CHAPTER 12

Amy was driving Ty's truck North on Highway 2 back to his apartment in Calgary. They were both deep in thought about the events of the past day when she was first to speak.

"I am sooo glad that dad left to go to his new lady friend's house for dinner. At least we got a chance to have a pleasant meal with my family, or I should say our family." Amy glanced over to her passenger and smiled.

"I was just wondering, though, am I going to have to start checking your knuckles again?" She was trying to lighten up the tension.

Ty wrinkled his eyebrows and turned to look at her quizzically.

"What? What's that supposed to mean?"

He saw that she was smiling mischievously, probably prodding him into a teasing war.

"Do you remember when we were still kids and I was always making you show me your knuckles to prove that you had talked your way through a dispute instead of flying into a fist fight? I would know just by looking at your knuckles if you were telling me the truth. Am I going to need to start checking those knuckles every time you see my Dad?" she taunted him.

"Look, Amy, I am really sorry about what happened today." He said, embarrassed by the sideshow at the ranch.

"I just….I have just had it with him. He never lets up, you know? EVERY time he gets the chance he will do that thing he does, throw me some wise ass remark. I can't take it anymore!"

"Well, you shouldn't have to!" She assured him. "And, if you ever repeat what I am going to say right now, I will deny it, but….Dad had that coming and I was kind of hoping you would finally call him out for it. Maybe now he will back off."

"Man, I sure hope so. Maybe that new girlfriend will take the edge off him."

"Oh, is that what it takes?" she egged him on.

"What?" He was having a hard time figuring out where she was going with this.

"Are you saying that it takes a woman to calm a man down so he isn't trying to get into fights all the time?" still prodding.

He reasoned "It sure couldn't hurt, could it?"

"Well, there is a flaw in that theory, Mister, because I have been in town for twenty four hours and you have only gotten worse!" she was laughing at him now. Amy enjoyed getting Ty flustered and teasing him along.

In less than one hour they were upstairs on the sofa settling in to watch a movie when Ty brought up the question lurking in the air all day.

"So tell me, have you enjoyed your time travelling and working with the team, seeing all of those amazing places, being the center of attention to half of Europe? Have you thought about when you are going back?"

"That depends." She pondered. "It is very important to me to understand how you feel about it….I mean really feel about it. You can't hold back from me this time, Ty." She pointed out. "Nothing is worth having you feel the way you did these past few weeks and I have to honestly say it really hurt me that you felt like I would throw away everything we have done, everything we hope to do."

"I know, Amy. I was trying as hard as I could to keep busy and not think about you being gone, we can thank Lou for seeing to that, but I can't help missing you. I let those stories and pictures take over my imagination. It's hard for me to see you with someone else like that. You seemed so happy to be with him and I let it get the best of me. I just felt so….helpless to do anything about it. You make such a big difference in me…. to my life. I don't know how I can explain it, but it isn't just about me now. I can't think of myself without you as a part of anything I do. I thought I was losing you after we finally came so close to making a go of it."

"I feel the same way, Ty. I want everything I do to be about us, together, but for some reason I don't think you believe me when I tell you that. Listen, I do get that your family situation so early in your childhood had a devastating effect on your trust toward people. It is a shame, the way they treated you, but we are not them. You need to accept me and my family for who we are. We mean it when we say you are a part of us. Grandpa thinks as highly of you as he does me or Lou! And Lou, she has told me that you are the little brother she always wished she had. And as for me, you have been the best friend I have ever known. I have watched you grow up and become the amazing man that I have fallen so completely in love with." Amy confessed.

"What about you?" Ty looked directly into her eyes and gently placed his hand at her cheek. "Do you know without a doubt that you will be happy living the life we dreamed about before all of this came up? Everything has changed so much. We both know now that the world is a big place and you have proven the whole world can be yours, if you want it. What I am trying to say, Amy….is that I want more than anything else to be sure you have everything you need to feel satisfied with our life, like you are getting everything you want out of life every day, and not like you are missing out on something."

It upset her to think there was any question about where they would go from here, but she knew Ty meant what he said and appreciated his total honesty.

"I hope you know without any doubt that I wouldn't do anything that put our relationship at risk. The success I have had in Europe has been gratifying to a point, but the great things I have experienced were, I don't know, kind of hollow without you and my family to share them with me. I missed you so much!

I don't think I have ever had a more special memory than when we won the Fall Finale with Spartan. I rode well, Spartan was awesome, and it was your 'pretzel' looking plan for the course that made the difference. You were my coach and we did it together. You, Lou, and Grandpa were there to see it and share it with me. It makes all the difference. It was also the first time you ever kissed me!"

They both took a few seconds to remember that night.

"Why don't we just relax, watch a movie, and we can talk about this tomorrow, OK?" Ty suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Amy replied, thankful for some alone time with her man.