Chapter 7

With a look of confusion, Jack asks, "What do you mean 'protecting yourself?"

"I didn't want to believe it was Ahmed who tried to kill Ty and I convinced myself it wasn't. If it was, then what happened to Ty would be my fault."

"That still doesn't explain why they took your phone and computers. What are they looking for?" Lou asks, critical of Amy's explanation.

"Maybe you should start at the beginning, hon." Lisa suggests.

"Okay." After pausing for a moment, Amy continues. "They thought the relationship between Ahmed and me was something more than what I told them...and they wanted to know if what I told them was true."

Lou reminds her, "The beginning Amy."

Amy sighs, "Okay...I guess it started the day after what happened between Ty and Ahmed."

Lou draws a breath as she's about to interrupt Amy. It doesn't go unnoticed and immediately draws a response from Lisa and Peter. Lisa glares at her as Peter quickly reaches over and places his hand on Lou's wrist in a subtle and successful attempt to stop her from interrupting.

"I was worried about what Ahmed might do. I mean...worried that Ty might get in trouble if Ahmed reported it to the police. That night I barely got any sleep worrying about the whole thing. So, early the next morning I called Ahmed. When he didn't answer, I went over to Hillhurst to talk to him in person and I guess I didn't handle it right...I mean the conversation with Ahmed. The first thing I did was apologize and ask him if he was alright. I guess I shouldn't have done that because he immediately took it the wrong way. He said that he was glad that I had come to my senses and then started to rant about Ty being beneath me, calling him a small town yokel who would never amount to anything. It went downhill from there. We argued and then I left when it was clear he wasn't listening."

Amy pauses again before continuing. "After that he got the idea in his head that I was willing to come back to work for him even though I continued to refuse. When Ty wanted a break, I guess Ahmed somehow later found out because his texts, emails, and calls became more frequent. I rarely answered any of them except to tell him to stop. He had somehow convinced himself that I broke up with Ty in order to be with him. I finally had enough so, when he sent me a text letting me know he was back at Hillhurst, I decided to try and end it once and for all. I went to see him the morning Ty was shot. Something I didn't tell the police...I mean I told the police, I just didn't tell them it was that morning. The morning he told me to come. Anyway, the only reason I went there was to return that damn saddle he had given me along with the necklace."

Lou suddenly interrupts, "You told us that necklace was a gift from the team."

"I know...That's what I thought at the time. Ahmed later told me it was actually from him. I also wanted to return the proceeds from the sale of Gypsy. The horse Ahmed had also given me. Of course Ahmed refused to accept any of it, but I left it there anyway. I told him to stop harassing me and then I left. That was the last I saw or heard from him. Apparently what Ahmed told the police was a different version of what I just told you. When the police told me that, I told them that he was lying and they should talk to him again. Then they told me they couldn't because he had already left the country."

Annoyed by Lou's earlier interruptions, Amy looks directly over at her and asks, "Okay, Lou...I know you've been itching to say something, so what is it?"

"I'm confused here. The Ahmed you just described is nothing like the Ahmed you described to me the day I showed you the video. I think what you said was that all the while on tour he had been polite and formal until the kiss when you told him to back off. You made it sound like that was the end of it. If you remember, you also told me that you never gave him any reason to believe you two were more than just co-workers or friends and you didn't think you did anything to lead him on. So, I don't understand what changed between then and now?"

"What are you saying Lou?"

"I'm not saying anything...I'm asking a question."

"This is exactly why I never told any of you about what Ahmed was doing...because..."

Jack interrupts, "Lou, obviously Ahmed has some kinda serious problem...and Amy, I'm sorry you felt you couldn't tell us what was going on. I need you...we all want you to be able to tells us anything that's bothering you. I promise you we'll understand and do whatever we can to help. Right Lou?"

Lou replies, "Of course."

"Thanks grandpa."

"Now, there's something Lisa and I should tell you. We went into town to talk to Lisa's attorney about that confidentially clause."

Lisa adds, "I hope you don't mind but I made a copy of it to show him along with the attorney's letter."

Jack continues, "Yeah...you see...I started having second thoughts about whether we should say something to the press, so to be on the safe side we showed him what you had agreed to."

"And?" Amy asks.

"And we were right about what we thought couldn't be talked about. Also the part in the letter where Ahmed claims you were still working for him because you deducted the training cost of Gypsy from the check you gave him...well he can technically make a case that you were still under contract, therefore the clause would be in effect. You can make a general statement about your relationship with Ahmed if you want. Lisa's attorney warned us though that if you decided to say something publicly, you need to be careful what you say because it may result in a response by Ahmed."

Lisa adds, "If you do decide to respond to those requests for a comment, he suggested a couple of short public statements you could make. I have a copy of them you can choose from. They simply acknowledge a professional relationship with Ahmed and deny it was anything more."

"Thank you for doing that for me. Making a statement is something I'll have to think about."

"There's something else too..."

Lou speaks up before Jack can finish. "Yes, there is. Apparently those newspaper stories..."

"If you're going to say that people have been talking about me on the internet, Georgie already told me.

"Well, since you already know, I had to take down the comment sections on the Heartland website along with the dude ranch and Maggies. Some of the comments about you were awful. I took your website down completely and I suggest you take down your Facebook account."

"I didn't realize it was that bad."

"It is...its those trolls who have nothing better to do than to talk garbage and spread rumors."

"Thanks for doing that and I'm sorry all this is affecting business here and Maggie's.

"It'll pass soon enough." Jack surmises before addressing the bad news. "Now, what I was going to say was your dad, against my specific orders, spoke to a reporter and was quoted in the Calgary newspaper."

"What did he say?" Amy asks.

"I'll show you the news story later."

"What did he say grandpa?"

"He only talked about Ty...about him being on probation when he came here, the few scrapes with the police, and some of the people he associated with. He tried to make it sound like it was someone other than possibly Ahmed who shot him. Actually...it was worse than that. He made it sound like Ty was responsible for what happened to him. He came by here earlier to talk to you while you were changing. I talked to him..."

Lisa interjects before Jack can finish. "You threatened to shoot him, Jack."

"Yeah, that. Anyway he left."

"Don't bother dealing with dad. I'll take care of him, okay?"

"I'll try...but you know how he can be."

"Leave it to me. I know exactly what to say to him. Also, I'd like to borrow your truck so I can go see Ty."

"I'll take you."

"No grandpa, you have the ranch to run. You've neglected it long enough."

"You shouldn't be going alone. Have Peter take you or I can call Caleb."

"I don't need anyone to go with me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself...if someone gets in my way they'll regret it."

Lisa suggests, "I wouldn't argue with her, Jack."

"Okay then...but you don't have your phone, so you should probably take mine just in case."

"Thank you. I forgot for a moment that I didn't have mine. Hopefully I'll get it back soon. I gave the detectives all my passwords because they said it would make it easier and quicker to look at everything."

...

Shortly after Amy leaves the house and alone with Lou, Peter asks her, "What's going on with you, Lou? Why did you interrupt Amy like that?"

"I don't think Amy is telling us everything...That's what's going on."

"What makes you say that?"

"When I was working in New York, I learned pretty quickly about people like Ahmed...so what she said...the two ways she described him didn't sound right to me. Remember that big shot oil executive Richard Chenoweth who you were trying to do a business deal with...the one who ended up threatening to sue us?"

"Yeah...but what does that have to do with this?"

"I could tell before he made a pass at me that he was a creep. He couldn't hide it. It's not like flipping a switch with these guys. I know my sister and I refuse to believe she's that naive. It was pretty clear to me early on what Ahmed was up to and I warned her several times about him before she left on that tour. She has to be leaving something out."

...

On the way to the hospital Amy takes a planned detour. As she pulls up to the house at Big River, Tim walks out onto the porch. When she exits the truck, Tim calls out, "I'm glad you're here. I need to talk to you about that story. I never..."

Amy interrupts, sternly stating as she steps up onto the porch. "I'm not here so you can talk. I'm here to talk to you."

"Amy, you need to understand..."

"No! You understand...I'm the one who's going to talk and if you say one more word I'm getting back in the truck and leaving!"

Taking Amy for her word, Tim says nothing in response except motions for her to have a seat on one of the porch chairs. She refuses, telling him, "What I have to say won't take that long." She pauses. "You know, during the 10 years you were gone I would sometimes see my friends with their fathers and I would be jealous. I wondered how different things would be if you hadn't left. Then when you returned, I wasn't sure how I should feel. I was mad that you had left for so long yet glad that I would finally have the dad I always wanted. Only..." Amy stops herself, pausing with a sigh. "Only your idea of being a father and mine of you being a dad are two different things. You're more concerned with doing things as a father that make you feeling good about yourself than you are about being the kind of dad I need...a dad who wants to be there for me and accept me for just being myself. A dad willing to listen when I just need someone to talk to...not one that feels it necessary to criticize. A dad who respects my choices and the decisions I make about my life...not one who only cares about how it'll effect him. I'm sorry it took me this long to recognize you're not the dad I need or want. I'm done with you!"

When Amy turns and walks away, Tim pleads, "Amy..please! Give me a chance to explain. You need to hear me out!"

Getting into the truck, she replies, "I don't need anything from you!"

...

Amy quietly walks into Ty's hospital room and immediately sees Caleb sitting next to his bed. As she takes a seat next to him, he turns and says, "Hey Amy, I didn't have much going on this morning so I thought I'd come by and see how Ty's doing."

"You're a terrible liar. Grandpa called you, didn't he."

"I was going to come by anyway. How are you doing?...I mean with the stories and stuff."

"It hurts but I'll survive. I wasn't happy at all about what dad said."

"I can imagine...I called him after reading the story and laid into him pretty good."

"I just finished doing that myself. I know it sounds terrible to say but in a way I'm glad Ty doesn't have to hear about all this, especially that video again and the rumors about Ahmed and me."

"You know Ty doesn't believe any of that about you and Ahmed, right?"

"He doesn't?" Amy replies with surprise.

"No...Jack didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"I don't understand why he wouldn't tell you."

"Caleb, tell me what?"

"I'm not sure I remember it all because there was a lot of beers involved while we were talking...and you know what it's like trying to get something out of him when he doesn't want to talk about it."

"What did he say, Caleb?"

"Maybe you should hear it from Jack."

"I'm not doing that again...just tell me what he said!" Amy demands in obvious frustration.

"Okay..okay, Ty said he didn't care about Ahmed. He only cared about what Ahmed said to him...something about holding you back. He didn't want to do that. He said he needed you to make up your own mind about what you wanted and he didn't want to be the reason you wouldn't make a decision that was best for you. That's why he wanted a break...to give you time to decide. He told Jack all that. I'm surprised Jack didn't tell you."

"Yeah...I'm surprised too."

The door opens and Doctor Levinson walks in saying, "Good morning...I just want to check on Ty." He steps over to the foot of Ty's bed and after looking at Ty's chart he says. "Everything looks good so it seems Ty's coming along just fine. There's other good news. His latest test show we can start bringing him out of the coma soon."

"That's great!" Amy exclaims.

"You should know that it's not like turning on the lights. It's a slow process. He'll open his eyes occasionally for a short time in the beginning but he still won't be responsive. He'll gradually come around though to where he's aware of his surroundings and able to respond verbally."

...

Turning down the road to Heartland and from a distance, Amy sees Jack walk into the barn. She parks in front of the house and heads straight to the barn to talk to Jack. Finding him in the office, she first tells him what the doctor told her about Ty.

"...That's really good news about Ty."

"Yes it is." Amy replies as she hands Jack's cell phone and truck keys back to him. "So, you couldn't help calling Caleb anyway, after I told you I would be okay going to the hospital on my own."

"Well, Caleb told me that he was thinking of going to see Ty and he didn't actually go with you."

"You know...Caleb and I had a pretty interesting talk while we were there."

"Is that so."

"Why didn't you tell me you talked to Ty right after the break?"

Sensing a bit of anger in her voice, Jack defensively replies, "Because I didn't think it was necessary. Listen, I only talked to Ty as a favor to Lou. She was thinking about talking to him herself but didn't know what to say so she wrangled me into talking to Ty for her. You know I never liked getting involved in whatever was going on between you two."

"Yet you always seemed to somehow involve yourself anyway."

"And those times I did, it was that or just kick one or both of you in the behind."

"Why didn't you tell me what he told you...about Ahmed and why Ty wanted a break?"

"I didn't think I had to since I thought you already knew. Didn't Ty tell you why he wanted a break?"

"He did but I was upset and...you know it would have been helpful if you had told me what he said...it would have made a difference."

"Hold on! Are you looking for someone to blame for this going on for as long as it has...because if you are..."

Half listening and in a flash, Amy recalls Ty's words, "...We need to figure this out... on our own...we need some time to figure out what it is that we want. What 'you' want."

Amy interrupts, "No...no, I'm not. I'm sorry if you think I'm blaming you."

She thinks to herself, "All this time I thought this was about Ahmed...that he meant he and I had both changed. Ty didn't change, he didn't give me any reason to believe he had...it was only me. He didn't mean 'we', he meant me. He was only talking about me."

Ty's last words come to mind, "...sometimes we lose things and no matter how hard we try to hold on or without even knowing it... we've lost it." She asks herself, "Was Ty only talking about losing me?"...

...

Anxious to speak to Amy since returning home from Maggie's and noticing Jack's truck parked in front of the house, Lou finds her in the barn talking to Jack. "...I'll get to her eventually."

"Don't take too long. Mallory has been calling repeatedly and you're gotten calls from Soraya and Ashley too. They all want to know how Ty's doing and what's going on with you."...

Lou interrupts, "There you are...Amy, I need to talk to you."

"I'll leave you two alone." Jack turns to leave.

"No, grandpa. Maybe you should hear this too." Jack turns back gazing over at Lou. Noticing the familiar look of determination on her face he questions his decision to stay.

"What's this about, Lou?" Amy asks.

"While I was at Maggie's today, I overheard a group of girls talking about you and they mentioned some blogs that said while you were in France you were living with Ahmed."

"Lou..." Amy begins to respond in an attempt to explain.

"Let me finish. After what you had to say about Ahmed this morning I had the feeling there was something you left out. And come to think of it, all you told us about your time in Europe was about the training, competitions, and sightseeing. What about the rest of the time? I have to ask...is there anything else you haven't told us?

"What are you accusing me of, Lou?"

"I'm not accusing you of anything. I'm just asking you to tell us about how you spent your time?"

Jack interjects. "This is beginning to sound like what went on between you two this morning. What's your point, Lou? Just get to it."

"I managed to find the blogs those girls were talking about. They were similar to the one Georgie found of you and Ahmed. The links were on one of the show jumping sites kids post stuff on." Lou, takes out her phone and opens the browser to one of the blogs then hands her phone to Amy. "Here, read this and tell me if it's true or not."
...

To be continued...