Heartlandians

"Okay, have to say when you said Lou had done something stupid, that was not what I was expecting..." Cassandra admitted wide-eyed after taking a sip from her glass.

Amy tried to analyze her friend's response; it seemed surprised, but not too judgemental.

Still, this moment made Amy restless. She didn't know why she often felt like backtracking after voicing her criticism of some people. It was like something in her made her feel guilty for being honest.

"Lou can be..." Amy was trying to find a right word - a word she could use in front of Lyndy, "unpredictable..."

Cassandra nodded, trying to chew further into the whole thing. Her eyes narrowed as she was trying to grasp the logic.

"So... why do you think she did it? Was it just some weird trauma response? Like, maybe she wanted to feel closer to you or..." Amy's friend wondered, choosing to give Lou some benefit of the doubt. "People can behave strangely under stressful situations."

Amy shook her head. "I think it had more to do with Mitch than me..."

Cassandra's eyebrows shot up. She held Amy's glance across the kitchen table.

"Mitch...?"

"Well, you know... Lou and him used to date; now I'm dating him..." Amy reminded, feeling self-conscious.

She did not like bringing up this fact because she didn't feel like justifying her relationship with Mitch over and over again. Sometimes connections just happened and there was no malicious intend behind it.

"It has never sat right with her how close we were after their breakup - when we were still just friends - and it's only gotten worse now that he's my boyfriend", she continued and shrugged before taking a sip.

Cassandra nodded, pondering that. She placed her glass on the table.

"I mean, I guess on some level I get it, because we've been conditioned to be jealous like that from a young age, but then it's like... you're all grown-ups", she spoke, trying to be objective. "And Hudson's a small town; people's relationships are bound to be intertwined and messy."

Amy rolled her eyes, wishing it was as simple as that with Lou.

"I agree", she sighed. For one, Cassandra was now married to one of her ex-boyfriends - and it wasn't even weird. "But even her having a new boyfriend in New York doesn't seem to make Lou care any less..."

"Sounds to me she's just insecure about herself", Cassandra gave her analysis. "But don't let that stop you from being happy with Mitch", she insisted, reaching out her hand across the table.

Amy accepted it and gave the hand a soft squeeze.

They exchanged smiles, and Amy felt a little lighter; not only had she been able to talk about how she felt, but she had also gotten validation from her friend.

"Oh! Speaking of which!" Cassandra suddenly recalled as if she had been struck my lightning. "You've gotten an invite to Soraya's wedding, right?" she assumed, seeing how Amy and the former diner owner's daughter had been friends way back in the day when Soraya had still lived in Hudson.

Cassandra's change of course surprised Amy.

"Uh, yeah, I have. But I still haven't confirmed whether I'm going or not, though. Wait, but how did you--" she began to ask, but couldn't even finish her sentence before Cass jumped in.

"Oh, Caleb got invited too. I'm going as his plus one", the other woman explained. "I mean, England! Hello?! That's going to be so amazing!" Cassandra cheered, her eyes full of excitement. "You should totally come! We would all have a blast!"

Amy smiled, but hesitated.

"I'd love to, but... it's not so easy", she said, looking at Lyndy. "No kids allowed, and I don't know if it's okay to fly that far after the coma..."

Cassandra blew air through her lips.

"Pft, come on, Amy! As if you don't have a house full of babysitters!? And talk to your doctor; ask them if there are any risks involved when it comes to flying. It's just a matter of arranging few things, honestly. -- Besides - I know I don't know her - but I'm sure Soraya would love for you to be there. If that was me, I know I would..."

Amy sighed. "I know, but..."

"If you don't want to go - for whatever reason - that's fine", Cassandra spoke, "but don't come up with reasons not to go if it's just out of habit. There are ways to solve everything, if you just give it a chance. You're always making sacrifices for others, but you rarely do anything for yourself. This could be something that's just for you, even if the original purpose was to attend Soraya's wedding."

Amy turned her eyes to Cassandra. She had a point.

Even though she was a homebody at heart, Amy had also always loved travelling whenever she had had the opportunity for it. Seeing Soraya, meeting her soon-to-be husband Dylan, and having something to celebrate once in a while sounded more and more appealing the longer she thought about it...

"And, I'm assuming you have "a plus one" on your invitation too", Cassandra guessed, pulling her hand back from Amy. "Could be a nice trip for you and your cowboy too..." she added, giving her a wink.

Amy hummed.

Her mind had not allowed her to even consider that before this moment, because Amy was scared to give that exciting feeling too much room as she feared if she did, it would be crushed somehow.

Based on her past, it always seemed to be the case.

All the unsure aspects, from the moment she had gotten the invitation to now, seemed to unravel the more she was giving them air to breathe.

Could they actually make this happen with Mitch?

They were now officially and openly together, and everything was going well. Would a trip to England solidify that bond even more or would the pressure take them few steps back?

"Uh, yeah, I mean... I guess", Amy was only able to utter just as she noticed Cassandra getting up from the chair after finishing her drink. "I'll have to think about it", she then promised since she figured it was best to see how things would go for the next few days with her telling Mitch about Lou's betrayal of trust and them starting the renovations in Lyndy's new room.

It could all still fall apart, no matter the bold strides they had made.

"Well, if it's a yes, let me know, so we can make plans together", Cassandra requested and planted a kiss on top of Lyndy's head. "Love you, my little angel. -- I gotta go now, but it was good to see you both."

Amy got up from her chair as Cassandra made her way to her side of the table so she could give her a hug.

They then embraced.

"Take care of yourself. We'll be in touch, right?" she checked. "No matter what you want to tell or do."

"Absolutely", Amy promised. "Thanks for stopping by."

"Of course. I'm gonna come visit when I have more time", she said, taking a step back. "Oh, and don't hurt yourself with those boxes. If the cowboy can't come back to help you, maybe you put your sister to work since she has something to apologize for... Could help sweeten that apology", Cassandra suggested with a smirk.

Amy hummed and watched her friend leave.

"Bye", she said after her before the screen door slammed shut.

As Cass made her way back to the vet clinic's truck, Amy allowed herself to think about the trip more.

Ever since their first date with Mitch in Calgary, the freedom of strangers not knowing "their baggage" had not left Amy's mind. They had just been two people having fun, not someone's sister or business partner, or whatever people had held against them when it came to forming this romantic relationship.

Soraya knew already - after their video call - that she and Ty were divorced, so it wouldn't exactly come as a shock to her either that Amy was dating someone new.

While Soraya had attended Amy and Ty's wedding and seen them pledge their love for one another on their big day, Amy's old friend had not been there to witness a lot of their relationship now that she thought about it.

Around the time Soraya had moved to England, Amy and Ty had still been teenagers in love. There had been many ups and downs by that point of course, but an engagement had still been a year away, their wedding couple more trips around the sun and, of course, having a child together had not even crossed their minds by that point.

So maybe there wouldn't be a lot of that awkward history holding Soraya back from accepting Mitch as her boyfriend, Amy hoped. She didn't want Mitch to feel like he needed to prove himself somehow.

And even though Soraya had sat there at their wedding and wished her and Ty their happily ever after, sometimes marriages just fell apart, no matter how much people tried to make them work. Surely Soraya could understand that, seeing her parents were divorced too.

Then again, Caleb was in the same position too; he had married Ashley when Soraya had still been around, but now Cassandra was going as his plus one and it seemed like Cassandra was not even giving it a second thought.

So, why should she either?

Even though she and Cassandra were different in some ways, there was something in her that gave Amy courage to be braver and more authentic. Her friend's example showed how she shouldn't think so much about what others had to say either, because at the end of the day, her life was her own.

Amy once again realized she was lucky to call her a friend. Inspired by that, she took out her phone and went to the messages.

Now that she thought about their exchange, Amy felt like she had probably been a little off during the visit due to her brain damage, but also because of the situation with Lou clouding her mood.

She had barely even asked how Cassandra had been, even though she did care about that.

Amy then typed into her and Cassandra's chat: "Thanks again for stopping by. Just wanted to say you're important to me. Love you".

Before sending the message out, she added a little heart emoji at the end.