lb_heartland | Fic: Inheritance of the Heart 14/18

Inheritance of the Heart
Chapter Fourteen
Word Count: 3,177
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Lou/Scott, but mostly, eventually... Ty/Amy.
Warnings: Character death (in chapter one only)
Disclaimer: I'm never going to grow up. That means... I'm not legally responsible for anything, right?
Summary: She went away thinking it would always be there, always be the same. She was wrong.
Author's Note: *hums* What? I'm not saying anything this time, but I am grinning like a madwoman. :P

The Next Step

"Shadow has come a long way," Ty observed, joining Amy as she observed Holly and the horse from the outside of the training ring.

"You're going to break it to Holly that he has to go home, right?" Amy asked hopefully, looking over at Ty. He caught the look and shook his head, but he was smiling. She knew that he would probably do it. She shouldn't take advantage of him like that, but she really didn't want to break Holly's heart by telling her that it was time for Shadow to go back home. She knew she should be the one to tell her, but her niece still preferred Ty to her, and it would be easier if he did it. "Please?"

He made a point of showing he was thinking about it. "Hmm. What's in it for me?"

"Well... I'd offer you dinner, but we know I'm not that good of a cook, so maybe... A kiss?"

"Just one? Definitely not worth it," he said, shaking his head. She saw him smile, though, and she knew that she was close to convincing him. She smiled back and moved closer to him.

"How about... we ask Soraya if she'll hang out with Holly one of these nights, and you and I can go out and do something for a change? Don't get me wrong, I like working with you, and I like being with you and with the horses. I do like spending our evenings together, though we really have to stop falling asleep on the couch when we watch movies. It's just... We're not really... alone here, are we? It might be nice to get out or..."

She knew her cheeks were bright, bright red. She couldn't help it. They did have things pretty good here. She was comfortable, Ty was comfortable, and Holly loved being with both of them. She would sit next to them, in between them, or she'd lay across their laps. It was nice. It really was.

At the same time, though, it didn't allow them much time to be alone. She felt a lot of sympathy for Lou and Scott, because she didn't know how they managed to have any time together without the kids. Lee had joked about Amy and Ty being an old married couple, and aside from the marriage comment that was still rather awkward, they kind of were. They did spend a lot of time together, but it was usually in the yard or with Holly there, too. They always had someone with them, if it was Venture or another horse or one of the staff. It was hard to be alone.

Venture had made an excellent recovery, and Ty was going to show Amy Venture's usual route on the trails soon, though they were still being cautious with him. Even a trail ride alone didn't give them much time. There was always another horse to be worked or something to do.

"So... You're talking about a night off? No horses, no family or coworkers, just you and me and... what is it normal people do when they're dating?"

Amy laughed. "You would know more than I do! I don't know, Ty. A movie? Dinner?"

"Oh, wow. Food. Like we don't eat every day or watch a movie with Holly almost every night," Ty said. Amy looked at him. "I don't mean that it's a bad thing, not really. It's just that we always do that. If we're talking about going out, we really should change things."

"Well, Carey's invitation to go to Ten Beeches still stands, but we'd have to talk Lou and Scott into getting their daughter for the weekend or whenever it is we're gone."

"Wait, did I just hear you say something about going away for the weekend?" Ty asked, moving closer to her. She bit her lip, her face burning. "Amy..."

"Aunt Amy! Uncle Ty! Look at this! Isn't Shadow amazing?" Holly called, and Ty groaned, forcing a smile for Holly's benefit as he agreed. Amy knew how he felt. They hadn't had much of a chance to talk or anything, not about anything private. "He's done so well. I'm so proud of him. Isn't he great?"

"We'd better tell her now," Amy said, leaning against Ty. He nodded, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Holly, we're really pleased with Shadow's progress as well, and so are his owners. They've decided to keep him on, and—"

"No!" Holly cried, knowing where Ty was going with that statement. "No! He's not ready yet. You can't send him back, Uncle Ty."

Ty shot Amy a look, and she nodded. She definitely owed him something special, making him be the bad guy here. She just knew that Holly was way too much like her, and she had a hard time letting any of the horses go. "Shadow's not spooked by us or the horses or anything anymore. He's come a very long way, and it is good. I'm happy for him, and so is Amy. But he's not our horse. He can't stay, not when he's ready to go. And if he leaves, he gives us another spot for another horse we can help. That's what we do here."

"I don't know how you stand it," Holly said with a frown, holding onto Shadow as she struggled not to cry. "What kind of a job is that?"

"The joy doesn't come from when the horse leaves," Amy began. "That part is difficult, but knowing that he's better, healthy and happy, that's what makes this worth doing."

"It's still stupid," Holly muttered. She let go of Shadow and ran into the house. Ty let go of Amy and went into the ring, taking the reins.

"Give her a little while," Ty suggested. "She just needs some time."

"Yeah. Well... I'll see if Soraya wants to come by. That might cheer her up a little."

"I have very good news for us," Amy said, leaning into the stall that Ty was cleaning out, and he looked up at her, wondering what she was up to now. He hadn't seen her in a few hours, not since she left him to call Soraya, and in the meantime, he'd worked four hours and argued with the feed company and now he was picking up the slack from Lee having a day off. He could never tell his brother just how much of a difference it made to have him there because Lee would never let anyone hear the end of it, but they were really struggling to get things done. It was good that Shadow was going home, and Ty needed to talk to Liz, but he was pretty sure that Doughnut could go as well, so they were making progress.

Of course, the waiting list was still there. The whole nightmare with the photo in the paper had blown over, and they were back to their usual state, with a few new clients wanting to have their horses checked out, and it didn't hurt that Heartland now had a resident veterinarian. Amy's degree was good for business.

"Well, don't you want to know what it is?"

"Am I supposed to be guessing now?" Ty asked tiredly. He yawned. "I'm sorry. I gave up guessing about two horses ago, and if I close my eyes, I will probably doze right off standing up."

Amy shrugged. "Fine. You don't have to guess. I'll tell you. The good news is that Soraya decided that Holly needed a sleepover to cheer her up."

"A sleepover? Okay, I never had a sister, and I also never really attended a sleepover or slumber party being as I am... well, a guy, but correct me if I'm wrong—isn't that bad news for us? Because we'll have Holly and Soraya, and I don't mean that to insult your friend because Soraya is great and she's helped us a lot and I like her, but—"

"The sleepover is for Holly at Soraya's house," Amy interrupted, grinning. "Soraya's on her way now. Holly's really excited to go. The best part, though, is that you and I have the house to ourselves as soon as Tanya leaves."

"Really?" Ty hadn't expected this. It wasn't that it wasn't good news. It was. They hadn't shared an evening together since the party. They might be dating, but they didn't go on actual dates. They wouldn't even have the party if it hadn't been more or less forced on them. "The whole house. Hmm."

"What, you're not happy? We get to be alone together."

"Yes. I know."

"So why do I get the feeling that this is... not something that pleases you?"

Ty took a deep breath. "It is not that I don't want to be alone with you, Amy. It's been hard trying to find time to just be... us lately. It makes this whole dating thing complicated, but since we've always had our work to connect us, I don't necessarily feel neglected or anything, just that... We've come as far as we could up to this point, but Holly has been kind of like a buffer for us, keeping us from having to worry about that next step because nothing could really happen with her around. Now she's going to be gone. Do you see why this concerns me a little?"

"Oh," Amy said, getting red for the third time that day. She pushed some of her hair back nervously. "Well... It's not like we have to jump into... that just because Holly's gone for the night. I mean... Uh..."

"You are not calling Soraya back and telling her to stay here for the sleepover," Ty told her, pulling Amy into his arms for a second. She was pretty tense. He leaned his head against hers. "My mind just went there. That doesn't mean it has to happen tonight. What we have is not just physical, and I know we know that."

Amy nodded. "Ty, we barely have time to do the physical part. It's a quick kiss here or there, a hug. We hold hands. I guess to some people, that would sound kind of... juvenile. It's not to me, and I like what we have."

"Now you're making me regret bringing it up."

"No, this is part of the whole you not keeping everything to yourself deal, and it is kind of something we need to talk about, isn't it?"

"I want to disagree. This is awkward, to say the least."

"Then I'd say that neither of us is really ready for that next step yet, so we need to just relax, back off, and let whatever happens happen when it's the right time," Amy decided. "No pressure one way or the other, right?"

"Sounds good."

"Okay, you sound stressed. I'm going to go meet Soraya, and you can go talk to your horse and relax," Amy told him, giving him a quick kiss.

He watched her go and shook his head. He hadn't meant to make that so difficult. Or awkward. He just needed to let things go a bit more. It wasn't easy. His marriage had felt too rushed, and he didn't want to screw things up with Amy. A part of it felt like it happened too fast, and a part of it was still way too slow. It was driving him crazy.

Venture snorted from the other stall, and Ty crossed over to him. "Hey, you. I suppose you have a solution to all this, huh?"

The gelding nudged him. Ty shook his head. "Oh, no. You better not have said what I think you just said. Definitely not. No."

Venture snorted again. Ty looked at him. "You are evil. Now what am I supposed to do?"

"Stop pacing. What is wrong with you? Is being alone together really making you that nervous?" Amy asked. Soraya's parting words about having a good time had kind of been rattling around Amy's mind, but she knew that her friend didn't necessarily mean the words in the way her brain was taking them. It didn't have to be like that just because she and Ty had the house to themselves.

"I'm fine. No, I'm not. I'm sorry, Amy. It's not... Let's just say that talking to Venture did not have the relaxing effect you'd hoped it would," he answered, stopping to lean over the sink. "I think I'm going crazy. I talk to that horse too much, and I'm starting to think that my idiot brother is right, that Venture is evil and trying to take over the world..."

Amy laughed. "Okay, now that's just... That is not you talking. That is whatever is stressing you out right now, and you need to stop. I know, not the easiest thing to do, but you're way too worked up right now. You don't mean that about Venture. You love him, and he only does that to annoy Lee. So... I'll be right back. I'm going to go get that one oil blend of yours, we'll try some of that, and maybe a little of Grandpa's wine, and you are going to chill out."

"Right," Ty muttered, clearly not believing her. She sighed.

"Well, at least go get the wine. I was looking for it the other night, and I didn't find a thing. You know where Grandpa's stash is, not me. Wine, now."

Ty nodded, and she was torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to hold him. It was almost comical how worked up he was, and she was pretty sure it was about nothing. No, she couldn't laugh, and she did want to make him feel better. She hurried up the stairs to his room, got the oil bottle off his dresser, and came back down.

He came back with a bottle of wine and a bottle of whiskey, and Amy frowned. "Uh, Ty..."

"I know. You said wine. The whiskey's for me. I don't think sipping at wine is really going to help at this point."

Amy shook her head. She opened the oil and motioned for him to sit at the table. She put some on her hands and took a deep breath before touching his neck, her hands going under his shirt to work it into his skin. She could tell he was tense, and the massage didn't seem to help him. That was probably because of their awkward conversation earlier.

Letting the oil sink in and do its work, Amy poured herself a glass of wine. She knew the alcohol probably wouldn't help all that much, but she was willing to try anything if it might help. She took a slow sip and reluctantly started to talk again. "You know, we survived at least a week as roommates before Holly showed up. It was completely platonic, and we were fine."

Ty looked at her. "Weren't we also officially in denial at that point?"

"Okay, yes, we were," Amy conceded. "You're making this very difficult."

"Sorry."

She didn't think his tone was all that apologetic. Misery loved company, right? Maybe that was all there was to this. "We could do something completely boring and routine. Let's dig out another movie and watch it. No harm in that, right?"

"I am not going to be able to sit through a movie, Amy. I just can't. Not tonight."

"And I suppose eating is out of the question?"

"Oh, hell, Amy, I'd go stay with my horse if I thought that would help, but it's not going to, so please, just stop. I think … I don't know. Maybe I need to go up to my room and try and take an early night."

Amy sighed. So much for working things out. "If that's what you want, then go ahead."

"You were really looking forward to doing something tonight, weren't you? I'm sorry. I know I'm lousy company. You're really trying, and I'm not making this any easier. It's just..." Ty trailed off for a moment, and then he stood, coming over to where Amy stood against the counter. "This takes me back, being here."

"We've been here plenty of times."

He shook his head. "I'm thinking of a very specific time, that night when you and I were standing in the kitchen. You'd just given me a gift, and I hugged you. It felt right, holding you in my arms, and I would have kissed you then, for the first time, if the phone hadn't rang."

"Grandpa was in the hospital, "Amy said, remembering. "He took a turn for the worse that night, and you were there for me, and I always treasured that, Ty."

"I would have kissed you that night," he repeated. He closed his eyes for a moment. "I feel the same way now that I did that night. Like I should do something, and that feeling, that conviction is warring with the part of me that's saying I'm absolutely crazy and that I'll ruin things... But I don't think I would have ruined things if I'd been able to kiss you that night. I'm not sure I can ruin them now. It's funny, this concept of soul mates. I'm not sure that's us, but we might be the next best thing to it, which is why it's so easy to be together again and so difficult to be apart because we're not really apart. That last part didn't make any sense. I'm sorry. This isn't coming out the way I want it to, or the way I mean it to..."

Amy put a hand on his chest. "It's fine, Ty. Just calm down for a second. Breathe."

He kissed her then, not like he'd kissed her in the past. There was nothing quick or tender or sweet about it. This was about something else. It was full of need and emotion and passion. It was overwhelming. She felt a bit dizzy. He pulled back and leaned his head against hers for a moment. She could hear her racing heart and their ragged breathing, and then there was his voice again.

"I'm not sure if it's too fast or too slow any more. I can't tell with us. But... I can't do this any more, not like we have been."

She took an unsteady breath, thinking that he was actually possibly going to break up with her after that, and she was trying to figure out how that could possibly make sense. It didn't. "Ty..."

"All or nothing, Amy Fleming. Marry me."