Shattered Dreams / Stories From the Heartland Loft

Chapter - 4

Shattered Dreams; She wouldn't even say good-bye.

A love Story ❤️❤️
'Leaving'
By; mike hurley

Based on the TV series Heartland on CBC

Chapter 4

Jack woke at 1:15, he couldn't sleep. Ty leaving with hurt feelings really affected Jacks mood and brought back a ton of memories. He knew he couldn't fall back asleep in his room. He grabbed his pillow and walked across the parking lot barefoot then up into the loft. The outside light on the barn illuminated a small stretch of Ty's tire tracks. He stopped and looked at them. Jack had lots of old & new joys, and hurts that no one knew anything about. Not even Lisa.

He walked into the loft and stared. A knot began tightening in his stomach. He had been a big part of the changes Ty made in his life. He was the closest thing to a real father Ty ever had. Ty had been the closest thing to a son that Jack ever had. Jack felt he failed Ty; there had to have been something he could have done or said to change Ty's mind. Maybe even if he had sucked it up and confronted Amy. He hated getting in arguments with women. Their thought processes ran differently than his. Real different when they were mad. Jack would rather square off with a mad mountain lion than an angry woman. It was like suggesting to a mad mama bear that she choose a better mate next time; things with women sometimes made no sense to Jack. But he would have done anything to help Ty, even fighting off a grizzly bear!!

He hadn't been up into the loft bedroom for several years. It's memories for Jack held chapters deeper than Ty's or even Scott knew about. This corner of the hay loft was where Lyndy set up her bedroom for a few days, shortly after they were newly weds and she got so mad at him. On one of his forays up to talk with her and again say he was sorry, she threw whole bales of hay down the ladder at him.
It was the first time he understood the connection between a human female and a grizzly bear female.

Jack sat on Ty's bed, he felt awkward being there. He remembered making up with Lyndy there decades ago, and subsequently making love with her in her makeshift bed on the floor. Grandma Lois even had gotten mad at Jack; calling him an ass for making Lyndy cry. Grandma Lois loved Lyndy like a daughter.

But he was sure Ty and Amy at least fooled around up here too. He had heard the front porch door slowly open and even more slowly close more than once at 1:00 am. He was old but not born yesterday. Jack saw the fire in Amy & Ty's eyes when they looked at each other. He had decided to give them some space, he was young once and remembered being intimate with Lyndy for the first time. Jack was thankful, so far, Ty had not gotten his grand daughter pregnant.

He sighed when the next thought crossed his mind. Maybe a baby crib and an impromptu wedding would have been less stressful than how he felt right now.

He heard a car engine pull up and turn off; it sounded like the 283 cubic inch V8 in Ty's 1957 Apache. Jack quietly walked down the stairs and stood in a shadow and watched as Ty opened Harley's stall. The young man fed his horse some carrots and apple, and shared them with Spartan too. Both horses sniffed his pockets for more. Next, Jack watched Ty brush Harley by moonlight and clean out his frogs. After a while he heard Ty apologize to Harley and bury his face into the horses mane.

Harley moved close to Ty, and seemed to sense his friend was sad and troubled. Horses are very empathetic creatures and understand the human heart. In a moment Jack saw Ty hug Harley and say good bye. It was the same stall where Jack said good bye to Charlie, years ago. Ty turned and latched the stall door and left the barn. Jack quietly walked outside and stood next to Ty's truck and watched the young man slip an envelope under the front door of the Ranch House. Ty turned and froze in his steps when he saw Jack. He slowly approached and saw Jacks breath as little clouds of mist in the moonlight. He was 10 feet away when he heard Jack say; You're leaving.  Ty paused an awkward moment before looking down and said; yes.