Sam woke up to the sound of Gram's voice. Through out the night Sam had tossed and turned in her sleep, and drifting in and out of sleep she had heard the voices of Dad,Brynna,and Aunt Sue. Although she hadn't heard what they were saying, she knew they had been arguing, and it was probably about her. But now, the only voice Sam heard was Gram's gentle one, as Sam slowly opened her eyes.

"Good morning, Sweetheart." Gram said, with a sympathetic look as Sam winced as she sat up, her sore muscles protesting. "How about some breakfast?" "Sounds good." Sam said, looking eagerly at the oatmeal, toast, and orange juice Gram had set on a tray on her bedside table. She was starved.

"You should probably take a nice warm shower after your finished eating." Gram suggested, as Sam dug in to her oatmeal. "Yeah, I guess I should." Sam replied, looking down at the torn up muddy clothes she was still wearing fro the night before.

"So where is everyone?" Sam asked, gulping down her orange juice. "Well, your Aunt Sue's downstairs," Gram replied, "and your Dad and Brynna went in to town a couple of hours ago."

"Is Jake here?" Sam asked, knowing that she should probably talk to him. "He's somewhere around here," Gram responded, "But you'd better get cleaned up and then I'll ask him to come in."

"Or I could just head out to the barn and talk to him." Sam said, She didn't really want Gram and Aunt Sue in on their conversation, plus Sam wanted to see how Ace was doing.

"I'm sorry Dear, " Gram replied, "But Wyatt gave your Aunt Sue and I strict instructions not to let you out of the house." "Oh and when your Dad gets back he wants to talk to you." Gram added.

She couldn't even leave the house? If her Dad was that worried, whatever he was going to tell her couldn't be good.

Sam had just finished showering and was putting on clean socks, when she noticed Jake walking towards the house, as she looked out her bedroom window. She quickly put her socks and Tennis shoes on and ran down the stairs. Sam walked into the kitchen just as Jake sat down at the table. "Sam should be down here any minute." Gram said, as Sam walked up from behind her. Gram turned around to head back in to the living room and almost ran into Sam. "Well, your right here Sweetheart." Gram stated with a slight chuckle. Jake looked up at Sam as Gram walked away. "Hey, " Sam said, sitting down across the table from him. She felt a bit awkward after everything that had happened the night before. And /Jake's words from the night before were still fresh on her mind.

"Hi." Was Jake's single word reply, and for a moment Sam thought that was all he would say, but then he seemed to change his mind. " So what did you want to talk about?" Jake asked, not quite looking at Sam. "Umm…" Sam began, glancing sideways at Aunt Sue who was stirring something in a bowl on the counter.

She knew if she told Jake "Let's go upstairs and talk, Aunt Sue would wonder. But Sam also knew couldn't just sit there and have an awkward conversation with Jake right in front of Aunt Sue. So, Sam motioned Jake with her hand. She waved her hand back and forth at the stairs. Jake looked completely puzzled, and then gave her a look that said, "Man, you really must have hit your head last night." Sam sighed and rolled her eyes at him. Then Sam jabbed her thumb at the stairs and scooted her chair back. The chair screeched, and Aunt Sue looked over with a strange expression on her face. But then she looked away and Jake nodded at Sam, saying he understood and stood up.

Jake and Sam quietly walked out of the kitchen, with no further looks from Aunt Sue. After Sam and Jake got upstairs, Jake followed Sam into her room and she closed the door behind them. Sam sat on her bed, playing with the threads on her cover. And Jake stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, staring down at his cowboy boots.

"So, umm.." Sam started, "I guess we need to talk about what happened." "Which part?" Jake asked. "Well, all of it." Sam replied, feeling awkward. Jake cleared his throat and shuffled his feet. Then he slowly looked at her. "Jake, why'd you say what you said last night?" Sam asked suddenly, her voice cracking slightly with emotion. "You know I didn't mean it." Jake said, looking her in the eye, and Sam could see he was sincere. "Why'd you say it then Jake?" Sam replied. Jake looked down, his jaw clenched, and Sam saw the same look on his face she had seen the night before, when they had been riding home.

"Jake?" Sam prompted him to say something. "Your Aunt Sue told me." Jake stated, still not looking at her.

"She told you what?" Sam asked. Confused.

"Well, my Mom asked me to call you and tell you that she would be bringing her green bean casserole, " Jake began, then continued hesitantly, " Then I called and your Aunt Sue answered the phone and told me you were outside. Then she started telling me." " Telling you what?" Sam urged. "She said that you would be happier in San Francisco, and you would be safe. " Jake paused then continued, " Then she said that the only reason that you didn't want to leave was because of the horses and…me. She made it sound like she had talked to you." Sam was stunned. How could Aunt Sue say such things?

"But why did that make you say what you did last night?" Sam asked Jake. " I guess I felt guilty , I don't want you to go to San Francisco cuz I'll miss you. But I don't want to be the reason you get hurt. I don't even know why I said what I did." Jake explained, then added with emphasis, "But I didn't mean it."

"Jake, what Aunt Sue said wasn't true." Sam began, " I mean, the horses are a big part of why I don't want to leave. And so are you." Sam paused for a moment. "And those aren't bad reasons. And there are also a lot of other reasons I want to stay. Like Brynna, Dad, Gram, and Jen. And this is my home!" Sam raised her voice, and through her hands in the air, "I don't know how Aunt Sue could say I'd be happier there when she knows this is where I belong!" Sam finished her rant and looked at Jake, who seemed to be thinking about what she had just said. Just then, there was a noise outside the door and both Sam and Jake turned their heads. Had Aunt Sue been listening?

"So, you forgive me?" Jake asked. "Yeah," Sam replied with a smile, "Back to best friends?"

"Sure thing…pardner."Jake said, returning her smile. "Well cowboy, whether you like it or not I'm coming over there and giving you a big hug!" Sam said with a taunting smile. Jake just returned it with his signature "tomcat" smile and raised his eyebrows to say "bring it on." So Sam walked over to Jake and hugged him, squeezing him as hard as she could. Jake hugged her back and she smiled, thinking that maybe, things weren't quite as complicated as she thought.