Ignoring Jake's extended hand, Sam stood up. She dusted herself off and flexed her arms and legs where she had landed when Snickers bucked.
"You okay?" Jake asked.
"Fuck off." I answered and started walking in the vague direction Snickers had gone when Jake smacked him on the butt and told him to get on home. Jake wasn't moving, and I guessed he wasn't used to being talked back to. After a second I heard him following me, and then speaking softly,
"Sam, I can't let you get hurt."
"I think I can watch after myself. I've been fine without you for the past nine years." He snorted.
"I wouldn't call the way you've been fine. You're haunted by some dream that you can't even remember. And you haven't exactly chosen great friends, that girl you hugged lived with some lunatic-"
"Say one more bad thing about Christy and I'll punch your lights out Jacob Ely." I pulled Jake's boots off so I could run, and I did. I knew it was a bad idea. One, I had no idea where I was going, and two; Jake could outrun me any day. I was right and he was beside me in seconds. He grabbed my arm and spun me around.
"Are you…running away from me?" He was watching me so closely I felt self-concise. In his eyes I could see he was trying to figure me out.
"I don't know. I don't know anything right now, at all. I-" I couldn't think of anything to say, but I was on the edge, and Jake sensed it.
"Okay." He Closed his eyes. "I'm Sorry."
Had Jake just apologized to me? I hadn't been around him long recently, but I had no memory of him apologizing. Ever.
"You are?" I asked.
"Yes. What do I owe you?" I remembered this game. When we were younger, and one of us did something stupid, we'd owe the other something.
"I'll think about it." We walked back in silence.
When we came into the yard I could smell bacon, horses, and freshly cut hay. It was the best smell I'd smelt in months. "Samantha, what happened?" Maxine called from the front porch. She looked horrified but slightly amused. I decided to play it nice.
Grinning, I answered her. "Jake toke me for a ride, and when I fell off Snickers ran back here."
Maxine laughed and shook her head. "Why don't you go get cleaned up Sam? I have a huge breakfast cooking!" She disappeared into the house.
"So, Samantha," Luke said. We were in the middle of breakfast. My plate was heaped with pancakes, bacon, eggs, and toast. After we had gotten back Jake had showered while I organized my stuff on the shelves he showed me. Then I had showered, gotten dressed in my only pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and come down for breakfast.
I glanced nervously up at him. "Yes Luke?"
"The boys are going to some kind of, party, this Wednesday and Maxine and I were wondering if you'd like to have one of you friends stay over from Wednesday's party until Friday."
Christy. I already missed her, and I couldn't believe they were inviting her over.
"That would be awesome." I answered, smiling at him.
"All right. Why don't you call her after breakfast Samantha?" Maxine invited, "Oh my goodness, you must need some new clothes for the party, right?"
I wasn't sure what to say. I didn't want to sound like a brat, but I was in desperate need of some new clothes. I was sure my knee length skirt and button up blouses weren't going to fly at a party. She did look a little bit desperate for some female shopping though, so I agreed.
"Okay." A party? With dancing? Christy and I had once left a field trip and snuck into a club. We had loved the dancing, and the boys. I'd have to get a skirt, and some new shoes.
"Great. Maybe we can go into the mall after breakfast?" She asked. I glanced at Jake from the corner of my eye; he had said I could ride out with him.
"I'll take you out for a ride later, if you want," he said. Maxine was watching me, excited.
"I'd love to go with you Maxine. And Jake." After breakfast I called Christy at the school.
"Hello?" She said when I was finally connected.
"Hey Christy, it's me!"
"Oh my god Sam, how's it going?"
"It's good. Listen though, I have a question." I couldn't tell her everything, Maxine was in the room with me washing dishes.
"Yeah?"
"The Ely's said I could have a friend over. Tomorrow night is a party and you could come to that, and then stay over until Friday."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes I'm serious. So you wanna come?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. I have so much to tell you. But we'll pick you up Wednesday morning?"
"Sure."
"Bye Christy."
"See ya Sammy."
An hour later we pulled into a small parking lot. A turquoise sign read Crane Crossing Mall. A tall, slim, girl with mocha colored hair and a short denim skirt was walking into the mall. Following her were two girls, a short one with blond hair and a tough looking one with bright red hair. I laughed to myself. Melinda, Gwen, and Rachel. This wasn't going to be that much different, was it? I followed Maxine into the mall. There was only one hall, but stores lined both sides. A large fountain was in the middle surrounded by picnic tables.
"So where do you want to go first?" Maxine asked. I grinned. Shopping wasn't something I'd done a lot, but it was one of my favorite things to do. I glanced to my left, and there was a movie theater, a bookstore, a shoe store, a tack shop, and a restaurant. The other side was all clothes.
"Why don't we start here?" I asked, pointing to the first store on my right, an Abercrombie & Fitch. Soon we'd gone through the whole isle, including the shoe store. I had bags from Abercrombie, American Eagle, Hollister, Journey's, and Pacsun. This was heaven.
"Do you want to grab some lunch?" Maxine asked me. I nodded and she led me into a Pizza Hut. After we'd ordered our meal she said,
"So it seems you and Jake are friends again."
"Yes, I think so."
"Mmm. It's good for him since he usually isn't social. In fact, I think the only reason he's going to this party tomorrow is because of you. He never goes out to these things with his brothers."
I laughed nervously, I was sure Jake was going because of me. He probably wanted to make sure I was protected; he definitely didn't think I could handle it by myself.
"Oh, I'll make sure he's social tomorrow night."
Maxine smiled. "I actually meant to thank you for talking to him and such. He is very uptight for a sixteen year old."
"You don't have to thank me. You've done a lot for me."
"I just wish we'd found you sooner Samantha. I've missed you, and so has Jake."
I didn't want to get into my past, and thankfully the arrival of our pizza distracted her. After we'd eaten we left, and she didn't bring it up again. When we got back it was 2:30, and the boys were just riding back into the yard. There was a chorus of hi moms and hi Sams. I rushed in and brought my new clothes up to my room, and then came back outside. Jake was just turning a big black mare out into the pasture. I waited for him by the gate. When he came out he walked by me and continued onto the barn. Quinn came out of the pasture where he had just released a chestnut gelding.
"Don't pay any attention to him. He's in a bad mood, said he had some kind of fight with somebody." I laughed.
"That somebody was me. And he promised he would take me for a ride on Ace." Quinn laughed.
"Hey, maybe you can lighten him up some. Good Luck!" He called after me as he parted for the house. I followed Jake into the barn. He had Ace out already, plus a gangly looking paint gelding. The paint was already tacked up and Jake was brushing Ace. I grabbed a hoof pick and started on Ace's hooves. I helped Jake with his saddle and bridle, all in a stiff but familiar silence. I almost hugged him when he finally spoke; I was starting to get scared he was mad at me.
"You ready?"
"Yes I am, Jake." He headed out and I followed with Ace. When we got outside he ground tied his paint and walked over to me.
"Put your left foot in the stirrup," I did what he said. "Now, put your hands up her," He grabbed my hands and placed them on Ace's neck and the horn of the saddle. "Do a couple bounces with your right leg, and swing over." I tried, I really did. But my already sore muscles protested. I gave Jake a look of pitiful ness, but he ignored it. "Try again." This time I gave some bigger bounces and pulled myself most of the way up. I realized that Jake had probably lengthened the stirrup so I could get on, because I was standing up in the stirrup and the seat of the saddle was at my mid-stomach. Jake sighed.
"You really don't remember do you?" without waiting for my answer he gave me a push. I would have flown over the other side if I weren't holding onto the horn. He laughed at me and mounted his horse with ease. Ace perked his ears up and followed after Jake as we crossed the road and headed down a trail. We had been walking for a while when I spoke up.
"I think I've thought of something. That you can owe me"
"Yeah?"
"I think it might help me…remember, if I can go back. To my ranch, you know?"
"Yeah."
"Does anyone live there?"
"No."
"Is it, for sale?"
"Yeah, I guess so." Wow, he said more than one word.
"So I was thinking, if you could get us an appointment with the realtor, I could check it out. And you could take me, since I'm not old enough. We could just pretend we were fiancés or something, looking for a new house?" I toke him longer to answer this one, as he thought it over.
"Okay."
"All right. Will you call them when we get back?
"Yeah."
Later that night as I was lying in bed trying not to fall asleep, Jake's voice surprised me.
"It's all set. We have an appointment at Riverbend tomorrow at nine."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"Thanks. This means a lot Jake." He didn't answer for a while, and I guessed he had fallen asleep.
"Are you gonna be ok going back there Sam?" He actually sounded concerned.
"I don't know Jake. I guess you know what happened. But I think it will help me remember."
"I don't know what happened, Samantha. My mom said I should hear it from you." I toke a deep breath. I had assumed he did. I'd never told anyone this whole story before, not even the cops when they had interviewed me. But I felt the need to tell him, just like I'd felt I needed to tell him about the dream.
"When my mom died my dad got depressed. At first he was just sad, he didn't want to talk to me or anyone. All he did was work, and work. He never gave himself time, cause he didn't want to let himself think of her. But everything reminded him of her. So we left, to live in this little apartment. He got an office job that he hated. But we couldn't afford the ranch and the apartment, so we had to move back to the ranch. He still commuted to his job. Being back there…really drove him crazy. At first he didn't involve me in anything, but then he started getting mad. The littlest thing would tick him off and he'd yell at me for hours. It got worse when he started coming home later. He'd come in drunk and yell at me – but he never touched me. I think he must have gotten into drugs to, because sometimes he'd ask me where the pills went." I stopped for a second, and wiped away the tears that were threatening to overflow. " Then one night he came home, and it was worse than ever. He was mad, and he came upstairs, looking for me. And when he found me he- " I was crying now. "He punched me. And I blacked out. The neighbors must have heard something cause somebody called the cops. I don't remember why though. Why he was so mad that one night. That's what I can't remember in my dream." I tried to swallow my sobs but Jake knew I was crying. I heard his sheets rustle and I sat up. I felt him sit down behind me, the dark making him brave, and wrapping his arms around me.
"Shhhh," He whispered. I must have cried myself to sleep, because the next thing I knew I was dreaming…