Epilogue
Sam groaned as she dismounted from her horse. She was fifty years old and not as limber as she used to be.
She glanced over at her husband who dismounted next to her. He caught her eye and smiled at her.
"You okay?" Jake asked.
"Stiff," Sam answered.
He grinned and Sam blushed as she laughed. Even after all these years, the two of them still made love to each other almost every night. Their appetite for the other had never waned.
"All right you two," Bryan shouted from nearby. "None of that until we get everything unpacked.
"Spoil sport," Sam shouted back, smiling at her handsome brother-in-law. Except for his gray hair, Bryan looked pretty much as he always had. Sam's eyes slid to his wife Cara's eyes. The two women exchanged a smile.
"Come on, Pinky," Quinn yelled, pulling the saddle from his horse.
"Will you stop calling me that?" Sam yelled, loosing her own cinch and giving her horse a pat.
Quinn stuck his tongue out at her and Sam responded in kind. Quinn hadn't changed a bit at the age of fifty three. He still teased her, tormented her and loved her as much as she loved him and the rest of Jake's brothers. The hair he had growing back was gray, but his spirit was the same.
Quinn had recovered from a bout of cancer. Debi and the rest of the family had been worried sick, but the doctor had told them at the last checkup that Quinn was now cancer free. Sam hoped for all their sakes that he remained that way. It brought tears to her eyes to think of how close they had been to losing him.
Sam pulled her saddle off the paint gelding she had been riding and thanked Jake who took her saddle with his and put them under a nearby tree. She went over to help Debi get her saddle off the bay Quarter Horse. Even after all these years, Debi still wasn't that experienced around horses.
"Thanks Sam," Debi told her with a smile. Sam could see the wrinkles in the other woman's face. Debi had aged dramatically when Quinn had been so sick and she thought she would lose him. Sam gripped her elbow and the two women exchanged soft smiles.
"He looks good," Sam whispered.
Debi could only nod. If she tried to talk about it, she would break down. She was still so fragile at almost losing Quinn to cancer.
It was partially that reason that the six Ely brothers and their spouses had decided to spend a few days at the lake where they used to camp. Sam had been enthusiastic almost immediately at the suggestion.
Since all of them were a lot older than the first time Sam had joined them camping, they had driven most of the way through the way that Jake had discovered and ridden the rest of the way on horseback. Sam still rode a lot, but the other wives rarely did. She knew they'd pay the price for it tonight by being sore.
Sam stood looking out over the lake. She felt the strong arms go around her and bring her up against his chest.
"Bring back memories?" Jake asked, his mouth near her ear.
Sam couldn't help the shiver.
"Good memories," Sam turned her head to kiss his cheek.
"The best memories," Jake countered. "I first made you my wife here."
"Yes, you did," Sam sighed, turning again to look at the lake.
She felt him rest his chin on top of her head.
"I love you now as much as I did then," Jake practically whispered in her ear.
"I love you more," Sam told him. "I wasn't sure that was possible, but I do."
Jake tightened his arms around her briefly. "We did pretty good, huh?"
"I'm not sure it's humanly possible to do better," Sam smiled, feeling his lips brush the top of her head.
Parker had been born in early June twenty seven years ago. Jake had been worried sick during the birth, but had stayed and coached Sam through the twenty hours of labor. Sam had joked later that Jake looked worse for wear than she did. Jake had joked that he was just happy his son didn't have a dinky penis, which caused Sam to almost choke on her laughter.
Their son looked just like Jake. He was dark skinned and dark haired, the only sign of Sam in his genes was the reddish cast to his black hair if he was out in the sun. Parker was now grown with a family of his own. He had given Sam and Jake their first grandbaby.
Sam had told Jake after Parker's daughter was born that she was too young to be a grandmother. Jake had just grinned and told her he found her more beautiful than she had been at sixteen. Then he had handed her a small box which contained a grandmother's necklace attached to a mother's necklace identical to the one he gotten her when Parker was born. They had added a stone each time one of their children were born and would again when one of their grandchildren was born.
Sam had cried. She had replaced the turtle necklace with the mother's necklace that Jake had bought her. Sam had planned on giving the turtle necklace to her daughter, if she should have one, explaining what it meant and how much it had meant to her.
She and Jake had three other sons, Austin, Colin and Nickolas. Her four boys were as close to each other as Jake and his brothers had been.
Kit and Cricket had ended up with six children. Besides, Lucas and Lindsey, they also had Lacey, twin boys Layne and Lorne and another son named Leif. They still lived in Hawaii, but tried to come to Nevada as often as they could.
Kit's rodeo days had caught up to him, leaving him very arthritic. Some days he could barely get out of bed, but he forced himself to do so. He now had his own ranch, raising some of the best Quarter Horses and Paints in all the islands of Hawaii. People came from all over the world to buy horses from Kit.
Besides Caitlin and Sean, Adam and Sherri had son Aidan and another daughter named Cassidy. They stayed in Reno. Adam opened a couple of new stories, one in Winnemucca and another in Las Vegas. They were a huge hit.
Nate and Vanis also ended up with five children. Hunter and Nicole also had a sister named Darby and twin sisters Amy and Amanda. Hunter was a very protective big brother. Vanessa always laughed that not only did potential suitors have to contend with Nate who was fierce enough, they also had to contend with Hunter who would kick anyone's butt who messed with his sisters.
Bryan and Cara had four children, Matthew, twins Alexander and Anna and another boy named Benjamin.
Quinn and Debi ended up with six children. Along with twins Monique and Natalie and son Seth, they also had son Dakota and another set of twins Sebastian and Sabrina. Quinn had claimed he had wanted to name Sabrina, Samantha instead but Debi wouldn't let him. Sam had laughed when Debi had rolled her eyes, calling him a big fibber.
Ten years after the closing of the Darton Museum exhibit which had featured Quinn, the museum asked Quinn to reprise his role which he did gladly. Sam had gone again with Jen and both women agreed that Quinn looked as great as he did way back when, if not better.
Sam had seen Quinn wink at her when nobody else was looking and she threatened to shout out that he stuffed his hammock. Only the two women had heard Quinn's snort as he sat there pretending to be a statue. Just as in the past, the museum was packed and the exhibit was held over for months. Debi was afraid her children would find out that their father was a naked statue or that one of her sons would follow in his father's footsteps.
Jen had married Eric as soon as she was out of veterinary school and came back to Nevada to live. Sam had been her matron of honor. A lot of the time, Sam went on vet calls with Jen and eventually took the test to become a veterinary technician.
Sam had quit her job as a journalist, not wanting to travel once her children were born. She had been nominated for another Pulitzer, but this time didn't win. Everyone told her that she should have won, but only Jake knew she really hadn't cared. Her focus was now on her children and him.
Jen suffered a kick to the abdomen during a vet call and her uterus had ruptured. She had an emergency hysterectomy and couldn't have children. Sam offered to be a surrogate mother for them and she was artificially inseminated with Eric's sperm and delivered a baby boy which they named Samuel, in honor of Sam.
Jake had been against the surrogacy, but Sam had convinced him that she would be fine. Sam was happy that she had been able to give Jen and Eric a son.
Jake and Sam had tried repeatedly for another baby and Sam had just about given up hope that she'd ever have another baby, let alone a little girl, when they had found out she was pregnant again. Nine months later, little Isabelle was born.
It had been a very difficult birth. Sam had needed a hysterectomy afterwards and she had sobbed thinking Jake would think she was half a woman. Jake had shaken his head when she finally confessed why she was crying.
"Don't you know you'll always be the only woman for me?" Jake had asked. "No matter if you're missing a few parts or not. Brat, I love you. You. I don't care if you can't have any more children. My gosh, you mean the world to me."
They had gotten even closer after Sam had healed. They didn't have to worry about her possibly becoming pregnant and they laughed at how often they ended up needing to make love to each other. They knew they embarrassed the children as they grew up and realized what their parents did, but neither Jake nor Sam cared. They only cared about each other. Their children would get over it.
Linc Slocum had gotten out of prison for his tax evasion. He was back in federal prison within six months when he was convicted of shooting the Phantom.
The big gray stallion had stumbled into the yard of Three Ponies one day. Jake had just ridden in from the range with his brothers when they had looked up at the ridge to see the stallion fall to his knees. Jake had shouted for Sam who had come running out of their home, thinking one of their children had been hurt.
Instead, she saw her horse get back up on his feet to come closer to her before falling again at her feet. Jake had grabbed Sam to keep her away from the horse as it struggled in its death throes, but Sam had shaken him off to kneel next to the great stallions head, comforting him as he died.
Jake and the others had seen the gaping hole in the stallion, guessing it was made by a gun. Once Sam had cried herself out, he took her into their house. As he picked her up, he gave his brothers a look and one by one they nodded. Once Jake had Sam safely in their home, the brothers all took out their knives to find the bullet which had killed the horse. They preserved it in a plastic bag.
Later, when they had reported to the sheriff what had happened they had found out that Linc Slocum had been released from prison and was in the area. Jake asked the sheriff to search Linc's living quarters for the gun which killed the Phantom. When the sheriff found the rifle, Jake produced the bullet which his brothers had taken from Sam's horse.
Linc had blustered at first, claiming he was being framed. Once he found out the authorities had the bullet, he confessed, stating he had killed Sam's horse because she had killed his.
Only Sam, Jake and his brothers knew it had been Jake which had killed Linc's horse. Now though, Sam was the one suffering for it again which made Jake feel guilty all over again. It had taken some time, but Jake and Sam had gotten through the hurt, guilt and pain to become stronger together.
Their parents were gone. Gram had been the first. Dallas, the River Bend foreman had gone within weeks of her. Sam suspected that the two of them had been in love for a very long time, yet hadn't acted on it. The thought made her sad and determined that she would never hide her love for Jake.
Dad and Brynna were killed in an auto accident on their way home from watching Cody graduate from college. He too was overcome with guilt and grief, so much so that Jake had taken over the day to day running of River Bend along with Three Ponies. Once Cody had worked through his grief, he took over River Bend. Cody had married a local girl he had known in high school and they had three children.
Mac, Maxine and Luke had thankfully all passed in their sleep. All of the Elys, young and old, mourned them.
Karen found a man while in college, moving to Montana to live on his ranch there. They had two sons.
Sam had given Isabelle the turtle necklace and the earrings when she had turned the same age that Sam had been when Jake had given it to her. Sam had told her daughter the story of how they had been given to her. Isabelle cherished the items, vowing to give it to her firstborn daughter and making sure she knew the story.
Sam screamed as she was picked up from behind and thrown over a shoulder.
"Samball!" Quinn shouted as he ran with his sister-in-law. Bryan ran up and caught Sam as Quinn tossed her to him.
Jake watched the twins as they tossed his wife back and forth between them. He shook his head, vowing to throttle them both if they dropped her.
"You always said they'd play Samball until the day they died," Kit reminded him with a laugh.
"I did say that, didn't I?" Jake caught his oldest brother's eye.
"Gosh and it was almost Quinn who went first," Kit sobered.
Both brothers shivered in remembrance. Almost losing Quinn had shaken them both. It had shaken their whole family.
Later that day, the six Ely men and their wives fished and swam in the lake just as Sam, Jake and his brothers did all those years ago. The men were still reluctant to wear swimming shorts, but their wives insisted. The women all told their men they could show off their nakedness in their own sleeping bags later. Though the men pretended to grumble, they all obliged.
Sam climbed up on Bryan's back. The men had made Jake crawl out on the limb of the tree to replace the rope, just as he had previously. Then the guys took turns swinging on it and jumping into the lake. None of the women, besides Sam, were willing to try it out.
"Ready little sis?" Bryan asked as Sam wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.
"Watch those feet, Pinky!" Quinn shouted as he laughed from the lake. "Don't want Cara getting mad when you try to feel up old Bry like you did Nate that day."
The other five men started to laugh.
"Oh I did not," Sam scoffed.
"Oh yes you did," all six Elys confirmed.
"Let's not forget the time she grabbed Jake and almost broke off his…", Nate shouted, stopping when Vanis swatted him. "His, uh, appendage off," Nate corrected himself much to the amusement of his brothers.
"Henpecked," Bryan shouted.
"Whipped," the other four and Sam shouted in response.
Nate just laughed.
Bryan took a tighter grip on the rope.
"Hold on, Sammy," he said over his shoulder as he started running. Sam was screaming in his ear as they took off, flying through the air above the lake.
"Now, Sammy," Bryan told her and Sam let go to continue her flight before dropping and hitting the water a few seconds after Bryan. She surfaced a few feet from the oldest twin and the two of them grinned at each other.
Sam took turns riding on the Elys' backs until they all relaxed, floating around in the water. She floated close to her husband who smiled at her. Sam could see his eyes darken with desire.
Suddenly, Kit and Cricket were out of the lake, heading for a crop of nearby trees. Sam was startled until she realized what was going on.
Then Quinn and Debi took off for another patch of trees, then Nate and Vanis left the water for another.
Jake grabbed Sam's arm and the two of them were heading out of the lake at the same time Bryan and Cara were. Sam was laughing as Jake dragged her off. He pulled her to the ground and Sam fell on top of him. His hands fisted in her still thick hair and his mouth captured hers. Sam's hands strayed over his arms, his chest, his back, answering his kiss.
They quickly stripped out of their clothes.
Sam laid her head against his shoulder afterwards, her breathing as loud as his. Both were covered in the sweat of the other.
"My gosh, Brat," Jake turned his head to kiss her sweaty neck.
"That was wonderful," Sam choked on something that sounded like a cross between a gasp and a sigh.
"We're all going to have to end up back in the lake," Jake said.
"Do you think they're all as happy as we are?" Sam asked.
"I'd say by the sounds of it," Jake chuckled.
Their lips met again, still passionate, still loving.
Jake brushed her hair back away from her face as her hand trailed through his black hair.
"I love you," they both said at the same time.
They smiled before gently kissing again. Their love for each other had withstood much heartache and sorrow. Their love had grown and had gotten stronger. Their love was indeed timeless.
© 2009 – LB
Characters © Terri Farley