Heartland 1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

The lone rider edged past a long fence row at the back side of the ranch, following the meandering bank of the lazy Sheep River until she came upon an old wooden gate on the farthest side of the property. It was not unusual to see any number of wildlife on this trail and today was no exception. The animals came here to drink from the river and she figured it to be the equivalent of "animal paradise". That is the way Amy Fleming imagined it as a small girl when she, her older sister Lou, and her mother, Marion, would spend half-day picnics next to the water and just take it all in, telling stories and sharing secrets that seemed so important at the time. Beyond the gate a brilliant yellow field of canola was framed by tall greenish-gold fescue undulating through the foothills toward the eastern slope of the Canadian Rockies which were especially clear this morning. It was a gloriously sunny-blue day, the kind of day to be treasured this far north because warm weather comes and goes quickly up here.

The honest to goodness, Alberta born, rancher's granddaughter could not contain her smile at the sight of the jagged gray peaks of granite in the distance, still capped in snow against the cotton puffed blue sky, rising out of the colorful, multi layered texture of the hills beyond the gate. If there could be a place and a day to pattern all other days and places from, this would be the one she would choose. Although she had forgone the normal years of university that most of her high school classmates had left town for, _she_ was the one out here enjoying the natural riches that most of them would probably never experience very often in their lives. She imagined their reward for all of the hard work and years of classes would likely be a lifetime of long hours tied to a desk inside a building crowded full of rushing people, and a screaming boss wanting some monotonous chore done, _yesterday_. She shuddered at the thought. '_Poor people, they don't know what they are missing_' she reasoned to herself.

"Let's go, Boy." Amy patted his neck and turned her trusted gelding, feeling his oats today with his shimmering black coat warmed by the sun, toward a high round topped hill that was tall enough to overlook most of the six hundred acres filling out Heartland Ranch. This prime location in the Alberta foothills had been in her Grandpa Jack Bartlett's family for six generations and was her whole world, or wished it to be. She clicked her tongue and gently brushed her heels at Spartan's belly to get him into a gallop. "Git-up Spartan!" she commanded, leaning into the horses charge, her long blonde hair tossed straight back into the wind in unison with Spartan's flowing mane as they thundered toward the top.

Amy eased up on the reigns and brought the horse to a stop in the center of the high pasture with a nice stand of White Birch trees scattered on the hillside far below. Spartan bent down to nibble the tall grass swaying in the gentle mountain breeze, his ears fluttering with the mood of a very satisfied horse. Amy leaned back in the saddle and a smile twitched at the corners of her lips. The ranch house and barns were visible in the distance nestled in a colorful valley setting worthy of an artist's inspiration.

It was a relief to have some time alone to sort out the events of the past couple of days.

* * *

She began to reflect upon the relationship she had shared for nearly five years with the young man who had been sent to her Grandpa's ranch as a smart ass troubled sixteen year old boy through a probation agreement. The arrangement was proposed to the juvenile officer in charge of the boy's case by her mother, Marion, just before she was tragically killed in an automobile accident. Ty Borden was to work at the ranch as a stable hand whose living quarters were directly over the stables in the loft of the barn. To most kids, the hardship of living in such a place would have sparked a rebellion, thinking _anything_ would have to be better than getting up before first light and working hard until after dark most days, only to have to retire to the dusty, drafty, noisy, and sometimes, smelly loft in that barn. Ty, however, seemed to get the fact that this was his last chance with the juvy system and soon became the best ranch hand that her grandpa Jack had ever had. He showed the family that he could adapt to difficult jobs and was more than capable of almost any chore they threw his way. The young man had a determined grit about him, and proved to all of them that he had a good heart, and an especially tender one toward Amy.

Amy's eyes narrowed at the thought of the early days of his arrival. They did not get along very well in the beginning, she remembered. The loss of her mother when she needed her so badly and the unsettled boy's abuse at the hand of an ill-inherited stepfather had brought them together with a lot of resentment and mistrust issues.

The stormy early years in their young romance seemed like another lifetime ago. Grandpa Jack would stand them in the barn in front of the horses stalls while they were attempting to do their daily chores and scold the both of them, "Enough of this fighting like cats and dogs. Will you two just get over whatever is going on and get along!" It was not a question.

They always seemed to find a way to sort out any differences, learning the art of 'give and take'. They grew up together, becoming best of friends and eventually, much more, but this time something happened between them, something needless to have been this serious of a problem, that they couldn't overcome, and it had set them apart.

The memories made her shake her head in frustration as she began to feel the weight of regret filling her eyes. Tears were sliding down her cheeks, tapping dark circles onto the tan leather of her saddle, while she thought of how stubborn of a young man Ty was, and she admitted to herself what a head-strong young girl she had been.

* * *

Images from a year ago filled her head when she sat astride Spartan in this very spot, crying from the bottom of her soul. It was the day it finally hit home, that she had lost Ty, and this time he wasn't coming back. It was over an incident that they should have been able to get past, if only they could have talked it out. But this time, just plain stubbornness, with neither of them willing to give in, had cost both of them the best friend either of them had ever known. In her mind, that was maybe the saddest part of losing him. Nobody _got_ her, who she _really_ was, like Ty did, and she doubted that she would ever find someone who could make her feel the same way. "How did we let that happen to us?" she asked Spartan, who looked around to her with his mouth full of fresh grass as if to give an "I don't know, how could you?" response, with a hint of a judgmental attitude, his rider thought.

They came here together to this special place as often as possible. Being up here with the horse that her mother died while trying to rescue connected her to her past and cleared her head so she could think her way through whatever was troubling her, or to dream about the things that would make her happy in life. The path for all of her important decisions, the ones she had control over, at least, had been determined at the top of this solitary hill, and sometimes this was the only place where she felt she could just let go and cry the hurt away, with no one else in the world watching.

Amy thought she had moved on to a place in her head that would allow her to start putting her life back together and move forward, but the tears were flowing freely now, and recent news had brought her thoughts back to the one she believed to be the love of her life, and how much she was missing him.

Today, she was thinking about Ty, and how he would be fussing over his little boy, if he were here with them.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Amy pulled her left boot out of its stirrup and swung her leg over the horses back to dismount. "Don't you take off on me!" she told Spartan as she looked him in the eye and patted his neck, looping the reins around the horn of his saddle to keep them from getting tangled in his hooves.

There was a thin, smooth sliver of granite exposed above the dirt in the center of the pasture. Amy had discovered it as an adventurous eight year old while exploring the ranch on one of the first trail rides her mother ever let her ride alone. The young cowgirl constantly searched for cool places hidden within the ranch and had learned back then how the sun warmed the rock and made it a great place to lay back and watch the clouds drift by for hours at a time. Being swallowed up by the high grass all around her, as alone as one could get on her grandpa's ranch, gave the girl an escape from all things real and present and left her to daydream about growing up to be a rodeo star, just like her dad, or her mother for that matter. Tim Fleming was a rodeo legend. He used to tell his young daughter tall tales of his great rides on broncs all over Canada and the USA, and brag about the four all-around national championship buckles he still had on display at Big River Ranch where he lived just down the road from Heartland. Amy was too young to remember much about her mother roping or barrel racing at all of the local rodeos, but it was not unusual for her to win a few buckles of her own, keeping them on display in her office in the barn where her proud daughters kept them to this day.

Spartan made a lazy circle around the rock, his tail swishing with contentment and occasionally nickering to his rider as she rested only a few feet away.

Serenity found her outstretched and slowly winding down her up tempo daily pace, watching puffy white clouds appear from over the mountaintops, floating across the clear blue sky in constantly changing shapes, and eventually growing smaller in the distance over the eastern prairies. It was an amazing escape for the now fully grown country girl. The whisper of the mountain breeze making its way through the grass swaying toward the low lands farther down the foothills was nature's medicine for the soul.

Days like this one usually eased her into a state of relaxation that was hard to find any other way or in any other place, but today, events of the last year and a half crowded their way back from bottled-up memories and began to replay themselves in her mind, letting the unwinnable game of second guessing start to push the pleasantness of the moment away.

It had been more than a year since anyone in the Heartland family had seen or even heard anything of Ty Borden. Amy and all of her family and friends had looked everywhere and asked everyone they could think of for any word as to his whereabouts, especially in the past few months. When Lou called the University of Calgary where the promising veterinarian was supposed to have started the last two years of his courses in the fall, they told her that Ty had called the administration office to inform them that he would not be back for further classes, that he was leaving the area. There was nothing, not even a clue as to where he might have gone.

* * *

14 MONTHS AGO

The young couple had come to a rough patch in their relationship for various reasons. They were in a stage of their lives when things were changing rapidly and neither of them was comfortable with uncertain situations. They were happy together, but admittedly neither had learned to stop holding something back from the other. It must have been due to fear which was aggravated by the loss each of them had experienced as kids. They both held the notion that if they were to let go and completely give their heart to someone, then control would be lost in a very important part of their lives and it could cause them be hurt again.

Ty was pushing hard to keep his grades up and had worked a deal with one of his classmates who lived on campus to stay overnight three nights a week so as to cut down on time lost during the hour long drive back to Hudson every evening, only to study all night and drive all the way back to Calgary early the next morning for his classes. The busy student was so exhausted from his schedule of classes and work at Scott Cardinal's vet clinic that it was difficult to find time to spend with his girlfriend. He often fell asleep during their time together, mostly on the sofa at the ranch, never going out on a proper date any more.

Amy was now concerned about the free time Ty might use to socialize with other students at the campus. She had seen the way some of the girls flirted with him on occasion, and it really got under her skin.

Everything in their lives had turned into a predictable funk, leaving each of them bored and increasingly irritable, until one Wednesday afternoon while Amy was on the jumping course with a client's horse and a fancy pickup truck pulled into the driveway and parked beside the fence of the arena. The door popped open to reveal the good looking, fast talking, world renowned horse trainer as he stepped out and walked across the grass to prop his foot on the lower rail of the gate. He leaned across the top with his trademark grin.

"Hey, Miracle Girl! How's life been treating you?"

"Chase Powers….What brings _you_ here?" she cautiously assessed his purpose for coming back around after all of this time.

Chase had made it obvious that he was attracted to Amy. They were part of a colt starting competition a couple of years ago called "Ring of Fire", in which Amy won out, helping to further build her reputation of becoming the "Miracle Girl", as she was known. They had done a few more competitions on tour together at Chases' request and while he made some attempts to take Amy out on dates, she turned him down repeatedly. She was wearing the promise ring Ty had given her, and eventually Chase went on to greener pastures and hadn't been seen in these parts for over a year.

"I need to talk to you about a business proposition," he offered to her, again with that broad grin.

"Oh? And what might that be?" she cautiously asked.

And then, the pitch, "Well, I am going to start marketing colts as a package deal….ready to go for all those cowboy wannabes out there." He held up his hands in a theatrical gesture, "Come to Chase Powers and get a gentled, trained, tacked-up horse for the wife and kids to ride on weekends. A _Chase Powers Signature Horse_! One easy step and you're in the cowboy business!"

Chase hooked his right foot onto the second rail of the fence and leapt over it into the arena beside the now even more curious rider while continuing to sell his idea, "I'm telling you, Amy, it can't go wrong!" he proposed. "What I need is a trainer who can handle several colts at a time…..to take care of getting them ready for the clients. So….are you interested?"

"I guess I would need to know exactly what it is that you need me to do, and…, I would need to think about it," Amy mused.

"OK, but don't take too long, 'Miracle Girl'! This deal is _hot_ and needs to start pretty quick….'Make hay while the sun is shining', as they say." With that, Chase turned toward his truck and yelled over his shoulder as he hopped over the fence to leave, "Talk to you Saturday? Maggie's, at noon?"

"OK, I suppose I can do that….see you then," she said.

* * *

During his middle of the week trip home from school, Ty was trying his best to keep his eyes open and attention toward his girl.

"Amy, what are you thinking about?" Ty asked. "Seems like your mind is somewhere else this evening."

"Yeah," she replied, "I guess I have some things to think about."

"Like what? It must be serious to take your thoughts away like that."

"No, not really serious, but it could be a great business opportunity that I heard about today," answered Amy, not really wanting to start a likely argument when she revealed the business proposal to her sure to be jealous boyfriend.

"Wouldn't have anything to do with Chase Powers, would it?" he bluntly asked.

'_Uh-oh_,' she thought.

"Maayybee…," she stalled, suddenly on the defensive. "How did you hear about him being back in town so fast?"

"Well, you know…, bad news travels fast."

"Ty…..just stop it! Why do you always have to butt heads with Chase every time he comes around?"

With that, Ty stood up and walked to the front door and opened it, and without looking back, "I've got some studying to do for a big test on Friday. I'll see you after that, OK?"

"Yeah…..OK. Good luck with that test!" she said while she dejectedly followed him to the door and slumped against it, watching him slam the door of his old blue truck and head up the hill turning toward the city, in spite of this being the night he usually went to his old loft to sleep because of staying up late with his girlfriend.

Ty considered Chase Powers a threat from the first time he laid eyes on him. He believed the boisterous cowboy took advantage of his girlfriend's good nature and that she was a little too naïve to handle a wheeler dealer of his caliber, and every minute he was in the same province was a minute too long. He could sense that Amy was attracted to the often advertised 'Trainer of the Stars'. How could she not be? The self-proclaimed 'Number one horse trainer in Canada' was everything most starry eyed young cowgirls would have thought admirable in a man. He was famous, handsome, rich, and he made his living working with some of the best horses in the country. Chase Powers could give the 'Miracle Girl' anything she asked for, and would have done it too, if Amy would have let it happen.

* * *

A vibration in her pocket jarred the sleeping cowgirl back to the here and now.

"Hello?"

"Amy, Mrs. Gilbertson is here with 'Rebel'. I can see how he gets his name!" Lou filled her sister in. "Caleb is having quite the time trying to get him in the barn. I think he is just going to put him in the paddock until you get here and decide what you are going to do with him, OK?"

"That will be fine, Lou. Just tell Caleb to leave him be, for now. Give Rebel a little grain and water. Let him get settled in and I will be there in about 30 minutes," she said.

* * *

Amy's life had changed in so many ways since her first love and best friend left Heartland without as much as saying goodbye. She understood why the troubled young man who came to live with her family felt so angry and alone when he arrived at the ranch. She knew how hard it was for him to overcome his childhood experiences, learn to trust in anything good in life, or to believe that he deserved to be happy, but she mistakenly thought he, and they, had outgrown all of that. '_That had to be the reason he wouldn't even give me a chance to explain_.' she was thinking to herself.

The jilted cowgirl had gone over and over in her head the details of the days before he disappeared. Those all-consuming thoughts became a hindrance to her ability to interact with her clients horses in the first months after he left. Only after more urgent challenges demanded her full attention was she able to put them to rest and try to move on.

There were no government records of Ty working anywhere in the country. His phone was cut off. None of his friends had heard a word from him. He had vanished.

'_Damn, what are the odds that Dad would find him now, after all this __time, and so far away?_' she thought.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Chase was sitting on one of the barstools at Maggie's Restaurant, flirting with the waitress and telling stories to any of the other patrons who would listen. It was 11:45 A.M. on Saturday morning and he decided he had time for another cup of coffee before his meeting with his favorite horse trainer, besides himself. The waitress had just warmed up his third cup when the lady wrangler walked through the front door.

"Hey, Miracle G-…what the heck is wrong with _you_?" Chase asked when he got a good look at her face.

Amy was a few minutes early for their meeting and the expression she was wearing reflected a mood of not wanting to be needlessly badgered.

"Oh, nothing really. I just stayed up a little too late last night waiting for Ty. He was supposed to come by the ranch after he got out of school, but he never showed up…, or picked up any of my calls, or texts." She was failing at trying not to come across as grumpy.

"Well, I would _never_ do that to my lady!" he said, pleased at any opportunity to antagonize her relationship with the struggling veterinarian student who held the target of his affection, for now. "Why are you _still_ putting up with that guy?"

"Stop it, Chase." she warned. "He has been really busy at school, and holding down a full time job at the same time is a lot for _anyone_ to handle. He's been spreading himself pretty thin lately and it makes things rough for us sometimes."

"Ain't no way that I would let anything stand between you and me if _I_ were in his place, I'll guarantee you that!" raising his eyebrows and showing his best smile as he continued to pester her over her relationship with 'that stable boy who lives in your barn', as he usually referred Ty when he was talking to Amy.

"What was it you wanted to talk about, that business proposition you mentioned?" she redirected his focus, leaving no doubt that she was not amused by the implications.

"O.K. then…," realizing he was getting nowhere with the provocative chatter, "here's the deal. I have backers who are setting me up with a new website to market my brand and to sell merchandise which will offer anyone looking for a ready to ride horse a way to buy it as a package deal. The horse will come guaranteed to be gentle, trained, and have all the necessary tack to get them started. The tack, by the way, will be 'Chase Powers Signature' merchandise. Everything from bits to buckles with my name engraved right on them," he chuckled to himself. "The whole thing will be advertised in all the horse and farming magazines and papers. Isn't that great?"

Unimpressed by the fluff, she asked, "Soooo, where do I fit into all of this?"

"Well, _you_ can get in on the ground floor, Amy! I need a good trainer who can gentle a horse, train it, and have it ready to ship out in three weeks, or less. I am thinking we need about two horses per week to get us started. What do you think, can you do it? Huh, Miracle Girl?" challenging her while wiggling his eyebrows.

"Gosh, Chase, I don't know. That sounds like a really tall order to me!"

"But, you can do it, right? You _are_ still the 'Miracle Girl', aren't you?" he continued to challenge her, knowing precisely how to put her self-confidence at risk.

Amy Fleming could not stand to let the overconfident cowboy get a dare in unanswered.

''Yeah, I think I can do it, Chase, if you get good horses."

"Nothing but the best! Gotta be 'Signature' horses, right? Oh, there's one more thing," Chase was wheeler-dealing again, "We would need to do a promotional colt starting clinic in Calgary when we do the media launch. You know, like the good old days when we were such a good team!"

"Chase, I told you I was through doing those clinics….with _you_, at least," she reminded him.

"Well, you really should reconsider, especially since I had all of those posters made up!" he said.

Amy looked to where he was pointing, and there it was, right there on the window beside the front door, sure to be seen by anyone coming into the store.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me! That is _not_ going to happen!"

"Look, Amy, is it that you don't want to, or is just because you are a little surprised?" He was still selling her on the idea. "Don't let anything, or anyone, especially the 'hired hand' hold you back. You know you want to do it!"

Chase knew exactly how to push her buttons and steer her into not wanting to back down to him. The potential co-star got up from her seat and headed to the door, giving a stern look over her shoulder to the source of her frustration.

"Well, what do you say?" he asked, unfazed by her look.

"I'll think about it!" closing the door behind her and walking with her eyes to the bricks on the sidewalk all the way to the truck.

* * *

Amy stayed focused on the proposed partnership as she drove the back roads into the foothills toward home. She considered the possibilities that this new business arrangement could have for Heartland's bottom line, and for her reputation. It could be just what was needed to get the ranches' finances looking a lot healthier and it might be as much fun as the other clinics they had done, if everything went just right.

* * *

Ty had gotten wind of the new deal from mutual friends who were hearing rumors of some kind of new 'horse shopping' website. He figured the idea sounded like it had Chase Power's name written all over it. That was enough in itself to get Ty's boiler hot, but after he saw one of the "Chase Powers and Amy 'Miracle Girl' Fleming" posters in a widow on campus in Calgary, he was furious. "Surely she has learned her lesson when it comes to _that guy_," he said aloud to a lady who was standing to his right, reading the billing along with him.

"I've seen them before, at one of those clinics they did a while back," the woman told him. "They are something else, those two! It is _amazing_ what they can do with a colt in no more than a couple of hours. They're married, you know!" she imagined. "They are _such_ a perfect match, don't you think, working with horses like they do?"

The more he mulled it over in his head, the more upset he became. He was glad to have the hour it took him to drive to Heartland. It gave him some much needed time to cool down, at least he hoped it would, before he confronted Amy about the new partnership she would be telling him about soon.

* * *

As she followed the winding driveway into Heartland, Amy could see that Ty had managed to find his way back to the ranch, noticing his old GMC parked in front of the barn in its usual place. _'He is going to hit the ceiling when he finds out about this!' _

After spending the afternoon helping Amy with two of her client's horses and catching up with some overdue chores around the barn, Ty walked into Marion's old office and sat in one of the chairs in front of her old desk. He let his eyes drift around to each of the faded family pictures on the shelves along the back wall, his favorite being the one of Amy as a beaming six year old cowgirl sitting astride her first pony, "Sunshine".

Amy found him sitting there alone and moved behind him to put her hands on his shoulders and give them a gentle squeeze. She was worrying because of how uncharacteristically quiet Ty had been. "C'mon, it's time for dinner," she told him.

Following a pleasant meal with the family the young couple walked out to the barn to do the nightly check on the horses and to have some much needed alone time. The entrepreneur horse trainer was trying to avoid any conversation about her latest venture to ensure that they could have at least one pleasant evening this week, without the usual bickering when Chase's name was mentioned.

Amy could read Ty's eyes with uncanny precision and she knew that he was tense and maybe even had a hint of resentment when she studied his gaze. She feared that he must have found out, somehow, but figured it was likely just her guilt of the secret she was holding back from the guy who was more than just a boyfriend, but also was her best friend.

"So, what's the matter?" she nudged an elbow gently at his ribs, testing his temperament and using her blue 'flirty eyes' in an attempt to disarm the bomb that she knew was ticking inside him.

"Why don't you just come right out and say it, Amy? You are in business with Chase Powers, _again_!"

"_Ohhh,_ c_rap!_" she muttered to herself.

"If _that_ isn't enough, you are going with him to Calgary, maybe other places too, to do those colt starting clinics again?" he continued with his rant, gathering momentum as he went, making the comment sound more like a question than it was.

"I'm sorry you found out like you did, Ty, but will you please stop worrying about Chase! I love _you_, don't you know that?" she tried to calm her agitated boyfriend.

"Amy, you know very well that I don't trust that guy and I hate the thought of you being anywhere around him. He is a first class jackass and I don't want you to have anything to do with him!

This was another one of her buttons, one you didn't want to push, "Just where do you get off thinking you can tell me what to do, or how to run my business?" she yelled.

He tried to remind his best friend of the lop-sided deals the enterprising cowboy always seemed to propose to her. "You should have figured out by now that he uses you and takes advantage of you every time you try to do something together! This will be like going down the same old road with him, all over again!" Ty declared, the red beginning to show in his face.

"_You_ are the one who should get over himself and stop trying to hold me back!" she blurted out.

Her remark could not have had more of an effect on Ty than if she had taken her fist and punched him in the face. He stepped a full step away, just to buy a few seconds to try and recover from the shocking comment he had just heard straight from her mouth, and after no apparent words of reason came to him, retreated to the back door of the barn, looking for some fresh air.

Amy realized the harshness of her words and immediately regretted how they must have sounded to him. "Ty, _no_, that is _not_ what I meant to say!" as she followed him to the fence that surrounded the pasture at the rear of the barn. "Of course your opinion matters to me, I just….I feel that I can't stop taking chances now, the kind of chances that could make my business grow into something I can be proud of. I want_ you_ to be proud of me too!"

"And, for whatever reason, those chances always seem to revolve around Chase Freakin' Powers! How does that keep happening?" he wondered. "Look, Amy, I think you are the most amazing person I have ever known. Not just with horses, but with me too. I'm sorry I have a problem with him, but I just can't help thinking that as long as he is around, there will be nothing but trouble between us. He knows how to manipulate you into doing things that annoy me….you know he does that, don't you?"

"Ty, please don't worry about him. I love you, and I always will. It is just business with Chase." She was searching for a way to defuse the situation before it became worse. "Com'on, let's go back to the house and sit in front of the fire."

They returned to the house and found their way into the living room with a nice fire already burning in the stone fireplace. The increasingly stressed couple settled on the sofa with each of them stubbornly trying to justify their own point of view inside their minds. The conversation slackened into a deafening silence, and before ten minutes had passed, Ty was fast asleep in Amy's arms.

After pulling loose the quilt that draped over the back of the sofa, she covered Ty and kissed him on the cheek, then softly tiptoed to her bedroom to try and get some sleep of her own.

* * *

The morning came soon enough with Lou being the first to stir when she went to the kitchen to start breakfast for the family. One by one the whole crew awoke and made their way to the table to get something to eat. Everyone had noticed Ty lying on the sofa and tried to keep quiet so as not to wake him. They all knew how hard it was for him to carry the load he was subjected to every day. Jack had talked to Lou about it recently, wondering if the full time student, veterinary assistant, and part time horse trainer's-helper was carrying too much of a burden. Each of them admitted they were concerned about his health at the pace he was keeping.

Amy opened her door and saw Ty rubbing his face while trying to wake up. "Hey, sleepy head. You konked out on me again last night!"

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I just can't seem to be able to keep my eyes open when I'm relaxed like that."

"Relaxed? Is that how you would describe it?" the surprised girlfriend whispered into his ear.

All the somewhat rejuvenated student-vet's assistant could do was look his girl in the eye and wonder where and how the conversation would continue because they obviously had more to say to each other.

Thanking Lou for breakfast, the couple each picked an apple from the fruit arrangement at the center of the table for Spartan and Harley and made their way to the barn for the daily round of morning chores. When they worked together like this, the same as hundreds of other mornings like this one, the chores went very quickly and it reminded them of how much they enjoyed doing simple things with each other.

With the stalls finished, horses fed, watered, and turned out to pasture, Amy hung the broom in its place on the wall behind the feed bins and turned toward the guy she had been missing so much lately and asked him, "Soooo, you wanna do some catching up?"

"Humm, I don't know if I remember how," he teased.

"Well…, maybe I can help you with your memory," she said as she reached for his hand, gave him the twinkling spark of blue from within her eyes that always made him say 'yes' to anything she asked of him, and pulled him up the wooden stairs to the old loft that Ty had once called home.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

* * *

THIRTEEN MONTHS AGO

Amy was standing in the middle of the arena in Calgary with large crowd of admiring horse lovers surrounding her. They came to see some of the best trainers from all around the country use their talents working with some of the finest colts available. There had been an autograph session which she thought was exciting. Being the star of the show as 'Miracle Girl, Amy Fleming' always made her feel special and she enjoyed talking with her fans. The media were there to cover the clinic for the news and equine trade papers to be circulated all over Canada, the platform for Chase's new advertising campaign.

A beautiful black colt was introduced into the arena and Amy started off by explaining some of her bonding techniques which could get a bit too drawn out for a large crowd of ordinary horse lovers to follow at length, but these die hard horsemen and women watched every detail hoping to learn from the example, yet eagerly anticipating what Chase would do to live up to his reputation of using his leaf blowers, beach balls, chain saws, and various stunts to keep things stirred up.

Amy's part of the demonstration went more quickly than usual and the crowd quietly showed their appreciation for her progress with each successful step in bringing the two year old closer to accepting his saddle and letting her mount up. The patient trainer explained how to judge the moment of the colts submission, and when it finally came, Amy turned away from it, smiling as she faced the crowd, causing the trusting animal to walk up to her side and follow her without any restraints wherever she wanted to lead him, 'Joining Up' as her mother, Marion, had called it. Amy could work most horses and get them to trust her as quickly as anyone these equine loving crowds had ever seen. This colt was no different.

After working the young horse for a few more minutes, entertaining the envious onlookers as she went, the satisfied trainer managed to tack up the bridle, blanket, and saddle with ease.

Feeling the charge of a successful beginning, Amy decided to push him a little and gently grasped the pommel of the saddle and went straight for the stirrup causing the colt to suddenly bolt away. She jumped to the side and planted her boots ankle deep in the loose dirt in the arena and watched as the confused animal circled back around and looked at her as if to say, 'Oh, no you don't! Not yet!'

Ty and Jack leaned over the gate of the staging pen swapping commentary among themselves and made a game of sorts of guessing what her next move would be. They especially enjoyed watching when one of the horses challenged her authority, that look of concentration she got in her eyes and the way she set her jaw in determination to get the animal under her control.

"I guess you can see now that your free spirited days were numbered before you knew what hit you when you came to the ranch," Jack mused at the thought of his fifteen year old granddaughter making it her personal mission to tame the rebellious teenager who came to live with them several years ago. "She worked you just like that horse and had you right where she wanted you in no time!" he teased his young friend with a snicker.

"Yeah, maybe, but I've still got a little bit of spirit left in me!" he scoffed at his mentor in life.

Chase joined in the performance after his partner failed at her second attempt to mount the cautious colt, this time falling backwards and plopping with a thud in the loose dirt, sitting there and watching the now playful colt circle back around and shake his head as if mocking her, causing the crowd to laugh in amusement.

Power's stunts mostly scared the horses, and they did have a place in his style of training, but it always upset Amy to see the young horses subjected to that sort of treatment. They often argued over his theory of how to 'show a horse who was the boss'. After several minutes of playing up to the crowd with jokes and various stunts with the leaf blower and beach balls, the grandstanding cowboy managed to catch up to the now agitated horse and worked at calming the animal down a bit before the aggravated female trainer retook command of the arena.

The give and take of the two distinctly different methods of horse training made for a much more entertaining way to keep a large crowd involved in the process, and the cowboy's showboating playing opposite of the traditional compassion of the beautiful female trainer was a popular combination, rekindling the excitement they both had enjoyed during the "Ring of Fire" tour.

Amy once again worked to recapture the colt's trust and demonstrated more of the methods her mother had taught her as a young girl, touching and talking, brushing his neck with the palm of her hand while reading his eyes and ears to gauge her progress in regaining control. She explained to the crowd the idea behind each action, slipping a treat into the horse's mouth for good measure as she loosened the saddle and placed it and the blanket in the dirt beside her.

As soon as she saw the timing was right, she swung her leg over the colt's bare back and they began to canter in a wide circle around the ring to the crowd's delight. Not to be outdone in front of the crowd, Chase grabbed Amy by the waist as she rode past him and mounted the colt in tandem behind her. Everyone in the place stood and cheered as their favorite cowgirl, her clownish passenger waiving his hat above them, as she dashed through the open gate at the end of the arena and rode out of sight.

Both of the riders dismounted and faced each other with wide smiles of victory. Jack and Ty were walking across the staging pen to congratulate Amy when both of them froze in their tracks as they saw Chase put his arms around Amy's waist and draw her to him in a passionate kiss, her hat falling off her head and into the dirt behind her. When they parted Chase was facing the two men, wearing the smile of a conqueror as he looked at his prize.

Time stopped for Ty as he watched the kiss linger for several of the longest seconds imaginable. He had always envisioned that there was a possibility of some sort of a romance between the trainers during the summer of their previous tour that hung in the back of his mind, but now that he was seeing it play out in front of him he could feel his blood run cold with rejection. He remembered the lady who told him she thought the two trainers were married. _'Maybe this isn't the first time this has happened!'_ He felt his gut twisting into a knot with the image replaying across his mind.

Jack looked at Ty to check his reaction and realized he had seen the look in his eyes before. He knew he must get Ty away from there before he had time to recover from the shock or else he would need to figure out how to get the enraged young man out of jail, again.

While wavering somewhere between fury and devastation, the confused boyfriend forced a look over his shoulder as the old rancher lead him outside by tugging at his arm with a vise like grip. Once they had reached the passenger door of his truck, Jack opened it and half pleaded, half demanded, "Get in….NOW!"

Ty complied with the older man's instruction, too numb from the sudden change of direction in his life to offer much resistance.

The drive on the open road heading back to Heartland was dark and silent. It was especially troubling to the older man that Ty had said nothing since the incident. Experience told him that it meant the pressure was building in his enraged friend and it was looking for a place and time to explode.

Jack knew that Ty looked up to him as more of a father figure than a friend. They had been through many rough situations together and a mutual trust and respect had been built between them over the years. He was struggling with the right words to say to the young man he believed would have been just like his own son, if he had one, and he was also hung up on the sight of his granddaughter apparently betraying her boyfriend with the likes of Chase Powers. "What the hell was she thinking?" he muttered under his breath.

The passenger thought he may have heard his rescuer say something, but he didn't bother to look up. All he could manage was to keep his head down and try to get the vision of the girl he loved kissing the guy he hated more than anything else out of his head. _'Good luck with that,_' he thought.

Jack pulled the old truck in front of the ranch house and before he reached to open his door he looked Ty straight in the eye and said, "Listen to me. We don't know what that was all about, yet. I'm sure there is a good explanation, just don't let your head fill in too many details until you have heard the full story, from Amy. And most of all, don't do anything foolish that you are gonna regret later," he advised. "We will get through this, just like we always do."

Still, there was no reply. "Ty…are you hearing what I am telling you?"

The phone in Ty's pocket vibrated and when he pulled it out to read the screen he huffed at it and pushed the button to turn it off.

"Amy?" Jack supposed.

Ty nodded and then pulled the door open and stepped outside. "I think I just need to go now."

"Go? Where to?"

"I really don't know, Jack….just…. away from here!"

Jack realized that his ranch hand probably didn't want to be up in his loft because it might be too awkward when Amy arrived. He didn't want to think what might happen if Chase was the one who brought Amy home.

"OK, Ty, I guess I can see your point….but promise me you will call me in the morning….we will get all of this straightened out, I will make sure of that!"

There was a long, agonizing pause before the answer came. "Thanks for everything you have done for me, Jack. I really appreciate the way you believed in me and had my back all of these years."

As his mentor and most trusted friend listened to the crunching of gravel under Ty's feet as he walked away in the darkness toward his old truck parked in front of the barn, Jack had that sinking feeling in his stomach that threatened to make him sick. He knew he couldn't stop whatever the troubled young man had on his mind to do, and he hoped Ty could come to his senses before he acted foolishly. He hated the thought of such a fine young man, in his opinion, wasting his future in a fit of anger after he had finally managed to find a bit of happiness in his life at the place he had learned to call home.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

* * *

IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE CLINIC IN CALGARY

Amy was filled with a jumble of emotions. Her performance had gone well and she was thrilled at her success with the colt, especially with so many people looking on, but the advances of her partner after the show had her reeling with embarrassment and anger. She had tried to call Ty, wanting to meet him outside and away from any chance of him hearing about what had happened and avoiding a likely confrontation, but discovered that she had apparently been stranded and left without a ride home because her boyfriend and grandpa were nowhere to be found. _'That's strange, but just as well, because there would have been one hell of a fight when he found out!'_ she thought.

Fortunately, Lou had come down from the bleachers to congratulate her sister for her successful performance. When the younger sister confided to her what had happened with Chase, Lou gasped, "Amy! What were you thinking?"

"I was _thinking_ that we had put on a great clinic and it couldn't have gone any better!" the frustrated cowgirl said. "It was _awesome_, the way the show ended, and when we dismounted we were just standing there looking at each other, quite pleased with ourselves…, and all of a sudden, he just grabbed me around the waist and kissed me!"

"For God's sake, Amy, what did you do?"

"Well, it took a few seconds, I guess, to realize what was happening, to come from such a high down to…._that_!" she explained with her jaw clinched and her eyebrows narrowing in in disgust. "I was going to let it pass after I told him what I thought of him for doing that, but when I saw his face…, and the way he looked at me…, I slugged him right in the jaw!" she grimaced as she brought her hand up to look at the skinned and swollen knuckles and tried to flex her fingers to loosen the tightness that was setting in, checking to see if perhaps she had broken some bones.

"You what?" Lou said, stunned by the revelation, yet unquestionably proud of how tough her little sister had become.

"Yup! Hit him pretty good! Knocked him right out from under his hat!"

Lou shook her head in disbelief and tried to put it all together, "Soooo, where was Grandpa and Ty when all of this was going on?"

"I haven't seen or heard from either of them, and I don't know where they are!" Amy worried.

After replaying the events and thinking of the possible reasons for the unexpected absence of the two men, they became concerned that the worst had happened and that Ty could have seen the kiss, but both figured that if he had, Chase would be in the hospital by now. She tried repeatedly to phone her boyfriend, but he wasn't picking up her calls, until the fifth call was finally answered.

"Ty?"

"No, Amy, it's me." Jack replied, having taken Ty's phone just after they had left the arena, calling to let Amy know that he wouldn't be able to bring her home. "We had to leave…, see if you can find Lou about getting a ride home."

"Uhh, Lou's right here with me now…, Grandpa, what's wrong? Is everything O.K.?" she asked with her heart beginning to race in panic. "Where is Ty?"

"We'll talk about that when you get home!"

* * *

Jack met them as soon as they walked through the front door. He gathered everyone together at the kitchen table where all of the family's meetings were held and told his granddaughters about how he was with Ty when they saw Chase grab Amy into that kiss and how he watched the young man who was just beginning to find his way into knowing what it could be like to have a family to call his own falling apart from the inside out.

"I had to get Ty out of there, Amy! If he could have gotten to…, your _friend_, he wouldn't have stopped until he hurt him…, at least he wanted to! I could see it in his eyes!" he said. "I tried to get him to talk to me, but you know how he gets when things turn out bad for him," he explained to his anxious granddaughters. "He told me that he had to get out of here for a while, and I thought that might not be a bad idea. What do you think would have happened if Chase had brought you home and he was still here?"

"Not much chance of that happening!" Lou said as she explained to him how her little sister had stuck up for herself with the overconfident cowboy and if the two of them had waited for a few more seconds, they would have seen a completely different outcome than they had assumed.

"Well, where is he, then?" the girls asked simultaneously.

Amy was distraught over how this awful turn of fate had affected herself, her family, and the guy she loved. She shared with them how she and Ty had begun thinking more seriously about their future and although the stress of being so busy had caused them to be impatient with each other lately that they had been talking about the two of them going forward with their lives. She revealed that Soraya, Amy's best friend from the time they were in the first grade, told her last week that he had been shopping in town for a ring, according to one of her relatives who worked in the jewelry store just down the street from the restaurant / feed store that her mother owned, and had already purchased the modest diamond he finally picked out, and that she was expecting to have him ask her to marry him at any time.

"Then, what the hell are you doing in that arena with Chase Powers?" Jack asked with a flavor of accusation.

"I thought it was a good business decision and that Chase's horses were going to be good for all of us because of the extra work he was going to send to me here at the ranch! If things had gone like they were supposed to, I could have made a decent living working with them! But, I guess he had other ideas for our business relationship, and everything is ruined now!"

* * *

In the weeks following his disappearance, everyone at the ranch had held high hopes that the disillusioned young man would eventually find his way back to them, given the time he needed to process what he had thought to be the loss of the only person he had ever truly loved. His old Norton motorcycle and his horse, Harley, would be reason enough for him to at least have to contact them and make arrangements to get his most treasured possessions back.

* * *

Ty had left Heartland for parts unknown about three weeks before Amy began feeling tired and unsettled. She had frequent bouts of nausea which at the time made sense to her because the stress of the events leading up to losing Ty and the way her life had turned into a confusing mess afterward was taking a toll on her health. The hyper-sensitive cowgirl cried at the drop of a hat and had the temperament of a cornered cougar. All of these symptoms were new to her, but so was the emotional upheaval of having everything she and Ty had gone through together being torn to shreds in an ill-timed lapse of good judgment.

Lou watched her sister suffer for far too long, growing impatient with listening to her continue to explain away the cause, "It's just nerves, I'll get over it!" and took it upon herself to make an appointment with the family doctor in an effort to get Amy back on track.

The answer for Amy's prolonged mystery illness came soon enough. After about an hour consulting with Dr. Olsen and waiting on results from some tests she had taken, the doctor came into the room, sat in a chair directly in front of Amy and said, "Well, young lady, congratulations, you are going to be a Mom!"

Amy looked into the doctor's eyes waiting for her to say, "Just kidding!" but that didn't come. It took a few seconds for the news to register and when she turned to look at Lou, both of them saw their only sister with their mouths hanging open, gasping for air.

"A-Are you sure?" Lou finally asked, watching Amy turning a pale shade of gray as she labored to regain her breath.

"Positive!" the doctor replied.

* * *

Everyone in the family took the news relatively well. They were all supportive toward Amy, that is, with the exception of her father, Tim Fleming. He did not accept the situation well at all.

"I'm gonna tell you something…..when I find that no account boyfriend of yours…well, let's just say that he is gonna wish none of this ever happened!" Tim threatened.

Jack attempted to head his former son-in-law off at the pass. "Tim, just hold on a minute! In the first place, this is none of your business! In the second place, well…..just calm down! Going after Ty is _not_ going to help a thing!"

"Jack, what are you talking about? This is _my daughter_ and I'm damn sure going to see that he does his part in all of this!" demanded the angry father.

"Dad! That is ENOUGH!" Amy cried. "It wasn't his fault any more than it was mine!"

"Amy…what are you saying? You are here and he's…, not! He just…he just ran out on you, nowhere to be found! What kind of guy do you think he is? Where has he been? It looks to me like he took the easiest way out and I'm not going to stand for it!"

"DAD, JUST STOP IT!" screamed Amy. "He probably doesn't even know that I….that we….are expecting! Grandpa, Lou, and I have looked everywhere we can think of to try and find him! Nobody we have asked has heard from or seen him in weeks! If you knew him like I do, you would know how much he wanted kids of his own someday!" she pleaded. "Because of the way he had to grow up, without his parents or anybody to care for him like they should have, I know in my heart that he would not abandon his own child, not if he knew! I know, Dad, I just _know_ that he would want to be here for his little boy, or girl. I didn't find out until after…, until after he was gone," she tried to make her stubborn father see her reasoning, just before having to make another mad dash to the bathroom and losing what she had left in her stomach of the salad she had eaten at lunch.

Tim stubbornly declared "Well, I'll just see about that, when I find him!" more concerned with his conviction to _'bring Ty to justice'_ than how his daughter was feeling behind the closed door.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

TWO DAYS AGO

The past year had been a burden for all of the family due to Amy missing so much work during her pregnancy and after the baby was born, but somehow they had gotten through it. T.J., or Timothy Jackson Borden, named after his grandfather, great grandfather, and father, had just turned five months old and was growing 'faster than a spring foal', as Jack saw it. His mother thought he was a perfect miniature dark haired clone of his dad and she never looked at her 'Little Man' without thinking of him. He had such a happy personality that he could win anyone's heart in a minute flat. All it took was for any person to look at him and smile, which they always did when they saw him, and T.J. would wrinkle his nose and giggle at them with those wide bluish-turning-greenish eyes sparkling over a mischievous grin. He loved the attention, and he got plenty of it.

Everyone was gathered in the dining room, sitting around the supper table like they did every evening at this time, sharing conversation regarding day to day business around the ranch. Lou and her husband Peter invariably had 'Katie' stories to share, telling about the two year old girl and what she had learned to do that day, and there was always something to talk about regarding Lou's dude ranch or how Peter's company had found a new technology for the oil industry. Jack usually just listened contently at the head of the table, asking questions to keep the chatter moving along, often holding his great grandson in his lap because the two of them had become inseparable.

Amy was once again working with horses whose owners were eager to have her practice her acclaimed 'Miracle Girl' methods to their troubled or misbehaving animals. She enjoyed giving updates to her family about her clients and of the progress she had made in solving problems between them and their horses. These things clearly gave her a sense of purpose and satisfaction that she needed to begin rebuilding her confidence which had taken a beating this past year. After conceding to the reality that she would be raising her baby alone, without the benefit of having his father there to help her financially or sharing in the unending attention her son required each day, the new life she was making for herself was finally beginning to feel more normal and offered her happiness that she had been so desperately lacking.

Tim had joined the others, as he often did. Living alone at his place, The Big River Ranch, could get lonesome for a single fifty-ish cowboy. Cooking wasn't the kind of thing he enjoyed doing for himself and he was a master at finding some excuse to be at Heartland around dinner time.

Almost everyone had finished eating and the family's daily updates were winding down. Tim was fidgeting in his chair, never a good one to withhold a juicy tidbit of news, but he was especially primed to reveal to everyone the information he had only learned about the day before. "I have some news!" he said as he reached for another helping of mashed potatoes. "An old rodeo friend of mine from the States came by to see me yesterday."

"Oh, really, I didn't think you had any friends!" Jack pointed out. "Must've come all the way to Canada to collect on an old debt, no doubt!"

Amy and Lou rolled their eyes and giggled toward each other at the comment.

"Nooo…..Jack, he just came by to say hello to his old idol…..me!" Tim crowed.

"Yeah, right!" Jack discounted the idea.

"Anyway….he was telling me about this new bull rider he saw down in Oklahoma. This guy has been winning all the big events on the southern circuit lately, practically everything in sight!"

"You mean somebody that reminded him of you, Tim? HA!" Jack couldn't pass on the chance to poke fun at his former son-in-law. He felt it kept him honest, at least as honest as he was going to get.

The past four time Canadian Professional Rodeo Association 'All-Around Cowboy' mostly ignored the comment and continued, "He said the guy likes to keep to himself, sort of a loner…..takes a lot of chances, things the other riders wouldn't think about doing…Takes the kind of risks, like maybe he doesn't care if he makes it to the next go-round, or not!"

"Kinda foolhardy, if you ask me!" said Jack.

"Story is," Tim continued, "a while back he made a _great_ ride! Meanest bull in five states! Nobody had ridden him yet! So, he goes the eight seconds and then some, jumps off the bull…..picks up a hat that one of the clowns had lost….and just stands there in the ring! Well, the bull, he spins around, takes a look at this idiot, and charges him _head on_! The guy steps to the side at the last second, matador style, takes the hat and makes a big swipe at the bull's head as he charges by, and the hat gets hooked on one of his horns. Next thing you know, the meanest bull in five states is going wild trying to get that hat off his head and this cowboy just walks away, like it was, I don't know, like it was _just another day at the office_! The bull was so riled-up that it took four wranglers several more minutes to get him out of the arena!"

"Yeah, well, the clock is ticking for that cowboy, I'd bet!" Jack said.

Tim continued, "After this guy finally decided to get himself over the fence the announcer caught up with him, and he asked him, "That was a heck of a ride! What was it like to tame the bull named "Earthquake?" and this cowboy told him, "All I can say is, that bull knows he can be ridden now, and I hope I can win enough money to buy ol' Bill over there a new hat!" Well, the crowd went _crazy_! They love this guy! They're even paying him to show up at the big rodeos now!"

"Well, he'd better spend it well while he can because he won't make it very long doing stunts like that!" reasoned Jack. "Anybody you know?" he asked.

Tim's face got more serious which was noteworthy in itself, "Yeah, as a matter of fact, we _all_ know him." Everyone gave him a puzzled look believing he had to be mistaken. Caleb was the only one they could think of who might fit the description, but that didn't sound like his style, not at all, and he swore off of bulls forever. He said they were '_A good way to get a man killed_.'

"Will you spill it already, Tim?" demanded Jack.

Tim forced the answer through his gritted teeth, "Says the name is Ty Borden!", leaving the room in complete silence as each of the others tried to imagine the insanely bold cowboy in Tim's story having materialized from the boy in the loft they had grown to know, trust, and love.

"How could he have changed so much?" Amy rejected the idea. "That _can't_ be our Ty, _can it_?"


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

PRESENT DAY

After her morning ride to the top of the hill, searching through all of the rekindled memories and trying to make sense of the unexpected twist of reality her father had sprung on her and the family only hours before, her mind was made up. Fate had presented Amy an opportunity to put to rest all of the doubts, fears, and unanswered questions left in the wake of a terrible misunderstanding between her and the father of her child. She realized that the life she had accepted and learned to love was inevitably going to change again, the only question being, in what way?

Amy rode the lathered up gelding across the fresh cut grass in front of the ranch house and halted in front of the paddock where she tied Spartan to the hitching post out front. The ride back to the barn had been a brisk one. The cowgirl and her horse both enjoyed the freedom and exhilaration following a burst of speed across the open pastures of her grandfather's ranch and the connection between them during the cool down afterward was always a time they enjoyed sharing together.

The curious trainer looked through the wooden railing of the paddock at the new arrival restlessly circling the perimeter of the corral and climbed the fence astraddle of the top rail to watch Rebel prancing nervously in the pen where Caleb had left him. '_This one's going to take some work!_' she thought as she evaluated his actions.

Hopping down from her observation post, the eager cowgirl spent the next half hour untacking Spartan and hanging his gear across the hitching post for later cleaning, putting the shimmering gelding in cross ties, and giving her large jet black companion a much deserved hosing down and thorough brushing. Rides like this one always gave her the ability to clear the accumulation of stress and worry that had a way of building up during everyday life and the horse needed the attention to help him settle down after his rider had pushed him especially hard on the way back to the ranch. It also offered Amy a chance to steady her own shaking hands before facing whoever she might encounter when she went inside to begin her new mission of filling in the empty spaces of time lost from her life over the past year.

A quick check assured her that all of the routine chores inside the barn were finished and after tossing her work gloves on the desk in Lou's office she hurriedly walked across the gravel driveway toward the front steps of the house. The urgency to fill the void of his absence and to explain to her "Little Man" that his daddy had been found had overtaken her and was pushing all of her other thoughts aside. She realized that the young boy would not understand how any of this would eventually matter to him, but all the same she wanted to hold him tightly and tell him once again about the man she had loved and shared all of her hopes and dreams with. Today she had to begin the process of tying up so many of the loose ends left hanging between them and moving on with her life. No matter how the new situation played out, T.J.'s mother knew this would change her family forever.

Lou's laptop was on the kitchen table, last time she saw it, and that is where the determined investigator was headed. T.J. was in his playpen next to Katie's in the living room. Amy went to her son, picked him up, and carried him with her to the kitchen table where the screen on the computer blankly stared back at them waiting to be used. She sat down with the infant in her lap and began to type in searches looking for the man who would mean so much to her and her family, whether he knew it or not.

Not knowing what he was doing, or where, had kept her and everyone else in the dark while searching for a man who could have been anywhere by now, nearly causing them to give up ever finding the stubborn and apparently heartbroken man who could easily stay under their radar, until now. It only took a few minutes on Google for her to find what she was after. Newspaper and rodeo magazine articles with pictures of Ty making quite a stir on the winter rodeo circuit in the Southwestern United States had recently sprung up in the internet, and apparently he was now living in Flagstaff, Arizona. After all of this lost time looking in vain, there he was, dressed as stylishly as any rodeo star she had ever seen.

"He's gone cowboy, all right!" Amy marveled. "_And….He_ _really_ _looks…._ _good_!" she said to no one in particular.

The guy in the loft who had earned his special place in her heart had been transformed into this determined stranger of a cowboy, and a little prang went through her as she noticed his once soft green eyes she so dearly loved somehow seeming colder than before.

She thought back to when Ty was living at the ranch. He mostly wore printed tee shirts, jeans, and motorcycle boots. He told Amy once that he was more into riding motorcycles than horses, and cowboy hats were just not his thing. To her complete amazement, he must have decided to go all-in and change everything about who he appeared to be, if not who he was.

"Look T.J., that's your _daddy_, right there!" The little boy grinned at his momma, his usual response to her talking to him. Seeing them together for the first time with a current photo of his daddy to compare to, Amy was getting misty eyed looking at the man in the pictures. It was amazing just how much of a spitting image her small son was to him, thinking that Ty must have looked just like him when he was a child.

Lou overheard her younger sister's excitement at whatever she had discovered on the laptop. She moved behind the two sitting at the table and looked over Amy's shoulder with her jaw dropping at the sight of the former juvenile delinquent ranch hand-turned-rodeo-star.

"Oh…. My…. God….._Look at_ _him_!" she was taken aback. "Who would have ever thought? I wonder if Caleb knows that Ty probably now has more buckles than him? Wow!…. He _does_ look good as a cowboy, doesn't he, Amy?" Lou marveled with wide eyed amusement.

"Yeah…, looks pretty good for someone hell bent to try and kill himself riding those damn bulls!" Amy thought out loud.

There was a link to the rodeo circuit's schedule on one of the pages and when she clicked on it she saw there was to be an upcoming event one week from this coming Saturday in Great Falls, Montana. After opening another link to Google Maps she studied the results as the plan was being hatched in her head, "Hummm, three hundred and twelve miles…, five hundred and five kilometers. Looks like five hours or so to make it there," the 'Directions' query showed her.

Ty was one of the riders advertised as entered and guaranteed to be there. While she wrote down the information, Jack walked through the front door and was hanging his hat in the mud room before entering the kitchen to see what his granddaughters were so interested in at the table.

"Grandpa, you need to come here and look at this!" Both his granddaughters pleaded excitedly in unison.

"What is all the fuss about?" as he looked opposite Lou over Amy's other shoulder at the laptop's screen. "Well…..would you look at that!" Jack was relieved to finally see his former ranch hand and friend in one piece, and apparently doing OK for himself.

"Grandpa, I need to be in Great Falls one week form this Saturday! It says here that Ty is going to be there and…..well…..don't you think I need to see him…face to face…..and tell him everything that has happened?

Jack thoughtfully considered his reply. "Amy, you want to be very careful here…, with how you handle this." Jack reasoned. "You know he left here thinking that you took up with Chase. There isn't any telling what he has been thinking all of this time. He may even believe you are still with Chase…..and, I hate to say it, but…..when you tell him about this baby, his son, there is a possibility that he is not going to believe that your son _his_. Have you considered any of this yet? It looks like he felt strongly enough about whatever was eating at him to do something as stupid as riding those damn bulls!"

As Jack looked into Amy's eyes he could tell how badly she needed to make some kind of effort to break the news to T.J.'s daddy that he _did_ in fact have a son.

"Don't you worry," he said in his comforting tone. "We will figure it out…..and we will do it together, if you want."

"That was what I was hoping you would say! I love you, Grandpa!" Amy reached out her free arm to give her favorite old cowboy a hug.

"There is just one more thing." Jack warned. "We need to keep your father out of this, at all cost! The last thing any of us needs right now is to have Tim get his nose out of joint and get to Ty before we do. All I am trying to say is…..do NOT say a word about any of this to him. If he tries to leave before we do, stop him, no, _shoot_ him if you have to!"

"Grandpa! …Y-Youuu….never mind," Amy conceded. "You may have a point!" They all laughed together at cartoonish vision of it all unfolding.

When she had found all of the information she needed, Amy gathered her baby up in her arms to go outside to the bench on the front porch. "Wow, not what I expected! I wonder what your daddy is thinking about right now?" she told the sleepy little boy in her lap. "I hope he hasn't lost what was in his heart. He had a _good_ heart, T.J. I think maybe you take after him, the way you look for the best in people and seem so happy and determined in a natural way. That's the way he was…, and I hope he still is." The infant was sleeping soundly now. It reminded her of the last peaceful evening she spent with T. J.'s dad on the sofa in front of the fireplace with Ty sleeping in her arms, just like this.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

\- _TY'S POINT OF VIEW_ -

Ty awoke to the bright streak of sunlight poking its way through the curtains on the east side of his camper trailer. He was still getting used to the unfamiliar surroundings of his new travel accommodations, but he thought it was very comfortable, and most of all, quiet. Most ordinary people would consider this 'roughing it', he supposed, but after living for four years in the drafty loft of an old faded red barn above stalls full of horses, this was a pretty good place to be.

His rig was still parked that Thursday morning at the Cody Stampede Rodeo grounds after another pair of first place buckles the Saturday and Sunday night before. There was almost always an opportunity to work with a local vet for a few days in between events. He could earn a little extra cash and it helped to pass the time before he had to hit the road to the city hosting the next rodeo, not to mention the new friends he enjoyed meeting along the way.

The northern swing of the summer tour was nearing an end. Ty was feeling a little antsy because he had not been this far north in many months. It felt strange to be getting this close to 'home', he thought. It had occurred to him recently that he now thought of Alberta and Hudson in particular as home. He often daydreamed of the time he spent at Heartland Ranch and pictured in his head where he might have been right now if he hadn't been picked by Marion Fleming to work the remainder of his probation at the ranch, and what would his life be like right now if things had worked out with Amy? _'Dammit anyways….how could I ever let myself think that somebody like her would want to settle down with a dumbass loser like me?'_

Ty made the rounds to look after the animals for the "Circus", as he called the promotion company that owned the rodeo, before they were to be transported to the next event, and then spent the next hour putting his things away and preparing his camper for travel. There was a truck stop outside of town and a hot breakfast sounded good before he hit the road toward the next temporary residence for a few days, Great Falls, Montana.

After downing what he considered better than average biscuits, gravy, ham, eggs, and coffee, he made one more circle around the trailer to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything before he hit the road. Leaving a new town for another new town every few days was a lot of fun in the beginning of the year when he needed the distraction of something new and exciting to help him find a reason to exist, but was now turning into a lot of long, drawn out, hard work. Today he was looking at about 315 miles and six hours before he would set up shop at the new destination later in the evening.

* * *

Ty had plenty of time to think about things while he rolled down the highway alone. Usually it put him at ease to have the time to chill out and be away from the crowds of rodeo fans and responsibilities of taking care of so many animals, but today he sensed a strange feeling which was nagging at the far side of his thoughts, not really sure what it was. Memories, both treasured and hated, were beginning to thrash around inside his head like the inner works of the truck's engine straining to pull its load up and down the steep grades of the highway. Neither version held his attention for more than a few minutes at a time before a new recollection would snap in place to overtake the previous one. As he closed the distance to the Canadian line, and Hudson not all that far beyond, the feeling seemed to grip him tighter with each sign reminding him how much farther north he was getting. The people that he had left behind were dominating his 'brain' time as the center stripes on the road rolled steadily by. "I wonder what things are like back at Heartland these days? I hope everyone is well and they are all doing OK." he said to himself.

Ty had been holding a grudge for a year, serious enough to cause him to change his life and how he looked at his future. His heartbeat still pounded in his chest each time he thought about how Amy had chosen Chase Powers over him, but then again, what did he really have to offer her in comparison to the flashy, popular, and relatively rich cowboy? "I _really_ hate that guy." he spoke after every thought of the man. _'There is no way he could love Amy the way I do…, did…, hell, I don't know! Whatever! The jackass is too much in love with himself to make room for anyone else in his life.' _

The increasingly homesick rodeo star was closing in on his destination when it occurred to him that he was trying to subconsciously bargain with himself as to whether or not he should go across the border, after Great Falls, and check in on his adopted family. He knew he would love to see Jack and Lou along with all of his old friends. If only he didn't have to see Amy, not that he minded seeing her, but seeing her with Chase was still a situation he needed to avoid. There was also the story he heard about Amy now having a baby…, _Chase's baby! _He knew beyond any reasoning that he could not take seeing her with Chase's kid in her arms. That was the deal breaker, just too much to ask. _'Nah…. that would just be too awkward, and I wouldn't know what to say to any of them after I left like that….for the second time. They have probably moved on and don't even think of me anymore, if they don't outright hate me.'_ he worried with a sprinkling of regret.

* * *

Upon arriving at the rodeo grounds and finding a place to park his rig, Ty then went to the back of the complex to find the bulls, cattle, and horses to see if any of them needed anything before he settled in for the night.

As he zigzagged between the pens a teasing voice behind him said,"Hey, Ty, I see you finally made it OK."

The bull rider currently acting as a roaming veterinarian turned to see Jessie, the reigning "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" coming up behind him. She was dressed, as always, in a flashy western shirt with fringe on the sleeves, tight jeans, and of course the big cowboy hat with turquoise and silver trim, complete with a couple of big feathers, which matched her earrings.

"Hey, Jessie, you here already?" he said guardedly.

"Yeah, it was an easy trip. A couple of my friends from university showed up at Cody and they rode along with me on the way up. We got an early start and did some sightseeing on the way."

"Well, you should have had a great time, then. There are some really beautiful places in this part of the country," he told the cowgirl princess.

"Only thing that would have made it better is if I was riding with _you_, Tyler Borden!"

"Oh, I don't know, Jessie, you would get bored with the way I travel. I mostly just drive down the road and think. I'm afraid I wouldn't be very good company for you."

"We will just have to see about that one of these days, won't we?" she said, disappointed.

Ty offered a shrug in response to the normally persistent woman. _'She is alright, I guess, but I don't think I could keep up with her lifestyle.'_ he figured in his head.

* * *

_Saturday had come and Ty-the-Vet spent most of the day working with the stock to make sure they were all ready to go at "Showtime", as he called it. None of the animals were in need of extra attention, _'So it should be an easy, uneventful day',_ he thought._

Every once in a while a fan would find the popular cowboy walking between one of several stock pens and the company trailer where he kept his vet supplies and equipment. Most people were polite and seemed really thrilled to meet him. He always tried to put his best foot forward for his fans. He wouldn't want to snub any of them, _'It just wouldn't be right.'_

"What are you going to do next?" A boy that Ty assumed to be about ten years old had wondered up and asked him, apparently referring to the crazy stunts that he was becoming known for.

"You just never know what may come next! A lot depends on the bull…..if he's in the mood to give me a good ride, anything can happen. Maybe we can score lots of points tonight and put on a good show," he told the young fan. "So, am I going to be hearing you yell for me when I come out of the gate?"

"You bet, Mr. Borden."

"What's your name, buddy?"

"I'm Kyle…..Kyle Waggoner. Would you please sign this program for me?"

"Well, Kyle Waggoner, it is a pleasure to meet you, and you can call me Ty. All of my friends do! Here, let me see that program."

Although he was still learning to grasp the fact that people would actually seek _him_ out for something like this, he signed his 'showbiz' signature beside a picture of himself and handed the paper back to the star struck little cowboy who shook his hand vigorously and scampered back to his parents who were chuckling at the boy from the bottom of stairs beside the grandstand. He shared a wink and a wave with the young fan's folks who waived back in appreciation for the gesture which made their son's day and then made his way back to his trailer to shower and change into his "Ty-the-Cowboy-Star" clothes. He had clothing companies bringing him their newest and most expensive shirts, jeans, and hats to wear when the crowd showed up to watch.

"A little over the top for my taste, but maybe I don't look too bad, eh?" he complimented himself with a chuckle into the mirror.

* * *

The crowd was filing into the arena complex in large numbers as Ty walked by the holding pens. He couldn't eat before he rode, his nerves would get the best of him if he did, so he usually tried to find a place to be alone, if possible, and get his game face on. Often he went to the pen holding the bulls so he could find the one he had drawn for his next ride. His normal routine was to lean against the fence, one foot on the bottom rail, and softly begin talking to the animal. He doubted that it did either one of them any good, but he felt better about preparing for the go-'round like this. Some of the other cowboys noticed the practice and would joke about it among themselves. Ty had heard of them talking about his 'bull whispering', but he didn't really care what they thought. If he kept on this winning streak, he figured they would all be lined up along the rail trying to learn to speak to the bulls themselves.

The rodeo veterinarian-bull rider stopped along the way to see a couple of his favorite horses. He stood there for a while with a beautiful bay, sliding his palm up and down the horses' nose while he softly spoke to him like he was an old friend that he had been missing a lot lately. The gelding enjoyed the attention and began to nudge Ty's shoulder if he stopped rubbing for more than a couple of seconds. It made him think of his horse, Harley, the one he left behind at Heartland, who would get impatient with him exactly the same way. Right now it seemed like such a long time ago that he had gotten to spend time with his equine confidant, the horse that had spent many hours listening to a much younger ranch hand work out all of the troubles adapting to a new family and a new way of life.

His mind took him there again as an escape from the pressure that was building in anticipation of the expected performance she would soon provide for all of the people milling around the grandstands which were now filled to the top. He remembered the time shortly after feeling rejected and humiliated at his former home and his search for a place to hide out for a while in British Columbia before he finally decided to head south and try settling far away in the States. He had sent Harley's papers back to the ranch. He knew the first horse he ever owned would get the best possible care there, and he remembered the note he had included with the papers.

_Jack, _

_I want to thank you for all you have done to help me when I needed it most. I know that my coming to Heartland was brought about by Marion's kind heart, but you and the girls could have easily sent me on my way when I showed up at the ranch that day. I was a lost and lonely kid who was heading down a bad road in life. Instead, you took me in, even after Marion was taken away by the accident. Please tell everyone there at the ranch I said 'thank you' for putting up with me for all those years, for letting me know and experience the feeling of having had a family for a little while, and for saving my life when I was about to give up._

_I have sent you the papers for Harley and the Norton. I had them notarized and all you need to do is sign them to make it official. I know they are both in good hands there with all of you at Heartland._

_Yours truly,_

_Ty_

* * *

Trying to regain his present situation and begin the process of preparing his mind to "Do battle with Nature's Fury", as the announcer often called a riders attempt to spend eight seconds on the back of a pissed off bull, Ty bent down to feel the paints' legs checking for any swelling or heat, then gently brushed his back and patted him on the neck to calm himself as much as the horse. He was still lost in his thoughts about the only family he had ever known, wondering if he would ever find a way to have a family of his own someday, when he heard approaching footsteps from behind. It sounded like whoever it was had stopped walking and he was just about to turn around to see who was there when a jolt shot through him from head to toe after he heard a weak but familiar "Ty?"


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

\- AMY'S POINT OF VIEW –

A crimson haze was just beginning to spread across the skies beyond the hill that separated Heartland Ranch from the prairie to the east. The reddish-golden glow intensified by the minute, ever changing as a natural kaleidoscope of clouds intensely backlit by the rising sun, revealing the awesome vastness of yet another breathtaking Alberta morning sky. While the day awakened all around Amy as she began her not so normal routine in and around the barn, the lifelong ranchers' granddaughter stopped to take in the wonder of a new day so dramatically announced by a force much larger than her and everything she knew, appreciating one of life's most awesome gifts as an uplifting way to begin the journey that would surely prove to set the course for the rest of her life.

The restless single mother didn't sleep a wink last night, too excited, too worried about the changes that would certainly come this evening as a result of the much anticipated intercession with her lost love at the rodeo in Great Falls. "Boy, is your old buddy going to be surprised!" she told Harley as she tossed a fresh flake of hay into his stall and patted his neck when he swung his head over the gate to show his appreciation. "I hope he takes the news well," Amy confided to the horse that had played a huge part in the regeneration of the young man who needed to find his purpose in life after he came to live with the family, and her, at the ranch. As she turned to fetch another handful of hay for Spartan the lonesome horse playfully nodded and poked her shoulder when she tried to walk away. Returning to the gate, she scratched his nose with her shaking hands, "I'll bet he misses you too!"

Amy realized that somehow Harley knew today was a special day and that his caretaker was especially nervous. "Well, boy, I know things haven't been the way we wanted them to be lately, but I am going to see what I can do about that today! Maybe you'll get a visit from your best buddy soon!" she told the horse in high hopes for a positive outcome of her effort to make everything right again, or at least to have a more definite direction. "I would like that, too!"

* * *

At seven a.m. sharp Jack's old Chevy truck rolled up the driveway toward Highway 22, the old cowboy trail, and cut across the foothills to Highway 2, and then south across the prairie for the next few hours. Canola fields were displaying their brilliant yellow blossoms for miles on end and the grass was always greenest this time of year. The Canadian Rockies were clear off to the West, rising until the snowcapped peaks met the crystal blue sky above.

"It couldn't be a better day for travelling," Jack's anxious granddaughter told him while watching it all pass by through her side window. "It should be really nice tonight, too," trying to find a pleasant distraction to keep her mind from melting down with all of the thoughts spinning around inside her head.

"It sure is! It would be hard to find a place as beautiful as this, no matter where you go!" Jack said proudly of his Alberta home.

Amy's mind was bouncing around from wondering how the meeting with Ty might turn out this evening to worrying if T.J. was content without her being there for him. It was the first time he would not see his mother for a whole day, and she figured he would catch on that something was different with the day right about now.

"I should call home and check in on Lou. T.J. is not going to be happy about all of this!"

"Now, Amy, I'm sure Lou has everything under control. I wouldn't worry about a thing back home. You have plenty to be thinking about for yourself and for that little boy of yours, you know, like, are you sure you have a good plan for when you finally see Ty this evening?" he reminded her.

"But, Grandpa…, Oh My God!" she exclaimed, "I've turned into Lou!"

Jack chuckled to himself, visualizing Lou in one of her worrying fits. The thought of a more conservative Amy in the same role was really humorous to him.

The worried mother pushed Lou's number on speed dial, still wanting to make sure all was well at home.

"I wondered how long it would take you," Lou laughed at her sister when she answered the call.

"I know, but I can't help it," the younger Fleming sister confessed. "Now I get it, how you are always worrying about everybody and needing to know everything is O.K."

"We are fine, Sis! T.J. and Katie are already finished with breakfast and playing in their pens right beside me here at the table. We are all going to take advantage of this beautiful day and go down by the river for a picnic, like Mom did with us when she wanted to treat us to a special day. It _really_ _is_ a special day, Amy. I am praying for you and Ty, that you have a good talk when you see him," Lou said with hopes of encouraging her sister and wishing her well. The big sister could sense that Amy was about to choke up so she spoke quickly, "I love you, Amy, we all do, and I know everything is going to be O.K. Don't you worry about us today….I will make sure your son stays busy and knows that he is loved….just do what you can to make sure he gets to meet his daddy soon, that is the most important thing!"

* * *

After crossing the border into the USA, Great Falls, Montana was no longer a whole world away. Amy's heartbeat picked up its rhythm a notch as the distance to their destination continued to narrow. She was trying to imagine how she would approach her estranged boyfriend. _'Boyfriend..._, _humph_, _he was much more to her than that!' _she thought. Of course she hoped that seeing Ty again would be as pleasant as possible, but they had been apart for so long now that she wondered if they would even know how to talk to each other anymore. They used to have such a special bond and they were best of friends long before they were lovers. They trusted each other with all of their secrets, hopes, and dreams. What wouldn't she give to have someone like that in her life again? It just made everything easier knowing that someone really had your best interest at heart, always had your back, no matter what.

The nervous cowgirl tried to maintain a positive attitude and appreciated the encouragement from her supportive grandfather, but she couldn't shake the worry that this day could turn out to be a total disaster. Jack pulled into a decent looking motel at the edge of town and got each of them a room for the night. They took an hour to have a late lunch and go over the plan one more time. They would each scout around the grounds, get a lay of the land, so to speak, to see if they could locate where Ty might be.

"I saw an endorsement ad on one of the online rodeo websites. It said that he has a fancy new camper trailer as his living quarters, so he should be with all the other rodeo cowboys in a special camping area close to the rodeo grounds." Amy said. "I think when we find him, Grandpa…..maybe it would be best that you should approach him first. He has too much respect toward you to bolt or refuse to see you, I mean..., there would be a better chance for you to turn the first meeting into a conversation. Then, if he is willing, I will get my chance to tell Ty about his son. I really want to try and set things right between us, to tell him what really happened that night at the horse clinic in Calgary. I don't know if he will ever trust me after all this time, but I have to at least try. I really do believe that he would want to get to know his little boy."

"I think that sounds about right, Jack reasoned. "I'm pretty sure I can get him to talk to me. Always could."

"Make sure your cell phone is charged, so we can keep in contact with each other while we are looking," Amy suggested.

After they finished at the restaurant they each went to their respective rooms to get ready to set the plan in motion. Amy took a shower and put on some new clothes that Lou helped her pick out at one of the better stores in Calgary. She was just now getting back into a size that suited her, more like her old figure. _'At least Ty didn't have to look at me when I was so darn large.'_ The new mom was thankful for that, at least. She applied some makeup and took the time to make sure she was fixed up as nice as she could be. "Ohhhh Kaaay. I think we are ready!" she said, trying to build up to the task.

* * *

When they got inside the rodeo complex, Amy and Jack split up to make the best use of their limited time to locate Ty. Jack would ask around the arena and stock pens, Amy would walk through the campers on the other side and see if anybody there would point her in the right direction. If she found her former boyfriend, she would call her Grandpa in order to meet up and get ready to try and talk with him.

It took the female private eye about ten minutes to strike up a conversation with an attractive young lady wearing a sash proclaiming her to be the current 'Sweetheart of the Rodeo.'

"Hey, there! You seem to be looking for someone? Maybe I can help? I've been travelin' around with this crowd for a few months now, so I know most of them. I'm Jessie, by the way."

"Amy," she said as she reached out her hand to introduce herself. "Oh, Thank you! Yes, I _am_ looking for someone, _Ummm_…..Ty Borden. Do you know him?"

The rodeo poster girl let out a slow, cynical giggle, "Ohhhh Yeahhhhh, you and every other girl in the Western States, and from what I hear, Canada too!"

That threw Amy off for a couple of beats. "Uh, really? I mean…..I'm….ummm…."

Jesse stepped in, "Listen, Amy, there are a lot of girls looking for Ty Borden, but let me save you some trouble. He is a really sweet guy, one of the best, but to tell the truth, he hardly ever goes out on dates. I heard something about a girl back there in Alberta, that's where he's from, must've broken his heart some kind of bad. He keeps to himself most of the time. Just studies for tests for his vet school. He takes care of the livestock for the company, I mean the rodeo promotion company. He's a Veterinarian, you know. He loves those animals…, does a good job with them, too. Many a cowgirl has taken a run at him, but I just don't think he is interested right now."

"No….I really _am_ an old friend of his. I have known him for a long time but I haven't seen him for quite a while and…..since he finally came close enough to home that we could come to see him…..."

"OK, Amy…Look, this time of the day, you should try over by the corral were the horses are. I see him there a lot. Just look for the best lookin' cowboy you can find, probably leaning on the fence and talkin' to the horses like they understand him. Just something he does."

"Oh…OK, thanks. I appreciate your help." Amy told her, smiling with the thought that she knew very well where Ty learned to talk to animals.

"No problem, girl. Oh, you didn't say where you were from?"

"I'm from _Alberta_!" she proudly said as she walked away with just a bit of a smile tugging at the edge of her lips while Jessie's forehead formed a curious wrinkle between her eyebrows, trying to size up the new arrival from the mysterious cowboys past.

Amy carefully paced forward, her heart beating so hard that she could feel its pulse thumping in her eardrums._ 'Just find him and call Grandpa, don't let him see you yet!'_ she reminded herself of the plan. Her eyes roamed carefully through the scattering of people wandering around among the livestock, and then she caught a glimpse of a familiar form kneeling beside one of the horses and feeling its ankles. There was no mistaking his movements as he stood and gently ran his hand along the appreciative horses back and then patted his neck. She'd seen him do it hundreds of times and the sight of him caused her heart to leap into her throat, thankful that his tenderness hadn't left him yet. He did seem strangely different though, with the western shirt, cowboy hat, and _even cowboy boots_. This _'real deal'_ confident cowboy would take some getting used to!

The phone trembled in her hands, ready to dial her Grandfather to come and take over, but Amy fumbled around the keypad and somehow couldn't make herself push the buttons. She watched for what seemed like a couple of minutes, unable to concentrate on anything or anybody else. Finally deciding that she could not take it any longer, not with coming this close after all this time, she waited until they were free from passersby and slowly stepped to within five feet of him. There were a couple of false starts getting her voice to cooperate, but on the third try came a near whisper…,"Ty?"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

A lightning bolt ran through Ty's body at the sound of the voice he knew so well. He turned slowly, prepared to be disappointed again because he had lost count of the times his heart skipped a few beats when he had encountered someone in the crowd who moved, looked, or sounded like the love he left in Calgary, only to be disappointed by his overactive imagination and unfulfilled desire to see her again someday and settle unfinished things between them.

"A-Amy? It's really you? Wha….What are you doing here?" he asked as he reached for the top rail on the fence behind him, hoping for something substantial to help him reagain his balance in fear that he might embarrass himself by falling over backwards in total shock at seeing her there so close after such a long time and distance between them.

"Hey,…..I...uhh…._We_ heard you were going to be this close to home and we decided to come and see you!" she tried to explain without giving away too much, too soon.

"We?…, S-s-so, I can't believe that you got _Chase_ to bring you all the way down here for a rodeo?"

"No, Ty…, j_ust me and Grandpa!" _she quietly attempted to deflect the tension she sensed escalating in the estranged cowboy." There is no Chase! Never was!Oh, shoot, I forgot! Grandpa is somewhere out here looking for you too! I really should call him and tell him where we are so he can find us," she remembered as she held her phone up between them as if to ask for permission to interrupt the conversation and call him.

"Is everybody OK? I-I'm just….I'm kind of blown away to see you here, so far from home!" Ty questioned.

"No! Don't worry! Everybody back home is fine! It's just….I can't….I can't begin to tell you how much…"

His nervous former girlfriend stopped mid-sentence to look at the reason Ty pointed behind her. Jack had spotted them and was making his way through the maze of corrals, trailers, and fans who were aimlessly gawking at the livestock while looking for an opportunity to score an autograph from one of the rodeo personalities they had travelled here to see.

"Ty Borden…,'Rodeo Star'!" Jack laughed at his long lost friend and ranch hand. "How've you been keepin'?"

"You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you, Jack," he smiled and offered his hand to the man who had shown him how much better his life would have been if only he had known a more stable father in his earlier years. "Things are pretty crazy, traveling town to town and being a regular cowboy. Turns out, the rodeo has been good to me. Who would' a thought!

"So I hear! Damn, Ty, it sure is good to see you!" the old rancher said with a slap on the young man's shoulder.

Amy smiled at seeing two of her favorite people reunited after being separated for so long. "Ty, I hope we get a chance talk for a while, as soon as you get a little time…, we…, me and Grandpa, would both love to do some catching up!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't talk right now, Amy. The first go-'round is in a few minutes and I have a date with ol' "Widow Maker" over there. That's my draw for this ride."

"Oh, it's OK, I didn't mean right this minute!" she attempted to puff out a laugh even though another minute was too long for her to put off the impending conversation after being without him for so long. "Soooo…, Bulls? _Really, Ty_?" Amy challenged him with one eyebrow raised in an attempt at a playful assessment of his new career.

"Well…..I don't know what to tell you about that, other than I just needed to work some things out."

"Work things out? Is that what you call it?" she tried not to mock him to the extent that he felt offended. "Sounds like you have found a talent you didn't know you had!"

"Talent? I don't think I have heard it called that, yet!" he said. "More like I'm too scared to fall off, knowing what comes after that if the bull catches up with me!"

"Yeah, about that! I hear that you don't make much of an effort to get the hell out of there after you hit the ground, like all of the _smart_ riders do," Jack interjected.

"But, that's part of what _I_ have that the others don't. You see, there was this girl I used to know that taught me how to talk to animals…, weirdest thing I ever saw, but, I have to tell you, _it works!" _he theatrically played up the scenario_. "_I spend a little bit of time with the bulls before we go out into the arena, telling them how I want things to go when that gate opens, and most of the time, it all goes to plan!"

Amy felt sick to her stomach at the image of her first love tempting fate in such a way. "Will you take care of yourself out there? You know, for the people who care about you, if not for yourself." she pleaded.

"People…, who care about _me_? I didn't think there were any of those left these days," he said, half kidding, half not.

"I mean it, Ty…..I'm serious!" she said, trying to hold back a desperate burst of tears.

"The problem with that, Amy, is there's no points or money to be made when you take it easy," he said matter of factly, but then softened when he saw that she was genuinely afraid for him. "OK…, ok…," he said as he raised his hands in surrender to reassure the girl he once loved and who had become this beautiful young woman since he had last seen her, "I'm sorry, Amy. Just for _whoever_ those people might be, I will ask ol' 'Widow Maker' over there to be gentle with me," he downplayed the situation as he took a few steps toward the pen that held the waiting bulls. He stopped and turned to take one more look at his first love that would always be to him the one that got away. She looked terrified and he could _never_ bear to see her like that. He let out a breath and then suggested, "If you would like, meet me at my trailer after the last ride. It's the new white one parked down by the pond at the back of the lot, has my name written by the door. I will buy you two a nice steak and we can catch up then. How's that sound?"

"I'll be waiting." she assured him. "And so will Grandpa!" she tossed in, thinking that if her own wishes weren't good enough to sway his effort to take care of himself that possibly knowing the one man Ty looked up to most of all was here to see him as well.

* * *

"Amy! I thought you were going to wait for me!" Jack said sharply to his over-eager granddaughter.

"Grandpa, I saw him…, and I just couldn't walk away without saying something to him!" she said in defense of the look her co-conspirator was giving her. "I know, Grandpa…., I'm sorry! I happened upon him working with the horses over there…, and seeing him like that…, it brought back so many memories…, I just couldn't let it go!"

"Listen, Amy, I sure do wish you would have held up on letting Ty know we are here until after he had finished riding those damn bulls!" he reprimanded. "You have to understand, what he is doing is extremely dangerous and he needs to be focused on the ride. If his mind isn't completely where it belongs…, he could make a mistake that could get him hurt…, or _worse!_"

"Oh, Grandpa! What if something happens to him because I distracted him?"

"We will just have to trust that he knows what he is doing and that he will pay attention and take care of himself. He's no fool, Amy, everything is going to be all right," he assured the near panic stricken young woman.

The Canadian duo climbed the stairs at the center of the grandstands as Amy eagerly punched the keypad on her phone to call home and fill Lou in with details of their adventure, and to see how her son was handling her absence. The first rider burst out of the gate at the far end of the arena as the opening calf roping event got under way, forcing her to raise her voice in reply to her anxious sister's interrogation about any progress the two of them had made while in Montana.

"Well, how did he take it when he figured out you were there to see him?" Lou eagerly asked without even saying 'hello'.

"OK, I think. He was surprised, like I expected, but I think he was good with my, or _with us_, being here," she said, filled with hope and giddy with anticipation.

"Did you get to talk to him? What did you say? Is he friendly to you, or is he still pissed? What is Grandp…"

"Whoa, Lou! I can't keep up!"

"Oh, sorry…., I just can't imagine what he thought when he saw you!"

"We only spoke for a few minutes before he had to get ready for the first go-'round. He seemed fine, better than I expected. He suggested we meet him at his camper after he is finished riding. Told us he is going to buy us a steak and we can talk all we want then! Now that I think of it, I'd say he probably hasn't eaten anything since breakfast. He never could keep any food down when he gets really worked up, like he must be right now," she remembered. "Well, how did you make it today with T.J.?" asked his mother.

"We – had – a - _fantastic_ day, Amy! We _all_ had _so_ much fun! The kids played at the river until they passed out from exhaustion. I let them sleep for a couple of hours before we headed back to the house. I finally got the chance to do a little reading while they were quiet. It is soooo peaceful down there!"

"No problems with T.J. missing me?" she asked, almost hurt that her son was so content without her hovering over him.

"Just one little episode, before he had his nap," she assured the worried mother. "He was just tired and didn't want to stop playing. He looked for you several times and cried for a while, but I was able to distract him and get his mind on other things."

"Oh, that's good! I'm glad you all made it OK today!"

"Don't worry about anything here, Amy, just concentrate on what you need to do later tonight, OK?" Lou encouraged her sister.

"Yeah, that's the plan!" said Amy.

* * *

The arena stirred with excitement as the announcer began to build up the third rider while he climbed astraddle of the stomping bull in the chute at the center of the grandstands. _"And now, ladies and gentlemen, coming up next, get ready for the hottest cowboy on the circuit right now, recently taking the championship points lead for the season, give a yell for the bull rider who you just gotta know will give it everything he's got…, from all the way up there in Alberta, Canada_…, _TY BORDEN!" _

He had to admit that when the crowd started to recognize him and began to cheer at the mention of his name, it was a special feeling, one that he had never experienced before now. He _mattered _to people.

Amy stood in reaction to the excitement of the crowd, then plopped back down to her seat because she didn't think she could bear the sight of Ty flailing around on the back of a raging beast as he had done a few years ago at the Hudson Rodeo, an ill-planned retaliation to the attention she was giving another cowboy, but then stood again, hoping that her watching might somehow protect him from anything that could get him hurt.

The first two go-'rounds were normal rides for Ty. He figured he was a little 'off' because of the surprise he had encountered only a few minutes before the first bull sent him to the ground in a swirl of dust, but he had gotten himself back together before the second go 'round and managed a textbook full ride to make up for the initial failure.

As a young man looking for an escape from a life that seemed to always knock him down just as he was beginning to have hope for better things, he had discovered a feeling of exhilaration and accomplishment from the experience of riding bulls for sport, no longer dreading each ride, but instead, looking forward to it. Another competitor was tied with the rodeo vet/cowboy leading up to the final round and now it was time to settle who was going to get the this evenings buckle.

The center gate flew open at Ty's nod and he gave a kick to the bulls' ribs to commence the eight seconds of sheer terror that would follow.

In an angry display of might, the two ton animal threw his rear hooves nearly vertical for several dramatic kicks, then jerked his head to the left and spun into a tight bucking spiral which became a difficult balancing act for the notoriously brave cowboy to stay aboard and away from the thrashing hooves pulverizing the earth below them. This time, however, the rider was up to the challenge and managed to make the allotted time, and a couple of seconds more, before successfully timing his exit into a perfect three point landing with his butt and shiny new boots bouncing into the soft dirt simultaneously. Choosing to wear only a cowboy hat instead of the full face helmet that most of the riders were wearing these days, he picked the spanking new $150 'Boss of the Plains' Stetson out of the dirt and shook off the brim, and then stood there waiting for the bull to realize his passenger had departed company and had stopped to see what had happened to him. They both stood their ground, staring each other down for a few terrifying seconds for the fans and friends watching from the bleachers, and then ol' 'Widow Maker' had had enough and pawed at the dirt underneath him twice before charging his relatively small challenger with a full head of steam. Screams of terror rose from the crowd as the bull neared the cowboy who stood calmly in the center of the ring. Just as the bull took aim with his right horn, the Albertan rodeo-cowboy-turned-matador gracefully twisted to the side and swiped his hat perfectly onto the projectile as it impaled the no longer new felt Stetson. The raging bull bounced to the other end of the arena comically sporting his new attire, now demoted into performing the part of an impromptu rodeo clown.

The grandstands shook with noise from the disbelieving fans as they laughed, cheered, clapped, and hollered their approval to Ty Borden, 'Rodeo Cowboy', when he broke into a dead run and cleared the fence to escape any retaliation from his disgraced opponent.

Amy steadied herself against her Grandpa, her knees nearly buckling from under her. Jack caught her and helped her sit down, and then he put his arm around her shoulders as he sat beside her.

"It's OK, Amy, everything is all right now…, he's OK…," was all he could get out before his pale-gray granddaughter caught her breath enough to speak.

"_What-the-hell-is-he-thinking_, _Grandpa_?" she shrieked. She had watched many bull rides, but this was insane! "How long does he think he can get away with this…, this…, whatever the hell this is, before one of those bulls stomps the crap out of him?"

"I know, Amy, it scared the hell out of me too, but I don't know what any of us can do about it right now," he said.

Amy and Jack were waiting at the camper when Ty approached from the office, looking down at his new "Bull Riding Champion, Great Falls Rodeo" buckle and clutching an envelope containing his winnings for the night.

"Like stealing candy from a baby!" he said, trying to soften the looks he received from the two waiting friends from back home.

Amy was livid and not amused by his antics, obvious by the 'What the hell was that!' look plastered all over her face, and Jack showed his poker face, with no particular sign of his mood, although Ty figured he could easily guess what was on his mind.

"OK, steaks on the house, thanks to the kind people of Great Falls, Montana!" he said, still trying to crack the ice in Amy's glare. "C'mon, Amy, it wasn't that bad, was it?"

"_You dumbass_! Are you looking for a way to kill yourself, in front of a thousand people?"

"Well, actually…," he tried to respond.

"Do you not have any regard to your own safety, or to the feelings of the people who love you? You have no idea, Ty! You still have a family back there in Hudson! We all love you! How do you think we would feel if something happened to you, doing something _this stupid_? How would you feel, knowing that you got yourself stomped to death by some damn bull at some damn rodeo and I had to _explain that to your son_!"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Ty had been struck by lightning twice in one day, emotional exclamation points on either end of his life or death dance with two thousand pounds of custom bred Longhorn-Brahman mix, which seemed extraordinarily insignificant at the moment.

"Did you just say that I have a son?" His eyes darted back and forth between the two most trusted people and best friends he had ever known, trying to reel in the idea of what his former girlfriend had just cast out to him. "Amy? What are you talking about?" Had anyone else said such a thing to him he would have laughed out loud, but he did not need any further affirmation than to look into the blue eyes he remembered so well and the tears rolling across her reddened cheeks. He instinctively glanced toward Jack to try and get a read on him to see if the mood was relief, worry, or outright anger, but he could tell that his trusted teacher in life was just happy to see him and relief seemed to be winning at the moment.

Courageous cowboy or not, the air had been crushed out of him. _'How could this be possible? Well, I know how! But…, when?…, Is she sure that he is mine? Oh, can't ask that or shit's gonna hit the fan, for sure! Damn! How old is he? What does he look like? What am I supposed to do now? Damn! What do I say to her? I gotta go see him! _

The current depiction of every rodeo kid's idol was now the perfect picture of dumbfounded, if you were to look it up, because he had no idea of what to make of this news, what he should say, or what he was going to do about it. A thousand thoughts clogged the outward passage of the bewildered young man's emotions, leaving the two anxious bearers of the life changing news marooned and waiting for some kind of response as the sustained silence wore on.

Amy knew the intensity stirring in his telling green eyes. As a fifteen year old horse whisperer she had discovered that he unknowingly gave all of his secrets away to her in those orbs of teenage passion. They always revealed everything the perceptive young cowgirl ever needed to know about what Ty was thinking, and she had learned to use that to her advantage when his communication skills failed him.

Ty's struggle to regain his emotional balance made Amy want to reach out to him, knowing how much the only guy she had ever really loved had been set back on his heels by this unexpected news, how curious he was to find out what he had missed, and how much she had missed looking into the emerald windows to his soul.

"I'm so sorry…, I shouldn't have dropped _this_ kind of news on you like that!" she apologized and broke fully into tears. "It's just…, that we have looked for you for so long, and when we finally found you, we read and heard all the stories about what you do when you ride…, and, tonight, when I actually saw you do it…, Ty, I don't think I have ever been so scared as when that bull charged at you! All I could think of was that T.J. is not going to get the chance to meet his father because he is going to get himself killed before that ever happens!"

"T.J.?"

"Yes…," she realized her little boy didn't yet have a name to his father. "Timothy Jackson…, _Borden_, after the three men in my life who matter the most to me. And now, there are four!"

Tears welled up in the rodeo hero's eyes at the sound of the name. He tried his best to not break down in front of the two most influential people in his life, but his emotions were now out of his control and with the next breath everything he struggled to hold back broke loose. He reached for the much needed comfort he had almost forgotten and wrapped his arms around Amy without thinking, then, startled at his impulsive action, backed away because he realized that it may no longer be something he should do, but when Amy grasped him around the waist and pulled him back into a vise like grip, he knew that nothing else mattered and he had to show her how sorry he was that he hadn't been a part of her life during such an important time.

The old cowboy was satisfied that the two young parents were ready to have the talk they had needed to have for so long now, and said, "Amy, I think I am going to head back to my room and get some sleep, if you think you will be all right?"

"Go ahead, Grandpa, I'll be fine, _now_. We have plenty to talk about, so don't wait up on me, OK?"

"You know where I am if you need me," he reminded them both that he would not be too far away.

"I owe you a steak, don't I Jack?" Ty reminded him.

"No, not tonight, Ty. Maybe we can catch back up tomorrow, I'll save my appetite until then, but thanks anyway!" he said when he turned to look over his shoulder at the two of them one more time before he slipped out of their sight.

"How about you, are you hungry?" he offered.

"Starved! You got anything in there to eat?" she asked with a nod toward the camper.

"That's a gourmet kitchen on wheels! I have her well stocked so I don't have to go out so much," he said with a big grin under his softening tear filled eyes. "Let me show ya!"

* * *

Maybe it was due to the fact that she had not eaten since early afternoon, but Amy thought Ty's thawed out and microwaved chili was about the best thing she had eaten in a very long time. They ate, and talked, with questions and answers volleying across the table like a tennis ball at a Wimbledon center court match.

"I don't suppose you have a picture?" the curious father asked.

"You're kidding, right?" she said, reaching into her backpack and offering him a thick picture book she had put together for him to keep. "I made this for you. There are photos from before he was born all the way up until a couple of days ago!"

Amy placed the album with the still short story of their son's life in his hands, rose from her seat and picked up the bowls and silverware from the table to put them in the sink, and leaned back against the kitchen countertop, quietly watching the awe struck father open it up and see his son's face for the first time. Her heart melted when his face lit up with the turn of every page, breaking into a wide grin and then shifting into full concentration as he studied each photograph, caressing them with the tips of his fingers as if to touch the little boy he had instantly fallen in love with. She was relieved and thankful that Ty had accepted the traumatic turn of events as well as he had, and that the sweet spirit of the boy who used to live in the barn loft at her family ranch, her first and only love until T.J. came along, was still inside this man who was being presented as the fearless rodeo cowboy.

"I can only imagine the questions you must have!" she said, "Anything you would like to know, just ask!"

He looked at her, thinking over all of the possible mysteries she might unravel for him, and then said, "Just _tell_ me about him, _everything_ about him!"

"Well," she laughed at his sudden enthusiasm," He's _perfect_, Ty! He's _beautiful! _He is without a doubt the sweetest little boy, ever!"

The new father listened intently as the mother of his son gave him an introductory glimpse into the life of the little one, and he smiled at the image of such a healthy, happy little boy. Just as quickly, a look of despair took over his face and it made Amy wonder what could have caused the sudden shift in his mood.

"Ty, what's wrong?" she asked. "Are you OK?"

Deflated, he drew in a long breath and weighed his next words carefully, then he said, "You know how much I resented my own father because of the way he treated Mom and me, and the thought just occurred to me that I have turned out exactly like him! Maybe even worse, because my own son has never even seen me before! At least Dad was around enough for me to know who he was!"

"C'mon, Ty, as weird as this whole thing has turned out to be, it isn't like you abandoned someone that you didn't even know existed! Look, we have a long way to go to make up for all this lost time, but that is exactly what I intend to try to do, and if you are willing, we can make it happen, at least to the point of getting along again!" she proclaimed.

"How can I ever make it up to him…, to _you_?" he worried, "There isn't any way for a father to explain to his son why he hasn't been around for his whole life!"

"OK, Ty, trust me when I say this, I don't think it is going to be all that hard to fix things between you and T.J. You will find that our son is an amazing, loving little guy! He is soooo happy! He hasn't ever had to wonder if he was loved! He flirts with all of the girls, _already_, and they all make a big deal out of him when he goes into town! They all think he is adorable, _because he is_, and the little rat _knows_ it! He is _such_ a ham! He takes after you in so many ways," she admitted. "He is the kind of kid that is a sweetheart and everybody just _has_ to love him!

Ty watched the proud mother's eyes dance and her enthusiasm grow while she tried her best to set his mind at ease and fill in the questions he so badly needed to know the answers to. His spirit soared, then crashed, then soared again while he wavered between learning to be a proud new father, then letting the idea creep back in that he must have been such a terrible disappointment to the people that he thought of as his family back at Heartland Ranch.

At four in the morning Ty leaned forward to place his elbows on his knees and his eyes dropped to the floor while he thought about where he was going to go from here. "I am _so_ sorry, Amy, that I wasn't there to do my part when you would have needed the support and love that I should have given you. I just felt so let down after what happened in Calgary that night, like I had lost everything that ever mattered to me, in a split second! If Jack hadn't grabbed me by the arm and led me out of there like he did, and nobody else could have _ever_ gotten away with that, I think I would have tried to hurt your show boat horse training partner!"

Amy caught Ty's green eyes looking straight at her and locked in on them to make sure he understood that she was giving everything she had to what she was about to say, "That is why it is such a shame about what happened that night! I know, Grandpa told me that you saw Chase kiss me after the ride out of the arena. I admit that I was having a great time, and the experience was so…, _overwhelming_! You know what I am talking about! I saw how you reacted to those fans cheering for you tonight! You get to hear that kind of response from your fans all the time, Ty, but for someone like me, it is very rare to have that kind of interaction with people who appreciate what I do. Chase saw how much it affected me and I guess he mistook my excitement for some kind of feelings for him, and he just grabbed me and kissed me! As soon as I had a chance to get myself together, I let him have it! If you would have watched for a few seconds longer, you would have seen me knock him out from under his hat! There are witnesses! Lou can vouch for me! I kept my hand in ice for the next two days!" she explained with conviction. "Let's make a deal, right now, Ty. We both know that we had a terrible misunderstanding and that we both regret what led up to it and everything that happened after it, but I want more than anything else to fix things between us as best we can! Your son will be thrilled to meet you, and all of us at home would love to have you around more often. I don't know what your plans are, but just know that you are loved and missed by everyone and you are more than welcome to come home, if that is what you want. We will all make it work, so help me! And, I want my best friend back! Then, maybe we can see how it goes with whatever comes after that. What do you think?"

"I already arranged for some time off after Great Falls," he informed her. "I am pretty sure that my mind was made up to come home for a visit anyways, if I didn't chicken out!" he shrugged and chuckled. "I missed you and everybody back home. I just didn't know if I could face you again, you know, because I thought that you were with him!"

Amy hesitated to answer, and then asked, "Would you hate me…, if I did this?" The determined and surprisingly committed woman leaned into him and slipped her fingers through the back of his hair, curling them into a tight grip as she kissed him deeply on the lips.

Caught completely off guard, Ty froze in place for a couple of missed heartbeats until he quickly recovered by placing his fingertips at her flushed cheeks and returning the affection, neither of them showing any sign of letting go any time soon.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Lou casually turned her head just enough to sneak a glance through the kitchen window at her fidgety sister who busied herself with entertaining her son while they all waited. He played on a quilt that she had spread out below the bench seat on the front porch beside her. Amy picked up the magazine she had brought outside with her to try taking her mind off the agonizing past thirty minutes since Ty had called from the other side of Hudson to tell her that he was getting close and would be there soon, but couldn't concentrate on its content and plopped it back down on the seat with a nervous sigh, allowing an eager eye to keep watch on the hill above the house for a sign that the much anticipated visitor was finally here.

"How's she doin', Lou?" Jack asked as he leaned on the sink beside his eldest granddaughter, peeking over her shoulder and stealing a look for himself.

"Well, if Ty doesn't get here pretty soon, I think she is going to pass out, or something!" she answered, shaking her head, feeling the stress that her sister was experiencing at the moment.

"Everything is going to work itself out, Lou, and I think the heart to heart she had with him in Montana was…, well…, it was a good one!" he assured her. "Those two have always managed to figure out how to get along, and I am pretty sure they both still care about each other, so I have every reason to believe that today will set a few things right that have needed to be taken care of for a long time now," he prophesied.

"They both need each other so much right now…, I hope you're right, and they can admit it to themselves, _and_ to each other!" she said.

* * *

Amy's thoughts were replaying every second of the talk she had shared with Ty only six days before. She was thankful that the surprise meeting with her old boyfriend, the unsuspecting rodeo star, had gone as well as it had. He accepted the news better than she could have ever hoped, but today was another milestone in her life, as well as her son's, and the gravity and uncertainty of it all was wrenching her gut. There was some satisfaction to be taken in the way they had talked nonstop until the early morning hours when things between them had taken a nostalgic turn toward better times. She thought how risky of a move it was to have kissed him like she did, so soon and so passionately, but that moment cemented the next phase of their crazy relationship and answered some long agonized questions she had been asking herself about the possibility of mending the awful setback they had so unfortunately experienced that night in Calgary.

The memory of waking up with her face buried against Ty's chest, still sitting there on the sofa in his new camper, was enough to cause her lips to curl into a hopeful smile. They had both faded into a peaceful sleep after all of the back and forth between them for hours on end, and although her neck was sore for days from sleeping in such a twisted position, she considered it well worth the inconvenience.

* * *

Dust rose from the gravel road just over the rise near the gate that led into the ranch. Amy's heart leapt in her chest and it began to race in anticipation, but she exhaled a deep breath through her lips to calm herself, letting her determination to make this day a special one for her son to take priority over her worries. She glanced down at the blanket to see the prize of her life attentively playing with his stuffed horse and a cow just like his great granddad's, and when he noticed her looking at him, stopped to so innocently give her that perfected little grin of his. She had to push back the tears from knowing how big this day was going to be for him. Although he would be too young now to remember it when he got older, this was going to be one of the most important days of his life. "OK, little man, let's put on our best behavior, shall we?" she said to the child as she poked a finger into his tummy, making him grin at her again.

The gleaming white truck with camper in tow wound down the driveway and stopped front of the barn where Ty had always parked his old blue pickup. Amy stood at the edge of the porch, still trying to decide whether to let Ty come to them or to pick up their son and meet him in the front yard. She decided on the latter. "C'mon T.J.! There is someone here that I want you to meet! He has come all the way from the States to see you!" She bent over to pick up the boy whose eyes were glued to the commotion caused by the big rig and its ensuing dust cloud, and he seemed eager to check it out for himself.

Ty stepped out of his new truck onto the Alberta dirt of Heartland Ranch, the only place he had ever known the feeling of a having a real home. He swung around to open the rear door and fetch two bags full of presents he had brought for the occasion, hesitating for a few quick seconds to look at the old horse barn that he had called home for four years. It seemed somehow smaller than he remembered it, and in need of a good coat of red paint. _'Can't believe I stayed in that thing for so long,_' he thought, _'must be the coldest place on the planet in the wintertime, and probably the hottest place in the summer!' _But he also remembered learning to trust the family he had unofficially adopted as his own, and learned how to love all of the people who took him in when he so desperately needed to find a place in this world, especially a certain bossy young cowgirl who still held his heart in her hands when he saw her standing at the gate in front of the house with his son in her arms.

He didn't remember walking across the gravel driveway toward them, watching them as if still inside a dream as he approached, but suddenly they all stood together, each waiting for the other to speak their first words as a family. "Ty?" Amy said when she noticed he was obviously at a loss for anything to say. "I would like for you to meet your son, _Timothy Jackson Borden_!" The child looked at his mother and smiled when she said his name. "We have been calling him T.J. since he first came home, it just fits him better, don't you think?"

Ty was tongue tied but could not help smiling at the curious little face as it smiled back at him so expectantly. Not knowing quite how to say his first words to his own child made him feel completely awkward and insecure, especially with the boy so clearly waiting, impatient for the admiration he had learned to expect from everybody he met.

"T.J., this is your daddy!" the doting mother explained to the boy. She saw the faint look in Ty's eyes and decided it would probably be better to let the unsteady new father sit before she offered to have him hold his son, "Why don't we go up to the porch so we can sit down and look in this bag to see what Daddy brought you?"

Never for any distraction did the young child take his eyes from the stranger since he showed up, and when Amy noticed the little one following every movement of the larger of the two guys she was trying to introduce, she let out a little chuckle, "The only time I've ever seen him concentrate on a human like this is, well, _never_! He _loves_ animals and he watches them like that, but never a person! He expects anyone he meets to make a fuss over him, and that's just the way it is!" she laughed.

Lou had been waiting almost as anxiously as her sister for Ty to come home and finally meet his real flesh and blood family. She sobbed openly at the sight of them coming together for the first time, knowing very well how important these precious next few minutes would be for all of them. Jack took a quick look through the window and reached a comforting arm around her and gave her shoulder a squeeze, about to let his rarely revealed tender side get the best of him as well at the sight of his granddaughters' new family.

Amy held the wiggling child securely in her arms and stopped to nod for Ty to sit beside the blanket on the porch where the child had been playing before he arrived.

Ty nervously spoke to the little clone of himself as he sat and hoisted the bag full of toys toward him, "Hey, T.J., I brought you some cool stuff! I hope we can find something in there that you will like!"

"Are you ready to hold him?" she asked with an amused brow raised in honor of his fight between terror and eagerness to take the next step.

"I…, uhh…, I never held a baby before," he confessed, as if ashamed.

"Well, you've come to the right place to fix that, Mister! This little guy expects a lot of holding, demands it, in fact, and you look ready to me!" she half teased the timid first time babysitter, "Here, like this," she showed him as she placed the boy on his thigh. "Just hold him steady and he'll be fine," she reassured him. "Now, T.J., let's see what Daddy brought you!"

Amy reached into the first bag and started to pile a variety of stuffed animals and talking toys, a couple of shirts, a little red cowboy hat, and surprisingly, a stack of story books. "Oh, my, you've been busy!" she said while examining the stash. "You did _good_, Dad! I thought you said you were a rookie at baby stuff?" she teased. "How did you decide…, how did you know what he would like?" she asked, curious at how he had made such wise choices, given he knew nothing about babies.

"To be honest, I stopped in Hudson to ask Maggie for help," he confessed. "I figured she would know what he already had, and what he might like. The story books were my idea. Soraya was there and said she comes to see you two at least once a week and knew which ones he already had, so she took me down the street to the book store and I just bought everything else they had!" he laughed. "And, you forgot one," nodding toward the second bag.

Her jaw dropped as she raised twelve fresh, beautiful red roses out of the bag. She softened her gaze at him and shook her head in amazement for the gesture, trying not to give herself away at how overcome with joy she was at that moment.

The misty twinkling in his green eyes was telling on the cowboy again and that was all it took to finally crack her strong façade. She pinched her lips and tried to avoid letting her tears get in the way of the progress taking place between the three of them, but when Ty saw her straining to hold back her emotions, he shifted the boy to his other thigh and reached his free hand out and placed it around hers, letting her know the feelings she held inside were his as well.

Tears were spattering in the kitchen sink. Lou was beside herself with delight at the tenderness she saw in Ty's and her little sister's eyes as they unwittingly shared the private moment with most of Amy's remaining family who was unable to resist the scene playing itself out on the other side of the window.

"Lou, come and sit with me on the sofa, before you pass out yourself, and I have to carry you!" he tried to tease her a bit to help her gather her scrambled emotions back together.

"I made a fresh pitcher of tea, if you would like some," Amy offered, wanting to allow Ty a few minutes alone with their son. "And I need to put these in Mom's vase and set them on the table for everyone to see! Thank you!"

"Uh, sure, that would be great!" he replied, needing something to wash the hoarseness out of his throat. "And, you are very welcome."

Amy stood and walked toward the house with roses in hand, pausing at the front door and turning to look back at the two studying each other as she took a mental photograph of the first attempt at bonding between them, smiling again when she noticed that T.J. never took his eyes away from his dad, not even to follow her as she walked away.

The door had no sooner closed behind her when she buried her nose in the flowers and burst into happy tears, crying as she laughed out loud at Lou who was half running, half dancing across the kitchen to meet her. They held each other tightly, swaying together in a small circle, elated at the overwhelming success of the first meeting.

Jack came to them and offered his wide open arms to his granddaughters who hugged him from either side. "Looks like everything is going O.K." he told them.

"Oh, Grandpa, I will never forget what just happened! That was one of the most amazing things that will I will ever get to experience, and I know Ty feels the same way!"

* * *

"I saw them headed out to the barn, just now," Jack told them. "Don't you think you had better go and check on them?" he asked, concerned that Ty might be in over his head this soon into the newness of parenthood.

"Let's let them be, for now," she proposed. "He's going to be fine. T.J. will let us now if things aren't working out," she chuckled.

Amy casually glanced out the window every few seconds, looking for any sign of trouble at the barn before she finally gave in to curiosity. She had waited as long as she could stand it, maybe five minutes at most, trying to look less unnerved than she actually was. Impatiently taking two glasses out of the cupboard, she put a handful of ice into each of them before filling them from the fresh pitcher of tea, then snatched a few cookies off the still hot cookie sheet that Lou had been baking for a snack. Trying not to be in an obvious hurry in case anyone was watching, she walked across the driveway into the door of the barn and listened for the men in her life to see where they may have gotten to. Steps moved across the floor above her._ 'He went up to his old loft to look around!' _She climbed the wooden stairs and paused at the last step when she heard the two of them having a precious conversation, and realizing she didn't want to disturb the moment, she sat the tray on the step and peeked through the crack at the door to watch them.

Ty walked slowly with his son in his arms. "_You_ are my _son_, _my_ little _boy_!" he tried to explain to the still curious child. "I am your _Dad!" _he told him. "_Really_! Your _Dad_! I have wondered what you would be like when you finally got here someday, and now I know! You're mommy always said that I would spoil my kids, but we know better than that, don't we?" He laughed at the thoughtful expression on the curious child's face when he spoke to him and when the boy started trying to jabber back to him, he broke into a belly laugh, in turn causing the baby to cackle back at him.

No longer able to maintain her silence, Amy succumbed to the infectious laughter between dad and son and gave away her position behind the door.

"Hey, T.J., I think Mommy is spying on us!"

"Maybe, just a little," she giggled as she pushed the door open and stepped into the room with the tray of refreshments. "I didn't want to interrupt the awesome conversation you two were having!"

"Cookies! Uh, you are baking now?" Ty spoke with a hint of sarcasm.

"Actually, Lou made them, but I made the tea!" she replied, mocking her hurt feelings with a pouty lip.

They sat there, all three on the bed, enjoying another first. Eating together as a family, even if it was only a snack, was monumental to them, gathering more unforgettable memories with each passing minute.

"What are we going to do, Ty? How are we going to make this work?"

"Well, Amy, I think we take it one day at a time and let life take us where ever it takes us…, together, if that is O.K. with you?" he offered. "With all the time we lost to our being a couple of hard heads, _both_ of us," he raised his green eyes to her focused baby blues and pursed his lips to emphasize the point, "and with the terrible misunderstanding that cost all of us so dearly, I just want to tell you that I am in this for the long haul, no matter what, no matter how long it takes, to make us into the family we all want, and deserve."

Amy nodded to him, looking straight into his eyes, and said, "We can make it work, I know we can. There is no rush, or magic deadline, but we have to promise to be honest with each other, and talk things through!"

"I think we are off to a good start!" he said. "I won't ever let you down again, I promise to hold up my end of the deal."

From the center of the bed, T.J. turned his face away from his dad for the first time since the rodeo cowboy had arrived and found his ever watching mother, giving her an all too familiar look of deep concentration, a grin, and a smell.

"Okey Dokey, Dad! Things are about to get real!" The knowing mother picked the boy up from the bed and handed him back to his father, who curled his lip, scrunched his nose, and looked at the little person in his arms with a twinge of fear. "But…."

"Oh, you'll get to the butt, all right! I'll get the tray and you are going to get a lesson in changing a diaper when we get to the house."

"But, I've never…," he hesitated.

"Look at the bright side, Dad, you won't be able to say that fifteen minutes from now, _right_?" she said, cackling as she winked and went through the door and down the stairs. "C'mon, let's get crackin'!" she teased the once again unsteady father-in-training. "You're not going to let a wee little baby get the best of you now, are you, '_Mister Rodeo Star, Master of Bulls'_?"

"But…, _AMY_, wait up!"


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

Soroya rounded the next to last jump and galloped toward the designated finish where Amy was cheering her on. "Nice job! You didn't miss a jump! Time wasn't bad either!"

"Yeah, that felt pretty good!" Soroya replied as she looped her horse around beside her friend and part time riding partner. "I think she's having as much fun as I am!" she said, leaning to pet her mare on the neck in appreciation for such a good ride.

Ty walked across the driveway with T.J. on his hip. He opened the side door of the Quonset barn and the two of them disappeared inside until the big front door started to slide open with Ty leaning into the weight of it.

"What the heck is he doing?" Amy asked aloud, a scowl creeping across her worried face. "I can't think of a _thing_ in there that…," just as she was interrupted by the engine of the ATV coming to life. "Ohhh, _hell no_!" she said in rising alarm.

The four wheeled utility-recreational vehicle slowly emerged from the darkness within the barn, Ty guiding it toward the arena grinning from ear to ear with T.J. astride the seat in front of him. They approached the fence where the momma bear had taken her stand, ready to growl in concern for her cub, and stopped in the grass in front of her. Ty hoisted his son up to his chest as he dismounted the machine and sat the young rider on the top rail of the fence awaiting the judgment of the concerned mother.

"Ty, _what_ do you think you are _doing_?

"C'mon Mom…, T.J. here wants to go for a short, slooowww, and _safe_ ride with his _very _experienced, _caaarefuuullll_, and loving father…, soooo what do you say, Mom, do you think that would be O.K.?"

The anger caused by the sudden burst of panic subsided at the sight of them, Ty making a comical pleading face and her son looking like he had just conquered another obstacle hindering his advancement into his eight months into manhood.

Amy looked over to Soroya who was cackling at the interchange, causing her oldest friend to lose her edge.

"C'mon, Amy, daddy will take care of his boy, don't you think?" she said with a wink.

"Pweeeze!" Ty hid his face behind the child making it seem as though the boy was asking for himself.

After settling back into her saddle and taking a long exhale to regain her wits, she gave in and said, "O.K., I guess it will be alright, but if I see anything I don't like, I'm going to run you down like a like a bad coyote!"

"See, T.J., it's all in the presentation!" Ty said to the boy who was impatiently waiting to get on with his first motorized riding lesson.

The ATV arced around to the driveway and puttered up the smooth gravel trail toward the upper entrance gate to the ranch with Amy scrutinizing every foot of the trek with anxious attention.

"Amy…, you've had T.J. on horseback, like _how many_ times now?" her friend reminded her.

"I know, but that is with _me_! It's just…, I can't help it, Soroya! I've never had to trust _anyone_ with my son before, not on something like that machine."

"Well, I can see your point, but, look at 'em Amy! You've gotta admit, that is soooo cool!" she pointed as the pair buzzed past.

Amy returned her friends doting glance, the look forcing her lips to curl against her will. "Yeah, it really is something to see T.J. and his daddy like that. I'm glad Ty came back to meet his son like he did, and I am thankful that they have bonded like they have. Ty is just _silly_ over that kid!"

"Yes he is," Soroya said. "And I have to say, Amy, watching them is one of the most awesome things I have ever seen! I know I have _never_ seen Ty look so happy and content…, _ever_! And if anybody on this earth deserves to know that kind of love, it would be him, right?"

Amy did not answer, causing Soroya to turn to see what was wrong, but she knew as soon as she saw the streak across her friends cheek that she was only taking in the moment, relishing the end of the uncertain times that had come to an end, and wondering about what lay ahead for the three of them as a family.

"Has Ty said anything? Like what does he want to do now that he knows he is a father?"

"Well," Amy tried to respond, paused, and then confided to her oldest friend, "Ty has changed…, a _lot!_ And, I know it's for the better. He's more confident, he thinks things through better than he used to, and best of all, that sweet guy that he used to be is still in him. The only thing I don't know is…, well…, that he has been really quiet these last few days, and I don't know why. I can tell that he is processing everything that has happened over the last couple of weeks…, can't blame him there! But, he seems good with it all, though. Look at him! If that ain't happy, then I don't know what is," she said, waiving to the man that would have been her husband in a perfect life, and the little rider he tightly held in front of him as they buzzed past yet another time. "He has spent a lot of time in Hudson this week, and he asked if we could take Harley and Spartan out for a ride this afternoon, just the two of us, and I have to admit that I am a little freaked out over it."

"Why would you be freaked out? You've gone out on rides together probably a hundred times, so what could be worrying you so much?" Soroya asked.

"I don't know, it's just that he has kind of clammed up. He isn't talking as much the last few days, even for him, and that always used to mean that something was about to happen," she worried.

"It will be alright, Amy. I know that there are a lot of new things between you and Ty since he has come back home, but I can tell…, I just know that everything is going to be fine, just you wait and see!"

Amy shrugged her shoulders and nodded, "Yeah, I think so, too, but I _hate_ waiting for it to happen, you know?"

"It's nice to see that some things never change…, your patience is just as short as it has always been!" she laughed at her friend.

* * *

After lunch in the ranch house together with Lou, Jack, Ty, and the kids, Amy rocked T.J. to sleep and placed him in his playpen to start his afternoon nap.

"Grandpa, can you watch your great grandson for a couple of hours. He should be down for quite a while because his daddy wore him out this morning with all the fun they had riding the ATV around."

"Yes, Amy, I can't think of anything I'd rather do this afternoon! And, yeah, I watched you two from the field. Looked like you both had quite the time of it, I'd say!" Jack laughed as he nodded to Ty.

"I think I made a biker out of him," Ty bragged, making sure Amy could hear.

"Maybe so, but that kid is gonna want to be a cowboy, to ride horses, wait and see!" she countered.

"_Maybe_, but I'm willing to bet that he likes all of it! Admit it…, we both like to ride, whether it is on horseback or on the Norton. And, if I don't qualify as a cowboy by now, being a bull rider and all, who does? He can do both, and that's fine with me!"

Amy pursed her lips and had to concede the debate, "Yeah, those rides were always pretty awesome. Speaking of which, how about we get the horses tacked up and get to that ride? The one with beautiful, loyal, dependable _horses_!"

* * *

Amy led the way, taking the long way around to the back side of the ranch, meandering beside the Sheep River to the place where she and her Mom and sister picnicked when she was small.

"I had forgotten how peaceful it is out here, how beautiful!" Ty said as he broke the thirty minute silence between them.

"I will always love this place. Some of my best memories as a little girl are of the times when Mom took me and Lou on rides to the river."

"I can see the three of you…, riding and giggling and aggravating your mother to no end!" he teased.

"Yeah, but she was soooo patient, and I know how much she enjoyed coming here with us now that I have experienced it with my own son. It was one of the places we could come just to relax and play, away from everyone else, and have some time to ourselves. We asked her questions about growing up, why things were the way they were, how to tell if a boy liked us, and what to do if he did!" she laughed when she looked at her riding companion.

"Do tell! Did you follow her advice, or, wait... No, don't answer that," he teased, "You always do things your way…, it's a law, a rule of Heartland life!"

Amy was close enough to backhand the agitator on his shoulder causing him to laugh at her flustered response.

Another fifteen minutes found them at Amy's quiet place beside the river. After unpacking the picnic snacks and leading the horses to the river, freeing them to drink and roam about the sand bar as they wished, they spread a blanket on a clear spot and sat together.

"How long has it been since we have done this?" Ty wondered.

"Let's see, one year two months, twelve days, and three hours…, give or take," she answered as if she had counted.

Surprised at her quip, he replied, "Well, it's been way too long, if you ask me. Aaand, I would have to say that motherhood has agreed with you."

"Oh, what makes you say that?" she asked.

"It's just…, I don't know, you seem satisfied with your life, at peace with everything, and it looks good on you!"

"I do love my life, most of it. It was hard there for a while, all of the people who saw me in town looking at me with such pity, getting myself pregnant and being alone."

"Amy, I…"

"No, Ty…," she interrupted, "I don't blame you for what happened. A big part of it was my fault. I didn't take our relationship as seriously as I should have. I don't know, it's just that I felt neglected, that maybe you were losing interest in me with all of those college girls that must have been trying to get your attention. I let my guard down for a bit and I guess Chase took that as a queue to make his move." Amy looked into his eyes to emphasize her intent. "Ty, if only you would have stayed ten more seconds you would have seen my response to what you saw that night. I cannot _believe_ the timing…, like it was meant to happen like it did, to break us apart."

"Seems like it, but I have thought a lot about us, and now that I know most of the answers, there are some things I need to tell you," he said.

Amy felt her chest draw tighter as if the other shoe was about to drop on her rekindled dream of having the family she always wanted. "O.K?" she cautiously replied.

"No, it's not like that," he responded to the tension he saw growing in her face. "I have been talking to the people that I work for. You see, Amy, I have done well on the circuit this year, and as a result I have signed some contracts that tie me up until after the World Finals in Vegas. Some of the fill in dates at the smaller rodeos…, I can get out of those, but the larger ones, I am going to have to fulfill my obligations."

"I understand, Ty, but that doesn't make me worry any less about you getting hurt…, or _worse_! How can you pull those stunts that have made you so popular with the rodeo fans and not be thinking about that little boy back there in his playpen that is so crazy about you? Ty, I have never seen T.J. like he is now. Christmas couldn't have brought him anything he would like better than meeting his daddy! He has been totally focused on you since you drove that big 'ol truck of yours down our driveway, and I see it in your eyes…, that you love him, too!"

"Yeah, I can't believe what a difference that little guy has been to me. It's like I went to sleep one night wishing for a life I thought I would never have, and when I woke up I was living somebody else's life, and I have never been so happy about _anything_! That is what I wanted to talk to you about, one of them, anyways."

"What about?"

"Turns out that I have made a ridiculous amount of money in the last year. The winnings have been substantial, and I have several endorsement deals that bring in money and cover my expenses. After taxes, I've paid them as I went, just to make sure there weren't any unpleasant surprises next year, I have put somewhere around $150,000 in the bank, in a savings account back in Arizona. Then, there is the truck and camper. Those will be mine, free and clear, by the end of the season. If something should happen to me before then, I had it put in the contract for it all to be paid to my estate. And that is where you and T.J. come in. I have been working with an attorney in Arizona to make you the executor of my estate, should I need one. That means that in the event that I am hurt, or worse, that the lawyer will contact you to transfer all of my possessions and assets, after settling up any bills I might have, directly to you."

"But Ty, I…."

"No, Amy, I know this is scary to think about but if something happens, it has to be like this. I need to know that I will be able to give everything I have to take care of my family. Wouldn't you think that is what I would do for the people I love?

Amy was somber at the thought he placed in her head, the possibility that after everything they had been through, there was a chance the three of them could be ripped apart, again.

And…, then…, there's _you_!"

"What do you mean?"

"You are…, _amazing_, even more than before! I thought you were the most awesome girl, the way you could handle any horse like you do, fearless and caring, and so beautiful!"

"And now?" she asked, wondering if he thought less of her as a person after seeing how all of the recent events had changed her, or if he thought she was no longer as pretty as he remembered.

Sensing that she was preparing for a letdown, Ty reached for her tightly clasped hands and held each one inside of his. "Amy, you are so much more of an amazing woman now. When I watch you with our son I just want to grab you both and hold on as tightly as I can, and never let go!"

Surprised by his outpouring of honesty and tenderness, Amy looked into the emerald haven of peace inside of his eyes, the thing she missed from him most of all, to calm the whirlwind of her emotions as she began to cry openly in relief, now assured that the two most important people in her life would be as a family.

Ty let go of her shaking hands and wrapped his arms around the vulnerable mother of his child to draw her to him. "I want that Amy, more than anything, to have you and T.J. as my own family. And I want you to say that you will marry me!" He separated himself from her to see the answer in her eyes, the one place that gave her away, no matter what, and told him what she was really thinking.

Ty smiled at the love of his life before she could say a word. Amy hesitated just long enough to be sure she heard him clearly, and then toppled him over as she jumped toward him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Yes!" she curled her fingers into the hair at the back of his head and covered his lips with her own, kissing him with every ounce of love she possessed.

"Are you sure? Do you want to be a husband and father and live in a place without the limelight you have become so accustomed to?"

"That is what I want, more than anything I have ever wanted. Just you and my son, my own family!" he answered.

Another half hour passed with little said between them. Harley must have become concerned with the couple, wrapped together in silence for so long, and strolled over to nudge his owner's shoulder to make him respond.

"Harley! Whaaat th.…"

Amy laughed because Spartan was standing directly over her as well. "I guess they are worried about their humans!"

"Maybe we should get back to the ranch and break the news to everyone!" Ty said.

"There is something I've been meaning to tell you, Ty. Uhh, Dad is coming home today…He has been in Moose Jaw and he didn't know you were coming, _obviously!"_

"Oh, great! I have been wondering where he was and why I hadn't had to fight for my life or stand at the altar with a shotgun in my back!" he mused.

"Well, as you can imagine, he hasn't taken this whole thing well at all. You know him, _somebody_ is at fault for _everything_, and _somebody_ has to pay!"

"Let me guess?"

"Yeah, but don't worry, Grandpa, Lou and me are going to make sure he doesn't get too far out of line."

"Good luck with that! Just don't let him sneak up on me, or pull a gun! I'll be able to hold him off otherwise," he reasoned.

"It will be interesting! You know, it's Dad, right? But when he gets a look at how you have bulked up, he might cool off pretty quick!" she laughed.


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

Spartan made his own way up the steep path to the high ground of the ranch as they headed for home. His rider was simply a passenger as she rode beside the man who had forever changed her life, again, lost in her recollection of their past and wondering where the future would take them. The golden haired rider contemplated the transformed boy from the loft she had loved since the middle of her teenage years, unsure if she may be caught up in the persistent dream that had been taunting her each night for the last year as she laid down to try for another elusive peaceful night's sleep. It surprised her how even more taken she was to the man Ty had become, brimming with confidence, proud of who he was, even sporting the slightest hint of swagger when he spoke to anyone, but she knew the tougher side he presented was merely the outer barrier to the sweet, lovable young man that turned her world upside down so long ago on the day he showed up to serve the remainder of his probation with the Erin County juvy system at her Grandpa's ranch.

The riders had reached the summit of the hill at the western edge of the ranch nearest the mountains, Amy's favorite overlook of the Heartland settlement. Breathtaking views lay before them with rolling pastures dotted with Jack's herd sprinkled here and there, Amy's client's horses running carefree in their grazing paddocks nearer the barn, and the Sheep River cutting its way through the valleys and out of sight as it neared the eastern prairie's horizon. There were more memories rooted in those hills than she could possibly think about, but even they were not enough to break into her thoughts she was having as Spartan did the navigating on 'autopilot'.

Ty lightly tugged the reins on Harley's bit to halt his steady pace and with his eyes scanning beyond the hill he gazed in awe, "My God, Amy, this is one of the most amazing places I know. I have missed coming up here with you," he said as he enjoyed the panorama of Heartland Ranch. Expecting some sort of reply he turned to see what was keeping her so quiet.

"What?" he asked as he noticed the faraway look on his favorite cowgirls piercing blue eyes as she seemed to look right through him.

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry! I was just thinking…, about…, things," she stammered and blushed upon being discovered immersed in her private thoughts.

Amy pulled Spartan up beside her riding companion and said, "This has been quite a week, you know?" trying to recover the pleasant mood of the day. I want you to know how happy I am that you reacted like you did with all of the revelations that changed your life in an instant like they did. I don't know what I would have done if you had reacted badly, or turned me and Grandpa away when I told you about T.J."

"C'mon, Amy…, it was _you_, the only girl I have ever really loved, and the only one I ever will!" he smiled back at her with the idea that his life was falling into place, finally! "Finding out about T.J. has been one of the most amazing things that has ever happened to me! He is…, perfect, just like when I used to lay awake in that barn loft and imagine what it would be like to grow up and get married to the bossy little horsey girl who lived in the ranch house and have a family of my own someday that loved me as much as I loved them," he laughed.

"Well, Ty, it looks like your dream has become reality because I think I can speak for T.J. when I say that we both love you like crazy, and neither of us wants to ever be without you in our lives, ever again!"

"Same here, Amy," he said, "I wouldn't have it any other way. Listen, don't you think we had better get back to the house and see if Jack is getting overrun by the 'little people'…, and if that truck heading toward the ranch is who I think it is, well, it's about time to get that problem dealt with, too!"

* * *

Ty and Amy dismounted their horses at the water trough in front of the barn and began removing the tack after tying them to the hitching post beside it.

"Just the man I have been wanting to see, for a while now, as a matter of fact!"

The couple turned toward the noise and saw Amy's father angrily stomping his way across the gravel driveway and closing fast.

"Dad, _stop_! Hold it _right there_!" Amy pleaded, trying to deflate the potentially damaging family reunion between her father and new fiancé.

"_What_, Amy? You know I can't let this _jackass_ off the hook for what he has done! Somebody in this family has got to stand up for what is right!" he demanded as he stormed closer.

Amy moved to stand between the impending clash of the rodeo cowboys doing what they do third best, which was "Fightin', right after ridin' and lovin', as her mother once told her.

"Amy, NO! Stand back and let him by!" Ty said as he grabbed her by the shoulders from behind and easily shifted her to the side.

Tim swung without slowing down, but Ty's quick reaction only allowed one knuckle to graze his cheek as it whistled past. Ty took one step in retreat to try and talk his future father in law into listening to his side of the story, just as a left hook landed squarely on his chin.

"OK, that's it!" the younger man said as he hooked his arm around Tim and picked him up like a bulldogging calf and tossed him on the ground in a whirling cloud of dust. "This can go either of two ways, Tim! Either you calm down and listen to me or I am going to have to tie your feet to your boots and let you stay here all night if that's what it takes!"

"Yeah? Is that right?" Tim refuted as he clambered to his feet, ready for another charge. "We'll see about that!" The older cowboy lunged forward before he made it upright and attempted to tackle the young challenger to his domain and show him who he had to answer to when his girls were mistreated, at least in his way of thinking.

"Umph!" Ty landed on his back with Tim attempting to ready him for a proper lesson in cowboy justice, and just as the older man cocked his fist and fired another swing Ty managed to toss him aside and pounce on top of the even more riled up aggressor.

"Look, man, I'm trying not to let either of us get hurt over this, but my patience is wearing thin, OK?

"Grandpa! Get over here and help me with these two _idiots_…, would you, _please_!" Amy pleaded to Jack who was casually walking toward the melee a little too casually for her liking.

"Aw, Amy, there's no rush! As best as I can tell…, they've about got it all under control on their own! No need for an old guy like me to get involved!" he chuckled as he stood above the two brawlers squirming in the dirt in front of him.

"That's it? That's all ya got, after what he did to your granddaughter?" Tim grunted to his ex-father-in-law between attempts to spit out the mouth full of dirt he had inhaled with his face firmly planted beneath Ty's elbow.

"Ty, what do you say? How about letting this hothead up and let's all go in the house and find something cold to drink while we talk this through?" Jack said, winking at Amy as he offered the cowboy olive branch which was a cold beer and a place to sit and drink it in peace.

* * *

Amy twisted the tops off of two bottles of Jack's favorite house brand of beer and handed one to her father and one to Ty, giving her new fiancé a pleading look to try and get along with her dad, as hard as it could sometimes be.

"Wait just a dang minute here…, Moderator's got to have one too, or this whole deal is gonna go to hell before you can blink an eye!" Jack said to his youngest granddaughter.

"Be right back, Grandpa," she answered, laughing at the old cowboy's logic.

Amy's mind was set at ease knowing that her grandfather had the Bartlett-Fleming-and soon to be Borden clan under control, for the moment, at least, and they would find it difficult to get out of line when they had to answer to the family's patriarch. It was like Ty always told her when things got rough, "It's gonna be OK."

_TO BE CONTINUED_


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

Ty placed his palm against the door of his camper trailer and gave it a firm shove to latch it tight in preparation for the long journey that would take him back to the life that had been his new normal over the past year. Jack was leaning against a post at the front porch as he supervised the cowboy and his newly reclaimed family nearing the time they would have to say goodbye for the first time since having been reunited only a few days before. Lou opened the screen door behind him carrying a Tupperware 'highway survival kit,' as she called it, filled with sandwiches, chips, granola bars, a bag full of her special trail mix, a thermos full of fresh iced tea, and a whole Saskatoon Berry Pie to keep him going as he made his way back south into the States.

T.J. was alert in his mother's arms and watched his father place his suitcase in the back seat of his shiny new truck, then make one last walk-around of the rig to make sure everything was buttoned up and ready to roll down the highway.

"Here," Lou said as she handed the container to Ty. "This ought to keep you from going hungry for a while!"

"_Oh, wow!" Thanks Lou!" _he said as he pulled up the lid in one corner to peek inside. "This is totally _awesome_!"

He popped the passenger door open and placed the plastic container in the seat, then came back to give his pending sister-in-law a firm hug. "I really appreciate everything you have done for me…, for us. Thanks again, Lou!"

Lou pulled him in again, tighter this time, and spoke softly into his ear, "You take care of yourself Ty Borden! We all need you to get back home as soon as you can…, and I mean in _one piece_! My nephew and my sister are counting on it, me and Grandpa too! We all love you, you know that, right?"

He leaned away and placed his hands on her shoulders, "I will, I promise! Yeah, I know you do, and I love you guys too!"

"Ty, it's been great to see you again," Jack said as he extended his hand to the younger man. "Don't let one of those damn bulls get ahead of you, just stay focused and everything will be alright," he offered, "and get yourself back home as quick as you can."

"Sure thing, Jack! And thank you for everything you did for us, bringing Amy down to Montana like that…, you gave me my family back!

The old cowboy knew the look in Ty's eyes, full of excitement for the coming adventure, regret for having to say goodbye to the people he loved most in this world, and wanting to make sure that his soon to be wife and their son knew without any doubt that he loved them and would be back home as soon as possible. Memories of his own days on the road chasing buckles all over Canada and the Western USA were back in clear detail now, and watching Ty go through the same things he experienced nearly fifty years ago caused a lump to come up in his throat.

Jack placed his arm around Lou's shoulder and asked, "You didn't put all of that Saskatoon Berry Pie in that 'highway survival kit', did you?"

"No Grandpa, there is a warm slice waiting on the table for you right this very minute!"

"Well, what say we see about gettin' a little ice cream and iced tea together with that pie and have us a mid-morning snack?" he playfully suggested as they crunched across the gravel of the driveway back toward the house.

Amy was trying to hold herself together as best she could, but there was no hiding from Ty's emerald gaze as he gently brushed the first drop off her cheek when he noticed it escape the corner of her eye. He wanted to say so many things to her, but for now he moved his fingers through Amy's soft curls, carefully pulling her around his son's bobbing head to give her a kiss that said more than words. The kiss lingered until T.J. decided he had had enough of waiting for the attention he expected from his father and stuck his finger in Ty's ear.

"Hey! What was that?" Ty hollered as he busted out amused in laughter.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with him…, after he realizes you aren't around later," Amy said, half joking, half not. "You have spoiled him completely_ rotten_, already, in just a few days' time, and he is _not_ going to like it when you aren't here!"

"Yeah, I know, but when he misses me, just call, or text, and I will call him right back as soon as I can, if I miss the call for some reason. That should help a little, right?"

"I guess, we will see, but he is a hard headed little guy, just like his daddy, and I don't know if he will be satisfied with just the sound of your voice. After all, now he is used to riding on ATV's almost every day, and motorcycles, and bouncing around on your shoulders…, and I know how he feels," she said with a pouting lip protruding from under her nose. "I have gotten used to having you around, too!"

"I am _really_ going to miss you two! I love you both, so much, and I will get back home as soon as I can, I _promise_!"

All Amy could do was slowly nod to him that she understood. Words just could not bridge the void in her heart right now and she started to run proposals through her mind that might make him stay, at least a little while longer. "Promise me that you won't do anything stupid and get yourself trampled by one of those damn bulls."

"I promise, Amy. Nothing can ever keep me away from here. For the first time in my life, I have too much to lose for me to be careless. I'm coming back to see if I can figure out how to take care of a family, _my_ family!"

Ty lifted the youngster out of his mother's arms and perched him on his shoulders for one more trip into the barn to see his horse, Harley. "Here, buddy, give 'em this," the father told his son as he handed him a part of the carrot he snapped off to offer his horse a snack. The boy giggled when Harley playfully maneuvered his lips around the treat and plucked it out of his hand. "Just like his Momma!" Ty teased.

"He's got some of the best things from both of us. But…, mostly from _me_!" she teased, trying to raise Ty's spirit a bit, if not her own.

Amy used her phone to record a video as Ty twirled the youngster off his shoulders and swung him above his head while he shuffled the two of them around the barn. T.J.'s infectious cackle had them all bound up in laughter when Ty sat back on the steps leading up to his old loft to catch his breath and said, "I mean it, Amy. Nothing is going to keep me away from you guys any longer than absolutely necessary. Maybe you can even come down to Vegas when I get there for the World Finals. That would be pretty awesome!"

"Yeah! I'd like that!" she perked up. "We will think about that and see if we can make it happen!"

"Great!" he responded with a smile, which began to fade as he continued, "Listen, it's time for me to go, Amy. Everything is going to be alright. We will be fine, you'll see!"

"I know. I just miss you already."

Ty reached his left hand behind Amy's waist and drew her in close as he stood. "I love you." They shared a kiss that would have to last for six long weeks. Swooping his son above his head once again, Ty brought the little boy up to his face and blew a raspberry on his chubby belly which made the child squeal and laugh hysterically.

"OK, now that I have gotten him all revved up, here ya go!" he laughed as he handed the squirming child off to his mother.

"Gee, thanks! You are a hard act to follow, ya know!"

"That's the idea!" he said with an impish wink.

With one more tender kiss on Amy's lips and a playful munching on his son's cheek, Ty turned to walk out the door and climb into his truck to begin the next chapter of his life, the one about a new father wanting to get back home to his loved ones before he has even started the engine.

The rodeo cowboy waived to the family, _his_ family gathered on the front porch as he looped the rig around the gravel drive, Lou with her arms drooped around Jack's waist and her head resting against his chest, Amy coaxing T.J. to wave back to his daddy, and headed up the hill to the Heartland gate and the long road beyond.

Only one mile down range road 32 he encountered the first hiccup on the trip, Amy's father, Tim, his soon to be father-in-law, sitting along the side of the road, leaning against the tailgate of his truck with his hand up for Ty to stop. He stepped around in front of the big white rig to approach the driver's window.

"Tim?" Ty greeted his senior rodeo star cautiously.

"Hey, Ty. I just wanted to tell you before you leave that I am sorry for the way I was hard on you before. Amy came to see me the other day and…, she is right , I guess. The way all of that stuff between you two happened, it wasn't _all _your fault. I can see that now. And I just wanted to say that to your face so you can be thinking about us getting along when you get back. You _are_ coming back, _right_?" he asked with his chin raised and a slightly threatening tone behind his forced smile.

"If there is one thing that I could ever say to you that I would want for you to believe, Tim, it's that I love your daughter with everything I have in me, and my son is…, I don't even have words for how I feel about him yet. Getting to know him has been the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me and I am not going to let anything come between us. I am going to finish what I started, you know all about contracts and such, so as soon as the big show in Vegas is finished, I'm done with all of that. I'm coming home to take care of my family."

"That's good to hear, Ty…, and if there is anything that you need, just give me a call, OK?" he offered support, along with his hand for a shake.

"Thanks, I'm glad to get past our differences and get to work on all of us being the family we should have been a long time ago."

"OK, then," Tim nodded. "Good luck, and don't let yourself be a horn ornament for one of those bulls!"

"I'll try to remember that!" Ty finished as he rolled the window up and began to roll forward.

* * *

The US border was behind him now as the day began to fade into darkness. The feeling that he was a million miles away from where he should be right now was weighing on his mind as he watched the orange globe disappear behind the mountains of Wyoming to the west. Ty shifted his position in the seat to take the pressure off his backside, hoping to get a couple more hours logged before settling in for the night another 100 miles down the road.

Just as he leaned back into the seat he heard a friendly, soft spoken female voice say that he had a call coming in. The Ford F-350 with the SYNC feature for the phone was a far cry from the old GMC that brought him here the first time. Now he could simply answer his truck and it would obey his vocal commands. "Amy?"

"Yeah, it's me! Your son wanted to say goodnight before he goes to sleep," she explained.

There was a rustle and some now familiar jabbering travelling through the wide open starlit sky between Heartland Ranch and the speakers of his truck.

"Hey, Buddy, are you going to be a good boy and go to sleep when Mommy puts you to bed?"

He heard more jabbering from the toddler, and then laughter from an apparent audience in the background. "He says he'll think about it," Amy chuckled. "I suppose you can hear Grandpa and Lou, they are here helping me run this little rat's battery down and get him into bed."

"T.J., this is your Daddy, and it's time to go to bed, OK? Don't give Mommy a hard time, alright buddy?"

More laughter…, "I don't believe it! He just grabbed his blanket and flopped down to go to sleep!" she laughed along with her audience.

"Guess I've got the touch!" the proud father boasted into the speaker linking him to his loved ones. "That would make me the 'Kid Whisperer,' don't ya think?"

"I can't argue with that one! Thanks, Daddy, you just got me another hour's sleep! And…, I just wanted to hear your voice. Apparently so did Little Man!"

"Any time! That's what I'm here for!" Ty chortled.

"Be careful. Love you," Amy said.

"Love you too. I'll call tomorrow, OK?"

"Talk to you then."

Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad, after all! An audible growl rolled through the driver's stomach and he remembered the box in the passenger's seat. He popped the lid and grabbed one of Lou's sandwiches to complete his forgotten dinner.

_'Man, life just got a lot more interesting!' _he thought to himself as he rolled down the lonely highway into the darkness, thinking how much better he had been eating since his return to Heartland, and wondering how the responsibilities of parenthood and commitment to loved ones would change the direction of his future.

To Be Continued


	16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

Another hot, sticky summer evening bore down on the fans who strolled from the full parking lot into the air conditioned arena for the Pro Bull Riders event being held indoors in the casino. Ty watched the enthusiastic strangers through his camper window while he blended the energy shake that Lou had sent the recipe and some ingredients for him to make it.

'_You have to try this!' _she said in the enclosed letter._ 'It will help you stay alert and keep you from snacking on all that junk food I found in the cupboards in your kitchen! Yeah, I looked, so sue me! It's a great source of fiber and it will even make your complexion nice and clear so you look good in all of those pictures everyone will be taking of you!'_

"Ha-ha-ha!" he mocked the wannabe endocrinologist-slash-comedian, holding up the concoction to inspect it, wrinkling his nose and squinting to see if that helped his lack of enthusiasm toward the experiment, _'If it tastes as good as it looks, I'll put it right down the drain…, hope it won't stop up the sink, because it looks more like green cement than something you are supposed to put into your body!'_

The cowboy sat the drink on the end table beside his chair and pulled his phone out of his pocket to dial home.

"Hey, Ty, I'm _glad you called_! Guess what I am looking at _right now_!" she almost squealed into the phone.

"Well, I don't have any idea, but it sounds like it must be something pretty exciting!" he answered.

"Your son, _just this minute_, pulled himself up and is _standing beside the sofa_! He is looking so proud himself!" she boasted.

"You're getting me a picture of that, _right_? No! Wait, _A VIDEO! GET ME A VIDEO!"_

"Lou has you covered! She said she will send it to you in a few minutes so you can see it before you ride tonight."

"Great! I can't wait to see it," he trailed off from the excitement.

"You OK? You sounded a little weird, just now?" Amy asked when she sensed the tone of his excitement fade away.

"Yeah, I'm OK. It just hit me that I can add this to the list of things that I have already missed getting to see him do for the first time."

Amy tried to cheer him up, "I know, I'm sorry, but you are going to get the chance to see how he did it before he even sits down, thanks to modern technology!"

"I suppose you're right. When you think about it, guys like Jack, and your Dad…, all the others who were out on the road so much twenty-thirty years ago, they just plain missed out, so I'll take what I can get!"

_Melodious chime from the phone_

"_I got it!" _Ty said as he used his thumb to push the e-mail into a video player.

There were a few seconds of silence, then she heard a chuckle, and the proud mother couldn't wait any longer, "Well, is your son something else, or what?"

Still, silence, "Ty? Did you see it?"

"Yeah…, I…," he tried to force the words he was feeling into the phone.

"I love you!" Amy told him tenderly, knowing the reaction she was hearing from past experience. After a few seconds more of silence, "Ty?"

"Yeah, I'm here…. I just wish I could get ahold of both of you right now…" he admitted. "There would be nothing I would like better than to be there with the two of you and give you guys a big 'ol kiss and hug while this is happening."

"Me too! I would have a little something special for you, too, if you were here!"

"You didn't have to go and say that! Now my mind is all mushed up! I have enough trouble getting through the day without seeing you, you know? I miss the hell out of you guys!" he confessed.

"Good to know!" she bit her lower lip as she dallied, running a picture of their upcoming reunion through her mind. "But get your head screwed on straight before you get in the chute with that damn bull!" she chastised.

"Do you realize that you never refer to them as anything other than '_those damn bulls_?'" he laughed.

"Well, they scare me, and they make me worry about you, so, yeah, that's all I got for them! I want you home, in one piece!"

"I'll watch what I'm doing, don't worry, OK?"

"I guess…. Call me later, after you have finished with all of your _adoring fans_?"

"Yes - I - will!" he replied, imitating his friend Caleb with his cowboy swagger.

"And, that reminds me," she thought to herself about the never ending attitude of their friend Caleb as would talk to girls at his rodeos, "don't you be flirting with all of those cowgirls down there in…, where did you say you were?" Amy warned with a thinly veiled nervous laugh.

"Oklahoma…, a place called Thackerville. It is a just stone's throw across the river from the Texas border, maybe less than one hundred miles north of Dallas."

"Boy! Now you are really getting into cowboy country!"

"Yeah, it's as cowboy as it gets around these parts."

"Call me later, OK?" Amy sounded anxious. "I'll be up…, waiting for you…."

"Promise…, I love you."

"Wait! Lou wants to know how you liked the shake recipe she sent you?"

"Tell her I'm lookin' at it right now, and I'm trying to decide if I'd rather go ahead and drink the damn thing or go out and slap ol' "Torpedo" right on the snoot and see what he thinks about giving me the ride we have scheduled in about an hour! I'll tell you how it turned out when I call tonight," he chuckled as he cut off the call.

* * *

"Ty?" he heard his name called from inside the office as he walked down the corridor under the grandstands while he made his way to the holding pens where the bulls were kept.

"Hey Tom," he answered the old cowboy who had recognized promise in the troubled young man and had offered him a chance to pick up the shattered pieces of his life and start over, again.

"C'mon in here a minute," the older man gestured to the chair in front of his desk.

Ty took the seat and asked, "What's up?"

"Well, Ty, I know things have changed for you, with having a kid and all, but I gotta ask you, are you _done_?"

"What do you mean, _done_?"

"I mean, it's been a month since you got back from Canada…, and you haven't really been into riding like you were before, know what I mean?"

Ty lowered his gaze to the old man and said, "You mean, standing in the middle of the arena and taunting a pissed off bull into taking a shot at killing me?"

"No! I wouldn'ta put it like that, Ty! It's just that, I know what it takes for a man to climb on one of those bulls, and if your head ain't in it, then you'd best find something else to be doin', else you're gonna get yourself hurt, or worse!"

"It's OK, Tom. I am fine with it. It's just that for the first time in my life, I have more to lose than I can simply ignore, and I have every intention to get back to my family so I can take care of them like I should," he explained.

"Yeah, I git it! I've seen it before," the old cowboy told him with a knowing grin. "Findin' someone special can change a man, as it should, I s'pose. Just wanted to make sure you were still up to it, I mean, the showmanship and grit is what packs the grandstands, but seeing one of my riders trampled to death ain't gonna be good for the crowd either!"

"It's OK, Tom, I'm fine!"

"Alright, then! Well, it's about time to thrill the fans, so let's git to it!" he said as he stood and slapped his young friend on the shoulder.

Ty made his usual visit to the bull's holding pen to find the huge animal and he gave him his usual version of how he wanted things to go with the ride. "OK, Torpedo, you know what to do, right? Let's just get this over with and neither of us gets hurt, got it?" The dusty bull huffed through his nostrils as he looked up at the man who would ride him tonight, or at least try, almost seeming to anyone watching that he had acknowledged the request.

Just as he turned to leave, a young cowboy approached him and said, "You really think you're sumpthin', don't cha?" he drawled, apparently a western version of 'God's Next Gift to Cowgirls'.

"Huh? What makes you say that?" Ty asked the cocky young man.

"Yeah, you're awll down here, talkin' to these stupid bulls like you got sumpthin' for 'em, but that's just bull-shit, and you know it!"

"Maybe, but it seems to have worked for me, and I don't have any reason to change what is working, right? Sorry, but, who are you?" he countered, grinning back as he said it.

"You'll damn well find out who I am, when I take that buckle away from you tonight!" the abundantly confident cowboy boasted.

"Well, good luck with that! Look, I gotta go and get ready for the ride…, so good luck….whoever you are…," he said as he brushed the apparent challenger's shoulder with his own when he walked past him, close enough to make his point.

"Tanner! Walt Tanner! Don't worry, you ain't gonna have any trouble remembering me from now on!" he taunted the man that he knew held the kind respect from the fans he wanted for himself.

Ty drew last in the first go 'round. Promoters had learned to use the wild card that his rides were known for as a tool for building the crowds excitement while they anticipated whatever might happen when he rode. Ty was one of three riders who made it for the required eight seconds, and as he used his new Stetson to swat the dust off his jeans Walt Tanner returned to continue his effort to challenge the more experienced rider's confidence.

"Is that all ya got? I'da expected to see a little more, after all the hoopla that I'd heard about you! You ain't _shit_!" he said, making sure to give Ty a good shot of the stink eye.

Ty almost choked when he saw the look, forced as it was. It made him wonder just how much the young man believed the words he was trying to sell. It wasn't working as far as he was concerned.

"Well, eight seconds is eight seconds, and I'll take it," he answered modestly.

"Yeah, maybe if yer over the hill. Still makes you third, even if you made it this time! See ya next go-'round!" he scoffed as he walked away.

Ty shook his head and chuckled to himself at the youngsters' effort to rattle him.

"You gotta hand it to him," Jessie said, having seen the exchange, "the boy knows who he has to beat!"

"Yeah, maybe, but I hope he doesn't let his opinion of himself get the best of him, you know?" he replied.

"He'll learn, one way or the other!" she chuckled. "Say, we haven't caught up in a while…, how've you been?"

"Couldn't be better, I guess. Just trying to get to Vegas and get this thing over with," he offered.

"Over with? What does that mean?"

"It means that as soon as I hit the pay window in Vegas that I'm outa here, going back home where I belong."

"Ohhh, _Alberta_! I guess that girl wasn't kidding when she told me that she knew you…, that you were…, _old friends_!"

"What girl are you talking about?" he asked.

"Yeah, that girl who was looking for you in Great Falls, right before you went missing for a while," she nodded as she began to put the pieces of her memory together.

"You met Amy?"

"Yup, that was her name! So, I guess she found you alright?"

"Yes she did! That changed everything for me…, now I know what I am supposed to do with the rest of my life," he spoke matter of factly, knowing what her purpose was for the encounter.

"Damn, Ty…, well, all I can say is, I don't know what that girl has on you, but I wish I could have figured that out for myself before it was too late!"

"It's a long story, but I finally have it figured out, so…" he trailed off, not especially wanting to reveal anything further to the beautiful young cowgirl that had nearly caught his eye only a few weeks ago.

* * *

Ty pulled the rope tight around his left hand and sat back on his ride for this go-'round, adjusted the Stetson on his head, lifted his heels and was ready to give the nod. The final go-'round had begun with all of the first riders eating a mouth full of dust before the eight seconds had expired, leaving only Walt Tanner and himself with a shot at the buckle. The gate burst open and "Hell-bound" wasted no time in showing his stuff to his rider and the screaming crowd as he immediately leapt ten feet out of the chute and began a violent, thrusting twirl to his left. He bucked straight into the fence with a jarring impact and the crowd collectively sucked the air out of the arena in fear that the rider would be crushed. Ty grimaced in pain when the railing sandwiched his left leg to the bulls heaving belly. The bull spun back around to the right this time and charged into the open part of the arena for a final effort to rid himself of his rider who was not giving up, even though he was obviously hurt. The powerful kicks were no less than eight feet high as they zig-zagged toward the center of the arena when the buzzer finally sounded and the wounded rider timed his leap to minimize the impact into the loose dirt. Hell-bound was not finished with his part of the show and he continued to buck his way around to the far end of the arena where he circled around and took his stand. Ty struggled to get to his feet, but immediately felt the intense pain shoot through his left leg when he tried to stand. He knew he couldn't make a run for it and looked around for the rodeo clowns who were scrambling from where they thought he was going down beside the fence, leaving him exposed to the bull who sized him up as he fiercely twisted his head and pawed the dirt with his hoof.

Ty was oblivious to the rising screams of the crowd as they began to realize that he was in serious trouble. Five seconds can drag on for what seems like minutes during a traumatic experience, and he spent his time thinking of his options. He dug the foot of his good leg into the loose dirt and steadied himself for the charge he knew would surely come, and waited.

The bull bowed his nose to the dirt he had pawed into a small mound, and suddenly leapt forward to begin the race to see who would get to the fallen rider first, him or the athletes, called rodeo clowns, who would attempt to distract him away from his target.

It happened in a flurry of flying dust and dirt as everything converged into a tornado of activity in the center of the ring. They all charged simultaneously at full speed, on foot, on horseback, and on hoof, with Ty tensely waiting to make the only move he had. Hell-bound was going to make it to him first, and as the bull bore down to within feet of where he stood, he grabbed the Stetson from his head with his right hand and waived it to his side as far as he could reach, and at the last possible second it caused the bull to veer slightly to his side and swing his horn into the hat as he passed by, allowing the mounted rider to hook Ty up by his arm and ride away from the commotion to safety at the far side of the arena.

There was dead silence as the crowd absorbed what they had just seen, then an explosion of whoops and cheers when they realized that the stranded cowboy had made it to safety.

"Thanks, man," Ty told the rider who had come to his rescue.

The cowboy just shook his head and smiled as he gave a quick nod, and then rode off to help the others get the angry two thousand pound animal out of the arena.

The camper seemed eerily quiet after everything he had just experienced. He sat there alone in the dark trying to gather his thoughts, trying to smooth the edge he was feeling before he pushed the quick dial on his phone.

"Hey, How'd it go?" Amy asked.

"Got another buckle!" he told her, wishing more than ever before that he could sweep her into his arms and squeeze her as tightly as he could, to show her how much she meant to him. He was not going to mention Walt Tanner, the young man who he had just seen lose his life to one of those damn bulls in the last ride of the evening.

_TO BE CONTINUED_


	17. Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

Ty's hour long stint in the excessively firm and uncomfortable airport terminal chair made him restless, his ten day old wounds nagging him with a ceaseless reminder of his brush with fate back in Oklahoma. He kept his mind busy while he waited by watching people of every description rush by his vantage point in the terminal of the McCarran International Airport. It amazed him how diverse the human race was, so much alike, biologically speaking, yet each one exclusively unique. _'Where were they going? Where have they been? Why the hell would anyone ever wear THAT in public?'_

Airports were always full of people with stories to tell, especially in a place such as Las Vegas. Ty mused the time away making up stories in his head for the interesting ones, writing mental scenarios as if he would read them later, only he would soon forget he ever saw most of them. He also noticed that no matter what background they likely came from, most were wearing some kind of western garb in an attempt to blend in with the locals, or get into the spirit of the Wild, Wild, West and the touring rodeo that was in town, failing miserably at whatever fashion statement they were trying to make.

Sitting up to adjust his position in the seat was still a challenge. Pain shot through his knee if he pushed its narrowed limits of mobility. The leg was hurting like hell and the ailing cowboy could not arrange it so the pain would go away.

Ty had finally mentioned to his fiancée that his leg had gotten _'banged up a little bit'_ only four days ago, not mentioning the event in Oklahoma nearly two weeks prior. The plan was to be healed enough to conceal his near miss with disaster, or at least down play the incident to avoid having Amy worry any more than necessary.

He especially did not want to draw any attention to the young bull rider who took his last ride hell bent on winning that buckle away from him in Thackerville, the prize that nearly cost him the ultimate price as well. The whole thing had left the rodeo star in an edgy place and he knew he had to spare the girl who had promised to spend the rest of her life with him, the mother of his baby boy, any avoidable anxiety. One more rodeo and he was done, going home to the family that he still could not believe had come back into his life, even better than when he had left it behind a year ago.

A new crowd of people hurried from the jet bridge door into the open terminal and Ty clambered to his feet to try and hone in on his girl who was expected to be on this flight. He saw her first as she scanned the room looking for a familiar face, and when she spotted him her eyes lit up with happiness, slowly melting into angst as she looked him up and down to access his physical wellbeing, or shocking lack of it.

"Hey! I've missed you, _so much_!" she forced a smile as she approached him, but the grin disappeared again when she realized that he was in fact injured much worse than he had let on to her on the phone.

"_You're really hurt!_ _Why would you not tell me_?" she glowered when she asked.

"It's not _that_ bad, Amy! It's just kind of…, _sore_, is all."

The anxious cowgirl gauged her fiancé as he pleaded his case. It took her all of three seconds to determine that he was in fact tossing bull chips more than being honest as she had hoped, and called him on it, glaring dead into the darting green eyes she could read like a roadmap to his secret thoughts. "I guess you forget who you are talking to, huh? When we get to the hotel, you are going to cut the crap tell me everything that happened to you at that last rodeo!"

Ty felt awful to have not been completely honest with the one person he needed as more than just a fiancée, but as his best friend as well, while she continued, "Did you think I wouldn't hear about what happened to you down there in Oklahoma? Did you forget that being a professional bull rider, and a popular one at that, makes it kind of impossible to hide something as traumatic as a ride like you had that day?" Obvious disappointment strained her eyes as she fought losing her composure in view of all of these strangers and a tell-tale quiver showed itself at her lower lip. "Aren't we supposed to be partners now?"

'_Well, I've stepped in it for sure this time!_' he thought. Damage control would be his priority for the rest of the day and he squared himself in front of his disappointed companion to reassuringly caress her shoulders when he tried to explain, "Amy, I didn't want to say anything until you were right here in front of me, not a thousand miles away on the phone…, so you could _see_ _for yourself_ that I am OK! I am sorry that I kept the accident from you, but I also know how bad it would have been for you to hear something like that and have worst case images of me in your head for two weeks…. How'd you find out?" he warily asked.

"Dad told me about the bull slamming you against the fence, _and_ of your close call with nearly being _trampled_ before you got out of the arena! And…, about the poor guy who was _killed_, Ty, and that he was the _very next rider_ after you! How does that rate as something you can't share with me? I'm not some little girl who has this starry-eyed vision of what you do for a living! _Those_ _damn bulls_...!"

At a loss for any words to comfort her, Ty drew Amy into his arms and held her face into his chest, letting her know that he was here and still able to make her feel safe, and loved, and held her that way until he could sense her beginning to slowly decompress, breathing more steadily, transferring her tears into his shirt as she softened her posture and leaned into him even more. Ty turned toward the corridor with the sign pointing to baggage claim and said, "C'mon, let's go. I have lots of things to show you! You're gonna _love_ Vegas!"

* * *

The yellow taxi turned into the circular driveway just as a massive column of water shot far above them from the European themed lake framing the entrance to the Bellagio, rhythmically swaying back and forth, dancing to the beautiful music that played over the sound system being enjoyed by what she figured to be at least three or four hundred people lining the sidewalks near the street.

"_WHOA!_ That's freaking _AWESOME_!" the first time Vegas visitor gasped at the gyrations of the famous fountain. She craned her neck under the edge of Ty's window as she leaned across the seat and inadvertently placed her hand on the mending cowboy's left thigh causing him to wince from the pain. "Oh, crap! I'm sorry!"

"It's…, OK! It's not that bad! _Really_!" he quickly responded, trying to hide the pain in his eyes and to keep from stocking her with more ammunition to use against him during the inevitable 'talk' once they got settled into their room.

"Damn! I guess we missed it anyway…" she frowned.

"Don't worry about missing anything, because the fountain plays every half hour until eight, with a different song and routine each time, then it goes off every fifteen minutes until midnight. You will have plenty of time to enjoy it…, just wait until you see it from our room because we can get the music on our TV while we watch from up there!" he pointed skyward.

"Ohhh, where is our room…, how high?" her eyes darted around the massive building in anticipation of a taste of how the upper crust must live.

Ty held her in front of him while he guided her eyes past all of the commotion and zeroed her target. "All the way to the top…, well, not the penthouse, but as close as I could get, on the seventeenth floor, all the way to the left, overrrr…, _there_!" He smiled when he noticed the glittering lights playing across her wide, blue, and utterly dazed eyes as they danced with the excitement of a little girl who just got her first glimpse of the royal kingdom.

Ty slipped the bellhop a ten to take care of Amy's things and grabbed her by the arm to steer her toward the massive canopy leading into the bustling casino and eventually the elevators to the top. "We can come back down later to look around and grab some dinner in one of these nice restaurants. They are all over the top awesome!" he told her. "It's fun just walking around and looking at all of the work they have put into this place. All of these places are amazing, and the fountains are right outside the windows while you are having dinner!"

Amy entered through the door in awe of where she would be staying. She cast an eye over the room and made note of the opulent detail and extravagance of the space and just as she stepped into the fully stocked kitchen she heard the theme from "Titanic" flow over her, more as if she were floating inside of it than just listening through speakers.

"Better get to the window if you want to see the water show!"

The giddy country girl skipped to the curtains in three strides and drew them back to a purely magical sight. She focused on the fountains far below, springing out of the clear blue lake, and was rendered speechless as the music seemed to guide the dancing waters through a four minute fantasy like nothing she had ever imagined.

When the water shot beyond their perch at the top of the hotel in the final few notes of the song, Amy turned to Ty with her mouth gaping in awe as she tried in vain to say something to express her first experience with Vegas showmanship_._

"_The Eiffel Tower is across the street! And_ I can _see it from our window_!"

"I _know_!" he said, belly laughing at the sight of her trying to process what she had just seen. "But, you ain't seen nuthin' yet! Just wait until the sun goes down and the lights come on all up and down the strip! There is nothing else like it, and the whole city completely changes! And the fountains at night…, never mind! You'll just have to see it to believe it!"

"So…, did _you_ pay for all of…, _this_?" she swept her hand around the room like a fairy godmother trying to capture its totality. "Can we afford to do this?" the suddenly practical, no nonsense ranchers daughter asked, wondering about the price of renting royalty.

"Don't worry! I have been staying in the camper over by the arena where the rodeo is. It would be within walking distance if I hadn't…." _'Dammit,' _he thought. He had just diverted her attention back to the issue he thought he had steered clear of, for now. "Anyways…, no Amy. I just got here yesterday. I wanted to be sure that you would like the place. The promoter of the rodeo paid to put us up here until Sunday, when we head back home. He's made a fair amount of money because of the way things have gone for me this year, soooo…"

"About that!" Her attention was now focused on her concerns of his withholding something as important as the injury to his leg and the tragic outcome of the event in Oklahoma. "Were you hoping to let us live in a bubble back there at home, me and _your son,_ not knowing how close you came to being…, another loved one we would never get to see again?"

Ty knew the look. She would not be patronized and things were going to be gotten to, sooner than later.

"I am really sorry…, for not calling you to let you know that I got banged up a little and that I was OK."

"You can't _do_ things like that to us anymore, Ty! You are used to doing things on your own, I get that, but you have people who care about you! You have a family who loves you and needs to know that you are OK and that you are coming home to us, _in one piece_!"

Seeing that the level of her anxiety was from worry more than anger, Ty opted to not try and make dumb excuses which wouldn't float with his accuser anyway, and took the step to close the distance between them to wrap her tightly and say, "Never again, Amy, I promise. That is the last thing I want to ever do to you, or T.J.!"

Amy raised her face to capture the hazy green comfort in those eyes that she had been missing so much for the past few weeks, and pursed her lips with her change in mood and direction of her thoughts.

"Drop those drawers, Mister!"

"Huh?" He thought he might have missed the point, but was _not_ going to argue about the demands of the beautiful woman in front of him.

"Not what you are thinking, Buddy! Let's see what "banged up a little bit" looks like. You know, how bad you're _not hurt_!" she said, making air quotation marks with her fingers while mocking his assessment of his physical condition.

Ty lay back on the bed and before he could reach for his belt buckle the professional diaper changer, fixer of skinned knees, and comforter of wounded spirits had jerked his jeans down to his ankles, making him laugh at how determined she was to answer her questions without mediation from the busted up cowboy.

"This is what you called _a little banged up_?" Her scowl was direct and Ty supposed that now was the time to fess up, seeing as she had him in a rather compromising position.

"Twenty three stitches…. That's where one of the fence posts tore a hole in my thigh and the doctor had to close up," he tapped the place tenderly with his finger. "Hurt like hell! And the bruises are just about gone. You should 'a seen 'em a week ago!" Ty realized that it was probably not the thing to have said, but it was too late now to sugar coat is injuries. He was literally caught with his pants down and the purplish blue and green indicators marked his left leg from top to bottom, hiding nothing of his condition.

"Well, alright then! I have a question... Just how the hell are you supposed to get out of the arena after you get your sorry ass thrown off of one of those damn bulls?" she pointedly asked.

"I have talked about that with the guys. They know what kind of shape I'm in, and the promoter has agreed to add an extra man to help take care of me while the others deal with the bull," he proudly offered.

"That's supposed to make me feel better?"

"I was kinda hoping so…. Look Amy, they are not going to let anything happen to me. It's gonna be OK! You'll see!"

"I will make a deal with you," she told him, looking at his wounds and feeling the need to make her argument hit home. "Go ahead, since you have your mind made up already, and ride your damn bulls, but you need to leave your son with something that will let him know what his dad was like, just in case. I want him to see your face, to know your voice, and your smile. We are going to make a video! Something he can see when he gets older, if something happens to you and you can't be there for him. You can tell him in your own words why you are going through with this."

The proposal, if that's what it was, stunned Ty for a few seconds while he processed the idea. Was she messing with his head, using the burden of guilt to weigh in on his decision to compete instead of bowing out while the getting was good?

"I'm serious!" she assured him after noticing his confusion.

"OK, I guess that would be a good idea?" still trying to gather where this was coming from.

Amy shot up from the bedside and headed to the door. "I haven't eaten all day, so get your pants on! You're taking me to dinner!"


	18. Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

Amy's hand lay across Ty's chest as she held herself close to his side. It soothed her nerves to feel his steady heartbeat underneath a slow rhythm of breathing while he slept. But her frustration over the lack of a good explanation, trying to understand the stubborn cowboy's decision to compete while injured, kept any hope of sleep away for now. She found the dim light of the alarm clock in the darkened bedroom annoying, its red glow displaying three forty-five a.m. and counting, constantly moving closer to a time when her man was going to do what she perceived as the stupidest thing he had ever attempted to do, as far as she knew about anyway, to ride those damn bulls while he was hardly able to move himself from one place to another without the aid of crutches. His vulnerability is what haunted her and kept her awake. She realized that even a good ride ended with the cowboy dismounted inside the arena with a genetically enhanced, two thousand pound, ominously angry beast. The rider's agility often meant the difference between riding in the next rodeo or becoming the next legend that old cowboys reminisced about, offering up a salute to his memory as they imbibed themselves, bolstering the courage necessary to climb aboard one of the bred-to-buck and potentially killer animals for the next go-'round.

For the last half of her teenage years and on into young adulthood Amy had listened to Ty when he shared his idea of the life that he had always wanted. It was the kind of life that she hoped for as much as he did, and they had finally made the decision together to share their common dreams as a family. Oddly, the very life he wished for was eagerly waiting for him back in Hudson, yet she wondered why he had chosen to go through with this crazy idea that he should finish what he started and compete in this last rodeo of the season before riding off into the sunset when it was over, if he was still able to do so. '_How the hell could he sleep so soundly with so much at stake?'_ she wondered. '_He has to know the risk he is taking…. But, why_?

Amy joggled awake when Ty winced as he re-entered this world from wherever his peaceful night of rest had taken him. He had not remembered his injuries until a stabbing sensation shot through his left side when he stretched. She realized she must have finally dozed off sometime early in the morning and after looking at the clock that four hours sleep was not the best way to start such an important day.

"You hurting this morning?" she asked him as he gingerly swung his legs over the side of the bed and raised himself upright, her heart still racing from the reaction to Ty's sudden movement.

"Yeah, it's always rough, the first few minutes. It's better though, after I get a hot shower and a few cups of coffee in me, and maybe a pill or two to get me straightened out," he confessed as he leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Why don't you look over that menu over there on the nightstand and order us up a nice breakfast, anything you want! Promoter's treat!" he suggested, giving her a smile over his shoulder as he disappeared through the bathroom door. "We can sit and have our coffee ..., from here at the top of the world while we look out our window at _Las freaking Vegas_! How about that?"

"Sounds perfect!" she chuckled at his enthusiasm and reached for her phone to check for messages or missed calls, of which there was one, from Lou.

"Hey, Lou, what's up? Is everything OK?"

"Everything is fine, Amy. I just wanted to tell you that T.J. played himself out last night and he still hasn't gotten up yet. He misses you! Aaannnd, I was dying to know…, how'd it go with Ty? Is he still going to go through with riding tonight?" she asked.

"Yes, he is…. He is determined to finish the season by riding one last time, for some reason," she shrugged to no one else in the room, "and I can't make him reconsider just calling it a good year and heading home now, while he still can. You know, I am really beginning to think he gets some sort of twisted satisfaction at the thrill of being scared to death!"

"Ohhh, I'm sorry to hear that! But it's a cowboy thing, maybe even a guy thing in general, to want to do stupid things just for the thrill of it. Just do what you can to make sure his head is in the right place, OK, Amy? That's about all you _can_ do, right?" Lou offered support to her worried sister. "So, on a better note, what do you think of Vegas?"

"Oh, Lou, I don't know …," the younger sister teased in mock nonchalance. "It's like, what, nine o'clock in the morning? I'm just now getting myself out of bed, I'm looking at the most amazing menu I have ever seen, you know, to order _room service_ up to our suite at the _top of the Bellagio_, and all while I am looking right this second at our view of the '_Eiffel Tower'_! Have you ever seen this fountain out front of the hotel? It is the most _amazing_ thing to see, Lou! The way the water dances with the music and it _shoots water_ _way_ _above us_, and we're on the seventeenth floor, it's just so _awesome_! So, I guess you could say, _Eh, it's OK_!" she embellished, laughing aloud to her envious sister who listened and smiled at what she imagined Amy must be experiencing for her first time being so far away from home.

"Yeah, I know it's rough down there, but _somebody's_ gotta do it, right?" she chuckled. "I am just _so_ glad that you are having a good time!"

"Thanks, Sis, for taking care of T.J. so I could do this. But…, I am starting to think that maybe I should have brought 'Little Man' with me. Maybe Ty would think about his decision differently if he had to explain face to face to his son why he thought he needed ride in this last rodeo. I'm scared, Lou, if something happens…."

"Amy, if you think you have done your best to talk it through with him, you have done all you can do! Just make sure those promoters take care of him and give him what he needs to be safe, OK?"

"That's the plan," she answered. "I will let you know how it goes. 'Bye, Love you!"

A cloud of steam swirled around the bathroom door when Ty opened it and Amy noticed he still had an uneven gait to his step as he approached the bed to sit and get dressed.

"Breakfast will be here any minute," Amy explained. "I got us a little of everything! I have spent less buying a horse than what this room service is going to cost!" she puffed through her lips in awe of how things are done in the 'Entertainment Capital of the World'.

"Yeah, well, nothing but the best for _my girl_!" Ty boasted, grinning at the bewildered rancher's daughter. "It is about time that you got off the farm and saw what is out here in the world, even if it's just for a few days."

"It's been a wonderful experience, so far! Thank you, Ty. It still amazes me to think that we are here in a place like this, just the two of us. I have missed you these last few weeks, all of us have!"

A knock at the door meant their food had arrived, none too soon because both of them were glad to see some much needed refreshments to help get the day off and running. Amy's eyes were wide and darting in awe across the tray full of delightfully prepared dishes as the host made a show of revealing every offering by raising the silver dome above each mouthwatering entrée and announcing it with his enthusiastic review. Ty laughed at how her sparkling blue orbs gave away her amusement with the presentation, of how something as simple as breakfast was made into so much fanfare in this place.

* * *

"Ahhh, that was…, I'm using the word _awesome_ too much, aren't I?" she realized."

"What else can you say, because it _was_ awesome!" Ty laughed at her amplified state.

"It's just that, _WOW_, how fancy can breakfast be?" she added "And it was delicious, I might add!"

"So, do you know what you would like to do this morning, before I have to go check on the stock over at the arena?"

"Yes, actually, I do!" she answered, remembering her comment to her sister about wanting Ty to explain his actions to his son. "Sit! Here by the window! We are going to make that video I mentioned yesterday afternoon! The one for T.J.!"

Ty finished with the top button of his designer western shirt and checked himself in the mirror to make sure he was ready for the camera. "How do I look?" he asked when he noticed Amy giving him the once-over.

"Well, all I can say is dayumm! You are kind of a hottie now!" she tried to tease him, but realized how impressed she was with his new style.

"Cut it out, Amy. If any one of my buddies at the arena hears you say that, I'll never live it down!" he blushed at her tease. "And, hey, didn't you think I looked good before?" he asked, just a little hurt.

"Oh, you looked good, all right, but those clothes have raised the bar a couple of notches…, just like your reaction when you saw me in that green dress that Lisa brought back from Paris for me to wear to my prom. Jeans and plaid are nice, but clothes like this make an impression! You are all cowboy now, and I have to admit, I _really_ like it!"

"Oh? Do you like it enough to spend the rest of the morning here in the room, you know, talking about our clothes, and such?" he wiggled his brow over a suggestive grin.

"NO, I don't, Ty Borden! Just because you're the big _rodeo star_ now, don't you go thinking you can just sweep me off my feet any ol' time you want!" she shot back a look, not holding in her own grin very well. "And if you are going to go through with this deal tonight, you are going to need all the strength you can get! So, back to T.J.'s video…, _SIT_!" she ordered the cowboy, still grinning as she pointed to the chair in front of the window.

Ty squirmed in his seat as he searched for something meaningful to say to the little boy and asked, "What do I say to him? What will he understand, what will make sense to him?"

"Just tell him the truth…, why you are taking this kind of chance with our future when you could just pack it up and go home while you still can," she reasoned. "Don't think of it as something he would understand now, more like when he sees this video in a few years when he is old enough to wonder what happened to his daddy, why he isn't with him like all of his friends fathers are."

"Geez, Amy, that's kind of harsh!"

"So is losing someone you love to a bad decision," she explained. "He deserves to know what it is that is so important that you are going to take this risk when you are so beaten up already."

"OK, let's do this! I think I know what I want to say," he told the insistent videographer.

"Hey, T.J., it's you dad…, How's it goin', Buddy? I thought it would be kind of cool to send you a video from Las Vegas, that's where your mom and I are right now, just to let you and your Aunt Lou, GG, Katie, and everybody back home know that we are missing you and we will be home very soon! So here is the view out the window of our room…, pretty cool, huh? We will be taking videos all over town today so you can see what this place is like, and to show you how much fun me and Mommy are having. Oh, Say hi to Mommy!" He reached out to snatch the camera from Amy's hands and turned it toward the surprised mother.

"Hey. Buddy! I miss you! We will be home soon, I promise! I hope you are being good for Aunt Lou and GG!" making light of how her son referred to his Great Grandfather now that his cousin had taught him to do so. "OK, here's daddy, he has something he wants to tell you!" she redirected Ty's stalling to get back to the point of what they were supposed to be doing.

"Listen, son, I wanted to tell you that…, the reason I have been away from home for so long is that I had to finish what I started when I went to work at the rodeo, and I am going to try and tell you why," he explained, suddenly more serious and struggling to hold on to his emotions while he spoke to the little person who he knew had missed having his new father there to fuss over him. "When I was little, just like you, I had parents that had a lot of trouble taking care of me like they should have, and when I got old enough to understand that they were wrong to treat me like that, I made a promise to myself that if I ever had a daughter or son of my own…, like _you_, that I would never allow them to think that I didn't love them, or that they weren't safe, or that they weren't the most important thing in my life," he cast his full attention into the camera, his eyes glistening and intent on putting everything into the verbal account of his youth. "I spent a lot of years as a kid not being able to trust anyone, feeling like nobody cared what happened to me or if I just went away and never came back, and that is exactly what I did, I ran away when things got tough. It took me a long time to learn that it is not the way I should have behaved. It was only after I met the people you know as your family…, Great Grandpa Jack, Lou, and your mom, they are the people who took me in and had the patience and love to make me believe that people really do care and love each other, and that is the way it is supposed to be," he praised the Heartland family, swallowed hard and continued, "I missed seeing you born and being with you the first few months of your life. My quick temper caused me make a bad choice and run away again, before I understood what the facts were, before I knew about you, and I acted way too soon. I should have believed in the people that I loved, I should have had a lot more faith in them, that they wouldn't hurt me like all of the others had done, and I should have worked it out before I gave up on them. I will always regret that I didn't…, and I will always try to make it right between us so you know I am your dad and that I am so proud to have you as my son," he paused and took a breath. "I want you to know that you are the most important thing to me, and the reason I am so far away right now is that I need to prove to you and everyone in our family that I am willing to put everything I have into providing for you and your mom. I want to show you that you need to be brave and try to do the things that are right, even if they are harder to do, and I want you to be proud to have me as your dad. That is why I am going to finish this rodeo season, to show you how important it is to not run away when things get tough, that I am not going to ever do that again, no matter what! I am going to finish what I promised the people who invested in me that I would do. That is to give them a full season of riding in the rodeo for them. And I am going to show our family that I am not going to run away from them either. I have missed you, a lot, and I only have two more days here and then your Mom and I will be home, and I promise I won't leave you like this, ever again. We have a lot of things to do, together, you and me, and I can't wait until then! "OK it's time to go outside, so we will be sending you another video soon. Love you, son!"

It broke Amy's heart to see Ty talking to his son like he did, saying more to him in just a few minutes than he had shared with her in the years that she had known him, knowing that he meant every word, and hoping that he would still be able to live up to his promises in two more days.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The first day of the World Finals had finally arrived. It was the end of a long, grueling season for Ty and the other riders and time away from the tour was going to be greatly appreciated by everyone when it was over. Amy tagged along all day as Ty worked as a celebrity guest to several media outlets and cooperated with the early fans when they could get close enough to them to ask for autographs and pictures. Surprisingly, there were a few that recognized her as "The Miracle Girl" from Alberta, which was a pleasant surprise with the Canadian native being so far from home. As a relatively local trainer she had always hoped to do a clinic of her own here in Las Vegas someday and now it didn't seem like such a far-fetched idea. A well-seasoned pro for her age, Amy knew the satisfaction of being the center of attention when she performed, but today she felt butterflies inside her stomach much worse than when she was involved with one of her own competitions or horse training clinics. Each of her performances had seemed at the time like the most important thing in the world to a young horsewoman trying to prove herself worthy of the legacy her mother had left behind, but none of them had ever felt so much like a life or death matter, and there was never so much to win, or to lose.

It was still hard for her to grasp the present day reality of being here in Las Vegas with this confident young man so far removed from the shy boy who had lived in her grandfather's loft. She had fallen in love with him then, and felt even more so today. Those days seemed like another lifetime ago, and considering the changes they had both experienced over the past year and a half, it actually was.

* * *

The day had passed quickly with so much to keep them busy. Five photo sessions with sponsors, three separate interviews with rodeo magazines, and guest-spots with a couple of local TV and radio stations covering the Finals took up most of the time. When they were finally finished with Ty's promotional obligations, Amy then turned vet-assistant as they made the rounds to care for the stock and ready them for their part in one of the most prestigious rodeos either of them had ever been to. Being alone with the soon to be officially licensed veterinarian was the closest to 'normal' that the homesick horsewoman had felt since she left Alberta, but she honestly admired Ty for the way he handled himself in his new role as the man so many people wanted to look up to. It was surreal seeing him in such high demand from so many strangers, men and women, young and old, and even a few very famous celebrities unexpectedly dropping by to meet the hottest rodeo star on the circuit, but more than anything else, Amy loved to watch him interact with the young kids who were so excited to meet their hero. Her heart melted with the gentle way he talked to each young boy or girl, making them feel like meeting them really mattered to him, and she knew that it really _did_ matter. Dozens of snapshots recorded the day and were sent to Lou's phone so she, Grandpa, Katie, and T.J. could share her excitement, and many more were uploaded to her Facebook page so their friends could see it too.

* * *

Six o'clock was upon Amy before she knew it and the nervous homemaker improvised by busying herself with the last dishes in the sink while she waited for Ty to change into his 'Rodeo Star' clothes, as she now called his new endorsement apparel. She hung the drying towel on the oven door handle and noticed the blinking light on her phone. When she checked it she found that Lou left her a text, [How's it going? Are you OK? How is Ty? Is he ready?] Instead of shooting back a lengthy text explaining the current situation, the fidgety younger sister dialed her phone in hopes of getting a little support to bolster her diminishing will to help Ty see his obligation through to the end. She was worried about the beaten up rider and the way he tried to cover up his pain, but he wasn't saying anything other than "I feel fine!" when she asked him about it.

"Hey, Amy! How are you holding up?" the older sister asked.

"I don't know if I'm going to make it, Lou! I thought I could do it, but now that it's almost over, and Ty is really hurt, but won't admit it..., and…," she faded, afraid she was coming off as too weak.

"I know, sweetie! It's tough, but you are going to have to suck it up, for your sake _and_ for his! I just hope the promoter has his act together and provides the extra protection for Ty in the arena."

"Yeah, I met Tom today. He is the one who befriended Ty after he went to Arizona and gave him a job working at his ranch. I think he really does want to look after Ty, but he is still a promoter who wants to fill all those seats, and that being said, I am pretty sure he will stretch everyone to their limit who can help him do it," Amy explained. He could tell that I was worried and while Ty was doing an interview he sat and talked to me in his office for quite a while. He really is a nice man. They seem pretty close, so I feel a little better now that I have met him. I just hope he knows where Ty's limits are…, because I don't think Ty does!"

"Maybe so, Amy, but I don't know what to think about him letting Ty ride those bulls in his condition. I think it is a big risk, and Grandpa, well, you know him, he isn't saying anything, but I can tell he is concerned too. Just watch over him the best you can!"

"I will! If I see that he is hurting too much to be safe I'm gonna put a stop to it, or he is going to find out that he only _thought_ he had seen me mad!"

"OK, but please keep us posted, Amy! We want to know how it's going down there and waiting without knowing is going to be…, well, please don't leave us hanging up here, OK?"

"I will call or text you after every go 'round, I promise! Oh, and how's my little rug rat? Is he behaving himself?" she smiled into the phone, missing her baby.

"He…, uhh, what the…," Lou paused, broke out into a full belly laugh, and said, "Oh, Amy, words can't do this justice! I am going to send a video to you in just a second, hang on!"

Amy's phone soon chimed and when she opened the message she began to cackle at what Lou had sent.

"What is so funny?" Ty asked as he walked through the door just in time to see her reaction.

The amused mother giggled and turned the screen toward him so he could see Katie and their son with their matching red cowboy hats and broomsticks for horses in the hallway chasing Katie's bug eyed dog, Princess, who was dashing back and forth past them as the miniature cowgirl tried to 'rope' her new 'horse' and bring it into the pen so Amy could join up with her, and T.J. enthusiastically clapping and cheering her on from behind.

It took a full minute for the three of them to recover and catch their breath. "It looks like the ranch is gaining a few new 'horses', if those two have anything to say about it!" Ty laughed at the sisters who were laughing at each other.

"See what you guys are missing! And you thought the 'real' rodeo was in Vegas!" Lou chuckled.

Ty glanced at Amy and she could see that Lou's remark had hit home with him as much as it did with her by the way he reacted to it.

"Good luck, Ty! And, get your ass out of that ring as soon as your feet hit the dirt, OK? No fooling around with playing matador, _got it_?" she lectured her sisters' duly intended.

"Don't worry, Lou. Those days are over, and if my memory serves me correctly, even if I _did_ take a swipe at one of those bulls with my hat, and even if he missed me again, I know there is an even meaner critter waiting for me on the other side of the fence!" he winked at the beautiful blond who was straining to hear what her sister was telling him.

"Yeah, you got that right! Just don't provoke me, if you know what's good for ya!" she shot back to him, more serious than he probably realized.

* * *

The Sam Boyd Stadium was packed with nearly 40,000 people filling the arena, buzzing in anticipation of the last night of competition that had begun five days ago with 35 of the best bull riders from around the world, all aiming at taking the quarter million dollar prize to be claimed by this year's finals champion, and the season long tour winner would receive one cool million for his efforts, plus many endorsements.

Amy had a death grip on Ty's left hand as she kept pace, walking slowly beside him from the camper into the staging area behind the arena. She knew twelve rides in the first four nights had taken a lot out of him and that the plodding pace was all he could manage, but he was not about to admit to anyone that he was mostly used up. Fortunately, there were no unusually hard landings or excessively strenuous situations so far, but Amy was ready to burst from worry that the odds were catching up to her cowboy. She let go of his hand long enough for him to stay true to form and follow through with his ritual of talking to the first bull he would attempt to ride tonight. Amy thought it might have been kind of funny if she wasn't scared stiff from fear of what might happen.

The first go-'rounds of the competition had gone as well as she could have hoped, considering Ty's condition. There had been an argument over the athletic trainer who had been giving Ty injections to reduce his pain, but she finally gave up, thinking it was probably better to have him concentrating on the ride instead of how much he was hurting.

The next order of business for Ty was to pose in a photo with the current top ten riders for the season, then another one with the top five prior to the final ride of the World Finals which would decide who would be champion.

With only one more go-'round left to endure Amy could almost see a light at the end of the tunnel. She once again leaned against the seat in front of her and silently prayed, again, as in every round before, her lips barely moving as she asked for safety for all of the riders, especially the father of her son, and to let them get home to begin their new lives together.

* * *

The announcer began to work the crowd as the first rider climbed onto the chute with his draw, a rowdy two thousand pound bull named "Montezuma's Revenge." The crowd laughed and snickered at the name at first but soon retracted their humorous comments when there was a flurry of activity behind the gate as the bull bellowed loudly and ferociously thrashed inside the tight confines within the chute. The grandstands rumbled from the powerful hooves repeatedly striking the steel rails and someone must have decided to abort pulling the gate because the rider's head popped up out of the crowd around him and then disappeared among the swarm of humanity.

Experience told Amy that the cowboy must have been injured in the exchange or else he would have sinched-down even tighter and given the nod to open the gate. All of this was not calming at all, anything but. All she could do to deal the tension was to find Ty in the crowd and focus on him, always watching for any sign of him not being able to climb on the back of one of those damn bulls for what they had agreed to as the final ride for 'Ty Borden, Rodeo Star'. All she wanted in the world right now was to get this night over with and get back to the camper in one piece.

The Vegas odds were against Ty. The ailing rider knew he was the long shot for the buckle with only eight more seconds left to gain the points necessary to overtake Rowdy Clayton, the rider who had commanded first place since the first ride of the evening. If Clayton made the full eight second ride in his last go-'round Ty knew the chance at the win was gone.

The freshman contender was dejected with trailing behind so closely in points, for coming so close and letting it all slip away from him, and had nearly given up hope for the biggest prize he had ever imagined. '_If I hadn't gotten so banged up in Oklahoma_,' he thought '_I would have proven to all of those doubters that I was the real thing, not just some fluke that got lucky more than my fair share of the time.'_ Even more than that, he would have enjoyed making Amy's father eat a handful of crow for the degrading things he used to say about Jack's ranch hand who, he said, should "Leave his daughter alone so she can find somebody who will give her the life she deserves." The reclusive bull rider walked to the back of the grandstands to be alone with his thoughts, but when he heard the crowd moan as Clayton was ejected from his ride five seconds after the gate had opened, his newfound competitive nature shot back to the forefront and revived his spirit to give it all he had to get the job done.

The black and blue cowboy had forgotten his banged up leg and two cracked ribs hurting badly enough to cause his breath to catch when he so much as moved, even with the aid of the Doctor's pain killing injection, until he was jolted back to reality when he fell to the ground when he attempted to pull himself up to the chute for his turn at one of the most important moments of his life. "Get me up!' he hollered to the wranglers standing there in disbelief. '_I can't make it this far and come this close, and lose, not without a fight!_' he thought.

Amy panicked when she saw her over-determined cowboy fall behind the chute. She leapt out of her seat and began running three steps at a time down the grandstand stairs to try call off the ride. She got there one second too late, just in time to hear the crowd cheer when the gate swung open and Ty's hat disappear beyond the fence into the arena. Amy hopped up on the platform behind the chute and watched each twisting, turning gyration in terror, willing her man to hold on for his life, not giving a thought to the riches that awaited them if he made it to the end. The seconds drug on, stretching reality into slow motion as Amy helplessly watched the bull pull into a tight left hand spin, one full circle before charging headlong for the fence, which was her worst fear. The crowd around her screamed as the crazed bull leapt and teetered on top of the fence, and then, bellowed as it dropped over the other side, leaping out of her sight and leaving Ty no option but to hold on for dear life, still refusing to give up, both of them gone from the hushed arena into a certain disaster.

That was the last thing Amy saw before she faded into blackness, falling to the planks at the feet of the gaping crowd who surrounded her, still not noticing the woman who had succumbed to the realization that had everyone there screaming in silence, afraid of how the next few seconds would unfold.

_TO BE CONTINUED_


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

_FOUR YEARS LATER_

The lone rider guided her shimmering black gelding through the edge of a large rolling pasture full of knee high grass. It would soon be time for the first hay crop of the season and it felt good to be outside on one of the first summer like days here in Western Alberta. Meandering along with her favorite horse on a quiet trail ride lifted her spirit from the place it had been lingering for the last few days and she supposed that if anything could make the difficult time any more tolerable, this would do it.

An old wooden gate at the farthest end of the field required her to dismount and unlatch it because it was too hard to manage high up in the saddle, and when she had pushed it open her horse walked through it without any prompting because he was an old pro, having done the same thing hundreds of times before.

After closing the gate and re-latching it to ward off any chance of her grandpa's ill-mannered cows getting into the tempting grass and making a royal mess of their winters feed supply, the cowgirl threw her leg over the saddle and clicked at her companion to proceed at his leisure up to the narrow path through a brilliant sunlit green stand of Aspens that stretched to the western end of the ranch's boundaries. She pulled up on the reins when she and the horse had passed into a small clearing about half way up the long slope of the hill. They always stopped and spent a few minutes here to take in the view and listen to the Aspens soothing flutter in the breeze.

These times were made for reflecting on what her life would have been like if she were not so fortunate as to live on the ranch known as Heartland, nestled in the rolling hills in the valley below. A slight smile tugged at her lips in appreciation of being so blessed to call such a beautiful place home. Whatever her worries or troubles, they were always made to be more manageable here. She wondered how she would have ever coped in a place like the city where there could be no escape from everyone else occupying the same space, each one wrapped up in their own personal goings-on. She needed the peace and quiet found in these fields, hills, and valleys. They were as much a part of her soul as the air she breathed and the loved ones who had shared their lives with her at the ranch, or those who enjoyed their time here before her.

Amy sighed as her eyes looked upward to where she was headed, and then she gently tugged on Spartan's reins to turn them toward the lonely trail and continue their trek to the top of the hill.

Fifteen minutes farther along the path Amy could feel her somber mood emerging, even with the spectacular panorama of the foothills giving her everything it could to cheer her up. The steady horse zig-zagged its way through a tall cover of lodge pole pines that covered the hill to the last ridge before the summit. Amy was lost in her thoughts and trying to build up the strength she knew she would need to get past the undertaking she was about to face.

Spartan knew the way up the trail by now, easily maneuvering his way around any obstacles or any choice of direction. He had brought his old friend and riding companion here many times over the years, although he could not understand why his owner was so sad when they got here, but he knew it was his job to safely bring her to this place and take her back home when she had finished what she came here to do.

When they cleared the final rise the tree line opened into a grassy high meadow where wild horses often grazed. Tucked under the clearing, a waist high stone and iron fence enclosed small plots of ground which laid at the eastern edge of another stand of the tall pines which served as a wind break from the sometimes harsh environment at this elevation. The well-kept fence marked the place on the Bartlett homestead where all of her pioneer ancestors and more recent loved ones lay at rest, and Amy thought it was the perfect place for her to be too, when her time came, because this was as close to heaven as anywhere she knew about, here on God's green earth, anyways, and these were the people she wanted to share her spiritual journey with.

Approaching the railing, the rider swung her feet out of the stirrups and planted them in ankle high fescue and tied Spartan's lead to the hitching post beside a gate bearing the Heartland symbol, a wrought iron oval with hand cut features of a bright sun rising over the mountains, just like the one on the fireplace screen back in the ranch house.

Amy's emotions had been a rollercoaster of ups and downs recently and she had been experiencing an overpowering impulse to spend time with loved ones that she had been missing so much lately, still unable to let go of the bonds that forever tied them together and taking comfort in sharing important news, not wanting them to miss out on things she knew would have mattered to them, if they were here.

She patted the horses' neck, for her own benefit as much as his, leaving him to happily graze in the tall grass as he waited, and then pulled the gate open, stepping respectfully to the first marker, and laid flowers at the base of her mother's gravestone. Amy stood in silence for a minute, and then sat and talked with her mother as if they were on a lazy trail ride together, a young girl with the person she most admired for her way of working with horses, and her one of a kind love of her youngest daughter. "Happy Mother's Day, Mom!" she said out loud. "I have really been missing you lately, as if that ever goes away. A lot has been happening…, and I know you would have enjoyed being here to see it."

The broken hearted young woman related all of the family business she could think of, keeping Marion up to date with family matters, how she would have been so proud of her grandson, how well her own success as a respected horsewoman was progressing, and how much easier the uncertainties of life would be with a knowing mother's advice. She told a few funny stories about the grandson her mother never knew, and filled in various details she knew Marion would want to hear. She went so far as to laugh at some memories, and cry at some of them too, and when she ran out of things to say, the still mourning cowgirl sat quietly in the gentle summer like breeze and wondered what her life would be like if things had been different. There were so many possibilities for her to imagine, the way things might have worked out for her and her family if the loved ones laid around her were still alive and sharing the days here in these Alberta hills instead of looking down upon her from heaven. "_It's just not fair!_" she said, looking up for some kind of answer.

The heartbroken mourner sat and cried for a few minutes more, sobbing at first, then calming to brush away a few remaining tears with the back of her wrist.

A free right hand instinctively rubbed circles around her belly over the loose shirt she wore, unconsciously comforting the new life that lived inside, worrying that the little one would feel her anguish. "And, I have some more good news, Mom! You are going to be a grandmother, again!" she imagined the way her mother would have grabbed her and squeezed her so tight that she wouldn't be able to breathe from being so excited with the news.

As she gradually regained her composure, Amy looked back down the path that she had used to come up the hill to see what could be causing such a ruckus all the way out here in the open country. She watched a little cowboy trot his pony over the last rise and come into full view as he neared the cemetery, the answer she had asked for only moments ago. Her frown twisted itself into a faint twitch at the corners of her lips at first, but then she began to wipe the new tears away and her face broadened into a full ear to ear smile at the sight of him.

Today also happened to be the day she would deliver on her promise to bring T.J. along on his first all day trail ride with his brand new pony, Tonto, complete with a picnic at his favorite place beside the river, a relentless request from the budding little cowboy for his fifth birthday present.

A second cowboy soon popped over the rise in a brisk canter behind the young rider and she couldn't help but giggle when she heard him shout, "Hey, T.J. slow down!" as he pushed his horse to catch up. They rode up to the cemetery gate together and the older rider dismounted, tied both horses to the hitching post, and headed toward his wife, who he could tell had been upset and crying.

"The flowers look nice, honey, they are beautiful!" he offered, trying to soothe the pain and unpredictable mood swings she had exhibited recently. He leaned over to kiss her forehead, then, after letting a few seconds pass, "I wish I could have met her, I owe her _everything_! I wouldn't have met you, and I wouldn't even be who I am now, if not for her!" Ty said as he wrapped his arms tightly around his emotional wife.

"Mom would have loved you, and she would have been so proud of the way you stepped up and took advantage of the chance she offered to you, to leave your past behind and make a life for yourself that we all can be proud of!"

"Marion might not have approved of a juvenile delinquent courting her baby daughter, you know…, and she might have been the one threatening me instead of Jack!" he mused.

"You would have won her over, just like you did Grandpa. How could anybody not love Ty Borden?" she smiled, her eyes glittering with the deep love she had for the man.

Even Tim, the father of the girl he loved and the woman he married, who for many years had little but sarcasm and harassing antics for the young man, in his eyes, unworthy of his daughter, had finally eased up with his attitude. Ty had learned to draw satisfaction out of knowing Tim actually admired the way his youngest daughter's husband had come from a disastrous childhood to became a self-made man, putting himself through university to become a successful partner in the Hudson Veterinarian Clinic, and how he looked after his new family by taking such good care of Amy and his grandson. And then there was Tim's rodeo pride, the legendary four time "All Around National Champion" constantly boasting to anyone who would listen about his son in law, the "By-God Pro Bull Riding Champion!", the only pro rider ever to break the buzzer at eight seconds and continue to ride his bull right over the fence and live to tell about it!"

Truth was, Ty bailed off the disparate animal as he leapt onto the top of the fence, the only thing that saving his life was the luck of the bull making his way over the barrier and running loose on the other side until some quick minded wranglers got him safely into a holding pen as the physically beaten bull riding champion laid there in the dirt, unconscious and helpless from the fall. Ty did think it was pretty cool to hear his often annoying father in law brag about him like he would, but nobody dared to bring up the story in Amy's presence, still extremely pissed at her husband to this very day for climbing on that damn bull before she could stop him, and unable to see any humor at the part of the story where Tim would cackle at telling of her falling unconscious at what she thought was the certain death of the '_Idiot that didn't know when to quit!'_

The little rider was growing restless, "Hey, Dad, come on, let's go, OK? Aren't you ready yet, Mom?"

"You'd better get over there before he takes off again!" she nodded at the impatient child. "He is too much like his daddy!"

Ty twirled around and said, "I ought to turn right around and take you back to the barn for running off on me like you did!"

"T. J.! Remember what we talked about?" the mother disciplined her son. "You know you have to show us that you are going to be responsible with Tonto, or else you won't get to ride him until you do!" giving him the sternest look she could muster while being so amused with her two cowboys.

"So, _Dad_," she asked, "how'd a barely five year old kid get away from a bigshot rodeo star, such as yourself?"

Ty looked flustered at her question, and just as he opened his mouth to explain, "Dad got off Harley 'cause he had to take a leak, so me 'n Tonto decided we didn't to hang around, so we just went on ahead," he broadcasted matter of factly, with a smile. "Figured he could catch up after he watered the bush!"

"Is that what you are teaching our son?" she asked, wrinkling her nose and trying not to bust out in laughter in front of either of them, but failing into a hearty cackle over her husband's obvious embarrassment.

"Yeah, well, look at _you_! So, you think this is funny, him running off like that?" smiling sheepishly.

"We will talk about this later, 'Buddy'," Amy replied to her little buckaroo, placing her hands on her hips for effect. "There are going to be some extra chores for you to do for a while! You could have gotten hurt running ahead of your dad like that, or you could have hurt Tonto! _That_ wouldn't be so funny then, would it?"

"No, Mom…, I'm sorry, and I won't do it again!"

"Good to hear!" she replied.

"OK, let's hit the trail! We have a picnic to go to!" the female trail boss directed as she closed the gate, untied Spartan, and tossed the reins over her horse's neck.

Amy looked over her shoulder at the tombstones, blinked away a tear,

and then walked beside her patient animal ready to mount up before beginning the next phase of the trail ride when Ty walked over to her wearing a grin and asked, "Leg up?"

"Sure! I haven't had a handsome cowboy offer to do that in ages," she winked at him and smiled.

Ty whisked her up in a sweeping motion and Amy floated into the saddle.

"C'mon! We can't wait all day!" T.J. barked, already one hundred meters further down the trail. "We're burnin' up daylight!"

"OK…," Ty mumbled to his wife, "That kid is spending entirely too much time with Jack…, and your dad! Between the three of you, he doesn't have any chance at learning to be patient!"

"But you love all of us anyway, right?" she batted her flirtiest blue eyes at him which always managed to derail his train of thought.

"Yes-I-do!" he said mimicking his best man, Caleb, who used that line when he was trying to impress the lady rodeo fans.

"That's good! Because…, I have something to tell you!" she said, beaming in the way that showed Ty it was going to be big news, indeed!

_THE END_


End file.
