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3
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When tears come down
Like falling rain
You'll toss around
And call my name
You'll walk the floor
The way I do
Your cheatin' heart will tell on you...
-Hank Williams Sr., Your Cheatin' Heart
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Paul and Jared sighed, both of them sitting with glasses of iced tea in their hands enjoying the morning. Sam had been woken up to a text message followed by his phone ringing not an hour earlier. He'd stormed through the house before telling them he'd be in the back fields with Jessup clearing trees. They knew better than to ask what had happened so they let him go. He'd talk when he was ready. If not they'd badger him until he either threw a punch or gave in and told them what was on his mind.
"Hey boys. Where's Sam?" Allison asked Paul and Jared from behind the front porch screen door.
Paul and Jared jumped, nearly spilling their drinks. "He took Jessup out to the back field. There were a few trees that fell that the truck couldn't get close enough to them without it sinking." Paul finally said.
Allison nodded. "You two come get something for him to drink before you go out there." She warned.
"How did you know that's where we'd go?" Jared wondered. She still amazed him when she did things like that.
Allison grinned. "Sweetheart, I may not be your blood, but I'm still your mom. I know things. You should have learned that by now."
Paul shook his head. "Dude… 20 years old getting schooled by your mom… loser."
"I heard that Paul! Now apologize to your brother!" She called from the kitchen.
Jared snorted and bit his lip to keep from laughing. Paul grumbled out an apology to appease Allison and shook his head muttering under his breath. The playful mood was gone the minute they heard her answer the phone before swearing.
"Whoa… What's goin on mom?" Jared asked running into the house with Paul hot on his heels.
"Mom… you ok?" Paul wondered, hesitating as he approached her.
Allison sighed. "I'm sorry boys. I may have lost my temper some." She said apologetically.
"Who was that?" Jared wondered. He didn't often see the Uley matriarch lose her temper that way.
"Sam's ex…" She growled.
Paul's eyes went even wider. "Holy shit!"
"Watch your mouth young man or I'll wash it out with soap. You may be grown and in college but your not old enough that you can talk that way in front of me." Allison chided.
"Sorry. Um… we're gonna take Sam something to drink and go help him." Paul muttered.
"There's only two hours or so now before lunch. You make sure you boys are back in time!" She warned.
Jared nodded chorused a 'Yes ma'am' and grabbed a sports bottle each to fill up for themselves and Sam. With the task complete and the tea back in the fridge, they took off, racing to get out of the house and out to their horses.
Paul shook his head when he placed his tack on his horse, Cadence. He'd chosen the name in part due to the breed- a Tennessee Walking Horse. "Hey buddy, you wanna go for a race?" He asked patting the horses nose.
"First one to him gets to needle him first?" Jared asked with a grin. He patted Camden's neck as he climbed into the saddle.
He'd always admired the coloration- a sooty buckskin- and he'd fallen in love with the breed. Harry had bought him from a rodeo- the only Morgan he'd ever owned- then sold him to Jared just two years ago. He'd worked with Camden every day since he'd turned 14 and Harry had told him he didn't think was fair to keep him when the horse had so clearly chosen Jared.
Paul smirked. "Sounds like a deal!" He grinned. "Come on Cadence."
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Sam sighed and patted Jessup's nose when he came close enough, laughing when the goliath snorted into his hair. He'd taken a cat nap in the long grass after felling the first tree to try and rid himself of some aggression. He didn't bother looking up when he heard footsteps approaching. He knew who it was. He placed his hat over his face in an effort to pretend to be asleep. Paul and Jared only huffed.
"Wake up fucker." Paul smirked while kicking his boot.
Sam's response was a one finger salute and a muffled 'fuck you jackass.' He sighed when Jared swatted his hat off of his face forcing him to sit up to keep the sun out of his eyes.
"You know… I finally calmed down and you two mother fuckers are gonna do nothin' more than piss me off again!" He warned standing up, dusting his jeans off as he went.
He picked up the gas powered chain saw he'd brought with him and started sawing through the trunk of the most recently felled tree.
"Good! Maybe you'll tell us what the hell your issue is then!" Jared grinned when the chain saw stopped.
Paul patted Jessup on the nose before counting the sawed tree limbs. "Little tense Sammy boy?" He teased.
"Whatever you two think you're doing won't work. I know what you two are up to already." Sam quipped. He piled the logs into the cart he'd brought before going back to get more.
Jared arched an eyebrow. "What, we're not doing anything, are we Paul? We're being concerned brothers…that's all." He said placing a log into the cart.
"Uh huh.. Tell me why I don't believe you for a split second." Sam's eyebrow arched in challenge.
"Come on man, what's buggin ya?" Paul pressed.
Sam's eyes rolled. "Nothing."
"You sure.." Jared needled.
The logs were nearly picked up and loaded onto the cart which meant that it'd be time to go relatively soon. Paul frowned. Sam had kept whatever had been bugging him close to his chest today. Jared nudged him when Sam wasn't looking and gave him a look that clearly said 'ask him' before picking up another log.
Sam scoffed and rolled his eyes. He'd seen the exchange. "I'm fine." He said peeling his still sweaty shirt from his torso. He'd just hung it on a near by limb when Paul said the magic words.
"Emily called the house this morning, you know." Paul said conversationally. "Is she the reason you're so tense today?"
Sam's jaw tensed. He took a moment to collect himself before going back to work. "Did she say anything?"
"Dunno. Mom gave her an earful and hung up on her before we got into the house. I think she wanted to talk to you about something." Jared said with a nod of his head.
It was all Sam needed to let go of the anger he'd been pushing back. Before Paul or Jared could stop him, Sam's left hand was a bloody mess of broken skin and splinters of bark. "Motherfucker!" Sam shouted.
"Hey, come on man! Take it easy! Damn, you're gonna break your fucking hand!" Jared huffed pushing Sam away from the tree. "We didn't want you to break every fucking bone in your body Sam! Jesus!"
"Move Jay." Sam growled.
"No! god damn you're a fucking bull! The hell did you have to eat this morning? Bricks?!" Jared snapped. "Fucking sit the hell down and talk to us!"
"Dude, just let him go! You'll fucking kill yourself trying to keep him from killing himself!" Paul snapped.
"Then fucking help me fucker!" Jared huffed. "Mom will have a conniption fit when she sees his hand! Then we'll get blamed for not stopping him!"
"Fuck that! I'm not THAT stupid." Paul scoffed.
Sam rolled his eyes. "Will you two both just shut the hell up already! Damn, I'm right here. My fucking hand hurts like a bitch now." He sighed.
Jared grimaced when he saw the state of Sam's hand. His knuckles were busted open and he had a few large pieces of bark stuck in the skin. "Damn, can you ride like that? Jessup's a hard horse to handle if he's in a mood to be stubborn. Plus you'll have to hitch up the cart too."
Paul sighed. "Take Cadence. He's an easy ride. I can take Jessup back." Paul said before packing up the chain saw and strapping the logs down to the cart Sam had brought with him.
Jessup's ears went back in protest. He somehow knew Sam wouldn't be the one to ride him back to the barn. When Paul started to lift himself into the saddle Jessup stomped his hoof and bucked causing Paul to jump back before he was thrown. Jared snorted. The horse had never liked Paul. Even when they were kids.
"Alright then… YOU ride him!" Paul huffed after having the same thing happen twice more.
Jared grinned and pulled a carrot stick from his pocket. Paul only rolled his eyes and muttered 'smart ass' under his breath. "I'm studying to be an equine vet, Paul. First thing you learn- stay calm at ALL times- even when you're deathly afraid. Second thing you learn is most horses like treats." He said with a shrug. "Whoa… this damn horse is too high off the ground." He added.
Sam rolled his eyes and nudged Cadence towards home. "You two are nuts. If mom asks… I did NOT punch the tree." He warned.
"Sam… it's not like she's gonna be mad about it." Paul tried. He patted Jessup's side after the cart had been hitched to him.
Jared frowned. "The only thing she can say is don't do it anymore- not that you'd listen anyways."
"Just don't tell her, alright?! I don't want her worrying about anything right now." Sam huffed.
He nodded in satisfaction when they promised him with some reluctance- they hated lying to Allison about anything because she always seemed to know when they did. They all knew Allison loved to hover when someone was hurt. Sam didn't want that at the current moment.
"Come on, lets get you home and get your hand cleaned and wrapped." Paul muttered.
Jared clicked his tongue and waited for Sam and Paul to walk in front of him before nudging Jessup towards the barns.
"Hey, Sam, who's car is that?" Jared asked when they came out of the barn after taking care of the horses.
"Not sure… it's not one I recognize." He shrugged.
Paul stopped walking and stared in disbelief at the car. He knew that car. Emily's cousin had a car just like that, but she lived in Enigma- the next town over from Alapaha. "No way…"
"What?" Jared asked.
"No fucking way!" He growled.
"What, Paul? What is it?" Sam wondered.
Paul took off running to the front of the house, forgetting that he was muddy and sweaty from working. Sam and Jared were forced to chase after him. He wished he'd stayed where he had been after he caught up to Paul in the front of the house.
"Sam! Oh wow! Sam! Hi! Look at you! You haven't changed one little bit!" A woman crowed before running over to hug him.
"Emily…"
"Boys, what's going on out here?" Allison asked having seen the strange car in the driveway. She gasped when she saw who it was. Her smile left her face and her eyes turned cold. If Emily appeared phased, she didn't show it.
Jared was the first to recover from his stupor and move to disengage Emily from a still stunned Sam. "What the FUCK are you doin' here, girl?" He growled low enough that Allison couldn't hear.
Emily blinked. "Am I not welcome here anymore? I thought I would come to visit my friends." She said with a smile. Inside she started to panic. She'd been missing Sam since she'd left him, and she'd come to ask him to take her back. It looked like it wouldn't be as easy as she thought.
"Friends we're definitely NOT!" Paul snapped.
Emily frowned. "Sam? Is that true? Am I not welcome here anymore?"
"You don't get to speak to him, you did enough when you walked out on him after throwing it in his face that you not only cheated on him, but you killed the baby he didn't even KNOW about you stupid, life sucking, blood shedding, bitch assed whore." Paul growled.
Emily gasped in shock. It was all she could do. Paul had never yelled at her before, nor had he ever used that kind of language around her. Sam saw the look on Allison's face at Paul's wording choice and placed a calming hand on his shoulder with a sigh.
"Y'all go on inside now. Lunch is gonna be done soon, I'm sure mom could use the help." Sam told them.
"But Sam-" Paul tried but was cut off by his raised hand.
Sam gave them a small smile. "It's alright guys. I'll be inside in a few minutes."
Jared sighed and dragged Paul into the house. They, along with Allison, wanted to stay until Emily was gone. Sam knew it. He guessed that was the reason they they'd been so reluctant to leave him standing in front of the girl. He had offered to give her everything he owned including his heart... Until the day she pranced through the school telling everyone that she was done with Sam. She told him later in private that she'd gone to see a doctor in an abortion clinic and had her month long pregnancy terminated. She didn't want any strings attached to Sam left.
"Why did you come back Emily?" Sam finally asked. "What did you think would happen?"
Emily sighed. "We promised each other once that we could come to each other to talk. I've been missing you so much lately… I just wanted to come hang out with you. We were friends once… can't we go back to that? Can't we see each other again?"
"Emily, I can't. Not this time." Sam said with a sigh. "I don't trust you anymore."
"But… aren't you even going to talk to me anymore?" She wondered, floored that the gentle giant of a man in front of her had been so aloof.
"No, I'm not. You made it clear we were done before you left the first time. I don't care why you're back. I don't want to even know. Just please, leave me and my family alone." He sighed before going into the house.
She was left to stare after him, frustrated that he hadn't even listened to her. She wanted him back and she'd get him back one way or another. She had a few friends left in town, she'd talk to them for ideas. By the end of summer, she was confident that she'd be able to call Sam hers again.