It was a typical day at Heartland - except that Peter was around. He had taken Lou or Jack's place as the safety observer as he leaned on the fence of the riding area, watching Georgie showing off what she had learned from Sandra since the last time he had been home. The father hardly knew anything about horses, or trick riding for that matter, but Georgie was enthusiastic to show off her skills and he was happy to spend some quality time with his adoptive daughter.
Peter had often wondered if he was living the kind of life he wanted, but looking at Georgie's face and listening to how she explained the names of the different tricks, Peter knew that if his kids were this happy, he was happy too. He might not have always made the best choices, but at least he was here now and things were okay with him, Lou and the girls. So maybe there had been no bad roads if every road had lead him to this kind of happiness - or if there was, maybe they had been there to taught him he couldn't know good if he didn't know the bad too.
In the ranch house, Lou was looking through the kitchen window while she was on the phone with Joan, Victor's lady friend, who helped him run his ranch whenever Victor was away somewhere and his horses needed looking after.
Lou saw Georgie trying a new trick in the distance, but could hardly focus on it as her mind was elsewhere, worrying about Amy.
"So you don't know when they will be back?" Lou asked Joan.
Jack watched his oldest granddaughter, trying to fill the blanks between her sentences as the phone call went on. Amy had now been at Victor's for days, but after her message of arrival the family had not heard from her. Lou had of course started to worry about her little sister and Jack too couldn't deny he was wondering why there was this kind of radio silence, especially after Amy had promised to keep in contact. But he was sure that if something serious had happened, they would have heard about it already.
"Okay, well when they do come back, have Amy call me right away, please? There's something important I need to tell her. Thanks. Okay, yeah, you too. Okay, bye", Lou said before she hung up.
"So...?" Jack asked over his cup of coffee, flipping the pages of the newspaper before him. Lou turned around after putting down the house phone and sighed so heavily her shoulders and head slumped over.
"Well, I found out that they are on some kind of..." Lou tried to come up with the name and frowned, "Vision Quest I think it was called."
It might have not meant much to Lou, but Jack recalled something of that kind from years ago. His face lit up, but he was still cautious as he knew Victor wouldn't have had Amy do Vision Quest if he had thought it was not something she needed to do.
"Vision Quest, you say?" Jack checked that he had heard right.
"Yeah. What, why? Does that mean something to you?" Lou asked and pulled a chair away from the table so she could join her grandfather and have a cup of tea.
"Well... back in the day, when you and Amy were little, Marion did something similar", Jack recalled. "That was after Tim had left and Marion was feeling lost. When she came back from Victor's, she was like a different woman. She had picked up the pieces of her life and started to run her family and business with more confidence."
Lou drifted into thought, wondering what it would mean for Amy.
"You think Amy is in need of something like that?"
"Well, I don't know about that stuff, but she needs help, that's for sure", Jack said voicing his opinion. He had been careful in telling Amy what to do, but had always kept a close eye on her, just to make sure she was alright.
"Tell me about it. I've been so worried about her, but it's like she has built this wall around her and all we can do is wait for her to knock it down. I'm the big sister, so it's my duty to look after her, but... I can't do that forever. I know she's a grown woman now, but I can't stop worrying", Lou said, sighing.
"How do you think it has been for me all these years, looking after you two", Jack spoke, smiling a little at Lou's discovery of responsibility. "I've tried to teach you girls morals and ways of handling things, but you've still been free to make your own mistakes. Seeing you in pain or struggling hasn't been easy, but I think going through something on your own always teaches you the best. You forget words of wisdom, but not how something made you feel."
"But what if it doesn't help Amy? What if she keeps on suffering and doesn't see a way out? She's made a big mess for herself. It can be hard for one person to deal with", Lou voiced her concern. "I know you've told me to butt out, but... for how long?"
"We'll see how she is when she gets back", Jack decided. "Who knows, maybe Victor has helped her like he helped your mother."
Lou finally poured herself a cup of tea from the pot, but couldn't stop her mind from wandering. She knew from her own experience that a trip abroad was something that changed a person and coming back home wasn't always painless, especially if there was someone else involved as well - like there had been with Ty and Amy.
It had been weeks since Lou had seen or heard of Ty, but recent developments had made her want to contact him and invite him over to celebrate the same event she so eagerly wanted to tell her sister about. Lou just wasn't sure how well that would sit with Amy.
"What do you think of all this?" Lou had to ask. "Ty and Amy, I mean. When she left for Europe, did you think something like this would happen?"
"Well, whenever a couple parts ways, one way or another, there's always a chance something will change and I think that's what makes the leaving so hard", Jack said, knowing he was lucky to have Lisa and the trust and faith they shared together. "But sometimes something can change even if you are side by side all day and all night."
"I guess so", Lou agreed, thinking how she had always assumed that the biggest problem she and Peter had was living separately. But lately, especially with what she had learned through couple's counselling, she had realized a relationship wasn't just about being under the same roof, but more about being there for each other mentally. Everything else was just extra.
Based on Ty and Amy's versions of events, the young couple had lost that connection while being apart.
"Do you think Amy regrets falling in love with Ty? I know there have been times when I've been thinking if falling in love with Peter was a bad idea. Things are better now, as you know, but when you're at your lowest, all sorts of things cross your mind", Lou said.
"I don't think falling in love is a matter of choice", Jack pointed out. "And I don't think Amy regrets it either. I've found we mostly end up regretting the things that we didn't do, rather than the things that we did do. Take me, for example; I remember thinking that exact same thing with Lyndy, but from her point of view. I always wondered if she regretted falling in love with me. I was so stubborn about living here at Heartland, while she loved touring and making music. Sometimes I felt like I was caging a bird by marrying her, but things changed when Marion was born. She loved being a wife and a mother and Heartland became her home. So the way I see it, things could have fallen apart quite easily if we would have let them, but we never did. And eventually everything fell into a place. And we couldn't have been happier."
A nostalgic smile tugged the sides of Jack's lips and Lou found herself smiling too. She looked outside and saw Peter and Georgie, having a moment together, and she couldn't deny that sometimes things really did have their way of working themselves out, even if it also required a lot of work.
Lou just hoped the same thing would happen with Ty and Amy, whether they would be together or not.
A/N: I have some good news and bad news - I've planned to write 60 chapters for this story, so you still have 6 more chapters to read in the near future. However, as the story is coming to an end and I'm tying loose ends, I will probably write all of those six chapters at once to make sure the flow is good and everything is covered, which means there might not be an update for a while (can't say anything for sure because I don't know how my inspiration will work). But after I've written them, you can expect me to publish one chapter per day for six days straight, so that should be a nice thing for you readers. Bottom line is: I'm working on the story constantly and it will get finished, I promise you that. Thanks for reading and supporting Promise Kept!
