Sorry for the late update, I completely forgot that I had edited chapters but didn't post them (silly me). Hope you guys like this one, I changed it more than others I think but it still fits the original storyline of course!

"Hey TJ, are you feeling better after your forest scare with Esme?" Katie asked her cousin the next morning, as he trudged into the kitchen. It was a little after ten; the latest TJ had slept in for the past three days. School was starting again soon and despite how fun the two weeks of spring break were, he was looking forward to going back.

"Yeah, but I couldn't sleep last night. So I talked to Lyndy and fell asleep on her carpet." TJ replied. He and Lyndy had stayed up until eleven talking about anything and everything, which led to his sleep in. Lyndy was still in bed but she was the resident sleeper in the house.

"Well I'm just glad you got home safe! What was I thinking, letting two nine year-olds go out on a trail ride without adult supervision?" Amy appeared from the bathroom to overhear her niece and son's conversation.

TJ walked over and hugged his mom. "It's okay Mom, it wasn't your fault. We weren't paying attention, and who knew the walkie talkies would be out of batteries?"

"I know, but I still feel bad. I think it's because you kids are so responsible, way more than your dad and I were at that age, I forget to take in how young you guys really are!" Amy explained, pouring herself a cup of coffee from the freshly brewed pot.

"They are most definitely responsible." Ty echoed Amy's words. He took off his boots as he came in from the yard. Kissing the top of Amy's head, he raised his travel coffee mug. "Can I have a refill? I'm going to go back out, but if I don't have fuel then there's no work getting done."

"Sure, the fence looks good," Amy commented. TJ took a seat at the small kitchen table and poured himself some cereal while Amy topped up Ty's coffee. The fence that lined the small front yard had started rotting and Ty was taking advantage of the sunny weather to replace it.

"Thanks, and thanks for the coffee." Ty took the mug Amy had passed him. "How will I ever repay you?"

Amy raised her eyebrows and her eyes shifted downwards. "I can think of a few ways," she said, trailing off from continuing her sentence.

"Well you just wait." Amy's breath quickened as she caught her husband's glance and he winked. He leaned down to kiss her, and she melted into him.

Katie coughed loudly and Ty looked up and laughed, seeing his niece's grossed out face. "I'll see you guys later," he said, slipping on his boots as he left the house.

"You guys act like teenagers," Katie coughed again, this one for real as she took a sip of juice too fast.

"I don't mind it," TJ said truthfully, as he dug into his full bowl of cereal. Amy just smiled at him and headed back to the bathroom.

"You're weird," Katie commented, but laughed to show TJ she was just kidding.

Lily entered the room at that moment, dressed and ready for the day and looked strangely at her brother and cousin. "Who's weird?"

"TJ." Katie answered, before her phone made a loud buzzing noise. "Oh shoot, that's Brick. Gotta run!" she grabbed her phone and quickly left the kitchen.

"Well that was odd," the six year-old commented, trying to climb on the counter to grab a glass.

"Some things are odd," TJ replied, getting out of his seat and getting the cup for Lily instead.

"Thanks." Lily finished her task of pouring orange juice. "Can we go take Rover for a run in the field today?" Rover was the family's four year-old rescue dog that Ty had brought home from the clinic three years ago. He was a mix between a german shepard and a golden retriever and then something else. Rover was an affectionate dog, but sometimes got too excited. Which is why it was the kids' job to run him regularly in the field behind the house to try and get rid of some of the energy.

TJ shrugged. "Why not?" He took one last bite of his cereal and poured the leftover milk into the sink. "I'll just grab my hat," he said, leaving to run to his room. On the way he peeked into Lyndy's and saw she was looking out her window.

Lyndy turned as she heard her bedroom door being pushed open. "Hey TJ, what's up?"

"Thought you'd be sleeping in until twelve!" he joked.

"Not today. The sun woke me and your badgering while leaving my room didn't help either!" she replied, laughing at his glare. "What? Can't you leave a room quietly without knocking over a few books and crashing into my night table?"

"In my defense, your table's too close to the door and who leaves books in a pile on the ground?" TJ lightly punched his sister's shoulder. "Me and Lily are going to the back field to play fetch with Rover. Wanna come?"

"Nah, Mom wanted me to help muck stalls this morning. So when you're running in the horse manure fed grass, I'll be mucking it out of their stalls." Lyndy made a face at her brother.

This caused TJ to laugh. "Oh well, I have to clean Arlo's when I get back anyways, so I'm not fully out of the loop," he replied.

"Maybe we can hang out later?" Lyndy asked.

"Sure, sounds like a plan." TJ closed his older sister's door and quickly grabbed his old beat up cowboy hat he got when he was Lily's age. Ever since Rover joined the family, it had been obvious he was a fetching dog. And unfortunately for TJ's hat, it had been chewed a few too many times to still be worn. TJ hadn't minded when he found the limp thing on the floor one day; he had laughed and showed his sisters. But ever since then it had been used for Rover to fetch and the bite marks proved the hat worked as a toy.

"Ready to go Rover?" TJ asked the big dog, as he stepped outside onto the porch with his hat in hand. Lily took the hat when TJ laced up his sneakers then passed it back as TJ headed around the rear of the house.

"Woof," Lily answered mockingly to TJ's question. TJ knew that the dog wouldn't be able reply, but it was funny to talk to the dog.

"Go fetch boy!" TJ bent his wrist and extended his arm with a flourish. The hat sailed high and landed amongst the tall grass.

Lily squealed with laughter as Rover pounced on the makeshift frisbee with a grrr. "My turn!" she shouted, when Rover brought the hat back, slobber drooling from his mouth.

The two siblings kept it up for a while, until it was obvious Rover was getting tired. TJ called Lily in from chasing the dog around and the group went into the house. As soon as the screen door swung shut behind them, the house phone began to ring.

"Hello?" TJ picked up the phone and put on his best grown-up voice. He had been taught by his dad to always be polite on the phone, no matter who it was.

"Hey, is Lyndy there? It's Rhett, a friend from school." The voice sounded nervous.

"Uh, yeah. Give me a second and I'll get her for you." TJ covered the mouthpiece with his hand and whispered to Lily, "Can you see if Lyndy's in the barn? Tell her there's someone on the phone for her. A guy named Rhett." TJ said the name like it was foreign. Well it wasn't common, that's for sure! TJ had only heard of one Rhett before, but he doubted this was the same person.

"Oooo, a boy!" Lily giggled and clapped her hands together. "Does Lyndy have a Ty?"

TJ rolled his eyes. His mom had made jokes towards her girls that when they get older, they should marry someone like their dad, Ty. And Ty had said TJ should marry someone like their mom, Amy. Now it was a running joke in the family. "I don't know Lily. I just need you to get Lyndy."

"Okay." Lily skipped out of the house. TJ removed his hand and spoke into the phone again.

"How do you know my sister?" he asked, or more-so demanded. As much as he knew Lyndy was trustworthy and smart for an eleven year-old, he didn't know Rhett. Sure, they went to the same school, but he wouldn't know him if he walked by in the hallway.

There was a pause as Rhett cleared his throat. "Uh, we're in the same class. And she was my partner for the science project last year."

TJ's eyebrows raised up, although no one else saw his surprised face. This was the Rhett he had known from before! Lyndy had mentioned a boy whom she was assigned to the Science Fair project with last year. Their project had gotten the blue ribbon and Lyndy had been featured in the Hudson Times for her work. And TJ guessed Rhett had been too. From what TJ could remember, Rhett had short blonde hair, with longer bangs at the front, clear blue eyes and a genuine smile that showed off his teeth. No wonder Lyndy was happy to have been his partner last year! And on top of that, when Rhett had come over a couple times last year to work on the assignment, he had been polite and someone TJ could imagine being friends with when he got a little bit older.

"Who's this?" Rhett continued, slightly confused as to who he was conversing with.

"It's Lyndy's little brother, TJ," TJ answered. He peered out the kitchen window to see Lydy tearing across the yard with Lily slightly behind her. "Hold on, Lyndy's coming. It was nice talking to you."

"You as well." Rhett said, and TJ pulled the phone away from his ear. Lyndy burst into the house and grabbed the phone from TJ's outstretched hand, mouthing a 'thank you' at her brother. She disappeared into her bedroom without a sound. But TJ wasn't worried about not hearing what was being said, he could hear their conversation from outside Lyndy's door if he listened carefully, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

Lyndy had been in the middle of cleaning tack when Lily had raced into the barn, breathless and smiling big. "What's up?" Lyndy asked her sister.

"There's a boy on the phone for you! TJ said his name was Rhett!" Everything Lily was saying was coming out at full volume. And she was speaking so fast that Lyndy almost didn't catch what her sister was saying. But the name Rhett had her freeze, mid wipe over a saddle.

"Rhett? Why would he be calling?" Lyndy asked, talking to no one in particular.

"I don't know! TJ just sent me to get you!" Lily was still shouting, and although Lyndy was more put together, she also felt like shouting. Why Rhett? Sure, they were good friends, but a phone call? Nothing made sense right now.

"Well I guess I'd better go relieve TJ," Lyndy said, pulling off her gloves and setting the tarnish on the ground. "Is he in the house?"

"Yeah, c'mon let's hurry!" Lily started the run back to the house with Lyndy on her heels. By the time they entered the front yard, Lyndy was ahead of her sister by at least a few meters. She raced into the house, grabbed the phone from TJ and headed for her room.

"Hey, Lyndy speaking." Lyndy took deep breaths to try and settle her racing heartbeat.

"Hey Lyndy, it's Rhett. But I assume one of your siblings told you that already." Rhett cleared his throat, leaving an awkward silence.

"Yeah, they did. Why?"

"Oh, I heard a few words exchanged when they thought I couldn't hear." Rhett laughed.

Lyndy sighed and put a hand to her head. "What did they say? Nothing too embarrassing I hope."

"No, not at all. At least not to me. I think your sister made a joke, but I wouldn't understand."

"Oh okay." Another awkward silence. "So what were you calling about?"

"Right. Well there's this science show out in Calgary next weekend and my mom said I could go and invite someone. Since we did that science project together last year, I wanted to know if you would go with me?"

Lyndy smiled. She was being invited somewhere out by a boy! "I'd love to go! What time?"

There was a pause and muffled voices, like Rhett was asking someone in the background. "Ten o'clock pickup maybe? And since it's a two day show and my grandma lives near Calgary, would you be allowed to stay over for a night? Don't worry, you'll get your own room," Rhett added.

"Sounds awesome! I'll call you in a bit after I ask my mom and dad, but I bet they'll say yes. Thanks so much for the invite! Call you later?"

"Yeah, totally. Sweet. Talk soon!" There was a clunk, then the call ended. Lyndy got off her bed with a smile. She had just been offered a chance to spend the day with a boy, and a sort of sleepover! How fun would that be? Lyndy just hoped her parents said yes.

To Lyndy's luck, Amy and Ty agreed to let their eldest daughter go with Rhett and his family to the science show, then stay over at Rhett's grandma's for the evening. They even called Rhett's parents, Josh and Maya, to confirm and get more details. Lyndy would be gone for approximately a day and a half. She was thrilled of course and could hardly wait until school started the next day. Then she would only have five days until the weekend, which is when the outing would take place.

"We've met the parents before; they're very nice." Amy commented to Ty while passing him the dish of lasagna. It was just past six, and the whole family was home for dinner. Katie had joined them and was looking forward to hearing their conversation without Lou joining in.

"They were! And Rhett was a little gentleman, even at ten." Ty looked over at Lyndy, who was staring intently at her dinner. "She's in good hands."

"Who's Rhett?" Katie asked. She had been tucked away in her room when the phone call was going on, so this was her first time hearing Rhett's name. "Is he a friend's kid or something?"

Before Amy could answer her niece, Lily butted in. "No, he's Lyndy's boyfriend!"

Lyndy blushed and refused to meet anyone's glance. "No he is not," she said feebly.

"Aw, adorable. Denying it is the first step." Katie laughed as Lyndy looked up and glared across the table at her cousin. "Is he cute?"

"Yeah, I guess," Lyndy whispered, very embarrassed. She hoped that the conversation would switch soon.

Amy knew better than to tease her daughter and changed the subject. "So Katie, when are you and Brick going out on your date?"

"Tomorrow. When the kids are in school, I'll be having a picnic on the back field with the one and only." Katie smiled and picked up her fork. "This is good, who made it?"

"Ty." Amy turned to Lily. "You looking forward to getting back to school tomorrow?"

"Yes! I can't wait to see my friends!" She bounced excitedly in her seat.

"TJ, are you happy to be going back?" Ty glanced at his son.

TJ nodded, though his mouth was full of food. He was about to say something when the phone rang for the second time that day.

"I'll get it!" Lyndy jumped out of her chair, thinking it was Rhett. But when she reached the phone, it displayed that the number was in their "family" contacts. Lyndy wondered who it could be, but she didn't spend time thinking about it. "Hello?" she said.

There was a pause, and Lyndy heard loud breathing on the other end. There were muffled sounds, like someone was crying and sniffing through their tears. "Hello? Anyone there?" Lyndy was surprised. Normally someone in the family would talk right away and greet her with a happy tone in their voice.

Just as Lyndy was starting to doubt their answering machine phone number recognition skills, the line went dead. Weird. There was definitely something up. Why would a family member hang up? Without even saying hi?

When Lyndy returned to the table, Ty looked at her expectantly. "Who was it?"

"I don't know," Lyndy replied honestly. "They hung up before anything was said. But I heard muffled voices and it sounded like someone was crying!"

Ty exchanged a glance with Amy. "It must be the wrong number."

"But it wasn't! The answering machine recognized it as a family contact." Lyndy explained.

"Whoever it was, let's not worry about it." Amy picked up her fork again and motioned for everyone else to do the same. "If they really want to talk, they'll call back." Amy said.

"Okay." Lyndy shrugged and started to eat again. But there was something about that call that didn't make sense. Maybe it was just a mistake, but why would their answering machine know the number?

Little did Lyndy know, she was closer to the truth than she thought. And they would find out soon enough.

Have a great Halloween everyone! My birthday is this weekend so I'm excited for all the busy birthday celebrations :) the next edited chapter should be up next week!

find me on tumblr at thedefinitionofendgame