What Amy was able to see of Heartland on her little walking tour was only a mere fraction of what was out there. The rest of the 600 acres, Jack told her, was best explored on horseback, which was a portion Amy didn't think she'd ever be seeing. She'd never been on a horse and didn't plan to attempt it now. While the majority of that stemmed from apprehension of the animal in general, her more public excuse was out of concern for her unborn child. Even Jack agreed that a fall from the back of a horse could cause possible complications that weren't worth the risk. Especially for someone who didn't know what they were doing around the animal. So, for now, Amy was safe in that regard and had no plans to stick around long enough to be fit to stick her foot in the stirrup.
What she wasn't safe from, however, was the sudden shrill whistles and cat calls that carried across the yard as soon as she and Jack returned from their walk around the pond behind the barn. The inmates had arrived and had not failed to catch the blonde beauty that seemed to materialize out of thin air. They were all there, unloaded from the van and standing in a huddle to await their morning briefing. It was Jack they were waiting for, so upon his arrival all eyes were on him but they were just as quick to turn to her.
"Well, lookie what we have here boys, you seeing what I'm seeing?" one of them asked.
"Shoot, Jim, that looks like a P.Y.T. to me," another answered, slapping his leather gloves against his thigh. Women were very obviously a rare, and thus welcome, sight for the men. The most they got to see were their fantasies manifested from whatever photos and pin-ups they had taped to their cell walls. The real thing, well, that was a treat indeed.
"Well, shit, Jack, it's about time you rewarded us for good behavior!" chimed a third, the comment leaving an unsettling feeling in Amy's gut as a chuckle rippled through the crowd.
"Relax, fellas, this is Amy and she's not here for any of you." Jack answered them as he and Amy joined the group. Every nerve in her body ignited with the intense desire to run, to get out of the immediate reach of these men and their lingering gazes. Even the closeness of Jack, whom she saw as her only protection, didn't calm her any. They were all staring at her, looking her up and down, no doubt checking her out. None of them were trying to hide it. She felt like a doe being surrounded by a pack of wolves.
"Aw now, come on old man, no need to hog all the young'ins to yourself." The first man chuckled, nudging his comrade beside him who added, "Is this your way of filling those lonely nights while your woman frolics on the other side of the world with her French-fried friends?" It was meant to be a joke, but Amy couldn't help feeling insulted from the way they made her out to sound like some kind of concubine. She frowned indignantly. If she wasn't being treated like a spoiled brat, it was a trophy piece, neither of which were true but she almost preferred them to the truth.
Jack didn't appreciate that comment either. He was easy to humor them and play along most of the time, but when lines were drawn they dared not be crossed. This one had been and he was quick to push the defenders back on the appropriate side of it. "She's here merely as a guest so I expect you to treat her with some respect, you got me?"
"We'll treat her with the respect she earns, just like the rest of'em," came a less welcoming voice, a voice that almost chilled Amy to the bone when her eyes located the source. He held a dark expression in his gray gaze with a deep scowl that seemed to be permanently etched into his forehead.
"Shut your hole, Hank. You'll scare the poor girl." Jim stepped up, causing Amy to lean away from him when he passed an invisible comfort barrier she subconsciously set up. "Don't mind him, he likes to be intimidating but truthfully he's just a perpetually cranky old coot." Jim called, turning to look at the other man who spit in the dirt in reply.
"I don't know about the rest of you lot, but with the missus gone these few weeks it was getting mighty ugly around here. It's nice to have a pretty face around again," Jim winked at her with a soft smile, receiving an echo of agreement and nods. It wasn't hard to figure out that in the hierarchy of things, while Jack seemed to be the boss, Jim was just a step or so below him in terms of respectability. Though, the question could then be arisen what was respectable about any of these men who were convicted of crimes bad enough to land them years in prison. It made Amy wonder just what exactly they did. Ty said a lot of them were into drugs, business or pleasure, and not all of them were murderers and rapists, which had to mean some of them were. Already her unease toward Hank led her to think that he was one of them.
"Speaking of - Jack!" The man who earlier teased about Amy being a reward for good behavior spoke up. "When is that wife of yours coming back?"
"What, you miss getting tongue-lashed, Ray?" quipped one of the other earlier commenters.
"From that sassy blue-eyed belle? Absolutely."
"Alright, alright, enough lolly-gagging, there's a lot of work to be done and we're burning daylight. Where's Ty with that schedule? Ty!" Jack strode toward the barn entrance, his grandson appearing with a clipboard in hand before he got a tongue-lashing of his own for not being ready.
"Aw, come on, Jack. We were just goofing. Live a little." Ray defended himself, though didn't press his luck. He knew thin ice when he skated on it and just how long it would be before it cracked completely.
"I've still got plenty of living left to do… after the work is done, so let's get to it." He reached out for the clipboard that he and Ty put together the day before to divvy up the work load.
Amy didn't even realize Ty was around, not having seen him since their brief encounter in the bathroom. She toured the whole ranch yard and didn't catch even a glimpse of him. Not that she cared, but the message his friend Kit asked her to deliver still lingered in her mind. She glanced at him as Jack started doing roll call, making sure everyone who was supposed to be there was present and then giving them their days duties. Apparently it was the time of year to prepare the new calves for branding and inoculations which were what a majority of the men who could ride would be doing – rounding up the herd and locating strays to get them ready for the big day. Until then Amy wasn't even aware Heartland had cattle in addition to horses, but as Jack pointed out, there was a whole lot of ranch she had yet to see and a lot to learn.
"A pleasure to meet you, Amy," Jim was next to her again after receiving his assignment, talking closely into her ear on his way to the paddock to get his horse. A shiver crawled through her spine and if he'd have lingered any longer she'd have taken several steps away. But the moment was fleeting, leaving her momentarily shaken as the rest of the men moved along to their duties, leaving the transport officer to climb back into the van and Jack and Ty lingering behind a moment to brief each other on the day's proceedings. Amy was just as quickly left forgotten until Jack mentioned taking her into town, which would leave Ty to head the round up until they got back.
"Alright, I'll grab Harley and start heading up with them."
Seeing no reason to linger since she had no role to play or duty of her own to perform in this so called round up, Amy decided to relay her message then head back toward the house to maybe unpack or find something productive to do until she needed to go with Jack – perhaps attempt a phone call to her father since he neglected to bother calling to ensure she arrived safely. Perhaps he needed a reminder of parental etiquette. "Oh, Ty, before you head off. Kit called for you earlier."
Her quick escape was thwarted when Ty's head jerked up from the clipboard he was referencing, stopping the conversation with his grandfather mid-sentence to address Amy's comment. "When?" His tone came off as almost too severe for the question.
Amy merely shrugged. She'd lost track of the time after leaving the house. "I don't know, a while ago." What did it matter?
"What did she want? Did she say?" He pressed.
"No. She said she'd try again later when I told her you weren't available."
"How did she sound? What'd you tell her?"
Amy frowned, becoming irritated by his incessant questions. "I don't know, Ty. All I said was you weren't available and she said she'd try again later. That's it. Do you want me to write it down for you?" God, how hard was that to comprehend.
"That's it? She didn't sound angry?"
"No. Confused at first. She thought I was Lisa, but I-"
"What did you say to her?" Ty sounded like he was ready to pounce on her, accuse her of saying things she shouldn't have, but Amy knew better.
"I told her I was a friend staying at the ranch and I don't appreciate the tone. I thought I was doing you a favor since no one else was around to answer the call. If it's that big of a deal, call her back and ask her your questions yourself." What was it with guys and their inability to face off with a girl who might be angry with them. It only made things worse when they learned of their cowardice. Amy had no idea how things were with Kit and Ty and she frankly didn't care, but obviously Ty did.
"Next time do me the favor of not answering the phone. This isn't your house," Ty snapped, his hand gripping tightly onto the clipboard as he snatched it back from holding it between himself and his grandfather.
Amy's blood boiled just as hotly. "I thought the whole point was to treat it like home. Forgive me for actually trying. Next time I'll be sure to tell her the whole truth, rather than the watered down version to save you from having to lie," she shot back. She didn't know who Kit was, if she was Ty's girlfriend, just a friend, or something in between, but from the way Ty reacted she'd guess either option one or three.
"That's enough, you two." Jack finally took his cue to step in before the argument escalated into anything worse. "How is it that neither of you can seem to speak to each other without it turning into a shouting match?"
"If she didn't poke her nose in where it didn't belong-" Ty started, only for Amy to cut him off.
"If you would stop treating me like some street walker who darkened your doorstep-" she shouted over him. Even Ty was offended by that comment.
"I never said that of you!" Ty protested. He might have assumed a lot of things about her, but a whore was not one of them. Even he had more common decency than that.
"No, but I'm sure you thought it," Amy snarled in disgust.
"Now, wait a second there, Amy." Jack piped up in an attempt to cease this new argument that was beginning to spin out of control despite his former efforts to stop it, but Ty was once again talking over him.
"Maybe the thought crossed my mind, but only because you seem to adamant about keeping secrets – like who the father of your child is. If it were a boyfriend who ran out on you I would think you'd be spreading his name like wildfire to kill his reputation. So maybe it's your reputation you're more concerned with." Ty ventured, his voice calming itself as he carried on with his reasoning, now only because Amy didn't believe he'd dismissed the thought almost as quickly as it had come out of respect. But if she wanted to think so lowly of him, then he'd give her a real reason to.
"Stop it. I said it was none of your business." While Amy's words seethed in a calm fury, her stomach was knotting up with a deeply rooted fear that Ty had stumbled upon the truth. Even Jack seemed dumbfounded for a moment as Amy's defenses faltered.
"You seem too smart to have been a hooker on the street, but a call girl, well, that doesn't seem too far-fetched." While neither was a very respectable trade, escorts had a bit more business sense and class than your everyday prostitute. Even so, Amy was clearly insulted by the assumption.
"How dare you," she seethed, blood coursing hot through her veins. "Just because I don't find it anyone's business but my own who the father of my child is doesn't mean I'm hiding some big conspiracy."
"No, but I think that if we're the ones caring for you and your child, then we at least have the right to know why you're here. Your father kicked you out – why? I don't believe it's because he doesn't want anything to do with you just because you got pregnant. No parent could be that heartless. I think you ran from something – or someone. A client, perhaps? A John who'd sooner kill you than claim a child of his mistress as his own and sully his good name?"
"Ty, that's enough!" Jack heard enough, but apparently Ty had not heard him at all last night in the barn.
Amy's hand slammed so hard into Ty's cheek the slap could have echoed across the province. The red mark was visible almost as soon as Ty turned his head back to face her lethal glare. She was breathing hard, her chest rising and falling with each ragged, enraged breath. Irate tears blurred her vision while her blood coursed hot through her veins, making her face as red as Ty's. Her bottom lip began to tremble as she inhaled to form a slow and quiet response. "You know nothing of my life, so don't for a second pretend you have it all figured out because you don't. Not even close. Don't you tell me not to put my nose where it doesn't belong if you can't do me the same courtesy."
They stared each other down fiercely, Amy's hands trembling and her palm stinging from the remnants of her slap while Ty's jaw popped as he clenched his jaw to keep from saying more. He'd done more than just piss Amy off and he could see it in the way she fought to control herself. Insulted was a weak term to describe what he saw hidden behind her glossy eyes. She looked wounded, almost ashamed, which made him think that even if his deduction wasn't correct, it wasn't completely wrong either.
A/N: This chapter fought with me for weeks on end. I'm still not sure how I feel about it because it went a way I hadn't intended but I felt it was a good way for things to start being revealed, even if in very minute doses. I don't intend for the truth, bitter truth, to come out until much later on, but it's fun to speculate until then, eh? Btw, I had to stop myself from having Amy say "You know nothing, Ty Borden." While it would have been an epic moment, I didn't want to take away from the originality of the story. Hah.