Pepper looked over his shoulder as Samantha Forster stormed into the barn, her eyes narrowed and her feet making stomping noises as she marched over to Tempest's stall, which was right next to Tank. A small grin tugged on his lips as he watched the younger girl stroke her three-year-old horse's nose.
"He just got back from college yesterday, and you two are already trying to murder each other?" Pepper asked amusedly, his hands absently fingering the fringe on Tank's faded halter.
"Yes." Sam huffed irately. "I mean, would it be too much to ask if he /didn't/ try to tease me for once?"
"You said something, didn't you?" Pepper asked with a smile.
"Well." Sam mumbled. "I said he was an aggravating cowboy, and if he said another word I'd smack him so hard he wouldn't know which end was up, but that's nothing to get all mad about."
Pepper chuckled, but he wisely didn't say anything.
--- ---- ---- --- --- ---- ---- --- ---- ---- ----
It was after supper, and everything was, as usual, chaotic. Cody, who could now talk and walk, was banging on the tabletop with his fork and spoon, while Bryanna and Wyatt were trying to get him to be quiet. Gram was looking on amusedly at their attempts, while Jake, Ross, and Dallas all finished off their second helpings. Sam and Pepper were stuck sitting next to each other at the end of the table. As usual, they were the first two to finish their dinner.
"Gotten a bit noisy, hasn't it?" Pepper faintly heard Sam say.
He grinned at her. "A bit."
Sam picked up her plate and cup, rising gracefully from the table and went over to set her dishes in the sink. Pepper got up and followed her, turning on the faucet so she could briefly run the plates under the water and rinse them out. His hands touched her cold one as he turned the faucet up, and he quickly took his hand away. Glancing at her, he saw that she was looking at him closely. Blushing, he looked away.
"Wanna go...watch TV or something?" Sam asked suddenly, running a hand through her hair and wincing when Cody let out a loud shout. Pepper nodded wordlessly, and they went into the living room where most of the sound was blocked out.
"Ahh. Peace at last."
"NO! MY FWORK!"
"Famous last words, Sam." Pepper said, grinning as he reached over and got the black TV remote and handed it to her.
"I know." Sam said dryly, pressing the button and watched as the TV sprang to life.
--------- ------- ------ ---- ---- ----- ------ ---
"Hey, Sam?" Pepper asked distractedly, as he leaned against the rail. Sam was standing beside him, distracting his thoughts as he realized how close they were. His hands clenched the horse pen railing as he tried to keep his thoughts straight.
"Yeah?" Sam seemed a bit absent minded too, but maybe that was because she had her head tilted to the side as her eyes watched the setting sun that settled on the Nevadan mountains.
"How do you feel about Jake?"
"How do I feel about /what/?" Great. He had startled her with the question, when he had meant it to be subtle. He winced at his stupidity as his fingers nervously tapped a rhythm on the steel.
"I mean-well, Uhm..." /Think/ Pepper/think/. You just had to ask that stupid question and got yourself into this mess, now get yourself out of it. "I was just wondering how you...feel about him." Pepper finished lamely, averting his eyes to the ground. It had been on his mind a lot lately, and he had been dying to ask her. Find out just how she felt about Jake so if she did love him, Pepper wouldn't get crushed if he ever found the guts to tell her.
To tell her that he liked Sam.
"Well...I don't know. Why?"
Pepper just shrugged, wishing he hadn't brought it up in the first place.
There was a short silence where only the sound of faint nickering and horses' hooves could be heard. A fierce blush was creeping up Pepper's neck as he continued to be fascinated by a small puddle.
"Pepper...are you asking if I /like/ Jake?" Sam asked after a few minutes, turning her head away from the sunset in order to look at him. He felt himself squirming under her gaze, and trying to prevent it nether less.
"Yeah. I guess I am."
"Well, I don't. Not in the way you think, anyway."
He looked at her, surprised. She smiled at him, a playful glint in her eye as she held his steady gaze with hers easily.
Pepper's spirits lifted slightly. If she didn't like Jake, then, and it didn't look like she was in love with anyone else, it was worth the chance wasn't it?
He leaned over, closing the space between them, and kissed her, letting all of his nervousness and worry flow free.
