"What time were you going to be leaving at?" Amy asked as she stood off to the side watching Carey load Juniper into the Heartland trailer.
Since Amy had begun to work with Juniper she had been reminded of the very first horse that she had successfully treated after her mom had passed away. A famous show jumper, Nick Halliwell's up-and-coming prize gelding had had the same dislike for trailers as Juniper. Amy had implemented the same methods with Juniper as she had used on Star, and was achieving the same results. Juniper was now comfortable with Amy, Joni and Lou loading him into the trailer so Amy enlisted Carey to load Juniper and then they would take a small drive so Juniper could get the feel for and relax in the trailer while it was moving,
"I need to get going pretty early so I don't get home too late," Carey's voice drifted from the interior of the trailer. She emerged with the lead rope and together she and Amy lifted the ramp, bolting it into place.
Amy hopped behind the pickup's wheel and started the ignition as Carey got into the passenger side.
"So what did Ty think… about the massage idea?" Carey asked hesitantly as they slowly rolled down the drive and onto the road.
"He's completely fine with it," Amy said confidently. "I knew he would be."
"You two have such an amazing connection," Carey remarked. "Its kind of creepy."
Amy looked over to see that Carey was sticking her tongue out between her teeth, letting Amy know she was joking.
"Seriously though," Carey said after she and Amy shared a short laugh. "There's something real special there."
"I know," Amy grinned happily.
They fell silent for a few minutes, but Amy noted from the corner of her eye she saw Carey's mouth steadily turning up in a smile. "What?"
"Massage, huh?" Carey said; turning quickly enough to catch Amy's innocently questioning expression turn into a shocked and mildly intrigued one. "Amy!?" Carey said loudly, feigning shock.
"Carey!" Amy didn't need to act embarrassed.
Carey chuckled to herself as Amy pursed her lips then attempted to change the topic.
"Juniper's been pretty good back there, don't you think?" Amy asked.
"So when are you going to start these massages?" Carey completely ignored Amy's question.
"I don't think I've heard such a quiet horse in a while," Amy continued, her face growing red under Carey's constant watch.
"Well I guess you'd probably wait 'til I leave… so I'll bet you can't wait for me to go!" Carey's voice – Amy noted – screamed of provocation, but Amy refused to rise to the bait.
"I think he might almost be ready to go back home. Just another week and I think he'll be set –"
"I guess you would want to wait until both your sister and your grandpa were out of the house, eh?" Carey continued conversationally. "Well I would, man… would that ever get awkward if they were arou–"
"Carey!" Amy exclaimed, pulling the truck to a stop at a gas station. Her eyes were wide and her face was flushed. Amy jumped out and grabbed the fuel nozzle, still blushing hard she started filling up the truck.
"What?" Carey jested, rounding the trailer, looking in on Juniper as she passed a window. "I'm just saying…"
A silence; humorous for Carey, embarrassing for Amy, fell over them as the gas tank filled.
"Its just a massage," Amy said firmly as the nozzle clicked off and she replaced it and the gas cap.
Amy went into the small convenience store to pay while Carey sat in the truck and waited. Catching a glimpse of herself in one of the circular convex security mirrors as she neared the counter, Amy noticed that her face looked like it was on fire. Taking deep breaths as she handed over Heartland's credit card, Amy made a conscious effort to calm her self. She's just bugging me. She thought to herself. She doesn't actually mean what she's saying.
Climbing back behind the wheel Amy noted that Carey's face was more somber.
"I'm sorry if I took that too far Aim," She started, but Amy pushed her shoulder and threw her a grin.
"It's alright, I guess I'm just a prude," Amy shook her head as they headed towards Heartland.
"I really am sorry I made you uncomfortable," Carey said, though Amy could see from the distant shimmer in her always laughing eyes that she wasn't too sorry.
&
Amy woke the next morning tired and with a pain in her side. She knew that the pain could only be partially attributed to sleeping on the mattress on the floor, the main source being the same cause of her exhaustion. She and Carey had stayed up much later than either had intended talking about girlie things, as Carey dubbed it.
Amy had been amazed by the conversation; topics she and Soraya had never discussed, but Carey and Amy talked late with ease and animation. Carey made too many jokes and had more than enough funny stories that Amy got a stitch in her side trying to suppress her laughter.
Rolling over with a pain-induced groan, Amy turned off her blaring alarm and grabbed the sweater from the back of her desk chair.
"I think we really should have stopped talking when Lou told us to shut up," Carey laughed, rolling over and promptly falling off the bed into a sitting position on the floor between the bed and Amy's impromptu bed. Amy laughed at Carey as the older girl seemed suddenly confused to how she had arrived on the floor.
Amy and Carey descended the stairs to the main floor as quietly as they could, which is to say; loud enough to wake Lou who stuck her head out her own bedroom door and scowled at her sister. Carey had to stifle her laugh with her pillow that she was returning to her car.
"You're sticking around for breakfast, right?" Amy asked, carrying Carey's duffle bag as the two went to deposit it in her car before they went to start the morning chores.
"I think I can stay, Jack is an amazing cook," Carey answer appreciatively.
Amy and Carey continued their chatter from the previous night as they made the feeds. They were just going to go distribute them when Ty wheeled himself into the feed room.
"Morning," He said, grabbing a pile of feeds and stacking them on his lap.
"Ty," Amy said in shock, consulting her watch. "Its only six-thirty, you still have half an hour."
"I know," Ty moved towards the door and turned back to the two girls with feigned scorn. "A couple of elephants woke me up this morning at some insane hour," He paused, his eyes shooting to Amy's face, a small grin on his lips. "But not as insane as the hour they kept me up with nonstop talking."
Amy blushed and Carey laughed at Amy's sudden distress. Ty left and Amy turned to Carey quickly.
"Do you think he heard us?" She asked quickly in a whisper, knowing her voice might carry out to Ty in the stalls.
"I doubt it, he probably just heard our voices," Carey answered honestly. "Don't worry about it, I think he would find it funny."
"I'd find it embarrassing," Amy mumbled, picking up a handful of full hey nets while reflecting on the subject of their banter and hoping that Ty hadn't heard a single word. A small smile rose to Amy's lips and a blush to her cheeks, realizing that it wouldn't be all bad if he had heard.
"I saw that," Carey accused, following Amy out of Sugarfoot's stall.
Amy's blush deepened and Carey's laugh rose.
&
"It must have been nice to have an older girl to talk to for a change," Ty observed as he stood with Amy at the top of the drive. Carey's car was disappearing down the dirt driveway and Amy was still waving.
"I have Lou," Amy said defensively for her sister.
"That's different," Ty reminded.
"Yeah, it was nice," Amy agreed. "There are a lot of things that I've never talked about with Soraya or Lou before."
"Do you want to talk to me about them?" Ty asked.
Amy looked down at him with her eyes wide, her hand dropped to her side. She saw a glimmer in Ty's eyes and pushed his shoulder slightly as he laughed at her.
"Do you have any idea how many times I've been laughed at this weekend?" Amy asked as they turned towards front barn.
"I'm going to wager I wasn't the first."
"You might win that bet, " Amy nodded.
Amy retrieved Winter, the Fleabitten grey Arabian from the second stall and lead the tall gelding out to one of the turnout paddocks. Ty was still following her but Amy didn't question him.
After unclipping Winter's lead rope and closing the gate, Amy turned to see Ty looking up at her with a careful expression.
"What's the matter Ty?" She asked, turning for the barn once more.
Ty stayed by her side and after a moment, spoke in a low voice, his eyes darting to the house as they walked by it. "Do you think the massage is such a good idea?"
"What are you talking about?" Amy demanded, taken aback by his sudden aversion to what she thought was brilliant.
"I heard Lou and Jack talking about us this morning," Ty said quickly as they entered the barn. Amy led the way to the feed room. "Well, it was more Lou talking and Jack listening."
"What did she say?" Amy asked. She leaned against the bench and turned to Ty, her arms crossed as her mind spun. Had Lou heard us last night?
"Nothing bad, she's only concerned over how close we are," Ty replied.
"How close we are is none of her concern," Amy snapped. She quickly checked herself and smiled meekly at Ty.
"I mean how close our living quarters are," Ty grinned as Amy's mouth formed a small 'o'.
"Well that's just something she's going to have to deal with for a while," Amy said simply, shaking her head. She knelt on the floor in front of Ty and took one of his hands in both of hers.
"I hope so," Ty sighed. "I don't really have anywhere else to –"
"Amy! Phone!" Lou's voice drifted from the house, cutting Ty off.
Amy cocked her head at Ty, ignoring her sister.
"What do you mean you don't 'have anywhere else to'… to go?" Amy's eyes widened.
"You should go get that, Winter's owners are suppose to be coming to get him this morning," Ty said gently.
"But –"
"I'll explain later," Ty said, kissing the knuckles on one of Amy's hands. "Promise,"