Sam didn't have long to wait to hear what Jake had on his mind. Aggie wanted to have Christmas at their ranch, telling Robbie that it had been a long time since she had entertained. They were planning a real old fashioned day, with dinner in the evening. Robbie told Sam to try and get on board with the idea, after all, this would be their first year without Luke. Sam hadn't thought about that. She sat down, putting her head in her hands, wondering how she was going to get all this done, and then get through it without losing it. Sam had always depended on her mom for the holidays, all she had to do was enjoy them, not having to do any of the work or planning herself.
Lily was so excited, she was hyper. Robbie loved to make cookies for this time of year to share with her neighbors, Lily wanted to be a part of it all. Taking care of Jericho had taken a back seat to making goodies. Sam had to smile, watching her lick her fingers, covered in dough. It took her back to her own childhood days of making cookies with her mother, good memories. She went in the kitchen and sat beside Lil on a stool, "Can I help?" Lily smiled, "Of course! Here, you put them on the cookie sheet, after I cut them out." Sam laughed, "So, don't I get to cut any out?" Lily shook her head no, "Not unless you make the dough, this one is all mine. I'm making these just for Matt."
Sam put on her coat, heading out the door to check on the mares in the barn. Matt pulled up beside her, "Are you afraid of the four wheeler Sam? You should be using that in this weather, I put an emergency saddle bag on it too, just in case you make a wrong turn." Sam reached down and picked up a handful of snow to throw at him, "I'm just fine, thank you very much!" She kept walking, so Matt jumped out of the truck, catching up to her, "Have you noticed anybody getting close to dropping a foal?" Sam shook her head as she opened the barn door, waiting for a moment to adjust her eyes, before going all the way in. Matt took note of her reticence, leftover feelings from the cat. He had to admit he was a little leery himself, whenever he came in here now, it would take them awhile to forget. The new fallen snow was a good thing right now, you could see any tracks plainly in it. Taking a look at all the mares, Sam was satisfied that none of them were close tonight, thank goodness. She didn't seem to be able to get past that feeling of being tired, after Jericho's injury. She also realized how much work he did on the ranch, allowing her to be part time rancher, full time mom.
Matt walked beside her back to the house, leaving his truck parked in the middle of the driveway. Lily screamed when he walked in the door, "Nooo, you can't come in here! Don't look, Matt." Matt turned around to face the door, "What can't I see?" Sam smiled, "Come with me." She walked him backwards to the den, to chat with Jericho, relaxed in the recliner. Matt grinned at her, while he sat in the chair next Jericho, knowing full well that Lily was making him cookies. He felt a certain amount of pride, knowing she thought that much of him, she was choosy who she let into her heart.
Sam went to her room to finish wrapping gifts, kicking her boots off as she sat on the bed. She only had a few more to stuff into their shiny bags, making quick work of it. Taking them down to put under the tree, she heard voices in the kitchen. Ned had stopped by to bring Lily a gift, "Well, I didn't realize that you knew how to wrap gifts, Sam." She would have thrown one at him, if she had one that wouldn't break, " Instead, sticking her tongue out at him, while handing him one of the gifts in her hand. Taking the gift bag and pretending it was too heavy for him, bringing giggles from Lily, he read the card, from Lily. Ned winked at Sam, telling everyone goodbye and headed out the door. "Got a hot date?" Sam called after him. "Yep, as a matter of fact I do." he called back to her. "Here you go Lil, go put these by the tree, I have to go make one more check on the mares."
Sam headed out the door, still putting her coat on. She was met by a cold wind, coming from the north. Not good, she thought, this will bring more snow. Finding all the mares still in the same condition, she headed back to the house, when she heard horses hooves coming toward her, fast. She stood still, wishing she had been smart enough to bring a flashlight with her. Peering into the night, her eyes squinted trying to see, a horse stopped right in front of her, making her step back from it. "Hello Sam." a voice on the horse said. "Jake! You scared me to death. What are you doing?" she almost screamed at him.
"Sorry, I really didn't mean to scare you, I was just trying to catch you before you went in the house. I brought a present over." he told her, almost impishly. She was totally confused, "You couldn't have ridden that horse all the way from your ranch tonight!" she said emphatically. He slid down off the horse, as Sam realized there was no saddle. "This is for Lily, from Aggie and I. He's ready to train her, while she waits for the Bay to grow up." Jake told her. Now that her eyes were adjusted to the moonlight, Sam could see that Jake was smiling, "But..how did you know?" Jake took her hand, "Mom told me your plan, so I thought Lily might like to get started learning how to run barrels, on a horse that can teach her. I want to make friends with her Sam, I hope she can accept me now." She couldn't speak, this man was not in any way the brother that she had grown up with. Jake took the horse and put it in the barn, while Sam stood watching him. "Wait a minute Jake, how did you get the horse here?" she called out, following him into the barn. He laughed, "The trailer is at the end of the road." She should have know, but he had surprised the life out of her the way he rode up. Together they walked towards the house, "Aren't you coming in?" Sam asked. "No, I hung a card on the stall door, just send her out in the morning." he told her, heading down the drive to his truck and trailer, with Sam standing at the door watching this stranger walk away. As he disappeared into the night, she had so many emotions spinning around in her head, she had to sit on the porch for awhile.
It was one thing for Jake to be nice, but this was far more than nice, it was thoughtful of Lily's needs. She would be needing a horse that already knew what to do, to teach her what to feel, moving through the paces. Sam still just couldn't get her head around why Jake wanted Lily to race, why he was so helpful, she just couldn't think of a reason.
Christmas morning came with a pristine blanket of new snow, covering the ruts and tracks, leaving an almost picture perfect landscape. Sam had put the saddle under the tree with a big bow tied to it, along with a card telling Lily that the Bay was hers. A little later, after breakfast, Sam asked Lily to walk to the barn with her. Once inside, Lily spied the card hanging on a stall door. Running to it, peering inside of it without taking it down, she saw her name. Excited now, she grabbed it from the nail it was hung on, reading the words that Jake had written. Sam stood a few feet away, watching her. Lily looked up at Sam, then at the stall door. She was too short to see over it, so she reached for the latch and opened it. Inside stood a gorgeous roan colored horse, calmly munching on hay. Glancing at Sam for permission to go in, she stepped inside, reaching up for the horses head and hugging it, with Sam right beside her. Even though the gift from Jake was an enormous admission of caring, Sam didn't know how the horse would react to Lil. She was carefully, watching the horses reaction, ready to intervene if necessary. The horse leaned it's head to Lil, waiting for her to rub her neck. Slowly, Sam breathed easier, watching the two of them get to know one another. When it was time to go in, the horse followed Lil to the door, as if he were a pet already, ready to go in the house with his new owner. Needless to say, Lily was thrilled with the gift.
"Sam, do you think this means that Jake likes me now?" she asked on the way to the house. Sam had asked herself the same question, "I think he does Lil, a lot it would seem. That's a pretty special horse, you know." Lil looked up at her, "Why?" Sam smiled, "Jake wanted you to have a horse that could train you, in racing." Lily didn't say anything else, but she was deep in thought, with her little brow furrowed in a line. Robbie and Jericho had been watching from the porch, "Well Lily, how do you like him?" Robbie was so proud of Jake's gift, she wanted Lily to love it and Jake. "I just love him! He is so gentle and soft, I can't wait to ride him." she answered, jumping onto the porch to hug Robbie. Sam smiled, "Later." In the afternoon, they left for Jake and Aggie's, with Tim and his family along with them. Jericho had decided to stay home, but Jake had sent a special invitation for him, making sure that he came along, letting them all know, that he had excepted Jericho as part of the family. When they pulled into the lane, that was quite long, Jake was waiting with a sleigh, pulled by two horses. His grin was a mile wide, as they piled into it, along with their bags filled with gifts. Lily just couldn't believe it, she was so excited she almost cried, she had never ridden in a horse drawn sleigh. As Jake clicked his tongue for the horses to move, bells jingled from the sleigh, with Lily sitting beside Jake on the front seat. Sam was impressed, she had no idea that Jake could be so..thoughtful and creative. Aggie must be the best thing that had ever happened to him, all of them. Jake pulled the sleigh up in front of the ranch house, decorated in lights from top to bottom. Tommy came running out to help them out of the sleigh, holding onto Lily for a moment as he lifted her down. Sam noticed that he had grown taller, with a different look about him too, contented. Once inside, they were amazed at the beautifully decorated home. The ceiling was made of timbers, reaching a height of about 17'. A huge stone fireplace with a roaring fire, welcomed them into a spacious room with a giant tree by the staircase, almost reaching the timbers above.
Aggie greeted them warmly, taking their coats from them to another room. Sam noticed a dining room, set as though it came straight out of a magazine. Aggie made sure that everyone was comfortably seated, then went to stand beside Jake. "Jake and I want to welcome you to our home, for the first of hopefully many gatherings here." she said graciously. Then Jake cleared his throat, "Thank you all for joining us today. It's a special day for us, in many ways." He stopped to look at Aggie, unable to continue, so she took over, "Jake and I are so happy that you are all here, to join us for Christmas..and our wedding." Robbie put her hand to her mouth with a gasp, jumping up to hug them. Sam thought she saw Jake's eyes glisten with almost tears. The look on his face told her that this was a man reborn, able to love, with kindness and compassion. Everything about him had changed, even the way he held himself, relaxed and easy. She slowly got up, waiting for Jake to move away from Robbie, he held out his arms to her. Hugging Jake suddenly felt as though it was the most right thing in the world. With tears in her eyes, she glanced over at Aggie, "Thank you." Aggie knew exactly what she meant, nodding to her.
Lily stood beside Jericho, waiting, her eyes taking in the scene. When Jake moved toward her, smiling, she jumped into his arms, "Thank you for my present Jake. I just love him!" She put her lips up to his ear and whispered, "What about Tommy?" Jake laughed, "Aggie and I are adopting him, Lily. You can see him whenever you want, he'll always be here." Sam watched, as the sparkle in Jake's eyes told her, he was truly a changed man. The anger gone, replaced with a softer side now.
Jake looked down at Lily, still in his arms, "Lily, I think you are going to make as a good a racer as your Mom. She was something to see." Finally, Sam had her answer, she knew why it was important for him, that Lily race.
The End
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