Chapter 3

Amy didn't have any luck locating Ty and as the months turned to years, without word from him, the family rarely brought up his name.

Her initial remorse turned to anger for a time. She couldn't understand how Ty could so easily abandon her or even be so inconsiderate and selfish as not to at least let her know he was okay. Her feelings of anger eventually faded and she was forced to accept the fact that she had caused him so much anguish that she was never going to hear from him again.

Having sadly accepted the fact that Ty was not going to return, Amy still couldn't stop thinking of him. Sometimes, when in the loft or riding Harley, she couldn't help but to recall those happier days when she thought there was nothing that could tear them apart. She couldn't count how many times, when glancing out her bedroom window after dark, she expected to see the light on in the loft as Ty spent another late night studying.

A very small part of her still held onto a glimmer of hope that he would someday find his way back and it was Mrs. Bell who kept that faint glimmer of hope alive. She would occasionally mention him whenever she came by the ranch to give Amy some herbs from her garden and, sometimes in conversation, she would remind Amy of how long it took for her father to return.

After time, she was encouraged by friends and family to move on and reluctantly she started to date. Rarely though and only to appease those who had become so concerned about her. Of those she dated, not one interest her, so she gradually buried herself deeper into her work, giving her reason to pass on blind dates arranged by those who thought they were helping.

Fixing troubled horses had been her passion, but that eventually changed. It gradually became increasingly difficult and over time she seemed to have had lost her ability to do so. Out of frustration she wrote to her mentor, Victor Whitetail, for help. He helped her once before when she had a similar problem and she hoped he could help her again. His response was brief in a letter which read..."Quiet your mind and open your heart. Put trust back within and what you feared lost will return". His advice always seemed to be cryptic, having a deeper hidden meaning, and this was no different.

Amy tried repeatedly, but couldn't do it, so she fell into realm of other trainers. Training and the occasional rehoming of horses was all that was left.

There were other changes in and around Heartland as well. Caleb and Ashley divorced. Lou bought Maggie's with Tim as her silent partner. Mallory and Soraya went to Europe. Lou and Peter had a daughter, Katie. Tim surprised everyone with the revelation that he had a son named Shane. Lou and Peter adopted Georgie, a trouble orphan runaway who had a special relationship with Jack. Then Jack and Lisa secretly married and finally Lou and Peter separated.

All of this served only as brief distractions from the sadness she sometimes felt losing her first love and best friend in Ty.

Amy and Ashley reconnected after Ashley's surprising and brief return to Hudson in a failed attempt to win Caleb back. They would occasionally talk by phone, sharing the latest news and sometimes sharing their regrets over mistakes made and loves lost. Only they could really understand the others grief over the heartbreak they caused and felt.

Unknown to everyone else, Ty never completely cut ties with Hudson. A few months after leaving he wrote Mrs. Bell, his honorary grandmother, to let her know that he was okay and apologizing for not keeping up on his end of the bargain he had with her. She held a special place in his heart, so he kept writing to her every few months or so to let her know how he was doing. Ty trusted her to honor his request not to mention his letter writing to anyone and he never included a return address.

...

It's another normal day at Heartland. Scott has come by to check on Jack's horse, Paint, who seems to be slowing down. Jack is concerned that Paint's arthritis is becoming worse.

"...So, Scott, when are you finally going to go on that vacation you've been talking about for so long?"

"Pretty soon I hope, Jack. I'm still working on it. I've been planning this long trip down to the states around the southwest, but I can't leave Cassandra to handle the business alone for a month. Not if I still want a business to return to."

"I know what you mean." Jack says with a knowing grin. "She's not a people person is she?"

"No she isn't...she's a very good vet, but I need someone to help her out while I'm gone. Someone with better people skills. The last thing I want to have to do is close shop and leave my clients in a lurch, so I'm trying to bring someone else in while I'm gone. Another vet. There's this one guy I've talked to about filling in for me, but he's reluctant. He owes me though, so I've been playing that card. I think I almost have him convinced, so I'm thinking of sweetening the deal a bit."

"Well, good luck with that and I feel sorry for the poor guy having to put up with Cassandra for a month."

"If I can get the guy I want then I'm sure he can handle it. I just need to work on him a little bit more and then I'm sure he'll come around. He's had experience working with a stubborn obstinate woman."

"So he's married then." Jack says laughingly.

Appreciating the humor, Scott laughs and then says, "Not that I know of...Anyway, from everything I know and heard about him, he's an excellent vet with definitely better people skills than Cassandra. So you'll be in very good hands should you need to call him."

"Well if you say he's good then that's all I need to know."

"Hey...I understand you have a birthday coming up."

With a grimace displaying the pain he feels in admitting he's getting older, Jack replies, "Did you really have to mention that?"

"Sorry, Jack...Now about Paint..."

...

It's early evening when Ty travels down the road to Mrs. Bell's house. She's his first stop. After knocking on the door, he's not surprised to see Sugarfoot at Mrs. Bell's side when she opens the door. She's happy, but not surprised to see him. In his last letter, he left her with the impression that he was thinking of returning. She gives him a warm hug, and invites him inside. The two spend the next several hours talking before he has to leave. He's planned one more stop that evening before bedding down for the night.

Ty pulls up to the trailer which was his last home in Hudson before he left. It hasn't changed much and he's glad to see that the fire pit he built is still there. Caleb's truck is parked next to the storage shed indicating that he must be home and Ty wonders how he'll be received. Caleb has no idea he has returned. Ty didn't want to call ahead in the event he changed his mind about returning to Hudson.

He has no idea how Caleb will react as he knocks on the door. "Will he punch or hug me?" He thinks to himself. "I better prepare myself, he'll probably swing."

Caleb opens the door and his jaw drops. With wide eyes the first words out of his mouth are, "You son of a bitch!" The look of surprise is quickly replace with a huge grin and he says, "Why the hell didn't you tell me you were coming back!" With that, Caleb grabs Ty by his arm, pulls him into the trailer, and gives him a hug.

Releasing Ty, Caleb scolds him, "You know, I should kick your ass so far down the road..." Ty laughs and replies, "I know...I'll be crapping in Montana. You've been hanging around Jack way too long. How is he by the way?"

"No, man...you're not getting any answers that easy. How the hell are you?"

"I'm good and you?"

"As good as can be expected...Have a seat and we'll have a few beers while you tell me what you've been up to all these years."

As Ty takes a seat at the table, Caleb reaches for the door to close it, commenting, "I see you still have that poor excuse for a truck."

Caleb grabs a couple beers from the fridge and, handing one to Ty, he takes a seat at the table across from him and says, "Okay...new plan. First you tell me what brought you back and then tell me what you've been up to. After that I'll fill you in on anything you want to know, but first I have to ask...why the hell didn't you ever call me? You were my best friend and the best man at my wedding for Christ's sake!."

"Sorry man...it was just...well...I needed to make a clean break from here. I was pretty screwed up and really hadn't made up my mind where I was going or what I was going to do. Then life got in the way and..."

"Hey, enough said. Believe me, I know what you mean. So, why are you back and what have you been doing?"

Just like Caleb asked, Ty filled him in and gave him a general run down of almost everything he had been doing since he left. When asked an uncomfortable question, he would avoid it by changing the subject. There were things he felt were too private to divulge, at least not yet, to his old best friend."

Once Ty was done, Caleb began his narrative describing most of what happened since Ty left. Starting from the beginning, he told Ty about what had transpired almost immediately after he left Hudson.

"...Yeah, she caught a lot of grief from almost everyone involved. I had a few words to say to her myself after I got back from my honeymoon. When I gave her that box you left behind, I told her exactly what was on my mind. I could tell though and it became more and more obvious that she really felt bad about the whole thing...you know...causing you to leave and all. She even tried to find you. Anyway, she caught the worst from Mallory and I heard she really gave her an earful!"

"I wish she hadn't done that, but then Mallory was always someone who said what was on her mind."

"Yeah I know. That girl has no filter system at all."

Ty adds, "Or off switch."

Caleb laughs and then continues, "Well...It took a few months before Amy and Soraya spoke again and get this...that jerk Chase had the audacity to show up a few years later with a wife in tow asking Amy to give her riding lessons."

"You're kidding right? Chase got married and showed up again? I thought the only person he was in love with was himself."

"Nope, honest to god truth. It gets better...wait until you hear this. After Amy agreed to give Chase's wife riding lessons, which by the way no one couldn't understand after everything that happened, that piece of crap Chase hit on Amy!"

"Well, that I can believe. It's completely in character. You have my interest...so, what happened?"

"I guess Amy didn't feel comfortable with the whole riding lesson thing. She was giving them at Heartland and I think Jack got wind of it and had a few harsh words for her about it, so she called it off and told Chase to pick up his horse and leave. I happen to be picking up Lou's old college fridge from the quonset hut and saw Chase suddenly grab Amy and give her a kiss. Just as quickly she pulled away and slapped him real good. She whacked him pretty hard because I could hear it all the way over where I was. I'll tell ya...it was a sight to see! I wanted to kick his ass myself, but he drove off before I had the chance."

"Good for her! That I would have liked to have seen. So he's married now? There's a marriage with an expiration date on it."

"Yeah, no kidding."

Wanting to move the conversation away from Amy, Ty asks, "So what else has been going on? How's everyone else?..."

...

Over an hour has passed now and with empty beer bottles dividing the table between him and Ty, Caleb leans back in his seat and says, "So, when are you going to ask me?"

"Ask you what?"

"You know...about Amy."

Ty takes a breath and let's it out in a sigh, repling, "Why don't we make this easy and you just tell me whatever it is you think I should know."

"Okay, but there's really not much to tell..."

"...So, she doesn't work with troubled horses anymore? That's a shame. I never saw anyone who could figure out a horse like she could."

"Yeah, it is a shame, but she's a damn good horse trainer. Probably the best around. But horse trainers are a dime a dozen in these parts. Jesse Stanton has been trying to get her to come work for him over at Briar Ridge, but she doesn't seem all that interested in the job."

"Jesse?"

"Yeah...he graduated from college about a year ago with a degree in commerce. He was running Val's real estate interests in Florida until recently, but then she had some health issues and brought him up here to take over running the place. He thinks he's some big shot businessman. I'll tell ya...the guy is a real piece of work!

Rumor has it that the place isn't doing as well lately as when Val was running it. I guess that's why he's been after Amy to come work for him. My guess is that he wants to use her old reputation as the miracle girl to drum up more business and get the place back on its feet.

Personally, I think he's more interested in real estate than he is in running Briar Ridge. I had a run in with him a few times and he holds a grudge about me getting the land this trailer sits on in my divorce settlement. I heard too that he's been looking around on the outskirts of town for property he can subdivide and sell off to developers."

Ty and Caleb talked for a while longer over one more beer. Ty looks at his watch as he guzzles down the last of his drink and says, "Hey, do you think I can crash here tonight? It's getting late and I don't want to drive these dark roads with all these beers in me."

"Sure buddy. Why don't you take the bed and I'll use the couch outside."

"I noticed you still have that thing...if you don't mind, I think I would prefer the couch. The fresh air will do me good, besides have you ever considered opening a window or using some air freshener in here?"

"The couch is all yours, buddy...and since when did you turn into Mr. Clean? When you work around livestock all day, this place smells pretty good."

"Yeah...I guess you're right"

"I'll have the coffee brewing when you get up since I have an early morning tomorrow."

"Thanks Caleb. I have to get up early too. I still have one more stop to make in the morning."

Caleb tosses Ty a sleeping bag and as he opens the trailer door, Ty turns to Caleb and says, "It's really good to see you again and I'm sorry to hear about Ashley."

"Good to see you too and that other stuff...well, I'm over it and have been for a long time. I moved on and its all water under the bridge now."

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean."

...

Lying on the couch in the sleeping bag Caleb loaned him, Ty has a difficult time fathoming all the changes Caleb told him about, but it's been almost 5 years, so changes were to be expected. The most shocking news was that Jack had a heart attack. Ty still had the upmost respect for him even though their last conversation didn't end very well. He felt bad about that and several times during those first few months after he left he almost called him just to let him know that he was okay. He resisted the temptation though, determined to make a clean break from Heartland and get on with his life.

He then wonders how he will be recieved before moving on to his final destination. So far his reappearance had been accepted better than he had thought. The next he wasn't so sure of. He had come a long way since he left and returning to Hudson was never something he envisioned.

As he slowly drifted off to sleep, pleasant memories of his time at Heartland slowly became overshadowed by memories of those last few months long ago. "I don't have to do this..there's still time to get in my truck and head out." Were his last thoughts before falling asleep."

To be continued...