Hmmm. Here it is. ENJOY!!

RODEO STONER

"What did you say your name was again?" he asked me eventually.

"Uh… Amy," I said.

"Hmmm," he said with a nod and started to walk back down the hill. I followed him, but only because that was the way I was going as well.

Chapter 7: That Cowboy Look

AMYPOV

Thursday

How long was I walking behind him? I can't honestly say. And even if I could, I probably wouldn't admit to it. As it was, he stopped walking suddenly when we were next to the corals and I ended up heading straight into his back.

"Oof."

He stared at me, his arms crossed over his chest. He had that look on his face. The same exact one I had come to learn was practically synonymous with his face. It seemed that you couldn't have one without the other being far behind. I quickly jumped back a few steps, only stumbling a minor bit.

"Were you planning on following me for long?" His voice was teacher-ly inquisitive, as though he were the adult talking to the young student.

"That's really all relative, I think…" Do not ask me what I was thinking. I haven't the foggiest clue. It just seemed to slip out. Sometimes, when I was around Ty, I couldn't seem to think—or walk—straight. At the moment, all I wanted to do was slap my forehead and run away—I had just made myself sound like a creeper for goodness sakes!— but instead I cleared my throat and rubbed the back of my neck. "What I mean to say is that I… that I…" I tried to think of someway, anyway really, to make it better. I came up with a giant, gapping blank. The truth of the matter was simple: with an opening like that, there wasn't much in the way of anything to fix it.

He was still watching me, looking down at me with his arms crossed. I didn't spend too long trying to read his expression. I wasn't sure I wanted to know what that look meant.

"I was actually going this way too… you see," I said eventually.

"Were you?"

"Um, yes," I said. "I, er, was… actually."

Without another word, he turned back around and kept going on his way to the stables.

I really had no reason at all to go to the cabin—my iPod was tucked safely in my pocket—but it wasn't as though I was about to hang around the paddocks. And that was the only other place I could go. Or back up to the farmhouse. And that was a big no-no. So I ended up going to the cabin anyway, only to get to the door to find it locked—the one time dad decided to lock it—and that I had no key. It looked as though I was doomed for the farmhouse after all.

I shuffled back past the barn and corals—Ty paid me absolutely no attention—towards the farmhouse. I walked slowly and aimlessly, taking in the scenery around me—all the dirt that there was to admire. I tried to be optimistic. If I could look on the bright side, then maybe the Baldwins wouldn't recognize me. Or they would and then I would be royally screwed. The pessimistic version seemed to be the more realistic one.

"Amy!"

I stopped in my tracks and spun around slowly, pondering the familiar voice. I saw Adam, leaning over the coral fence, waving frantically at me. I waved calmly back at him and tried to walk away but he gestured me over. I went slowly. He wasn't exactly my knight-in-shining-armor, but he would do quite well for now. I'd have to tell Lou I was borrowing him.

"Hey, Adam," I tried to say brightly. "What's up?"

He pushed his stiff cowboy hat back up his forehead in what I must say he thought was a 'cool' gesture. I scratched my nose to hide my twitching lips. "Want to help with the feed?" he asked.

It wasn't what I was expecting, but it would do. Basically anything that delayed my return to that farmhouse dining room was welcome at the moment. I lifted my arms out to the sides. "Sure. What do you want me to—"

"Get that for me, would you?"

A pile of hay fell out of nowhere at my feet. I jumped back, startled, only to be caught by a pair of arms that I was beginning to think I was getting a bit too friendly with. As soon as I was righted and steady on my own two feet once more, the arms left my waist and footsteps crunched away from me. I looked down at the hay and then at Ty's retreating back and then back down at the pile of hay, and wondered just what had happened.

"Um, what?" I asked confusedly after blinking a couple times.

Ty spun back around to face me. "You're helping me with the feed."

"I am?" He gave me that look. "Oh, right, I am." I bent down to pick up the pile of hay.

"Whoa there!" Adam didn't sound too happy as he leapt over the coral and squared off in front of Ty. Ty leaned back on his heels, looking totally at ease, as Adam, clad in complete cowboy garb, furiously fumed before him. "What do think you're doing?"

"Getting help with the feed," Ty said slowly and carefully, it was the teacher and the student again. To me, it sounded kind of funny, but it made Adam one hopping mad, little cowboy.

"She's helping me." Now it was my turn to cross my arms over my chest. I continued watching their bizarre little face-off. It was the most entertainment I'd seen in a while, seeing as the cabin had no television. Now, if Adam were to start pawing the dirt like a bull ready to charge… then we would have done everything but hit the jackpot.

Ty glanced over at me. He winked at me. I almost passed out from the surprise of it all. "I don't think she wants to help you," he said bluntly. I gapped.

Adam spun around to face me, opened his mouth, and then spun back around to face Ty again. He still said nothing. "You… you… you bastard!"

This had Ty almost hysterical with laughter. I could easily see why he found Adam so amusing—I was glad to see that I wasn't the only the one—but just why he was laughing so full heartedly, I don't know in the slightest. I giggled uncertainly where I stood behind the scenes. By now, two of the other hands had come out to watch the morning Feed Drama as it unfolded. They seemed amused as well, though I wasn't sure whose side they were one. From what I had gathered earlier on in our stay, they were probably on Adam's side and laughing that Ty was a lunatic. Against all odds, I bristled at the thought.

Ty finally straightened up and all traces of his smile were gone from his face. "Alright, cowboy, you're a funny one you are, but I've got horses to feed." With that the argument—or whatever it had been—was closed. Ty stalked away very smoothly—not taking any of the hay with him, I might add— and headed straight towards the small coral where Red and Blue were kept. He perched on the top of the fence and the horses came up to him, one on each side with their heads over the coral, ears perked and tails swishing. They were ready for their breakfast, and judging by the focus of their big eyes, their breakfast was lying in a pile at my feet.

I reached down and pulled a fistful of hay in each hand out from the large pile surrounding me.

"Forget that jerk, Amy," Adam said, suddenly behind be again. I turned around to face him. His face was bright red and this time he pulled his cowboy hat down lower over his face. "Come help with the real horses."

What that was supposed to mean, I had no idea. They were a good deal finer than the rest of the horses at New Hopes Ranch, but they were still, quite actually, horses. "Real horses?" I echoed incredulously. I glanced over my shoulder at the eager Red and Blue, who were now bobbing their heads at my progress with their breakfast. "As far as I can tell, those two are 'real horses' as well, Adam."

"You know what I meant," Adam huffed. "It's not like they are of any benefit to New Hopes." He shrugged.

I narrowed my eyes. "Whether or not that may be the case," I said, crossing my arms over my chest, not mindful of the hay still clutched in both of my hands at all, "they are still horses, and they need to eat. And living on this ranch entitles them to the privilege of being fed with all the other horses. To do otherwise is animal abuse, Adam," I said quite seriously.

Adam looked stunned, and then quite nervous. "Well then whatever," he mumbled, shuffling away with his hands in his pockets. "Go and help him." He sounded quite like a small child who had just lost a contest. It was quite ridiculous.

I continued on my way over to Red and Blue. Red pranced eagerly as he saw me coming and the morning sun glistened off of his painted coat and slick muscles in a fine way. He was truly a gorgeous animal. Since he was closest, I went to him with the first handful of hay first. He eagerly tore the hay out of my hands and chomped away at it. Blue, feeling left out and having none of it, pushed his way in between Ty and Red and I offered him his handful.

"My horses eat a bit more hay then that," Ty said from the coral fence.

"I'm sure," I muttered, stroking Blue's silky, roan ears. Red butted his head into my hands, vying for some attention now that his hay was finished. I tickled his velvety muzzle and he snorted into my hand.

I heard Ty heave a sigh. I expected him to give another of his witty comments, but instead he just jumped off of the fence and walked away. I resisted the urge to turn around and see where he had gone. It turned out not to be necessary as he came back not a moment later with the rest of the hay in his arms. He tossed it all into the corral and Red and Blue took off after it.

With my arms resting on top of the wooden fence, I watched them play before settling down to eat the rest of their breakfast. I tried not to pay any attention to Ty, even though he was standing only several feet away from me down the fencing.

"I was only trying to save you from Adam, you know," he said suddenly.

I whipped my head around to look at him. "You, um… er, wait what?"

Ty laughed softly, looking back at his horses. "As vile as cowboys are," he said with a shudder, "Adam is by far the vilest that they come."

I laughed. "Would it be terribly wrong of me to agree with you?" I asked quietly, not wanting the aforementioned Vile Cowboy to overhear me.

"Not in the slightest," Ty agreed with me. "So," he continued. "I was saving you from him, not forcing you into doing any involuntary labor."

"Alright."

"Just so we're clear."

"We're clear," I said. "And thanks. It was either Adam or the dining room… I wasn't sure which was worse."

"It is a hard choice," Ty agreed with me.

I smiled softly and we fell silent. I realized that that was our longest running, civil conversation to date. It was also the longest time I had gone around him without making a complete fool out of myself. Five minutes was as good a starting place as any. Ty may not have looked at me throughout the entire exchange, but he had been somewhat more civil then I was used to. All in all, it was an improvement that I was proud of.

However, it seemed that the biggest topic that inspired such civil conversation—with a side of mocking—was Adam. That made it not so much of an improvement in the end. Once our Adam Topic had died, I found that I had nothing left in my reservoir of witty conversation starters. I tried a few things out in my head—so, do you like music where are you from?; do you like Colorado?; what are your life goals?; what was the inspiration behind your horses' names?; did you happen to like the movie National Treasure? Everything I tried just sounded stupid, but just to go with the flow, I added a bit of dialogue to several of them. They all went similarly: disastrously, and they all ended the same: with that look. I gave up before I could even start.

Out of the corner of my eye, I surreptitiously peered at Ty's profile. He'd seemed to have a sixth sense and almost immediately his head, and accusing eyes—that look—swung in my direction. I quickly looked back at Red and Blue and the silence between us went on as it had before the little incident. The silence allowed me more time to think, and looking at Red and Blue made me think about the rodeo.

Before I could help myself, I had opened my big mouth and all the good I might have done in having a real conversation with Ty was surely undone. "So I, um… I, uh, er, saw you last night at the, uh… the, uh… rodeo…" I winced, I wasn't expecting a miracle but that was entirely worse than I had anticipated.

I suppose I would have given myself that look as well this time around. "Thanks, I'd already figured so much out," he said, undoubtedly remembering my little mishap behind the scenes last night.

"Er," was all I managed my first try. My second try was little better. "I noticed that you, uh, had a bit of, um… a, er, hard time in your event and I…" oh boy, the look was reaching new intensities. I could see him wondering why he had ever saved me from the Vile Cowboy Adam. "I was wondering if I could… that is to say that I, um, thought that I could maybe, uh, offersomehelp," I finished in a rush.

He was silent for such a good deal of time that I was beginning to thank my lucky stars that he hadn't been able to decipher my speed-talking. But then he responded. I couldn't counted my chickens before they'd hatched—or, you know, whatever.

"What makes you think that you can help me?"

I gulped. "Well," I started. I had a feeling that that would be the highpoint of what was to come. "At home in Virginia—" his eyes narrowed and I gulped "—my family owns a, er, a well horse rehabilitation center I guess. I work with a lot of the horses and I thought that maybe I could possibly, um…"

"What?" Ty snapped, turning his whole body against the coral so that he was completely facing me. "My horses don't need rehabilitating."

I fidgeted and clenched my hands on the wood of the coral fence. "I know," I said slowly. "I was just saying that I—"

"Tell me, Amy, have you ever trained a horse?" he cut me off sharply.

I was so preoccupied—and stunned—that he had said my name that I almost forgot to answer. He was staring at me expectantly and I remembered what he was waiting for. "Well, yes, I actually have."

His eyes narrowed even more. He took a step closer to me. I shrunk back against the coral. "Ever trained a western horse?" he challenged.

"Well… no," I said slowly but steadily. "But that's not to say that I—"

"My horses—" he gestured to Red and Blue "—are western horses through and through. They are not the same as your little push-button, English show ponies."

My eyes narrowed, though I did not even try my hand at the look. "Neither are my horses. We rescue abused and abandoned horses, and help others work through their problems. I've helped English and western horses alike, but I do not train push-button ponies."

We faced each other off, staring at each other with similarly determined expressions—though, in all honesty, mine didn't hold a birthday cake candle to his. I do think, however, that given my previous—and ongoing—history around him, I held my ground quite well.

It seemed funny to me that I had been trying to find another topic to hold a civil conversation with him about, and I found one to argue instead. Defending Heartland and what we did there was always something that could really get me going.

Looking into his blazing emerald green eyes, taking in the muscled arms, the hardened the torso, the tattoos, the look, I felt very insignificant. Red and Blue had come back to join us at the fence and they stood by Ty's shoulder's. It was like a little army ganging up against me, appraising me.

Then, thankfully, I heard my name being yelled out. I looked around and saw my family coming down the big hill from the farmhouse. They always did take an oddly long amount of time to eat—especially my mother. They were yelling and gesturing for me to join them. I turned back to Ty, thankful for the excuse to bolt as fast as I could without looking like that much of a freak—or a bigger one then he already undoubtedly thought I was.

I looked up at him one last time. I thought something had changed in his face. It was only a little something. Not great by any means. The look was quiet clearly still there. But there was a small, subtle, little change in the light in his eyes, the pull of his mouth, the tension in his shoulders. I didn't know what it meant—if it even meant anything at all. I didn't even know if it meant something good, or if it was something bad. But all of that was completely besides the point. I could have just imagined it. Simple as that.

"So, um, yeah… bye," I said quickly before scurrying off.

I wasn't fast enough. I got no further than five paces when his voice stopped me in my hurried tracks. Behind me, he said in a low voice, "I usually practice in the ring behind the hills at midnight. You can… come," he forced the word out as though it were poisonous. "If you don't show up, I won't lose any sleep over it." And then he was vaulting over the fence and into the coral with Red and Blue. The two magnificent horses circled him fondly.

I stared at him for a moment longer, my mind reeling.

Then I turned and ran off to the car, where my family was all waiting for me, ready to start another day of our western family vacation.

Short? Yes. Any good? That's up to you to decide.

I stopped it here because I just want to get it up and the next part would make it really long. And this part was okay as its own chapter, just like the next part is good as its own chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. You could show me… in a review!!! (wowGreat idea, Steph!)

I'd love Ty to give me that look

Steph Malfoy