Chapter 16

After dinner Ty takes a few minutes alone to see Harley. Jack walks into the barn and hears Ty ask of his horse, "What do you think?"

Clearing his throat to let Ty know he's there. Jack walks over to him and says, "A man and his horse...that's a bond not easily broken."

Glancing over his shoulder at him, Ty replies, "I'm not so sure, Jack. It's been a long time and he's not my horse anymore."

"You're wrong about that. He'll always be your horse and a friend who'll just listen. That's the great thing about a horse...you can tell them anything and they won't judge...they just listen." Pausing for a moment while watching Ty rubbing Harley's neck, Jack continues. "You haven't ridden him since you got back. Maybe you should think about saddling him up and going out for a ride some day before you go. I'm sure he'd like that and there's nothing like sitting on the back of a horse to put everything in perspective. Especially if you have something on your mind."

"Quite a bit actually and I have been kinda ignoring him. I think we'd both like a trail ride...maybe in a few days."

Turning his attention back to Harley, Ty asks, "How about that? Would you like go for a ride with me?"

Harley bobs his head as if answering yes, causing Jack to laugh. "See...he agrees."

"It's a plan then. Well go on a ride...just you and me." He replies with a grin.

"Listen, the reason I came out here is to let you know that Tim is ready to head back to Big River. I think it would be a good idea for you to give him a ride instead of me. I've said just about all I want to say to him tonight and I don't think the two of us alone in my truck is a very good idea right now. I would be too tempted to take a shovel along with us."...

...

It's a quiet drive to Big River. Quiet until Ty pulls up to the house where, before Tim exits the truck, he says to him, "Hey, I'm sorry about earlier."

"Don't worry about it...like I said before, I deserved it. Besides, I've been punched harder."

Ty thinks, "I don't doubt it." as Tim continues, "If I'm mad at anyone, it's at myself for involving Amy in my problem and letting Jesse get under my skin."

"Since you brough it up, I was thinking for most of the evening about what Jesse told you. Some of the things he said don't make sense to me."

"What are you talking about?"

Ty explains, "I don't think Jesse has the patience to wait to do some of those things. A lot of it was probably nothing but crap he made up just to provoke you."

"If you're trying to making me feel better it's not working. First Jesse calls me an easy mark and now you're telling me that I let him bait me into assaulting him?"

"Yeah...I think so. Listen...I don't doubt for a moment that Jesse has a thing for Amy, but I'm sure he's more interested in getting his hands on Big River and part of Heartland. I think his plan all along was to get Amy to go in with him as a partner so she would be in debt to him and, if need be, he would bankrupt her. I think he was counting on using that as leverage to get what he wanted. Since that's not going to happen now..." Ty pauses for a moment in thought before continuing, "Let me ask you this...have you ever had a problem before with renegotiating your loan at the bank?"

"No...this was the first time. Why?"

"No reason...just curious. One more question...When you punched him out, did he fight back?"

"He did at first, but he stopped shortly before I was pulled off of him. What are you getting at?"

"I'm not quite sure yet. One thing I am pretty sure of is that Jesse isn't going to give up...at least not yet."

"Well, he better, otherwise..."

Ty interrupts, "You're in enough trouble already. Jesse has made one mistake and if he's doing what I suspect he is, it won't take much longer before all the pieces come together."

"What mistake was that?"

"Actually it was two mistakes, one was getting on my bad side."

"What do you mean, pieces coming together?"

"I think there's more going on behind his desire to get his hands on the land he wants. There are still some pieces missing and hopefully there will be enough time to put it all together. Until then, try not to do anything else stupid and stay away from Jesse."

Tim opens the truck door and steps one foot out. He stops and turns to Ty, saying, "That's almost exactly what Jack said to me. You know, the last thing I need around here is another Jack, so it's a good thing you're going to Vancouver otherwise we'd probably butt heads again and I wouldn't let you off as easy as I did this time."

As Tim slides out of the truck, Ty replies, "Hey, Tim...I'm not another Jack, but..."

Looking back at Ty, Tim asks, "But, what?"

"Never mind."...

Ty watches as Tim walks from the truck into the house. He continues to sit there staring out the windshield at nothing in particular as his mind wanders.

...

It's mid morning a few days later when Ty arrives at Heartland. Finding Jack in the barn, they have a short conversation ending with Jack suggesting, "While you're out on your ride, do me a favor and think about something for me. It's the last piece of advice I'm going to give you."

Ty thinks, "I doubt that." And then asks, "Okay Jack, what is it?"

"You can't avoid all the pain in your life, so don't use it as an excuse to stop living it."

"You're the second person who's told me that and in almost the same words."

"There's someone else out there who thinks like me?"

"Actually there is. It was Frank...the owner of the shop where I worked while I was in school."

"Obviously a very smart man." Jack replies with a grin.

"Yeah...a bit like you in that he doesn't like to give a lot of advice either." Ty replies with a smile.

Ty saddles Harley and rides off. After about an hour, Amy returns from shopping in town with Georgie and Katie in tow. She decides to spend some time working with Chance when she notices that Harley isn't in his stall. After learning that Ty had taken him for a ride, she brings Chance into the round pen along with a saddle.

Georgie comes out of the house to watch and asks, "So, you're going to try to saddle him again?"

"That's the plan. He trusts me enough to let me ride him bare back and he doesn't seem to mind, so I'm going to give it another try. I might be pushing it a little, but we'll see."

Taking a moment to gently rub his neck and talk to him, she says, "Alright Chance, how about we do this together. I trust you, so you need to trust me, okay?"

Within a few minutes, Amy has Chance saddled. "See...that wasn't bad was it." She says to him as she rubs his forehead. "Now I'm going to get on, so behave yourself and don't throw me, okay?"

Amy cautiously mounts him and then begins to ride slowly around the pen. Chance is cooperating, so she leans forward and rubs his neck gently and asks, "I'll bet you'd like to go for a ride out there wouldn't you?"

In response, Chance rears up a little. "Whoa Chance! C'mon settle down."

She rides Chance around the pen a few more times and then over to the gate where she asks Georgie to open it for her.

"Amy, are you sure this is a good idea?" Georgie asks.

"He'll do fine, I'm sure. He's settled down now and actually I think he's a bit anxious to get out of this pen."

"How about I go with you...you know, just in case?"

"We'll be fine, besides I'm not going far."

Following the fence line, Amy rides over the hill above the ranch and down to the north field. It's there she sees Ty sitting on Harley not too far off in the distance. He's stopped and it looks to her like he's talking on his phone.

"C'mon Chance, let's catch up to him."

Taking a gamble that he'll cooperate, she breaks Chance into a gallop while at the same time calling out to Ty.

Hearing Amy's voice, Ty puts his cellphone in his pocket and looks back. Waiting for her, he's surprised by the sight of her riding Chance. He thinks, "I'll be damn! She did it. I didn't think she had gotten that far with him."

Amy stops alongside of Ty. "You didn't say anything last night, so I guess this is the first time you've been able to put a saddle on him."

"It is. It was a little risky pushing it, but I think I know now what the problem was all along."

"And that was?"

"I don't think he likes being cooped up in a stall or pen. I was worried how he might respond as soon as I took him out of the paddock, but he seems to be much more responsive than I thought he would be. He still needs some work though. I think from now on I'm going to keep him in the field as much as possible.

"So, you finally figured him out?"

"Yeah, I guess I did. I've seen other horses like that. The more confined they feel then they become restless and display behavioral problems. It's kinda like they're protesting. Georgie's horse Phoenix was like that in a way."

"Don't sell yourself short, Amy. Before you got this far, you still had to gain his trust in order to get that saddle on him."

"Yeah, I suppose I did."

"And then you took a chance bringing him out here."

"Okay, I was afraid you might say that...that's why I avoided saying it."

"Saying what?...that Chance gave you a chance to prove that you could fix him."

"Alright...that's enough of that!"

"Okay, but I think chances are...and I think Chance would agree, that you can do this again if given a chance."

"Ty..stop it! You're going to make me sorry I ever gave him that name. If you keep it up I'm going to change it."

"Too late for that. I think he likes it and so do I."

To avoid anymore of Ty's nonsense, Amy changes the subject. "I noticed you were on your phone before I rode up. Do you have to go in to work now?"

"No...it was just a call I've been waiting for."

"From Scott? I know he's suppose to be back pretty soon."

"He is, but..." Ty stops himself, wondering if he should tell her who he was speaking to. Deciding it's time to let her know what he believes Jesse is doing, he says, "Listen Amy, before you start asking anymore questions...it was a call from Ashley."

With surprise, Amy asks, "Ashley?...How did she know you're number? Why did she call?"

"C'mon...let's head back and I'll tell you on the way."...

Arriving at the ranch, they see Lou and Lisa standing on the porch watching Jack as he drives away.

"I don't like the way this looks." Ty says in a worried tone.

"I wonder what's going on?"

"I think we should find out before taking care of the horses."

"I'll get Georgie to do it for us."...

...

With the four of them gathered together in the kitchen, Lou explains, "Grandpa went over to Big River to talk to dad and make sure he's doesn't do anything rash. Apparently formal charges have been filed and dad said that if he has to go to jail then he's going to make sure it's worth it. I'm worried and so is grandpa."

Ty asks, "Did Jack go to the bank yet to deal with Tim's loan?"

"Yeah, he did...yesterday morning. He was moaning about it all evening. Why?" Replies Lou.

"I'll explain in a moment. I'm sure Jack can handle Tim for now, but something needs to done about Jesse and quickly...and I think I know how."

"What are you talking about? What can be done?" Lou asks.

"Lisa, how do you feel about expanding Fairfield to accommodate the boarding, training, and the rehabilitation of horses with Amy as your partner and head trainer?"

Lisa, Lou, and Amy look at Ty wondering what he's talking about. Lisa asks, "How is that suppose to help?"

"I already explained to Amy some of what I believe Jesse is up to. I don't know it all, but I think I know enough now to safely assume the rest. Once I explain everything then you'll need Val's phone number, Lisa."

"Val's phone number? Shouldn't it be Jack who talks to her? Val and I aren't all that friendly and if anyone should talk to her about getting Jesse to drop the charges then shouldn't it be him?"

"No...It has to be someone whom she isn't as close to as Jack and someone as wealthy as her. You'll understand once I explain everything. Also, its not enough to just get the charges dropped."...

After Ty reveals what he knows along with what he suspects, he explains his plan.

Lou asks, "Do you really think Val will fly up here from Florida to meet with Lisa?"

"She's not in Florida. She's visiting with Ashley in Vancouver. It's only a little over an hour flight and once she hears what Lisa is going to tell her, I'm sure she won't waste any time getting here." He replies.

Ty turns his attention to Lisa. "Lisa, its important you don't mention Ashley's involvement in any of this to Val."

Amy asks, "Do you really think this will work?"

Before Ty can answer, Lisa replies, "I've spent a good part of my life around people like her and when it come to money and reputation...believe me, it'll work."

"That's what I'm counting on, but everyone has to play their part backing up everything Lisa says should Val ask. Lou, you and Amy have to make sure that Tim and Jack don't get wind of what's going on until at least after Lisa meets with Val. Lisa, this is your show, so do you think you're up to it?"

"Definately! I can't wait to see the look on her face!"

"Okay, then we need to do this as soon as possible. I'm going to call Ashley and let her know what's going on, so she can set the ground work with Val."

After Ty calls Ashley, Lisa asks him if she can talk to him privately. Having made sure no one can overhear, Ty asks, "Okay, what do you want to talk about? Do you have a suggestion, because I think..."

Lisa interrupts, "No, nothing like that...I think it's an excellent plan. I'm impressed with how you've been able to put all these things together, but given that...how is it you haven't yet figured out that Amy still loves you?"

Surprised by Lisa's inquiry, Ty hesitates responding while quickly formulating an answer in hope of avoiding another such question. He then replies, "I can understand why you might think I haven't."...

...

To be continued...