The middle-aged man was sitting on his horse surrounded by the breath-taking beauty of the Rocky Mountains. Taking a closer look you could see his fingers tapping on the saddle every once in a while. His head was turning constantly like he was scanning the area looking for something. His features seemed strained.

Was he waiting for someone?

Moments later he was looking at his watch taking a deep breath. Not again.

Before he was able to think further his face brightened up. A young girl with blonde hair was approaching the small hill he was waiting on. She was wearing a red jacket and was riding on a beautiful black horse.

The man started to smile. This time his daughter Amy had not stood him up. This time she was ready to meet him. He felt relieved and nervous at the same time.

Amy brought her horse to a stop next to him; she was smiling.

“Glad you could make it”, he said looking into her face.

“I’m sorry about last time.”

“Not a problem.” He paused for a little while. “You’re nervous?” he asked with a smile.

Amy nodded “Yes.”

“Me too.” The man admitted. “Do we just wanna ride?”

“Sure”, she answered turning her horse around and starting to move. He did the same and slowly the two of them rode down the hill.

“How is that horse doing you stood me up for?” he asked laughing.

The girl also giggled. “Better.”

“That’s good… and how are you doing?”

The look on her face told him that she was not sure about what to say. He had missed ten years of her life. Honestly he had absolutely no clue what was going on. How she was doing at school? Did she already have a boyfriend? What was she dreaming of? All he knew was that she had a talent working with horses like her mom and that she had become a beautiful young lady during the last years. When he had left she had only been a little kid.

“It is making me happy that the horse is doing better”, she answered.

He felt kind of relieved that it seemed like she also wanted to keep this first meeting easy-going. Honestly he was not ready either to talk about the missing ten years or what had happened before. He just wanted to get to know Amy again, realising that it was impossible to make up for the past. They had to look into the future.

“Do you work a lot with client’s horses?”

“I am just starting. Mom knew how to do it. I sometime feel kind of overstrained. They trust me with their animals but I still have to learn so much.”

“You’re afraid of making mistakes?” Tim looked at her questioningly.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“I am sure you are doing pretty well.”

How could he know? He had never seen her working with horses. But something deep inside him told him that she had inherited her mother’s talent; and how talented Marion had been. He sighed. The thought of his deceased wife still hurt him.

Amy looked at him. “I don’t know.” She took a breath. “I know, I love to do it but when Mom did it, it always looked so easy, like it was nothing.”

“You just take one step at a time.” How odd? He had told Lou, Amy’s older sister, the very same thing when he had met her after Marion’s funeral. But it was what he had learned after being addicted to drugs and alcohol for such a long time.

Amy smiled. “Ok, I will remember that.”

There was one more thing that was bothering Tim. One thing he needed to know now. And he was pretty sure his daughter knew the answer. Absent minded he petted his horse while screwing up his courage. Then his lips moved.

“What about Pegasus?”

While asking the question, Tim felt the nervousness coming back again. He had wanted to ask this for the last couple of weeks. Oh yes and he was afraid what Amy would answer. Pegasus had been his best buddy during his successful years on the circuit. His horse had never let him down. And then he had left him, like he had left Marion, Lou and Amy. Pegasus had also been in the accident but instead of recovering right by his side, he had run away.

Amy stopped her horse. Tim did the same and looked at her face.

“Have you missed him?” His daughter’s features had become stern.

“Yes”, he answered in a quiet tone. It almost sounded pain-filled. What if the answer would be that Pegasus was not well or had even died? Thinking about that, Tim was starting to feel sick.

Like Amy was feeling what her dad was going through, she smiled and said: “Dad relax, he is doing great.”

A feeling of happiness was flowing through Tim’s body. His old buddy was alive and he was doing fine. He took a deep breath.

“Thanks, I am very happy to hear that.”

“I can sense that”, Amy replied.

“I wanted to check on him, but…” Tim hesitated; actually he did not want to talk about his ex-father-in-law, not here and not today. He knew Amy loved her grandfather. He was the last person to blame her for that. And he also knew they had a long road ahead. Honestly he was not sure if he would ever get along with Jack. But the last thing he wanted was that his daughters were affected by their conflict although he knew this was impossible.

He looked at Amy. How could he put his daughters between their own father, who had left the family ten years ago and was only now returning, and the grandfather who had always been there to keep the family legacy, Heartland Ranch, running?

“… you did not want argue with grandpa.” Amy finished his sentence.

Oh yes, she really had become a smart girl and he knew he had to face the past events sometime soon. This was the only chance to make his biggest wish come true, to become a part of Amy’s and Lou’s lives again.

But for now he just nodded.

“So haven’t we planned on going for a ride?” She asked him with a grin.

“Yes”, he answered. “It is a beautiful day.” He looked around and he knew what he had missed in all these years. The scenery was just stunning. The high mountains tops covered with snow, the clear blue sky, the endless prairies touching the horizon and the smell of fresh air.

“So let’s go”, Amy said while she started to move again.

Tim paused for a moment looking at his little girl and smiled. He knew that it was worth facing the past. Maybe this place would become home again as it had been for so many years.

The End

back to author's index      back to story index