The next morning was Saturday. Which meant Sam had an hour to get ready for the drive to Reno. Throwing on a t-shirt and jeans, then going downstairs to pull on her boots and grabbing a cinnamon roll Gram had left out for her, Sam got ready faster than she thought she would. With ten minutes to kill, Sam went outside to talk to Ace, who was as close to the fence as he could get, looking at her with hope that she had treats in her pocket.

"Sorry boy, not right now," Sam said, pulling herself up onto the top rail and scratching the gelding's ears. He bobbed his head in delight.

That was funny, Sam thought. She could have sworn she heard the sound of gravel crunching under a truck's tires, and when she turned her head away from her horse to see, she was right.

Even though it was usual for Jake to be early, she hadn't really expected him to be today, considering the fact that it was dad's idea for him to drive her. Sam shrugged, then hopped off the rail and headed to Jake's truck.

Jake was talking even before Sam opened the door.

"- going to get Ace out?"

"Huh?" Sam said, then looked over at Ace and realized what he meant. "Oh, I almost forgot."

Sam got Ace out and loaded him into the trailer easily.

"Linc said there will already be tack there," Sam said, climbing back into the truck.

"Good."

About fifteen minutes had past when Sam was looking out the window and saw the paint gelding. He was where Sam usually saw him, which was drinking from the river. When he faded out from sight, Sam turned around to look at him again for the last remaining seconds.

"I hope Brynna has called BLM already." Nervous, Sam shifted in her seat.

Jake quickly side glanced at her then stared ahead at the road. "He'll be there soon."

Sam wasn't so sure. "How do you know?"

Jake flashed her a look of annoyance. "'Cause every time you don't want them to go there, they end up there sooner than you want them to. But if you say you do want them there, you think it's taking slower. I know you well enough to know that in the back of your mind, you really want him to stay."

Sam shook her head in denial. Even though that was true, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of being right all the time.

An hour had passed. Sam was dreading each time they got closer. Ace had never given pony rides before. What if he wasn't ready, and he reared and injured a kid, or worse?

Worried, Sam began shifting in her seat. Knowing her, Jake could tell she was nervous, especially since she was fidgeting so much.

"We're here."

"Really? That was fast."

They both got out and unloaded Ace. Sam looked around, trying to find a place to tie him up, when Linc barged out the door to greet them.

"Hey! We're all outside. Follow me."

Sam led Ace around the house to the huge backyard. She met Jake's eyes. She could tell he was a little worried too.

"Yay! Ace is here!"

"Oh no," Jake muttered under his breath, and Sam nudged him with her arm.

"Hi everyone, this is Ace." Sam said, trying to sound patient. "Now don't come running up to him because.."

Too late. A group of about twelve girls and a few boys sprinted across the yard, waving their hands and screaming with excitement. Way too much excitement. Tiffany was in front, leading them.

This time it was Sam's turn to whine. Sucking in a breath, She leaned toward Jake and squeaked, "Not good."

The only thing Sam thought of doing, besides yelling at everyone to stop, was to back about...a hundred yards away.

"Hurry Ace!" She said. Eyes on the fence, her back turned, Sam was running as fast as she could. She just wished Ace would pick up his speed from like the slowest jog in the world.

"Sam!"

To Sam's surprise, Jake had caught up with her. He was running beside her. Then, he stood right in front of her and Ace and held out his arms for them to stop.

Tired from running so fast, Sam stopped right in front of Jake and bent down to catch her breath.

"They stopped a while ago, brat."

Before she could wipe the smirk off his face, Jake snatched Ace's lead rope from her sore hands and walked off.

Sam hadn't really had time to be embarrassed, but now she was. When she turned around and saw Linc staring at her with an expression that looked like a mixture of anger and confusion, she felt her face heat up with a blush. Then her gaze turned to Jake who was tying her horse up to a hitching post, looking annoyed. Sam sighed, and then looked down at the kids. Fortunately their full attention was on Ace.

After a moment, Sam shrugged off the weird moment and walked over to Jake.

"I hope everything goes well. I just wanna get out of here as soon as possible."

Cinching up the saddle, Jake focused on what he was doing. It was clear he wasn't planning on chatting, especially when Sam saw his set jaw.

Sam sighed and folded her arms. He wasn't the only one who was stubborn.

A few seconds later, Jake finished tacking Ace up. Sam and him looked over to see Linc heading their way.

"This might be a while. Might give you a headache, too," Linc said, breaking the silence. "If you want, you guys could walk about Reno and explore while I take care of everything 'till it's over."

Sam was about to say no but Jake spoke sooner.

"Good idea. Sam, let's go."

Sam gasped in disbelief.

"You aren't-"

Sam forgot Linc was still standing there. "Excuse us," she said.

Sam grabbed Jake's sleeve and dragged him away. "Why did you say that? We can't just leave Ace with Linc Slocum! You've seen what he does to his own horse!"

"Sam, I know, but do you really think he's gonna do that to Ace? At least he has horses and knows how to handle them."

"But why can't we just stay here?" Sam asked.

"Because," Jake said, then paused to look around. "I need to talk to you."

Sam opened her mouth to talk, but nothing came out. She looked down.

"Okay." Then, maybe because Jake never had to talk to her, she went out to the front yard with him without hesitation. Something told her this was important.