Chapter 37
Sam looked at the piece of paper with the address of this ranch on it. She had checked into her hotel room and rested before making an appointment to come out and interview the girl about the wild Nevada horse the next morning.
Driving the Avalanche drove home to Sam that Jake was out of her life. She missed seeing him. She missed seeing him pull into River Bend in his Avalanche to see her.
She had sat in the truck this morning and let her tears come. She ended up putting her forehead on her hands as they clutched the steering wheel and sobbed his name.
"Jake, oh Jake," Sam wailed out his name. She missed him so much. It would be her birthday in less than a week. Jake would be marrying another woman in less than a week.
How was she ever going to survive this?
Now she stared over the edge of a cliff. It would be so easy to punch her foot onto the accelerator and fly. She'd never have to worry about seeing Jake with his wife if she did.
Her foot hovered over the accelerator, tempted. Then her Gram's face flashed before her eyes. Sam couldn't do it. It went back to not looking for death, but not walking away either.
Sam sighed and turned the corner following the directions she had gotten off the Internet. If a Mack truck came towards her, she might not swerve, but she couldn't do a Thelma and Louise.
She finally came to a gate which announced the ranch she was looking for. Sam turned in, driving up the long drive. She saw pastures in the woods on each side of the drive before coming to a large house.
She parked the truck and was surrounded by a group of Australian Shepherds. The dogs barked at her, announcing her arrival.
"Hi guys," Sam said out the open window.
The dogs were wagging their tails, so Sam knew they were just doing their job and not actually wanting to harm her.
She opened the Avalanche door and stepped out, slinging her pink My Little Pony backpack over her shoulder. A couple of the dogs jumped on her and she eased them off of her.
"Stay down now," Sam told them.
"You dogs get down," she heard a stern male voice behind her.
Sam turned to see a man who looked to be her father's age approaching her.
"You must be Samantha Forster," the man smiled.
"Yes, sir," Sam held out her hand.
"I'm Jonah," the man told her. "I own his place."
"Nice to meet you," Sam smiled as they shook hands.
"You actually want to be talking to my granddaughter Darby," Jonah told her. "She's the one who owns the mustang."
"I used to own a Nevada mustang," Sam said.
"Then you and Darby will be getting along just fine," Jonah smiled. "Here she is."
Sam turned and saw a girl a few years younger than herself, approaching. With her was a black haired child. Sam gasped, her hand coming up over her heart.
The little boy looked identical to what Sam always thought her and Jake's son would look like. She bit her lip, trying to keep the emotions away.
"Darby, this is Samantha," Jonah introduced them.
"Sam," Sam told Darby as they shook hands.
"Sam used to own a Nevada mustang too," Jonah told his granddaughter.
"They're the best," Darby smiled.
"Yes they are," Sam's eyes flicked to the little boy.
"Oh, this is Lucas," Darby introduced the young boy. "He's the son of our foreman."
"Hi Lucas," Sam squatted down and stuck out her hand. "I'm Sam."
"Hi Sam," Lucas smiled and shook Sam's hand.
Sam stood up and dropped her pen. She bent over to pick it up.
"Get away from my son!"
Sam heard the angry voice behind her.
Confused, she stood up and looked over her shoulder. Right into the furious eyes of Kit Ely.