Chapter 7
"Lisa took Katie and Georgie into town for some dessert so you don't have to worry about them being around. I guess you're ready then?" "Not really, Lou...but I need to get this done." Lou encourages her, saying, "You'll do fine, just take your time. Even though they're not going to be happy with what you have to say, the sooner you get it out there the better. Then you can get your life back to normal." Amy responds, "Normal?...I'm not so sure about that. I don't think it's ever going to be normal again." Lou replies, "You can't think like that. Nothing's going to change overnight. It's going to take some time and you're going to have to work at it. This is just the start."
Lou turns away, but then stops herself as she reaches the bedroom door. Turning back to Amy, she says, "When it comes to Ryan, I suggest you exercise some discretion." Amy asks, "What do you mean?" Lou explains, "I don't see any need to tell them absolutely everything. Amy asks, "Then what should I say?" Lou suggests, "They don't need to know all the details, so just handle it delicately...and if you have to tell them, if they ask, then just say that its something that should only be between you and Ty...leave it at that. I think they'll understand and besides, I don't think they'll want to know anything more."
...
Lou walks into the kitchen and announces, "Dad, grandpa...Amy would like to speak to you. She's in the living room." They all take a seat on the couch while Amy stands there nervously waiting to begin. Tim, recognizing his youngest daughter's nervousness as she paces in front of the fireplace, says, "Don't worry dear, this isn't a firing squad. We just want to hear what you have to say. Why don't you have a seat too." Amy appreciates her father's attempt at humor, but it doesn't do much to ease the tension she feels. She replies, "Thanks dad, but I think it'll be better if I stand."
Once everyone is settled in their seats, Lou gives Amy a nod signaling she should begin. Amy takes a breath and says, "I image Lou has already told you a few things, but I want you to hear it from me...about everything that has been going on. Not just with me, but with me and Ty as well. It's important I include him because he's not at fault for anything. It's been all me and the choices I made. I've lied to all of you in one way or another, either by what I said or didn't say and I'm sorry for that."
Amy pauses for a moment, taking another deep breath, and then continues, "I guess the best way to go about this is to start at the beginning. As I do, I'm going to tell you what I was thinking at the time. I'm not making any excuses for what I did. Like I said these were all my choices, mine alone, and I'm the only one to blame..."
Amy divulges everything, even things Lou wasn't already aware of. She had failed to tell her earlier that Ahmed had several times offered her the opportunity to come home for a few days. She declined, instead opting to go to Rome and then again to Venice with him and his team.
Jack has a difficult time listening to his granddaughter. He's disturbed by the revelations. He wants to add his thoughts and scold her, but manages to resist the urge. Tim is more sympathetic since he can somewhat relate, after having experienced his own torn relationship with Amy and Lou's mother.
When Amy's finished, she's relieved that neither Tim nor Jack pressed her much further to explain what happened between her and Ryan, except for Jack's comment that they were dating. She firmly denied the assertion, stating that Ryan had misinterpreted the relationship. She was vague though, only describing it as a casual friendship which included several social outings including lunches and dinners.
Recognizing that Amy is finished speaking, Lou stands up facing Jack and Tim. She adds, "I have to take responsibility here too. I found out about the video from Georgie. She discovered it on one of the blogs she was following about Amy while she was in Europe. When I showed it to Amy, I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone about it. That was wrong. I should have been the big sister and convinced her right then and there to be up front about it. Then when Amy came to me for advice, saying that Ahmed had told her he loved her, I failed her again by telling her not to tell Ty. I'm sure she would have, had I told her to."
Controlling his anger, Jack speaks up and says, "I've learned the hard way that keeping secrets from the people you love never works out very well, so I hope you two learned a lesson from this."
Tim gives Amy a hug and says, "I can't say I'm proud of the way you conducted yourself, as a matter of fact I'm very disappointed with the choices you made. I just wish I was the kind of dad you could've come to and confided in. I'm proud though that you had the courage to tell us everything."
Jack adds, "I wish I knew what to say right now. I'm more than disappointed with you. I don't think there's a strong enough word to describe how I feel right now. Jack tries to control his growing anger and says, "I can't help wondering why you would expose Ty to this guy Ford. Hasn't he been hurt enough? You knew he was here in town. You spoke with him. Shouldn't that have been a clue that there was a possibility he would show up and have said something to us? How do you think Ty felt when he heard from Ryan that you two were dating?"
Tim comes to Amy's defense, saying, "Hold on Jack...she's not a mind reader."
Amy decides to sit down, taking the time to quickly form her answer. "That's okay dad, grandpa is right. I should have anticipated that and said something...but since I didn't, I should have at least had you call Ty back and tell him that we would wait for Scott. I feel horrible about what happened. I love Ty and believe me, I never wanted to hurt him."
Jack can't hold back his anger any longer, feeling the need to say what's on his mind. "You say you love him and never wanted to hurt him? I find that difficult to swallow after what I just heard! ... Partying, drinking, carousing around with another guy while Ty, you're fiancé, is here working his ass off at school and the clinic!"
Tim interrupts and says, "Calm down Jack, that's not what she said. You're exaggerating it." Lou speaks up in Amy's defense too, saying, "Dad's right...it wasn't like that." Amy tearfully interjects, "That's not exakctly how it was, but I understand how you feel. I know I wasn't brought up that way and I'm sorry I disappointed you. These are things I'll regret for the rest of my life and, like I said, I hope you can find a way to forgive me."
Jack sits quietly for a few moments, trying to calm himself, and then says, "I'm sorry I blew up...I guess I just needed to get that off my chest because I expected much better from you. I'll get over it eventually, but it's going to take some time. I don't think that's going to be the case with Ty though."
Amy has so far managed to keep herself from crying, but it's becoming increasingly difficult as she asks Jack, "Did you talk to him?...I mean, afterwards when he left?" Jack nods and says, "Yes...I did. I was surprised by how calm he seem to be and I called him on it. Frankly, I expected an ugly scene like with Ahmed." Amy asks, "What did he say?" Jack answers, "He eventually admitted that he felt hurt and was angry, but then he said there wasn't any point in dwelling on it since you two were no longer engaged."
Tim looks surprised and says, "Wait a minute...Ty was calm?" Jack answers, "Yeah...he even shook Ford's hand. His reaction was completely out of character. He wasn't himself...too reserved, like he had made up his mind about something and he wasn't going to let anything interfere with that. It worried me." Amy replies, "I'm worried too. I wouldn't have been surprised if he blew up like he did with Ahmed. As bad as it may have been, I kinda wish he had. At least it would have shown he still cared. I just hope he hasn't made some drastic decision because of all this."
Jack responds, "I was surprised that he offered to come by today, taking the chance that you might be here. I thought that was a good sign. I don't think that will be the case in the future though...not after this. Ty's a smart guy and I don't think he's going to do anything stupid. I wouldn't be one bit surprised though if he decided not to stick around much longer and I can't say I would blame him." Amy adds, "That's what I'm afraid of..."
...
Once Amy has left the room, Tim turns to Jack and says, "I know I took off quickly after that blowout between Ty and Ahmed, but I really wish you had let me know that Ty had broken up with her. I felt guilty about inviting Ahmed to dinner that night and needed to get away for awhile, but I would have been back here in a flash if I knew...and Casey would have understood that Amy needed my support."
Jack replies, "You're not the only one here who feels guilty. I pretty much forced Ahmed on her earlier that day. He came by the house asking her to go along with him to look at some horses that were up for auction. She seemed reluctant, but I encouraged her to go. None of that would have happened though if she had been straight with us right from the start."
Tim then says, "Well, that's all water under the bridge now, so what are we going to do about Ahmed and Ford?" Jack replies, "I'm not sure just yet. I'm going to go to bed, but I don't know how much sleep I'm going to get after what I just heard...I'll give it some thought though. In the meantime, Tim, don't you go off and do something stupid." Annoyed by the comment, Tim asks, "And what's that suppose to mean?" Jack answers, "It means you always act without giving things much thought. This is about Amy, not you and how you feel right now. We have to be careful not to make things any worse than they already are for her right now..." Muttering under his breath as he turns away, Jack finishes the thought, "...if that's even possible."
...
Ahmed answers his phone, "Yes, Akeem, what is it?" Akeem replies, "This worked out better than planned." Ahmed asks, "So they met?" Akeem answers, "Yes...twice now." Ahmed, wanting to know the details, asks, "So what happened?" Akeem responds, "She put him off, but the damage was done. Apparently her grandfather and Ty Borden were there the second time he spoke to her." Ahmed then asks, "Does he suspect anything?" Akeem answers, "No...and just as we thought, Ford is a pretentious boastful idiot. It didn't take much effort to get him to tell me what happened. Even though she turned him down, he still believes she'll change her mind." Ahmed says, "Good...whenever you can, encourage him not to give up. There's something else I want you to do for me. I'll be returning the day after tomorrow and I want to see my legal counsel as soon as I arrive back at Hillhurst." Akeem replies, "Very well, I'll arrange it and have a car waiting for you when you return."
...
A/N: Thank you for all the comments. I've read all of them and it serves to encourage me to continue posting new chapters as often as I can. When I posted the first chapter, I already had most of the story written. Each following chapter though requires a little more tweaking before posting. (My spell checker is tired and I think it hates me.) I already have the ending formulated, but I'll eventually get to a point when I might have to slow down just a little in order to work on the last few chapters. This latest chapter isn't yet half way through the story, so the last few are still a ways away.
