Space In My Heart For You
Nugget #4: Cattle Drive Break
"Here," Caleb's voice makes Nathan turn around to see Caleb offering him a water bottle. "Hopefully it's still a little cold."
Nathan uncrosses his arms and stands from leaning against a tree to take the drink. "Thanks, man."
Caleb nods and looks out at the open field before him, bordered by trees on all sides. He's been here, doing these exact cattle drives for more than 15 years, yet every time it looks a little different.
"So," Nathan breaks the silence. "Has Tim always been a hard ass?"
"Ha," Caleb scoffs. "This is the new," he raises his eyebrows and his drink, "Relaxed version of Tim."
"You're kidding."
"I wish. He was much worse before he got married to Jessica."
Nathan takes a swig of water. "How long have they been married?"
"Uh," Caleb thinks back to their wedding at the dude ranch. "Three years."
The two men stand in silence, looking out to the field. Serval minutes pass before Caleb notices movement several meters away from them. The white horse prances from the trees and he squints to see it more clearly.
"Ah!" He exclaims, "No way!"
Nathan looks around, trying to catch what Caleb sees. When he doesn't, he looks to Caleb who already is calling out behind him.
"Miracle Girl!" He calls out to her. "Get over here!"
As Amy makes her way to them, Nathan questions, "Caleb, what is going on?"
Caleb ignores him and focuses on Amy coming closer.
As she approaches, her apprehension is clear. She sighs, "What trouble are you getting into, Odell?"
He smiles, "Your gentleman caller is here."
Amy narrows her brow. "My what?"
Caleb nods towards the trees. "Ghost is here."
Nathan watches Amy's face fall, but at the same time–her eyes brighten. "What?" She steps forward for a close look. She whispers, "Caleb…"
"Go talk to him," he puts forward pressure on her shoulder. "You know he's here for you." Caleb can't contain his excitement, which only confuses Nathan more.
Nathan tries to catch her attention, but fails as she stares at the wild horse. "You know that wild horse, Amy?" He asks, surprised.
"Yeah," she says simply.
"Go," Caleb nudges her again. "Go."
"Caleb," she looks back at him. "What if he's hurt?"
"He's not. I know it."
"No, you don't." Amy asserts. "Caleb. I won't be able to handle it if he is. Every time he shows up–"
"Everything will be fine, Amy." Caleb promises. "You know you need to go see him."
"Okay." A smile finally appears on her face. Caleb beams, standing taller with pride and anticipation as Amy walks down the slight hill to meet the horse.
"What is she doing?" Nathan asks with more curiosity than concern. "You know that could be really dangerous."
"That horse would never hurt her," he tells Nathan. "They have some sort of spiritual connection."
"A spiritual connection?" Nathan pivots towards him. "With a wild horse?"
"Oh, yeah," Caleb confirms. "That horse has come to Amy in some of the happiest and saddest moments in her life. It's spectacular to watch." He looks at him and then nods towards Ghost. "You're in for a treat."
They both watch as Amy approaches Ghost. The appaloosa horse turns to her as she nears, allowing her to touch him briefly. When she walks a little ahead of him, he follows her willingly.
"You've seen her do this before?" Nathan asks, incredulously.
"Many, many times." Caleb delights. "She isn't called the Miracle Girl for nothing, you know."
Nathan nods. "You've called her that a couple of times now."
"A lot of people call her that, mostly clients and a couple of newspaper headlines," Nathan raises an eyebrow. "And she hates it, as to be expected, modest woman as she is…But she tolerates from a few people–me and Ty and her family–just because we are half-serious and half-teasing her. And," Caleb shrugs, nodding towards Amy, "We were all there when she got the name."
Still watching Amy and Ghost, Nathan shares, "I've never seen her do anything like that."
"Then maybe you haven't scratched the surface of how amazing she is," Caleb shares his observation as if it were an important fact.
Caleb's bold claim hangs in the air between them. It takes a minute, but when Nathan turns back to him, Caleb can see big emotions swirling in his eyes: admiration, amazement, love, and true fear at the prospect of being with her. Despite calling him out moments ago, Caleb now sees the depth of Nathan's feelings for Amy. For the first time since Amy told him they were secretly together, he realizes the seriousness of their relationship–at least on Nathan's side.
Now wishing for a beer instead of the plain water he was drinking, Caleb looks down as his own heartbreak hits him: even playing the supportive friend wasn't going to help him out of the friend zone. Whatever small chance he thought had left, he felt it vanishing as his gaze darted between Amy and Ghost and Nathan, still watching them.
Somehow, he swallows his emotions and forces himself that Ty would want the best for Amy, he always did. "Ty told me once: I had no idea what Amy can do."
Nathan turns back at the name. "Ty?"
"Hmm," Caleb takes a final sip and then puts his drink down. "I had only worked at Heartland for a couple months at that point and Ty had returned from his latest soul-searching journey and…I don't know–I must have said some stupid comment to piss him off because, back then it was so easy to get him worked up–which, honestly–just tempted me to do it more–But he retorts by telling me that I didn't have a clue about how amazing her gift with horse was, and—" Caleb gestures to Amy and Ghost who seem to be dancing in the field together. "He was right."
Nathan takes a deep breath and crosses his arms. As he tries to digest the information–how much it scares him, how much he craves for Amy to tell him more, to show him more, for him to know all there is to know about her, yet to still keep their new relationship new, and quiet, and slow–he realizes Caleb must see the emotions play across his face.
He jolts up straighter from his position and tries to wipe the emotions that he can off his face.
Caleb watches his self-consciousness and kindly offers a remedy: "I don't mean to keep talking about Ty. I won't do it anymore if you don't want…I just, I don't know," he shrugs. "Maybe I wanted to pass on Ty's words to me about Amy…to you…if that's okay."
"Amy doesn't talk about him much," Nathan shares.
"She does. She will," Caleb assures him. "If you ask. If you want to know…She'll tell you. She doesn't like to ruminate about the past like I do. And she probably just doesn't want to scare you off."
Nathan narrows his eyebrows, questioning: "To scare me off?"
Caleb turns more serious. "She was so in love with him. They were a strong unit together."
Nathan shifts uncomfortably. The words pierce his heart deeper than he would have expected. Then again, remembering Tristin, he also knew what it was to love and commit to someone so deeply.
"It took a lot for her to get here, Nathan," Caleb shares another personal insight about Amy. "To start opening her heart again. She was closed off and not herself for a long time. She's been through enough in her life." He pauses, hoping the vagueness still makes his point without going into specifics. "When she returned back into her old self again, I tried to encourage her to start dating, just to find some levity and fun again: she would not budge…Now that she's found something real with you, I would bet that she's just as scared to lose it as you are."
A/N: Thanks to Scoutbooradley, Mike1965, and the 2 Guests for sharing their sweet compliments and interesting thoughts on this story. I appreciate your interest and engagement.