The mystery that was Amy Fleming took up quite a bit of Ty's attention. Now that he had more information than he ever did before, it consumed the rest of his afternoon. His head was swimming after he finally left Hank and it was all he could do not to break his word and confront Amy for the truth. Or at least confirmation that what Hank revealed was accurate. Ty had no reason to doubt the man other than his questionable motives for divulging a slice of what he claimed to know. But Ty couldn't imagine any ulterior motive for it, even if he did find it hard to believe Hank was doing it for Amy's sake. To give Ty just enough of what he wanted to keep him from continuously jumping down her throat for answers.
To avoid the temptation, he instead went to work checking up on the other guys around the yard. Jack was still up at the herd finishing with the calves which explained him neglecting to return any of Ty's calls from earlier. Even if the cell reception wasn't as unreliable as it was out there, Jack would surely be too preoccupied making sure the work was done right and without any – or at least minimal – injury to bother to look at his phone. It was only a good thing the situation with Amy's panic attack ended so peacefully or else Ty really wouldn't have known what to do other than bring Amy back to the ranch.
His gaze wandered toward the house any time he passed around the front of the barn, wondering how Amy fared after her unsanctioned meeting with Hank. He'd bet the door was securely locked, which only mildly irritated him considering he didn't have a house key on him. Ty was so tempted to find out. But before he could head for the house Jack and the guys came trudging back looking exhausted and a bit worse for the wear.
Jack made a B-line for Ty when he saw him, cell in hand. "What happened?" Accusation tinged his tone, making Ty's back straighten as he readied to defend himself. It was a reflex anymore – even before Amy's arrival.
"It's fine. I handled it." Ty wasn't sure if "handled" was the proper word, or if he really did much of anything, but he hadn't made it any worse.
"All you had to do was drop her off. What was there to handle?"
Ty sighed, glancing around at the men who were passing them curious eyes as they dismounted and untacked their horses. "I'll fill you in later. We've still got a lot of work to get done." Usually it was Jack trying to throw work as a distraction so Ty was hoping it would be enough for him to back off for the time being. Strange how the tables could turn so quickly.
But it seemed Jack understood this wasn't a conversation to have so publically and nodded, dismounting. "Other than the three tense voicemails, how did it go?"
Ty shrugged. "You'll have to ask Amy. She isn't exactly the conversational type, especially with me." Not that he blamed her. Now that he was aware of what allegedly happened, he was better able to understand her strange and often frustrating behavior.
"I guess we'll wait to find out over supper. Let whatever happened have time to pass," Jack reasoned, not really putting a lot of faith in that idea. Amy was a hard nut to crack, holding everything tightly bound inside and only allowing her defenses to show. But if Ty's revelation was correct, then she shouldn't be faulted for it. Jack just hoped that one day she'd feel safe enough in their home to remove some of that armor and release even a little of the heavy burden she carried.
As soon as Amy was inside the house she flicked the deadbolt on both doors. She didn't even pause to let Lobo inside with her. Her anxiety spiked making her limbs feel weak and her stomach uneasy. She fell onto the couch, sitting sideways and curling her legs to her chest. Leaning against the back of the couch she folded her arms on her knees and dropped her chin on them, shutting her eyes to focus on breathing slow and even.
The way Hank looked at her, the way he spoke to her, made Amy extremely uneasy. It wasn't just his predatory approach, but more like he was looking beyond the façade and at the real her. The true broken part of her as if searching to yank it out.
Finally, Amy opened her eyes to look at the yellow folder on the cushion next to her. It contained all the information she needed to look into adoption for her child, including therapy groups and prenatal care tips. Taking a breath, she reached for the folder and opened it to pull the packet of information out, with it coming a DVD from her ultrasound. Dropping that back in the envelope she rifled through the paperwork for the prenatal info. Diving into the adoption stuff just felt too much for her right now. She still had six months to make a definite decision.
Amy became so absorbed in reading over the material Dr. Virani provided about caring for her body during pregnancy, that she nearly jumped out of her skin when the phone rang from the kitchen. Peering over the arm of the couch at the handheld, Amy briefly considered letting it ring. The last time she chose to take the initiative of answering it it hadn't gone so well.
Steeling her resolve, Amy leaned over to swipe it from the base. Screw it. "Hello, Heartland." She answered as brightly as she could muster, though deep down her gut was knotting expecting it to be Kit again.
"Oh. I didn't expect anyone to answer at this hour. I was just going to leave a message." The voice sounded slightly older, more mature than Kit.
"Oh, um, are you looking for Ty? Or Jack?" Amy asked carefully, not wanting to once again give another jealous woman the wrong idea. It was made very clear women weren't a common denominator at Heartland.
"I was trying to reach Jack. But I know-"
"He's just outside. I can grab him if you like," Amy offered, unfolding her legs to get up.
"No no, that's all right. I'm sure he's busy." There was a pause and then a noise like she just realized something. "Is this Amy?"
Amy froze. "Y-yes?"
"Oh, my goodness. I am so sorry. I didn't realize you would have been there already. This is Lisa. Jack's wife."
Oh. Amy let out a breath of relief. "Hi," she replied a bit awkwardly. The woman from the photo on the mantle. Her gaze drifted over to it, trying to place the voice with the face.
Then there were a slew of rapid fire questions. How are you? Did you arrive all right? Are the boys treating you well? I hope they're feeding you better than pizza and pasta. Amy didn't know which question Lisa actually wanted an answer to so all she said was, "It's been fine."
"You don't sound very convincing."
Amy grimaced.
"Don't worry. I changed my flight to later this week. Just hold on for a few more days and reinforcements will arrive. That's actually what I called to tell Jack. I land in Calgary at noon on Friday."
Getting up, Amy walked over to the desk near the kitchen to dig for a pen and some scrap paper. "Okay. I'll make sure to let him know. Does he need to pick you up?" she asked, scribbling down the note.
Lisa laughed softly at the thought. "No. Jack doesn't do well anywhere larger than Hudson. I'll catch a cab."
"Oh, all right." Setting the pen down, Amy switched the phone to her other ear. "Well, I look forward to finally meeting you." Honestly, she was truly looking forward to having another woman at the ranch so she wasn't the complete center of unwanted attention anymore. Lisa was around the inmates long enough to have gained their respect so Amy was hoping her influence would keep them from trying to harass her any further – Hank especially.
"Me too, Amy. Hang in there, okay?"
Amy smiled softly at the kindness in Lisa's voice. "Yeah."
After she hung up, Amy took a relaxing breath. She had yet to even meet Lisa face to face and already felt better knowing she was just a few days from home.