"Come on Jack, it's been almost a month" Tim said walking up to the porch.
"It's been three weeks Tim. She needs time to grieve. She's been taking care of Lyndy and dealing with the horses, what more do you want her to do for now ?" Jack asked as he opened the door to the house and walked in.
"She needs to start working again" Tim said sitting down with a cup of coffee.
Jack sat across from him and then got up to pour himself one as well.
"Lisa, has she told you anything ?"
"Sorry Tim, I know she's spent allot of time in the office over the past few days. She told me she was going over the books last weekend, Ashley came in from Vancouver and they spent some time together going over documents and this week she's been doing some sort of research. She had Ty's time sheets out at one point, I just don't know."
"Any word on the insurance Lis ?" Jack asked.
"Ashley said it looks good but it's going to take awhile, she's doing her part pro bono but her firm gets their 15%."
"That's what $300,000 ?" Tim said, "that would help".
"If she gets that, it may be prudent to take a settlement and not trust to the courts."
"Why, he's dead, it's life insurance, isn't that what it's for ?" Tim asked incredulously.
"You know the story, since they ultimately stole that longhorn the insurance company is claiming that the whole thing was part of the crime so they don't have to pay." Jack said.
"But the charges were dropped, doesn't that mean no crime was committed ?" Tim asked.
"Maybe to us but not to them. Ashley's working on it." Jack said.
Tyler James Borden, age 28, had died about three weeks before from complications caused by a blow to the sternum. The blow came from the rear right hoof a Longhorn Bull that Caleb had purchased legally from a stockman at the rodeo grounds. Ty and Caleb used this animal to swap out an almost identical one in an attempt to get Jack back his own Longhorn that had been lost due to a bad deal made by Ty. The problem was, they didn't have permission for the switch making it Rustling. Ty was kicked in the chest by the legal longhorn and although checked out by the emergency room and given anti clotting meds he didn't do as instructed for those 24 – 48 hours and rest but went to make the switch. 36 hours later he died of an embolism to the heart when he threw a clot while waiting at a stop sign on his way home to his family on the Monday after his daughter's naming ceremony. He was found behind the wheel of old blue as it sat running and stuck in a ditch alongside the road. The autopsy showed and the ME ruled that the death was accidental and possibly could have been avoided if the deceased had followed Doctor's orders and rested but Ty didn't do that.
At first it was assumed that the blow had happened during the course of the work day which is what he told Amy after assuring her that he had seen a Doctor and was fine. Later on, after Dave Chalmers filed a report with the Sheriff about his Longhorn, that story fell apart. Caleb admitted what had happened and the ball started rolling downhill. Mr. Chalmers acted humanely and dropped the charges. The insurance company was a different story.
"She said she's coming to dinner tonight, maybe we can bring the conversation around to her plans." Lisa suggested.
"Let's just not push it Ok" Jack added and getting nods of acquiescence from the other two.
"How's Caleb doing Tim ?" Lisa asked.
"He's back at work but pretty down and hearing about the life insurance snafu was pretty hard for him."
"What the hell were they thinking ?"
"I've rolled that around in my head a few times Grandpa" Amy said walking into the mud room with Lyndy in her arms.
Lisa came over to take Lyndy as Amy sat and removed her boots.
"How are you doing Amy ?"
"I'm fine Lisa, trying to figure things out and make a plan."
"Finally ready to get back to work ?"
"You know Dad, I understand that it took you 11 years to come around and mourn mom's death, you don't mind that I take care of mourning my husband now rather than later do you ?"
"No, of course not" a flabbergasted Tim spouted "but there is a business to run, bills that have to be paid."
"I've paid my bills as I've always done Dad, how about you pay some bills for a change ?"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean ?"
"It means that you make part of your money from this place, eat here every damned day, store your horses here that I feed, care for and fix, when they need fixing and you seem to own a ranch and make a living elsewhere. Seems like a pretty good deal for you, what's my cut ?"
"What do you want ?"
"Can't rightfully ask for anything though I can't imagine how much my share would have been had you say offered to partner with me on your damn race horses considering neither would have won without me. Maybe a cut of the money you cost my husband undercutting his stock business or the fact that I'm actually an investor in the dude ranch and never really saw a penny of that either."
"Well, I don't own the dude ranch anymore, the rest well, I do have some money put away, do you need money Amy ? I'm sorry it never occurred to me that you would, I mean."
"I don't expect anything at all Dad, except for that exact reaction, incredulity. I've stopped expecting anything from anybody. When's dinner Lisa ?"
"We can eat as soon as Lou and the kids get here from town. She's leaving again Thursday and took them shopping".
"That's nice, is Katie staying ?"
"I think so."
"That's nice."
"Are you Ok Amy ?"
"I'm sorry Grandpa, I'm distracted, my head's all over the place" she answered grabbing some dishes and starting to set the table.
"Feel like talking about it ?"
"I've received several interesting offers over the past few days, they're, well, distracting."
"What kind of offers sweetheart ?" Lisa asked.
"Job offers."
"Job offers ? Are you looking for a job ?"
"I have to do something Grandpa, my financial situation though stable at this point has a fairly dismal future based on the past, I have a child's future to prepare for on my own."
"What about your business and Heartland ?" Jack asked at the same time wondering what he had just stepped into.
"Hey everybody" Lou called out as she came in followed by Georgie and Katie carrying packages that they dumped in Lou's room.
"Mom let me get a pair of Ariats."
"Awesome Georgie" Amy answered. "I guess business is good."
"So what did we interrupt."
"Well Lou" Jack started happy for Lou's presence at this point, "Amy was telling us about some job offers she was considering."
"What kind of job offers ?"
"I'm a horse trainer and jumping coach Lou, what do you mean ?"
"I mean you have a business here at Heartland" Lou answered, the only thing missing was the 'duh'.
"After spending 72 hours going over my business records for the past 11 years Lou; sitting with Ash, looking over billings, invoices and contracts I've come to the conclusion that Heartland has a business, I have nothing."
"That's not true" Jack interjected gruffly "how can you call all this nothing ?"
"All what Grandpa ? I don't think you or Ty understood what I was saying to both of you when he got back from that conference and you gifted us that land. I don't want a parcel of land I want what Mom promised me, my dream for my husband and children" The tears started a second later.
"Amy !" Lou called out coming over with a napkin.
"No Lou, I have to say this. You left when I was almost 8 but since Dad left you were pretty focused on business and college. You literally hated horses. For 10 years Mom and I would talk about how one day my handsome husband and and I would live in the house with our kids and Heartland would be mine. I'm sorry Grandpa I don't want to hurt you but I don't want a parcel of land. Since Mom died I knew that the only way to keep my dream was to work for it. I didn't mind the salary, the asking permission to buy rescues as if the business wasn't mine, not being able to change a damned thing around here and I didn't even mind the opportunities I passed up both for myself and for others because I had that dream. Broken bones, concussions, accidents, twenty one years Lou every spare moment of my time has been invested in this ranch and I have nothing to show for it. Bills paid, taxes paid, improvements made, new roofs, a tractor, is there some magic bank account I don't know about ? I did it because I thought that somewhere down the line my Grandfather would walk me out into a field with a beautiful view and tell me that it's all mine and Ty's because we had earned it, just like his Father and Grandfather did before him. That he was done and we should shepherd Heartland on into the future but I realized that not only was that not going to happen it never even crossed his mind."
"Amy I"
"It's even worse Grandpa because I came to understand" she started as her tears flowed again "that Ty, when I told him about my dream like you told me to" she said sucking in air "told me that new traditions were more important."
"Why didn't you say anything ?" Lisa asked.
"I said it and was told that there was always a place for us in the house. All evidence to the contrary of course." Amy said composing herself again. "It was good because that's when I actually started going through our finances, you know actually looking at them and questioning what I was looking at. It was the first time, I actually had been deluding myself that everything was fine. I have a business with no equity at all, I have worked for 21 years, 11 on my own and I have nothing to show for it. I don't even have the legal authority to use the name Heartland Ranch. Everything belongs to the ranch, I am an employee of Heartland Equestrian Connection, your employee Lou. I am a widow with an infant daughter, who lives in a one room apartment above a barn that I own no stake in. Oh and it has no door so when I cry I have to smother my face into a pillow or my horse freaks out in his stall."
"That's not true Amy, how can you say you have no stake in this ?"
"My finances Lou, look, I make no excuses for Ty, he did what he did thinking he had a lifetime to make it up and I let him. I understand that, today more than ever, but I should have something solid for what I've done in my life. I've invested my heart and soul here while you went out, you've got a diner, hell, two diners ! An apartment in New York, the dude ranch, parcels for Katie and Georgie and this house it seems from all appearances, I would assume child support and god knows what else. You bought your daughter Ariats and I'm considering the thrift for a winter coat for Lyndy."
"I'll pick up a winter coat this week" Lisa said.
"NO YOU WILL NOT" Amy snapped and then gaining control, "I'm sorry, we will live within our means and we will pay our debts and move on".
"Amy."
"I don't want to do this anymore Dad, I'm going to head back to the loft, Scott will be here in a bit please give this to him, there's a letter inside from Ash explaining it."
Amy reached over and started getting Lyndy into her stroller.
"Amy at least eat something, please."
"I'm sorry Grandpa I think I just need to leave" Amy said pushing Lyndy out into the mud room and grabbing her boots. "I'm sorry I never meant to hurt you, any of you".
Amy got back to the loft and after sitting for a few minutes began her new evening routine, feeding Lyndy, spending some time with her and getting her to bed. Night check and then darkness, loneliness and tears.
Scott got to the house about an hour later. No one in the house was happy and Lou was in tears. After explaining what had happened Lou remembered the envelope and handed it to Scott.
"She's under a lot of stress" Scott said "I talked to her the other day, she asked me a few questions about Ty's contract" he said opening the envelope.
"Whoa" he said reading the letter.
"Is that a check ?" Lisa asked while Scott turned to the second page.
While he was reading he handed the check to Lisa.
"$ 32,000 ! ?"
"Scott ?"
"Let me finish Lou, the letter says that after going through Ty's contract and the partnership agreement and analyzing his time sheets, well, basically this amounts to a loan which she is paying back. The last sheet is an analysis, the letter is signed and certified and on Ashley's letterhead."
"Why would she do that ?"
"Well Tim, because technically she's right but I don't want it."
"What do you mean technically right ?"
"It's a sweat equity position partnership Grandpa" Lou said.
"Exactly, the terms were that there's no equity for the first 3 years and after that, if he's lived up to the agreement for that time he would start getting a percentage which would eventually reach 50% and then more at the point I retired. We arranged when he started taking time off for, well whatever, that I would give him a draw on the future so to speak, a combination of salary and equity advances. Apparently he didn't share that with Amy." Scott explained handing Lou the letter.
"My god, what did he do to her ?" Tim exclaimed.
"I don't want this, I want her to have it" Scott said.
"She won't take it" Lisa said "I can't imagine what she's going through right now. Do we have any idea if she has anything ?"
"Well they have the truck and whatever savings they have" Jack said.
"Lou how much was she paid ?" Lisa asked.
"She was paid a percentage of what was left Lisa, usually she got three to four thousand a month."
"Who got the rest ?"
"The ranch Grandpa, feed, bedding, taxes, electric, gas, we're a horse ranch, the horses are our business, that's how it was set up when Mom died, we had no cattle or anything else".
"And we never changed it ?" Jack asked.
"It never came up, she certainly never said anything like this before, the only change was to set everything up under one corporation."
"And her and this corporation ?" Lisa asked.
"Well, she was 16 at the time."
"She thought she was working for the ranch" Georgie said. "This sucks I don't want my parcel, I don't even want my room."
"You know, with the exception of their honeymoon I don't even recall her going on vacation, it was always work." Lisa said. "When I think of how much I have made through her talent, she sold Fairfield Flyer for me, $150,000 just a few months ago and there was no bill, how could we all be so blind ?"
Amy sat in her rocker gently singing Lyndy to sleep, when she was down Amy laid her in her crib and closed the light. After a few minutes she grabbed the monitor and headed into the barn. She started as always with Spartan.
"Hey"
"You're not supposed to be here remember ?"
"I know, but you're upset"
"Not really your problem anymore I guess."
"I'm sorry Ames, I really screwed up"
"You heard ?"
"Kind of hard not to"
"It's Ok Ty, Lyndy and I will be fine."
"I meant to tell you about the clinic agreement"
"Leave it Ty, water under the bridge I guess"
"Amy, are you talking to someone ?" Jack asked walking in followed by Georgie. "Why don't you let Georgie and I take care of night check tonight".
"It's fine, less lonely down here than upstairs."
"How's Harley doing ?" Georgie asked.
"He's sad, I'll pony him up to the cemetery tomorrow to visit."
"I don't want you to go Amy."
"I know Georgie but there's no place for me here right now. All I have here are memories of Ty."
"Where will you go ?"
"I have some decent offers where I can go and they'll let me keep Lyndy with me."
"You know Amy; Scott, well he."
"Don't Grandpa, I don't want it."
"Amy we all" Jack said "I"
"Stop Ok, just stop, I'm sorry I said anything, it was just a stupid notion, a dream I had no right to."
"Don't say that Amy."
"I don't have the strength anymore Grandpa, please just let me alone." She pleaded.
"Ok, Ok, calm down."
"I wish people would stop telling me that, my husband is dead Grandpa, TY IS DEAD, STOP TELLING ME TO CALM DOWN." She yelled taking off up the stairs to the loft and darkness.