Authors Note
Hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for all the GREAT reviews! There might be a little something with Amy and Ty in this chapter… you just have to read to find out! Though this story is Amy/Ty I cannot write romancey like stuff to save my life but I will try. Review and Enjoy!
Question: Should Ty's parents like or hate Amy? Please answer in a review! It could be like the book where Ty's dad doesn't like her but his mom does or they could both hate her or both like her or his dad could like her but his mom hates her. Or whatever.
I totally killed my last chapter for my other story so fingers crossed this one comes out good.
Disclaimer: Based loosely on characters created and owned by Lauren Brooke
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Chapter 5
End of school, outside Green Acres Prep, same day (Monday)
At the end of the day I walked out to the parking lot with Soroya.
"So what are you doing the rest of the day?" She asked me.
"I dunno, just working with the horses, I might take Sunny on the trails," I replied.
"You're so lucky! I wish I lived somewhere where there were tons of horses to ride all the time!" Soroya complained.
I grinned, "You can come over whenever you want to go riding."
"I know, that's the only reason I'm friends with you," she paused and looked at me quizzically, "Didn't you know that?"
I rolled my eyes, "Ha-ha very funny Roya." We both laughed, "You want to come over and go on the trails later?"
She groaned, "I have my piano lesson tonight."
"Kay."
"I'd rather go riding though!"
"Well Heartland's not going anywhere, come by sometime later in the week," I offered.
"Cool," Soroya said as she beeped her car open.
I did the same to my car, gosh it's so cool! I'm now totally obsessed with my car. Maybe I should name it… no that's going a little too far. But hey, people name their boats and airplanes, why not a car?
"Hey Amy!" I heard a voice call out to me. I turned around and saw Ty walking away from his big group of friends and heading towards me.
Soroya noticed too and said, "Have fun!" in a sing-song type of voice.
"Remind me why I'm friends with you again?"
"Because awesome!" she said and grinned, "See ya later!"
"Yeah bye," I said as she jumped into her BMW convertible.
Ty reached me just as Soroya pulled away in her car. I shook my head as she grinned at me.
"Hey, this your car?" Ty asked me and gestured to my red Jeep Liberty.
"Yep, got it yesterday!"
"Awesome, present for winning?"
"No not really, my parents didn't want to bring my car over from England so they said they'd get me a new one," I said for the millionth time that day, not that it really mattered or anything. "So what's up?"
"Oh I was just wondering if you're sure it's okay I stop by Heartland later to talk to your parents about Chief."
"Positive," I answered, "All mum and dad's clients came by earlier in the day."
He looked relieved, "Great."
"So when are you going to come?" I asked trying not to sound too eager or anything… it's not like I was. Eager I mean… cough cough.
"The sooner the better, when's a good time?"
"Well anytime today," I paused and than said, "How bout now?" Than I quickly added, "If you're not busy or anything that is."
Ty smiled and said, "I'm not busy, I'll follow you there okay?"
"Great."
When Ty walked over to his truck which was a few rows away I jumped into mine.
The ride back to Heartland was only about 10 minutes. I kept looking in the rearview mirror to see if Ty was still behind, a few times he smiled and waved back. I did the same though I was glad he couldn't see the blush on my face. I grinned in spite of myself, today had been a VERY good day, though I'm still wondering if Ty actually did ask me out or if I just dreamed that part. I hope it was real…
Similar to Ty's house, or Baldwin Ways I guess, Heartland has its own drive leading up to the main farm, though it's not quite as long at the one at Baldwin Way's. One either side is forest, it's quite beautiful if I do say so myself. At the end of the road the forest turns to paddocks where all different sizes, shapes and colors of horses are basking in the afternoon sun. There are paddocks throughout the whole farm really though. Some of them have big willows or clear blue ponds or streams running through them.
We have 4 different training rings and one indoor arena. There is the main stable block which houses my family's horses. For the horses coming to Heartland for treatment we have one barn for the show horses, one barn for rescues, one barn for the physically injured horses, a smaller one for stallions, and one for horses coming for training or anything else not listed above. Since Heartland occasionally gets a pregnant mare we have a very small stable just for them and a separate stable set way back in the hills if for when horses get sick and they need to be quarantined. For the physically injured horses we have a building that is like a gym for horses, it has one of those special horse pools and basically any horse therapeutic equipment you could think of. My parents' office is located in a separate building and adjacent to it is a small store where we sell Heartland stuff, like shirts, sweatshirts, hats, sweatpants, stickers you name it. Also there are waters, sodas, snacks for people and for horses and basic equestrian equipment such as, brushes, saddle pads, gloves, boots, clothes for the riders, halters, lead ropes, lunge lines, blankets, traveling wraps, medical supplies, grooming boxes, cleaning things, tack covers, bareback pads and the like. There are also a few saddles and bridles in there, nothing fancy though it's just basic training equipment. For the children that are often in here while their parents are doing business there are stuffed animal horses in any style or color imaginable (I must admit I have one of each in my room…), horse collectibles, toys… well you get the idea we have just about everything. (a/n: it might sound stupid but I always thought something like this would be really cool!)
My house itself is placed a bit farther back on the property.
I pulled my car into the driveway and Ty stopped behind me. I jumped out and walked over to Ty who was leaning against the door to his car and looking around.
"This place is really great," he commented.
"Yeah it is, but your place isn't too bad either," I told him, "Baldwin Ways has to be at least 5 times bigger than all of this."
He grinned, "I think between the two of us we own enough land to just about equal the size of Rhode Island," he joked.
I laughed with him, "Somehow I think that was exaggerated a little."
"Yeah so where are your parents?"
I looked around the vast property and grimaced, "I actually have no idea," Ty laughed, "What?"
"Just funny that's all."
"Okay well we should check the office first, that's the most obvious place to start," I suggested and we headed off down one of the paths that led to the office.
We walked in a companionable silence for several minutes before I happened to glance at Ty and saw him rubbing his sprained wrist, "Is your arm okay?" I asked worriedly.
"What? Oh yeah its fine, just hurts a little," he looked at me and than said, "I'm fine, really. Its just sprained it's bound to hurt."
I shifted my gaze to straight in front of me, "Well okay," I said quietly.
Ty suddenly stopped walking and grabbed my arm, turning me so that I was facing him, "I'm fine, really I am," he said looking into my face.
I sighed and than mumbled, "I'm just… worried is all," so quietly I didn't know if he ever heard me.
A small smile graced his perfect lips and he said, "You're worried about me?" I guess he heard me after all.
(a/n: lol, for this next part my fingers have overruled my brain yet again… I'm going to need to do something about this.)
I felt my face flush as I realized how close we were standing and that Ty was still holding my arm. "Well I…" I started to stammer but never got to finish since Ty suddenly leaned down and his lips met my own. I felt his hand leave my arm and settle on the side of my face instead and as if of their own accord my hands moved to rest themselves on Ty's upper arms. The kiss didn't last long but it was perfect. I could already tell that Ty was a great kisser and to make things better he wasn't one of those guys who just tried to stick his tongue in your mouth all the time. The kiss was simple but when Ty broke it I felt my heart pounding as I looked up into his gorgeous face.
Ty smiled softly and gently pushed some of my hair out of my face, "Sorry, I couldn't help myself," he said softly.
"You don't have to apologize," I whispered back.
He smiled and leaned back towards me but the moment was broken when I heard Lou call out, "Amy?" My eyes flew open as I jumped away from Ty and saw Lou rounding the bend in the track, "Oh there you are! I thought I saw your car come in," she said when she saw me, "Oh hello Ty."
"Hey Lou," Ty responded in a voice much steadier than any I could have mustered up at that moment.
"So what are you guys doing? You're not exactly dressed for hanging around the horses Amy," Lou motioned to my outfit; I was still wearing my skirt and flip-flops.
When I found my voice I said, "W-we were going to go find mum and dad."
"Really? What for?" Lou asked suspiciously.
"I needed to discuss with them about bringing a horse here," Ty answered.
"Well they're in the office finishing up with a client that rescheduled their morning appointment so we could head down there," I nodded and we started walking towards the office. Lou asked suddenly, "Oh Ty I heard about what happened at the show yesterday, are you okay?"
"Yeah, the doctor just said I had a bad sprain," he lifted his arm up so Lou could see the ACE bandage wrapped around it.
"Oh well that's good, at least you weren't seriously hurt."
"Yeah," Ty said and seemed to be thinking about something, "That's actually what I wanted to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Fleming about."
"Really?"
"Yeah my parents threatened to put my horse, Chief, down but they gave me one chance to try to figure out what happened."
"Oh that's horrible!" Lou exclaimed, "I heard he was acting crazy yesterday, does he do it often?"
"That's just the thing; he's never done it before."
"Well we have plenty of extra stalls," Lou remarked as we opened the door and walked into the office. In the front room was a large white desk, it was one of those desks with all the different parts and had a bunch of different stations (a/n: sorry don't know how to explain it but it was in a Pottery Barn catalogue), with a few files on it and a flat screen Apple computer. There were several filing cabinets and on the walls there were cork boards with phone numbers and addresses, pictures of my family and the horses and the farm and various awards that Heartland had won. In front of the desk there were two plush chairs. On one side there were several more chairs and a small table was stacked with magazines.
"They should be done just about now," Lou remarked as she sat down in the leather chair behind the desk.
Sure enough a few seconds later the door to my parents' office opened and they emerged with a man.
When my mom spotted me she said, "Oh Amy hi! Nice to see you again Ty."
"You to Mrs. Baldwin," Ty replied politely.
"This," my dad told the man he had been talking to, "Is my daughter Amy and this is Ty Baldwin. Amy, Ty this is Jason Clarke, he's going to be sending us a horse."
"Nice to meet you," I said.
"Nice to meet you sir," Ty said as politely as ever, well I guess when your parents are practically billionaires you end up having to learn some manners.
"Same to you," the man said, "I say, are you Ty Baldwin from Baldwin Ways?"
"Yes I am," Ty somewhat proudly.
"I'm looking forward to the races this spring," he commented, "Got any good horses?"
"We have a few two year olds showing champion potential," Ty grinned.
"Well I'll be cheering for your horses when the Triple Crown comes; no doubt you'll take the cup again."
"Well we're trying," Ty said, "Maybe we should let some one else win for a change though."
Jason Clarke laughed, "Well I have to be going," he turned back to my parents and shook each of their hands, "Thank you for seeing me."
"It's not a problem," my dad said.
"Take care and we'll be expecting your horse here sometime on Thursday," my mum said.
"Great, I'll call to confirm the times," Jason Clarke said, "Have a nice day," and with that he proceeded to exit the office.
"So what are you guys doing here?" my mum asked.
"Certainly not riding," my dad grinned and pointed to my outfit and I rolled my eyes at him.
"Actually I needed to talk with you," Ty told them.
"About what?" dad asked.
"Bringing a horse here."
"Really?" my dad asked sounding a bit surprised, "I must say I would have thought you already had someone to take care of that."
"Actually it's about Commander in Chief sir."
"Is he alright?" my mum asked.
"Well he's fine but my parents said that I had one chance to figure out went wrong yesterday or they were going to put him down."
"We should go into the office to talk," my dad suggested and they made their way back into the room my parents had just evacuated.
I sighed knowing full well that my parents never let me listen when they were talking to a client and I knew this wouldn't be an exception. "I'll be here when you're done," I said.
Ty looked around and smiled at me before the door was closed.
I plopped down in a chair, "So do you need any help Lou?" I also knew that Lou would never let me help her with her work. Its not that I couldn't do it, it's just that Lou likes to be in charge of her work and know what's going on so it all gets done the way she wants.
"No I'm okay. Today hasn't been that busy," she commented.
"Just wait until more of the stalls are filled, than you'll have more work," I grinned.
Lou groaned, "I think I can wait for that," but I knew loved doing the work. Lou always kept the business side of Heartland in order and without her were probably wouldn't get the feed deliveries or anything. Lou was basically the staple of Heartland. Like my mum and dad were great but without Lou things would be crazy.
Lou looked up at me from her paper work briefly, "So what was up with you and Ty earlier?"
"Nothing," I said a little too quickly.
"Mmmhmm…" she said disbelievingly.
"What? We were just coming down to find mum and dad."
"Yeah, yeah okay, but I doubt that's all that has happened between you since the last time he was here."
"Are you trying to imply something?"
"I'm not implying anything, just saying…" She trailed off as she got lost in her work.
I swiveled around in the chair and looked out the sliding glass doors. I felt a silly smile slide across my face as I remembered when Ty kissed me.
I picked up the latest Horse Illustrated magazine and started to read while I waited for them to be done talking. Truthfully it was a little hard to concentrate on the words since my head was absorbed with other thoughts.
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An hour later
After about 45 minutes I had gotten bored of my magazine, there are only so many times you can read about the thing over and over again. Lou was working so she was no fun. I had to resort to spinning around in my chair for about five minutes before they came out of the office.
When I saw them I said, "Hey," as I quickly stopped spinning only feeling a bit dizzy and light headed, "So what's going on?"
"Commander in Chief is going to be coming here tomorrow afternoon," my dad answered.
I smiled in relief, "Great."
"Well we should get going, there's a horse we have to check on, he's going home tomorrow," my mum said, "What are you guys going to do?"
I shrugged and looked at Ty who said, "I should get going to, you know gotta make sure Chief is still alive and all," only somewhat joking.
I was somewhat disappointed he would be leaving but I said, "I guess I'll go change and than come work with Sunny or some of the other horses."
My mums smiled and said, "Of course, well we'll see you tomorrow Ty."
"Thanks again for letting Chief come," Ty said gratefully.
"It's no problem," my dad said, "Bye," as they walked out of the door and headed back towards the stables.
"We'll have a stall all ready for Chief tomorrow Ty," Lou said looking up from her work.
"Thanks Lou, I should get going."
"Okay well I'll see you tomorrow than," she said.
"Great, see you," Ty said as we walked out of the door and started back towards where his car was.
"I'd stay longer," Ty said, "But truthfully my arm is killing me and I want some of those pain killers the doctor gave me real bad," I noticed that he was rubbing was arm again.
"It's okay," I said, "So what did my parents say?" I asked curiously.
"They just asked me if I knew what happened yesterday and about how Chief normally acts and everything and if I have any idea why he went crazy."
"Oh… so do you? Know why he was acting weird yesterday I mean?"
Ty sighed, "No idea, he was fine when I got him ready that morning and when we arrived at the show."
"Really? When'd he change?"
"Well I took him out of the trailer and tied him outside. My parents had gone to talk to a friend they saw so I went to go sign in and get my number. When I came back he was fine at first but gradually started acting different."
"There might have been something on the ground he ate that upset his stomach," I suggested.
"Maybe," Ty said but looked doubtful.
"Did you get his blood tested?"
"No but by the time we got back to the farm he was fine, just a little jumpy."
"That's weird."
"Yeah, it is," he agreed, "I probably should have gotten his blood tested but by the time we got back it would probably have been too late."
"Yeah," I agreed.
"I know I wasn't supposed to go near him but this morning I got up early and went to check on him," Ty confessed.
"How was he?"
"He was fine, acted just like he always does."
"Maybe something scared him at the show?"
"I've shown Chief all over the United Stated, Mexico and Canada, he's been fine, never freaked out about anything before."
"Oh," I said, it didn't make any sense.
"Well hopefully you can help him," Ty said as we reached his car. He looked pained, "I can't loose him," he said softly.
I felt my heart go out to him, I remembered what it was like when mum and dad had to put my old pony down because he was sick. "I'll try my best, I'm sure he'll be fine."
Ty smiled, "Thanks, I'll see you tomorrow," he said as he jumped into his truck.
"Yeah bye," I waved as he backed up. Before he swung the truck around he waved and I watched as the back of his car disappeared down the long drive. I was a little disappointed he didn't kiss me again but I still had tomorrow and it made the memory of his first kiss all the more special.
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Same day, evening
Ty's POV
"How was your day Ty?" My dad asked me as we all sat done for dinner in the 'family dining area' as my parents' referred to it.
"It was good," I said, "Actually I…" I was going to tell them about how Chief was going to go to Heartland tomorrow but my younger brother, Lee, had to interrupt me. Lee was 14 and was a freshman at GAP (Green Acres Prep).
"That was awesome at school today Ty!"
I groaned and my mom looked at me curiously, "What happened?"
I tried to shrug it off, "Noth…"
But of course Lee wasn't going to, "Ty broke up with Ashley in front of the whole school!"
"Exaggerate much?" I mumbled.
"Oh dear what happened?" my mom sounded concerned.
"I…"
Again Lee interrupted me, "You know that girl at the show yesterday?"
"What girl?" my dad asked.
"Amy something or another…"
Now I interrupted Lee, "Fleming, her last name is Fleming."
"Oh yeah, right, Fleming. So anyway Ashley goes up to her before school and they both looked pissed…"
"Language Lee," mom reprimanded.
"Off," he continues like mom hadn't said anything, "Ty's standing behind them the whole time but they don't notice he's there. Than when that Amy girl starts walking away she bumps… literally… into Ty. Than Ty starts yelling like crazy at Ashley and than drags that other girl behind a tree."
"I did not drag her behind a tree," I said even though I kind of did, "I needed to ask her something."
"You asked her out like 2 minutes after you broke up with Ashley!"
I glared at him but than turned my attention to mom and dad, "Her family owns that horse rehabilitation center, Heartland."
"Ah yes I knew I heard the name 'Fleming' before. Just moved here from England right?"
"Yep."
"Oh yes I've heard of them to. I was talking to the wife of a successful English breeder the other day and she mentioned something about them, said they sent a few horses to them in England. Very good place," mom told us.
"Yeah it's great so…"
"Why did you break up with Ashley?" my mom asked.
"I was sick of her," I answered briefly. I opened my mouth to continue but my dad said,
"Yes I was getting tired of her as well. Good job son," my dad smiled. Okay that was a little weird.
"I thought Ashley was a very nice girl," my mom said, "Came from a good family to."
"Yeah Ty you just dumped the hottest girl in the school!" Lee exclaimed.
"Oh shut up Lee," though I have to say I don't agree with him; Ashley is not the hottest girl in the school. I have to say, Amy looks a whole lot better than Ashley. I wasn't sure if Amy liked me like that but she didn't mind when I kissed her and agreed to go out with me so I hope she likes me.
"And now you're going out with the hot new girl from England!" obviously this was Lee; it would be a little weird if my dad said something like that…
"As I was saying…" I tried again.
"Who?" my dad asked.
"Amy Fleming!" Lee exclaimed.
Oh boy this was an interesting conversation if any of the cooks or maids were listening in.
My thoughts were interrupted when my mom asked, "So did she say yes?"
"Who said yes to what?" I asked stupidly.
"This Amy girl did she…"
"Oh yeah, she said yes, so I…" apparently I was never going to get to tell them about Chief and Heartland.
"Oh that's wonderful!" mom exclaimed, "Where are you taking her?" she asked interestedly.
"I'm taking her on my boat on Saturday," I told her.
"Oh that's lovely! So romantic!" mom grinned.
"So do we get to meet her Ty?" my dad asked.
"Yeah maybe."
"Oh I know!" mom said suddenly. Uh oh I'm sure if I want to know what she's going to say… "You should invite her over for dinner on Friday!" oh yup, there we go.
"Actually I don't…"
"Nonsense, we have to meet the girl Ty," dad said, "I insist you invite her to dinner on Friday night."
I groaned, "But…" I trailed off. It's not like I don't want Amy to meet my parents it's just that I just asked her out today and 'technically' we weren't even going out yet and my parents can be pretty intimidating. We're the high and mighty Baldwin's bow down before us… blah blah blah.
"Wonderful, so it's settled?" my mom asked.
"I'll ask her," I said reluctantly.
"So did you want to tell us something?" my dad asked me.
"Yeah it's about Chief."
"What about him?" my dad asked.
"I'm taking him to Heartland tomorrow," I told them.
"Oh Brad!" my mom exclaimed to my dad, "That animal is dangerous! Why are you letting him stay?"
"Relax Elizabeth," my dad said. By the way, my mom's name is Elizabeth.
"But Ty could have been killed yesterday!"
"Mom I'm fine and it's not like you haven't seen horses go crazy before."
"It's different when it's your son on the horse!"
I sighed, "I know mom but something happened to Chief, he's never done anything like that before."
"I suppose you're right."
"Commander in Chief is a magnificent animal and it would be a shame to have to put him down, he deserves another chance," my dad said, "Besides he's important to Ty."
"Well Ty is a Baldwin, I guess we raised him right," my mom laughed lightly.
"Exactly so if you think taking Chief to Heartland is the right thing to do than I say go for it," my dad said.
I nearly sighed in relief, "Thanks guys."
After dinner I snuck out to the stables to visit Chief. When I entered the grand, dimly lit stable reserved for my family's horses I headed right to Chief's stall.
When Chief saw me he whinnied and stuck his huge, elegant bay head over the stall door.
"Hey buddy," I said softly to him, "I brought you a treat."
Chief bobbed his head up and down and than snorted. I laughed as he nudged my hands, "Oh alright you big greedy horse," I put an apple on my flat palm and Chief eagerly took it. As he chewed it and some of the apple juice foamed around his lips.
I rubbed the white star on his forehead, "There's nothing wrong with you is there boy?"
Chief snorted like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"But you've never done anything like that either," I mussed. I looked into his big brown eyes as I said, "So what went wrong?"
A/n: Review and answer my question at the top!