The phantom moved closer, wanting to get to his girl, yet hesitated when he noticed Jake. For a minute he looked unsure, then softly and quietly nickered and whirled around, forming a big dust cloud. He ran off through the sunset, with only the sound of his galloping hooves hitting the ground as proof that he really was there.

Sam closed her eyes for a second, then opened them again, still amazed at what she had just seen.

"That horse used to be mine?" Sam asked again.

"Yeah," Jake said as they strutted out of the creek and onto the path. "So..," he said carefully. "Do you feel any different?"

"Not really," She said, squinting because of the sun. When they got back to the ranch, suddenly Jake stopped and just stood there wide-eyed. At first Sam was confused, but when she saw what Jake saw, she was even more puzzled.

Three cars were parked in front of the ranch house. One was completely damaged, with windows broken and the front totally jammed up. Sam gasped when she saw an ambulance.

"Uh..Jake..," Sam began, her voice shaky. But before she could say anything else, Jake grabbed her hand and ran behind a bush.

Jake obviously didn't want them to know they were there so Sam lowered her voice down to a whisper.

"Jake, who are they? What happened? And why are we hiding behind a bush?"

Jake looked at her directly in the eye. "Sam," he said, his voice unmistakably serious.

"I'm not even sure why we're hiding myself...but what I do know is my brothers got in a car crash and-"

He broke off, then looked down and shook his head.

"Okay, I do know why we're hiding. If someone else finds out you've lost your memory you'll probably be sent back to San Francisco."

Still confused, Sam peeked at the scene. A woman with short, blonde hair was crying and hugging a taller man, who was probably her husband. Four guys who Sam assumed were Jake's brothers were standing by the damaged car. One had a cast and held crutches. Then, Sam saw it. A hospital bed on wheels, carrying another one of Jake's brothers. Her heart sank.

"There's an ambulance. Don't you think they can help me?" she asked.

"Probably. But that one time, when you went to San Francisco, I...just don't think I could take it again..," Jake said, looking at Sam. His mouth opened, like he was going to say something else, but didn't. Then, slowly, he leaned in closer..and closer, until their lips touched. Gently Jake kissed her and she kissed him back. His hand softly touched her face and the kissing started to become more intense when-

"Samantha."

Recognizing her name, Sam whirled around and Jake sucked in a breath when he saw Wyatt standing in front of them. The tone of his voice made it clear that he was not happy.

Jake leaned in to whisper in Sam's ear.

"That's your dad. Pretend like you know who he is."

Sam nodded and slowly stood up.

"Jake," Wyatt said, and by that Jake quickly got up. "Wyatt..," he began."Sam didn't do anything wrong. I'm the one who kissed her! She was trying to break free-"

Jake broke off as Wyatt made a "go on" gesture with his hand.

"Go on, Jake. Leave. You're fired."

Suddenly, everything seemed like slow motion to Sam. It had turned dark, and all she could hear now were the crickets and the faint crying of Jake's family. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't hold in the tears that were building up inside of her, so she let them go. Cold on her cheeks, everything suddenly looked like one, big blur.

Taking one last look at Sam, Jake backed away and walked off into the darkness of the night.

"No," Sam whispered, tugging on Wyatt's grasp, put he pulled her back in and said, "Sam, it's okay," and walked away taking her to the horrible scene of tragedy. How could her dad do this? Sam looked back one more time, only to see nothing. Jake was gone. Where did he go?

"Hey," Sam blurted, "Don't you think you were a little to hard on him? I mean, his brothers were just in a car crash," Sam said, hoping he would change his mind.

"I told him he was fired, not that he had to leave the ranch."

"But you did!" Sam said, her voice choked up by tears. "You told him to leave, to go on!"

Wyatt shook his head firmly. "I didn't mean for it to sound like leave the ranch. Plus, that boy was too sad to be in the hospital when you were in a coma. Probably too sad to face his brothers like this, too."

Sam wasn't done yet. "But why did you have to fire him?" she asked. "It was only a-"

Wyatt broke her off. "Sam," he said sharply. "You guys were hiding behind a bush. Who knows what it could've let to. No one gets away with that with my daughter. Not even Jake," he said, giving her a pat on the back, and when Sam opened her mouth to say something else, it was too late because Wyatt was already talking to Jake's parents. Sam sighed and wiped away what she hoped was her last tear.