After talking with Kit about his friend Pani's ranch in Hawaii, Sam and Jake ended up drifting towards the edge of the party. Leaning against the pasture fence they watched as their friends and family milled around the bonfire, talking and laughing amongst each other. Sam had become increasingly aware of Jake's fingers intertwined with hers as they were talking to Kit, and although she was intrigued by his stories of the Hawaiian ranch, she really had only been half listening. Holding Jakes hand like this had started a feeling of butterflies in her stomach and brought a light blush to her cheeks, and Sam wasn't sure what to make of it. She had never really felt this way around Jake before, and she was pretty sure that this what not the kind of feeling you normally got when you were standing this close to one of your best friends. But as the night went on Sam realized that she was okay with it, and maybe even a little bit excited about the possibilities. Jake had been such a big part of her life ever since she could remember, and if she was being completely honest with herself she had never been able to picture her life without him. She had never really enjoyed seeing him interacting with other girls, especially Rachel Slocum, and was happy that he had never been super girl crazy like a lot of other guys his age. But now, standing here with him with their arms almost touching, Sam began to wonder what he actually meant by it all. She wanted to ask him, but for once in her life she was at a complete loss for words. How do you ask your best friend to go into detail about what their actions really mean, especially when your best friend is as conversationally challenged as Jake. Sam was about to just give up on the whole idea when Jake spoke.
"You've been staring at that fence post for the past five minutes. Unless I'm missing something, I'd say you have something on your mind."
Sam jerked her head up to meet his eyes, then quickly glanced away again. Well, subtlety had never been her strong suit, and besides, Jake knew her way to well anyways to be fooled that easily. She responded with a slight smile and said, "Yeah, I guess I just have a lot on my mind right now, it feels like there's so much happening all at once." She saw him give a slight nod out of the corner of her eye, and without turning to her he asked, "Anything you wanna share?" "Really?" Sam asked, raising her eyebrows. Jake shrugged, still refusing to meet her eyes.
Sam paused for a minute, trying to collect her thoughts, but her heart was speeding up now and she ended up babbling, "I don't know, I've been thinking about the Phantom and his herd, and the Kentworthy's new ranch, and Cody, but also about us I guess. I mean, these past few weeks have been weird between us with Kit and everything, and now we're holding hands which we've never done before. Not that I'm not okay with it, because I am, but I don't know, I guess I'm just wondering what it all means". Sam clamped her mouth shut before she could make an even bigger embarrassment of herself, and anxiously waited for Jake to reply. As she anticipated, he began to rub the back of his neck with his free hand and had an almost pained expression on his face, but she didn't take that to heart because she knew her tirade would make him uncomfortable. He was silent for another minute or two, but to Sam it felt like an eternity. Just before she began to panic that maybe she had read way too much into this, he took another deep breath and quietly said,
"Honestly Sam, I'm not really sure what it all means either. I guess lately I've realized that you really aren't a little kid anymore. Watching you take charge and help Brynna through her labor was impressive, then watching you scale that rock face all by yourself scared me more than I'd like to admit. You were right though, when you said I wouldn't like you any other way. I guess I'm just starting to admit that to myself, and I don't know, maybe I wanna give myself some time to really figure that out before I have to leave."
Sam stood there for a moment in what felt like shock; she swore her heart stopped beating for a second leaving her feeling a little light headed, but then an unfamiliar feeling of giddiness swept through her, making her smile and squeeze his hand again. "I think I'd be okay with trying to figure that out."
"Yeah?" Jake asked, looking down at her for the first time with a look he usually reserved for timid and flighty horses as he approached them. "Yeah" Sam said, still smiling while she moved ever so slightly closer to him until their arms brushed against each other. "Okay" Jake said, lightly bumping his arm against hers in response, and in that moment, Sam realized that she really couldn't be any happier.