Chapter 15

Feeling the effect of a late night out with Caleb, Ty walks into Maggie's for a cup of coffee. As he takes a seat at the counter, Lou walks over and says, "Wow...you look like something the cat dragged in. Have a rough night?"

"Yeah...I should have known Caleb's idea of a couple of beers isn't the same as mine. How about a large cup of coffee to go?"

"Sure, coming right up."

"You're here kinda early aren't you?" Ty asks as she's pouring his coffee.

"I'm short a waitress, so I'm filling in temporarily during the morning shift. I guess you're working today too?"

"It was suppose to be my day off, but Cassandra is out at the polo club for most of the day. So, I need to go in for a few hours and then I'm on call until she gets back."

"Here's your coffee...it's on the house. It's the least I can do since you rescued those horses yesterday."

"That was just a stroke of luck."

"Georgie said that you had to buy them back though. That had to cost a few bucks."

"It was a small price to pay. Thanks for the coffee, Lou."

As Ty gets up with his coffee in hand, Lou suggests, "You know, Amy told me she invited you for dinner again. Why not come by tonight?...Kind of a thank you for taking Georgie to work and saving those horses."

Ty hesitates answering, thinking..."I might as well. I did promise Amy another dinner and this will probably be the last one."

"Okay...I'll be there. The same time as last?"

"Yes...that'll be fine."

...

Before Ty leaves the clinic, he takes a seat in the office and calls a number he has on his cellphone. It's Ashley's cell number that Caleb had given him the night before.

"Hello, this is Ashley." A long forgotten voice answers.

"Ashley...this is Ty."

There's a momentary pause and then Ashley gasps, "Ty?...oh my god! Is Caleb alright?" She asks with panic in her voice.

"Caleb's fine..."

Before he can say anything else, she immediately asks, "Is it Amy then?"

"Calm down Ashley...everyone's fine except for maybe me."

"Oh no!...What's wrong!"

"It's nothing that some black coffee and a few aspirins won't cure...I have you're ex husband to blame for that."

"How is he?"

"Caleb is still Caleb...listen, I know you and Amy have talked and that's why I'm calling."

"You mean about you?...because if it is..."

Ty interrupts, "No...I don't care about that. It's about Jesse."...

After a few minutes into the conversation, Ashley says, "...actually, I shouldn't be surprised he would do something like that. My mother never should have put him in charge of Briar Ridge. So, how can I help?"...

...

Upon returning from her trail ride on Spartan, Amy catches Jack alone in the barn. "Grandpa, I have a question."

"Sure...what is it?"

"It's something Ty said to me yesterday, it's been kinda bothering me and I didn't want to ask you until we were alone. He told me about him writing to Mrs. Bell and he assumed that someone had already told me. Did you know he had been writing to her?"

"Yeah...I did, but not until Mrs. Bell told me after he was already here. It was why I went to the clinic that day...the day he ended up telling me about Sarah. I intially went there to chew him out about writing to her and no one else."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I suppose I should have, but there were other things going on and I didn't think it was that important."

"I'm grown up, grandpa. I could have handled that too. I thought he had given up caring about any of us, especially after he had met Sarah, and that he completely cut ties with everyone around here."

"I thought so too, but I guess there's something about this place...maybe it's partly the reason's he's back. I doubt you'll ever get him to admit it though. He probably won't even admit it to himself. He can be as stubborn as you sometimes."

"Not too stubborn to decide to stay I hope."

"Ty may not realize it yet, but since coming back he's reestablishing some roots here. There are a lot of things, like the dinners, letting you work with that horse, taking Georgie to the clinic, rescuing those horses, and then the conversations you two have been having...especially yesterday...that...well, when the time comes, it just might tip the scale."

"I hope so, but some of those things weren't under the best of circumstances."

"The last thing I want to do is get your hopes up. Nevertheless, they do lend to reestablishing old ties and even if he does decide to go, I'm sure it won't be the last we see or hear from him. The first day he came by, he said without hesitation that he would stay in touch from now on.

As a matter of fact, on that day he returned, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he hesitated before turning down the road to the ranch. I know I probably would have. Something made him continue on and I imagine that as he drove closer he felt a reconnection, even before seeing any of us."

"You think you two are a lot alike, don't you?"

Jack grins slightly and replies, "Maybe a little." Changing the subject, so Amy doesn't dwell on the possibility of Ty leaving, Jack asks, "Now, how about Jesse...What are you going to do about him?"

"Tell me about dad first. I assume you talked to him, so what happened?"

"You know your dad, he came up with a bunch of excuses and then said he would fix it. If you're waiting for him to show up so you can talk to him, I wouldn't count on it. He knows he really screwed up."

"All you did was talk?"

"Yelled is more like it. So, Jesse...What about him?"

"I left him a message giving him a piece of my mind. He definately knows now that I would never work for him under any circumstances. He tried calling me back later, but I didn't answer and blocked his number. I doubt I'll be hearing from him again anytime soon...not that I would ever want too."

"Did Ty say anything about him?"

"Hardly anything, which I thought was a little strange. I hope he lets it go."

"I wouldn't worry about him doing anything stupid...your dad though? That's a different story."

Amy replies worriedly, "Yeah, I know."...

...

Tim walks into the stable at Briar Ridge while Jesse is talking to one of his employees. He waits impatiently until the employee walks away. As Tim then approaches Jesse, he says, "Why haven't you answered any of my calls? We need to talk."

Obviously annoyed by Tim's unexpected appearance, Jesse replies, "For the same reason Amy hasn't returned any of mine and there's nothing to talk about now anyway."

Tim asks angrily, ""What were you thinking getting rid of those horses like that? It was a mistake, right?"

"I had nothing to do with it. That was a stable hand and I fired him. The only mistake was believing you could convince Amy to come work here. We had a deal and you didn't hold up your end of it, so it's off."

In somewhat of a panic, Tim pleads, "No!...I think we can still fix this."

Irritated by Tim's persistence, Jesse replies, "Not now and I'm not going to waste my time trying. I'll still get what I want though...maybe even sooner."

Now confused, he asks, "What are you talking about?"...

Jesse begins to explain, eventually insulting Tim by calling him an easy mark. Tim becomes embroiled in anger as he learns he was unwittingly duped into assisting Jesse with his plan to acquire both Heartland and Big River.

...

A few hours before Ty is to go to Hearland for dinner, his cellphone rings. "Hey, Caleb...what's up?"

"You'll never guess who I just got a call from asking me to bail him out of jail."

"I give up..who?"

"Tim!...apparently he punched the crap out of Jesse and then Jesse had him arrested."

"Why did he call you instead if Jack?...never mind, I know why. Listen, if you're going down there to bail him out, let me do it instead."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah...I am. I have a few words I want to have with him and this would be the perfect opportunity."

"Okay, but didn't you just pay out a bunch of cash for those horses?"

"Don't worry about it...I have it covered."

...

At the police station, before bailing Tim out of jail, Ty speaks with him. "...So, if you want to get out of here, you have to tell me exactly everything that happened. Think of it this way...it's better to practice on me first before telling Jack and the rest of the family."

Reluctantly, Tim tells Ty everything that preceded him beating up Jesse.

"...So, let me get this straight. All this was because the bank turned down extending your operating loan and Jesse was willing to help you out in exchange for you convincing Amy to work at Briar Ridge. Why didn't you just go to Jack?"

"I made some investments that didn't pan out and I didn't want to have to listen to Jack's crap about it."

"So, instead you used Amy as a pawn to solve your financial problems?"

"It wasn't like that!"

"Okay, let's try that again. You pressured Amy to take that job so Jesse would give you a loan...right?"

"Alright, maybe I did apply a little bit of pressure, but the way Jesse described the offer...it did sound like a very good deal for her. She needed the work and the money."

"He did make it sound like a good deal if that's what she wanted to do, but it wasn't and you knew that didn't you?...so it was more of a good deal for you, right?"

"It benefited both of us."

"But the fact is, you had a stake in her going to work for Jesse, right?"

"Okay, I get your point."

"How did Jesse know you were in trouble with the bank?"

"I ran into him as I was coming out of the bank the day I was turned down. We got to talking about how the economy was hurting both of our businesses and that's when he suggested we help each other out."...

Ty bails Tim out of jail and while walking to Ty's truck, he asks Tim, "I guess it feels pretty good getting out of there."

"Yeah..it does."...

Ty thinks, "C'mon now keep your cool...don't do it... Ah, the hell with it!"

Picking himself up off the ground, Tim complains, "What the hell was that for?"

"Do I really have to explain it?...or do I need to knock you on your ass again?"

"Alright, I get it. A little warning though would have been nice."

"So you could swing back? Both of us would have ended up in jail...that would have been just perfect wouldn't it? Caleb would have loved getting that call and then we'd both have a lot of explaining to do."

Rubbing his jaw, Tim replies, "Yeah, you're right. I suppose I did deserved that."

"Damn right you did!"

Still rubbing his jaw, Tim says, "Nice right hook by the way. I'm not crazy about how you make your point though. So now, how about taking me back to Big River?"

"I have a stop to make first. I'm suppose to be at Heartland for dinner and you're coming with me."...

...

Pulling up to the house, they see Jack sitting on the porch and Tim says, "This ought to be good."

"Don't worry about it. I'll talk to Jack...you have to deal with Amy. Remember what we talked about. You have to be straight with her. Tell her what you did, otherwise you'll just make things worse."

"I think I'd rather deal with Jack." Tim replies as he gets out of the truck.

Seeing who Ty has with him, Jack stands up and says, "What are you doing here, Tim! Didn't I tell you..."

Ty interrupts, "That's my fault Jack...I insisted he come with me. I know I probably overstepped my bounds, but he needs to talk to Amy."

"What's this all about?"

"Have a seat and I'll explain it." Ty replies as Tim avoids eye contact with Jack and walks into the house.

Ty begins to relate to Jack what he was told by Tim. "...Once Tim learned how he had been used by Jesse, he punched him out and ended up in jail."

"So, Jesse's plan all along was to get his hands on both Heartland and Big River?"

"Yeah...Jesse believed that after Amy had come to work with him at Briar Ridge, eventually they would marry. Then he would take over running Heartland after you passed away. By then his plan was to have put himself in a position to push Lou out and Heartland would become part of Briar Ridge. After that he was going to go after Big River as well."

"He thought Amy would go along with all that?"

"That's Jesse for you...He's a real piece of work with an exceptionally high opinion of himself."

"No kidding, but you're putting it too nicely. I can easily think of quite a few other words to describe him. The guy must think he lives in fantasyland. I know Amy only thought of him as a friend, but not a close one and there's no way in hell she would ever consider marrying him, let alone anyone remotely like him."

"According to what Jesse told Tim, just in case that didn't happen, that's why he wanted her to go in business with him in the expansion of Briar Ridge. In the event they didn't marry, he would have had Amy so deeply in debt that she would have been bankrupt. Then, because of that, he would be able to acquire at least a piece of Heartland and maybe a part of Big River too. Since none of that is going to happen, Jesse is now counting on Big River going into foreclosure and waiting to swoop in and buy it."

"And he thought I would let that happen?"

"My guess is that Jesse doesn't think you will believe anything Tim says and once you found out what Tim did, there was no way you would help him out with the bank. There's one more thing too...Apparently Jesse also said that once he has Big River, he'll have Heartland boxed in, he'll put Amy out of business, and squeeze you until you're willing to sell."

"Jesse sounds a lot like his father. Long before you first got here, his father loaned a lot of money to ranchers on the edge of town who were in trouble with the bank. After time, he called in the loans. When they couldn't pay, he seized their property, subdivided, and sold off the land to developers. So, with that and everything he said about Amy, I can see why Tim lost it."

After pausing for a moment, Jack continues, "As much as it pains me to do it, I'll deal with the bank for Tim. He should have come to me first though and he could have avoided all this, along with that bruise on his jaw. Normally I would have thought he got it from Jesse, but since I noticed your knuckles look bruised..." Jack pauses for a moment and then asks, "Weren't you the one who said words were a powerful weapon?"

Knowing he can't ignore Jack's observation and not wanting to lie to him, Ty replies, "Yeah, I suppose I did, but sometimes you have to emphasized your point with the appropriate punctuation."

"With Tim that's pretty much a given. I was planning to emphasize my own point, but you already did it for me."

"Mind if you keep that between us? I don't think Tim will say anything about it and I'd rather not have Amy know I did it. As a matter of fact, I kinda regret it now."

"I get that and your right, I don't think Tim will say anything. He's too proud to let anyone know he let you get away with something like that, so Amy will probably think he took one on the chin from Jesse." With a grin, Jack adds, "If she notices though, I suggest you tell her that you and Caled got into a bar fight...she'll likely believe that."

"And ruin my reputation?" Ty responds, adding jokingly, "I'll just tell her that it was bruised by an ass."

Amy comes out on the porch telling them both that dinner is ready, adding, "Grandpa, can I have a moment alone with Ty? We'll only be a moment...and don't bother giving dad any grief, he's feeling pretty bad right now."

"I imagine so...I'll wait to have a talk with him." Jack replies as he walks into the house.

"Hey Ty, I'm sorry you got involved in all this and I want to thank you for bailing dad out of jail. Grandpa would have let him sit there cooling his heels until who knows when. Thanks for bringing him with you too. He told me you insisted he come and tell me everything."

"No problem...I just figured the sooner he came clean with what happened then the better it would be for everyone."

Amy let's out a faint sigh and says, "Well, I guess it's going to be another one of those dinners with dad."

"Yeah, but I don't think he'll be saying much."

"I guess you're right. I think his jaw still hurts from getting hit by Jesse."

Ty tries to hide his grin as he follows Amy into the house...

...

To be continued...