this week." Nathan said.
"Very well." Gran said.
"Gran." Nathan said.
"Yes." Gran said.
"I was wondering if I could make breakfast for everyone on Saturday." Nathan said.
"If you want to do that." Gran said. "I would be fine with it. Just remember we will have four extra guests. What were you thinking of making?"
"I wanted to make my grandmother's waffle recipe." Nathan said. "That is if you have a waffle iron. I remember it and can easily make them. One batch makes quite a few and they freeze well."
"I have three actually." Gran said. "Two large square ones that make four at a time and a round one."
"I will probably use both square ones." Nathan said. "I might also make two batches because they are an easy breakfast to have all week. We used to make a large batch on a Sunday evening and then we freeze whatever we didn't eat right away. It was easy to just pull a couple out and toast them like the store bought ones, but these are so much better."
"Let me know what you need." Gran said. "I will pick up some more quart size freezer bags then."
"Sounds good." Nathan said. "I will make sure we have everything."
Gran nodded. The boys finished their breakfast and then went to deal with the horses. Lee and Elizabeth worked to clean up from breakfast. Gran started pulling things to bake. Once they had the dishes done, both Lee and Elizabeth went down and got their laptops.
When Jack, Nathan and Doug got down to the stable, they were surprised to see Tommy cleaning stalls.
"What is going on?" Jack asked. "We usually take care of our horses."
"I am following orders." Blaine said.
"Whose orders?" Jack asked.
"My dad." Blaine said.
Seeing the confusion on Jack's face, Blaine took a deep breath.
"My dad is Ed." Blaine said. "Because of Tommy's behavior, he was ordered to muck all the stalls in this stable."
"What did you do with the horses?" Jack asked.
"I put them all in the west pen." Blaine said.
Jack turned to Nathan and Doug, but they had already started for the horses. Jack then turned back to Blaine.
"I don't care who your father is." Jack said. "You don't touch my horses without my permission. You turned a stallion out with three mares. If anything has happened to my jumpers I am holding you personally responsible."
Jack didn't give him a chance to respond, but turned and pulled out his phone and called down to the other stable to yell at Ed. Jack wasn't happy and someone was going to pay. Once Jack explained what happened, Ed was apologetic. Jack learned that Blaine and Tommy were supposed to wait until they had turned the horses out. Jack took a couple of deep breaths before going back to talk to Blaine.
"I just talked to your father." Jack said. "You were not given permission to touch my horses. I don't care who hired you. I am the owner of this ranch and I will determine who is here."
"We have other things to do." Blaine said.
"I … don't … care!" Jack said sharply. "You will NEVERtouch my horses without my permission again."
"Jack." Nathan said, coming up behind him. "The horses are fine. Carlos noticed and separated Ghost."
Jack shrugged Nathan off.
"He still needs to learn." Jack ground out.
"I promise it will never happen again." Ed said walking up.
"Thank you." Nathan said.
Jack glared at Blaine as Ed came to stop near him.
"Jack." Ed said. "I am sorry, I wasn't clear with them. They were never given permission to move the horses. They were supposed to muck the stalls after the horses were turned out."
Jack was still seething, but both Doug and Nathan stepped forward.
"Nothing happened." Nathan said. "But please be more clear in the future. It could have been bad putting Ghost with Athena, Honey and Aphrodite. Not only that, but Ghost already injured himself in the west pen because of the mares."
"I am sincerely sorry." Ed said. "I promise to be much clearer in the future."
"That is all we are asking." Doug said. "We were figuring things out at the house otherwise we would have been down here quicker. If there is a question about the jumpers, please ask Carlos as he has been helping us with them."
"Understood." Ed said.
"Blaine?" Nathan asked.
"Whatever." Blaine said.
Ed reached over and cupped Blaine up the back of the head.
"It is not whatever." Ed said. "I recommend you to Mr Thornton, Sr. I can just as easily tell him things aren't working out."
"Fine." Blaine said. "I won't touch the horses again, but why …."
"Don't finish that statement." Ed said. "I can still turn you over my knee. I know that you were hired to deal with Tommy, but that doesn't mean you can do what you want. You will listen to me and if you can't do that, I will talk to Mr Thornton and have him make other arrangements for Tommy. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Sir." Blaine said.
"Tommy." Ed said. "Quit standing around and get back to work. I am not afraid of turning you over my knee."
"I want to speak to Ma and Dad." Tommy demanded.
"They aren't here." Nathan said.
"What do you mean?" Tommy retorted. "They wouldn't leave me here, or leave without saying goodbye."
"I mean they are not here." Nathan said.
Nathan turned to walk away to make sure that Jack was okay. Doug looked at Tommy and shook his head.
"Where are Mr and Mrs Thornton?" Blaine asked his father.
"I don't know." Ed said. "It ain't any of my business and if they want you to know, you will be told. I suggest that you both get back to work. I still expect the entire list of things to be done today."
"This is not fair." Tommy yelled.
Ed walked by and slapped Tommy upside the back of the head.
"Life ain't fair." Ed said. "Get back to work or you won't get supper tonight."
Doug had heard and seen the entire exchange. There was a part of him that wanted to tell Tommy what happened, but a larger part of him figured it was better to just keep his mouth shut. After Ed walked away, Doug turned and saw Jack and Nathan talking, so he headed to get changed.