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Amy smiled widely at Caleb as he grabbed her hand. He smiled back. The two stood there looking at each other.
"The hay's not gonna walk out of here." Jack commented noticing the pair. "Amy!" He shouted trying to get her attention.
"Did you say something, Grandpa?" She asked turning around.
He caught sight of her necklace. "Oh... I see." He said realizing why the two were acting weird. "So you finally said yes."
Amy touched it smiling. "Sorta."
Jack nodded. "Well, congratulations."
"Thanks Jack." Caleb shook his hand before grabbing the hay.
"This doesn't have anything to do with Ty, does it?"
Amy wrinkled her nose. "No. Why?"
"Cause you've been putting it off saying it's too soon or not the right time. You make some excuse. Poor guy's been waiting a year. Now all of sudden once Ty shows up you tell Caleb yes." Jack raises his eyebrow at her.
"This isn't about Ty." Amy stared blankly before heading out of the barn leaving Jack standing there. On one hand he had a point, just the other day she told Lou him being here brought back old feelings. But everything she said to Caleb last night were true too. She loved Caleb. But Ty being back did bring back memories she'd pushed aside. She glanced at Caleb who waved at her from the paddock.
"That is not happening!" Tim shouted slamming his hand down on the kitchen table. "Amy is too young to even be thinking about marriage."
"I thought you liked Caleb?" Jack raised an eyebrow.
"I did. Until this." He sat down.
"Tim, do you really expect her to rush out and elope tomorrow? It took her a year to say yes. Not to mention they have been on again off again for almost 4 years."
"What about Val's daughter? He was engaged to her too? This kid is some player." Tim huffed.
"They were never engaged. Besides Val put a stop to their relationship, if I understand right."
"See! There's your proof." He pointed standing up again.
"He's not good enough for a Stanton. He's not good enough for Amy?" Jack laughed. Tim nodded serious. Jack rolled his eyes.
"She's my little girl, Jack. I'm only trying to protect her." He sighed. "Last thing I want or need is her getting pregnant and throwing her life away like Lou."
Jack sat quiet for a second unsure how to respond to that. "Lou didn't intend on getting pregnant. It just happened." Tim eyed him. "I know...it was preventable if they'd been more careful but that's in the past. And Amy's not Lou."
Tim nodded. "That may be true. But Lou was also a lot older. With a boyfriend who had a real job. Even if I didn't agree with it. Amy is only 20."
"I promised myself I wouldn't get involved in this thing between you and Lou. But it's gone on long enough. Amy wants Lou to be a part of her life. But your feud is ruining that." Jack stood up from the table. "Not to mention this whole thing makes you like a hypocrite." He nodded suggestively. Tim swallowed hard running a hand through his hair.
Tim had left about a half hour after his argument with Jack. Jack had left not to long after that, headed into town. Amy was alone. She sighed looking around. She liked it better like it use to be. Mallory hanging around all the time. Lou offering unsolicited advice. Ty helping her with her latest client. Her dad inviting himself over. But that was long gone. She decided to work with Storm her newest client. He hated to be saddled. As Amy mounded him bareback she heard a noise in the distance. Looking toward the driveway she noticed Ty's motorcycle. A small smile played on her lips. She focused back on riding trying to act like she didn't care.
Ty parked up close to the barn glancing in Amy's direction.
Amy jumped over the jump. "That's it. He's getting it now." He smiled widely watching her.
"Yeah, that last jump was perfect. Did you see it? He just did it himself." She loops back around to walk toward Ty patting Spartan's neck.
"Why don't you go around one more time, then we'll call it a day?"
"I don't think he's ready to call it a day." Amy comments back smiling.
"You mean, you're not ready." Amy giggles at his remark. "lt says here we're only supposed to do this exercise... ...for, like, 45 minutes at a time."
"Yeah, well, l, ah, I still got five more minutes. Besides, you can't learn about jumping from a stupid book. So put it away." She glances playfully at him before moving Spartan away and back toward the jumps.
He shook the memory away. As he grabbed his bag he heard the horse nah loudly. And Amy scream.
"Woah! Storm! Easy. Woah!" The horse spooked at something and was now excitedly galloping around the pen. Amy held tight trying to get him to calm. Storm reared up and Amy slipped off his back landing hard in the dirt.
Ty dropped his bag and ran toward the paddock. "Amy!" His emotions took over and he was no longer thinking with his brain. He jumped over the fencing and ran over to Amy who still layed in the dirt not moving. "Amy!" He shouted touching her shoulder. She groaned slightly. "Are you okay?" He asked her still concerned.
"I think so."
"Don't move." Ty said holding her down slightly as Amy tried to get up.
"I'm fine, Ty." She said making Ty laugh. She hadn't changed. She still got annoyed when he offered her help.
Amy caught herself starring into his green eyes. She looked away to see Ty was touching her hand. Her smile formed and disappeared just as quickly as Caleb's truck pulled up.
"Amy?!" He shouted jumping the fence. "Are you okay?" His step slowed as he noticed Ty's hand.
Amy quickly pulled it away as she got to her feet. "Yeah. I'm fine. Storm just bucked me off." She pointed behind her. Before brushing herself off.
Caleb grabbed her arm and guided her out of the round pen. "Let's get you some ice for that elbow." He said noticing the small scrap. Amy glanced back at Ty who was still knelt down in the dirt as she followed him.
Ty collected Storm and put him back in his stall before getting his bag. His mind still on Amy as he unpacked. There was a spark between them. He felt it and he knew Amy did too. Her smile said it all. He couldn't believe that as mad as they were at each other her falling off caused him to push all that aside. He smiled noticing his old cowboy hat hanging on one of the hooks. Amy had kept it. After all this time he said to himself. He put it on and went down to muck out the stalls.
"Hey!" Amy said leaning against the door frame watching him.
"Hey. Are you okay?" He put down the shovel and walked over to where she stood.
"Yeah. Caleb is very protective." She touched her elbow. "Barely a scrap."
"I'm sorry...about earlier."
"It's okay. I really didn't give you a warm welcome. So I kinda deserved it." Amy shrugged.
"I've been known to be a total jerk. At least that's want my last two girlfriends said." He joked. But Amy didn't laugh. She had a serious expression.
"Ty, I heard you taking to Grandpa." She paused. "I didn't mean to hear. I was in with Spartan. He didn't know." She rambled off embarrassed.
Ty looked down kicking at the straw. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry?"
"Yeah. Sorry you had to hear that. Sorry for being a complete mess." He looked back at her. "Sorry you we're right about me."
"I've never judged you. And I'm not now. We all make mistakes." She smiled. As she went to say more Tim came into the barn.
"Caleb said you fell. Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yeah. Caleb was just overreacting." She sighed.
"Good cause I need you to start working with my race horse."
"Okay. I'll be right there." She sighed again as he left the barn. Ty laughing slightly.
"He hasn't changed."
"Nope." Amy said laughing too as she grabbed a bridle and headed outside.