Parts: 36 ...
Trigger Warnings: minor descriptions of rape
“But you do know, don’t you? You heard his voice.”
“Pretty little thing you have here, Tim.”
“See you tomorrow, sweetheart.”
Amy stared out into the yard while her vision blurred with tears.
“Tell Daddy we’re even.”
She replayed the words over and over and over in an endless loop for the last three months. But when she opened the memory to that night, it wasn’t just his voice. It was the feel of him, too. His weight crushing her front into the concrete so she could barely suck in enough air to scream. His legs pinning her in place leaving no room to fight him off. His hands touching her in places she didn’t think she’d ever be able to unfeel. His cock tearing her open so violently she was left bleeding and sore for days. Trying to isolate a voice in the chaos of blind panic proved nearly impossible.
Shutting her eyes, Amy turned away from Ty, away from the onslaught of horrific memories that threatened to separate her soul from her body as it had that night.
Unable to take her suffering anymore, Ty slid over to try to take her hand from between her knees. To get her to look at him. “Amy. I’m sorry.” He felt terrible for bringing up that night, for stirring that memory.
His hand banding around her wrist triggered a flash of her attacker snatching it when she desperately tried to reach for something to defend herself. He twisted her arm behind her back, yanking on it so hard it nearly went out of joint.
“No.” She broke then. Tore herself out of Ty’s grasp and surged to her feet.
That was when Lisa pulled away from Jack and rushed to meet Amy when she bolted inside. The two women collided, Amy falling apart in a mess of sobs and trembling legs. Lisa was barely able to hold onto her when they gave out, easing down with her to the kitchen floor.
“Oh, honey.” Lisa’s voice cracked as tears gathered in her own eyes.
Ty stood in the doorway, his face pale. He saw Amy have panic attacks before, a few times in fact, but never like this. Never to the point of her losing all control. She kept herself so tightly wound she was more likely to lash out in anger that Ty came to learn was simply masked fear. This was… the dam truly breaking.
Jack remained just as helpless near the sink. He didn’t want to believe Ty was right even though it had made sense. Discovering the truth didn’t just hurt, it incited an anger he hadn’t felt in quite a long time. Meeting Ty’s eye, Jack lifted his chin for him to go. Ty nodded, his gaze dropping to the floor for a second before retreating outside.
Moving his gun to rest against the side of the fridge out of the way, Jack then crouched beside his wife who had her arms secured around Amy. It wasn’t lost on him that she was actually allowing the contact, even curling into it. “Is there anything I can do?” Jack asked Lisa quietly.
She shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she answered softly. What could any of them really do aside from what they were doing?
Jack gave a small nod, placing a comforting hand on her back before standing. “We’ll give you some space.”
He joined Ty outside, finding his grandson pacing the length of the yard and running his hands through his hair in aggravated motions. He stopped when he spotted Jack, lacing his fingers tightly behind his head and tipping it back to look at the night sky. “I didn’t want to be right.”
“But you were and now we know. Now we can move forward.”
Ty twisted to look at his grandfather. “Can we? She still can’t tell us who it was.”
Running his fingers over his mustache, Jack tried to drown out the sound of Amy’s sobs at his back. “I think it’s time I give Tim Fleming a call.” He didn’t intend to unless absolutely necessary, waiting to see if he’d reach out on his own to check on Amy. Aside from the time Amy called him to try to go home, there was no other contact. Given what he knew before and solidified by what he knew now, Jack would assume Tim was still protecting Amy by keeping his distance. It was about time they found out what he was hiding from them all.
Lisa massaged her hand across Amy’s back, rocking her in a soothing motion while gently shushing her. “You’re safe here, okay?”
Was she? Amy didn’t even know anymore. Safer than in Vancouver maybe, but without knowing if the man who raped her was someone with a vendetta or simply an opportunist, she couldn’t say for certain. Ty could very well have been right about everything and they needed to be on alert for the possibility of danger following her to Heartland.
“I’m going to be sick.” Untangling herself from Lisa, Amy scrambled to her feet, barely making it to the bathroom before she was once again on the floor retching into the toilet until there was nothing left but dry heaves.
Not wanting to leave Amy alone, Lisa followed, gathering her hair out of her face and holding it at the nape of her neck. She resumed rubbing rhythmic circles over her back and tracing along her spine in an attempt to alleviate the tension gathered in her body.
It took a little while for Amy to calm down enough to relax on her heels on the floor. At some point Lisa left to find a blanket that she draped over her back and took up a vigil on the edge of the tub.
Wiping at the itchy dried tears on her cheeks, Amy fell back against the vanity. She tugged the blanket around her trembling body, curling beneath its warmth. Lisa remained quiet all the while aside from some murmured assurances and words of encouragement. Amy couldn’t hear all of what she said, only that it was a comfort to have someone there to help pull her back together.
“Here. Drink some water,” Lisa said, handing her the glass she had sitting on the counter.
Taking it gratefully, Amy swallowed a few small sips then curled the glass against her chest inside the blanket.
“I’m sorry.” she mumbled, her voice hoarse.
“Oh, sweetie, you’ve been through hell. You have more than a right to break down.”
Amy closed her eyes. They burned from so much crying and rubbing at them. She hadn’t even considered the fact that Jack and Lisa had been in the kitchen when she came barreling inside. She assumed they overheard every dirty detail she confessed to Ty. It was just as well. At least she wouldn’t have to repeat any of it.
“It’s not just that.” Her eyes opened again, staring down into the water. “When I first arrived Ty accused me of possibly leading trouble into your home. I was offended then but… what if he turns out to be right?” She didn’t even want to fathom the possibility. It terrified her.
Lisa wouldn’t deny it worried her, too. But they had a lot of trouble come through Heartland over the years between Ty and the inmate program. Even her farm, Fairfield, wasn’t immune to corruption and scandal. So far they survived all of it while coming out stronger on the other side. “Then… we prepare for it.”
Amy lifted her eyes to Lisa.
“Maybe nothing will happen. But we need to be ready for anything. Knowledge is power, right?” The older woman reached out to place a reassuring hand on Amy’s shoulder. “The more we know, the better equipped we can be to keep this ranch and everyone on it safe.”
“What else do you want to know.” Amy’s voice shook, new tears retracing the paths of the old. It wasn’t just that she didn’t want to delve into the details of the night of her assault, there were parts that she couldn’t remember. That her brain hid away in the forgotten corners of her memory as a way of protecting her.
“Anything you can tell us. Even the things you’d rather stay buried.” Even the smallest seemingly insignificant details could make a difference.
Pressing her teeth down on the inside of her lip, Amy couldn’t help picturing the expressions on their faces from the details of her trauma. She didn’t even know if she was capable of forming the words let alone saying them out loud to these people who took her in when no one else wanted to.
“When you’re ready,” Lisa added when she saw the anxiety literally biting into Amy’s lip.
Amy nodded, relieved she wouldn’t be pressured again to speak her truth. She was exhausted in every sense of the word. “I’m gonna go back to bed,” she murmured, unfolding herself from the blanket. Lisa reached out to take the glass of water so Amy could stand then handed it back. She stood and walked with her out of the bathroom, pausing in the hall until Amy shut the bedroom door.
Jack and Ty looked at Lisa expectantly when she emerged from the house. “She went back to bed.”
“Did she say anything else?” Ty asked.
“No. She’s exhausted and understandably upset. Give her some space to breathe. She’ll tell us more in her own time.”
Ty wasn’t good at being patient, but he relented. They learned more than he ever expected to in a very short time. It was enough to do some of his own digging.
Lisa looked at Jack. “Tim didn’t give you any indication of what might be going on?” She knew her husband didn’t ask too many questions before agreeing to take Amy on but clearly they should have.
Jack shrugged. “His daughter was pregnant and she was having a hard time coping. He couldn’t offer her the support she needed. I assumed that meant he wasn’t able to handle her and the care she required whether that be emotionally or financially. I wouldn’t have guessed it was something like this.”
Ty frowned. “He didn’t want them finding out their actions had repercussions. In the event they came to claim what was theirs, or clean up after themselves.”
They were all silent for a moment, letting the implication of that sink in.
“That’s what we need to be prepared for,” Ty added. “We need to find out who did it. Then we can determine the threat level they pose.”
“You think it was one of the men who came to shake down Tim?” Jack asked.
Ty considered the option again. “It has to be. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
Lisa chimed in. “Unless it was just a random act of opportunity. Do we know where it happened?”
Ty and Jack looked at one another, neither having an answer. “That’s part of the story we’ll have to wait for her to share,” Ty said. They needed to know the details of that night. Awful as they would be to hear, it might be the thing they needed to narrow the suspect pool.
Hi. Hope your well. Just wondered if there will be a chapter for One Day this weekend. It is such a great story. Thanks for you time. Take care.
Hello! I'm responding to this several days later so by now you'll have gotten your answer, but I will say that move in day for my roomie is this weekend. (So no new chapter yet, I'm afraid.) My house is just about back in order (minus the electricity issue but c'est la vie), so I hope May will offer me some breathing room and the chance to reconnect with my writing projects, One Day included, before I have to tackle the next episode of This Old House.
(For reference my house was built in 1905 and was probably last updated in the '50s. Historically cool, functionally problematic. See: electrical failure.)
tl;dr: No new chapters are ready yet. I will post an update when you can officially expect more if life doesn't run me over first.
Release date for the next chapter is currently TBD. I started writing it then things went a bit off the rails IRL. I have a friend moving in at the end of the month and the process of making space/moving rooms (including my library/writing space) has turned out to be more of a hassle than I anticipated, complete with an electrical failure in half of what is to become my new bedroom (FML). Just bear with me for a little while until I can regain control of life.
36 auto posted here on Tumblr a couple of hours ago. I just had the opportunity to get on the computer to share it on Fanfiction.net but it usually takes about 30 mins to update over there.
Parts: 35 ...37
Trigger Warnings: discussions of rape and abortion
A thump jolted Amy awake. She opened her eyes expecting it to be morning, but the window was dark. The light she initially thought to be the sun was her bedside lamp. It took a second for her to remember she turned it on to read more of “What to Expect…” and must have fallen asleep. Now awake, her bladder was screaming for release so she twisted out of bed to find her book on the floor. Picking it up she straightened the pages and set it back on the nightstand.
The house was dark and still when she crept out of her room to the bathroom. On her way back down the hall, Amy paused when she remembered the dvd she’d left in the barn. Now would be the perfect time to sneak out to get it.
Amy swore under her breath when she was met with a locked office door. The barn door was also closed, but thankfully not locked. Giving it a tug, she winced at the squeak of the rollers on the old track. A horse inside nickered a greeting, probably thinking it was feeding time.
Holding her breath, Amy quickly, yet quietly, felt along the walls for a lightswitch, her fingers brushing over wood and bumping into leather. Her foot connected with an empty pail, sending it scraping across the concrete. She froze, listening for noise in the loft.
Ty jumped awake, sitting bolt upright on the old loft bed, the whole frame creaking.
Sucking in a breath, Amy was prepared to backpedal out of the barn and return to the house but when she didn’t hear any footsteps of Ty coming to investigate she decided to just keep going. It would take her just a second to eject the disk then duck out the office door so long as she could get there without falling on her face.
Ty remained still as he listened to the intruder maneuver about the dark space, failing at being quiet if that was their intention.
Amy. It had to be. What was she doing sneaking around at night again?
The opening and closing of drawers made him remember. Her dvd. The one he took and had sitting on his dresser. Shit.
It was gone. Amy’s stomach knotted when she ejected the tray from the computer to find it empty. She hoped whoever found it just put it in the case and tucked it away somewhere. Switching on the desk lamp she checked under the files and paperwork. When that came up empty, she started digging into the drawers, her search becoming less careful with each empty hiding spot.
“Looking for this.”
Amy let out an audible gasp, jerking around to face Ty in the doorway. Total deja vu.
“We really need to stop meeting like this,” he drawled, but Amy was focused on the slim case he held up between his fingers. Why did he have it?
“That’s mine.” Yet she made no move to take it back.
“You lied to me last night,” he accused, stepping forward and tossing the disk onto the desk in front of her. “You weren’t checking the weather.”
Amy swallowed, dropping her gaze to the case. “Did you watch it?”
Ty hesitated. Considered lying despite just calling Amy out on hers. “It was still running on the laptop.”
Heat rushed to her face. “You had no right,” she snapped, snatching up the disk and holding it protectively against her chest.
“Why didn’ you just tell me you were watching your sonogram footage?”
Anger flared in her chest. “Because it was private and I don’t need to tell you anything.”
Ty lifted his hands in a placating gesture. “Like I said, it was still running. I had to open it to properly shut it down.”
“Bullshit,” Amy hissed. “Then why did you take it?” When Ty didn’t have an answer for that accusation, Amy straightened into a defensive posture. “You waited for me to leave and went searching for proof that I lied.”
She wasn’t wrong. But the intention wasn’t malicious.
“If you’d told me the truth I wouldn’t have had to find it on my own,” he argued calmly, trying to keep his annoyance in check.
Amy bristled. “You know why I didn’t tell you the truth? Because I don’t trust you. Dancing with you tonight only reminded me of that.” Storming around the desk, she flipped the lock on the office door and shoved it open then slammed it behind her.
Ty flinched at the bang. Amy might as well have slapped him from the way her words stung. Though he wasn’t surprised to hear them, he was surprised by how they actually affected him. Amy hadn’t yet been able to trust anyone since she arrived except maybe Soraya and possibly Jack. Ty knew he did absolutely everything to destroy all chance of that. Gritting his teeth, he rushed out of the barn after her.
“Amy, wait.”
“God, can you just stop following me,” Amy growled around a clenched jaw.
Ty sped up. “Not until you talk to me.”
“I have nothing to say to you,” she yelled back. She didn’t realize how close Ty had gotten until he stepped in her path and she plowed right into his chest. Immediately her arms came between them to shove him away even though he lifted his hands out of the way to avoid touching her at all.
In the house, Jack woke to the commotion outside. His motion to sit up stirred Lisa. “What is it?”
“Don’t know,” he mumbled, swinging out of bed and reaching for his twelve gauge that he kept next to it. “Stay here.”
Lisa was wide awake at the sight of the gun. “Jack,” she whisper-hissed, her fingers brushing over the back of his shirt that she reached to grab too late. She scrambled out of bed after him, catching up as he was peering through the kitchen window. “What’s going on?”
He narrowed his sight to see into the dark. “Amy and Ty.”
Lisa’s eyes widened. “What?” She quickly moved to the window.
“Then just listen.” Ty didn’t yield his place in her path when Amy shoved him, just backed up a few steps. “I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have snooped.”
“Fine.” Amy muttered, skirting around him and heading for the porch.
“It’s okay to be scared,” he called.
Amy stalled at the top of the stairs, her breath hitching in her chest. Lisa and Jack both leaned down, watching the tense exchange curiously.
Ty moved closer until he was at the bottom of the steps. She waited for him to say more while he waited for her to take a running leap inside. For a full minute they remained at an impasse before Ty broke the silence. “Listen, I get it. Life threw you a curveball you weren’t at all prepared to deal with. Talking about it means facing it and when you aren’t ready to face it it becomes this… demon that haunts you. Torments you.”
Twisting around, Amy scowled down at him. Was he calling her baby a demon? She pressed her lips together to keep from retorting, waiting to see if he had a point.
“A while back I got involved with some bad people who convinced me to do some things for them. Illegal things. I got caught and spent five years in prison,” he continued, surprising Amy with his spontaneous confession. She didn’t expect to ever hear the details of Ty’s story. At least not directly from him. “When I got out last year I just wanted to find my way back to normal. I was a disaster for so long I burned all my bridges and then refused to face the reality I created for myself.” Seeing he had Amy’s attention Ty paused to take in a deep breath. “It took me almost losing my grandad to shake some sense into me.”
Lisa reached out to grip Jack’s arm, recalling his heart attack and then the harrowing months of recovery after. A time they’d all rather forget.
Amy’s face softened. “Why are you telling me this?”
“You’re not as alone here as you seem to think.” His shoulders rose in a nonchalant shrug before he turned to head back to the loft to sleep for a few more hours.
She didn’t know why, but watching Ty turn tail to the barn struck a nerve. “Says the guy who chooses to sleep in the barn rather than under the same roof as me.”
It was Ty’s turn to stop mid stride.
Amy leaned against the rail, gripping the wood tightly as she stared at his back. “Does it really bother you so much that I’m here?”
Ty sighed, knowing the short answer was not going to be received well. “Yes.” He turned around in time to see Amy press her lips in a thin line. Her jaw worked and she nodded, needing no further explanation. But Ty went on to give the long answer when she went for the door.
“It’s not… you. It’s the whole situation.” he blurted before she could slam his own front door in his face. When she turned to face him again he was back at the bottom of the steps.
“The. Situation.” Amy repeated, unsure of what that even meant. Was he talking about her pregnancy? Her father certainly liked to use that term when referring to it. Like it was something in need of handling. She looked down her nose at him, waiting.
“You coming here with this whole secret past none of us know about.”
“So it is me.” Amy shot back, cutting him off.
“No.” Ty ran an exasperated hand through his hair. How could he tell her he knew what happened without upsetting her? The answer was he couldn’t. At any rate, he didn’t know it for 100 percent certain. He had a theory that was supported by strong evidence. “I just think if we knew all the facts we’d be able to better help you.”
“You don’t seem to have any interest in helping me.” Amy folded her arms across her chest, hearing the lack of conviction in her own voice. Despite their bumpy start, the last couple days felt like things were maybe starting to smooth over.
That wasn’t true, but he could see how Amy would believe that. “Because you act like you don’t want to be helped. You’re clutching so desperately to your secrets like it’s you versus the world when it doesn’t have to be. But if we don’t know the whole story, we can’t protect you.” Ty took a step up, forcing Amy to step back. He retreated back to the ground.
Her arms tightened to her body and the hardness eased from her face to be replaced with weariness. “Why would you need to protect me?”
Ty hesitated while he weighed the heavy pros and cons of the can of worms he was about to open. In the end, he decided what did it matter if she already detested him anyway. “Who’s the father, Amy?”
Amy’s spine went rigid. “Just some guy,” she repeated her go-to brush off answer. Everyone assumed it was a one night stand gone wrong. She was fine with that. At least until people then believed her to be a loose woman. She wasn’t fine with that. Because then people seemed to think it gave them permission to proposition her.
“What’s his name?” Ty pushed, knowing he was trying his luck and uncomfortably close to repeating what happened in the barn last week. But he didn’t advance from his place at the bottom of the steps. If she wanted to run, the path was clear.
“It’s none of your business,” Amy replied curtly. The same answer she gave him countless times since her arrival.
“Maybe not. But it is his. And theirs.” He nodded toward her belly. “What are you going to say when they start asking questions about their father?”
“Again, not your business.” Amy didn’t say she hoped the father never found out. Ever. She didn’t want to see his face. She didn’t want to know. Her child, well, that could very likely be a problem for someone else.
“We need to get off this carousel sometime, Amy,” he sighed.
She frowned. “What?”
“Round and round we go with this same conversation until you storm off to sulk and I get read the riot act. Aren’t you tired? Cause I’m exhausted and it’s only been a week.”
Amy was tired. Exhausted, like Ty, perhaps moreso. Physically. Emotionally. The nightmares. The inmates. The prying questions. The uncertainty of her future. The constant fear of the truth outing her shame. Not to mention the unknown location of the man who was responsible for all of it. Knowing nothing of him was both a blessing and a curse.
“You won’t break me,” she answered, determination hardening her quiet tone.
Ty’s voice was gentle. “I doubt there’s anything left to break.”
Amy’s stomach clenched. She blinked rapidly to stay the sudden threat of tears and looked away from him. It scared her that he was able to figure her out so easily. She didn’t know what he discovered or assumed of her, but he managed to chisel away at the truth in spite of her best efforts to deter him. She was broken. Broken and barely hanging onto the few pieces of herself that remained.
“You’ve managed to find a few things,” she muttered, staring out toward the neglected garden.
“Well, that me didn’t understand the type of broken you are.” The kind that needed gentle guidance rather than a harsh reality check.
Her gaze shifted from the garden to Ty who was looking at her with an expression that seemed foreign on his face. A gentleness she was unfamiliar with. “And what type of broken is that?”
“You’ve lost your trust in people. They hurt you. Abandoned you.” He paused. “Tormented you.” Slowly, Ty took the step again and remained when Amy didn’t back away. “You’re not unlike the horses we work with here.”
Amy scoffed and looked away.
“I’m not trying to insult you,” Ty went on. “I’m just explaining how I came to understand you. How I came to understand why Jack brought you here.”
“And yet you say I don’t belong.”
Ty sucked in a breath. “It’s the inmates that worry me. I never thought it was a good idea to have someone like you here with them. After the episode with Hank, I thought you’d feel the same.”
Amy shuddered at the memory of being cornered by Hank. The intense way he looked at her like he could see the truth written on her forehead. “He does make me uncomfortable.” And yet the things he said had her desperate to find out more of what he knew.
“I know. Because he knew you.” Ty lifted a hand when Amy’s head shot up. “Not like that.” Except it was like that but that was the last thing Amy needed to hear right then. “I mean he saw you. Your pain. He knew what broke you because he’s seen it before.”
I already know your story. Amy’s heart thumped fast and heavy, visible by the deep rise and fall of her chest. Then why had he acted as he had? To get it out of her? Or because he knew she was already damaged so maybe she wouldn’t put up much of a fight.
Ty could see the fright ignite in her eyes. She looked like a deer about to bound off into the forest to get away from danger. But he came this far. “Hank is serving a life sentence for murder. The man he killed… the man he killed raped three people.” People. Kids. Ty spared her the horrific details.
Amy jerked back, her breaths coming faster and louder. “No.” She shook her head, tears blurring her vision. She was shaking. The floodgates on her memories burst open and the whole horrifying night rushed forth.
“That’s what happened, isn’t it? You were raped.” The word cut through the air like a knife. It might as well have been.
Ty’s voice echoed in her head, overlapping with another voice. A deeper, more sinister baritone. Amy’s hands flew to clamp hard over her ears, wanting to shut them all up. “Stop!”
Whether she was yelling at Ty or the memories pounding through her was impossible to tell. Ty felt a sharp jab in his chest at the sight of Amy crumbling to the floor. Of her walls she so painstakingly guarded being reduced to rubble as the truth blew through them.
“Amy.” He spoke her name gently, climbing the next step to reach for her.
Lisa moved for the door but Jack grabbed her wrist, giving his head a silent shake. She looked at him with a pained expression that Jack almost couldn’t stand to see. He wanted to rush out onto the porch along with her but knew this was a moment Amy and Ty needed to get through. After all of the turmoil and fighting between them, each misinterpreting and misunderstanding the other, now was their chance to clear the air. Interrupting might cause Amy to balk and close up again. Lisa seemed to be able to read it all on Jack’s face and shifted back to lean against him at the window.
“Don’t!” Amy gasped, seeing the motion and moving away from it. “Please, don’t. I-I can’t.” She couldn’t bear it. Not just the touch, but the pity, the heartbroken look on Ty’s face.
Ty stopped, his hand fisting and flexing at his sides as he fought the urge to ignore her plea anyway. Instead, he slowly turned to sit on the step below where she collapsed, outside of the invisible fence she erected around herself. “You don’t know who it was?”
Her head shook in response while she took breaths to calm herself down. “I didn’t see his face. I didn’t… I didn’t even tell anyone.” A sob broke out and she lowered her head into her hands, covering her face and wishing she could get away from the place Ty took her to with his questions. Yet she answered them because there was a part of her that knew she needed to. She needed to tell someone the truth. The whole truth. Hiding behind her trauma did nothing but isolate her and make her an easy target.
“Until you realized you were pregnant.” He guessed, wanting to get the whole story. He didn’t know if now was the right time for it, but even getting it in pieces was better than remaining ignorant to Amy’s suffering.
She nodded, sniffing and wiping at her nose. Ty remained quiet while she gathered herself. Brushing away her tears didn’t do much but make room for more of them.
“My dad he…” Clearing her throat, Amy inhaled a deep breath. “He was acting… strange. He’s always been on edge because of the drugs and unsolicited visits from his dealers and bookies but it was worse right before it happened. And after…” Her voice faltered. “He kept watching me. Like he was looking for the signs, waiting for me to break. He knew what happened even without me saying it and I think he knows who did it. But I was too scared to ask. I didn’t want to know. I don’t want to know. It was easier, safer, to pretend it just didn’t happen.”
Her face crumpled again and Ty fought to keep his hands firmly to himself. He didn’t know much about Tim Fleming except what Jack told him, but he spent enough of his own time in that world to know how retaliatory tactics worked. If Tim owed his dealers money and didn’t square up, they would have gone after his family to make him pay. They would have gone after Amy. Rape, brutal as it was on its own, was not the worst they could have done. She could have been taken and tortured, maimed in some irreversible way. Or killed.
“Then I started to sense my body changing. I missed a period, then two. I tried to ignore it. Willed fate to intervene. Eventually, I bought a test because I needed to know. When the result was positive I…” The air shuddered out of her lungs. “I shut down. Refused to acknowledge it. My dad went ahead and made an appointment for me at a clinic. All I wanted was for it to go away so I was… relieved that he made the choice for me.” Tears fell from her eyes onto the step and she began to slowly rock back and forth to comfort herself. “I didn’t want to have to live with that night for the rest of my life. To look at my body, or God forbid a baby, and be reminded of the horrible thing that happened to me.”
Ty didn’t dare interrupt Amy’s story. She was finally sharing the dark truth of what happened to her and he doubted she’d be willing to do it again. When she paused to catch her breath, wiping at the stream of tears rolling down her face, Ty glanced toward the kitchen window where he saw Lisa and Jack hovering at the sink. The window was still cracked open from Amy’s earlier cleaning spree, allowing them to hear everything. He didn’t know how long they’d been there. Judging by the way Lisa’s hand was pressed to her mouth and her eyes welled with tears, long enough. He didn’t bring Amy’s attention to them. Frankly, he was surprised either one of them managed to remain inside. From the way Jack’s hands gripped Lisa’s shoulders, he was probably holding her in place. Anchoring himself to her. Ty looked away from them when Amy lifted her head again to take a sniffling breath.
“Obviously I didn’t go through with the abortion,” she continued quietly, her voice a rasp. She cleared her throat. “Guilt set in at the eleventh hour. The nurse called my name and I couldn’t move.” She remembered the waves of nausea bringing awareness to the life inside of her. Images of a tiny beating heart, little fingers and toes. She’d bolted from the clinic and never went back.
“My father was upset,” she went on. “Not… angry, but scared. Frantic. He didn’t understand why I wouldn’t terminate. We fought. Said nasty, hurtful things to each other.” Amy’s lip trembled remembering their fights, especially the one when he told her he was sending her away. To Heartland.
“Why Heartland?” Ty said finally, his first words in quite some time. His voice was gentle but tight with restrained emotion.
Amy’s shoulders lifted in a slow shrug. “I don’t know. I think it was a last resort. He kept saying it was for the best. That I’d be safe here.”
Ty bit his lip, knowing he’d asked the question before and gotten nowhere. “Safe from what?”
Amy blinked, her eyes red and glistening with tears. She leaned forward to rest her forearms on her knees, her blonde hair falling in a curtain in front of her face. She went quiet, continuing to rock. This time Ty didn’t press for an answer, merely waited her out. When she didn’t tense up, snap at him, or storm off, he knew the walls were coming down.
“A week or so before…” her breath hitched and she trailed off, but Ty could fill in the unspoken words. “I came home from class to two men in our apartment. One had my father up against the wall with a gun to his head while the other trashed the place looking for something. It wasn’t the first time someone paid a visit looking for money he owed them.”
Amy was talking so slowly, so carefully choosing her words as if testing her pain threshold before continuing onto the next piece of the story. Ty never focused so intently on anything in his life, hanging on her every word.
“When they saw me, they grabbed me.”
Everyone stopped breathing. Not a peep was made. Lisa’s free hand flew up to clutch Jack’s on her shoulder.
“I-I’d been threatened before. Propositioned. But never touched. They would always come to rough up my father, make their point and maybe leave with some of what he owed. But they always left me alone. I wasn’t responsible for his debts.” She whispered the last sentence in a way that felt like it was a mantra she used. That Tim’s choices were his own and she was merely innocent in the line of fire.
Amy’s eyes closed as her breathing turned ragged. She could feel the pain of the fist in her hair, the sharp sting of a knife at her throat. Her hand went to her neck, rubbing it to ease away the memory.
“Pretty little thing you have here, Tim.” Amy shied away when the man holding her leaned to brush his mouth along her cheek. He nicked her neck with the blade jerking her into his hard chest.
“Please, “ Tim croaked from across the room. “I’ll have what I owe you tomorrow. All of it. Just leave my daughter be.”
The gunman stepped away, lifting his finger from the trigger and tapping it against his temple in thought. “I’ll tell you what, Tim. I’ll cut you a break.” He used the weapon to point at Tim. “I’ll take half of what you owe.” He swung the gun to Amy, who froze at the sight of the barrel. “The rest can be repaid by another means.”
His wicked grin made Amy feel sick. What was worse was the way Tim went quiet as if he were actually considering the deal. “Dad!” She exclaimed, horrified by the possibility of her own father trading her to save himself.
Her shout snapped him out of it and he shook his head. “You’ll get your money.”
“Pity.” Knife’s breath was hot against her ear, sending a cold shiver down her spine. “We could have had some fun with this one.”
“Let her go,” Gun growled.
Knife’s jaw tightened at the command, but he lowered the blade from Amy’s throat and released his death grip. She backed away, making sure to keep him within her sight. “How much does he owe?”
“Fifteen,” Gun answered.
“Hundred?” She had almost half that in her bag, maybe if she gave it to them now they’d give them some time to come up with the rest.
“Thousand,” Knife corrected, the corner of his mouth lifting in a malicious smirk like he already knew there was no way Tim could pay.
The color drained from Amy’s face. Her eyes darted to her father who looked terrified and ashamed, as he very well should. “What did you do?” She whispered through a hiss of air.
“Lost on a sure thing.” Gun mocked him. Tim swallowed, his gaze drifting to a far corner of the room.
Gambling. On what, it didn’t matter. Tim would gamble on the weather. “You promised me you would stop this!” Amy yelled, her hands balling into tight fists. She knew better. But every time still held onto hope that this time her dad would put in the effort. She needed to stop giving him so much credit, then she couldn’t be disappointed when he neglected to follow through.
“As much as I enjoy family drama, I have other business,” Gun said, tucking the weapon back in its holster beneath his jacket. “Twenty-four hours, Tim.” He glanced at the clock. “7:42 tomorrow evening. 15 grand, or seven and the girl.”
Amy’s heart lurched in her chest. Seven thousand dollars was even too much for them. She doubted they had anything worth anywhere close to that.
Knife was leering at her as they headed for the door. Amy shuffled backward to avoid their path but he snatched her arm on his way past pulling her against him. “See you tomorrow, sweetheart.” She refused to look at him, to acknowledge his threat. He let go and she jerked away. Neither of them moved until the door was shut then Amy ran to lock it.
“How did you get the money?” Ty asked, knowing she wasn’t attacked until a week later, so they must have come up with the cash.
In telling the story, Amy fell into a sort of trance reliving the night. Her tears stopped and her voice took on a monotone. Ty’s voice cut through the memory. She sat back on the step, pressing her hands between her knees. “Lou.”
“Your sister?”
Amy nodded. “She’s an investment banker in New York. Ironic, eh?” She snorted. “She was helping me pay for school. I told her I wanted to take a summer session so I could graduate sooner and the deadline to enroll in classes was closing.” Lying to Lou had been difficult. She was paying for her college to ensure Amy had a chance at a better, more stable future. “If I said the money was for our father’s debts, she never would have sent it. And then I don’t know what would have happened.” Maybe the same thing that did. Maybe they’d just kill her father. Regardless, the outcome wouldn’t have been any better.
Ty mulled over the details of Amy’s story. The two men, their threats. “Those men. The one that grabbed you.” Ty’s words were calm, quiet as if speaking to a frightened horse. “Could it have been him who hurt you?”
Amy’s chest tightened. “I told you, I didn’t see his face.”
Ty hesitated, leaning back against the rail. The calm that came over Amy was slipping away again the closer they got to digging into the details of her assault. The time surrounding it seemed to be a safer place, but the event itself was still understandably raw. He was torn between pushing and letting it go since Amy didn’t quite answer his question about what her father was trying to protect her from. If he had to guess he’d say it was the two men who threatened her. If she didn’t see her attacker’s face, that meant he intentionally kept it covered so she couldn’t identify him. Which meant she had to have seen it before. A week prior.
“But you do know, don’t you?” Ty pressed, realization dawning. “You heard his voice.”
Contrary to what Ty told her, the front door was not, in fact, locked when Lisa tried to open it. Giving it a push, she looked back at Ty in the yard who just lifted his hands in defeat. Every other time Amy ran off to hide in the house, she bolted the doors behind her.
“Amy?” Lisa called as she made her way through the house in search of the young woman. There weren’t many places for her to go, so when Lisa didn’t see her in the kitchen or living room she went to her bedroom. The door was closed which she took as a good indication that Amy was inside.
Amy sat on the edge of the bed with her head toward her knees, breathing slowly in the dark. Trying to bend completely over was uncomfortable, so she improvised. She ignored Lisa’s voice to focus on calming down. She felt stupid, knowing Ty made her uncomfortable and still agreeing to a dance with him. He’d been popping up all day in all of the wrong places, already setting her nerves on edge. Forcing herself to allow him in her space didn’t have the effect she intended. Somehow she hoped that she could override her anxiety toward Ty by replacing the negative with some positive. Clearly, her theory was flawed.
“Amy? Honey?”
The gentle knock on her door made Amy jump, lifting her head at Lisa’s voice on the other side. She stared at the stained wood, willing the older woman to just leave her be and go back to the party. She didn’t want to be the reason Lisa didn’t get to enjoy her first night home.
Lisa waited patiently in the hall, listening for any noise on the other side. The utter stillness told her that Amy was listening right back, probably trying to wait her out.
If not for the guests in the yard, Lisa would have no problem standing there until Amy was ready to open up. But it would be rude of her to disappear for too long when she was the one they came to celebrate. Still, she wanted to make sure Amy was alright. Ty pulled her aside to explain what he deduced about Amy’s past. Information that wasn’t shared with them before they agreed to offer her a place to stay at Heartland. Jack didn’t ask Tim Fleming for the details when he didn’t freely offer them and Lisa didn’t press Jack to find out. The bottom line was this pregnant young girl needed someplace safe to go away from Vancouver and they had the space and ability to provide it.
“You don’t have to open the door, just let me know you’re alright,” Lisa urged gently.
Breathing slow and steady, Amy unfolded from the bed and reached for the knob. Hearing it twist, Lisa took a step back to give Amy some space when she did finally pull the door open.
“I’m alright,” Amy answered. Her hand was tight around the inside knob to keep her grounded to something solid. “I’m sorry if I caused a scene. I didn’t mean to pull you away from your party.” She was already enough of a spectacle and didn’t need to make it any worse for herself.
“Oh, you didn’t.” At least not that Lisa noticed. A few people saw Amy go inside but she doubted any of them realized she’d been upset. “What happened, Amy? I saw you and Ty dancing. Did he say something to upset you?” According to Ty, that answer was no, but he still suspected that it was him Amy ran from. Given the rocky start the two of them had, it was a logical conclusion, but if Ty’s suspicions were accurate then there was a deeper reason.
Amy’s gaze lowered from Lisa’s, her hand anxiously twisting the door handle with her death grip. “No. He didn’t do anything wrong.” This time. Except ask her to dance. Stupid her for thinking she might be able to handle it. “I just, um-” She took a breath, trying to find a safe explanation and bring herself to share it.
Seeing Amy struggle to open up was painful. Not in a pitiful sort of way, but heartbreaking. It was clear she was dealing with a lot of inner turmoil that Lisa could only begin to imagine. Jack mentioned she was having a difficult time trusting anyone. Lisa could see that now while waiting for Amy to decide what snippet of truth she chose to share. Enough that hopefully satisfied an answer.
“I just think I pushed myself a little too hard.” It wasn’t a lie. She tested waters she knew might be too deep but thought maybe she’d be able to tread enough to keep her afloat.
Lisa nodded, her expression soft. “You’ve only been here a week. I’m sure a party like this is overwhelming when you barely know us as it is. Still, you did a wonderful job putting it together.”
Amy blushed at the praise. “Putting it together was a good distraction. It was fun and did help me get better acquainted with the town.” Her sweaty grip relaxed on the handle. “I think I had enough socializing for tonight, though,” she admitted, wanting the excuse to hole up in her room without interruption.
“Understandable. Ty was just worried when you took off.” Amy’s surprised expression said a lot, but Lisa didn’t comment. She didn’t see a reason to bring up what Ty told her if it could potentially upset Amy again.
“I’m fine,” Amy reiterated, wincing internally at the passive phrase Ty called her out for using in place of expressing actual thoughts and feelings.
Lisa hesitated. “If you’re sure…”
“I’m sure.”
“Okay. I still want to catch up. Have a little girl time? What do you say to lunch tomorrow?”
Girl time. Amy couldn’t remember the last time ever having that. The last few days with Soraya were probably the closest thing. She enjoyed being busy and for once not having to think about the heavy decision she made and will have to still. But she had a feeling girl time with Lisa wouldn’t be quite the same. Still, it was time away from the confines of the ranch. Her new deal with Jack at least made her feel less trapped. It was just going to take a bit for her to work up the nerve to venture out entirely on her own. Little trips like the one Lisa offered would help.
“Yeah, alright.”
“Great. Well, I’ll leave you to rest.” Lisa didn’t anticipate the party lasting much longer anyway. Aside from the young people in Ty and Soraya’s friend group who would move along elsewhere to continue hanging out if they wanted, any of the other guests would likely start heading out shortly. Weekends didn’t mean much when it came to ranching or equestrian sports.
Amy offered a light smile, lingering in the doorway until Lisa left her alone to return to the party. Her whole body sagged with weariness and she climbed back onto the bed after shutting the door behind her. Out the window she could see the lights Jack and Ty strung across the yard. Caleb changed the music back to something more upbeat and the murmur of voices through the closed window didn’t exactly offer a calming effect. Though exhausted, Amy wasn’t quite tired enough to sleep.
Slipping out of bed, she padded to the window to look out at the gathering of people she spent all evening observing with keen interest. There were so many smiles and friendly gestures. Laughter frequently broke through conversations to carry across the yard. Amy’s heart ached with longing when she realized this was something she was missing in her life. Family. She had her dad and her sister, Lou, of course. But both made it clear she and her condition were just a burden. Things to be passed off as someone else’s problem. And they hadn’t been truly happy, or together, in quite some time.
Folding her hands over her belly, Amy stared out into the yard. These people actually cared about her. Cared enough to worry that she might be in trouble other than having a child out of wedlock. Cared enough to want the whole truth so they could be prepared for whatever that trouble might be.
Amy bit her lip. As far as she knew she wasn’t in that kind of trouble. Her father’s debt had been paid. Though she kept telling herself it was because of the pregnancy that he sent her away, she didn’t fully believe it. He wasn’t perfect by any means. He struggled with addiction after addiction. Drugs, booze, gambling. Tim Fleming was a mess and not what many would call a fit parent. In fact, Amy acted more like his parent since her mom died, making sure he ate and showered and the bills were paid before the money could disappear. Despite all of that, Amy knew her dad loved her. That sending her to Heartland was his way of saying she deserved better. She didn’t want to believe it was because he fucked up and once again put her in the line of fire.
Lisa rejoined the fray, her smile wider than the kind simper she shared with Amy. Ty wandered over and they had a short conversation that ended with him looking toward her window. Amy stilled when he fixated on the dark panes, wondering if he could see her standing there watching. It was eerie, the way he seemed to see right through her. The way they all could sense there was more going on. Ty just seemed to lack the empathy of Jack and Lisa. Maybe that had to do with his time in prison. It hardened him. Made him see people and the world differently. Amy’s trauma certainly had the same effect on her. Perhaps Jack was right: she and Ty had a lot more in common than they were willing to admit.
__
Ty could indeed see Amy in the window. The string of lights across the yard provided enough of a warm glow to frame her silhouette.
“It wasn’t anything you did, Ty.” Lisa told him. “She just overdid it today, is all.”
Ty didn’t believe that to be the whole truth. Because this entire week all he did was plant fear and apprehension in Amy’s mind. He didn’t seek to do it on purpose. He just wanted to understand why she was there at all. Why her father reached out to his grandad in search of a place to send his pregnant daughter. That wasn’t a decision made on a whim for no discernible reason. But this last week made things somewhat clearer. Even if he didn’t know the specifics, Ty figured out enough to change his perspective on the whole thing. Too little, too late, though, it seemed.
A short time later, the first guest initiated a parade of departures until Caleb saw no reason to keep up the music and shut everything down. The few people who remained were scattered about tables in intimate conversation. Soraya went to cover any leftovers and help with some preliminary clean up. Ty joined her.
“Where’d Amy get off to?” she asked, holding open a trash bag for Ty to drop in a handful of plates.
“The house. She went to bed early.” He didn’t elaborate.
Soraya was quiet for a moment, debating on whether or not to ask about Kit’s brief appearance. They were both good friends but ever since things fell apart when Ty was away it felt like she was being pulled in different directions. Thankfully, neither made her choose a side but being Switzerland wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. It was why she found herself spending so much time with Caleb lately, another mutual party just wanting to keep the peace.
“I saw Kit decided to come after all,” she commented absently, tossing a cup in her bag. She glanced up at Ty to catch his reaction, of which there was almost none. He kept cleaning as if he hadn’t heard her.
“She didn’t storm off in a cloud of dust,” Soraya tried again, inching her cleaning route closer. It appeared she was just going to have to ask point blank. “Did you guys finally manage to come to a consensus?”
“About what?” Ty grumbled, gathering serving spoons into a tray to bring into the house.
Dropping the bag at his feet Soraya folded her arms in front of her. “Come on, Ty. You know about what.”
With a sigh, Ty tilted his head back toward the night sky as if asking the ethereal world for patience. “She wants to meet for coffee to ‘talk’.” Though he didn’t use air quotes, his tone implied them.
“Okay. And?”
Ty lowered his head to look at her with a frown. “And, what?”
“You’re going, right?” Ty’s silence was answer enough. One that Soraya wouldn’t accept. “Ty. As your friend, I’m going to tell you that Kit is still holding onto hope of you two reconciling.”
Reconciling. “I don’t see that happening.” Not after so long and certainly not after their most recent arguments. It just felt like their time was up. That there was nothing left of them to salvage.
“Then you need to tell her that. You guys need to have some closure. Maybe your romantic relationship is over, but you can still be friends. We were all inseparable once upon a time.” Soraya missed that. But they were adults now and life stripped them apart despite still living in the same town. Ty went to prison; Caleb and Kit went off to be rodeo stars until an accident ended Caleb’s career and he had to switch gears. Soraya was the only one still in the same place she was in highschool running her mom’s diner. She saw everything from behind the counter, heard everyone’s story one on one. Feelings and thoughts that needed to be expressed directly to the person they were about to avoid awkward and tense situations such as the one between Ty and Kit.
It shouldn’t have irritated him that Soraya was right, but it did. Probably because it would make him even more of a complete asshole if he blew Kit off when that’s exactly what he wanted to do. He’d been doing it for the last few years. First when she tried to visit him in prison then when he got out. The excuses were easy then. Now, he’d run out of them. His life was still a mess, but not as bad as it had been last year. Until Amy arrived, things almost felt normal again.
“I’m not so sure we can go back to being just friends.” Meaning, Ty wasn’t sure Kit would accept that without immediately jumping to the Amy conclusion.
“So you’re just going to avoid her forever? It’s too small a town for that, Ty.”
“She’ll be back on the circuit soon enough,” he reasoned lamely.
Soraya rolled her eyes. “You’re such a damn chicken, Borden. Just talk to her and clear the air.”
“Alright, fine.” He didn’t even know why he bothered to argue. All he did was feel guilty over ghosting his girlfriend and never officially breaking up. It was fair for Kit to seek clarity, he just didn’t think she was going to take it well.
People watching was a hell of a pastime. You could learn so much about an individual as well as overall human nature by just observing behaviors and mannerisms of fellow man. Amy spent a great deal of the evening doing just that from her place at the wooden picnic table. She chatted with Soraya for a majority of the time who introduced her to a few of her own friends that showed up, but aside from Ty and Jack, she knew no one well enough to engage in deep conversation. She learned Jack and Lisa were a true opposites attract love story based simply on the clash of rustic cowboys and posh equestrians mingling in the yard. It wasn’t a huge crowd, but enough to make it easy for her to become invisible.
Wherever Lisa drifted in the crowd, Jack wasn’t far behind. Amy wondered if he even noticed how he gravitated toward his wife. She found herself spending a lot of time watching them interact within the venn diagram of their marriage. It was as fascinating as it was inspiring. Amy knew better than to believe in the fairytale she imagined for their love story without even knowing all of it. Jack’s brooding while Lisa was gone for those few months said a lot. She was sure that was probably the root of some arguments over the years. So far as Amy understood, Heartland was Lisa’s home base, but she still owned and operated quite a lucrative farm of her own not far from there, as well as her breeding investments in France.
Feeling eyes on her, Amy’s gaze drifted toward Caleb who grinned and waved, beckoning her over. He arrived not long after Lisa to set up the music, getting into an argument with Soraya over the playlist he was supposed to send her yesterday but didn’t. Amy kept out of what felt like a lover’s quarrel, though spent much of the afternoon waiting for the tension to snap between him and Jack. Caleb didn’t entirely ignore his old boss, but there was clear animosity in their curt pleasantries. They hadn’t spoken a word in the last couple hours since the party came into full swing.
Sighing, Amy stood and wandered over, figuring she could use another drink anyway.
“You looked a bit lonely sitting there. Wanna give it a try?” Caleb lifted the headphones from his ears and held them open for Amy, who hesitated.
“I really have no idea what I’d be doing.”
Caleb only shrugged and dropped the headphones over her head. “Neither do I, really. But I sure look cool doing it.”
Amy resisted the urge to roll her eyes while she shifted over in front of a control board that looked like a complicated network of dials and buttons all backlit by neon LEDs. The entire thing was hooked up to a laptop where Caleb’s Soraya-approved playlist displayed.
“So, I just pick a song?” She scrolled through the list. “Then what?”
Reaching around Caleb explained the Cue and Sync buttons, allowing her to mess around with the transitioning of songs further down the track. Then he tapped the large round platter in the middle, indicating to her to spin it. She jumped, laughing as the track scratched like an old school record. It was a cool device to mess around with but after two songs she’d had her fill and handed Caleb back his headphones. “Thanks, that was neat.”
“Anytime,” he grinned. “So how are you liking Hudson?”
Amy looked out toward the crowd. At Lisa who was in the middle of regaling a small group with a story and Jack who smiled warmly while he listened. At Soraya who was laughing at something her friend Jen showed her on her phone. Then her eyes landed on Ty leaning up against the fence sipping from a red solo cup and nodding absently at something their vet, Scott, was saying. “It’s not exactly what I expected.” Was it a surprise to hear Ty spent time in prison? Yeah. But could she believe it? Also, yeah.
“Is that good, or bad?”
Amy shrugged. “Both. But I’m here for the foreseeable future so I just have to take it in stride, I suppose.” Her attention lingered on Ty while she answered, which she only realized when he glanced up to find her looking in his direction. Blinking, Amy turned away to give Caleb a smile. “So what do you do when you’re not-” She mimed scratching a record, missing the way Ty’s expression hardened at the ease with which Amy was able to be so close to Caleb when she could barely stand to be within three feet of anyone else. He didn’t get it. Then reminded himself that there were a lot of unknowns when it came to Amy. He just wished it didn’t annoy him so much to be left in the dark.
“I’m a rodeo stock contractor,” Caleb replied, moving around tracks on the controller to keep the playlist running.
“I have no idea what that means,” Amy shook her head, passing a sideways glance toward Ty who was no longer against the fence. Her head swiveled to find where he wandered off to but Caleb’s explanation demanded her attention.
“The short of it is I buy roughstock for rodeos. Broncs, bulls, steer. Ever been?”
Amy’s brow lifted. “To a rodeo? No. Coming to Heartland is the first time I’ve been within touching distance of a horse.”
“Well, we’ll have to get you to one some time.” His smile was wide, genuine. Amy once again wondered if this was him flirting or merely trying to make friends. Her attention moved to Soraya. No way was she about to let herself get involved in another undefined, yet clearly drawn relationship.
“Uh, yeah, I’ll tag along with Soraya next time she goes.” The name drop was intentional. She needed to gauge Caleb’s reaction to the idea of Soraya potentially cock-blocking his chances.
“Alright, awesome.” Caleb merely continued grinning, seemingly oblivious to his questionable signals.
Amy let out a breath, more confident now that he was merely just trying to be nice. Otherwise, he probably would have preferred she went alone, right?
“That BBQ is calling my name again. Thanks for-” she waved a hand over the table, smiling as she stepped away toward the cooler to grab another can of ginger ale on her way back to the food table. As great as Maggie’s chili was, Stumpy’s pork barbeque was going to undoubtedly turn into a craving. She idly wondered if she could get Jack to talk him into making a large enough batch for her to freeze.
The music quieted as Caleb changed to a slower song, increasing the volume instead on the cacophony of conversation.
“You and Caleb looked pretty buddy-buddy.”
Dropping the tongs with a clatter, Amy shot Ty her signature glare. Pop-up book from hell, indeed. “Jealous?” Stupid thing to conclude, but why else would Ty care that she was talking to Caleb?
“Because you seem perfectly fine with him hovering in your personal space? No. Just curious as to why.” Grabbing for a plate, Ty put himself deliberately in her space when he had to lean near her to reach.
Amy stilled at the closeness, but otherwise didn’t flinch away. Her jaw tightened when Ty purposely lingered inside her invisible fence for a few seconds longer than necessary. She breathed again when he leaned away, though still watched her closely while waiting for some kind of response.
“What are you even talking about?” She avoided eye contact while loading a bun with a heap of barbeque.
“You know what I’m talking about,” Ty insisted quietly, taking the tongs when she shifted down for the cole slaw.
“No,” Amy replied sharply. “I don’t.” She continued shuffling down the length of the buffet, putting distance between them that Ty continued breaching.
“Okay. Pretend you didn’t jump out of your skin that day you ran into me in the barn. Or how you freeze any time someone even comes close to touching you. That is if you don’t jerk away first.” He kept his voice low enough for only her to hear, glancing around them to ensure no one else was close enough to eavesdrop. He might want answers, but the whole town didn’t need to know their business.
“Oh.” Reaching the end of the table, Amy grabbed a napkin. “Yeah, see there is this little thing called boundaries. I like mine.” Nevermind the fact that he cornered her and scared her half to death once already.
“Right.” Ty shook his head but didn’t push. Amy gave him a look as if asking if that was all before returning to her spot at the picnic table where she’d been pretty much all evening.
Gathering his plate, Ty nearly walked right into Kit when he turned around. Her appearance startled him, figuring by now she didn’t plan on showing up. “Ah, hey.”
The tension was palpable as she gave him a tight-lipped smile. “Hey.”
“Did you just get here?”
“Not long ago, I-” she paused. “I wasn’t sure if I was even going to come.”
Understandable. Selfishly, Ty hoped she wouldn’t have if only to avoid this awkward encounter. “Well, Lisa will be happy to see you and there’s plenty of food.”
The disappointment on Kit’s face at Ty’s reply was clear, but he didn’t know what she expected to happen. Claiming he was glad to see her would be a lie and would probably lead to yet another misunderstanding.
Saving her dignity, Kit didn’t push for a conversation that would likely end the same as their last. Even she knew now wasn’t the best time. “She was, yeah. It’s nice to have her back.”
Ty nodded in agreement. A strained silence spread between them before Kit broke it. “I’m just, uh, gonna grab a plate to go. I really only came for Stumpy’s barbeque.”
Though he didn’t fully believe that, Ty chuckled. “I promise not to tell Lisa.”
Kit’s laugh was strained. “Thanks.”
“Have a good night, then,” Ty said, finding no reason to continue lingering.
“Hey,” Kit said, stopping him. “Do you think we could try our last conversation again? Maybe over coffee?”
And there it was. “You’re the one who drove away, Kit.” After pretty much accusing him of having a relationship with Amy of all people.
“I know and I realize that maybe I wasn’t being fair. I want to have a chance to get everything out in the open.”
“I told you everything,” Ty insisted. “You didn’t want to hear it.”
Pressing her lips together, Kit’s chin trembled like she was trying to hold back tears. “I’m sorry. I heard the gossip and it struck me off guard. I’m ready to listen.”
Maybe it was his perpetual guilt over how he treated Kit white he was gone, but somehow Ty found himself agreeing. “Okay. Sure.”
Kit let out a relieved breath. “Great. I’ll call you tomorrow?”
“Um, sure, yeah.” Unfortunately, he couldn’t use the inmates as an excuse over the weekend. He didn’t know see how yet another discussion of his fuck ups and lack of communication would change anything, but he backed himself into this corner on his own and now he needed to see it through.
—-------
Flustered and having lost his appetite, Ty joined Amy at the picnic table. Amy lifted her eyes slowly from her plate, narrowing them with suspicion when Ty sat across from her. There were plenty of other places for him to sit. Like with Kit, for instance. But he wasn’t paying her any attention, instead watching Kit at the buffet so Amy went back to eating.
“I think I messed up.” Ty said suddenly.
Amy glanced up then around, wondering if he was talking to someone else. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
“With Kit.”
Amy sat up straighter, putting her hands up. “Uh, uh. Your girlfriend, your problem. I’m not getting involved with your lover’s quarrel again.” Last time it was accidental, she sure as hell wasn’t about to do it by choice.
Ty scoffed, turning back toward Kit only to find her gone. “That’s fair.”
“Damn right it is,” Amy grumbled before shoveling a forkful of food in her mouth.
Pushing his plate back, Ty stood and reached his hand over the table. “Let’s dance.”
The dumbfounded look Amy gave him was almost comical with a mouthful of barbeque. “Wh-what?”
“Dance.” He wiggled his fingers at her.
Amy stared at his hand while she swallowed her bite of food. “I-I don’t-”
“If you don’t know how that’s fine, you’ll learn if you’re here long enough.” They were invited to and hosted enough gatherings that Amy would have ample opportunity.
The shock wore off to be once again replaced with suspicion. “Why are you being nice all of the sudden?”
Because he was trying to test a theory. Instead of answering, Ty merely continued to stare her down with his hand out in invitation.
“What about Kit?” Amy asked, looking around the yard at the gathering of people. She was grasping at straws now.
“I don’t see her, do you?” In a way he was relieved for that, though probably wouldn’t have asked if she was still there. That was something he’d have to unravel with himself later, preferably before he had coffee with Kit. “Besides, it’s not like you guys are in competition.”
Amy frowned, unsure how to take that comment. Ultimately, she decided he was right. She wasn’t vying for Ty’s affections, so if Kit wanted to lay claim she could do so without a fight. Amy just didn’t want to be accused of something she didn’t do.
Out of excuses, Amy sighed and got up. She didn’t accept Ty’s hand but walked around the table to join him on the patch of grass designated as a dance floor. Amy still hesitated when Ty held his hands up again for her to take. She chewed the inside of her cheek feeling the regret sinking in. She should have declined. Giving herself into his hands put her in a place she might not be able to escape.
“We don’t have to.” Ty said, though kept his hands open in front of him.
Amy glanced at the people around them. Witnesses in all directions. Then she placed her palm against Ty’s, sucking in air when his fingers curled around her hand, the other finding her waist, connecting them together. She placed her free hand on his shoulder.
He moved and she nearly tripped over his feet in her distraction. Then stiffened in his grasp when his hold tightened to steady her. “Wow, you are pretty bad at this, aren’t you?” He teased, covering up the fumble and trying to take her mind away from her fear. She was a ball of solid anxiety in his hands, her movements stiff and her attention somewhere other than him.
His voice focused her attention, though, and when Ty moved again, Amy matched his steps. “Not many opportunities to dance in the city.”
“I seem to recall Vancouver having a stellar nightlife. Though they’re not necessarily dancing the two-step.”
Amy knew all about Vancouver’s club scene. Being a college student made it almost mandatory to spend weekends on the town or suffer FOMO come Monday. Freshman year was the time to explore and experiment. To live and learn before getting serious in the next few years. Live was precisely what Amy did, but the lesson learned was harsher than she ever expected.
Ty sensed Amy’s mind drift when her eyes stared over his shoulder. “I take it the club scene wasn’t really your thing.”
“Not really,” she answered quietly. It was too loud, too crowded. Too many bodies grinding up against one another beneath strobing lights that only succeeded in giving her a headache. Yet her decision to leave put her in more danger than staying would have wasted her night. Leaving in a group was always safer than alone.
The memory caused anxiety to bleed through her veins, her heart leaping into a sprint. Ty could feel her tense further, her hand sweating in his. Looking in her eyes, her pupils dilated to nearly consume the bright blue iris. She jerked away from him, her mouth opening to allow larger airflow as panic began to consume her. “Amy, hey.” Ty didn’t move, merely tried to get her to focus on him. He learned his lesson with trying to touch her when she was in this state. “Hey, you’re okay. Look at me.”
Blinking, Amy glanced up at Ty’s worried expression. Shaking her head, she looked for a break in the crowd. “This was a bad idea.” Spotting one, she bolted through it, nearly plowing into Lisa.
“Whoa, hey.” Seeing the frightened look on Amy’s face stopped Lisa in her tracks. “Amy?”
Feeling her lungs constrict, Amy was barely able to murmur an apology as she darted for the house, desperate to place a solid barrier at her back. Lisa turned to watch her leave, grabbing a hold of Ty when he tried to follow. “What’s going on? Is Amy alright?”
Ty paused, looking toward the house just as the front door shut behind Amy. “I don’t know. She, uh, she got spooked by something.”
“Oh? By what?”
By him. Again. Proving his theory.
“Grandpa didn’t tell you?” Of all the things, Ty would have thought Ty’s theory would have been among the first things he clued her into if for no other reason than to ensure Lisa treaded lightly.
“Tell me…?” Jack got her up to speed on quite a bit since she got back, including the heated rivalry that caused so much trouble between Ty and Amy since she arrived. Judging from the way they were just dancing, Lisa figured they found a way to smooth things over. Perhaps not.
Sighing, Ty didn’t know if now was the best time to discuss Amy’s questionably dark past with Lisa, but someone needed to talk Amy into opening the likely locked door and she was probably the best person to do it.
By 11 o’clock Amy finished cleaning and straightening the interior of the house then hopped in the shower before Soraya arrived with her mom’s chili along with a few pies and bouquets of fresh cut flowers for the centerpieces. The guys kept their distance from the house after Amy practically threw Ty out so she could clean in peace. But they had their hands full anyway with the inmates who were taking turns in the round pen. The few times Amy peeked outside she caught glimpses of someone in the dirt, or diving for the safety of the fence. Her attention didn’t linger long, though, not wanting to give any of them a chance to notice her watching and take it as an invitation to engage.
“So, how are you doing?” Soraya asked as they began setting up the buffet table outside.
Amy’s attention snapped back from where it once again strayed to the men gathered around the perimeter of the pen while one of them was in the middle with a black horse. Wary of them as she was, she was still curious about what exactly they were trying to do. “Hmm?”
Soraya jerked her head toward the men. “With all this. It must be a little unsettling to be around so many criminals.”
“Yeah. But at least here there are armed guards to supervise.” It wasn’t quite the same living in a place with more organized criminals running amok and disrupting your life when they come to rough up your father for non-payment. “I’v been doing my best to avoid them.”
“You’re probably the first woman they’ve seen since Lisa left for France a few months ago. I bet they took to you like candy.” Soraya smiled in a teasing way but the thought made Amy uncomfortable. She didn’t want to be the object of a sex-starved criminal's attention, let alone a dozen of them.
“They certainly aren’t shy about it,” Amy murmured, plugging the cord for the crockpot into the extension cord to the house.
“Don’t worry, when Lisa’s back they’ll lay off.”
“I hope you’re right.” Soraya wasn’t the first to tell her that and it only made Amy more eager for Lisa to get her butt back home. Jack and Ty did a good enough job so far of keeping the inmates on a short leash, but it would be different having a female ally on the ranch.
Fridays were shorter days for the inmates unless there was reason to keep them longer. That afternoon all of them were exhausted if not banged to hell and dragging their feet across the yard to pick up the to-go bags Amy and Soraya put together for them with cups of chili and mini cornbread loaves. One of the two guards hovered nearby as they distributed the bags, Soraya having no problem smiling and chatting with each of them. Amy kept herself occupied trying to remember who was who. She learned their names over the course of the week, but some were easier than others. Hank, Ray, Gordie, and Jim were the few she met on her first day. Since then, she figured out Adrian, Carlos, Davis, and Emilio. Somewhere among the rest was Alex and Rory, names she heard shouted across the yard into the abyss. The others were an utter mystery. She studied them as they paraded before her, dropping her gaze when they turned in her direction, which most of them did. She was still an anomaly, something new and interesting to wonder about, though she wondered how much about her they actually did know.
“Haven’t seen much of you this week.” Hank’s deep voice involuntarily drew Amy’s attention. He was at the end of the line, lingering in front of her across the table. Amy glanced at the guard who had his attention on them this time, unlike their previous encounter. Still, he made no move to intervene, probably assuming there was no immediate danger. Meanwhile alarm bells were ringing inside Amy’s head as her flight response switched on.
“Still not much for talking, I see.” His eyes lingered on her face, trapping her in his gaze. Flashbacks of when he cut her off in the yard a few days ago played in her mind. He was looking at her now as he had then. It still left her uncomfortable but there was something different about it now. Her skin didn’t crawl as it had before. Maybe because she wasn’t quite so on edge as she had been those first few days. Avoiding them seemed to have helped her anxiety, but this was a harsh reminder of their place on the ranch.
Amy swallowed then grabbed a paper bag to hand over the table. Hank reached out to take it, his fingers folding over her hand and squeezing. Not hard, but firm enough to keep her from letting go. “You don’t look an ounce like your old man.”
Amy’s hand jerked back like he shocked her. She gaped at him. “You knew my dad?”
“Ah, she speaks.”
It was like the floodgates opened as questions came pouring into Amy’s mind. Her mouth didn’t know which to ask next. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the chance to hear Hank’s answer, or ask anything else when the guard finally stepped forward to move him along.
Amy continued to stare after them as they headed for the bus and began filing on. Before she could overthink it, Amy took off across the driveway. “Wait.” A few men paused and turned around. When they saw her eyes were focused on Hank, they raised curious eyebrows. No doubt they were all staring out the window to see how this surprising interaction went down. The last guard remained nearby but otherwise permitted the delay, probably just as intrigued by what was happening.
“How did you know my dad?” The need to fill in so many blanks about her father’s past that he kept tightly concealed from her overwhelmed the fear she had of Hank. The armed guard ten feet away also helped.
“Perhaps a question best answered by your father.” He lifted the bag of chili in silent ‘thanks’ then turned for the bus.
Amy took a persistent step forward. “Story for story, you said. I tell you mine, you tell me yours, right?”
Hank paused to look over his shoulder. “I know your story,” he said, his eyes lowering just like everyone else’s. Amy stiffened. What did that mean? “And what you want to know isn’t mine to tell. See you next week, little lady.” He climbed aboard while Amy watched his shadow walk down the bus aisle and take a seat. She looked to the guard who could only shrug before he, too, hopped on.
The bus pulled away to reveal Ty standing on the other side. Of course he was there, probably eavesdropping. “God, you’re like a pop-up book from hell,” Amy snapped.
Ty raised his brow. “That’s a new one.” Actually it wasn’t, but Amy would take the credit for the line. “What was that about?”
“Nothing.”
Ty nodded slowly. “Lot of ‘nothing’ going on with you.”
“What can I say, my life is the epitome of boring,” Amy shrugged.
Ty hummed. “Try telling that to anyone besides yourself.” Amy became the most interesting thing to arrive in Hudson since the inaugural Hudson Derby five years ago.
Setting her jaw, Amy twisted around to head back for the house. Sighing, Ty returned to the barn to finish cleaning up before he ran into the house for a shower.
“What?” Jack asked as he emerged from Paint’s stall and caught the expression on his grandson’s face.
Ty just shook his head. “Just glad Lisa is on her way home. We could use a referee.” Or a buffer, more like.
“Speaking of, I’m going to see if the girls need help. You good to finish up here?”
“Yep.” Ty waved him off.
By the time Lisa’s cab made its way down the driveway trailing a plume of dust, everyone was washed up and dressed in clean jeans with their muck-covered boots neatly tucked under the bench in the mudroom. The guests hadn’t arrived quite yet as Jack made sure to allow Lisa enough time to prepare for an ambush of company after her long international flight. He knew she wouldn’t have been entirely pleased to have to entertain after just stepping off a plane.
The smile that lit Jack’s face to see his wife was something Amy envied. For a moment it distracted her nerves to see the couple embrace after so long apart. Until Lisa’s attention zeroed in on her.
“You must be Amy!” she exclaimed, breaking through the boys to pull Amy into a warm hug.
Amy froze for a split second at the sudden contact that Lisa seemed to sense for she quickly released her hold and stepped back, but still looked at Amy with a gentle smile.
“I am,” she finally answered when her nerves settled somewhat. “It’s nice to finally put a face to the stories.”
“Oh?” Lisa turned to narrow her eyes at her husband and stepson. “And what stories might those be?”
“Nothing bad, I promise,” Jack insisted as he gave her shoulder a squeeze on his way past with one of her many suitcases. Ty was hauling the others from where the cabbie left them in the driveway.
“All good things,” Amy concurred, turning to follow everyone toward the house.
It was then that Lisa finally got a proper look at the set up in the yard. “What’s going on here?”
“Surprise!” Soraya called from her place on the front porch. “It’s your birthday slash welcome home party.”
Lisa’s blue eyes widened, swinging to Jack. “A party? Today? I just got off an eighteen hour flight.” Her hand flew up to her hair that was disheveled from travel but still properly tied up in a clip.
Dropping the suitcase with a loud thump, Jack raised a placating hand. “I know, I know. But there is plenty of time for you to freshen up and settle in before anyone is set to arrive.”
“Amy and Soraya spent all week putting this thing together,” Ty added as he came outside for another load.
“Really?” Taking another look around, Lisa’s expression brightened. “Well, it looks like you two pulled out all the stops.”
“We have all kinds of food on the way and Caleb should be here any minute to set up the music,” Soraya glanced down at her phone after shooting off a “where are you?” text to Caleb.
“Caleb’s coming?” Lisa’s surprise was understandable, given what she knew of the history between him and Jack.
“Soraya laid on the charm,” Ty teased, butting her with his shoulder on his way past.
“And you’re okay with this?” Lisa asked Jack who merely harrumphed and picked up the suitcase he dropped.
“It was his choice to shut me out. Needs to be his choice to want to make amends. Besides, he’s not upset with you.”
Soraya and Lisa shared a look, but Lisa merely pressed her lips together and didn’t utter a word against Jack’s ruling. Amy raised a questioning brow. Lisa shook her head, waiting until the door swung closed before saying more. “He’s hurt. He’s just too stubborn to admit it. Caleb was like another son to him until their falling out. Granted, the reason was justified.”
“What happened?” Amy asked, glancing toward the house.
“There was an incident between him and one of the inmates,” Lisa explained, everyone keeping their eyes on the house.
“Caleb used to work at Heartland,” Soraya clarified. “He pretty much ran the program.”
Lisa nodded. “Before Ty got out of prison-”
Amy sucked in a breath. “Wait, Ty was in prison?”
Lisa’s brow lifted. “I gather you all didn’t do much getting to know one another while I’ve been away.”
“Not really.” There wasn’t much time for that between all of the tension and arguing. Not that Amy was willing to lay out her life story in exchange for Ty’s. But if Lisa wanted to tell her without demanding anything in return, then she wasn’t going to stop her.
“I suppose that’s not really my business to tell, but yes, he was in prison for a time. Caleb stepped up and handled the extra workload, which included running the inmates. He butted heads with one of them and it escalated to the point of him being removed from the program. When he managed to cycle through again Jack allowed him back for a second chance, which Caleb didn’t take well. So he quit and they haven’t spoken since.” Seeing Jack’s silhouette in the window, Lisa rushed through the story, giving Amy enough of a picture but still curious for more details. Like which inmate and were they still part of the program now?
Jack clapped his hands, rubbing them together from his place on the porch, looking down on the women in the yard. “Alright, all your luggage is in the room. The house is yours to rest and unwind for the next while.”
Lisa laughed, crinkling her nose at her husband. “Why, thank you. If you all don’t mind, I think I’ll take a hot bath before the party.” She reached over to place a gentle hand on Amy’s arm. “It’s nice to meet you, dear. We’ll make time to talk later, okay?”
Smiling, Amy nodded, though worried what their talking would consist of. “Welcome home.”
Amy’s good mood lasted until she crawled into bed. Her head hit the pillow, crunching down on the envelope she’d hidden beneath it. Reaching back she pulled it out, feeling the DVD slide out and onto the floor with a thunk. Sighing, she twisted to lean over the bed and grab it, careful not to drop the disk when she saw the case came apart from impact. Flicking the lamp on, she sat up and placed everything in her lap to fix. Snapping the case back together, Amy opened it to replace the disk when she hesitated. Her thumb ran along the smooth curved edge. Biting her lip, a curiosity buried deep inside surfaced. One that she had been bound and determined to fend off until she had no choice but to face it. Maybe it was the events of the last few days lowering her guard. Or she was finally in a place to start healing and taking back control of her life. Whatever it was, it sent her out of bed and sneaking through the house to the front door with the DVD in hand.
After sliding into her flip flops on the porch, Amy headed for the barn where she remembered Jack telling her was the only computer with an internet connection. She assumed that meant it was hard-wired with an ethernet cable rather than WiFi because if he didn’t have air conditioning why would he have wireless internet?
Finding the outside office door unlocked, Amy huffed in relief that she didn’t have to risk making a ruckus sliding open the barn door. Settling herself behind the desk, Amy turned on the laptop that, blessedly, wasn’t password protected. A detail she considered bringing up to Jack if he kept anything important or confidential on it. She wasn’t there to snoop, though, contrary to what Ty might have thought the last time she was in there. Feeling around for the disk slot, she popped out the tray and placed the DVD inside. Nervously, she listened to the whirring of the ancient computer as it loaded the data, flexing her fingers off the touchpad when the file popped up.
Her heart thudded hard and fast in her breast. For a moment she considered snapping the computer shut and darting back to the house. But Amy knew if she did that she probably wouldn’t find her way back to this place again. So she double clicked on the video.
A loud and fast whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, blasted from the laptop speakers, making her jump and frantically search for the volume keys to mute it. Her eyes left the screen before she even had a chance to get a real look at the grayscale image to stare into the black doorway, her ears straining to hear over the anxious thumping of her pulse for noise coming from the loft. Satisfied she hadn’t disturbed Ty, Amy let her eyes drop to the screen.
She waited for the past to come thundering back when she fixated on the strange deformed gummy bear shape that was her child. Her heart hadn’t slowed its erratic pace in the slightest and didn’t show any sign of doing so any time soon. Anxiety and fear clenched her gut knowing she was looking at part of him. That he was still there invading her body; growing and thriving. But there was wonder there, too. That something so fragile and precious could come from a nightmare.
For a long while she stared at the image, noting the subtle movements and how she never felt them. Sliding her hand over her belly, Amy closed her eyes to feel for a flutter or anything that she could liken to the motion on the screen. But there was nothing. It was likely too soon for it. She was going to have to pick up the “What to Expect” book again she brought along on the bus. After throwing it at the door not long after her arrival, Amy hadn’t bothered to read it any further.
Her brow furrowed when she realized just how ill-prepared she was for the future of her pregnancy and subsequent birth. For a long time it was denial and an out-of-sight, out-of-mind attitude until she began to really show. Looking at the defined shape of the baby growing inside her now, reality struck hard. She needed to do better. Even if she did ultimately decide on the adoption route (which she was heavily considering), there was still six months left of motherhood she was accountable for.
Creaking on the stairs snapped Amy from her thoughts to quickly close out of the video. Her fingers froze over the keyboard when a human-shaped shadow appeared in the doorway. Amy stared at it wide-eyed for a moment until Ty’s voice erupted from the dark form.
“Sneaking around again?” Ty leaned against the doorframe, narrowing his gaze at Amy through the glow of the laptop screen. He heard her come into the barn, but rather than investigate the intruder, Ty lay still on the old loft bed and listened to her move about the space. The noise from the computer had him sitting up and quietly easing out of bed to finally investigate.
Amy’s rigid posture deflated. “Just checking the weather for tomorrow,” she lied, glancing at the little weather icon in the corner of the screen.
“Hmm,” Ty grunted, shuffling toward the desk and stopping across from Amy. “And?”
Amy swallowed, shrugging. “Just as Jack said. Looks like it’s going to be a clear weekend.” She reached up to close the computer, dousing the room in darkness. Then immediately regretted it when she became hyper aware of Ty’s presence in front of her. “Sorry I woke you.”
“Trying to get rid of me?” Ty chuckled. She hadn’t woken him. He’d been wide awake with his own thoughts and would have been for another few hours at least.
“Uh, no.” Yes. “I was just about to head back to the house.” Amy made no move to leave. Last time she was alone in the office with Ty it hadn’t ended well at all. She wasn’t about to get up just to be cornered again.
Ty also stood his ground, sensing Amy wasn’t being entirely truthful. He wasn’t sure how he felt about finding her once again with her nose where it didn’t belong. The computer wasn’t exactly full of state secrets, but still possessed quite a bit of personal information. But he knew better than to jump to conclusions when it came to Amy. The tension straining the space between them had Ty shifting over to the lamp on the desk to flick it on.
Amy blinked against the sudden light, but was grateful for it. If she hadn’t been so concerned about this very interaction happening she would have turned it on herself when she came in.
“Something tells me you weren’t just checking the weather,” Ty guessed. “You look guilty as hell,” he teased, folding his arms across his chest.
Despite his jesting tone, Amy didn’t like being called out by Ty. “Am I not allowed to use the computer, either?”
Ty put his hands up in a placating gesture. “Relax, I didn’t say that. It’s just a little late to be surfing the web.” Which is what made it so suspicious.
“I was just checking the weather,” Amy again insisted.
Ty dropped his arms. “Okay.” If that’s the story she wanted to stick to then he wouldn’t press her further.
Amy stared at him warily. Okay? That was it? No third degree or accusation of trying to dig up family secrets?
“Okay.” She finally stood, tapping her fingertips on the closed laptop. Her disk was still inside, but she didn’t want to make a show of ejecting it. Except he made no move to leave.
Ty moved off to the side of the desk to allow Amy a clear route of escape, figuring that’s what she was waiting for. “I’ll close everything back up behind you,” he offered.
Amy hesitated. Arguing would only make Ty more suspicious. Finally, she nodded and stepped out from behind the desk, keeping him in her periphery.
“Night.” She was sure she could find a moment tomorrow to sneak back in and get the disk.
Ty flicked off the lamp and shuffled after her in his bare feet. “Night.” He followed her out of the barn and waited in the doorway until she got to the porch, nodding in acknowledgment when she glanced back halfway there. Closing the door, Ty made his way back to the office and sat at the desk to re-open the laptop.
The desktop was up but a program was still running in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. Clicking on it, Ty’s eyes widened when he saw it was Amy’s ultrasound video. Turning on the volume, the same whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, he heard upstairs filled the room. It synced perfectly with the tiny flutter of the baby’s heart on the screen. Letting out a long breath, Ty was grateful for his insight and not pressuring Amy to just tell him the truth for once. He still didn’t see why she thought she couldn’t tell him what she was looking at, but understood her need to keep secrets. Frustrating as it was.
Properly closing out of the program, Ty ejected the disk and returned it to the open case. After shutting down the laptop he brought the DVD with him to the loft so it didn’t get lost in the mess of paperwork.
—---------------
That night no one at Heartland slept soundly. Each of them tossing and turning from restless thoughts. If they did manage to drift off it was for no more than an hour or so.
The night was no different from any other for Amy, whose nightmares tormented her on a regular basis. But tonight the regular nightmares were replaced with the haunting unknowns of her future and that of her child’s. When she got back to her room, she cracked open the book and read up through her next couple weeks of pregnancy before her eyes became so tired they crossed. But putting the book down and turning off the light didn’t shut off her brain.
Ty went back to laying awake in bed. This time he flipped the DVD between his fingers and let his thoughts drift to Amy as they often did since she arrived. He thought about what he saw on the computer screen and what about it was so uncomfortable to Amy that she had to hide it. It wasn’t hard to figure out what she saw when she looked at it. Occasionally, his thoughts drifted to Kit and what would come of that fiasco. She was invited to the party tomorrow and would surely show up. But he would worry about that then.
Jack went to bed with every intention of getting a full night of solid rest. But it had been over a month since he last saw Lisa and he got butterflies like it was the first time all over again. He knew he hadn’t changed in that month, but always worried she would. That she’d come back to tell him she decided life at Heartland was too small potatoes and wanted to move permanently. It was a foolish fear. One he had no business thinking given the amount of times Lisa assured him she was happy with how they were. Still the combination of excitement and weariness over seeing his wife tomorrow kept him awake.
Amy hoped to be the first to roll out of bed in the morning so she could sneak out to the barn and get her disk from the computer. But as she was about to get up the door to the bathroom swung closed. Jack was awake. She groaned. Well, maybe tonight everyone would be exhausted from the busy day and crash early.
Since she was up, Amy changed out of her sleep shorts for a pair of pants and headed out to tend the chicken coop as she did every morning since Jack assigned her the task. She eyed the coffee pot as she sat to pull on a pair of boots Soraya gave her when she learned Amy didn’t possess any appropriate farm footwear. The automatic brew was just kicking on when Amy darted outside to avoid it, nearly tripping over Lobo who was sprawled out on the porch in nearly the same spot as last night.
The elderly dog scrambled clumsily to his feet. “Oh. Lobo,” Amy laughed softly, reaching down to offer a scratch of apology. “Sorry, buddy. Come on, let’s find breakfast.”
Though she was hesitant around the chickens at first, Amy had since gotten comfortable entering their enclosure and shooing them out of the way. They learned quickly to associate her with food and all came clucking merrily to follow her around while she raked up their droppings and hunted for eggs. Most of them laid in the nesting boxes, but she found a couple that preferred the grass corner of the enclosure. Minding the chickens was a simple, peaceful, task Amy found herself looking forward to each morning. It was something she did alone in the stillness of the morning before the farm came alive with inmates. Thankfully, she was able to avoid them most of the week, but come the next she would be out of reasons to disappear from the farm all day.
She set the basket of colorful eggs near the door where Lobo laid down to wait. He watched the chickens, lazily lifting his head as one flew to sit on a branch that was leaning against the side. Amy finished fluffing the straw in the boxes then caused a fury when she scooped out corn to sprinkle inside the coop. It was a decent distraction for her to slip out of the enclosure with her eggs and not have any followers.
“Morning.”
Amy jumped at the voice behind her. Thankfully she kept a hold of the basket when she spun around to face Ty.
“Stop doing that,” she snapped, her fist tightening around the handle of the basket.
Anyone else and Ty would have found humor in their jumpscare. But with Amy it wasn’t quite so funny. “Saying good morning?”
“Sneaking up on me.” She headed back to the house, irritated that her peaceful start to the day was over so soon.
Ty followed. “It’s not like I do it on purpose.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
Ty’s clenched his teeth to keep from retorting. It wasn’t his fault she was so jumpy. Instead he focused his attention on her fluffy shadow. “Lobo seems to have latched onto you.”
“Probably because I’m the first person who has given him any attention.” Amy heard the attitude in her voice even as the words were coming from her mouth. Ty had a way of bringing out the worst of her without even trying.
“Coddle him, you mean.”
Amy shot a look of indignance over her shoulder. She’d hardly call it coddling, but trying to argue with Ty was like arguing with a brick wall. When she realized he was still trailing behind her, she came to an abrupt halt. “Do you need something?”
Ty barely managed to keep from plowing into her. “What?”
“Why are you following me?”
Lifting his brow, Ty pointed toward the house. “I’m, um, going in for breakfast. Or have you changed the locks already?”
Amy opened her mouth then snapped it shut again, clenching her jaw. God, he was infuriating! About facing, she stormed away, leaving Ty to watch her in amusement before following at a safe distance.
After breakfast, the guys went out to begin their day when the prison van rolled down the driveway. Amy kept busy inside cleaning the house from head to toe once she located the proper supplies. She opened the kitchen windows and a few at the back of the house to let some fresh air in and let out the stink of chemicals.
“What on earth are you doing?”
Amy jumped at Ty’s voice for the second time that day. She twisted her head around to glare at him over her shoulder from her place on the floor. She’d been so absorbed in her task she hadn’t even heard the door open. “You’re lucky I don’t carry a loaded weapon or you’d be dead twice over by now.”
Ty snorted. “I got the drop on you first. Both of those times.” He held up two fingers.
“Whatever,” Amy retorted, knowing he was right but refused to admit it.
“Why are you on the floor?” Ty skirted around her to get to the fridge for a bottle of water.
“What does it look like? I’m scrubbing it.” Amy gestured with her scrub brush to the bucket of soapy water.
Cracking the lid, Ty took a sip, eying her over the bottle. “We have a mop, you know.”
“Yes, I know that. But it wasn’t doing a proper job. This floor is filthy from all of your shitty boots.” She glared pointedly at Ty’s feet that were caked in mud and manure.
Swallowing a mouthful of water slowly, Ty traced his path from the door to see how he just traipsed right across Amy’s clean floor. “Shit, sorry.” He capped his water bottle. “Should you even be doing that?”
Amy’s gaze narrowed. “I’m pregnant, not incapacitated. Besides, it’s proved to be cathartic.”
Ty looked at the bucket of soapy water skeptically. “Cathartic?”
“Yes. I pretend the floor tile is your face and I rub every dirty scowl and sly smirk right off it. Then wash every hurtful and nasty thing you’ve said to me out with soap.” She continued to gesture wildly with the brush, making Ty start to inch his way back to the door.
“I think you’ve been inhaling too many toxic fumes. You know you’re not supposed to mix chemicals.”
Amy growled under her breath. “Get out.” Her arm swung toward the door. “And next time you come in here take your shoes off in the mud room. That’s what it’s there for.” Honestly, did they live this way when Lisa was around? Somehow she doubted they’d dare dirty up her clean floor.
“Sir, yes, sir.” Ty saluted, leaping out of the way of the flying scrub brush and darting outside. He learned he needed to be quick on his feet when Amy had a projectile in hand.
He was still chuckling to himself when he got back to the barn.
“What are you grinning about?” Ray called from his perch outside the round pen.
Ty just shook his head and schooled his expression. “Nothing.”
Could you write a sequel to the story the next step mabie like 5 years later and they want another child but struggle to get pregnant again. Also an update on one day would be good
I'll be honest, I probably won't write more in the world of TNS. I mean, never say never. But I'm more likely to write a completely separate and new story with an infertility plot line since TNS has been completed and long out of my head for several years now. As of right now, though, my primary focus is on One Day, and I don't have plans to start anything new at the moment.
So far I have been releasing One Day chapters every other Saturday. I am going to try to keep that as consistent as possible for as long as I can.
dededos
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stormborns
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pixelskylines
