Guess what? This is the final chapter! I know...sad :( But I feel like it was a good place to end it, if I took it any further I have a feeling it would just become uninteresting. So, I hope you enjoyed it! I enjoyed the experience of writing it! Again, be sure to leave reviews...and since this is the last chapter...do make them heartfelt :)
Thanks everyone!
horse-nerd
"Ok everyone...that's a wrap!" Kenny yelled, sounding a little saddened by it.
Sam couldn't believe it. It was over. After only a few months, she was done. Violette ran to her and nearly tackled her in a hug, she was becoming nicer.
"My baby's finished her first movie!" She wailed into Sam's ear. Sam smiled and rolled her eyes patting Violette's back, she didn't want to tell her it might be her last--she wasn't sure.
"Yeah, ok, that's enough," Sam pulled back from Violette's grasp only to be brought into somebody else's.
"Your first movie!" Gabe pretended to wail like Violette. She smacked him in the back of the head and Sam laughed, hugging Gabe back.
"We'll have to celebrate!" Violette's eyes gleamed with excitement and Sam cleared her throat awkwardly.
"Um, I can't tonight...," she said biting her lip to keep from smiling.
Violette looked at her in disbelief. "Wha? Why not?"
Sam couldn't contain her smile so she looked at the ground to try and hide it. "I'm having dinner with Jake. He wants to take me out," her cheeks flushed and her heart beat quickened. She was definitely excited.
Violette rolled her eyes. "You know, he is really taking up too much of your time. It's not fair," she pouted.
"Look, I'll go through whatever torture you want to put me through to make it up to you, ok?" Sam said trying to make her feel better. Violette smiled slowly reminding Sam of the Cheshire cat.
"Deal. No going back on your word either."
Sam felt worry growing inside of her. What could Violette possibly be planning? Sometimes, the outcomes weren't always the best.
"Don't flip a lid, I'm just going to fly you and your lover boy out to LA for a day," Violette buried her nose into her phone and Sam smiled. She was like a whole different person.
"Hey you know, I bet Pepper would like to come to," Sam said and watched as Violette's cheeks flushed.
The past couple of weeks they had both been spending a lot of time together, Violette seemed to really actually like Pepper. It must be pretty scary for her, Sam wasn't sure if Violette ever really liked somebody a lot. By seeing her actually blushing, she knew that she did.
"Huh? Oh, well, sure." She fumbled with her phone and pushed her hair away from her face. She looked up at Sam who was smiling knowingly at her. "Don't you have a date to be at or something?" Violette asked a small grin playing on her lips as she walked away.
"You're invited too," Sam said turning to Gabe. She couldn't imagine celebrating without him...they had both been through a lot and Gabe was there to help push her in the direction she needed to go. For that, she was thankful and thought as a way to repay him, she could always try to be his friend.
He smiled. "You know things are going to be a lot different for you once this movie comes out."
Apparently, this movie was bigger than she thought. Sam had thought it was just some indie film, she was wrong. But no matter how 'famous' it made her, she knew she would always have the people she cared about most, so things wouldn't be that different.
She smiled. "Maybe not too different."
x-x-x-x
"I look ridiculous," Sam said looking in the mirror in her bedroom. Gram tsked her tongue rushing to her side. She was getting dressed for her date with Jake and he had told her to wear something nice. Now she was having a hard time deciding how nice. She started off with a pair of dress slacks but when Gram had come into her room she nearly ripped them off of her.
"Nice means a dress!" Gram said rushing to her closet. Sam's collection of dresses had grown since meeting Violette...but she wasn't sure by how much.
Gram had pulled out a deep purple dress with a smile. "This is nice," she tossed it to Sam who had put it on and now stared at herself in the mirror.
The straps were braided and it cut low in the front. There was a pretty detailed band that underlined her breast. It reminded her of a modern Grecian princess. She felt ridiculous, it was way too dressy. Besides, her dad would not let her out—on a date no less—in this dress. Gram had curled her hair and pinned just enough pieces back to make it look neat.
"I look ridiculous," Sam repeated a little panicked. She was running out of time, Jake would be here soon.
Gram toyed with a few pieces of hair. "Nonsense, you look gorgeous," she met Sam's gaze in the mirror and held it. "Honest."
Sam sighed. "Dad will never go for it," she countered.
Gram rolled her eyes and Sam had to suppress a laugh. That was so unlike Gram. "Don't you worry about him," she patted Sam's shoulder and went to the closet coming back with a pair of shoes.
Sam heard Jake's truck roll over the bridge and her heart sped up. No matter how many times she saw him, that feeling would never go away and it made her smile.
Gram smiled at her. "I'll go get the door. You put your shoes on and meet me downstairs." Gram left leaving the door to her bedroom open.
Sam took a deep breathe in attempt to calm herself down. This was their first big date, it was nerve wracking. She sat on her bed and put on her shoes, it took some effort to buckle them with shaking fingers.
She heard Gram and Jake talking downstairs sending her heart in a new fit of flutters. With a final look in the mirror, one deep breath, and a quick touch up on lip gloss; she headed downstairs.
Walking into the kitchen took a lot of nerve. She couldn't believe she was so nervous...it was just Jake, she knew him. But still, no amount of reasoning would calm her down.
Jake stopped in mid-sentence upon seeing her, slowly he smiled and Sam bit her lip smiling too. He walked towards her and held out a bouquet of flowers for her. They were mixed dark purple flowers with some white baby's breath and Sam found them beautiful. She took them blushing a little and smiled up at him.
"Thanks," she said, starting to feel a little self conscious from Gram's smiling in the background.
Jake looked her up and down slowly, letting out a breath. "You look beautiful, Sam."
Sam looked at the flowers. Why was she feeling so shy? "You don't look too bad yourself," she said feeling like an idiot.
Smiling, he shrugged. "I try."
Sam laughed and felt herself go to ease. Her nerves calmed a little and the sweat on her palms began to cool.
A flash made them both jump and Gram smiled sheepishly from behind a camera. "Sorry, couldn't help myself."
Sam rolled her eyes and stood on her tip-toes to whisper in Jake's ear. "You know we are going to have to pose for pictures right?"
Jake nodded. "Yeah," he paused before bending down to whisper in her ear. "Or we could just make a break for the truck..."
Sam looked at him and back at her shoes pointedly. His eyebrows rose, a look of mischief on his face and Sam grew a little worried. There was another flash and Jake smiled, scooped her off her feet and ran for the door.
Sam squealed and found herself laughing out of pure delight. Gram was yelling after them but Jake kept running and Sam kept laughing uncontrollably.
Gram stopped on the porch with her hands on her hips. Jake set a smiling and giggling Sam into the passenger seat of the truck and ran around to the driver seat.
The engine roared to life and Sam leaned over Jake's lap to wave to Gram.
"Bye Gram! Love you!" She shouted out his window.
Jake put the truck in gear.
"Bye sweetie! Be back by midnight!" Gram yelled and Sam could see her shaking her head from the rearview mirror.
"Midnight? What's the matter, gunna turn into a pumpkin?" Jake teased pulling his truck onto the highway.
Sam rolled her eyes and punched him, her nerves completely gone.
x-x-x-x
Jake took her to a pretty fancy restaurant right outside of Darton. The food was delicious, but didn't really care about that, she was just happy to be able to spend some time with Jake. It seemed like it was over too soon though. She soon found herself back in his truck heading towards River Bend.
"Do you mind going to my place for a bit?" Jake asked as they drew closer to River Bend.
Sam shook her head forgetting that it was now dark and he couldn't see her. "Of course not." Anything to spend more time with him...but that was too embarrassing to say out loud.
"Good," they pulled into Three Ponies and Jake parked his truck in front of the barn. He hopped out of the driver seat and glared at Sam when she was about to open her door. She rolled her eyes and paused, waiting for him to come around and open her door.
"I know, chivalry is terrible...," Jake said sarcastically as he helped her down out of the truck.
"No, I'm just not used to it," she said taking his hand. He led her to the barn and Sam looked at him confused. "Uh, Jake? I can't believe I'm saying something like this...but I'm kind of wearing the wrong shoes for this." Who would have thought she would ever have to say that in her life?
He snorted. "You'll be fine, just c'mon...I want to show you something."
Her curiosity trumped her worries about whether she was wearing the right shoes or not. He paused by the door and let go of her hand.
"Wait here. I'm going to turn on the lights." He disappeared into the dark and soon the bright aisle lights flickered on. Returning to her side, he took her hand again and led her down the barn aisle.
"What is it?" Sam asked barely able to contain her curiosity. She was never good with surprising...she didn't have the patients for them.
Jake smiled. "You'll see."
He knew she hated that and his smile just confirmed it. "Over here," he dragged her towards one of the stalls. The aisle light down this way was dimming so it was a little hard to see and Sam stepped carefully.
"In here," Jake paused by the stall and nodded towards it. Sam stepped up uncertainly and peeked over the door. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust and another for her brain to comprehend it.
The black colt stared back at her with big brown sleepy eyes, the same eyes that reminded her of the Phantom so much. Her heart skipped a beat and she blinked to make sure her mind wasn't playing tricks on her. It wasn't...he was really standing there staring back at her.
"What-how-huh?" She stuttered stupidly, her stomach churning with excitement.
Jake leaned against the stall door, his body turned towards her. His gaze was nervous and he swallowed hard. "He's yours."
Sam stared at him for a minute, trying to figure out what part of this joke was funny.
"Really?" She asked disbelieving.
He swallowed again and stood up straight, his nervousness disappearing.
"One condition," he smiled and Sam felt the nervous thump of her heart again.
Of course he had a condition. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a box. If Sam thought the nervous thumping was bad this was a whole new thing. Her heart stopped completely. He opened it and a ring shown brightly under the dim light.
"Now before you get all frazzled, let me explain," he said shifting his weight so he was no longer leaning against the door, but instead stood extremely close to Sam.
"Obviously we are too young to even think about marriage, so it's not an engagement ring or anything like that...," he paused to make sure Sam was following...she wasn't. "Well in a way it kinda is...it's a promise ring."
Huh? Sam didn't have to say it, she was sure her face said it for her.
Jake rubbed the back of his neck and took a deep breath. "It means—should you accept it—that you are, in a way, promised to me. It means, you promise to wait for me and I promise to wait for you."
Sam nodded slowly, it coming to her slowly, and then she nodded her head furiously sending some curls loose. Hot happy tears burned in her eyes and she smiled. "Yes, definitely yes."
Jake's face looked shocked for a minute before he smiled too. "Really?"
Sam nodded again. "Yeah," she held out her hand and Jake slid the ring onto her finger. He pulled her into his embrace and Sam kissed him hard. Never had she been so happy. Her heart had come back to life and rejoiced inside of her, she smiled against his lips.
"I get the horse right?"
Jake laughed softly and kissed her again. "Yeah, you get the horse."
Sam embraced him again and he drew back.
"Just one other thing," he said his face serious.
Sam's smile slipped from her face and she bit her lip. "Ok?"
Slowly, he smiled again, a teasing smile and rested his forehead on hers. "No naming him after any colors."
Sam laughed and kissed him again, knowing it was only one of many.
Unknown Star.
©horse-nerd
Phantom Stallion © Terri Farley