Chapter 15
"So, how did it go, you gonna live?" she said as she patted Jericho on the back. "Oh yea, the doctor said I had a real professional cleaning done on the cut." he laughed. Robbie glared at him, "The doctor said you need to rest it for at least 24 hours. That means, propped up in the recliner, and since I told him I would make sure you did exactly what you were supposed to, I'll see to it that you do!" Jericho groaned in protest, "It's just a little cut Robbie. Sam needs my help." "Oh no! I need you well, more than I need you today. The tractor won't start again, but I've finished all the feeding, I went down and got the other one. I guess I need to call Logan and see if he can come out and take a look at it. We can't make it through the winter without a reliable tractor." she told him emphatically. "I can get it started tomorrow Sam, it just takes a little patience." Jericho told her.
Sam put her hands on her hips, "Logan will get a call." Jericho huffed and sniffed for a few minutes and then fell asleep in the recliner. Robbie smiled, "Sam, he's as hard headed as you." Sam agreed and headed back out to check on the new mother and foal, finding Ned already out in the barn with them. "Hey there, thought you would be sleeping in today." Sam called out to him. "Yea, right. I had just laid down when I got another call after I left here. I'm starting to feel it too. Had another foal to pull over at your neighbors." he replied. "Look, why don't you go in the house and rest for awhile. You can crawl into my bed, it hasn't been slept in either." Sam laughed. Ned glanced over at her, "That's right, make fun of me. See if I come running out in the middle of the night again for you." Sam laughed and patted him on the back. "Jericho is in the recliner, sound asleep." Ned laughed, "That figures, while we're out here working. Come on, let's go make some noise."
They headed into the house for coffee, but Ned didn't wake Jericho, he knew that he was tired too. "Robbie, you make the best coffee in the world. I needed this. You got a sandwich laying around anywhere? After I leave here, I have to go check on a cow." Ned told her. Robbie made him a sandwich and he took it with him, to eat on the way to his next stop.
"You know Sam, Ned sure is a nice man." Robbie said, as she wiped the table. Sam looked over at her mother, "Yea, he sure is. A pretty good doc too." She waited for her mother to continue, but Robbie took the hint and stayed quiet. Sam got up and told her mom she was going to take a nap and went up to her room to rest for a little while.
Waking up just as the bus pulled away, Sam couldn't quite focus on what time it was. The sound of the bus made her conscious of something, but she couldn't arouse herself enough to...Lily! The bus was dropping Lily off after school! Sam started to throw her legs out from under the blanket, but they got tangled in it and she fell onto the floor. Fully awake after that, she managed to stand up and head down the stairs, just as Lily walked through the door. "Hi Sam, what's wrong with your hair?" she asked. Sam laughed and started to run her hands through the blond curls that never liked to stay in one place anyway. "How was your day, hon?" Sam asked, while she got out the milk and poured a glass for each of them. "Ahh, it was ok. I have homework!" she answered with disgust. Sam laughed, "Well, what's wrong with that? I thought you liked homework."
Lily looked at her for a long moment, "I don't like math. It's boring, I like reading best." Sam looked at her, "I used to feel the same way, so I understand how you feel today." Lily waited for her to continue and try to change her mind about math, but Sam opened the paper and didn't continue. Lily just stared at her, but Sam wouldn't bite. She wanted Lily to ask the question about why she doesn't hate math anymore, so that it would seem to be her idea. Lily decided to drop the subject however, leaving Sam with nowhere to go. Sam laughed at her backfired method, of teaching Lily to explore things she didn't really like, she would have to work harder at this mom thing.
"Did Nana go to Selena's without me?" Lily asked. Sam looked out the window and saw that Robbie's car was gone, "I don't know honey..where is Jericho.." Lily heard the car coming in before Sam and ran to the door, "It's Nana, here they come." Jericho came in first, followed by Robbie with grocery bags. "We decided to go pick up a few things while you were resting Sam. It took longer than I thought it would, so I'm glad you were up for Lily." Sam couldn't quite get herself awake and decided to go check on the mare and foal, hoping the cold air would give her some energy.
Jericho came out of the barn just as Sam got to the door. "The mare is doing fine Sam, I just checked on both of them. Think I'll let her out in the paddock tomorrow, she needs some exercise." Jericho told her. "How's your leg feeling?" she asked. Before he could answer, they noticed a car pulling in at the house. Jericho told Sam to go see who it was, he needed to drive out to the low grounds and check the cows before nightfall. Sam walked in the kitchen to find a strange woman seated at the table with her mother. "Hi honey, this is Nancy Delong, Jake's therapist." Robbie told her. Sam shook her hand and nodded, not saying a word. "I came by hoping to see you both. I''ve been working with Jake for some time now..and I really need your help to continue working with him."
Sam took this information in and felt as though the woman was blaming them somehow for Jake's problems, immediately getting her back up. She went over and got a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter, not joining them at the table. Robbie's lips tightened, realizing that Sam wasn't ready for this woman to come in and tell them what to do. "Sam, she just meant that, well..that Jake is ready for our input." Sam nodded, still not speaking and taking an aloof attitude. The woman took offense at Sam's attitude, "Well, I can see why Jake has problems." She stood up to leave and looked over at Sam, as if her words had dared Sam to comply with her wishes. Sam didn't move a muscle, she sent daggers to the woman through her piercing blue eyes.
"Well, this was a waste of my time!" the therapist shouted. "Now wait, please Miss Delong. Let me talk to Sam." Robbie quickly said to her, trying to keep her from leaving. The woman stopped and held her head up high with an arch in her neck, as if trying to intimidate Sam. A tearful Robbie had never seen Sam so tight lipped and unmovable. "Sam! Can you please be nice?" Robbie said to her.
"Please Sam?" she said again. Sam sat her cup on the sink and went over to the table and sat down. "Miss Delong, if you think I can be intimidated by anything you have to say, you are sadly mistaken. Now, I told Mom I would be willing to come and talk with you. What I don't understand is, why are you so impatient? You do realize that your visit and bad attitude have affected my thinking on the subject, don't you?" Sam told her in no uncertain terms. Robbie bent her head down and folded her hands, "Sam, please."
"What's you hurry Miss Delong?" Sam continued. The woman appeared on the verge of tears, "Well, this is a waste of time. Jake has more problems than I thought, he has you for a sister!" She burst into full fledged tears and ran out the door. Robbie was trying to get her wits about her and looked at Sam, "Now look what you've done!" As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she knew that she had said those words to Sam before, many times. Sam just looked at her, with no emotion. Robbie sat down and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry Sam. I just realized how many times I've said those words to you, with Jake always at the base of them. Sam, what just happened here?"
Lily stood in the doorway to the family room and stared at Robbie, unsure if she should comfort Sam or not. "Mom, we can't let this..come between us anymore. Call Jake and let's find out what the heck he expects of us." Sam told her. "Tell him to come over as soon as he can." Robbie closed her eyes, wishing she didn't have to do this. Jake would be upset with them and that could mean he would get angry. "No Sam, I don't think that's what needs to happen right now. I am going to her office tomorrow and find out what's going on." Robbie told her. Sam thought about it for a moment and nodded, letting Robbie know that she agreed with her after all. Robbie laid her hands over Sam's, "I'm so sorry honey. I heard myself, for the first time. I realize though, you have heard those words many times." Sam smiled at her and looked over at Lily, "It's all good honey, come on over."
The next day as Robbie left Miss Delong's office, she felt better than she had in years, about Jake. As she got in the car, she began to laugh. It wasn't really funny, but that poor homely woman had fallen in love with Jake, and Robbie couldn't help herself. Jake had been a lot of things and had many a woman in his life, but this poor girl had fallen hard, with no hope of Jake returning her feelings. Robbie stopped by Selena's before she headed home and told her about her findings. Selena laughed with Robbie, "I guess she was hoping to get you and Sam on her side, to help her hook him." Selena said. Robbie nodded, "That's pretty much the way I took what she had to say, poor thing. Jake might think highly of her talents as a therapist, but that's all." On her way home, Robbie decided that she didn't need to convey everything to Sam, just the high points.
Pulling into the ranch, Robbie saw Jake's truck, parked in front of the barn and began to worry. It was an odd time of day for him to be away from his own ranch. Robbie headed into the house and made coffee, thinking about the things the therapist had told her about Jake's condition and how she wished that Luke was here to help her understand all of this. Jake had actually undergone testing through another doctor to find the cause of his lifelong problems. She told Robbie that the meds had proven to be a miracle for Jake. Robbie was brought out of her thoughts by Jake coming in the door.
"Hi mom. Where is Sam? I didn't see her anywhere around." Jake said, in a friendly manner. Robbie found herself again amazed at his demeanor, "I don't know, I just got home." Jake looked around the kitchen for grocery bags, since that was about the only place Robbie ever went. Not seeing any he asked her where she had gone. Robbie wasn't sure how to answer him, she didn't want to make a situation that would cause him to not continue with therapy. "I had a little trip to make, you know I help Selena out most days." she said innocently. Jake nodded, not thinking any more about it. "Mom, I had a talk with Aggie about Tommy. She's pretty understanding about the situation and wants to keep him on the ranch, but she also wants to protect herself. So, she is talking to her lawyer today to find out how she can proceed, safely." Robbie noticed that Jake's voice sounded almost affectionate, "That's good. I would hate to see him sent away somewhere."
Sam and Jericho walked in the door, "Hi Jake, anything wrong?" Sam asked. He shook his head no and nodded to Jericho, "No, I just wanted you to know that Aggie is talking to her lawyer about Tommy. She wants him to stay on the ranch, if possible. I just thought you and Lily would want to know that we are trying."
Sam smiled, "We?" She looked at him with a grin. Jake grinned back at her and turned red, "Yea, we. Aggie and I are...trying to see where we are headed." He looked at Sam for her reaction, as if it were important to him. "Good." she said. Jake was disappointed, he wanted her to ask what he meant, so he could tell her that he planned to marry Aggie. Robbie saw the disappointment and asked, "So you.. care for this woman, Jake?" He looked up to Sam waiting for his response, "I do, more than I thought I ever would. We are talking about...getting married." Sam's mouth fell open, "What? You, married?" She laughed then and said, "I think that's just what you need Jake, a reason."
Robbie didn't get what she meant, but Jake did, "You need to be looking in that direction too Sis, what about Ned?" Sam grinned, "Ned is quite taken I hear and..I couldn't be happier for him. We have always been friends, that's all. Besides I already have all the "reason" I need, Lily."
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