Amy was arranging her selection of herbs in the barn office when Caleb walked into the barn with his dog, Jasper.
She was lost in thought, thinking about the Thanksgiving bonfire from last night she could still smell in her cardigan. It had been a nice night despite Ty and Lou being absent - again. Amy had tried her best not to think about her husband and the arguments they kept having, because it was bringing her down as it seemed like Ty didn't want to commit staying home and she was done asking him to be more present.
As of now, Amy felt a little guilty for feeling like this, but she was glad Ty wasn't at home. Not because she didn't still want the things she wanted, but because she was tired of arguing with him every time he was at home and being let down. It was obvious she was not getting through to him, and in his mind he was only protecting her by keeping things from her, where as in reality the secrecy only made her feel worse.
"Knock knock", Caleb said as he looked around the barn. He didn't want to just barge in even though the side door was open. The dog stayed close and kept snooping to find out what had changed since he had eaten a box of chocolates in the loft and had to be driven to the vet clinic.
"In here", Amy hollered back from the office when she heard Caleb.
Caleb walked toward the barn office and noticed the newly installed door. "Oh, hey, you guys have a door now!" He admired it. "Looks good. Ty didn't say anything about this."
"Oh, yeah, that", Amy said, nodding as if to confirm Caleb's observation. "Mitch installed it few days ago."
She had had the door for few days now and it had made all the difference. As much as she liked listening to the horses downstairs, the door was a life safer - literally. Now she could have conversations upstairs without fearing someone could hear her and having the door stopped unwanted guests that could enter the loft without her consent.
"Mitch, huh?" Caleb checked, wondering why was he helping with the door when he was supposed to be busy starting out his business with Jack and Tim. Caleb knew all about the trio's budding "team work" because whenever he was with Tim at the rodeo grounds, the man couldn't shut up about Mitch's incompetence. Guess he was good for something, at least. "I heard about the break-in, so I thought I'd bring you some back up", he continued, glancing toward Jasper. "But now... it seems like you won't be needing him anymore."
Amy smiled and leaned in to give Jasper few scratches behind his ear. The dog wagged his tail and tried to lick Amy's hand.
"Well, I don't mind him visiting me", Amy said, cheered up by the visit. "Thanks for thinking of me, Caleb, but I think the door will do for now."
Caleb nodded. "Of course - I think we all want you and my little goddaughter to be safe. - Speaking of her; where is Lyndy?"
He looked around.
"She's sleeping upstairs. I would let you see her, but... we've just found a routine, and I don't want to disturb that", Amy explained. Caleb understood and nodded.
"How you've been?" he then asked.
Amy sighed and got up from petting Jasper, wondering what she could even say. It would probably do no good to lie to Caleb seeing he and Ty were best friends.
"I suppose you already know..." Amy said, going back to the office space, and continued her chore. Caleb followed him with Jasper. "Isn't that also why you are here?"
If Ty wasn't talking to Caleb, he was talking to Cassandra and Cassandra probably talked to Caleb. Amy didn't feel like talking to any of them at the moment, because they all seemed like an unit and she would only get cornered.
"I know half of it. I know Ty's side", Caleb admitted. "He's been feeling really bad about all of this. You guys fighting, him having to be gone..."
"Oh, has he now?" Amy scoffed a little. "It isn't like the ball isn't in his corner. I only have a problem with him being gone, he has a problem with me feeling bad about it. I can't change how I feel or how he is."
"But he's a vet, Amy. He's supposed to have these calls, sometimes even outside Alberta", Caleb tried to watch his friend's back. "You knew who you married."
"Did I?" Amy was hurt for Caleb expecting to know more about her feelings than she did. "I married a man I thought would be my partner, not only in marriage but also professionally. Instead, he took the partnership at the vet clinic without talking to me about it first and now he's always traveling, leaving me alone with our daughter. I've never had a say in this."
"Yeah, but what else did you expected him to do?" Caleb said. "He's a good vet. He deserves to be a partner."
"You're missing the point", Amy said, glancing over her shoulder as she took one of the markers so she could write descriptions on the small jars. It wasn't a surprise to her that Caleb only saw his friend's side and refused to acknowledge there was another point of view to it. "I agree with you, he's a good vet, the clinic's lucky to have him. The problem is he doesn't talk to me first about the decisions he makes. It seems like he never does, not before he has already made up his mind - it always makes me look like the bad guy if I'm not excited about his ideas. We are married, we are supposed to talk about things before they happen. I was stupid enough not to say anything about it back when he accepted the position - but I should have - because now he decides all these things without talking to me first about it. But I never expected it would lead to this. I wish I had just nipped it in the bud when I had the chance. Now he has all the power. - But... whatever. He's busy living his life, so what can I do", she continued bitterly.
The way Amy talked worried Caleb. "You two should really work things out before you start falling apart. Take it from someone who has been there."
"You mean you and Ashley? That was different", Amy said.
Caleb shook his head. "No. I'm talking about Lou."
Amy turned to look at Caleb.
"Lou...?" Amy checked. "I don't get it. What does Lou have anything to do with this?" She knew her sister had had problems with Peter, but for Caleb to think of them as an example - especially as someone who probably had no insight into that relationship - was odd.
"Well, you know, what happened with me and her", Caleb said, shrugging. "I admit, I was out of line, I shouldn't have just kissed her, no matter how bad things were with her and Peter-"
"Wait-wait, what?" Amy stopped him, completely shocked at what she was hearing. "You and Lou? My-sister-Lou?! You... kissed... her?"
"Yeah", Caleb confirmed, frowning a little at Amy's reaction. "She's told you about that, hasn't she? When she and Peter were going through a rough patch, she kind of leaned on me because Peter was away all the time and wanted different things. So, we got a little closer and I guess she felt like she could talk to me about things. We had a connection, and then... I kissed her. She didn't say anything about it, but I realized after it happened that I had not thought it through; I had just acted on my feelings which probably had nothing to do with Lou in the end."
Amy had to take a moment. "No... She's not told me any of this. I mean, I knew they had problems, but... I had no idea of... you know, what you just told me."
"Oh..." Caleb felt bad for telling Amy now, but at the same time he felt like it was in the past and in the end had not been a big deal. Besides, he was now happily married with Cassandra and it seemed like Lou was over it, too. "I just felt like maybe you'd like to hear it from the point of view of a ranch hand who sees a married woman trapped inside what she thinks of a miserable situation. Mitch could be dangerous if you keep thinking like this."
"Mitch...?" Amy was confused about the change of pace. "What does he have anything to do with this?"
"I'm just saying it starts out innocently; changing tires, installing a door... He could see an opportunity for something", Caleb said, figuring he had an understanding for men in this situation.
Amy was almost repulsed, but more than that shocked and hurt - again. What was Caleb implying about her?
"Just because you saw that with Lou, doesn't mean Mitch would do that", Amy got upset for Mitch's sake. He had been nothing but helpful with her and was actually one of the few men in her life that was not letting her down at the moment. Instead, Caleb was slowly getting on that black list. "Besides, he's involved with Lou, so..."
"Okay, okay", Caleb noticed Amy was getting upset so he raised his hands in front of himself as a gesture of surrender. "I'm just saying maybe it's better to fix things with Ty before anything bad happens, that's all."
"Thanks for your advice", Amy said sarcastically. She just wanted to stop this conversation with Caleb before she would get more annoyed. Today was supposed to be all about being content alone, but Caleb had just ruined it.
Thankfully the cowboy took the hint.
"I guess I'll be going. I'll see you around", he said, backing toward the doorway. "Come on, Jasper."
The dog followed him to his truck. When Amy heard the engine start, she pulled closer the office chair and sat on it.
Not only was she feeling angry about Caleb's assumptions, she had hard time trying to understand that Caleb and Lou had kissed and she had not known about it. His ex-boyfriend - as much as she tried not to think about Caleb like that anymore - and her sister, while she had been married, had shared romantic moments.
It felt like suddenly she didn't know who anyone around her was.