Space in My Heart For You

Nugget #2: Caleb Picks Up Amy

"Hello?" Caleb knocks on the Heartland front door as he walks inside. "Anyone here?"

"Caleb," Lou calls him into the living room. He rounds the corner to find Jack, Tim, and Lou sitting down with Nathan. Jack and Tim greet him with smiles. Lou continues, "Good to see you."

"Caleb!" Jack stands up to shake his hand. "How the heck are you? We've missed you around here. How's Colona treating you?"

"It's alright, but it's not home." He looks from Jack to Lou and then back towards Amy's room.

"Perfect timing, Caleb!" Tim jumps into action mode. "You can help us with the cattle drive this afternoon. We're down a couple of people. We could use your help."

"Tim, I can't," Caleb steps further into the room. "I would love to, but I'm spending the day with Amy and Lyndy today."

Nathan sits straighter at Caleb's intentions, but says nothing, watching the interplay between them.

"What? No, no you're not. She's just doing a clinic." Tim laughs to no one's amusement. "Come on. We need the help."

"It's not just a clinic, Tim. It's a clinic at Ty's foster youth center." Caleb shakes his head. He purses his lips before speaking. "Do you know what today is?"

"What?—"

"Oh, my, god," Lou interjects quietly. "It's Ty's birthday."

Nathan's eyes widen as the room's atmosphere shifts. He watches as everyone's expressions drop and their attentions turn to towards Amy's closed door.

Caleb scoffs. "Father-in-law of the year as always, Tim."

"Hey!" Tim bites back. "That's not fair. You have no idea—"

"No idea?" Caleb challenges. "No idea of what? Ty was my best friend for twelve years. I've now been best friends with Amy for longer than that. I was best man at their wedding. I'm godfather to Lyndy—"

"We don't need the list, Caleb—"

"You think I don't know that you treated him like crap? They were together seven years—were engaged—but Amy literally had to go blind for you to finally accept him as family."

"What?" Nathan speaks out before he can help himself. The shock of Amy's history of blindness plus the realization of how long Amy and Ty were together forces him to turn to Lou for confirmation. As Lou focuses between Tim and Caleb, she doesn't catch the question in Nathan's expression.

Tim leans back into the chair dismissively. "They weren't together seven years before—"

"Sure, they were," Caleb argues back. "Because even when they weren't together, they were still together."

The room goes silent at Caleb's declaration. While Nathan digests new revelations about Amy and Ty, he senses the room's tenseness fade.

Caleb's tone softens, "Is Amy in her room?" He looks at Lou. "She's not in the barn."

"Yeah," Lou gestures towards the back of the house, inviting him in further. "She's been pretty quiet all day."

"That makes sense." Caleb steps back into the hall. "Miracle Girl!" He calls out to Amy. "Let's go!"

Before he knocks on the door, Lyndy pulls it open. "Uncle Caleb!" She reaches up to him.

"Lyndy Borden!" He exclaims, pulling her into his arms and raising her up to kiss her cheek. "How's my favorite goddaughter?"

"I'm your only goddaughter," Lyndy corrects him.

"You are, are you? That makes me pretty lucky." Caleb shakes her in his arms and she laughs. "I'll tell you what, though, I do know many cowgirls and you are by far my favorite one."

"Hmm," Lyndy thinks. "What about Jade?"

"Oh," Caleb's eyes widen, teasing her. "Well, Jade is pretty cool, but you are still my favorite."

"Really?"

"Really," he promises. "Amy?" He knocks on the door and then opens it further. "We're gonna be late." Caleb finds her on the bed, sitting up but not moving, with one leg bent and the other dangling on the floor. "Hey," he notices the unease in her expression. "Are you okay?" he asks, before shutting the door.

Nathan continues to watch the door as Jack and Tim restart planning for the cattle drive. He didn't know what revelation of Caleb's shocked him the most. He couldn't decide which one he thought Amy should have told him, if any. For a moment, he wished she had clued him in on all of them. Nathan checks himself: he wonders if that was fair though, given that Caleb had apparently moved away. When or why would Caleb have naturally entered any of their conversations? Even when she told him about the clinic yesterday, he didn't ask her anything about it.

"Okay," Caleb re-enters the room with Lyndy on his back. "We're off."

To Nathan's surprise, Amy appears in the hallway as her normal self with a smile. Maybe she was fine the whole time or, he wonders, did Caleb say something to cheer her up?

Jack reaches for Amy as she passes his chair. "Hey, honey. Sorry, we all forgot Ty's birthday. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," she squeezes his hand and then waves him off. "We'll be back for dinner, okay?"

"Okay," Lou mentally adds a placemat for Caleb at the dinner table.

"Have fun, honey," Tim chimes in.

"Thanks, Dad," Amy takes a step towards the kitchen and then turns back to Nathan. For a moment, it is just them in the room. She smiles at him and he smiles back. She parts her lips to say something and then closes them.

Nathan surprises himself by speaking up in front of her whole family. "Good luck with the clinic, Amy," he says, still keeping her gaze.

They communicate through silence. Both Amy and Nathan feel calmer and connected just by looking at each other. He knows she means more than her words when she replies to him, "Good luck with the cattle drive."

With one last secret exchange of smiles with Nathan, Amy follows Caleb and Lyndy out the door.

Nathan watches her hair flow behind her as she leaves. His gaze settles on the front door screen; watching Lyndy jump into the truck and Amy laugh behind her—before Tim calls his attention back to the meeting.

A/N: Thanks to Patty, Scoutbooradley, and Guest for their sweet reviews. I hope you all continue to enjoy the story!