Prologue

Sam Forster tossed her cap into the air, along with the other students in her graduation class.

She was graduating from the University of Nevada, majoring in journalism. She was also taking an on line photography course at another college. She had several job offers, but only one really interested her. It was from the Darton Weekly, her hometown newspaper. She could live at home, work on the ranch, and do what she loved the most. She looked around. Her best friend, Jen Kenworthy came up to her and screamed,

"You did it Sam! You're done with college!"

"Yeah, not like you, with four more years to go." Sam teased her friend as they hugged.

"So what? I've always loved school." Jen had been spending the last four years with Sam at the University of Nevada, and had now won a scholarship onto UC Davis. She was studying to be a vet, and had graduated top in her class, just as she had for high school.

"Well done, kiddo." said a voice behind Sam.

"Dad!" She would recognize him anywhere, even if he didn't have his usual jeans and flannel plaid shirt. Today, in honor of the occasion, he wore a new shirt, with nice pants, and his better boots. He still carried his hat in his hand as well.

"I'm so proud of you, honey." Gram hugged Sam and looked up at her and smiled. In the last few years, Sam had shot up, suddenly following her father's growth, instead of her mothers. However, she still had the auburn hair, and the eyes like her mother, and the legendary Forster stubbornness.

"Congratulations, Sam." said Brynna. She hugged Sam and was followed by Cody, who had celebrated his sixth birthday in December, and four year old Karen, then two year old Austin. Brynna was seven and a half months pregnant with her fourth child, which they assumed was going to be a girl. Sam was thrilled. She felt that her life was headed on the right track. She was done with college, done with school, and had three younger siblings, and a fourth one on the way. She had an incredible best friend, and several friends from college. She'd had her share of unfortunate romances in college, but they were all over, and she was happy. She was ready for the future.

Chapter 1

Sam pulled into River Bend two weeks after graduation. She was driving a blue F250 that was used but ran well. She had received it for a graduation present from high school. She had immediately named it Rebel, after she started it and it backfired, scaring all the horses in the field, and causing her cow Buddy to break out of the barn, and ensure chaos for the rest of the afternoon, while trying to get Buddy back into the barn.

She opened the door, grabbed her bag and soda, and slammed it to let everyone know that she was home. She walked to the bed, and pulled out her many suitcases.

Gram came down the steps and hurried over to her.

"Sam, sweetie. Welcome home!" she said as if she hadn't seen her in several years.

"Thanks, Gram. It's great to be home."

"Leave your bags in the bed. Jack will get them." said Gram, while ushering her into the house.

"Who's Jack?" asked Sam, in astonishment.

"Oh, my gosh, I forgot. He's the new cowhand. He does most of what Dallas used to do, except for the Foreman's jobs. It's easier on Dallas, now, with his arthritis and such. He's so quiet. More so than Ross."

"Wow. He must be silent." joked Sam. They entered the house, and Sam hung up her hat, took off her boots and sat down at the kitchen table. Grace bustled around, getting Sam some of her famous apple pie.

"mm, Gram. You should open a store. This is better than ever!" Sam gushed. Gram just smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Take it easy Sam. That's the last piece." she cautioned, "The Ely's are having a party for you, Jen and Cam." Cam was one of the Ely's adopted daughters, who was the same age as Sam and Jen, and had hung out with them during their college years. She and her younger sister Sarah were half Shoshone, like the other Ely kids, and had lost their parents in a fire on the reservation. Maxine and Luke had been asked to adopt them by Mac, and agreed to do it.

"Cool." responded Sam. "What time is it?"

"Well, it's around six, but anytime around that will do."

"Okay. Can I go out to see Ace, or do you have anything for me to do?" Sam smiled knowing that it wasn't often that she didn't have a chore to do.

"No, I guess I can't give you chores on your graduation and still have a clean conscience." Sam knew better than to point out that it wasn't her graduation anymore, so she just smiled and pulled on her boots and hat and was shooed out the door by her grandmother.

She walked into the barn, and was greeted by an unfamiliar boy, and two new horses. She looked in shock at the new boy, then remembered what her gram had said, about the new ranch hand.

"You must be Jack. I'm Sam." She smiled and stuck out her hand. He nodded and shook her hand firmly. He went back to brushing the bay in front of him.

"Who's this?" asked Sam.

"Rodeo."

"And who's that?" She asked, pointing to the one in front of Rodeo. She noticed that she had to ask, and push.

"Bucky."

"Does he buck?"

Jack shook his blond head and returned to brushing. Sam noticed that he wore a camouflage ball cap instead of a stetson, and his button down plaid shirt and snug wranglers were matched with work boots, that had an extra heel. He wore a 4-H belt buckle, and his hands were lightly scarred. In her opinion, he didn't look like a cowboy. He looked like a farmer from east. He was cute, but silent. She'd only gotten two words and two gestures out of him. Just like Jake.

Jake. Now there was something to think about. She hadn't seen him in over a year, because their schedules had conflicted so much. He was working on his own family's ranch, and over Christmas, her family had come to the college. She felt differently about him, but she couldn't place her finger on it. She thought about him a lot. And she could only remember her most embarrassing moments with him. And she would see him tonight. Suddenly she couldn't wait for tonight. Then she noticed that Jack was looking at her. She realized that she'd been staring into space, then gotten a very excited look on her face.

"Ace!" she spotted the mustang and rushed toward him. He nickered, and she scooped a handful of grain and offered it to him. He snuffed it up and pushed his nose in for more.

"That's the only reason why you're glad to see me." she half complained, half joked.

"Samantha! Don't be spoiling that horse!" yelled a voice.

"Dallas! You know I wouldn't!" she yelled. For all his faults, she was thrilled to see the old cowboy. She could ask him about anything, and he gave her nothing but the truth, and the whole truth at that. She walked up to him to say hello.

"'Bout time you came back." he said. 'Typical cowboy. No emotions whatsoever.' But she grinned.

"Hi, Dallas." She leaned to the side, making sure that Jack couldn't hear them. "Who's Jack? All Gram told me was that he's new and quieter than Pepper."

"He's a farm boy from the southeast. He can sing, and he'll do it if he likes you. He's great with horses, he knows about cows, more Charolais than Herefords, but still knows about beef. He does some rodeo riding, but other than that, we don't know much. He keeps in contact with his family, and he used to have a girl, but we know nothing more." It was a lot for any cowboy to say, and it was as close to gossip as Dallas would ever come.

"Oh. How did you find him?"

"He was a wandering hand, looking for hire, came across Jed Kenworthy, but he didn't need any help, so he sent him onto our place."

"Wow." was all Sam could say.

"Sam! Where are you?" yelled her father.

"Out by the pasture!" She hollered back.

"Come into the barn." now his voice was only slightly raised. She did as he asked. He was standing by Rodeo.

"Sam, you've grown."

"Yeah, I know." She grinned, curious. Her dad didn't state the obvious very often, if at all.

"Well, you've outgrown Ace, and he's outgrown his tricks. I've given him to Cody." he said quickly.

"What?!"

"You're going to get Rodeo here." he said even more quickly, trying to ease her temper.

"How, how was 'Rodeo' named?" she asked delicately.

"Well, he came with it. But he doesn't act like a bronc, so you'll be fine. Everyone's ridden him, except Cody and them."

"Oh. Wow. So he's mine?" Sam smiled. He was a nice horse. He was a buckskin, with a black mane and tail, and stood about 16 hands high. In Sam's opinion, he was homely looking, but he would do.

"Yes, he is." her dad was impatient with stating the obvious. "You can ride him to the Ely's tonight."

"Yes sir." The men all departed from the barn, and left Sam with her new horse. "You're a big boy, aren't you?" She cooed to the horse. "And a very handsome one too." She scooped out three sugar cubes of a tin that stood on a hay bale, and offered them to him. He gobbled them all up at once.

"Piggy horse, aren't you?" she giggled. She rubbed his face, and he let her.

Three hours later, Sam had bonded with Rodeo, and noticed that he didn't seem to want to play tricks, but the true test would come when she rode over to the Ely's. She was excited, but nervous about riding in front of the new cowboy, Jack. She'd been born to the saddle, but had been nervous ever since the accident. She had become almost as good as Jake, and his absences had helped her catch up. She was always nervous when riding in front of strangers, especially on a new horse.

She shook her head. She would deal with that when the time came. She headed up to her room, grabbed her shower things, and headed to the bathroom, while yelling that she was going to take a shower.

When she was done, she towel dried her hair, and pulled on an indigo colored camisole, and then a light turquoise patterned western shirt, with her best dark jeans and a nice pair of boots. She pulled her hair into a clip and slipped on a straw hat, then applied a clear lip gloss, and skin tone eyeshadow. She looked in the mirror and was pleased with the result. Her curves were shown, but not so much that it looked slutty. Her chest wasn't all that big, but it was big enough, and shown off by the shirt. Her jeans were almost black, but not quite. She was almost five foot eight with the boot heels. Her hair was mostly straight, but had a slight curl to it.

"Sammy!" called Cody, so loud and suddenly that it made her jump. "Come on! What's taking so long?"

"Coming!" She bellowed back. Most people were surprised to find out what a large voice she had, considering her size. She thundered down the stairs, and skidded to a stop in the kitchen.

"Sam, I swear, you're going to kill yourself! Slow down!" Scolded Grace. Sam smiled meekly and apologized as they all filed out into the yard where Jack, Pepper and Ross were saddling the horses.

Brynna loaded up Cody, Austin and Karen with Grace and Dallas in her van. Sam could tell that Dallas was annoyed and embarrassed that he had to ride in a van, but she said nothing. Jack handed her Rodeo, and she said a thank you, and he murmured a response, while looking down. She and the other men mounted up, and she and Jack rode out bringing up the rear on Rodeo and Bucky. Ross was on Tank and Pepper was on Jeepers Creepers, her father was on Duke, a trainee horse. Pepper and Wyatt talked about the ranch and what they had to do, with occasional input from Ross, and gestures from Jack, for a while. Then they all fell silent, and Pepper, Ross and Wyatt started loping, and Jack and Sam hung back.

"So. I'm Sam." she attempted to start a conversation. "and you're Jack?"

"Mhmm." he said, not sounding annoyed, but it had a tone that said "Duh."

"How long you been here?" she tried again. He merely shrugged. She almost sighed.

"Want to lope?" she asked, and when he nodded, they took off.

When they reached the Ely's yard, the party was just beginning. As Sam swung off Rodeo, and Jack took the reigns out of her hand, Quinn and Brian came jogging up.

"Sam!" yelled Brian. He engulfed Sam in an enormous bear hug.

"Mhi Mian!" she mumbled as well as she could, being pressed against him. She liked to think of the Elys' as big redwoods with their light mahogany skin, and dark hair. Brian's hair was closely cut to his head, almost a buzz cut. Quinn's was slightly longer, but spiked up, the same way it was seven years ago, though slightly shorter. He had a small earing in his left ear.

Quinn laughed, because only he could understand what she was trying to say. Because the only thing that she could move was her hand, she flipped it up and down in the general direction of Quinn, which only made him laugh harder.

"Hi, Sam." he said, calming down enough to speak. But Sam's reply of "Mh mi nnh" only made him laugh again.

Then, the boys' mother came over and scolded Brian, saying, "Brian let the poor girl breath!"

As soon as Brian had let go, the women collapsed into each other's arms, and shared a hug that a mother and daughter might share. Sam enjoyed it, knowing that Maxine and her own mom had been friends, and that this was as close as a mother Sam would get. Sometimes, Gram and Brynna didn't cut it, in the way that Maxine did. Brian made a smart comment, but they ignored him, then let go, and Maxine moved off to greet Brynna and Gram, and take the food from them.

Quinn came in and gave her a brotherly hug and then Adam and Nate came up and did the same.

"Hey, Sam," called Nate, "you gotta meet someone!"

"Who?" Sam was interested.

"My girlfriend." he said abruptly.

"Wha-at?!!" she was shocked.

"I know, who'd a thunk? We thought he was lying at first. Who'd date old Mr. Quiet and Shy over here?" joked Brian.

"Brian!" yelled Sam, "That's not what I meant at all!"

"Uh huh," said Nate in an 'I don't believe you' tone.

"I didn't!" she yelled. "I only meant that I was surprised because-" she was cut off by Brian

"You didn't think that anyone would date him." Brian smirked as she got more irritated.

"NO! Stop interrupting me!" and she aimed a punch at Brian, but he dodged.

"All I meant was that no one told me, so I wasn't expecting it!" she said exasperatedly.

"To ever happen, you mean." jeered Quinn, finally joining in on the teasing.

"Not you too!" she groaned. Quinn was one of the more quiet and responsible Ely's, second only to Jake. But you knew you were done for when he joined in the joke, because even he couldn't resist it sometimes. Sam remembered the few times that she, Quinn and Brian had played jokes on Jake and Pepper.

"Come on, Sam, we'll leave these idiots to their stupid jokes. I know you believe me. Besides you have to meet her. You'll like her, and you gotta approve."

"How does she feel about that?" She teased

"Okay. She knows you're my unadopted little sister." he smiled, as they walked up to a pretty young woman with short straight blond hair. She wore a silky western shirt that was a Jade color, with dark jeans, deep brown cowgirl boots and a straw hat.

"Hey. I'm Abbi Lee Smith . Abbi for short." she held out her hand. "You must be Sam." she smiled.

"I am." Sam shook her hand and smiled. She liked Abbi so far.

"I've heard a lot about you." Abbi said as the girls sat down.

"Oh, no." Sam put her head in her hands jokingly.

"Only good stuff." Smiled Abbi. "But I have one question. What's this about you, Quinn and Brian playing a joke on Ross?" She asked, confusedly.

"Oh, boy. They told you that one." groaned Sam. Then she smiled. "It was pretty funny. And, believe it or not, it was Quinn's idea."

"Quinn?" She asked incredulously.

"Yup. He decided to do the same thing that He and I did to Witch, his brother's horse. Only, Tank wasn't that good looking. So, Brian, being friends with Ross, went with Ross on a different horse over here, while Quinn and I dressed up Tank, with Christmas colors, about three different colors. White, red and green. Then, we took the cheapest saddle that we could find, and put that in place of Tank's regular saddle, but first we added Christmas stuff, and hid his real saddle, so he couldn't switch. When he got back, and had to use that, it was hilarious. And then for a Christmas present from the three of us, we gave him back his saddle, and pulled out Tank's ribbons. He thought it was kinda funny, and we even got him to say 'Dang you three!'. "Sam smiled and laughed, just as Ross came up behind her. When she gave him a sweet smile, he groaned, smiled and headed off the other way.

"Wow. Should I trust the three of you?" Abbi smiled.

"Yeah, just don't annoy us. We always get even." Sam warned jokingly. "Did you hear what we did to Jake?" she asked

"Yeah, I did." Said Abbi with a grin.

"Where is that guy, anyway?" asked Sam, her smile fading. She had noticed that he wasn't there when she had come in, but hadn't had time to give it a thought until now.

"Umm, he said he'd have to be late, 'cause he wanted to pick someone up." Sam very nearly missed the nervousness in Nate's voice.

"Prob'ly Darrel."Sam guessed, and no one corrected her, but the arrival of Jen distracted her from seeing them all exchange a glance.

"Hey, Jen!" she called, as she walked quickly but calmly toward Jen and her mare, Silk Stockings, in case she lived up to her nickname, Silly.

"Hey, Sam!" Jen replied as Jack took her reigns from her. She threw her arms around Sam.

"I missed you!" said Sam. "Because it's been so long!" she finished sarcastically.

"Uhh, it's only been two days." Said Brian as he came up behind Sam.

"Brian!" Jen smiled at her boyfriend of a year and a half. They had been doing well with a long distance relationship, and Sam knew that the transition into a regular relationship would be easy. She left them to catch up with each other, and went to talk to Abbi, until a blue pickup pulled into the drive, and Sam recognized the face in the cab, and realized it was be Jake. She got up and ran to the driveway.

"Jake!" She yelled excitedly as he got out. He merely waved a hand toward her and went to the other side of the cab and opened the door. Sam hadn't noticed the passenger in the shotgun seat.

She was tall, curvy and slim with long red hair, with clear green eyes that Sam could see from her position several feet away. She had light freckles spattered across her nose, that on anyone else would have looked childish, but they did nothing but flatter her. She wore a skimpy mock cowgirl shirt with a small skirt that ended six inches above her knees. On her feet were boots that matched the designs in the shirt, and her headband matched the shirt as well. One look, and Sam knew that she hadn't run into a cowgirl. She was way too fancy, and all her clothes were brand new. Her legs were tanned, like she'd been wearing shorts, not her favorite pair of wranglers.

"Sam, I want you to meet Morgan Little." Jake took the girl's hand and held it up. "She's my fiancée. The hand that he held up had a diamond ring on it.