Chapter 383 – Leaving Minnesota
Once Frank had finished packing up what was left of their food, he took everything out to the truck. Once he got everything loaded from the cabin into the truck, Frank headed over to Jack and Elizabeth's cabin.
"Need help?" Frank asked, knocking on the door. "Nathan is over at Kayla's right now."
"I figured he would spend some time there this morning." Jack said. "And yes, I would love some help getting everything up to the truck.
Jack and Frank started loading things from the cabin into the truck and were almost done when Nathan arrived. Both Frank and Jack took one look at his face and were concerned.
"Are you okay?" Jack asked.
"What happened?" Frank asked.
"Cassie got upset that I was leaving." Nathan said. "She called me Daddy."
"Oh." Both Frank and Jack said.
"I don't want to talk about it." Nathan said. "Kayla said she would call when she got back tomorrow night."
"Okay." Frank said. "We will drop it. But we are here if you want to talk."
Frank gave Jack a look to mean he was serious and Jack nodded in understanding. Jack might have been the boss at the end of the day, but at the same time he realized that Frank was older than him and had earned the respect given. Not only for the fact that he was older, but the fact that he had served their country and earned his life experience. Jack was realizing how much he was liking having "older brothers" for once in his life. While he viewed Doug and Lee as brothers and while Doug was technically older than him, Jack had never really looked at him as an older brother because they were going through the same things together.
The three guys finished loading the stuff while Elizabeth wiped down the cabin. She knew that she didn't have to, but felt like she should. Once they had everything ready, they headed to the main lodge to check out. When they got there, Stacy was at the desk with her brother-in-law.
"Hey, Stacy." Frank said.
"Hi Frank." Stacy said. "Sorry you guys have to leave early."
"Thank you." Frank said. "We didn't really want to go, but we have to. This has been a wonderful week. We love the resort and are looking forward to coming back some time."
"Glad to hear it." Stacy said. "Also thank you for all your help with Brian."
"You are welcome." Frank said. "Sorry it has to come to that."
Stacy nodded. Jack and Nathan looked at Frank confused as they weren't sure what Stacy and Frank were talking about.
"Well." Stacy said. "He is in treatment. His dad drove him to Duluth and checked him in. Hopefully it works. He is going to be there for a while."
Stacy rubbed her belly and Frank realized that Brian may miss the birth of his child again, this time because of his own actions and not be deployed.
"I will keep you all in prayer." Frank said. "You have my number and give me a call if you need."
"Thank you." Stacy said. "I will remember that."
Stacy completed the checkout process and thanked the group for coming. They thanked Stacy and wished her the best. The group left and headed out. It was ten to ten when they pulled out of the resort and headed to the airport. Nathan had texted the other security so they could be at the airport to meet them and take the truck.
The group didn't really talk on the twenty minute drive to the airport. Frank turned on the Christian radio and the other three sat back and were thinking about things. They got to the airport, got everything loaded and thanked the guys who were there. By ten thirty, they were in the air and headed back east. Frank turned and looked over at Nathan once they had received notice that they could move around.
"Are you really okay?" Frank asked.
"I don't know." Nathan said. "Seeing Cassie so upset and her saying I was her Daddy just about broke me."
"Are you having second thoughts?" Frank asked.
"Only about waiting." Nathan said. "But I know I need these next three months to figure things out and establish a routine before I make that big of a commitment."
"Wise decision." Frank said. "I know it won't be easy, but you really are doing the right thing. And how are you doing physically?"
"I will be honest." Nathan said. "It is a struggle and I am more fully understanding why Jack didn't want us to leave him and Elizabeth alone for too long without at least walking by or checking in. The desire is so strong and I have never felt that before. I have never felt the desire so strong that I was willing to throw caution to the wind and just give in, but have had that thought more than once with Kayla."
"At least you know." Frank said. "And no one said it was going to be easy. But you need to respect yourself enough to follow through with your commitment to wait."
Nathan just nodded.
"I think I am going to write for a while." Nathan said.
"Fine by me." Frank said, leaning his seat back.
Nathan stood and retrieved his journal from his bag. He sat down and started pouring out all of his hopes, dreams, fears and emotions onto the blank pages.
… … … …
Jack and Elizabeth sat side by side on one of the couches in the plane. Jack wrapped his arm around Elizabeth and she snuggled into his side as best as she could.
"Thank you for a wonderful week." Elizabeth said.
"You are welcome." Jack said. "All in all, it turned out pretty good. Just a few bumps, but for putting everything together so quickly, it was good."
"I would have to agree." Elizabeth said. "I was thinking about things and what room are we going to stay in when we get back to the ranch?"
"Couple of options." Jack said. "Small master upstairs or Laura's old room." Either will be fine with me. Frank and Father Mark will be downstairs in my old room. It will be different for Thanksgiving."
"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked.
"Grandpa John will be in the small master." Jack said. "Chief and Trish will be in the bigger of the two guest rooms. The rest will depend on who all else is coming and if all of the remodeling gets done."
"What remodeling?" Elizabeth asked.
"Turning the large store room by the gym into two bedrooms like the original plans called for." Jack said. "Additionally, turning the small room above the music room into a potential bedroom. It wouldn't be huge, but it would be enough for either the twins or something for a few days. Father Mark even expressed that he would be willing to take that room. I have also thought about splitting the big bedroom downstairs into two bedrooms again."
"Really." Elizabeth said.
"Our group is changing." Jack said. "And the needs of the group are changing when it comes to sleeping arrangements. There is a growing need for more bedrooms. Grandpa and Gran didn't care and were glad I was thinking ahead given that it might be two years or more before our new house is finished and ready for us on the new orchard property."
"Good point." Elizabeth said. "What are you going to do with everything in the storeroom you are turning into bedrooms?"
"Given that it is mostly extra tables, chairs and Christmas decorations." Jack said. "There are some options. Grandpa was talking about storage in the rafters of the garage. There is also room in there as he is going to rearrange some things. There is also a small storage area upstairs near the small master. The airbeds and extra linens will probably go up there and the rest in the garage. Grandpa wasn't opposed to putting a second small shed on the pool deck for the tables and chairs. So there are plenty of options for storage. The bedrooms are more important."
"Okay." Elizabeth said. "I am glad you thought about all of this."
"It just kind of hit me when we were talking about everyone staying for the show." Jack said. "I spoke to him about back then and he let me know that the permits just came through and he had lined up a contractor to start after Labor Day."
"Good." Elizabeth said.
Jack and Elizabeth continued to talk about things a bit more and Jack explained more about the remodeling. They shared several kisses as they talked. They had a smooth flight and landed at Teterboro airport in Jersey just before two in the afternoon. They taxied over to where they could unload and Nathan could get off. Chris and Katie were waiting with their truck and Jack's Jeep. Jack got off the plane as well to make sure that everything that was supposed to stay in New York got unloaded.
"Thank you for all of this." Jack said.
"No problem." Chris said. "I probably will be the one picking you up on Sunday. Devin should be back tomorrow, but I was going to let him go into the office on Sunday and catch up."
"Sounds good." Jack said. "Just take our stuff up to the apartment and we will deal with it on Sunday."
"Sounds good." Chris said. "Just send a text when you take off on Sunday."
"Will do." Jack said.
Jack re-boarded the plane and Dakota shut the door. They got clearance to taxi back to the runways and got in line to take off. Twenty-five minutes later they were in the air and on their way to Albany.
… … … …
Once they got off the plane and got things unloaded. Nathan loaded his things into Jack's Jeep. Nathan took a deep breath and looked around. He wanted to get to his sister and Allie, but at the same time he felt bad for leaving Jack and Elizabeth without close security for the weekend, but Jack assured him it was fine as they wouldn't be leaving the ranch anyway. Once the plane had left again, Nathan turned to Chris.
"Do you need anything else from us?" Chris asked.
"Jack said something about you having more information for me." Nathan said.
"There is a whole folder of information in the Jeep." Katie said. "Trish said she is fine keeping Allie tonight if you want to get settled. She just said to call or text later and let her know your plan. When we left the apartments, both Doug and Lee were there and it sounds like they are there to stay. They wanted to get things unpacked and settled in before school started."
"Remember to park the Jeep in the garage." Chris said. "Your thumbprint is programmed in, but there is a keycard in the packet of information as well just in case."
"Thank you and I will." Nathan said.
"When you catch your breath and have a chance to sit and talk." Katie said. "Give me a call so we can go over what is needed for Colleen's apartment. Jack said to make sure it was fully furnished with everything that she would need."
"Okay." Nathan said. "It will probably be tomorrow."
"That will be fine." Katie said. "Let me know if you need anything. I mean it, help with Allie or anything else. We are here to help you."
"I will, thank you." Nathan said.
"Take it easy." Chris said. "Go check on your sister and will be around."
"Again, thank you." Nathan said.
Nathan got into the Jeep and headed to University hospital to check on his sister. Chris and Katie headed back to the apartments to drop off the stuff and then head home to their own kids.
… … … …
After the short flight to Albany, the group loaded everything into the truck and left the airport. Jack for one was looking forward to supper with Bill and family. While he would have loved two more nights in Minnesota, he knew it was the right thing to come home.
"Jack." Elizabeth said.
"What?" Jack said, shaking his head.
"I asked if you need to stop anywhere before we get to the ranch." Frank said.
"No, I am good." Jack said. "Thank you for checking. Sorry about that, I was just in my own head for a moment."
"It is okay." Frank said. "I just wanted to check."
"Thank you." Jack said. "Just thinking of all that needs to happen in the next few days."
"We will get it done." Elizabeth said, patting Jack's chest.
When they got to the ranch, the first thing that both Jack and Frank wanted to do was check out Frank's new truck and fifth wheel. Elizabeth shook her head, grabbed her bags and went inside.
"Welcome back, dear." Gran said, giving Elizabeth a hug.
"Thank you." Elizabeth said.
"Go ahead and take your stuff downstairs to the room you were in before." Gran said. "Washers are free if you need to do laundry."
"Thank you." Elizabeth said. "I am going to take this stuff down and then tear those two away from the new truck long enough to get things sorted."
"Sounds good." Gran said. "Averys and Caitlin should be here by five. We will be doing steaks on the grill. I have most everything else ready."
"Okay." Elizabeth said.
She took her stuff downstairs and saw Father Mark watching the races.
"Hi Father Mark." Elizabeth said.
"Hi, welcome back." Father Mark said. "Did you have a good time?"
"We did." Elizabeth said. "I will show you pictures. But right now, I want to get everything brought in and sorted out."
"Sounds good." Father Mark said. "Where is Jack?"
"With Frank." Elizabeth said. "They are checking out the new truck and fifth wheel."
"I will go help carry in." Father Mark said.
Elizabeth headed to her room and Father Mark headed upstairs to help get everything in. The coolers were brought to the kitchen to empty and clean out. The tote of gifts was left in the library for later and everything else was brought downstairs. Elizabeth was able to start a load of laundry and then the group headed back upstairs. Jack wanted to check on the horses. Frank wanted to check through the mail that had arrived for him. Father Mark wanted to hear about the trip and Elizabeth was eager to show off her photos.
… … … …