As it turned out, Amy was glad she volunteered for the task of preparing for Lisa's early birthday bash. It provided the distraction she sought while also familiarizing her with the town of Hudson, and the people who called it home. Each morning Jack drove her to Maggie's before the inmates arrived then picked her up after they'd gone, effectively avoiding any more unpleasant encounters.
The week wasn't without its uncomfortable moments, though, when the friendliness of the townspeople resulted in Amy being pulled into hugs or made to shake hands. No matter how innocent their intentions, Amy didn't think she'd ever be completely okay with strangers getting so close. Soraya became a much appreciated buffer once she realized Amy's discomfort with being touched.
It was now Thursday night. The two of them were sitting on the porch of the ranch house putting together the decorative centerpieces for the tables that were being set up by Jack and Ty around the lawn. Everything was set for Lisa's arrival tomorrow, minus a few guests who weren't able to change their schedules so last minute.
"Do you mind if I ask you something?" Soraya asked, breaking the long silence.
"Go ahead." Snipping a length of ribbon, Amy set the scissors down beside Lobo, who was sprawled out beside her. The dog seemed to have formed an attachment and Amy wasn't the least bit upset over it. She just wished Jack would relax his no dogs in the house rule.
"I didn't want to bring it up because it seemed like you didn't really want to talk about it and I wanted to respect your privacy," Soraya went on, causing Amy to grow nervous over her impending question. She did her best to hide it by focusing on tying the ribbon around her centerpiece. "There's been chatter going around and, well, in these towns it's sometimes hard to tell what's true and what's been… embellished."
Amy was still silent, her head bent with intense focus on making sure the tails of her bow were even. But her heart was racing with anxiety over what Soraya could have possibly heard about her. Clearly nothing good.
When her dark gaze flicked to Amy, sensing the tension rolling off her, Soraya reneged. "You know what, it doesn't matter. I'm glad you're hanging around for a while. We could use another woman around here." She offered her a warm smile.
While she was relieved not to be put on the spot, Amy was still curious about what Soraya might have heard that she wanted the truth straight from Amy's mouth, rather than believe the hearsay. "It's okay, you can ask me." The fact that Soraya respected Amy's discomfort was enough for her to want to offer her an olive branch of sorts. Over the last couple days Soraya felt like a closer friend than Amy expected to find way out there.
"It's really not that important. I swear." Soraya brushed it off, but when Amy lifted her head she didn't miss the way the other girl's eyes passed over her midsection.
Amy sighed. Everyone else seemed to know, Soraya might as well, too. "Eleven weeks."
She met Soraya's wide gaze. "It is true then." Her brown eyes moved off the porch toward Ty.
Amy's followed. "It's not Ty's. We never met until I came to Heartland." She assumed Kit had something to do with that bit of talk and frankly, couldn't really fault her for thinking it. Still, Amy wanted to squash that rumor forever.
"I didn't think so." Soraya shook her head. "So, who?"
The uncomfortable silence returned. "Just some guy," Amy responded dismissively, picking up her completed centerpiece to bring to one of the tables. Soraya raised her brow curiously, but let the topic drop when it was clear Amy had no more to say on the subject.
"Hey, that looks great! Nice job, you two." Jack admired the simple floral decorations as Soraya came to place hers as well. It made Amy smile proudly at the yard. The centerpieces were the last piece of the decorations that she and Soraya picked out and set up while the guys drove around to their neighbors collecting the borrowed tables and chairs.
"You think Lisa will like it?" She asked, not for the first time wondering if the colors and decorations chosen would be ones Lisa liked. Afterall, she never met the woman and Jack gave her full creative control. Once again she found herself grateful for Soraya's help and input.
"I think she'll love it." Amy startled when Jack gave her arm a gentle squeeze, quickly sidestepping to cover up the reaction by brushing down the end of the table cloth that blew up from the breeze. If Jack noticed he didn't comment and Amy didn't dare look at him to see.
"Well, I think that's it for me tonight," Soraya announced after they all took a moment to admire their hard work. "Now let's just hope the weather holds."
Jack was quick to shush her. "Don't be tempting the fates now. The weather report says it's to be a beautiful weekend."
Soraya flashed a little smirk in Amy's direction. "I wouldn't dream of it, Jack."
"There's tents in the Quonset Hut if need be," Ty chimed in, joining their huddle.
"We won't be needing them." Jack shot a look toward the clear evening sky. Amy joined him, for the first time realizing how truly clear it was that even with the small bit of light that still remained the first stars were bright. Her first few days there were rainy or overcast. The muggy mornings usually eased for some warm sun in the afternoon only to turn to more rain in the evening. If there was a clear night before then she'd been too exhausted to see it.
"I'll see you guys tomorrow." Soraya waved, then headed for her car.
"I think an early night would be a good idea for all of us." Passing a final look over the yard, Jack nodded to himself before heading inside, leaving Ty and Amy alone.
Not wanting the moment to turn awkward, Amy busied herself by cleaning up the remnants of her and Soraya's art project.
"Hey, how'd you get Caleb to play DJ?" Ty asked, coming to lean on the porch rail. It was a genuine curiosity knowing the tension between him and Jack ever since their falling out. Caleb would have made an appearance for Lisa, but it would have been brief.
Amy tugged a length of ribbon from beneath Lobo who sprawled out on top of it. "Isn't that what he does?" she asked, raising a brow when Ty laughed.
"Uh, no. No, Caleb won that damn thing in a raffle at the local fair years ago. He tried to sell it to an actual DJ but ended up getting the guy to teach him how to use it instead so he could whip it out at house parties."
"Oh. Well, Soraya batted her eyelashes and he agreed to it."
Ty nodded, amused. "Yeah, that'd do it."
"Really? Soraya and Caleb?" Amy didn't see that one. Not that she was one to judge. She barely knew either one of them. Caleb not at all.
Ty shrugged. "They've had this mutual pining thing going on for years, but each of them is too afraid of ruining their friendship by acting on it. So we've all just learned to suffer through the heavy sexual tension."
"Makes sense." Amy wrapped the ribbon around her fingers then dropped it in the plastic bin with the rest of the supplies. "It would be pretty awkward to have a falling out and then have to see each other every day."
Ty rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, thinking about Kit. "Yeah. Been there."
Amy hummed, knowing what he was thinking since she managed to get herself caught in the middle of it. "Anyway, she seemed to think he could handle it better than Stumpy. Whoever that is."
"She's not wrong there. As much as Lisa loves my grandfather, I don't think she'd appreciate having to listen to Stumpy and his banjo brigade for a whole evening."
Amy scrunched her nose. "I'm not sure that I would either."
Ty chuckled. "Trust me, none of us would."
"Well, then it's a good thing Caleb couldn't say no to a pretty face." Giving Lobo a last scratch, Amy picked up the plastic tub and stood. "I'm going to head in."
"For the record," Ty started, making Amy pause inside the screen door. "I didn't doubt you'd be able to pull this together." He waved a hand over the lawn.
"I didn't think you did." Well, maybe she had, but she was too busy to care. "Anyway, Soraya probably deserves most of the credit."
Ty lifted a shoulder. "You both do. Goodnight, Amy." He turned to head for the barn to do night check then head up to the loft where he continued to sleep even after his and Amy's tentative truce. Amy frowned as she watched him go, but decided it wasn't her concern where Ty slept. It just chafed that he still couldn't bring himself to accept her place in the house.
Jack was still up preparing the coffee maker for the morning when Amy got inside. She made a face at it, getting a chuckle from the older man. "Still not so hot on the coffee smell, I see."
"No, and I wish I would get over it, or that I could convince the baby that coffee equals comfort." As much as she used to love the smell of freshly brewed coffee in the morning, it was worse watching everyone enjoying it. It wasn't that she couldn't drink it (so long as it was in moderation) she couldn't even stomach it right now.
"It'll pass." He slid the carafe into place then set the delayed brew timer.
"Yeah, you keep saying that. I thought the second trimester was supposed to be the easiest," Amy sighed, plopping the container on the dining table.
"You're not quite there yet." Jack joined her in the dining room that was right beside his bedroom. A detail Amy found most convenient given it was ideal placement to hear both outer doors. It made her sneaking in of Lobo somewhat of a challenge. Which was why she'd only done it once since being caught the first time.
"Close enough."
"I don't think close enough counts in these situations."
"Probably not. I guess I should just be enjoying it now before I can no longer see my feet." She looked straight down to her flats and wiggled her toes. Aside from the physical discomforts, she didn't look pregnant. Her belly was finally starting to get a curve to it, but only noticeable to her as her pants became ever tighter.
"I meant to ask: how did your appointment go with Dr. Virani?" In the havoc surrounding Lisa's last minute change of plans, he completely forgot to inquire about the visit.
And just like that the shadows began rolling back in and the walls started to rise. Jack could see it as clearly as Amy felt it. The last few days she only struggled in the nights. When she lay in bed staring at the ceiling unable to sleep because her demons came crawling back from where the busy day chased them away. The party planning was a temporary fix. She knew that when signing up. But now the party was here and she was out of distractions.
"It went fine." Amy answered, hoping that would suffice and Jack wouldn't press for details.
As usual Jack studied her like he knew more than he was letting on and was waiting for her to fess up. To offer some sliver of honesty about how she was really feeling with becoming a young mother. He knew what Ty discovered, or claimed to have discovered. It lingered in the back of his mind now any time he interacted with Amy, catching onto the hints and clues that what happened to her wasn't just a mistake that led to a bad break, but something terrible and traumatic. He didn't want that to become what defined Amy while she was at Heartland, though. She was clearly determined to forget what happened despite having to always carry the result with her. He understood her want and need for moving on. But he also believed she had to face it first. She was carrying a darkness with her that needed to be unburdened to leave room for her to fully heal.
"So you're going to stick with her, then," he asked, instead of offering the strands of wisdom he knew she wouldn't fully appreciate right now.
"I think so. I mean, it's not like there are a ton of other options, right?" Plus, Virani knew the truth. Amy didn't need those records being sent off to some other doctor for them to look at her in some pitying way.
"Not unless you want to have to travel to Calgary every appointment."
Amy lifted her brow. "Well, if you'd let me drive myself it wouldn't have to be such an imposition."
"I never said it was an imposition." Jack was quiet a moment while he came to a decision. "Alright, listen. You've found your way around these last few days. I see no reason you can't borrow a vehicle to take yourself to your appointments or run an errand or two."
Standing straighter, a smile brightened Amy's face. "Really?" Then immediately it faltered. "Wait, what's the fine print?"
"Fine print?"
"The terms and conditions."
"Just one. You need to let one of us know where you're going and when to expect you back. It's still open country compared to what you're used to and cell service is spotty in some places." Reliable as their vehicles were, they weren't the latest and greatest and broke down on occasion. Sometimes not in the most convenient of places.
Too excited about her new access to freedom, Amy didn't bother to bring up the fact that she didn't currently possess a cell phone. In a fit of petty spite, she purposely left hers on her bed back in her father's apartment. At the time, she'd been so angry and hurt she hadn't wanted to give him any way to contact her. Clearly, that was a wasted act of defiance when she was the one to reach out in desperation. Now, it felt like she was just entirely disconnected with the outside world. Oddly, something she wasn't quite as upset about as she thought she would be.
"Okay, fair." Amy nodded enthusiastically. "Thanks, Jack." She beamed at him then headed to bed, leaving Jack to feel like he finally managed to gain some ground with her.