A Bride for Jack

Lisa and Trouble Part 5

Chapter Eleven

Alison did most of the measurements and markings on the material. The workers do the sewing and the filling. Everything was running smoothly and they were very happy and pleased with their achievement.

However, their joy was short lived. The following morning a car stopped outside the farm house. When Jake went to open the door, he got the shock of his life. He was totally unprepared. Lisa stood in front of him wearing denim shorts and a T-Shirt. She handed her suitcase to him as she walked passed him into the lounge. She ignored Alison and little Sue. Alison was not impressed. Jake who miraculously overcame his shock and got his voice back, said to Lisa in a firm but pleasant manner.

"Lisa I'd like to introduce you to my wife, Alison and our adopted daughter Sue." He walked up to her and put her suitcase down. Jake could sense the animosity between the women and it made him feel uneasy. Alison looked at Lisa with distaste, while Lisa tried to stare her down. Then before the two women could grab each other by the throat, Jake said rather hastily.

"Alison why don't you come with me, I have to fetch the children from school?"

Before Alison could reply, however, Lisa said sweetly, "Alison can fetch the children from school Jake. I need to speak to you privately."

Alison's eyebrows shot skywards. She decided to keep her thoughts to herself. "I'll fetch the children from school, Mina could you please look after Sue for me while I'm gone." Mina nodded in agreement. Alison picked up her keys from the coffee table. She walked out in a huff, avoiding Jake completely. Mina took Lisa's suitcase to the spare room. Lisa took Jake by the arm and steered him in the direction of the front door.

"Let's go for a walk," she commanded.

Once outside, Jake sighed with relief, the hostility between the two women was so strong you could get cut it with a knife. He had to think quickly. Lisa's unexpected arrival had caused an enormous upheaval. He had just obtained a good relationship with Alison. No not a good relationship a dreamed about relationship. He was not going to let anybody spoil what had taken him so long to achieve. And especially not by Lisa who had dropped him in his hour of need like a hot potato. When he thought back how disconsolately he had felt at being overlooked in his parents will and then the pain of Lisa turning her back on him when he had needed her the most.

"Jake, I made a huge mistake by letting you go. I want you back in my life. Come back in my life. Come back with me. Let's leave this place and go home, just the two of us, just as it used to be. She hung on his arm trying to pull him into an embrace. She had seen Alison watching from as window. Her words stopped Jake in his tracks.

"Lisa coming here was unnecessary and totally pointless. I'm a married man with three children. Alison and I have got something that we never had. We are soul mates and I love her more than anything in this world. Nothing but death will ever separate us. I am proud of what I have achieved here. I want you to go back to your parents and make up with Donald that you ran to when you discovered that I was no longer going to be the wealthy farmer you had thought. Alison took me into her heart when I owned nothing. His voice had a note of finality in it and as he turned around and walked away from her, Lisa's eyes narrowed. If he thought that he could get rid of her just like that, he had better think again, because she had only one purpose in life and that was to become his wife, she thought to herself.

That evening Alison excused herself from the dinner table and hurriedly left the room. Just seeing that woman seated at the table and gazing at Jake was just too much to take. It took away her appetite. Life seemed to have lost its' glow and nothing felt the same. Even the children could feel that something was amiss. They were very subdued which was strange as they were normally full of questions about the horses and farm life. They never seem to run out of conversation when it came to horses, and Jake was the one that had to answer all the questions. The children could not stop staring at Lisa, but she barely batted her eyelashes at them. She ignored them and leaned over to Jake.