It was cold. Amy regretted her decision to walk back to the ranch about two minutes after leaving Briar Ridge's gates. Alberta winters were not merciful and Amy was wishing she'd brought a heavier coat. She hadn't really been expecting having to brave the sub-zero temperatures for more than a few seconds though either. She was also thinking this would have been a great time to be in possession of a cell phone as well. Jesse used to bug her about that all the time, but truthfully she never really needed one when the phone at home worked just fine. Now she could see how it would be useful. But there was really nothing she could do about it now and just wrapped her coat tighter around her and folded her arms to keep the warmth in, bowing her head to the frigid mountain breeze that brought the promise of more snow and pressed on.
"Ty!" Ashley called, waving to him from the pool table when she saw him enter the rec room. Ty gave her a glance as his gaze rolled over the rest of the crowd looking for Amy and Jesse. "I'm glad you could make it after all. I thought Jack had you on lock down or something," she laughed, easing up against him.
"Yeah well, I got off early. Good behavior," he looked down at her, having had no intentions of coming to this party because he thought Amy would be spending her Valentine's Day back at Heartland. Instead he found out that she did, after all, have a date. "Have you seen Amy?"
At the mention of Amy Fleming, the frown instantly darkened Ashley's face and she took a step back. "Why? It's not like she'll be interested in seeing you here. She has a date with my brother, her boyfriend." Ashley enunciated the word as if to remind Ty that the girl he sought was taken and unavailable, not to mention Amy Fleming of all people.
"Have you seen her or not?" Ty asked again, trying not to sound annoyed but Ashley was a little too, well, snotty and privileged for his taste. Not that she thought so.
"They aren't here." Was all she answered in a rather dismissive way, changing the subject. "But since you are, stay a while. There's an open bar and if things get a little crowded we can always have some privacy in one of the staff apartments," she tempted him with a little sultry smile.
Ty just stared down at her with a little unimpressed smile. "Thanks, but I need to head back," he told her taking a step back toward the door. "Maybe next time." Or never.
Amy stared down the road that seemed to never end. It felt like she'd been walking forever and was getting no where. She was surrounded by trees on both sides and nothing but dirt road in front of and behind her. It almost felt as if she was just walking on a treadmill with a film clip playing in front of her. The only thing assuring her that she was in fact moving forward and closer to home were the "Private Property No Trespassing" signs posted at intervals along her route. She used them like check points.
Aside from the sound of her own feet crunching on the frosted grass along the side of the road, the night was otherwise quiet and still. It was actually a peaceful and beautiful February night, that would be appreciated a little more if it would just warm up another few degrees. Unfortunately, Amy wasn't taking in the beauty of nature around her or the bright stars shining over head. Her eyes were focused on the road ahead and her mind on the events behind. She couldn't believe Jesse could be so disrespectful and hurtful like that, using this special day to try and get into her pants. She hadn't been ready for that before the accident and most certainly wasn't now when their relationship shriveled away to nothing. It hurt her more that he continued to push her for it instead of backing off the first time she showed resistance. That wasn't the Jesse she knew and it brought tears to her eyes then to think that he'd changed that much over the last few weeks to try to make her do something she didn't want to do, nor was ready for.
It was too cold to cry, the tears freezing almost instantly on Amy's face. She wiped away the small ice crystals that stuck to her cheeks and eye lashes, sniffing and willing herself to stop crying. Jesse wasn't worth crying over after the way he just treated her.
She walked another few minutes before the sound of a vehicle approached. Amy listened to determine which was it was headed before turning to see the headlights approaching from behind her. She couldn't tell from the glare who it was, but continued walking and glancing over her shoulder as they got closer.
"Hey!" Ty called as he approached, looking confused and a little concerned to see Amy walking alone on the side of the road.
Amy paused and turned to see Ty pull up along side of her, sighing. Figures he would be the first person to run into her. "Hey yourself. What were you doing at Briar Ridge?" Last she saw he was headed inside for dinner and then needed to do night check on the horses since she didn't know when she'd be back to do it herself.
"Ashley invited me to her lame Valentine's Day party." He shrugged, sneaking looks through the windshield to make sure he wasn't driving off the road. "Why are you out here? Where's Jesse?"
"Why do you care?"
Ty sighed, not understanding why she always had to have an attitude with him. "I'm just asking. Seems kind of rude of him not to at least bring you back home after your date. Not much of a gentleman."
Amy knew Ty was right and that anyone would ask why she was out walking this deserted road alone, but for whatever reason it just bothered her more that Ty was the one asking. "What would you know about being a gentleman?"
Ty shot her a look of insult. "What, just because I'm on probation I don't know how to respect a girl? Besides, isn't it customary for the guy to pick up and drop off the girl after a date? I thought that was like an unwritten rule or something."
Amy glanced at Ty as she continued walking beside his truck. "The date didn't quite end as planned. I left before he had a chance to offer me a ride home."
"So you just decided to walk five miles in the middle of the night and bitter cold? Why didn't you call someone to pick you up?"
"I don't have a cell phone and didn't bother to linger at the Stanton's long enough to use their phone. It just felt easier to walk. At least I was getting somewhere."
Ty was curious to know as to what happened on this date that seemed to end so unfavorably, but decided not to press his luck. Still, the thought of Jesse upsetting Amy in such a way that she felt the need to walk home by herself at night in the dead of winter than ask her boyfriend to just take her home made his blood boil. "Get in."
Amy stopped then turned to look at Ty, his request sounding more like a command than an offer. She stared at him when he hit the brake then glanced back to look at her. "No."
Ty looked at her a little confused. "Come on, Amy. It's freezing out here."
"I said no, Ty," she told him rather harshly, turning her head away and started walking again.
Ty stared after her, totally bewildered by her behavior. "What is wrong with you? I'm just trying to give you a ride home. You'll freeze to death out here," he called after her, touching the gas pedal to catch up to her again.
"Just… go away. I'll be fine," she told him, lowering her face toward the ground so her hair hid the tears that welled up in her eyes again. She felt like she was reliving her fight with Jesse and wasn't about to get in a truck with someone who right now sounded just like him.
Ty's eyes watched Amy intently as she made all attempts to hide her face from him, which told him that she must be crying. There was no other explanation for her sudden change in behavior. It made him stop and again wonder just what the hell had happened between her and Jesse.
Ty stepped on the brake and put the truck in Park then climbed to walk up beside of Amy. "What the hell happened tonight? I could tell when you left you weren't thrilled about going and now you're out here alone… look at me." Ty took a step in front of her, taking hold of her arms to stop her. She turned her head away from him again but the lights from his truck reflected in her glossy eyes. "And practically in tears. What did he do?"
Amy clenched her jaw, pulling her arms from Ty's grasp and walking around him. "Nothing."
Ty reached out quick to grab her arm again, watching in utter astonishment as Amy grabbed his wrist to throw his hand away from her and took several steps back away from him.
"Amy…" His voice turned soft as he gaped at her, heat rising in his chest with the urge to climb in the truck and track down Jesse to break his face because he obviously did something bad enough to hurt Amy, or at least scare her.
"I'm sorry." She was startled by her own reaction to Ty's abrupt movement. He was just trying to keep her from walking away, but she panicked. Amy looked up at Ty, seeing the surprise and confusion in his eyes, even concern as he stared at her.
Ty didn't move again, just remained standing where she'd left him with his hands innocently in front of him in a gesture of surrender. "No, I shouldn't have grabbed you like that. I'm sorry. I just didn't want to keep chasing you." He studied her carefully, wanting to ask but was afraid of the consequences.
Amy felt so foolish now for acting like she had, not realizing what Jesse had attempted to do scared her that much. Sure it had bothered her and hurt her that he could be so selfish and thoughtless, but he'd backed off and let her go. She really didn't want to discuss that with Ty, though, someone she barely knew more than a week. So instead looked toward his truck that say idling a few yards away. "Does your offer still stand? For that ride?" she asked, pointing toward the old GMC.
Ty lowered his hands, continuing to watch Amy for a few more moments. "Yeah. The heat doesn't work though."
Amy offered him a small smile, backtracking to Ty's truck. "That's okay. Anything is warmer than out here." She shivered, climbing in the passenger side as Ty got back behind the wheel again. He stole a look over at her as he put the truck in gear, watching her body language as she pressed her hands together between her tightly closed legs.
They were silent as Ty got them moving toward Heartland again, taking probably a good couple hours away from what it would have taken Amy on foot. He stole a few glances at her as he drove, seeing her just staring blankly out of the windshield.
"He tried to… " Amy started, catching Ty's attention, but then stopped and seemed to think better of it and chose different words. "He made a pass at me. And when I told him to stop he wouldn't," she said finally, lowering her eyes to her lap. "I mean he did, eventually, and maybe… maybe I was giving him signals. I don't know. I just feel so stupid."
"You're not stupid, Amy. He's a jerk. No means no, don't they teach you guys that out here in the sticks?" Ty glanced at her with a little half smile, hoping to get one in return but all he got was a little half-hearted twitch of her lip.
"I never thought he could be like that. He was always so kind and decent. Now I just don't know what to think anymore." She looked toward Ty, wondering if he had some sort of insight into it, seeing as he was a guy himself.
"Want to know what I think?" Ty asked, looking at Amy for confirmation. "Guys like that aren't worth it. You can do better than him and from the look of things, he isn't too concerned with you storming out on him right now. I'd say don't waste your time trying to fix what happened tonight and don't accept whatever apologies he tries to throw at you tomorrow. Chances are it's just going to happen again. And next time you might not be so lucky that I was in the area." Ty tossed a teasing smile her way before focusing his attention back on the road as Amy let his, surprisingly helpful and thoughtful, advice sink in.