The next morning Amy is at Maggie's eating breakfast when Jack arrives.
"Amy, you are on time." Jack says this with a hint of surprise in his voice. Amy raises an eyebrow at that. "Sorry, it's just that Caleb, the other ranch-hand, is hardly ever on time."
"Well got to make a good first impression right?" Amy says nervously. "Now is this okay to wear to a ranch or do I need to change into something different."
Jack looks over Amy who is wearing jeans a plaid button-up shirt and boots. "No, what you're wearing is perfect for a ranch. Are you ready to go?"
Amy nods and pays for her breakfast before following Jack to his truck.
They are driving when Amy turns to look at Jack, "So what can I expect in this job?"
"You'll have to learn to be around horses, you have to muck out their stalls and give them food and water. Everything else you can learn from either Ty or Caleb."
"Ty?"
"He was my old ranch-hand when he decided to become a vet and now he just visits and helps out when Caleb is not around."
Amy nods before looking out the window, "This place is amazing, Vancouver is nothing compared to this place."
"I completely agree with you which is why I hardly leave to go anywhere." Jack smiles at that.
"Is there any way that I could learn to ride a horse? It sounds really interesting." Amy asks Jack.
He chuckles before nodding his head. "Sure, we'll get you some help. It will most likely be from Mallory."
"Who is Mallory."
"She is a super talkative kid who is our unofficial riding teacher."
"Gotcha." Amy nods as Jack pulls into the Heartland road and Amy looks around amazed at what it looks like.
They reach the end of the driveway where Lou is waiting on the porch with Mallory. Jack and Amy exit the truck and walk over to Lou.
"You remember Lou and this is Mallory, Mallory this is Amy."
Mallory shakes Amy's hand still suspicious of her.
"Hi, Mallory. You are the one who is going to teach me to ride a horse right?"
"Yes is that a problem."
"Nope. I mean you know more than me right?"
Mallory is starting to like Amy and smiles at her. Lou is still uncomfortable with this idea, but doesn't say anything.
"Alright let's go check where you will be living."
"I get to live here?!" Amy asks amazed as they leave for the barn.
Jack chuckles, "Yes, but it is not as glamorous as you may think because you will be living in the loft above the barn."
"Hey anywhere beats that hotel I am in right now."
They arrive at the barn and see Caleb throwing hay into the stalls. "Caleb this is Amy, Amy this is Caleb."
Amy waves to Caleb and e waves back before she follows Jack up the stairs and into the loft. She looks around excitedly. "This is great!" She stops right in front of Jack before asking, "Can I hug you?" Jack chuckles before nodding his head. She rushes into his arms saying thank you over and over.
"Alright enough of that. Now, I will show you the ropes and we all eat dinner together inside so that is something you will have to get used to." Jack says.
They get started with showing her how to muck the stalls and all the other things that a ranch-hand needs to learn.
"After you learn to ride, there will be even more responsibility for you, but until then this will have to do." Amy is nodding along to all of this.
"Then I will leave you to it and later you will eat dinner with us and meet Ty." Jack says before leaving, allowing Amy to start working.
Caleb comes up to her, "I'm Caleb the rodeo cowboy."
"I know."
"Really? How?"
"Jack told me."
"Oh."
Amy smiles at him before she starts to work again. Caleb stands there for a few seconds before walking away after some awkward seconds.
It is dinner time and Amy comes through the door wondering how this will work. She gets inside to see the kitchen and the dining area in the room on the other side. She steps into the kitchen, "Can I help with anything?" Lou looks up from where she is still cooking something. "No, that is okay, just go into that room and have a look around." Amy smiles at her before doing just that.
She is looking around at the fireplace and the living room. She finds some pictures and looks at those. She finds a picture of a young woman with a horse smiling. Jack speaks up from behind her, "That was my daughter Marion." Amy jumps and puts the photo back down, "I'm sorry Jack, I didn't mean to pry."
"It's okay, you didn't know." Jack responds. Lou yells that dinner is ready just as the door opens again and Ty comes through. "Hey Lou."
"Ty, you were almost late again." Lou scolds as she takes the food to the table and Ty follows her. He stops for a second when he sees Amy, but continues into the room and sits down. Jack introduces them to each other. They shake hands before sitting down and getting ready for dinner.
"So, Amy, where are you from." Lou asks.
"I don't know where I am originally from, but I was raised in Vancouver before I decided on a change of scenery and landed here."
"What do you mean that you don't know where you are from originally?" Mallory asks.
Amy shifts in her seat for a minute. "Uh- I never knew my birth parents, I was raised in the foster system until a nice family took me in and adopted me."
There was silence for a minute before they moved on to talk about other things.
"So, Jack what time do I have to wake up tomorrow before work."
"It will be early like 6 maybe."
"Alright then."
There was dessert before Amy decided to ask Ty about himself.
"So Ty I hear you are in vet school."
Ty nodded his head. "What made you decide on that kind of career?"
"When I got here, I knew next to nothing about horses or other animals, but Scott Cardinal, the vet here, made it interesting and I thought it was the right move for me."
Amy nods and smiles at that. "That's great, not many people know where they want to end up."
They smile at each other before Amy clears her throat and gets up. "I'll just take my dishes to the sink before I go to bed." Lou and Jack smile at her before agreeing with that.
Amy retires to her room in the loft after doing night checks, before she goes to the window area and sees Ty get in his truck and leave. She closes the door and flops onto her bed with a sigh. She shakes her head, 'stay away from the cute vet student' before she gets up and gets ready for bed.
Let me know if there are any ideas for the first horse that Amy has a connection to either Spartan or some other horse before she meets Spartan.