SECOND CHANCES AT MG RANCH

by Karen England

Sam looked at her with a surprised expression, but then his look turned back to normal within a matter of seconds. “I already have plans,” he muttered.

  What did she expect? She wasn’t really sure what she expected, but what she wanted was for him to drop his plans at the drop of a hat for her. Disappointedly, that did not happen, nor did he offer to share what his plans were.

  “Okay, maybe some other time then.” When she reached the barn door, she turned to look over her shoulder. “Have a good time,” she said.

  Sam watched her until she disappeared into the darkness. The disappointment on her face did not go unnoticed, but what was he supposed to do? He had already promised Jordan that he would come along for the dinner and a movie.

  He was pretty sure that Stephanie had something up her sleeve by putting Jordan up to asking him to go. But she did say it was to reward Jordan because he had done so well on his riding lessons.

  Bottom line was that he didn’t want to disappoint Jordan. He had pondered the idea of telling Loren where he was going and maybe even asking her to come along, but he knew she would more than likely get upset again at the mention of Stephanie’s name. Maybe they could talk tomorrow.

  Sam did take notice that she seemed a little more relaxed after her doctor visit. He knew it was a crazy idea, but he had kind of been hoping that she was going to tell him that she was expecting with his child. The symptoms had all been there.

  The thought of Loren having his baby, brought a warm and fuzzy feeling to his heart. A baby would definitely turn things around for them. That settled it; he would talk to her tomorrow and just tell her how he felt. He loved her.

  Sam rushed to get ready to go pick up Stephanie and Jordan, but his heart was heavy. As much as he didn’t want to disappoint Jordan, he had much rather stay home with Loren.

  They had so much to talk about, and there were plans to be made for a future together. That is what Sam wanted and he hung on to the hope that Loren wanted the same thing. It had took him many years to open his heart back up to someone else and now that he had, he wasn’t about to close it again without knowing how she really felt about him.

  He took into consideration that she was young and very inexperienced when it came to relationships, but he also knew that her actions spoke of love.

  Sam left with the assurance that as soon as Loren knew how he felt, their relationship would be restored, and all would be well with them. At this point, he wasn’t willing to accept anything else.

  The drive to pick up Stephanie and Jordan was spent day dreaming about the rest of his life with the woman he loved. Loren Randolph.

  Chapter 24

  The night was slow moving and agonizing for Loren. She even took the clock off the wall once and put it to her ear to see if she could hear the hands moving. Tick Tock, chimed back into her ear to confirm that it was just her imagination that the world had stopped turning on its axis.

  The time was almost twelve a.m. Shouldn’t Sam have been home by now? She had been pacing back and forth from the window to the bed like a lost puppy pining after its mother for the last hour.

  Light snow covered the ground and was continuing to come down, getting heavier as the time passed. It was starting to look like they might be in for a little more snowfall than the weather man had originally called for.

  Maybe some hot cocoa would make her feel better. At least it would give her something to do besides pacing back and forth waiting for Sam’s truck to pull in. All the pacing was making her tired and maybe even a little bit hungry.

  The quick trip to the kitchen brought her back to the bedroom with a hot cup of cocoa and a plate of sliced apples with a side of caramel dipping sauce. She sat the tray beside the bed on the small night stand and immediately walked over to the window to peer out, in the hopes that Sam had made it home.

  Relief flooded her as she saw his truck parked in front of the barn. Now she could have her snack, drink her hot cocoa, and get some rest. Tomorrow was going to be a big day and she needed all the energy and strength that she could get.

  In just a few short hours, she would be telling Sam about the baby and wait for him to decide their future. She hoped and prayed with all her might that he would be happy about the baby and would want to share the rest of his life with them.

  And well if he didn’t then she guessed she would have to accept it for what it was and move on. Her momma had always told her that you couldn’t force someone to love you. They either did or they didn’t. But the choice was theirs to make.

  As she ate her apples, she recited the old saying He loves me, he loves me not, over and over until she had consumed all of the slices on her plate, ending with he loves me. Although it didn’t confirm that he did, it still gave her a better feeling about the whole situation between them.

  One thing she was certain about was that no matter what he decided, she would tell him exactly how she felt about him. She loved him.

  She switched off the lamp light beside the bed and snuggled deep down into the softness of the covers. Loren said her prayers, asking that God would grant her the blessing of Sam’s love. She needed him and so did the baby that she was carrying.

  So much for a light dusting as the weather man had predicted, Loren thought as she peered out the window the next morning. The ground and all the roof tops were covered with crisp white snow. There had to be at least four inches, maybe more where snow drifts had piled up.

  It was amazing how waking up to a pile of snow could make you feel like a kid again. Loren was smiling on the inside with the anticipation of going out to play in the snow. She would go for a horse ride first, then build a snowman, and maybe even have a snowball fight with Sam.

  This was going to be the best day ever, she thought as she pulled on some cuddle duds, following with a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt. She added some warm wool socks and her old worn out cowboy boots.

  Excitement was flowing through her veins like the sugar from a candy cane. After giving her hair and teeth a quick brush, she made her way down stairs to the kitchen. She planned to make some cinnamon rolls and hot cocoa to take on her ride.

  While the rolls were baking, she made the hot cocoa. Now, she just needed to find something to put it in. Loren rummaged through the kitchen cabinets until she finally found an old thermos bottle. It looked a little rough on the outside, but it would have to do.

  The kitchen timer went off to let her know the cinnamon rolls were baked to perfection. She pulled them from the oven letting the smell of them escape into her kitchen. The aroma was heavenly and made her hungry. Maybe she should eat one, just to make sure they were as good as she thought they might be.

  It didn’t take much to convince her to have just one. She gobbled it down like she hadn’t eaten in days, and then washed it down with a hot cup of cocoa. Loren hoped that she didn’t eat like this during her whole pregnancy thing because if she did, she would surely end up looking like a big moo cow.

  She pushed up from the table and finished packing up her stuff for the ride. She hoped that Sam would want to join her. Maybe she would tell him about the baby on their ride. That thought brought butterflies back to her stomach.

  A few minutes later, she opened the back door and stepped out onto the snow covered deck. At least the snow wasn’t wet and slick. She reached down and sifted the dry powdery snow through her gloved fingers. It was perfect for horseback riding.

  Loren smiled all the way to the barn. So this is what it felt like to be happy. A good feeling it was, she reasoned.

  The barn was all quite, except for the soft neighs coming from the horses when they picked up on her scent. She put her fingers to her mouth and shushed them, encouraging them to be quite.

  As quite as she could manage, she gave the horses their morning scoop of oats and refilled their water buckets. She felt like the harder that she tried to be quite the louder she was. It was probably just her imagination.

  Sam had still not appeared by the time the horses had cons
umed their grain. She was starting to have weird feelings. It was very unlike Sam to sleep in. Loren brushed the thought aside and began saddling up the horses. Maybe if she had his horse ready to ride, he wouldn’t even consider saying no.

  Forty-Five minutes later, both horses were saddled and ready to begin their snow filled journey. But there was still no Sam. Loren guessed she was going to have to wake him or he might just sleep away the whole day.

  She hesitantly walked over to Sam’s door and just stood there for a moment. She needed to muster up some courage before knocking because there was no turning back once he opened the door. Today was the day that would decide her future and the future of her unborn baby.

  Loren took a deep breath and raised her fist and rapped lightly on the door a couple of times. She waited a few minutes before rapping again.

  This time the door did open, but to her surprise she was greeted by Stephanie instead of Sam. She was dressed in one of Sam’s t-shirts and was sporting a smug look on her face.

  Laurens palm was itching to smack it right off her face. How could this have happened? “What are you doing here?” she asked, after finding her voice.

  “What do you think I am doing here?” Stephanie replied with an “I can’t believe you just asked me that” tone.

  Without further thinking, she pushed past Stephanie, almost knocking her down in the process. She needed to see Sam. Surely there was a good explanation for all of this. Loren mentally chided her inner self for being so silly. There was only one explanation and everything she saw confirmed it.

  Sam stepped out of the bathroom displaying all of his glory just as Loren pushed her way into the room. The look on his face was nothing short of major shock. He instinctively put his hands over his privates in an effort to cover himself, not that it did much good.

  For a brief moment, Loren just stood and gaped at him. Then it was as if her insane, psycho twin took over and she marched right over to where Sam stood and smacked him hard across the face.

  “You Bastard!” she hissed at him before turning to Stephanie, and pointing a finger at her. “And you are no better than the scum found at the bottom of a well. As far as I am concerned, you two deserve each other!”

  Stephanie just continued to stand by the door smirking as Loren pushed past her again, this time on her way out the door.

  When Stephanie turned to see the anger flashing in Sam’s eyes, all triumph she had felt during that glorious moment quickly faded away. She knew without a doubt there was going to be hell to pay, but in her mind she reasoned that it would be worth it if she won Sam’s love in the end. But what Stephanie couldn’t seem to get through her thick skull was that Sam’s love was not to be bargained for. He had already given it to someone else.

  Forgetting that he was parading around in his birthday suite, Sam rushed out the door after Loren. He found her mounting her horse. He stuck out his arm and grabbed her leg in an effort to stop her. She glared at him with a fury that he had never seen in her before, as she tried to shake his hand free from her leg.

  “Loren, we need to talk,” he said.

  “I have nothing more to say to you.” She kicked her horse a little harder than necessary, causing him to jolt forward. Within seconds she was flying out of the barn as if she meant to leave the world behind.

  Quickly gathering his wits about him, Sam returned to his room in search of his clothes from the night before. He found them in a pile on the floor beside the bed.

  Stephanie had positioned herself on the bed and as he walked over to pick up his clothes, he looked at her very intently before speaking. “I don’t know what just happened here, and at this moment, I don’t care. But when I get back, I expect some answers from you.”

  Stephanie looked as if she were about to cry. “How can you say that to me after what happened between us last night?” she argued.

  “That’s just it; I don’t remember what happened between us last night. I don’t even remember how I got home. The last thing I remember is stopping in at Arlo’s for a beer before heading home after dinner.”

  “The Bartender called Hal to come get you because you were too drunk to drive. Missy was not feeling well, and since Jordan was already asleep, I offered to pick you up and bring you home. I think you can figure out the rest.”

  Sam felt disgusted with himself; maybe this wasn’t Stephanie’s fault after all. The whole night in its self, had not gone as planned. First Jordon was sick and couldn’t go to dinner with them. Missy and Hal had agreed to baby sit him so that at least Stephanie and Sam could still have dinner. Even he couldn’t argue that it had been a nice dinner between friends, but nothing more.

  Sam had insisted that they skip the movie after dinner and he remembered dropping Stephanie back off at Hal’s. Then he had stopped by Arlo’s to have a beer or maybe two, or maybe three. He really couldn’t recall when he had lost count.

  Sam’s thoughts were interrupted by Stephanie’s question. “You really don’t love me anymore do you?”

  He ran his fingers through his hair before answering. “I care about you, but not in that way anymore. I don’t want to hurt you, but I have no choice but to be honest. The truth is that you broke my heart a long time ago and now I have finally managed to find someone who can put it back together again. For so long I thought that someone was going to be you, but you never came back. Not until now, when it is too late.”

  “How can you say it is too late?” Stephanie asked between sobs.

  “I don’t have time for this,” Sam said. And then he stormed out the door. He found his horse already saddled, mounted up and rode off in the direction of the foot prints that Dakota had left behind.

  Once again, Sam found himself praying. “Dear Lord, please keep her safe. Help me to find her and reason things out between us. Please help me to convince her how much I love her and that no matter what happened last night it was a mistake. Please help her to find a way to forgive me.”

  He rode fast and hard trying to catch up with her. At least the snow left a trail and made his search a little easier. He was also thankful that the snow was dry and powdery instead of wet and icy. It was still dangerous to be riding at such a fast speed, not knowing what could be lying underneath the snow, but Sam just continued on at a break neck speed, silently praying that God would keep them all safe and this nightmare would be over soon.

  Chapter 25

  Loren slowed her horse to a walking pace when the barn was no longer in her sight. Dakota was hot and sweaty from the workout that she had just put him through. She felt a pang of guilt for having ridden him so hard without regards to his own safety, but at the time all she could think of was that she had to get as far away from them as possible.

  She could see now that she had set her hopes too high when it came to Sam. He had just been using her all along and she had been too blind to see it. Maybe she should just put the ranch up for sale and move back to Atlanta. If she did it quickly, she wouldn’t even have to tell Sam about the baby.

  Loren was kind of worried about what her parents were going to say, but when it was all said and done, she knew without a doubt that they would welcome her home with open arms. There really wasn’t much one could do to fix a situation like this, but at least she could count on them to help her sort things out and do what was best for the baby.

  Tears had started to stream down her face as her anger began to subside and hurt took its place. This isn’t how things were supposed to turn out. If only she could turn back the hands of time and start over.

  There was a rustling noise coming from the bushes up ahead. Dakota’s ears stood to attention, trying to distinguish if the noise was a threat to them or not. Loren’s sobs had become so loud at one point, that she had probably unintentionally alerted every wild animal roaming around in the area.

  The horse was becoming more fidgety the closer they came to the noise. Following her gut instincts, Loren decided it would be best to turn around and go back the way she had just c
ome. The last time that her horse had acted this way, they had encountered a mountain lion. She had no desire to repeat that same scene again, especially by herself.

  Before she could get her horse turned completely around, she heard another horse approaching. It sounded like it was in a dead run, coming straight towards her.

  It had to be Sam, but why would he come after her? Loren kicked her horse hard in an attempt to run away from him, forgetting that she was supposed to be riding away from possible danger instead of riding towards it. The rustling in the bushes up ahead was long forgotten. All she was concerned with at the moment was getting away from Sam. Loren didn’t want to see him or talk to him. It was over between them and there was nothing more to say anyway.

  “Loren, please stop!” Sam yelled.

  “Leave me alone. I hate you!” she screamed back at him.

  In Loren’s haste to get away from Sam, she did not see the small bear cub that had ran out into the path of her horse with a mother bear quick on its heels.

  When the mother bear caught sight of Loren and her horse running towards her cub, she stood on her hind legs and roared at them. She was certain that if she tried, she could probably count every sharp tooth that the bear insisted on showing her as it continued to roar. She didn’t even want to think about its razor sharp claws that could rip her flesh to shreds, should she get close enough. As bad as the situation was, she knew that the bear was only trying to protect her cub.

  She pulled back on the reins so hard that her knuckles turned white, causing Dakota to stop with a hard jolt. Loren fell forward in the saddle, causing her body to slam into the saddle horn. The contact caused a searing pain in her stomach.

  Lord please let the baby be okay, she silently prayed. She released her tight hold on the reins giving Dakota his head. Without any warning, he reared on his own hind legs, which caused Loren to lose her seat. She hit the ground with a hard thud.

  Before she could get to her feet, Sam was by her side. Her lower abdomen was cramping so bad, that she didn’t protest to his help when he picked her up to move her to safety. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his chest and continued to pray that the baby would be okay.