Chapter 20
Two days passed and still no sign of Jake. Apparently he came to River Bend when he knew Sam wasn't there.
Coward. Sam thought to herself. She had gone through all possible states of emotion. Sadness, betrayal, acceptance, denial, and finally anger. There really wasn't much she could do she had school and chores to do and without Jakes help it took her longer to finish her chores. Samantha would call Jake's cell phone but he wouldn't answer and after the hundredth time she gave up. She tried calling Jakes home phone twice. First time no answer. Second Quinn answered and made up an excuse to why Jake couldn't come to the phone. Gram and Brynna wouldn't let her call again told her to give him some space; he'd call when he was ready. Sam was frustrated and she couldn't even go riding because Gram thought she'd just end up going to the Ely's ranch.
The weekend rolled in and Sam couldn't take it anymore.
"I'm going to call his house one more time and if he doesn't answer I'm going to go up there." Sam said passed her boiling point. She would figure out a way to be able to go out riding. She dialed. She heard the ringing. No answer. Five rings later. Still no answer. Just when Sam was about to hang up and throw the phone against her wall she heard someone pick up.
"Hello?" A deep voice asked.
"Hi, this is Samantha. Is Jake home?" Sam answered back trying her best to sound polite.
"Oh hi Sam. It's Quinn." Quinn said in a happy tone.
"Hey. So is Jake home?" Sam said her anger bubbling under the surface.
"Uh. No. He isn't." Quinn said with no emotion.
"Do you know where he is?" Sam said a strong wave of sadness overtaking her. She could just imagine where, or better yet, with who he was with. Quinn was silent.
"Quinn? You there?" Sam asked her heart pounding so loud she was sure Quinn could hear it.
"Yea, I'm here. Hey have you eaten?" Quinn said all of a sudden.
"Huh?" Sam was taken aback by the sudden change in topic.
"Have you eaten?" Quinn repeated the question.
"Not since breakfast but anyway do u know…" Sam started but was cut off.
"Do you wanna go out to eat? To Clara's?" Quinn asked with what sounded to Sam was a little nervousness.
"What?" Sam was shocked. Was Quinn asking her out on a date?
"Do you wanna go out to eat?" Quinn repeated the question. "I haven't eaten anything cuz mom's not here and I'm starving." He said in a happy tone again.
"Uhm Quinn I kinda just wanna know where Jake is." Sam said trying to figure what the hell was happening.
"I'll make you a deal. Come with me so I won't eat alone like a loser and I'll tell you anything you want to know." Quinn said rushed.
"I have to ask permission." Sam said still not sure of what was going on.
"I'll wait." Quinn said patiently. Sam put down the phone like if it made break in half if handled roughly. Her head was swarming with questions but the most important one was what was going on with Jake and if the only thing stopping her from knowing was going out to eat with Quinn then she'd do that. She'd probably even get a free milkshake out from it.
She went downstairs and looked for someone.
"Gram? Brynna? Dad?" Sam called from the last staircase.
"In the kitchen." Gram's voice answered.
"Hey." Sam said to her grandma.
"Hello sweetie." Gram put down the cup she was drinking from. She was seated on the chair closest to the door going outside.
"Uhm can I go have lunch at Clara's" Sam asked trying to avoid the with who question.
"With?" Gram said turning her view from outside to Samantha.
"Quinn." Sam whispered. Gram's eyebrows shot up.
"He asked if I wanted to go with him." Sam said explaining some more.
"Do you want to go? With Quinn." Gram asked her in a way that made Sam think Gram was trying to say something else.
"Uhm yea. So can I?" Sam said confused and nervous.
"You sure?" Gram asked staring back outside.
"Yes." Sam said even more nervous than before.
"Then sure you can go. Just be back before the sun goes down okay." Her Gram said looking back at Sam with piercing eyes.
"Okay." Sam said and ran out of the kitchen and back to her room.
"Hello? Quinn? You there?" Sam asked cautiously.
"Yeah. So what's up?" Quinn asked and again Sam could hear something like nervousness in his voice.
"Gram said yes." Sam said trying to sound calm.
"Cool. I'll pick you up in like 15 okay." Quinn said rushed.
"Okay." Sam said even more confused.
"Kay, bye." And with that Quinn hung up the phone. Sam put the phone down on her bed and tried to make sense of what had just happened.
She called expecting some lame excuse to why Jake couldn't come to the phone and ended up asked out on a date by Quinn. Wait. Was it a date? Or was Quinn just trying to find someplace somewhat private to tell her about Jake? Or maybe he really was just hungry? But why couldn't he just tell her and then go eat?
Somewhere in her deep thinking she heard horse hooves over the bridge.
Her heart stopped. It couldn't be?
Sam ran to the window and saw Jake riding on Witch coming to her house.
"What the…" Sam's heart and mind were racing. She saw Jake get off Witch and start leading him to the pastures while talking to Pepper.
And just like that all of a sudden all her anger came rushing back ten times greater and she didn't want to talk to Jake anymore. She didn't even want to see him.
"Does Jake know what Quinn did? Is that why he is here?" Sam said still looking at Jake. Jake suddenly turned toward Sam's window and caught her looking at him. Their eyes were locked. No smiles. No tears. Poker faces on.
Sam broke off the eye contact and turned to look at herself in the mirror.
She was going to make Jake suffer.
Like he did to her.