Something About Sam

Chapter 9

"You're kidding."

"No," he started laughing again, making me smile. "And then she called me a fairy princess and hung up. So, yeah. You could say I miss her."

I was talking to Sam on the phone. I had stuck my cell on a shelf in Grace's stall as I brushed her down, listening to Sam over speakerphone as he recounted his latest FaceTime with my sister.

"Hey, has she forgiven you yet?" he added once we both finished laughing. Putting down the brush, I grabbed my cell and stuck it between my ear and my neck.

"Yeah. But barely."

After I yelled at my sister--cursed her out, really-- the day The Ford's left, she had not been able to get over it.

That night at dinner, she announced it to my parents. "Taite yelled at me today," she told them. "He even cursed at me." I rolled my eyes as my parents gasped, unable to believe their ears. It wasn't that she was trying to get me punished; my parents would never do that. She just simply couldn't believe it. Later that night, she came into my room. Yes, she had knocked.

She sat on the edge of my bed. "Sorry for bringing that up at dinner, that was wrong of me." I closed the book I was reading and sat up.

"It's ok, Sar."

"I... I just have never seen you like that. I have never once heard you raise your voice at anyone. It scared me, Taite." She curled up at my side after that, listening to me promise over and over that it won't happen again. As she was leaving my room that night, she paused in the doorway. She was trying to keep herself from smirking, but she couldn't.

"I've got to know, Taite," she paused, looking over at me. "What in the world had I interrupted that you were so desperate to continue?"

I threw a pillow at her. It missed. She left my room laughing.

"Good," Sam answered me. "I'm glad."

Shutting Grace's stall door, I headed out of the barn just as Marley was coming in. "Who's on the phone?" she asked me, hauling a saddle over her shoulder. "Is it your boyfriend?"

I rolled my eyes at her, thanking God that Sam couldn't see that I was a fierce red. "Yeah," I told her, putting the phone on speaker. "Sam, say hi to Marley."

"Hey, love."

She squealed. "HI cutie! How is everything? When does the US tour start? When can I see you again?"
He laughed. I imagined his head rolling back with the weight of the sound.

"I can't tell you that. It's a secret."

Marley let out a noise of discontent. "I'll call you later when Taite isn't around," she told him. Sam laughed again. "Perfect."

Leaving the barn and Marley, I shoved the phone to my ear again. "What are you two plotting without me?"

"Nothing. I swear."

"Ok. If you swear."

"Am I still on speakerphone?"

"No," I told him. "You're free to make fun of Marley all you want."

He let out a breath he had been holding in. He didn't laugh at my joke. "Taite?"

"Yes, Sammy."

He paused. "I miss you."

He had left two weeks ago. We had talked on the phone every day since. Sometimes, even more than once. It was difficult with the time zones, but we managed. This was the first time he was telling me he missed me. A weight pressed down on my chest.