Chapter 14

Jack pulls up to where Tim is working on a rotted fence post. After getting out of his truck and while marching over to him, he says angrily, "So..."

"So?... So, what Jack? You called me remember or did you forget that. I guess Alzheimer's has finally set in."

"You're gonna wish it had after I'm done with you."

Tim drops the rotted fence post he just pulled out of the ground and asks, "Is this about Amy?...because if it is she already laid into me. It's settled."

"Settled? I don't thinks so!"

"What now!?"

"Those horses you took over to Jesse at Briar Ridge."

"What about them? You should be glad I did. The money you saved..."

With an angrier tone in his voice, Jack interrupts, "Stop talking about money! You really screwed up this time!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Those horses ended up in the back of a meat truck! That's what I'm talking about!"

With surprise, Tim responds, "Wait...what? You're kidding, right? No way that would happen!"

"Well, it did!"

Confused, he asks, "How do you know that? Jesse said that..."

Jack interrupts again, "Yeah, Jesse said. I'm sure he said a lot of things."

"This has to be a mistake!"

"Try telling that to Amy and see if she cares!"

"Amy told you? How did she find out?"

"It was kinda hard for her not to find out when she was right there when Ty had Wes bring those horses back to the ranch."

"Wes? You mean that guy who..."

Jack interrupts, "Yeah, That guy! Apparently your buddy Jesse sold them to a livestock dealer...you know...a kill buyer."

"Is that what Wes said? You can't believe anything that guy says. This has to be all a big mistake, Jack. Maybe he stole them." Tim asserts in his defense.

"I Think not! Georgie was with Ty when they came across Wes right after he picked up those horses at Briar Ridge. Ty even has the sale receipts. If I were you, I wouldn't show my face anywhere around the ranch. As a matter of fact, I've had enough of your meddling. You not welcome there ever again! Got that?!"

"Wait, Jack...I can fix this!"

"Not this time!...and even if you somehow manage to, you're still not welcome. Heartland belongs to me and I have the final say when it comes to who's welcome and who's not..."

...

Ty arrives at Heartland just as Amy is bringing the abandoned horse into the round pen. Walking over to the paddock, Ty says, "I see you got a bit on him...that's a good start."

"I'm glad you decided to come over. I was worried you might still be mad at me."

Opening the gate and walking into the paddock, he replies, "I wasn't mad at you, Amy...more like disappointed, but that was cleared up as soon as Georgie told me about your dad. Have you talked to him yet?"

Amy answers while standing next to the horse and gently rubbing his neck. "I haven't spoken to him. I did call Jesse...didn't really talk to him though...he didn't answer, so I left a message telling him everything that was on my mind."

"That must have been a long message."

"Yeah, it kinda was. Anyway, I don't think I'll be hearing from him again."

"So, what about your dad?" Ty asks, as he walks over to her.

"I think grandpa took care of that for me. When he heard what happened, he went out to talk to him."

"Talk? I doubt it. I already know how those two sometimes settle things and talking has very little to do with it."

"I'm afraid you might be right. I'll talk to him myself though, once things settle down some."

Now standing next to Amy, he says, "Well, I guess I need to stand in line then, because I'd like to have a few words with him myself."

"So, I guess that means your not a fan anymore?" Amy replies, with a grin.

"Did he ever have any?"

Amy chuckles. "Not since his rodeo days, I guess."

"So, the horse...you got a bit on him."

"Yeah...He trusts me a lot more now, but it's strange...I don't think he has ever been saddled. I tried to and he just ran off."

"Yeah, well...not every horse can be broken in three hours over three days." Ty replies as he reaches out and pats the horse.

"Yeah...tell me about it. I wish I knew more about him though. It would help."

"I know you and how you think, Amy. So, I was ahead of you. I tried to find out a little more about him myself, but no luck."

"You think you know me, huh? How about we do this then...I'll tell you something you don't know and then you tell me something too."

"Okay, I'll play along. What is it?"

"Its about Chase."

Ty looks down for a moment and sighs. "Amy...I thought we were going to leave all that behind."

"I know, but there's something I really need to tell you. I'll keep it short...I promise."

"Well, I have to admit that I'm surprised you waited this long. I thought for sure you would have brought it up sooner than this. Go ahead then and tell me, so we can be done with it once and for all."

"I should have listened to you and never gotten involved with him again. I did like him, more than I should have, and that ruined everything. I didn't really know what I had and lost until you left. That's something I'm always going to regret."

"I have regrets too. Not that I left, but why I did. I did it for all the wrong reasons and I regret not letting everyone know I was okay except for Mrs. Bell."

"You let Mrs. Bell know you were okay?" She asks with surprise.

"No one told you yet?"

"No...no one said anything. So, you called her?"

"No...I started writing to her a few months after I left."

"Started? You wrote to her more than once?"

"Yeah, every few months, just to let her know how I was doing. To be perfectly honest, even though I told her not to say anything about it...Well, I guess I thought she would eventually let it slip at some point." Ty pauses briefly during which Amy thinks to herself, "That's must be why Mrs. Bell mentioned his name those times she did when she came by."

Ty continues, "So, I suppose that's telling you something you didn't know."

"No...that doesn't count, because you thought I knew already."

"Are you making up the rules again as we go?"

"No, I'm not. It just doesn't count."

"Okay then."

Standing there, seemingly in thought, Ty slowly reaches into his jacket pocket. With his hand in his pocket, he hesitates for a few moments. All the while, Amy wonders what he's about to say. After finally taking his cellphone out, Ty taps on the screen with his finger, scrolls, and taps again. "Here", he says as he hands his phone to Amy.

Looking at a picture of a woman, Amy comments and then asks, "She's very pretty...Who is she?"

"Her name is Sarah. She was my girlfriend in vet school."

Since first learning of Sarah, Amy had spent many nights wondering about her and what she looked like. The picture of her that Ty was showing looked nothing like she had imagined. It was the opposite. She had short wavy brown hair which barely reached down to her shoulders, brown eyes, and a lightly tan complexion.

Amy's shocked. She never imagined Ty would mention Sarah, let alone show her a picture of her. She thought he might say something about how he lived when he first arrived in Colorado or at most something about his dad.

Amy takes a moment trying to compose herself and thinks, "If he's showing me this picture then I suppose he's ready to talk about her...should I ask? I don't want it to seem like I'm prying, but I don't want it to seem like I don't care either." Having made up her mind she asks hesitantly, "Just a girlfriend?"

"No...more than that, but you know that already...don't you. T.J. told you didn't he?"

Amy let's out a long sigh and then answers as she hands the phone back to Ty, "Yes..he did. I guess you do know me better than I thought."

"I do and I know T.J. almost as well. When both of you tried to avoid telling me what you talked about that day, I had a pretty good idea that it included talking about her, even though T.J. denied it."

"I'm sorry Ty..."

Ty interrupts, "Don't worry about it. I suppose you were going to find out sooner or later anyway."

"I'm so sorry about what happened to her." Amy says, holding back her tears.

"I am too."

"You really loved her didn't you."

"I did and I assume you know about that too."

"I didn't mean to cause you to bring all this up. It was never my intention..."

Interrupting, Ty says, "I know, but just as you felt the need to talk about Chase, I needed to..."

Amy interrupts, "I understand...there are some things that weigh heavily on us and it does help to talk about it..."

...

Jack pulls up and walks into the house. As he's hanging up his hat and coat, Lisa asks, "So, did you talk to Tim?"

"Yeah and I did most of the talking. I doubt he'll be coming around for the foreseeable future. He better not or there will be hell to pay."

"It came to that?" Lisa asks.

"It did and he's lucky all I did was talk."

"C'mon now, Jack, it couldn't have been all that bad."

"The guy's a real piece of work. He even said he would fix it, but knowing him, he'll probably do something stupid and I don't want it spilling over to anything going on here."

"Speaking of what's going on here...I've been watching and those two, Ty and Amy, they've been talking for quite a while."

"I noticed them when I pulled up. So, they've been talking for a long time?...what do you suppose they're talking about?

"They have and I'm not sure." Lisa changes the subject, "You know...you were right about Amy coming to me for advice. We had a little talk about Sarah before Ty arrived. I suggested she not bring it up with him...to let him do it. I also told her that it's something that they'll eventually have to talk about though, because its like the elephant in the room. It can't be ignored forever and if anything is ever going to come of the relationship they have, it should be addressed at some point. She was concerned though since Scott is due back in about a week and worried that Ty may leave. As she put it...the clock is ticking and there's still a lot that they haven't talked about." Lisa pauses for a moment and then adds, "You know, maybe this thing with Tim and the horses might have given everything a little nudge."

"Maybe so, but that doesn't excuse what he did."

"I know that, but every dark cloud has a silver lining and this just might be that silver lining."

"You'll get no arguement from me. Tim is definately a dark cloud. Jack adds, "As far as Amy and Ty...they'll probably tiptoe around each other for awhile and then, if anything is to come of all this, they'll each figure it out for themselves."

...

While Ty walks along with Amy, as she brings the horse back to his stall, he asks, "I meant to ask you, have you thought of a name for him yet? I'm sure you've been thinking about one and I'm getting a little tired of referring to him as that abandoned horse."

"I have decided on one, actually."

"You're naming him Actually?

Amy assumes Ty's silly attempt at humor is meant to move away from the mostly somber conversation they just had, so she plays along. "No...that's not what I mean...actually, I have thought of a name."

"I suppose you're not ready to tell me yet, right? You know it'll probably help with his ego if you give him a name. Maybe he'll respond quicker."

"So, who's changing the rules now? I thought I wasn't suppose to name him until he was fixed?"

"Yeah...I guess I am changing the rules a bit, but wasn't it you who said that sometimes plans change? So, are you going to tell me?"

"Okay, but you have to promise to come by for dinner again, the last two didn't work out very well, but this time I can guarantee neither Jesse or my dad will be there...maybe you can stay and have dinner with us tonight. That way maybe you can keep Georgie from exaggerating too much about her day at the clinic."

Before Ty can answer, Amy's cellphone rings. She takes it from her pocket and looking at it she says to Ty, "It's Jesse."

"Go ahead and answer. I don't mind...I'll put whatever this horse's name is in his stall while you talk to him privately."

"That won't be necessary." Amy replies as she presses decline on her phone. A tap and then few scrolls with her thumb followed by another two taps and she says, "There...that should solve the problem. He's blocked." Putting the phone back in her pocket she asks, "So, about dinner?"

"I'll come for dinner, but it'll have to be another time. I told Caleb I would be by a little later."

"Okay, another time then and remember you promised."

"Yeah, I promised...so, what name have you decided to give him?"

"I'm gonna call him Chance."

"That sounds like a good name for a horse. What made you decide on that?"

"Hey...all you wanted to know was the name. You said nothing about explaining it."...

...

After Ty leaves, Amy walks into the house where she see's Lisa standing by the sink. Lisa has been anxiously waiting for her, wanting to know what she and Ty were talking about. Jack is sitting at the table. Lisa joins him as she asks, "So, I couldn't help noticing you two talking..."

Jack interrupts, "Lisa!"

"That's okay grandpa, I don't mind telling both of you."

As Amy takes a seat at the table, Lisa asks again, "Good...you two were talking for quite a long time...so?"

"We talked about Sarah mostly."

Both react with a look of surprise. Jack says nothing leaving Lisa to ask with concern, "I hope you weren't the one to bring it up."

"No, I wasnt...not directly. We were just talking and eventually one thing led to another, so I suggested we each tell something that the other didn't know. When it was Ty's turn, I thought he might say something about where he lived before taking that room behind the repair shop or at most something about his dad passing away. Instead he showed me a picture of Sarah he had on his phone. He said he suspected all along that T.J. had told me about her."

"I'm surprised he would do that." Jack comments.

"I was too. I never expected it. I felt bad thinking I had somehow forced him to mention her, but he said even if I didn't already know, I would have probably found out later anyway, so he thought it was better if I heard everything from him."

"And?" Lisa asks.

"And he spent some time telling me about her. I could tell it was hard for him...he struggled a bit. The rest is between us, although there's not much more to tell. I think he had given some thought to telling me before he did and decided it was something he felt he had to do...at least that's how it seemed to me."

"How do you feel?"

"I'm okay with it. I think we both feel relieved now that it's out in the open and I don't really see a reason to bring up again."

"What else did you two talk about?"

"He reminded me of something he told me earlier...that if I wanted to know something, I should just ask. I didn't want to bring up the money thing or his dad, so remembering what T.J. said about not knowing where Ty stayed before the repair shop, I..."

Lisa interrupts, "I'm sorry, honey..but what money thing?"

Jack answers for Amy, "She'll tell you in a moment. Let her finish first."

"Anyway...Ty told me that at first he didn't have a place to live so he either slept in his truck or a shelter. He got a job at that repair shop pretty quickly though and then the owner caught on to his situation. He took a liking to Ty for some reason and offered him that place to stay. He told Ty that he was cheaper than an alarm system and probably more dependable, since the place had been broken into a few times. In addition to working his normal hours, Ty would do extra work in the shop on his own time when he didn't have a lot of studying to do. He said that the owner appreciated it and that's probably why he let him live there for so long. He also said that the shop owner reminded him of you and from the way Ty described him, he did sound a lot like you, grandpa."

Lisa comments, "I guess they didn't break the mold after thay made you after all...did they, Jack?"

"Guess not...Well, I'm glad he was lucky enough to come across someone who was willing to take him under his wing."

Lisa adds, "I wouldn't say he's had a charmed life, far from it, but he does have a way of landing on his feet. Now, what's this about money?"...

Amy explains how she came to find out about Ty seeming to have a large sum of money in two banks.

"...That's not unusual when you have a large sum of money." Lisa comments and then continues, "I do the same with my savings accounts. It's a smart way of protecting your liquid assets in addition to investing in other financial instruments. Banks only insure savings up to a certain amount and if you have more than that amount then you have to spread it between several banks in the event the bank goes under. Since it sounds like that's what he's done then he must have quite a large sum of money. For someone his age though and from what we know, I can't see how he could possible have saved that much from just working in a repair shop. It seems impossible unless he had some kind of windfall."

"You're probably right. From everything we know, Ty's a pretty smart guy...actually, I think he's a bit smarter than he lets on. He also holds his cards close and only shows them when he feels it's necessary." Jack finishes the thought to himself, "That may be why he decided to bring up the subject of Sarah with Amy."

...

Ty knocks on Caleb's door and then steps back. Swinging it open, Caleb says, "Ty...right on time as usual."

"Hey, Caleb...C'mon, I'm taking you out to dinner."

Caleb grabs his hat from the trailer, saying, "Nothing fancy I hope."

"Don't worry...its not Mcdonalds'."

"Very funny...We're going to Maggie's, right?"

As they walk to Ty's truck, he answers and then asks, "You got it. Listen, you wouldn't still have Ashleys's cell number would you?"

Caleb stops. Surprised by the questions, he asks, "Why would you want that?"

"It's a long story...C'mon, I'll tell you about it on the way to dinner."

"And a few beers?"

"Sure."

Caleb continues walking to Ty's truck. "I think I still have it on my phone. She sends me a text about every blue moon wanting to know how I am. I never answer though. Listen, if she asks about me, don't tell her anything okay?"

"I'll have to tell her something, so how about I just tell her you're madly in love?"

"That's a better idea."

"I just won't tell her it's with your horse."...

During their conversation on the way to Maggie's, Ty tells Caleb about rescuing the horses.

"...You're kidding...Jesse actually did that?..and why didn't you just kick Wes' ass?"

"Yeah, he did and I have my reasons as far as Wes is concerned. Do me a favor and keep all this under your hat for a little while. Jesse is the kind of guy you have to be one step ahead of and I'm just catching up. That's why I need Ashley's number."

"You expect her to help you?"

"That's what I'm hoping. You remember what happened to her horse Apollo and Amy mentioned that Ashley and Jesse don't get along, so..."

...

To be continued...