The next day, Amy was outside brushing Harley while Lyndy was playing with one of her little buckets and filling it with snow not too far away. Thankfully the girl could entertain herself for days with the snow as Amy was working and she only had to glance at her way every now and then to make sure she wasn't running around and potentially getting herself hurt somehow as the yard could be slippery. But the girl was always mesmerized by the white stuff and kept shoveling it in the bucket, dumping it to the ground and repeating the same thing over and over again.
Amy remembered doing things like this with her mom too; Marion had not been too concerned about her and Lou running around horses when they had been little and they had always taken part of the ranch chores whenever they had been available. Both Lou and Amy had pretty much learned to ride before they had even learned to walk properly. Lyndy was still too little to help, but Amy was planning to include her as well when her motor skills would become better.
As Amy's hands made familiar brushing movements on Harley's coat while she was looking at Lyndy, her eyes fixated on something else as well as she saw Mitch coming from inside the ranch house and walking toward the barn. The man had been cleaning Harley's tack earlier but ran out of leather soap.
"Found any?" Amy asked when he was within hearing distance.
Mitch picked something from his pocket. "Jack had one soap inside - he had been cleaning his boots. I should get some more the next time I make a run to the town."
"Good", Amy replied. "Thanks for the help with all of this. I know it's kind of short notice, but... he only rang last night and wanted to come see Harley today."
"No need to thank me; it's my job", Mitch said with a smile. He then glanced at the little girl who was pressing the bucket against the ground. "You building a snow castle, Lyndy?" He bent his knees so they could look eye to eye. "Whatever you're doing, it's looking good. If you need someone to work with the power engineering side, I'm your guy."
Amy smiled a little as she watched them interact. Lyndy didn't say anything back, as most of what Mitch had said had flown over her head, but she always had a smile spared for the man.
"Oh, right - wasn't that what you did in Calgary last year?" Amy recalled.
"Yeah", Mitch said, getting up from Lyndy's level.
"Miss it?" Amy asked.
"Sometimes, but... nothing beats this. The nature, the horses. I love it here", Mitch said, feeling lucky to be back. He'd been miserable in endless meetings, but out here, he barely remembered how that felt. "I made a right decision by coming here."
"Good", Amy replied, knowing how it felt.
They both then turned their heads toward an incoming truck that the driver parked near the pens. Mitch figured this was the buyer Amy had been talking about, so out of curiosity, he stayed out to see what he was like.
Amy put the brushes away and went to get Lyndy now that her attention couldn't be divided with so many things at the same time. She picked her daughter up and walked closer to Bryce's truck.
The man adjusted his wheelchair out first and then positioned himself on top of it. As he slammed the truck door shut behind him, he turned to look at Amy and her daughter.
"Hey. - What is this? You've made a little clone out of yourself since the last time I saw you!" Bryce said, coming closer. "No wonder you haven't been visiting, I bet she's keeping you busy."
Amy smiled and looked at Lyndy proudly. "She does. This is Lyndy, my daughter."
"Figured as much, the resemble is uncanny", Bryce said, looking at the little blue-eyed girl Amy was holding. "Good for you, Amy. Is that why you're selling the horse? You've become busy? The bio said he's been with your family for a long time now."
"Well, no. Not exactly. He just needs a new home", Amy explained. "He's actually Ty's. You remember him?"
Bryce nodded. "Yeah, I remember. He helped me with Bandit. And I almost broke his arm when we were wrestling", he hummed.
Mitch walked closer, figuring he should introduce himself and not just stand there like some kind of weirdo. "Hey. Mitch Cutty." He extended his arm and they shook hands with Bryce.
"Hey. Bryce Quinn. Nice to meet you."
"I could take Lyndy out of your hands for a minute", Mitch suggested, figuring it was best if Amy just focused on showing Harley to the potential buyer.
"Oh, thanks", Amy said, handing the girl to the man.
"With the genes you guys have, it's no wonder this kid turned out so cute", Bryce said, assuming Mitch was Lyndy's father.
Both Amy and Mitch stared at Bryce for a second and then glanced quickly each other, realizing that for someone who didn't know them, it probably did look like they were a little family.
"Oh... He's not-" Amy tried to correct the information simultaneously with Mitch.
"Oh, I just work here. We are not... involved. Lyndy's not my kid."
"Oh..." Bryce realized his mistake. "Sorry, I just assumed. Sorry about that. Huh. - Anyway... Is that the horse I'm seeing?" he pointed to Harley and tried to move over from the awkward situation while Amy and Mitch glanced at each other again, feeling a little weird about it too.
"Yeah. That's Harley. You want to check him out?" Amy suggested.
"Absolutely. Let's do it. Can you show him in the pen?" Bryce asked.
"Sure. Let's go", Amy said, gesturing Bryce to follow her. She was fortunate for having Mitch around as he liked spending time with Lyndy and didn't mind taking her off of her hands for every now and then. Right now she needed to focus on working.
Bryce watched as Amy lunged the horse in the round pen. Harley seemed receptive and full of energy. The man followed his movements, and as far as he could see, Harley was moving his legs well - which was one of the things he was looking for in a horse.
"He has a bit of a hay belly, doesn't he?" Bryce commented. "He's been standing in the pen a lot?"
"Yeah", Amy admitted while going round in circles with the horse. "But it's not something that couldn't be fixed. The truth is, he could use a lot more exercise than what he's been used for now. And it's not that he's lazy, it's just that he hasn't gotten that much attention lately. But he craves for something more, more action, more rush. That's part of the reason why he's for sale."
"Others being...?" Bryce was curious. If he was going to buy this horse, he needed to know more about his background and possible challenges.
"Ty just hasn't had enough time for him. But Harley's a great horse, there's nothing wrong with him mentally or physically", Amy said truthfully. "I think with what you're doing, he could get the attention he deserves. He is easy to work with, he wants to please his rider."
"Hm", Bryce hummed. "And what has he been used in? Does he know anything about roping? Cattle?" He continued to learn more about the horse.
"To some degree. He's been a ranch horse, but his skills could be spruced up a bit", Amy admitted. "But I doubt it's going to be a problem. He has good cow sense. We've been having him in the cattle drives few times, and he loves it. I think he could make a great roping horse."
"Well, he looks good, he sounds good, but tell you the truth... I was hoping I could find a ready-made horse for my clinics", Bryce shared with Amy. "Like I said, I've been busy with my business and other commitments, I don't really have time to train him on top of everything."
"I can help you with that", Amy said, knowing she didn't really have any other clients right now, so she could focus on training Harley if she wanted. "Get him ready for you. He has major potential, trust me."
"Well, you did wonders with Alcatraz - though, I did help you get started", Bryce teased, making Amy smile a little, "so... why not. I like his spirit."
"You won't be disappointed", Amy promised. It wasn't something she had not done many times before, and with a horse like Harley, it would not be a problem.
"I assume your work is going to affect the price...?" Bryce had to ask about it.
"A little", Amy admitted, "but we can talk about that."
"Great. So... does that mean he's practically mine?" the man asked.
Amy nodded. "Practically."
When Amy was walking Bryce back to his truck after taking Harley inside the barn, she decided it was time to catch up with everything now that the business side was out of the way.
After seeing Alcatraz had been doing well at Bryce's ranch years ago and no longer needed her immediate attention, Amy had decided to let Bryce and Alcatraz live their life together in peace, without her hovering around. Life had gotten in the way after that, for both of them, and since Bryce had no longer needed any help with Alcatraz, there had not really been any reasons to stay in touch.
"So, business is good?" Amy asked, recalling Bryce mentioning it. She was glad Bryce had found his calling and from what she had seen, he had been great at it.
"Yeah, it's really picked up. It gets a little overwhelming sometimes, but I've managed", Bryce said. "How's Soraya, by the way? She still in London?"
"Yeah, very much so. I haven't seen her in couple of years. She came to my wedding, and we like each other's posts on social media, but that's pretty much it", Amy admitted, feeling a little bad about how little they talked these days. But both of them were busy, and it wasn't exactly uncommon that childhood friends lost touch after graduation.
"Wedding?" Bryce asked, turning his chair toward Amy when they were next to his truck. "If you're not married to that guy in the bar with your daughter, who are you married to then?"
Amy then realized it had slipped from her tongue when she had tried so hard not to bring it up, because it wasn't something she really liked getting into - especially now.
"Uh, well... separated now, actually", Amy told him. "Ty and I got married, but... we're getting divorced."
"Oh, sorry to hear about that", Bryce said, sincerely. "That sucks. And sorry about that comment earlier; I didn't want to make things awkward between you and your... ranch hand, if that was what he was."
"It's okay. We're good friends - I don't think it's going to be a problem."
Bryce felt a little relieved. "That's good."
"So... you seeing anyone?" Amy asked with a smile. She could recall Bryce being a huge flirt back in the day, and since Soraya had slipped between his fingers, she couldn't help but wonder if he had been able to find the right girl for himself.
"I got no time for that. Between me helping people learn how to rope and my group, I'm surprised I've even managed to squeeze in any time for brushing my teeth", Bruce said, sighing a little, but he still had that familiar twinkle in his eye. "But I guess that's my own fault. And don't tell anyone, but sometimes I even skip the brushing the teeth part... Come to think of it, maybe that's the reason I don't have a girlfriend", he joked, making Amy chuckle.
"Group?" She narrowed her eyes a little. "What group?" Amy asked curiously.
Bryce opened his truck's door and pulled out a flyer, then handing it to Amy.
"Support group for vets. If you remember, back when you and I first met, I wasn't handling things too well and I'm kind of embarrassed about it now, but it made me realize something needed to change. Then I was lured into this group meeting one day, and... I don't know, it was a relief to be surrounded by people who knew what it was like, what I was going through. I don't know if you noticed the last time I was here, but I was beginning to feel better, I was in a much better place mentally. And that's how I kind of got my business started, because I was finally able to actually focus on what I wanted to do with my life."
"That's amazing", Amy said, eyeing the flyer thoughtfully.
"And when the previous leader of the group moved away, I didn't want to see all that work go to waste or, worst of all, think about some ex-soldier, desperately in need for help, lost and trying to find their way out. So, I stepped in", Bryce shared.
"And how have you find that?" Amy asked, now looking back at the man.
"It's been awesome, honestly. It's kind of rare to have people understand what you've been going through without you having even articulate it properly. They just know", Bryce shared. "And we don't just talk about how sad we've been, we do other stuff too."
"Sounds great. I'm happy for you, Bryce." Amy smiled. "Can I keep this...?" she showed him the flyer.
The man nodded. "By all means. I have like million of them anyway."
"Thanks", Amy said, placing it on her back pocket. "I'll let you know how things are going with Harley."
"Alright. Can't wait!" Bryce said, genuinely excited.