Chapter 10: A Special Surprise

Amy wiped her eyes, as she stepped off of the last porch step. How could her sister talk to her like that? She had only been trying to help, and telling Georgie about Vancouver was an innocent mistake. Maybe Lou was right, though, maybe she should just mind her own business from now on.

Amy was still replaying the argument in her head as she reached the driveway. She looked toward the barn and something caught her eye, something that made her feel a lot better, so she began running the rest of the way. Making her way around the blue truck, she smiled as she entered the barn. Then, running up the stairs, into the loft, she called, "Ty!"

"Hey! There's my beautiful wife!" Ty greeted her, as soon she stepped into their loft. He stretched out his arms and caught her, as she ran to him.

"What are you doing home, already?" she asked.

"It was slow day at work, so Scott let me have the rest of the day off."

Amy held her husband tighter, "This is the best kind of surprise and I really needed a hug from you, right about now."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?"

Amy stepped back, and explained, "I accidentally told Georgie that she'd be spending Christmas in Vancouver, and now she's mad at Lou for not telling her sooner, and Lou's mad at me, for making Georgie mad at her."

"I see...but I thought Lou had already told the girls about that."

"Yeah, so did I, but apparently she hadn't."

Ty kissed Amy's forehead and told her, "I wouldn't worry about it too much. I'm sure Lou will forgive you and everything will be fine by tomorrow."

"I hope you're right. I feel so bad for her and everything she's dealing with. All I ever wanted to do was help."

"I know," Ty said, pulling her in for another hug.

Amy relaxed in her husband's arms. "This is nice," she said, closing her eyes and just enjoying the closeness between them.

Ty smiled and whispered to her, "You know, I have another surprise that I think you'll like even more..."

Amy backed up, again, and looked at Ty, "There's another surprise?"

"Yup, and it's a big one," Ty told her.

"Well, what is it?" Amy was eager to know what he was up to.

"Before I tell you, though, I'm kind of hungry," Ty said, turning toward the kitchen, "I think I'm going to get something to eat, first."

"Oh no you don't!" Amy said, "you better tell me right now!" She grabbed his arm and tried pulling him toward her.

Ty freed his arm and continued toward the fridge, saying, "Do we still have any turkey? I'm thinking I'll make a sandwich."

"Ty, come on! Tell me what the other surprise is!" She would never admit it, but she actually enjoyed it when Ty did this. She was glad she had found someone that she could have fun with and who didn't take life too seriously.

Ty continued to get what he needed to make a sandwich, as Amy grew more desperate to find out his secret.

"You are so annoying," she told him, laughing, "but, I know how to make you talk." She began to tickle her husband, knowing of all his weak spots.

Laughing and squirming, Ty said, "Hey, I'm trying to make a sandwich!"

"Well, I'm not stopping until you tell me what the surprise is."

Finally, Ty turned and surrendered, "okay, okay, I give up- I'll tell you!"

Amy stopped tickling him, but kept her hands where they were, just in case. "So what is it?" she wanted to know.

"Alright, here it goes," Ty said, taking a deep breath and stalling a little longer, "the surprise is..." Ty paused and then asked, "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes!" Amy answered, playfully punching him in shoulder.

Ty was enjoying teasing his wife, "You know, you're really cute when you're frustrated," he told her, brushing her hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear. Amy glared at him, trying not to smile. Ty leaned in, to kiss her, but she moved out of the way.

"Oh no you don't," she said, "No kissing until you tell me the surprise."

"None at all?" Ty asked, trying again.

Dodging him again, she confirmed, "None."

Ty sighed and said, "Okay, if it's that important to you..."

Amy waited, not sure if he was actually going to tell her or if he'd continue messing with her.

"Do you remember when I promised that I would do anything for you and for our marriage?" he asked. He had become serious, intriguing Amy even more.

"Yeah... I remember..."

"Well, I wanted to do something special for the both of us. Like you said, we don't get a lot of quality time together these days. So, I talked to Scott and he agreed to let me have an entire week off, around Christmas."

"Really?!" Amy exclaimed, throwing her arms around her husband.

"Hold on, I'm not done," Ty continued.

"There's more?"

"Much more," Ty said, grinning, "I've booked us a cabin at this amazing mountain resort" he said.

"You did what?" Amy asked, in disbelief.

He pulled out his phone and began showing pictures of the cabin to Amy. "I know, I should've talked to you about it first, but I really wanted to surprise you."

"Oh, I'm surprised, all right."

"Just look at these pictures- the place is beautiful. And we'll have everything we need, like a kitchen and laundry, so we never even have to leave, we can just stay inside, just the two of us, nothing to do..."

"Hmmm" Amy was becoming more interested. "I'm sure we'd find something to do..." she said, nudging him in the side.

Ty laughed and then continued, "But if we do decide to venture outside, there's great winter activities. We could go ice skating on lake Louise or we could enjoy a horse-drawn sleigh ride." Ty sounded like a kid in a candy store.

"Ty, it sounds amazing. Are you sure we can afford this?"

"I was able to get a discount and I figure we could use the Christmas bonus, that I'll get from Scott, plus we have some in savings."

"I'm just not sure..."

"Amy, come on, we need this."

"Can't we just stay in our loft and not leave for a week?"

"You know that would never work. If we stay here, someone will need us, for something, and then we'll feel obligated to help out and won't get our alone time. But, if we leave and can't be reached..."

"Good point," Amy said, looking at the pictures again, "Okay, let's do this!"

"So, am I allowed to kiss you now?"

Amy laughed and nodded, "yes, you've definitely earned your kisses."

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply and passionately.

Taking a breath, Amy said, "You better save some of that for our trip."

Ty laughed and assured her, "Don't worry, there's plenty more where that came from."