Chapter 2

Chris was somewhat upset at his parents for they shipped him off with a girl- the same girl that he woke up to by his bedside, crying herself out- he barely even remember meeting before. He walked outside to the barn to figure out who he was going to take with him to Virginia.

Star was standing by the opening of her stall as he walked in. The poor girl was getting older and older each passing year. He walked over to her and said, "Hey, girl. How are you?"

Star nickered and he walked over to Storm's stall. The big guy wasn't in it, so Chris walked over to the paddock to see where Storm was. Over by the south paddock, he saw Storm galloping around with a colt that was about three years old. Chris walked over and the stallion cantered over to him.

"Hey, boy. I missed you. Ready for a road trip?"

"Hi, um, Mrs. Sweet told me that I would find you out here." A woman, married because of the gold band that hugged her left hand, called. "I'm Amy Flemming."

"The same one that has the Flemming Touch?"

"The one and only, but not only anymore. You used to know my 2nd cousin, Samantha Flemming."

"Oh," He huffed, "that girl. She was very annoying the first week I was in the hospital. Isn't she the same one I'm stuck with in Virginia?"

Amy wrung her hands before answering, "Yes, she is. But you have to understand that she's not used to having her life changed around in a period of three weeks. First the storm and then your accident. She can't even come out of her room to talk to anyone."

"Well, good for her." He turned around and saw the girl, Samantha on a black horse by the east end of the South Paddock.

"Who are you looking at?"

"Sam- you didn't see her?"

"I didn't see Sam anywhere near the paddock, no. You saw something?"

Chris thought about it first and because he might as well be crazy, he said, "She was on a black horse."

"You saw Thunder also. And if I were you, I would take a gelding or a mare because you have two stallions in an enclosed pen or trailer, they will kill each other." Amy stated before returning to the house.

Samantha had her suitcase packed and Thunder's tack cleaned and put away in the trailer. She somehow got Thunder to listen to her for a few hours to get groomed and ready for the trailer before he became stubborn. Chris came over on a bay piebald mare, but he didn't even say anything, smiled at her, or tried to kiss her. So she ignored him and while ignoring Chris, Thunder bit her arm again.

"No biting, Thunder. That's a very big no." She strictly told him and tapped his muzzle. As Thunder tried to kick her, Chris pulled her out of his reach.

"You grew up around horses. You should know not to duck when they rear."

"Well, unlike you, I wasn't the one who allowed one to kick my head to forget about what I promised my fiancee. I wasn't the one who woke up with half a mind and forgot about who I proposed to." Sam cried. She couldn't bear what she went through the last two weeks of trying to find out what had happened.

"I didn't ask for my memory to be wiped out and not to find out I was going to marry a stupid, selfish girl who doesn't care about anyone else's feelings, only herself."

Sam hit Chris across the face and not looking back, she ran into Dancer's stall, mounted the poor, tired mare and sent her into a canter out of the barn and into the forest.

At the clearing, she dismounted and ran into the middle, where she first saw Chris the first time. The flashback of him and herself kissing that day with the clouds not visible in the sky, the sun radiating its heat in her face...

Chris followed, not knowing if his words were true or if he acted like she followed him all the time, but when Sam hit him, his senses were fully funtioningand part of his memories were coming back...

Chris saw a girl jumping a buckskin mare over obstacles for cross-country and he fell in love with her right away. She was like a younger version of Amy Flemming and her features were proven to hold the Flemming Touch.

They started to talk and he kissed her when he found out that she was related to Amy.

After he broke the kiss, she held onto the open flaps of his shirt.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Ye-yeah. You just took me by surprise." She sighed.

"So, would you reject if I stole another kiss from you?" Sam shook her head and his head dipped once again to kiss her.

His head started to pound as he came closer to the clearing, her crying tore right at his heart. He couldn't let her that he was starting to remember little things, so he said, "Your father's waiting for you to get that stallion into the trailer."

"You know I only agreed to put up with you because I loved you. I don't know if I still do." she sighed and walked the mare to the paddock, let her go and sat down in the front seat of the truck.

Chris sat down in the back and while waiting for the stallion and his mare to get hitched up, he stared at her, studying her features to figure out if she was still upset with him or angry.

"Uncle Jack!" Samantha called after the ten-hour car drive from Georgetown to Heartland in Virginia. Jack was coming out of the farmhouse when they pulled in.

"Little Sammy came back from the long river of the Mississippi. How's my little-oh, wait. You're no longer small anymore!"

"Uncle Jack, I'm well. I have to get the horses out of the trailer and into the stalls. And this is Chris Sweet, a friend of mine." she said before unhooking the back of the trailer to lead Sarah down the ramp.

"Chris, weren't you dating my niece?"

"I was before my accident and I couldn't remember her at all. Now it's all starting to come back little by little, just don't let Sam know. She already had a swipe at me and I still think my face is red on one side."

Jack laughed. He looked towards Samantha and told Chris, "She's just like Amy in so many ways. Just don't let her bad side scare you that much, Chris. She can be an angel all the time."

If Chris didn't remember who she was, he would have fallen in love with her all over again.

Sam couldn't get Thunder to listen to her. One of the barn hands helped her out, but it took them both fifteen minutes to get him into a stall.

"Hi, I'm Ben."