Chapter 10
"...I don't get it, Jack. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Why would Ahmed want her back working for him? How good a job does he think she'll do if the only reason she's there is because she has to be? I think what all this is about is just a way to punish her." Jack replies, "I was thinking about that too after I went to bed last night and you may be right. I think this is a win win situation for him. He doesn't expect her to come back and work for him at Hillhurst for about the next year and a half. He wants her with him in Europe. If she goes, I'm sure he knows that with Amy's competitive attitude and on the world stage, she'll do the best job that she can. So, if she agrees, he wins. If she refuses to work for him, she's punished. He gets his revenge and wins." Tim asks, "What about the "loving her" angle? Jack replies, "He's living in a real fantasy world if he believes anything will ever come of that."
Tim then says, "Maybe then to get out of that contract she should go under the condition that one of us accompanies her, like I did on that Ring of Fire. She might as well make a few more bucks off the guy." Annoyed by the suggestion, Jack says, "Geez...Tim, you just don't get it! You're a real piece of work...don't you ever think anything through! At any time during the tour, after stepping foot on his plane, who knows where it will take her...and if she should agree to go just to get out of that contract, what will Ty think! Tim replies, "C'mon Jack...don't you think you're stretching it a bit?" Jack answers, "No, I don't! I think the danger now is underestimating what he's capable of." After a moment, Tim replies, "I guess you're right...Make believe I never said what I did...by the way, have you spoken to Ty yet?" Jack answers, "Not yet, but I will later today."
...
Lou's tired of seeing Amy moping around the house, so she says, "Come on Amy. I know you're depressed, but you can't stay cooped up here in the house. I have to go to the diner and then swing by the bank, so how about joining me?" Amy's reluctant at first, but she finally gives in after realizing that Lou is right.
On the way to town, Lou asks, "So, have you given more thought to what you're going to do?" Amy answers, "About what?...Ty?" Lou replies, "The contract." Amy's surprised that Lou would even ask since she knows she has already refused to go back to work for Ahmed. She asks, "Why would you think I would give it more thought? I've already made up my mind and nothing's going to change it! There's only one thing I'm thinking about and its Ty. I don't care if I can't work for anyone else...I have Spartan, Phoenix, and the rest of our horses I can work with." Lou replies, "But it's going to be a very long time before you can get back to work again and a lot of you're clients..." Amy interrupts, "I don't care about that! There's only one thing on my mind and I need to figure out how to do it." Lou understands Amy's resolve. She's stubborn and once she has made up her mind there's very little, if anything, anyone can do to change it.
Lou asks, "Okay then, care to talk about Ty?" Amy sighs and says, "Maybe later...but since you managed to convince me to get out of the house, let's just drop everything for now and talk about something different. How's everything with you and Peter?..."
...
Amy takes a seat at a table while Lou takes care of business in the back of the diner. After a few minutes, Lou comes out and says, "I'm heading over to the bank now. Do you want to come along with me or stay here?" Amy answers, "Stand around in the bank? I don't think so. I'll wait for you here and maybe have a little something to eat." Lou says, "Okay, I shouldn't be too long. I'll see you in a little while and then I just might join you."
A few minutes after Lou leaves, while studying the menu, Amy is startled by Ryan who suddenly appears, taking a seat at her table across from her. Angered by the sight of him, she quickly tries to compose herself and says, "What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay away from me." Ryan answers, "I guess its just serendipity that I found you here, just like how we first met...and as I remember it, I think you told me to stay away from the ranch. Anyway, I'm here, so we might as well have lunch and talk."
Amy's flustered and says, "Listen Ryan, I have no interest in talking with you, so please leave me alone." Ryan responds, "I know what you must be going through right now. I mean breaking up with your fiancé and all. I guess that's why you never wanted to talk about him much...or maybe you never were engaged and you just wore that ring to keep away any man who didn't interest you."
Although angry, Amy keeps her voice down and says, "I was engaged...but it's none of your business now." Ryan responds, "Okay, then I guess you were telling the truth then when you told me that you felt you had to let go and that's why you're no longer engaged. Amy protests, "That's not what I meant by that! I was talking about letting go and getting over the loneliness I was feeling at the time. I needed to let go of it and the stress too, so I could concentrate on my job. That's why I agreed to go out with you and you're team in first place." Ryan replies, "You're just fooling yourself. I think you meant letting go of him and everything that happened between us was part of that. Come on Amy, I know how you feel about me. I saw it in your eyes and on your face when you looked at me. It was in your smile, your laugh, and your voice. Let's start fresh, so we can get back to where we were." Amy protests, "Where we were? We weren't anywhere and what makes you think we were dating? We weren't!" Ryan replies, "Of course we were. How about that last night in Paris? You can't tell me that wasn't a date." Amy doesn't want to hear any of it, especially any reference to what happened that night.
She's about to angrily reply when she happens to glance up and see Ty. She watches him walk from the tack and feed section towards them, glancing briefly in their direction, and then out the door. Amy can't believe the bad luck...him seeing her with Ryan again. Her attention is drawn back to Ryan when he reaches across the table and grasps her hand. She pulls it away and says loudly, "That's it...I've had enough! Leave me alone!" The tone of her voice draws the attention of those around her. The waitress comes over and asks, "Are you having a problem, Amy? Would you like me to call the police?" Amy looks over at Ryan and asks sternly, "Well...should she?" Ryan looks up at the waitress and says, "That won't be necessary. I was just leaving." Amy corrects him saying, "On second thought...you're staying...I'm leaving!"
With that, Amy gets up and walks out the door, not realizing that she's being followed closely by Ryan. Just outside the diner door, Ryan reaches out and grabs Amy by the wrist, spinning her around and against the wall. He steps closer to her, immediately places his hands on her hips, and says, "You're acting just like a tease again…I like that." Amy is in a panic and yells out, "Let me go!" Just as Ryan leans in to kiss her, she sees an arm reach in and grab Ryan by the shoulder, pulling him away from her.
She looks over and sees that it's Ty, who says to Ryan in a forceful tone, "I think you better leave her alone." Ryan pulls away from Ty's grasp, steps back as he straightens his jacket, and says, "Ty Borden, right? Listen, I don't appreciate you involving yourself in this. We were just talking and had a little disagreement, that's all, like all couples do." Amy protests loudly saying, "We're not a couple!" Ryan ignores her and says to Ty, "Like I said, it was just a simple argument, she'll get over it in a bit and then..." Ty abruptly interrupts, sternly saying as he steps towards him, "It didn't sound that way to me, so you better take off right now." Noticing Ty clenching his fist, Ryan raises his hands in anticipation of having to fend him off and says, "Okay...okay, I get it." Ryan turns to Amy and says, "Call me when you've calmed down and we'll talk. I promise I'll make it up to you." He then walks hurriedly away as Ty watches.
Once Ryan is out of sight, Ty turns to Amy and asks, "Are you okay?" In shock and too embarrassed to speak, Amy nods her head indicating she is, but then breaks down in tears and buries her face in Ty's chest. Ty reaches around with one hand and gently places it on her back as he asks, "Are you here alone?" Amy lifts her head looking into Ty's eyes and answers, "I was waiting for Lou. She's at the bank." Ty asks, "Would you like me to walk you over there?" Amy wipes the tears from her face as she tries to compose herself and replies, "No, that's okay...actually if you don't mind, do you think you can give me a ride home?" Ty answers, "Sure, no problem. My truck is just down the street."
...
It's a quiet ride back to the ranch. Ty pulls up and stops in front of the house and then asks, "Would you like me to walk you in...you know...just in case someone has any questions?" Amy responds, "I'll be okay from here and thank you stepping in when you did." Ty replies, "You know I would never let anything happen to you right?" Amy answers, "I know...and thanks again."
Amy reaches for the door handle, but then stops herself and turns back to Ty. She has so many things she wants to say to him, but she's not sure this is the right time. Instead she decides to ask one question that's been on her mind. "Can I ask you something?" Ty's not sure how to answer since he doesn't want to start a conversation he would rather avoid. He knows they do have to talk at some point, so he answers, hoping it's not what he suspects, "Yeah...sure. I mean, if we can't figure out a way to talk whenever we happen run into each other then it's going to be kinda weird...so, what do you want to know?" Amy asks, "Are you planning to leave?" Ty's annoyed by the question and says, "I should go."
Amy assumes that he is by his reluctance to answer the question and says, "You're going to run again aren't you." Ty takes a moment to collect his thoughts first and then replies, "I wish people would quit suspecting that of me. I'm not a runner. I did that only a few times when I was a kid in that group home and then afterwards I was labeled as one. It followed me everywhere I went. I heard it so many times, I began to believe it...I even repeated it myself. I'm not though...I'm no different than anyone else. There were several times over these past years when anyone else probably would have left, but I didn't...If I leave, it's because I'm not wanted or I have some other place I want to or need to be. Am I going to run?...No. Might I leave?...Not anytime soon."
Before Ty finishes, Amy realizes quickly that it wasn't a question she should have asked. When he's done speaking, she says, "I'm sorry. Sometimes I say the wrong thing." Ty responds, "Yeah...you do. Maybe you should work on that." Amy replies, "I know...that and other things too." Ty stoically says, "You should go now...I have to get back to the clinic."
Amy regrets asking the question and can understand why Ty responded the way he did. She thinks to herself, "Why do I always say the wrong thing when I don't mean to? Ty was obviously willing to talk and I ruined it." She also regrets missing out on an opportunity during the ride home to speak more with Ty or at least opening the door to a later conversation.
She steps from Ty's truck and watches as he drives away, which brought to mind watching him do the same the day he broke off their engagement.
As soon as she walks through the door the phone rings. It's Lou who says, "Amy...I'm glad you're home. Are you okay?" Amy replies, "I'm fine Lou...just a little shook up because of Ryan." Lou asks, "So it was him who was bothering you at Maggie's?" Amy says, "Yes...and outside too." Lou replies, "I didn't hear about that. It took more time than I thought at the bank. I'm so sorry I wasn't there. Claire, the waitress, told me what she saw as soon as I returned. So what happened? How did you get home?" Amy answers, "I tell you about it when you get here." Lou replies, "Okay...I have one more stop to make and then I'll be home."
...
"...so then Ty appeared out of nowhere and pulled him away from me. They exchanged a few words and he finally chased Ryan off." Amy pauses and then continues, "I don't know what got into Ryan. Ever since he showed up in Hudson, he's changed. He's nothing like he was in Paris...he's a completely different person now. If he had been anything like this right after we first met, I wouldn't have given him the time of day."
Lou responds, "I don't mean to sound like I'm lecturing you about this since you already know, but you should never have gotten involved with him in the first place. Lou pauses briefly in thought and then says, "You know...you have this unique ability to read a horse, but no idea when it comes to men. Maybe you've never realized this, but you sometimes have this way about you that can be interpreted as being subtly...well, for the lack of a better word... flirtatious. It goes hand in hand with your inability to say no sometimes and mean it. It's called setting boundaries. I've seen you fail to do so before. Like with Caleb, Chase, and even Ahmed. You need to be aware that it might give some men the wrong idea and there are some who may not even care if you're engaged. That's probably why Ryan said what he did. You gave him mixed signals and he misinterpreted them.
This was nothing new to Amy. She thought about it many times since all this happened. Every time she looked back at what she may have done to encourage either Ryan or Ahmed, she had to accept only one conclusion. It was wasn't one thing, but rather a combination of mixed signals she never intended, blurring the line between friendship and something more...Something more that eventually resulted in her finding herself in Ryan's arms.
She couldn't deny that she had a slight attraction to him, but she thought she had managed to keep it in check, until that night after dinner and an evening of drinking and dancing. She failed to set a boundary and now found herself in a situation, reminiscent of another, in which her relationship with Ty barely survived.
After Amy's lack of a response, Lou returns to their previous conversation, "So, I guess then that it was Ty who drove you home?" Amy answers, "He did." Lou asks, "Did you happen to talk on the way?" Amy replies, "No. I didn't feel it was the right time. I mean, under the circumstances I didn't think it was appropriate. I should have tried though to at least explain Ryan, but I was embarrassed by the whole thing." Lou asks, "Did he say anything to you at all?" Amy answers, "When we got back, he said that he would never let anything happen to me." Lou responds, "Well, that's a good sign." Amy replies, "It was until I ruined it." Lou asks, "What do you mean by that?" Amy answers, "I just seem to always say the wrong thing. I asked him if he was leaving and when he wouldn't answer; I accused him of planning to run away. He was upset by it and left."
Lou pats Amy on the shoulder and says, "I wouldn't worry about it. Ty knows how you are sometimes and I'm sure he knows you didn't mean it. I think you should just move on." Amy looks at Lou confused and asks, "Move on?" Lou pauses and clarifies herself, "I didn't mean it that way. I mean, just put it behind you...get over it. See...I can sometimes word things the wrong way too."
Lou sees this as an opportunity to ask, "Since we're talking about Ty, have you given any thought what you're going to say to him when the time comes?" Amy answers, "I've been thinking about it a lot, but I don't know how to start. I mean...there's so much I have to tell him. I'm worried that at some point he won't want to hear anymore and that'll be the end of it."
Lou replies, "Unfortunately, there's not much you can do about that, but I would wait until the very end to tell him about Ford. You have to understand that he's going to feel hurt again, so go slow and think before you say anything. Be compassionate and give him some time to absorb what you're telling him. He'll know that its going to hurt even before you start, so tell him that you know it's going to be difficult for him and that you're willing to answer any questions he might have. If he asks a question, don't criticize him for asking. I can guarantee that'll end it right there."
Amy says, "Grandpa told me I should speak from my heart." Lou nods and says, "Exactly..."
After a moment, Lou says, "Now, about Ryan...You need to let grandpa know what happened as soon as he gets back. He's going to find out about it sooner or later anyway, so it's best he hears it from you first." Amy replies, "I know, but I hope he doesn't do anything foolish. I don't want to make things any worse than they already are. Lou responds, "Any worse? Amy...he assaulted you. You can't let him get away with that." Amy says, "I know, but I feel like everything is spinning out of control and I'm afraid of what grandpa and dad might do"….