Wounded Legacy Chapter13

 Chapter 13

Sam didn't feel any better as the day went on. By the time lunchtime came around she was miserable and couldn't shake it off the way she normally would have. Memories of times when they were kids kept creeping into her thoughts. Heading into the house with Jericho, Sam realized her mom's car was gone. Laying on the table was a note from her. She had gone to the store but would be back to get Lily off the bus. Sam thought it was strange as she looked into the oven and found a pizza for lunch, still warm. Something was up and she had a pretty good idea what it was.

"What's eating at you Sam?" Jericho asked between bites. Sam shook her head, "I'm not sure, I just think Mom has something going on, she doesn't want me to know about." Jericho nodded, "Bet it has to do with Jake." Sam nodded, "Jericho, I don't know what to feel about Jake. I think I want him to..." She trailed off, not really knowing how to put into words her feelings. Jericho reached over and took both her hands in his. "Sam, if he can find a way, to be better person, would you want that for him?" Sam looked into his soft eyes, "Yes. I do, but I worry about Lily. She is so afraid of him, with good reason. If he starts to feel like he can come and go around here, Lily wouldn't react very well, just knowing he was around." Jericho nodded, "There has to be a start somewhere. Include Lily instead of trying to keep things from her. She is far older than her years, Sam."

Jericho's words struck a chord with Sam, she did need to explain more to Lily. Always trying to keep her from worrying was getting harder to do, because she was such a smart little cookie. Maybe if she did tell her everything and keep her in the loop, she would handle Jake's presence better. Still thinking about all of it, Sam put on her jacket and headed to the barn. A horn honking behind her, made her turn around to see Ned pulling his truck up to the house. "Hello stranger!" she called out. Ned smiled as he walked towards her, "Yea, yea. I know I haven't been around lately. You shouldn't take such good care of your livestock, or I would be here more often." he said, hugging her. "Of course, I have been a bit busier than normal lately." The twinkle in his eyes told Sam something was up. "Uh huh, and what's keeping you so busy these days? I think you just need to balance your time better." Sam told him as she jumped out of the way of his hand. "Don't you be smart with me girl, you are responsible anyway!" he laughed.

Sam smiled, "I take it your...dating life has improved?" Ned laughed, "Much! Thanks to you for putting in a good word for me. I dropped by today to talk about something else though, Sam. I was over at the ranch Jake is working on the other day. Had a cow that needed some help. Anyway, while I was working on her, a young boy about sixteen or so came out to watch. At first, I thought it was Lily looking at me, just for a second. I got so busy there, I didn't notice when he left and I didn't see him again. But, as I thought about it later, I wondered if that could have been Lily's brother? He works there on the ranch with Jake." Sam had listened intently and now she looked at Ned with worry. "But her brother isn't that old. Besides, would they let a child that age work on the ranch?" Ned shook his head, "He looks to be about sixteen, maybe not. I don't know Sam, it just kept nagging at me, the likeness of the two kids. I could be way off, you know. I just thought you should know of the possibility. Gotta go kid, see you later."

Sam waved as he pulled out of the drive, thinking about what he had said. Jericho walked up to her, "Something wrong, Sam?" She shook her head and told what Ned had told her. "Jericho, I need to know where Jake's ranch is." she said to him. Jericho gave her directions and she took off to find the ranch. Twenty minutes later she pulled up to the barn and saw Jake walking a horse into the corral. He was shocked to see her and sent the horse on it's way quickly. "Sam? Is anything wrong?" he asked, quickly walking to her. "No, I just wanted to tell you that I made the decision to go with you to the therapy session." she said. "Nice place. How many guys work here with you Jake?" she asked a little too pleasantly.
 Jake cranked his head around to the side, "What's up Sam, for real?" he asked.

Sam kicked at the dirt in front of her with the toe of her boot and her hands in her back pockets, trying to come up with an answer. Finally, she looked up at Jake, "I'm wondering about the kid that works here with you." Jake turned around and headed to the barn and Sam followed him, "Did I say something wrong?" "Nope." Jake said opening the barn door. He looked inside and called out, "Hey Tommy, you in here?" A skinny boy came out of a stall and looked at Jake. "Yea, I'm here." he answered. Jake called him outside. As soon as he saw Sam, his eyes opened wide and he threw down the shovel he had been carrying , turning to run. Quicker than he had anticipated, Jake grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Ok Tommy, what's going on here?" Jake asked him firmly. Sam answered for him, "He's Lily's brother." The boy looked at Sam as though she couldn't be trusted and said, "What do you know about Lily?" Jake shook his arm, "Fess up kid, what's been going on?" The boy hung his head and refused to speak. Jake looked to Sam with a questioning look, like what do I do now?

She stepped closer to Tommy, "I'm not here to get you in trouble Tommy. I came to tell you that Lily is just fine." His head shot up, "How do you know?" Sam looked him in the eye, "I adopted her instead of sending to foster care. She worries about you all the time, you know. She says a prayer for you every night." Tommy relaxed with the kindness in Sam's voice. "Tommy I know how old you are, I have a problem understanding how you got a job here." she told him. Jake was beginning to understand too, "You lied about your age, huh Tommy? Well, I can't say I blame you. School was never my choice either. I always just wanted to work." Tommy began to relax, feeling that Jake was on his side. "But you know Tommy, maybe we better talk about this."

Sam was looking at Jake with wide eyes, having never seen this side of Jake or even imagined that he had a side like this. He was patient with the boy, and kind. Jake had never been patient in his whole life. The boy put his hands in his pockets, "I was hungry. I figured if I could a job here, I could at least get a meal in the bunkhouse, and a bed too. I didn't have any other choice, except to keep walking." Jake nodded, "Ok Tommy, you still have a job. But we gotta talk to the boss about this. Just be honest, you know. I think she'll keep you on, and not turn you in to the kid police." Sam smiled at Jake's choice of words for Tommy, but continued to be amazed at his ability to calm this boy, so ready to run again. She smiled and said, "Tommy, Lily would love to see you. Would you come to the ranch for a visit with her? Or, I could bring her here and we could go get a bite to eat, I saw a diner on the way in." Tommy looked as if he were close to tears and nodded to Sam.

"I'll bring him by the ranch tonight after work. Would that be ok with you Sam?" Jake asked. Sam knew he was testing her and she wanted her words to convey the right thing. "How about if you drop him off at the ranch and I bring him back?" she looked at Jake to see his reaction to her plan. "Works for me, how about you Tommy?" Jake said. Tommy nodded with his head still down and Jake told him to go back to work. He turned to Sam, "I'll walk you back to your truck, we need to talk." Sam agreed and they started walking together. It struck her as funny, that she and Jake were in agreement about anything and she giggled. He cut his eyes over to her, "What?"
Sam shook her head, "Nothing, it's just funny how things turn out. I thought he would be far away from here by now. I never thought Lily would see him again." She looked at Jake to get his reaction, but there was no sign of anything on his face. At her truck they stopped and she said to him, "Thanks..for helping out with this. I guess you will talk to the boss, huh?" Jake nodded, "I have to. I wouldn't want her to be in trouble with the law. But I want this kid to catch a break too. He's a good kid, Sam."

Sam left the ranch with thoughts racing through her mind of what she needed to do about Tommy. Not having any ideas or even knowing the options, her thoughts went to Tim, so she drove there first before going home. He wasn't in, but she left him a note on his desk.
Now she would have to tell Lily about Tommy. Sam wondered how she would react, and worried that Lily would want him to come to the ranch and live. Maybe she should have left well enough alone and not gone to find Tommy. She had her hands full learning how to be a mom to Lily and she had no idea what to do about the boy. Just the thought of being responsible for another child, sent shivers of fear down her spine as she drove home.