STABLED LOVE
Samantha Forster's hair flung back wards and forwards as the horse bucked in a see-saw motion. She held the reigns in one hand and grabbed the saddle horn for balance. Her teeth clacked together as the horse's rear end came up. The chocolate brown mare she was riding was another abused horse and her name was Daphne Daine. Finally tiring, the horse came to a stand still. Sam waited for any other notion and sat up in the saddle. Jake had watched her with a hard set jaw. He didn't want her to get up there and neither did her father. He also stood at the fence watching. Sam smiled and patted the horse's neck then walked the mare over to the fence near her father and Jake.
"That horse is loco. Sam I told you not to get up on it." He didn't yell but that was what made it worse. She had disobeyed her father and he was furious. Disappointment had shown in his voice as he looked the horse up and down. Rounding on Jake he said, "Why didn't you drag her off?"
"Dad! He wasn't here when I mounted," Sam said, disappointment showing in her own voice. Her father had just attacked Jake for what she did. It was bad enough that people blamed him for her accident. She looked back at the horse and dismounted. The mare was breathing fast after trying to buck Sam off. "Any way, you won't be able to protect me forever you know, Daine was just as easy as riding Ace when he doesn't want to be ridden." She patted the mare and led her through the open corral gate. Taking her into the barn, Sam tied her up and grabbed a curry comb. She took off the saddle and bridle, replacing it with a lead rope, and put them in the tack room. Walking back to Daine she noticed some one had already started to brush her. Collecting another brush she walked around to the other side of the horse to face Jake.
"You shouldn't have gotten up on her Brat," Jake said.
"Someone had to get up on her, anyway, he's not going to protect me forever," she reasoned.
"Yes, but until then, he wants to take good care of you." Jake dropped the brush into a bucket and walked out.
"Daine, why are they so over protective? It's not like I can't take care of myself." The horse blew in her face and turned around. "Fine." She untied the horse and put her in her stall. Walking out of the barn, she made for the house when she heard the chickens going mad. She walked over to the pen and looked inside. There was nothing that she could see. As a cloud drifted in front of the sun, she turned on her heel and came to a sudden stop when she heard a horse squeal. She ran to the fence of the open pasture and looked around. Ace, Popcorn, Strawberry, Dark Sunshine, Tempest and Blue Wings were all fine. She walked over to the other pasture and looked. If Buddy and Witch were also fine then who had squealed. Sam turned to look out at the open range. There was nothing in sight. She walked into the kitchen and turned to Gram who was bustling around in the kitchen.
"Gram did you here a horse squeal?" she asked. Jake, who was sitting at the table, looked up from the paper he was reading.
"I thought I was the only one who heard that. Are all the horses okay?" she asked.
"I checked them all, they seemed fine," Sam replied. Her gram nodded then said,
"Go upstairs and get changed into something ... casual, dear." Sam nodded and ran up the stairs. She walked into her room, closed the door and opened her closet. She got out her new jeans and a green t-shirt she got for her birthday. She put them on and brushed her hair. It had been cut to tom boy length and the longest strand only reached her jaw. She walked back down stairs and presented herself to her grandmother. Gram nodded in approval and looked at Jake who had started choking on the water he was drinking.
"Alright?" she asked. He nodded, taking a mouth full of water and swallowing it. Sam smiled and asked, "Where are we going gram?"
"Just out with the Kenworthy's and Ely's. It's the reason Jake is here," she answered. "Didn't have enough room in the other two cars so we offered to take him." Her father came down the stairs with Brianna and said gruffly,
"Everyone ready to go?" they all nodded and headed out to the car. Sam sat in between Jake and Brianna. The ride into Darton was quiet as they listened to the radio.
***
"Wyatt!" Luke Ely, Jake's dad, said happily. They were in the car park of an expensive looking restaurant. Sam's dad walked over to Luke and shook his hand. They then turned and motioned the kids inside. Jake's brother Quinn had a goofy grin on his face as he entered the restaurant. Sam turned to her dad and asked,
"Are you sure we can afford this place dad?" He smiled and pushed her inside. She walked over and sat in between Jen and Jake. Jen had invited Ryan Slocum to their outing and he was sitting on the other side of Jen. Picking up one of the menus she noticed the meals were all reasonably priced. She picked out the Rancher's Steak and put down the menu.
"Hey Sam, guess what?" the 21 year old said happily, she glanced towards her dad and back again. Ryan peered around Jen to look at Sam.
"Do I have to actually guess, because anything that's making him grin like an idiot ...?"
"We're getting married!" The fork Sam was playing with slipped out of her hand and clattered on the table. Beside her, Jake, who had been eavesdropping, choked on his soda.
"You're what?!" she nearly screeched.
"Geez, you're taking it worse than dad!" Jen laughed. It was only then that they realized the whole table was listening.
"I'm just ... wow ... so when is the wedding?" Sam asked, calming down.
"June, and you're going to be my Maid of Honour," Jen informed her. Sam smiled and looked down at the steak she was just given. It was the size of her hand with her fingers spread out; and she wasn't sure she could eat it now.
***
After they left the restaurant the party made their way to the park. The Ely boys and Ryan started a game of cricket which was pretty funny because every time the ball was hit it was a case of who got hit on the head first. Sam and Jen watched from the side lines and laughed at Bryan who had just been hit on the head.
"So, he's already taking longer than it should have," Jen said quietly.
"What? The game?" Sam asked confused.
"Oh yeah, the game is taking so long to tell you how it feels," Jen replied sarcastically.
"I'm still confused," Sam said.
"Jake, you dolt," Jen said impatiently.
"What about him?" Sam asked.
"Well, isn't it obvious? He likes you," Jen giggled.
"What!" Sam shouted again. Things were popping up unexpectedly tonight. Everyone looked at her in surprise. She blushed and turned back to Jen.
"He likes you. God Sam, it's obvious. Even his brothers know!" she giggled. "He's always so over-protective and he is always mad when you do something stupid."
"And if I do something about it and he doesn't like me?" Sam whispered, although there was no need. Everyone was focused back on the game.
"Didn't he tell you it was the hardest thing he did when The Phantom kicked you're head, riding away from you? He wanted to stay there and hold you and you know it," Jen explained with a sly smile on her face. Ryan came and sat down beside Jen and put his arm around her.
"Hey," he said smiling. "Those boys know how to put together a fun game."
"Wyatt! I think it's getting late and it's a two hour drive to home. I think we better get going," Luke shouted. Sam's father nodded. Getting up, Sam hugged Jen and made her way to the car. Her Gram was already sitting in the front and Brianna was sitting behind the driver's seat. Sam scooted to the middle to let Jake in. He closed the door with a slam as Sam buckled herself in. As soon as they left Darton, Sam was asleep with her head on Jake's shoulder. He looked down at her and smiled. Moving so he was leaning into the corner of the seat and door, he pulled her so she was half lying on his lap. Tilting his head back he too fell asleep.
***
They reached River Bend Ranch by eleven. Turning the engine off, Wyatt shook Gram awake and turned around to do the same with Brianna only to find she was already awake and had a soft smile on her lips. Wyatt looked at his daughter and Jake to find them snuggled together and asleep on the backseat.
"Should we leave 'em?" he whispered. Brianna nodded and got out of the car quietly. Gram placed a blanket over them and closed the door silently.
***
Sam woke to find the sunlight filtering through her curtains. She sat up in her bed wondering how she had got there. The door then opened to reveal Jake balancing two trays.
"You're finally awake brat, I brought you some breakfast. Your gram is also acting very weird," he said. Sam only just remembered what she and Jen had been talking about last night. Her face went red as she took the tray Jake was handing her.
"How did I get here? I remember falling asleep in the car," she asked.
"Your dad didn't wake us up last night so we slept most of the night in the car. It was about three in the morning when I woke up, so I carried you up here. I'm pretty sure it was more comfortable than the car," he explained. The whole time, she had started on her breakfast. She looked over at the clock and nearly jumped.
"It's nine thirty! I haven't done any of my chores. Why didn't you wake me?" she jumped out of bed and put her tray on her desk. She ran to her closet and opened it. Grabbing a pair of old jeans and a brown tee, she ran out of the room before Jake could say anything. Shaking his head, he walked to the door of the bathroom and said,
"Calm down Brat before you give yourself a heart attack. Your chores have already been done," he laughed.
She opened the door. "By who? Is dad mad?"
"No, but he will be if you get back up on Daine," he smiled and moved to let her past.
She walked down the stairs and thanked Gram on her way out the kitchen door. She walked into the stables and found Ace inside a stall. Frowning she walked over to him.
"Hey pretty boy. How come you're in here?" she smooched.
"Have a look at his left rear leg," Jake said, standing beside her. Sam did as he suggested. His rear leg had a brace on it.
"How?" she asked.
"Not sure, just know it was him that squealed yesterday. Wyatt noticed it when Ace came trotting over to him this morning," he replied. Sam smooched to Ace and held out her hand to him. Ace rubbed his head in her hand and then put his nose into the feed bucket. Sam turned around and looked at Jake who was leaning against the wall behind him. He rubbed his neck like he always did when he was uncomfortable. Giggling she walked over and stood beside him, leaning against the wall.
"Jen told me something interesting last night," she stated.
"Did she?" he replied, only half listening.
"Yeh, she said that everyone except me noticed something about you," She replied. She had his attention now. He had a faint blush on his cheeks.
"And what was it?" he asked, not really sure he wanted to know.
"Oh, just something about you taking way too long to do something," she said. She turned on her heel and made for the door when he grabbed her and spun her around.
"You're torture, you know that don't you," he stated. She smiled and stepped closer to him. She was only an inch or two smaller than him but she still made him sweat. Without thinking, he bent down and kissed her. Smiling into the kiss, she wrapped her arms around his neck as he held her around her lower back. The barn door swung open and her dad walked in with Dr. Scott. Stopping in mid sentence, Wyatt look at them in disbelief. Sam and Jake flew apart and went extremely red. Dr. Scott walked over to Ace who had been looking out of his stall.
"Hello Ace. Enjoying the show hey?" he said. Sam burst out laughing as her father walked past her and ruffled her short auburn hair.