Kinda-last chapter but there will be an epilogue.
Chapter 14: Promise
Jake's large ranch came into view as Sam walked Ace onto the crunchy gravel, heading toward the big off-white house. Still aware of what she had done, Sam was shaking with guilt and fear that she would be in major trouble when she came back. But there was still a slight chance that she wouldn't be. Crossing her fingers, Sam hoped that Gram would never notice or bother to go in Sam's room and find her gone.
"Ace, maybe this wasn't such a good idea..," Sam thought out loud as she slid off her horse's back and tied him to the hitching post. As if he understood her stress, Ace nudged her shoulder affectionately.
Sam smiled while stroking his small, brown face. He looked at her with trust in his eyes, and that comforted her. Hugging him one last time before she went inside, Sam gave Ace a final pat and strode over to the house in front of her.
Suddenly, coming from the mountains, came a familiar neigh. Sam turned around so fast her hair flew with her and there she saw The Phantom sprinting down the hillside, his tail flowing high with pride and his posture proud as a king.
Excitement rushed through her but at the same time Sam felt sad.
"Why now?" She moaned, throwing her hands in the air. "You had to choose now."
Sam shook her head, keeping her eyes locked on the beautiful stallion. How could she turn away? Chances like this were rare, and only when she was lucky, he would be on the wild side of the river, or out running with his band, and she got to see him up close. Maybe even get to touch him. Or ride him.
Ace nickered at the sight of his wild friend. Hearing that just made Sam angrier, remembering this wasn't a dream. It was real, and she was torn.
"Okay," Sam said, making up her mind, "I'll come over there and see you for about five minutes, and then I have to go."
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"What's taking her so long?" Jake asked impatiently. "I hope she's not hurt. Wyatt, maybe you should check on her, see if she's okay."
"She's fine," Wyatt grunted. "She's ridden Ace a hundred times. If I go out there, that would just ruin the surprise."
"But if Jake goes it wouldn't," Maxine said, her head peeking out from behind a couch. They were all hiding in the family room, waiting for Sam to walk in the house. Any minute now.
Finally, Jake stood up. "Mom's right. I'm going to check on her."
Wyatt sighed in frustration as Brynna patted his shoulder. "Let him. Maybe she is hurt."
"She's not hurt," Wyatt grumbled, "That girl can ride anywhere on Ace. Anyone can ride anywhere on Ace!"
Brynna laughed. "True, but still. Just let Jake check."
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"You're so beautiful," Sam crooned, repeatedly stroking the tangled and dirty grey coat on Zanzibar's back. The only sound came from the splashing river, which made a very pretty background where The Phantom stood, as he watched her with amusement. For a minute they seemed to be stuck there, lost in their own thoughts,everything else around them disappearing, Sam completely losing track of time. If anything could make her this mesmerized, it was The Phantom.
There the two stood, still watching each other as Sam stroked the stallion's back when suddenly she thought she heard someone calling her name. Though it was faint, and it could've just been a bird or the wind. Sam shrugged it off and continued petting her horse.
This time the call was louder.
"Sam!"
Sam flinched. "Huh?" But when she turned around no one was there. Until she felt Jake come up behind her. She turned and the Phantom was gone, and instead stood Jake, just like in her dream.
"Wow..," she whispered.
Jake's brows furrowed, then quickly shook his head. "I noticed you got a little distracted."
"Yeah, sorry about that, but he hardly ever comes anymore!" Sam cried.
Jake nodded. "I know. I'm not mad or anything." Right then he flashed Sam a look, and she shivered. It made her remember their kiss, and how good it felt. Which made her think: We're they boyfriend and girlfriend?
"And I won't try to be too over-protectice 'cause I know you don't like it," Jake said, setting his jaw for a real quick second then continuing, "But I really don't want you coming too close to that stallion, Sam. It's dangerous."
Feeling the hot anger building up inside her, Sam closed her eyes and tried to forget what he just said. "Can we just go inside now?" she said through gritted teeth.
Jake nodded, trying to hold in a smile, "Sure," he said, "Let's do that."
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"What's taking him so long?" Maxine wondered. This time none of them looked up, for Sam and Jake could come inside at any moment.
"I don't know, maybe someone should go check on 'im," Wyatt replied sarcastically.
"Oh, Wyatt!" Brynna scolded. "Stop, you're being fussy."
"Nate, move, you're stepping on my foot!" Quinn hissed. Nate, Quinn, and Kit were the only brothers well enough to crouch behind furniture. The others were upstairs.
"Guys, be quiet, I think I hear them coming," Maxine whispered, and the room grew silent.
The door opened with a creak and in came Sam, followed by Jake. Jake secretly raised his hand and counted, and when it had been three seconds, everyone sprung up from their hiding places and yelled, "Surprise!"
Sam's jaw dropped and she nearly fainted but Jake caught her just in time. Finally she said, "But, but..it's not even my birthday!" Sam said, laughing.
"We know that," Brynna said, "But, we figured..well, it's almost Christmas, and we-well, mostly Wyatt-felt bad about how unfairly we treated Jake, and after doing a lot of thinking, your dad has finally considered re-hiring him."
"What? That's great!" And soon Sam found herself running up to her dad and giving him a huge hug, even though he didn't want one. "I knew one day you'd see how cruel it was to fire poor, innocent Jake."
Jake rubbed the back of his neck.
After a few seconds, Sam stepped back. "But..shouldn't we be giving a surprise party for Jake instead of me?"
They all looked at Jake. He blushed. "What?"
Sam laughed, shaking her head. "Nevermind."
"Wait, there's one more surprise for you," Brynna said, going in the kitchen. She stuck her head in a door and said, "You can come out now."
To Sam's surprise, Gram walked out carrying a huge cake. "Eat up, everyone!" Gram said cheerfully.
Gram? Sam thought. But I thought she knew nothing about this..Oh, what the heck. She has cake.
An hour passed and everyone had already finished eating and were deep in conversation. Every once in a while, a big wave of laughter would fill the room.
It was getting darker and Sam was getting tired. She was about to go outside when she saw Jake. Their eyes met and he signaled her to go outside with him. She smiled and followed.
The sound of singing crickets, frisky horses and the river came down upon the evening as Sam followed Jake to a rock beside the river. This was where they had that talk, actually surprisingly Jake had talked the most, about college and her. Sam smiled at the memory and gently sat down beside Jake.
For a while they just stared up into the black sky in silence. Stars were beginning to form, one by one, each one having it's own unique twinkle.
Then, unexpectedly, Jake reached down and held her hand in his. Startled, Sam shivered. But within minutes Sam started to like how it felt and tightened her grip. It comforted her.
Again, they watched the sky and the stars and the silhouettes of the birds. Sam carefully lay her whole body down on the ground, feeling more confident than she had before. This time she had a choice to look up at the beautiful night sky, or beautiful Jake's head. She chose to look at his head.
"Jake-"
"Sam-"
Both of them paused, then laughed.
"You go first," Jake said.
"Okay," Sam said, sitting up again, looking up into his "mustang" eyes.
"Are we boyfriend and girlfriend?"
"That's weird," Jake said. "I was gonna ask the same thing."
Sam laughed. "So, are we?"
"I don't know. What would we do if we..were?"
Sam rolled her eyes. "I don't know..date?"
"But what would be the point in dating if we already know everything we need to know about each other?"
Sam tilted her head. "Good point."
Suddenly Sam got an idea. "I know! Maybe we could go on dates, but not normal dates like city people do. I'm thinking more like dates on horse-back."
Jake burst out laughing. "Dates on horse-back? How would we do that?"
Sam's eyes stared off into space dreamily as she spoke. "Riding through the hills and rivers and canyons together, racing each other, watching the sunset together, sitting down by the river and having nice conversations-"
"Okay, I get it," Jake said. "That does sound kinda nice. We just have to find the time to do it." He looked at her and grinned. "It might take a while for me to get used to."
Sam wanted to smile but instead her voice grew soft with sadness.
"Well, you'll have to get used to it fast. Next year you're going to college, remember?"
Sam through a pebble at the river. It made a ker-plunk sound. Sam folded her arms and waiting patiently for Jake to answer.
"I know." Jake looked down. "We'll have to promise each other that we'll wait. Wait until we're back together again, in college. Then we can continue with our 'dates on horse-back' and we'd never have to be apart again."
Immediately, Sam liked that idea. "I promise."
"I promise too."
Finally they looked at each other and smiled.
Sam broke off their gaze to look over at the house filled with people.
"I guess we better be getting back."
Jake nodded and they both stood up, their hands still tightly held. As they walked, Sam thought about how perfect her life was now, and how perfect it would be in the future. Jake mentioned that when they're both in college, they'll never be apart again. That meant she'd be married to Jake not too long from now. And they'd live on a ranch together, possibly River Bend, and have children, and lots of horses. Sam smiled at the thought. How could her life be more perfect?
The phantom would probably still be alive too. He was only about six now, and horses usually live to be around twenty-five. Sure, he probably won't be the lead stallion anymore, but he'll still be there.
When they opened the screen door and walked in, everything was still the same as they were when they left. Noisy laughter, the t.v. volume on high, Brynna, Gram and Maxine cleaning the dishes. No one even noticed them coming in. Sam giggled and led Jake to another room.
"What are you doing?" Jake asked under a laugh.
"I wanna see what it feels like one more time," Sam said softly, and before Jake could pull away, not that he wanted to, Sam was kissing him on the lips.
After a few seconds they stopped and went back in the kitchen to join the party.
As everyone ate and drank and cheered and laughed, and occasionally Sam and Jake's eyes met, they knew one thing: they had never felt this good before in their lives.
Don't worry..it didn't end there..I'll try to update asap! The epilogue will have a little surprise too. :)
Review! I tried to write like I have never written before, did it turn out well? I hope. hehe :)