With her head resting in her hand that was propped on the table, Amy twirled her spoon around the steaming stew. She already burned her tongue with a little over zealous first bite and was waiting for it to cool some before trying again. What she was really doing, though, was tormenting herself by staring at it and getting occasional whiffs of its enticing smell. Her stomach grumbled loudly from having taken that first bite, anticipating more that was to come.
At least the food didn't seem so bad. She was half expecting a meal of pizza and beer, which wouldn't have been at all different from home. Amy learned to cook to keep away from such unhealthy eating, wanting to keep her father in decent shape despite his poor life choices otherwise. Now there was no one there to add some color to his plate, or take that extra beer from his hand or dump the last half of the whiskey bottle down the sink along with the teener of coke while convincing him that he did in fact use the rest of it up the night before. If only he knew how much money he really lost on buying those 8-balls.
She was still absently playing with her food, submerging chunks of beef so they soaked up every bit of gravy they could when Ty and Jack returned from the barn. Amy sat up abruptly, straightening her posture as they kicked off their boots and Ty walked by to help himself to the pot. He glanced down toward Amy's bowl when he observed it didn't look like she'd eaten any of it yet.
"Hope you're not a vegetarian." He was joking, trying to lighten the mood, but from their last bad encounter Amy didn't take it that way and shot him an unpleasant look before scooping out a piece of beef and making a show of eating it without saying a word otherwise. "Good, because that won't get you far around here."
She didn't think it would, but what she ate was the least of her problems. Sitting around the tiny kitchen table with her hosts proved to be both awkward and uncomfortable. They didn't speak for a long time. The only sounds were the clink of spoons against bowls and the occasional slurp of gravy. Amy actually thought she might be able to eat then excuse herself to sneak back to her quarters for the night without falling into more unwanted conversation, but Jack wasn't willing to let her off so easily.
"So I figure tomorrow we can go to town and you can meet the obstetrician that'll be caring for you while you're here. I mentioned you were coming and she's eager to meet you. Then we can grab a few things to maybe help you feel more at home." Jack was trying to be encouraging and Amy appreciated his real dedication to the whole situation, but that didn't make her feel any less like she'd lost all of her free will.
"I don't at least get a say in the doctor I see?" She argued merely for the sake of wanting to exercise as much control over her situation as possible when it felt as if she no longer had any at all.
"Dr. Virani is the only one in the area. Unless you want to make the hour drive into Calgary every time, she's the only option. And seeing as you don't have a car-" Ty spoke up as if to let her know she was not going to turn into an inconvenience, or at least any more of one than she already was. They were already making enough accommodations for her.
"Ty." Jack cut him off, shooting him a look of warning to remember their former conversation, before he could ignite another argument then took over again, ignoring the dark look Amy shot across the table. "It's just a consultation. If you don't like her then we'll find someone else." Jack told her. "Contrary to what you may be thinking, you do have choices here, Amy."
Doesn't feel like it. Amy thought, as she just nodded, agreeing to humor Jack and go meet this doctor. She needed to find one anyway if this arrangement turned out to be as permanent as it seemed and if Jack already went ahead and did the honors then at least that was one thing she didn't have to worry about as long as she approved of this Dr Virani. It didn't sound as if her options were vast, but she wanted a doctor she was comfortable with for several reasons. This was all new and frightening to her outside of the whole being away from home part. She was used to taking care of her father as if he were the child, but a baby was completely different.
"Fine," she answered, having no choice in the matter anyway and went back to eating.
When she emptied her bowl, she stood from the chair to place it in the sink then turned to head back to her bedroom. She could feel Ty's scowl follow her as she did. "Hold on there," Jack spoke up, causing Amy to stop in her tracks before she could even get around the table. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"
"I was just going to get to bed. It's been a pretty…" Stressful. "long day."
"Not before those dishes are done." Jack gestured to the sink while Ty ducked his head to hide his smug smile.
"Huh?" For a moment Amy was dumbfounded. Was she the maid now? Is that what Jack meant when he said to "find her place?"
"This is a working ranch, we all do our part. Now that you're a part of this ranch, that means you too."
Amy frowned. "But I didn't-" she started to protest, but Jack held his hand to stop her.
"I know you didn't want to come here, but you are here now and it won't do any of us any favors if you sit around and mope the whole time. So, you'll have your responsibilities like the rest of us. The dishes being the first." Wiping his mouth with his napkin, Jack stood to take his bowl to the sink, setting it next to Amy's. A moment later, Ty did the same.
"There's gloves underneath if you don't want to ruin your manicure," he commented before he could help himself. Amy bit her tongue. Ty's assumptions of her were starting to get on her nerves, but it seemed his grandfather didn't tolerate his mocking either.
"You can help. I'm going to bed." Jack pointed to the sink, causing Ty's mouth to fall open and Amy to fight her satisfied grin as she dropped it toward the floor. Ha.
Ty shot Amy an accusing look as if it was her fault he'd been punished to dish duty along with her, but she just rolled her eyes and started to make space in the sink. "You can dry," she told him.
"Fine." He picked up the dish towel as Amy lathered up a sponge and started on the small pile, checking everything before rinsing it and handing it off to Ty for him to towel dry.
They worked in silence, each focusing on their assigned task and pretending the other wasn't really there. But after a while Ty glanced toward Amy. "You actually know how to clean dishes. I'm impressed." It was supposed to be a kind comment, but the way it was said once again made Amy frown and toss the sponge into the stew pot.
"Okay, what the hell is with the condescending comments? You act like I'm some prissy little city girl." That was the last straw.
Ty's hand dropped to his side that had been awaiting another dish. "Maybe if you didn't act like it, I wouldn't think that way. But you've turned your nose up at this place since before you even got here. You think I'm insulting you? You're insulting our entire livelihood before even learning anything about it. And it's what is going to keep you living comfortably here for as long as that is. Not very smart to bite the hand that feeds you," Ty snapped.
Though Amy was scowling and building up a defensive retort, she knew he was right in part. She hadn't really wanted to bother giving the place a chance because she so badly didn't want to be there that she believed it was going to be a miserable existence. There was part of her that still thought that way and probably would for a while, but Ty was right that it was their livelihood and how they made a living and it was because of this place that she had somewhere to go at all when her father no longer wanted her. So, she bit back the harsher of words she was ready to spit out. "I had no idea where I was going or what it was going to be like. I didn't know what kind of people you were or how you'd react to having me - which I can see isn't so well for some. But I am doing what I have to do just to get through this. You don't have any idea what I've been through, okay?"
Ty stared at her but shut his mouth. Fair enough. Jack told him to show some compassion, to look at the situation from Amy's point of view. That was kind of hard to do from her constant sarcasm and obvious disdain for pretty much everything. He could understand now how it was all a front - a defense mechanism to help her cope with the sudden dramatic changes taking place in her life at a time when she was already forced to face some serious life changes.
Looking at her Ty found it easier to believe it was all just one giant inconvenience that was getting in the way of her selfish lifestyle because that was exactly how she acted. She just informed him of the contrary and while he found it made sense, she was either a very good actor or liar. "Enlighten me, then. Your dad was pretty vague on the details of what happened. Aside from," he gestured toward her abdomen, "you know." It was strange to know she was pregnant but saw no physical evidence of it. They really weren't used to having women of any kind on the ranch and that much was painfully obvious.
Amy turned back to the sink, satisfied that she got Ty to back off but now kicking herself for opening up a conversation she really didn't want to get into. "I'd rather not talk about it." She focused on scrubbing the pot.
"Why? Is it really that bad? Or just embarrassing?" The fact that it seemed to be so hush-hush is what made Ty even more curious to find out what the deal was with Amy and what happened that brought her there.
"It's really not any of your business," she told him truthfully. It wasn't. It also wasn't something she wanted to share with people she didn't know. Or with anyone she did know, for that matter.
"Okay, well, it just seems odd that you're here and you said that the father of your child doesn't know you're here. Does he even know you're pregnant? Or are you trying to hide it from him for some reason?" Ty pried, perhaps a little too much because the next moment Amy was reeling on him.
"I said it was none of your business! So just leave it alone, okay?!" She shouted, throwing the sponge into the pot and leaving Ty to finish what was left. She was done. He had no right to try to pry into her life and start asking such personal questions.
Ty turned and watched her leave, a little taken aback by her reaction. "I was just asking," he grumbled in his own defense. Turning to take over Amy's place at the sink, Ty thought about it for a little and figured that he probably got closer to the answers than he realized for Amy to get so upset, which only made him want to know them even more.