“Laura. Laura, wake up. Sam’s on the phone.”

I woke to feel Sarah shaking me, and glanced at the clock, noticing that it was 4:30 in the afternoon. Sarah handed me the phone as I sat up and walked into the kitchen, from where I could hear sounds of coffee brewing.

“Hello?” I managed, sounding less awake than I felt.

“Still up to going with me?” asked Sam.

“Sure, give me about ten minutes to not look like a rumpled mess, and I will be presentable.”

“No problem, I have a bit more work to do here, and then I am done. No real crises since this morning when Igo the demon cat ripped out his stitches. I’ll be over in a few.”

“Ok, see you then.”

I wandered out to the kitchen, and Sarah wordlessly handed me a cup of coffee with all the fixings. I took it and took a deep drink, burning my tongue in the process.

“What time did you get back?” she asked, yawning.

“About eight o clock,” I said. “He wants me to go to the tack shop with him. Do you want to come?”

“Only if I am not in the way,” said Sarah. “What happened at his house, if you don’t mind me being nosy?”

“Breakfast, followed by a glimpse of something large.”

“Oooh!”

“Sarah, is your brain always there?”

“With Tim on a business trip, yes.”

“When is that man going to ask you to move in with him?”

“He has. Last week, in fact. I said that I felt crummy abandoning you, but I would think about it.”

“Sarah, you are a love, but don’t put your happiness on hold for me. I can get by”

“Well, if the good doctor is as serious as he seems to be, I may not have to.”

“We aren’t going to jump to any conclusions, are we?" I said firmly, with a warning tone.

“Laura, he’s smitten. I’m not jumping, I’m leaping!”

“Thanks,” I said sarcastically.

I went into my room, changed from the clothes I wore yesterday into a robe, and dove into a quick shower. Ten minutes later, I was drying my hair and heard the knock at the door. Sarah went to answer it, and I heard her ask him if he minded if she tagged along with us. He laughed in reply and graciously invited her along. I finished dressing, tossed my hair into a ponytail, and went into the kitchen where they were drinking coffee and chatting amiably. There was no weirdness between them at all, I noted, and I made myself a second cup of coffee in a travel mug as we prepared to go out to the tack shop.

The Equestrian Shop was not too far away, located in North Andover on the road into Middleton, or so I thought. When we arrived, however, we found a sign saying that they had moved to Ipswich, about a half an hour away. A quick consensus confirmed the trip via GoogleMaps, and off we went. The air was much warmer now than it had been that morning, and we made our way down to Rt. 133 with the windows open and the radio on. Sam seemed to still be relaxed, and I sipped my coffee and listened to Peter Gabriel singing about shocking the monkey. The day was good. The monkey had already had enough shocks.

We pulled into the parking lot of the Ipswich store a little while later and followed Sam into the dim interior of the sharply laid out shop. Inside there was anything one might need for a horse or rider, from saddles to brushes, and every other horse-related activity. Sam looked around the store grimly and walked up back towards a display of leather headgear. Sarah and I noted the mood change in our companion and followed closely. Sam stopped at the display of leather and rope halters, and gingerly touched the leather straps. He looked at me and I smiled, shrugging. He smiled back in a rather wobbly manner, and we found ourselves accosted by a sales associate asking politely if there was anything she could do to help us.

“We’d like to buy a halter and lead for a horse,” I said.

“Certainly. How big is it and what type?”

“A Morgan cross,” said Sam, neutrally, “about fifteen hands high.”

“Ok, well, we have a nice selection of halters that will fit your horse. Is he high strung or fairly calm?”

“Fairly calm,” said Sam, “but a little nervous about things around his head. I don’t suppose you have something he could get out of quickly if he got himself hung up about it?”

The clerk looked at him oddly, but she smiled, and said,

“Well, yes. We have a breakaway halter that comes with a matching lead for about forty dollars. If he got it caught, it will break loose fairly easily, and comes on and off fast, too.”

“Can we see that one?” I asked, glancing at Sam. He continued to maintain his calm demeanor though I could see him tensing when he glanced at the saddles and bits.

“Sure, here it is. Comes in several colors, too. What color is he?”

“Chestnut,” said Sam.

“Well, in that case, the royal blue would look very handsome on him.”

She handed the halter to Sam and he looked it over, noting the leather strap that would go up behind the ears, and the blue nylon cheek and nose straps. He unrolled the lead, frowning at the chain at the end of it, and glanced at me. I shrugged again, as if to say, ‘up to you’ and he nodded.

“We’ll take it,” I said. “Sam, is there anything else you need?”

“Not that I can think of,” said Sam.

“Take your time and look around,” smiled the clerk, “I’ll be around when you are ready to check out.”

She walked off and I turned to Sam, who was looking around himself nervously.

“Sam, why is this making you so nervous?” I asked quietly. “Didn’t you say that you have horses on the ranch, real ones, and that you all ride?”

“Yes, but that is different,” he said. “We have horses, they do wear tack, though often as little as we can get away with, but never anything like those curb bits, or the check reins which are meant to dominate the horse’s spirit and control him. We have partnerships, and they are not slaves. Not to mention the fact that I am here shopping for myself is a little surreal.”

“I guess we are all having some surreal moments the last couple of days,” said Sarah. “I guess I didn’t realize that some of this might be surreal for you, too.”

“Only a lot,” smiled Sam.

“So, do we have anything else we need to get? Maybe a hoof pick, or curry comb? Something like that?” I asked.

Sam nodded.

“Actually, both might be a good idea, and a dandy brush, too. Might as well get some supplies. I haven’t had anyone do a full body brushing on me in years, and if we are going to do this right, we may need all of those supplies on our hikes.”

A short walk around the store yielded a dandy brush, two hoof picks, and a rubber currycomb to add to the purchases. When everything was totaled and bagged, we walked out with under sixty dollars of supplies, and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

“Sam, what are you doing for dinner tonight?” asked Sarah.

“Well, I didn’t have any plans as of yet. I was going to see what you both were doing, although I am not sure my head could handle a repeat of last night, at least the drinking part. I also need to get some sleep tonight.”

“We could have a better planned dinner, and pick one movie to watch,” said Sarah.

“And you could still crash if you wanted to,” I said.

“Laura!”

“What? I’m always yelling at you, so fair’s fair!” I laughed.

“Truthfully, I would like that,” said Sam. “It places me closer to Igo in case he pulls out his stitches again when the sedative wears off, and Sally has my cell number. Honestly, I don’t want to be alone. The Clan has a herd mentality, and we are never alone by choice if we can help it. I have dealt with it for a couple of years, but now that you know, I am loathe to be alone all the time. Unless you mind, that is.”

“What and miss the chance to get to know the mysterious Sam Winston?” laughed Sarah, “Not in a million years!”

“If it gets to be too much, tell me,” said Sam. “I don’t want to become a problem for you.”

“No fear of that,” I muttered, and caught Sam’s quick glance at my comment. I blushed and turned to look out the window. This whole turn of events had happened very fast, and my emotions were in turmoil. I wasn’t even going to deal the fact that Sam was a were-horse. The whole potential relationship was sudden enough.

I awoke at three o clock in the morning to find myself in dire need of a trip to the bathroom, and tip toed out of my room to make my way across the apartment. On my way back, I glanced at the couch to where Sam was sleeping and found my breath caught out as I looked on him. A wisp of moonlight shone down across his face, and I observed the openness of his expression as he slept. Easing onto the floor by the head of the couch, I sat watching him sleep, listening to the sound of his breathing, and letting the feeling of peace steal over me.

The evening had been relatively uneventful. Sarah had created a wonderful fish concoction with steamed rice and julienned vegetables with a garlic butter sauce. We had all eaten well, and settled back to watch an Indiana Jones flick. We drank lightly, and the mood was peaceful. I sat close to Sam, but neither of us made any overt moves in the other’s direction, except for glances back and forth, and a sense of mutual admiration. Sarah had rolled her eyes and declared that we were both hopeless. All of us turned in around midnight; Sam had rolled himself up in a light blanket despite the warm evening temperature and had fallen instantly asleep on the couch.

He hadn’t really moved since I had seen him last, and he seemed very peaceful as I sat and watched him. I had to wonder what the universe had in mind by setting the events of the last two days in motion. How many other people could have handled this? I wasn’t sure how I was handling it, to be honest. I just knew that Sam was worth more than the weirdness he presented.

I was quietly standing back up when Sam’s eyes cracked open, and he saw me. He slowly levered himself up onto his elbow, and blinked at the clock.

“Sorry,” I said, “I didn’t mean to wake you,”

“That’s ok,” he said, softly, “What were you doing up anyway?”

“Urgent call of nature,” I said, “then you just looked so peaceful that I had to stop for a moment.”

“Ah,” he said. And then, “Do you mind if I ask you something?”

“Go ahead”

“Why are you so calm about all of this?”

I sat back down by the couch, and leaned against the frame.

“I have no idea,” I said, finally. “I guess it just doesn’t seem as important as you do to me. Does that make sense?”

Sam gently reached out and touched my hair. I turned and caught his hand in mine.

“You are not like other women I have been attracted to,” he said.

“Hopefully,” I said softly, “that is a good thing.”

The kiss was spontaneous, and both of us leaned into the other hungrily. When we parted, we looked at each other and smiled in the darkness.

“This is going to surprise a few people at coffee night,” I said, softly.

He chuckled.

“You could be right,” he said, “though not Sarah.”

“No, not Sarah.”

“So what do we do now?”

“We wait to see what comes,” he said, “and see where this relationship takes us, though I already like the direction it is going in very much. If things go well, might you fancy a little vacation?”

“Vacation?” I said, curious and now wide-awake, “Where?”

“Home with me to Montana. Big sky country, and all that,” he said.

“Are you sure that you want me to visit there with you?” I said, not even trying to conceal my surprise.

“It wouldn’t be right away, Laura. Probably not until next fall for the annual family reunion. That should give us enough time to see what is between us. I wouldn’t have mentioned it, though, unless I felt that it might be a possibility.”

“You know what is bugging me a little is how different you have been acting the past couple of days,” I said, “Is the reserve that we have seen all because of keeping the secret?”

“Mostly. I am fairly reserved usually, but I feel comfortable around you and Sarah, so I have let it slip a bit…well, a lot, actually.” Sam smiled at me. “You should go back and get some sleep. It’s half past three, and you didn’t sleep much the other night either.”

“I suppose,” I said, rising reluctantly.

“ Come on, we have a big day tomorrow!” he said. “You get to take me for a walk through the woods, and I get to have a nervous breakdown when I try on the halter.”

“Is it really going to be that bad?” I asked.

“It is going to be weird,” he said. “None of us wear tack as a rule. Oh, I mean there have been some occasions, like we had one couple who got into show jumping, and another who were into calf roping, but they are considered to be a bit odd.”

“Were they both members of your clan? The rider and the, um, ridee?”

“No, they were both mixed couples. As I said, it happens, but the human partner tends to be a bit odd.”

“Sounds like the clan partner is as well,” I mused.

“Well, don’t get any ideas,” said Sam, with a touch of humor, “I am not cut out for show jumping or rodeo.”

“What about dressage?” I joked. “You would make a very handsome sight…”

Sam fell silent for a few moments, and I almost thought that I had gone too far in my teasing.

“If it wasn’t for the tack,” he said, “I might consider it…”

I looked at him, and he looked thoughtfully at the wall for a moment.

“I loved watching dressage as a kid,” he said. “My family thought I was nuts, said that I should at least pick a horse sport closer to the region I was from. There is such grace to the movements, though.”

He was silent for a moment and heaved a huge sigh.

“I will have to think on that for a while,” he said. “My family is going to think me weird enough for what has happened recently.”

“Your family?” I chuckled, “I don’t think I can turn to my mother and say, ‘Hi Mom, my boyfriend is a horse.’ ”

Sam grinned and shook his head.

“I think both of our families are in for a bit of a surprise,” he said.

I stood up and looked pointedly towards my room.

“I need sleep,” I said, tiredly. “I’m going to go to bed.”

Starting away, I turned and looked back, steeled myself, and said,

“You can come too, if you like. Just to keep company.”

“I’d like that,” said Sam, rising from the couch, “Just for sleeping, though.”

I led the way shyly to my room, grateful for my choice of a double bed and was soon curled up with Sam at my back, and his arm protectively around me. We lay awake talking quietly for a long time, and finally fell back asleep.