It was dinner the next time Ty and Amy saw each other. Amy comes into the house after finishing her chores. Lou looks over at her, "Hey your just in time for dinner." Amy smiles at her, "Great."
They all sit down and start to eat, Ty looks over at Jack, "Hey Jack did Amy have the chance to tell you about her run in with Val Stanton." Everyone looks at Amy before looking at Jack. Jack asks Amy what exactly happened. She tells them what Val said and how she said it. Lou shakes her head, "Don't let Val get to you, she is a stubborn lady." Amy smirked at that.
Amy gets into bed and continues to read through the journal. She finishes it and goes to sleep. When she wakes up she creeps down the steps and goes into the office, she replaces the journal and takes another one. She hears someone coming so she runs back upstairs and hides the journal.
When she gets back downstairs, she finds someone looking at the schedule and Prince, "Hey!"
The guy is startled and quickly looks at Amy in confusion, "Where did you come from?"
Amy raises an eyebrow, "Upstairs…" She told him in an obviously tone of voice. He looks annoyed, but amused. "Now who are you?" Amy just stares at him causing him to become fidgety. Jack chooses that moment to walk in and see that there is a staring contest going on. He sighs, "Tim what are you doing in here."
"I am looking at the schedule to see how this ranch is doing, and I also wanted to see this horse that is causing a lot of fuss around town." He gestures to Prince. "Now who is this young woman and why is she living in the loft."
Jack nods at Amy to go get ready for today, she heads back upstairs, "That is Amy, she has just moved here so I hired her as my new ranch-hand."
Tim looks at Jack in disbelief, "Really, some stranger?"
Jack shrugs, "She needed a job and she has worked out really well, plus she is the only one that has been able to get close to this guy." He points to Prince.
"Really? Well what's her story?"
Amy comes back down, "I was a foster kid and I lived in Vancouver. I wanted a change in scenery and came here. I ran into Jack a few times at the diner and he gave me a job and I have been learning to ride from Mallory. Anything else?" Amy waits for Tim to answer, when she glances at Jack she sees that he is smiling and trying not to laugh.
"Not right now." Tim says. Amy nods before going about her chores.
Jack and Tim head to the house. Lou is making breakfast when she hears her dad, "She seems okay for now, but she is hiding something."
"Oh, you just don't like her because she stood up to you confidently."
"Don't be ridiculous Jack!"
"Dad!" Lou goes and hugs him. "Who are you talking about?"
"Tim has just met Amy."
"Yeah, I don't know if I trust her or like her."
"Give it a rest Tim." Lou nods, "Yeah dad, leave Amy be she is a good person."
Tim gives up. Ty walks into the room and eats a small breakfast, "Gotta go, I have an exam." He is out the door before anyone can answer. He starts the truck and slowly goes towards the round pen and sees Amy bringing Prince into it. "Hey Amy, what's your plan today." Amy explains her plans while Jack opens the door to head towards the barn. He notices that Ty has stopped and is talking to Amy, he shakes his head before deciding to ignore it.
Ty listens closely to the plan, "Sounds good, well I have an exam so I will see you later."
"Okay, good luck on your exam." She smiles at him before waving goodbye. She jumps into the pen with Prince and is doing a join-up with him. Jack comes over, "Amy have you finished your chores?"
"Yes, I decided that I would work some more with Prince before I work with some of the other horses." Jack nods his head and lets her be.
Amy goes around with Prince a few times before turning around and letting him come to her. She laughs at him, "Good boy." She shows him the blanket and lets him sniff it then she rubs it on both sides of his body to get him used to it. She is able to get it on him. "Good boy." She whispers soothingly.
Jack looks over from what he is doing and notices that Amy is getting him used to the equipment separately. He feels a sense of familiarity, but can't remember where it is coming from.
Amy leads Prince over to the saddle and lets him sniff it. He doesn't seem to be afraid of it, but she is still going to be cautious. She lifts the saddle off the fence and goes towards him, she whispers soothing words while putting it on him. He stands there patiently and lets her put it on, "Good boy, very good boy."
Jack finishes bailing the hay and looks over and sees that Amy was able to get the saddle on him. He goes over to the pen, "Well I'll be, you did it." Amy smiles at him, "Yeah, I was thinking I would just leave it at this for now before I try to get up on him." Jack nods, "That seems like a smart move, wouldn't want him to dump you and have to start from scratch." Amy nods and then untacks Prince. She finishes with him and then goes to work with the other horses. She works with Copper, Pegasus, and Harley.
She is used to Copper so she finishes with him quickly. She knows that Pegasus is old and probably shouldn't be ridden without permission, so she just connects a rope to him and takes him out to the grassy area for a walk. Jack sees Tim pull up and walks over to him. "What are you doing here Tim?"
"I can't just come over to see my daughter?" Tim asks, Jack just looks at him. Tim sighs, "Fine I wanted to know more about Amy so I came by to ask questions." Jack just hums, "She is working with the horses."
Tim nods, "Prince?" Jack shakes his head, "No she just finished with him though. She was able to put him in the saddle today." Tim raises his eyebrows before looking around to see if he can find her. He notices that she is walking a horse, he looks closer and notices that it was Pegasus. He looks to Jack, "What is she doing with Pegasus, Jack!?" Jack looks over at Amy, "She is just exercising him."
Tim shakes his head, he notices that Amy is heading back to the barn. He starts heading over to her at an angry pace, Jack sighs before following Tim. Amy is putting Pegasus back in his stall and was getting him food when Tim comes bursting in with Jack following him, "What do you think you're doing?!" Amy looks at him in confusion, "My job?"
"I meant with Pegasus."
"I was exercising him, as part of my JOB." Jack sighs.
"Why?"
"First of all because he is on the schedule that I follow, second I am doing him a favor because he is stuck inside the stall all the time and I may as well exercise him now than in winter when it is colder."
Jack looks over at Tim, "She's right and she wasn't riding him, so what is the problem?"
"Pegasus is my horse, that's the problem."
"Tim she wasn't doing anything wrong and it's not like you are going to take time out of your day to walk your horse everyday." Tim just shakes his head, "I will be inside talking to Lou."
Amy watches as Tim stomps towards the house, she turns to Jack, "I'm sorry if I am causing trouble, but I didn't ride him, I thought I would get permission or see if he could be ridden at all."
Jack smiles at her, "It's okay Amy. He is just upset, that was his horse, but he had an accident and couldn't ride for a while so he gave him to Marion."
Amy nods, "Sorry, I will try to be more respectful with Pegasus, but I think it does him some good to get some fresh air and exercise." Jack nods agreeing with her, "Come on, let's go inside and get something for lunch before the rest of your chores." Amy smiles and follows him.
As they get closer they hear Tim ranting about Pegasus and Amy. Amy looks at Jack, "I'm not sure I should be here while he is still angry."
"Nonsense, you have to eat. Can't have you starving while working with the horses."
"Alright."
They head inside and see that Lou is rolling her eyes at Tim while is talking. Amy clears her throat. Tim and Lou look over and see Jack and Amy standing there. Jack motions to him and Amy, "We are just getting some lunch." Lou smiles at them before getting out of the way, Tim huffs, but lets them get their food. Amy looks over at Tim before looking back at her sandwich.
"Jack I have a question for you given how HE reacted." Amy says while looking at Tim. Jack motions for her to go ahead. "The last horse that I have to exercise today is Harley and I wanted to make sure that Ty isn't going to react that way when he finds out that exercised his horse." Jack smiles.
"No, Ty knows that he doesn't have the time to do it so, it should be okay with him."
"Great."
Tim sighs at that. Lou glares at him. Amy finishes her sandwich and mentions that she will see them later tonight at dinner. When she leaves both Lou and Jack stare at Tim. Tim looks at them, "What?"
"Dad, you were pretty harsh, just because she walked Pegasus, you know he needs the exercise to keep him limber." Tim sighs, "I realize that now, but I was pretty angry and I don't know why."
"Maybe you should apologize for your outburst then." Jack mentions, Tim nods, "I guess I will, later, at dinner."
Amy finishes with Harley and heads up to the loft to read some more of the journal. She is reading when she hears steps coming up, then a knock on the door, she hides the journal, "Come in." It's Jack, "Hey, it's dinner and I was just letting you know that Tim is staying for dinner so be prepared for more of his crap on different things."
Amy sighs before getting up and following Jack down the stairs. They get inside the house and Amy heads to the table where everyone is. "Hey." Everyone says hi. They sit down and start eating, Tim pauses and Jack motions at Amy. "Amy." Tim starts to say before Ty comes through the door apologizing for being late. He sits down, and notices the silence, "What's going on?"
"Tim was just about to say something to me." Amy mentions.
Tim shifts, "I was just going to apologize for my outburst earlier today. You were just doing your job and I shouldn't have gotten mad at you for doing your job."
"Thank you for the apology Tim, but I am letting you know now that I will continue to exercise Pegasus because I think that he needs it."
Ty is confused, but Tim looks like he is about to say something. Jack clears his throat and that causes Tim to pause.
"That's… fine."
Amy smiles before helping Lou clean up the table. Amy tells everyone goodnight and heads back to the loft. Ty looks around, "Okay what did I miss?" They explain it to him and Jack also lets him know what Amy was worrying about with Harley. Ty shakes his head, "No, I am fine with her exercising him." He pauses for a moment, "I should let her know before I have to leave for the night shift at the clinic." He gets up and heads towards the barn, Jack looks after him suspiciously.
Ty looks and sees that the loft lights are on. He starts to head up the steps, he knocks on the door before opening the door. He sees Amy stuffing something under her pillow before looking up at him. "Ty, what are you doing here?" She stands up before realizing that she is in another pair of tank top and shorts pajamas that caused him to blush last time. She tries to ignore it though.
Ty looks at her for a moment before remembering what he was doing there, "I-uh- I heard what happened with Tim and I wanted to let you know before I left for the night shift at the clinic that I am okay with you exercising Harley." Amy smiles at him, "Thanks. That is good to know."
There is a moment of silence that doesn't seem awkward at first, but then becomes slightly uncomfortable, so he says goodnight and leaves, but he wonders what she is hiding under her pillow. Amy smiles thinking about how nice Ty was being. She goes back to reading the journal while thinking that she will try to ride Prince tomorrow.
AN: If there is any kind of scene that you want to see let me know and I will think about using it.