Samantha loved the freedom of horseback riding; at a full gallop, the wind in her face and hair, she felt truly free. It was one of the passions in her life that her ex-boyfriend Max had not been able to take from her; the other passion she lived for was her 6-year old son Logan.
But Max was gone now; killed six months earlier by his own hand. Max had taken her out to dinner, then a movie, Logan safe at home with a babysitter. After the movie, they went for a drive outside the city.
Somehow he had found out that she had been planning on leaving him and moving out of the state. He had told her just before the car went over the bridge, “If I can’t have you, Bitch, nobody will!” He had pulled a gun, pointed it at her, and then suddenly turned the gun on himself. She had been lucky enough to have her window opened slightly so when the car hit the water upside down, she was able to push against the glass til it gave, then swam to the surface. Only when the car was pulled to the surface an hour later and what was left of Max’s body was taken away, did she realize that her living nightmare was over. She went home, took a long hot shower and held her son for the rest of the night, refusing to let him go.
Her aunt called her the next day asking what had happened and if she was still moving to North Carolina. Sammie explained to Margaret what had happened and that her plans had changed; she would remain in New Orleans after all.
Logan was just thankful that Max was gone from their lives; he hated to see his mom cry and hated to hear her screams when Max hit her. He did everything he knew to make her smile again; he started making good grades in school again, even tried out for the Little League team.
After Max was out of her life, Sammie began to do things again. She went back to work at her friend’s armory shop in the French Quarter, she went out with her friends again, she took her son to the movies and to his Little League games. She found a little extra time for herself on Sundays to go ride horses.
She wasn’t looking for another man to come into her life so soon, but Fate has her ways of bringing two souls back together.
