Sonny let the door slam behind his as he walked into the house. Jeweldean looked over her shoulder at him, then looked back to the sink, where she was cleaning dishes.

"Lunch is on the table." She said, a bitter bite to her words.

"I'm not hungry." Sonny said, placing his hands on his hips, still standing in the doorway.

"Well, I made it for you and I don't want it to go-"

"I said I'm not hungry!" Sonny shouted loudly over Jeweldean.

Jeweldean turned to face Sonny.

Sonny stood his ground. He barely lowered his voice when he said, "Why didn't you tell me you were sick after you had Sadie?"

"I...I didn't think that it mattered. I'm better now. It was only a little fever." Jeweldean turned back to the dishes.

Sonny scoffed and rolled his eyes. "That's not what the doctor told me." Grabbing the door handle, Sonny slammed the front door shut. His spurs clicked as he crossed the room to stand closer to Jeweldean.

Jeweldean turned her back to Sonny. "Okay, then why did you ask me? You said that you can't trust me now anyways so why does it matter what I say?" Jeweldean asked, her anger rising.

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe because you almost died?" Sonny shouted to Jeweldean.

"You almost died, too. And you didn't even bother to tell me that you got shot?"

"Because I didn't want you to worry! Besides, I was going to tell you about it later."

Jeweldean threw the silverware that she was washing back into the sink, which made a loud clanging, and then spun around to face Sonny. "You disappeared for four months, Sonny, of course I'm going to be worried."

"You know what I think?" Sonny walked closer to Jeweldean and pointed a finger at her face. "You probably wanted the bank to foreclose on the ranch and you were glad that I 'disappeared' because then you and Clint could run away together. Is that what it is? Is that why you didn't pay the bills and the loans?"

"What on earth are you talking about?" She swatted his finger out of her face and glared at Sonny.

"You said that Clint kissed you. You must have done something to make him kiss you. What'd you do? What did you say to him? Did you kiss him first? What was it Jeweldean?" Sonny's voice continued to rise.

"How can you say that, Sonny? What happened to you? Do you not remember our first night together after you got back? What about our talks? And our walks and our-"

"What happened? What happened? What happened was I got beat up by evil men, I got shot, I watched a man die, I almost starved to death. I almost froze to death. I almost died more then once. I haven't had a single good night's sleep because I have nightmares every night about what happened. Every night! And then to top it off, then, then I had to come home and clean up the mess that you left for me!" Sonny slammed his fist, hard, on the counter behind Jeweldean, making the dishes and Jeweldean jump.

Jeweldean and Sonny stood in silence in the kitchen. Sonny had never been this mad at Jeweldean in their seven years of marriage. She didn't know what to say to him. She just stared at him in disbelief.

The sound of crying floated downstairs from Jeweldean and Sonny's bedroom. "Great, you woke Sadie up from her nap." Jeweldean said and ran upstairs before Sonny could say anything else.

The next several hours Jeweldean and Sonny didn't say a word to each other, and they had only exchanged one glance right before dinner. It was now time for bed, and so Jeweldean tucked in Cody, Suzanne, and Sadie, then she began to get ready for bed herself. She let her hair out of her braid and washed her face. The door opened to her right. Sonny walked in and walked straight to his dresser without looking at Jeweldean. He grabbed the Bible off the top of his dresser then he turned on his heels and walked past Jeweldean; he still hadn't looked at her since dinner.

"I'm sleepin' downstairs." Was all Sonny said before he slammed the bedroom door behind him and walked downstairs.

Jeweldean couldn't fall asleep that night as she thought about her and Sonny's fight. She fingered her wedding ring as she laid in bed, and wondered how they were ever going to make up, if they would. Sonny was pretty bitter about everything, which Jeweldean took full credit for, since she should've told Sonny about everything sooner. After all, it was her fault that the bills weren't paid, and she wished that she could change that, but she knew that she couldn't.

Jeweldean turned over so she was facing the door, and for some reason she hoped that Sonny would come back upstairs and they could try to talk this out, but she knew it would take a miracle to smooth things over now.

"What am I goin' to do Bronco?" Sonny asked his horse, Bronco, who was happily grazing five feet away from where Sonny was leaning on a fence rail that surrounded the pasture that Bronco was in. "I can't go back in there. I'm so mad at her right now. I'm worried, too, ya know? We have worked so hard to get this ranch up and running and just when we get it all in order, she 'can't pay the bills' and it all slips through our fingers. How am I goin' to make this right again, buddy? I can't just walk in there tomorrow all happy and pretend like nothing ever happened, right? And she didn't even tell me that she was sick after she had Sadie, or that she fired Clint! And she asked me why I had changed? I should be askin' her...I don't know, Bronco. I don't know what to do, or what to think. What do you think I should do?" Sonny asked. Bronco just sputtered and continued eating the grass.

"You're probably right. Just sleep on it and pray, right?" Bronco just munched on the grass.

"Okay," Sonny sighed. "Well goodnight buddy." Sonny said. He loved to talk to Bronco, because for some reason, horses are often better listeners than humans.

Sonny sighed and walked away from the fence. He made his way into the barn where he would most likely sleep for the night. Sonny lit a lantern, sat down on a hay bale, and began reading his Bible, when Tucker and Carver walked in. Tucker had been sleeping in the barn since he helped Sonny get back home.

"Oh, howdy. You're up late." Carver said.

Sonny closed his Bible and looked up at Carver. "I could say the same about you."

"I came out to do night-check on the horses with Tucker. Everything okay with you?" Carver asked and sat down next to Sonny on a hay bale. Tucker walked through the barn to check on the horses, knowing that Carver and Sonny's conversation was none of his business.

Sonny let out a breath. "Jeweldean and I are kind of...in a disagreement right now."

"Yeah, we could all kinda tell." Carver replied.

"It's that obvious?" Sonny asked, looking at Carver.

"Pretty much. Y'all are usually so happy. Y'all never fight, though."

"Yeah, well it ain't every day that the bank wants to foreclose, or that Clint was fired, or that Jeweldean almost died after having Sadie, I just...don't know what to do yet." Sonny took off his Stetson to run a hand through his hair.

"Well, prayer is always a good thang to start with." Carver replied, nodding to the Bible in Sonny's hands.

"I know, and I have been prayin', but I just... You know, I accused her of makin' a move on Clint. I blamed this whole fight on her, when really, it's pretty much my fault, but some of it is on her, though. I just don't know how to forgive her, and I don't know if she is even going to forgive me." Sonny sighed. He fingered the bill of his cowboy hat. "I really messed up, Carver."

"Well, one thang ain't gonna change." Carver said.

"What's that?" Sonny asked, then replaced his Stetson on his head.

"You still love Jeweldean, right?"

Without hesitation, Sonny replied, "Yes, of course I love her. I love her more then anything. She means the world to me."

"Have you told her that recently?"

"Yes, every day since I got back. Where are you going with this Carver?"

"Jesus forgave those who loved him, but he also forgave those who hated him. There's a verse in the Bible in the book of Ephesians that says, 'do not let the sun go down on your anger.' You need to forgive Jeweldean, even if she did wrong in your eyes. The sooner you forgive her, the sooner she will forgive you."

"I see your point, but it ain't that easy. I mean, I have four months of bills that I have to pay, and on top of that, I have to pay this month's bill too. Christmas is also coming up soon, and I have to find a way to buy gifts for the kids. I don't know how I'm going to do it all."

"What are the bills that you have to pay?"

"There's the loans that we had to take out when we bought more heads of cattle, there's the loans from when we bought more land, and all of that stuff. It's just so overwhelming." Sonny let out a sigh.

"I'm sure it is. I really wish that there was something I could do."

"Right now prayer is probably the only thing that is going to help." Sonny replied.

"Well, you know that I will pray."

"Thank you. There's something else, too."

"What's that?"

"I'm fixin' to go into town tomorrow and talk to Clint."

Carver sighed. "Jeweldean know about this?"

"No, but I know that she won't be to happy when she finds out."

"That's understandable. Well, I will definitely pray for you."

"Thanks, Carver."

"No problem." Carver clapped Sonny on the back in a friendly way, and then stood up. "Well, I reckon I will see you in the morning."

"Yes, sir." Sonny replied. Once Carver was out of the barn, Sonny turned to Tucker.

"Hey, man, do you mind if I sleep in the barn tonight?"

"It's your barn. I can sleep outside tonight if you want my bed." Tucker replied.

"I'm not gonna kick you out of here. I'm fine sleepin' on these bales. It ain't the first time that I have slept in a barn."

Tucker grinned. "Night, Sonny."

"Night." Sonny began to read his Bible again, hoping to find some answers.

Several hours later, Sonny blew out the lantern and laid down on the hay, and attempted to fall asleep.

The morning sun came up without fail the next morning. As always, the rooster crowed, the cows mooed, and the horses neighed. But one thing was different. Jeweldean opened her eyes and hoped to feel Sonny's warm arm across her, laying very near to her just as he had every morning, with his breath tickling her neck. But she didn't feel a strong, warm arm, or a breath tickling her neck; instead she felt cold once she remembered why Sonny wasn't lying next to her. Jeweldean sighed as she got out of bed. She knew she should forgive Sonny, but he said very hurtful things to her yesterday. And did he not think that some of this was his fault too?

Jeweldean washed her face, fed Sadie, and got dressed for the day. She was braiding her hair when the door opened, and Sonny walked in. Once he was through the door, he stood and stared at Jeweldean for a second and Jeweldean thought she saw a flash of something in his eyes. Whether if it was sadness, anger, love, hatred, or what, Jeweldean couldn't be sure, because as quickly as it came, it went away. Sonny closed the bedroom door behind him and walked to his dresser. He began to change his shirt when Jeweldean walked over behind him.

"Sonny, can we please talk?"

Sonny continued to find a clean shirt, his back still turned to Jeweldean. She could see the scar from his bullet wound, along with the jagged gashes on his back and sides from the beatings he got from the bandits. She could also see part of the scar on his stomach where something that Sonny couldn't remember had cut him. It made her cringe thinking about what he went through. Sonny's voice pulled her out of her thoughts and back to reality.

"What's there to talk about?" Sonny asked, anger still lingering in his voice.

"This, Sonny. This...anger, resentment, hatred, whatever it is. Can we please try to talk this out?" Jeweldean asked. She was still mad, but she kept her voice down. She wanted to at least try to talk to Sonny. She took one step closer.

When Sonny was done buttoning his shirt, he turned around and faced Jeweldean.

"I am not ready to forgive you yet, Jeweldean. And I know that you are probably not yet ready to forgive me either, so I'm not apologizing, and you should save your breath and not apologize either." Sonny said bitterly, but he stayed right where he was at instead of leaving.

"I know, Sonny, but we at least try to act like adults and talk about this?"

Sonny let out an annoyed sigh. "Okay, fine. What do you want to talk about?"

Jeweldean scoffed. "Do you remember your first night back and the next morning? Did that mean anything to you? Have our talks and walks and teasing times and the kisses and the hugs and the 'I love you's' not mean anything either?"

"Of course they meant something to me, Jeweldean. How can you say that?" Sonny placed his hands on Jeweldean's shoulders.

"Because you're acting like they meant nothing to you. Did you even mean it when you kissed me or when you said that you loved me or when-"

"Of course I meant it. I meant it all, Jeweldean, but that doesn't change the way I feel right now."

"Then what will it take to resolve this?" Jeweldean asked, her voice raised. Sonny dropped his hands from her shoulders.

"I don't know, but let me know when you find out." Sonny said, his voice still angry. He walked out of the room.

Jeweldean hoped that she could find a resolution soon. Trying to distract herself from Sonny, and hoping not to let herself cry, Jeweldean walked over to Sadie's crib, picked her up, and held her close.

"What am I gonna do, baby girl? Daddy's so angry at me." Jeweldean looked at her precious new child. Instead of replying, Sadie just cooed and tried to put her fingers in Jeweldean's mouth. Jeweldean sighed, then walked downstairs with Sadie still in her arms.

Jeweldean walked into Cody's room to check on him and Suzanne. They were both still sleeping soundly. Being quiet to not wake them, Jeweldean quietly closed the door and made her way into the kitchen to fix breakfast. She set Sadie in her high-chair and then began to crack eggs.

Sonny saddled Bronco up for the second time that day. He was leading Bronco out of the barn when Cooper walked past.

"You not stayin' for breakfast, boss?" Cooper asked.

Sonny mounted up onto Bronco. "Tell Jeweldean I've got some more business to do in town. I should be home for supper; if not, I will try'n grab some grub in town."

"Oh okay. What kind of business do you have to do?" Cooper asked.

Sonny sighed and looked up at the sky. "I'm gonna try to talk to Clint."

Cooper looked up at Sonny. "Mrs. McAurthur know about this?"

"No, and I reckon it's best that she don't right now. Understand?" Sonny said.

"Yes, sir. I understand."

"Good." Sonny replied and clucked to Bronco, giving Bronco his head.

"Oh, Sonny?" Cooper asked. Sonny pulled up on Bronco's reins and looked at Cooper.

"Good luck. I hope you and the Miss get everything worked out." Cooper said. Sonny nodded then shook his head and tried to not think about Jeweldean's and his fight. He then kicked Bronco into a lope as he made his way towards town.

"Hey, Cooper." Jeweldean smiled as Cooper walked into the house from outside.

"Ma'am." Cooper nodded and removed his hat.

Jeweldean looked behind Copper to the door, then she asked Cooper, "Where's Sonny?"

"Oh he said he had something to do in town." Cooper replied.

Jeweldean turned her back and said, under her breath, "That man is always runnin' off."

"Whoa." Sonny said to Bronco as he pulled him up right in front of the hotel. Sonny dismounted, then tied Bronco's reins to the hitching post. "Be back in a while, Bronco." Sonny said and rubbed Bronco's forehead.

Sonny took a deep breath, then started for the motel.

The bell above the door of the hotel rung when Sonny walked in, which made the man at the counter look up.

"Well, I'll be. Sonny McAurthur. Haven't seen you in here in a while. Folks in town said that you were back, but I didn't believe them until now."

"Well, Abbott, I reckon you'd see a lot more of me if you made your way to church every once in a while." Sonny teased as he shook Abbott's hand.

"Maybe one day, Sonny. Anyways, we're all mighty glad that you're back, and in one whole piece." Abbott replied.

Sonny nodded his head once.

"Well, what can I do for you today, son?" Abbott asked Sonny.

"I'm lookin' for Clint. He still here?" Sonny looked around the "lobby" of the small motel.

"Yes. But, uh," Abbott cleared his throat, "You sure you want to see him? I heard he done got fired by your wife a few months back."

"I'm sure, Abbott." Sonny replied.

Abbott sighed. "Room 13."

Sonny nodded. "Thank you, sir." He turned towards the stairs.

"Oh, Sonny." Abbott started. Sonny turned back around to face Abbott. "If y'all do decide to fight, please take it outside. I don't want nothin' broken in my motel." Abbott said to Sonny, then smiled.

Sonny chuckled and smiled back. "Sure, Abbott."

Sonny walked up the stairs and to the door that read, "13." He sighed then knocked on the door.

Inside, he heard Clint's voice say, "One second." A few seconds later, the door opened. Clint looked out at Sonny and disbelief shadowed Clint's face.

"Sonny?" Clint asked, his voice suddenly hoarse.

"Clint." Sonny replied and nodded.

"I thought...you was dead, though. A feller rode up to the ranch one day and said that he saw a man who looked a mite like you shot up and dead in the snow." Clint said.

"No, that wasn't me. I don't know who it was, but it wasn't me." Sonny replied. Clint looked like he hadn't shaven in several weeks, judging by the beard that was growing long on his chin. He also looked like he hadn't eaten well in a while, too, and he probably hadn't since Jeweldean had always made sure everyone was well fed.

There was a few seconds of silence between the two men until Sonny asked, "Can I come in?"

"S-sure. Yeah. Come on in." Clint held the door open for Sonny as he walked in. Sonny looked around at the small motel room. It wasn't much, but then again, Clint didn't have much. He most likely left almost all of his stuff back at Sonny's ranch since he was booted out by Jeweldean.

"You can take a seat there." Clint said, pointing to a chair near the bed and Sonny obliged, then removed his hat.

Once again there was silence in the room. Sonny jumped right into the reason of his visit. "Uh, I came out here, Clint, to talk to you about what happened at the ranch between you and my wife."

Sonny looked up to see an alarmed Clint. "How did you hear about that?" Clint sat down on the bed.

"Jeweldean mentioned that she fired you. Besides, when the foreman of my ranch ain't there and he don't show up for several days, a man starts to wonder. I want to hear your side of the story. And don't even think about skippin' any details." Sonny said sternly. He wanted to know if the things Jeweldean had said in anger were true or not.

"I don't think you want to hear about it, Sonny." Clint said, shaking his head; he sounded ashamed.

"Why? What happened?" Sonny asked. He prayed that Jeweldean wasn't telling the truth because Sonny didn't want to believe Clint would do the things that Jeweldean had said he did.

Clint sighed and looked away from Sonny. "One night, the night near when your daughter was born, Carver was talkin' to little Cody, and Cody asked Carver and I if we thought you's still alive. Carver and I had different answers. I didn't particularly like Carver's answer, and he wasn't to fond with mine. So, we went out on the porch, and Carver said something that brought my ire up."

"What'd he say, Clint?" Sonny asked through gritted teeth, his anger beginning to rise.

Clint looked at Sonny. "You 'member when we was kids and the day we first saw Jeweldean?"

Under different circumstances Sonny would've smiled at the good memory. "Of course I remember, but what's that got to do with your story?"

Clint sighed. He ran his fingers through his hair. Clint couldn't bear to look Sonny in the eyes, so he stared at the toe of his boot. "Ever since that day, I have had feelings for Jeweldean. I thought they would go away as I got older, especially after y'all got married, but instead they have had the opposite effect. I know that I told you on the day that you hired me on to work at your ranch that I didn't have feelings for Jeweldean any longer, but that wasn't entirely true."

Sonny looked away from Clint. He couldn't believe his ears. Sonny, too, looked at his boots.

Clint looked up at Sonny and continued, "So, the day after Carver and I had it out on the porch, Jeweldean came down to my bunkhouse, and you gotta know somethin', Sonny." Clint looked ashamed to say what he was about to say. Sonny looked up and Clint continued. "I had a bottle of whiskey that I used to clean out wounds when needed. You know I ain't never drank in my whole life, but that night that Carver and I had it out, he had accused me of havin' feelings for Jeweldean, and I don't even know why I took that first swig of the whiskey, I really just don't know." Clint was shaking his head.

Sonny clenched his jaw. He didn't want to believe what Clint was saying.

"I promise you, though. After Jeweldean came down to the bunkhouse and...fired me, I never drank another drop of alcohol, honest."

Sonny found his voice, finally. Through still clenched teeth, Sonny asked, "Why'd she fire you Clint?"

Clint looked down at the floor and sighed. "I didn't mean for it to go the way it did. I swear."

"What did you do, Clint?" Sonny bit every word with a forceful bite when he said them.

"It was my emotions mixed with the whiskey. I didn't mean nothin' by it, Sonny."

"What in Sam Hill did you do, Clint?" Sonny growled at Clint. He clenched his fists in his lap and sat on the edge of the chair.

"I didn't mean to kiss her, man, it just happened. I swear it was-"

"You kissed my wife?!" Sonny roared. He jumped out of his seat, throwing his hat to the ground, and walked up to Clint. "You kissed my wife?!" Sonny asked again, just inches from where Clint sat.

Clint, too, jumped up. He looked ashamed; Sonny was ticked. "Yes. I'm sorry, Sonny. I didn't mean to kiss her at all, but I was drunk. And, after the first time I kissed her, I couldn't handle myself anymore and I tried to kiss her again, but I swear I didn't mean to. I-"

Sonny swung hard and hit Clint square in the face. When Clint staggered backwards, almost falling back, Sonny lunged forward and grabbed Clint by the shirt collar and shoved him hard against the wall. Clint's head snapped back, hitting the wall.

With the hand that was not holding Clint up by his shirt collar, Sonny pointed a finger in Clint's face. Sonny roared into his face, "You are not welcome on my property ever again. If you ever step foot on my ranch with or without even a drop of alcohol on your tongue, you will be thrown off the property immediately. And if you think one more affectionate thought about my wife, or if you lay just one finger upon her ever again, I swear to God I will beat you within an inch of your life. Do not ever do that to me or to her again, or else I will make dang sure you pay for it. Am I understood?"

Clint couldn't muster any words so he just nodded. Sonny tightened his grip on Clint's shirt and growled through gritted teeth. "Am I understood?"

"Yes." Clint forced out the word.

"Good." Sonny let go of his grip on Clint, and stepped back from Clint. Clint fell to the floor, but he picked himself up as he gasped for breath. Sonny breathed deep as he tried to make his anger simmer down. He kept his fists clenched at his sides to avoid hitting Clint again as he said, "You better start prayin' real real hard and beggin' God for forgiveness. You are darn lucky that I don't drag you down to Beau's jail and have you pay for what you did. Men have been hanged for less out here. You have always been like a brother to me, Clint, and I have never been so disappointed in anybody in my entire life more than I am with you right now. Maybe one day we can try to talk things out, but until then, don't bother comin' by the ranch, because you will be thrown off, and thrown into jail, and then I will make sure you pay. You are lucky that I am a good, Christian man, and that you were always a friend to me, or else you would be knocked out and in a jail cell right now fightin' for your life. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir. I u-understand."

"Good." Sonny replied. He snatched his hat off of the ground and slapped it on his head. Sonny stormed out of Clint's room, slamming the door hard behind him, then walked downstairs.

As Sonny was about to walk out of the door of the hotel, he heard Abbott dramatically clear his throat behind him.

Sonny turned around, and with a slight grin he said, "Don't worry. We didn't break nothin' in the room."

"Good. You have a nice one Sonny." Abbott replied.

Sonny tipped his hat to Abbott and then walked out of the motel and over to Bronco.

"Well, what Jeweldean told me about Clint was true, Bronc." Sonny said to Bronco. He sighed. "I'm gonna walk on down to the general store. You stay here and behave yourself."

Sonny walked down the wooden boardwalk from the motel to Jackson's general store. His spurs jingled and his boots clicked with every step that Sonny took as he walked into the store.

"Well, howdy, Sonny. What can I fix you up with today?" Jackson asked Sonny.

"Well, Jackson, Christmas is comin' up soon and I want to get something nice for the kids Do you have Cody's favorite peppermint sticks in yet?"

"You betcha I do. Oh, and I got some new fabric in, in case you wanted to look for something for Jeweldean. Say, how'd her nightgown turn out?"

"It turned out real nice. Your wife did a great job on it; tell her I said so."

"I'll be sure to tell her. Well, take a look around and let me know if I can help you find anything."

"Much obliged, Jackson."

Sonny walked around the store for a short while looking for gifts for his kids for Christmas. When it came to looking at the fabrics, Sonny couldn't bring himself to buy any for Jeweldean. If, and that is a major 'if', Jeweldean and him work things out, he would try to make a trip back into town to buy her fabric.

When Sonny had found a little something for each of the kids, he payed, then talked to Jackson for a while before he headed out. Sonny walked out of Jackson's and put the gifts in his saddle bag, untied Bronco then headed home. Sonny took his time riding home, and the whole ride back to the ranch, Sonny prayed. When Sonny rode into the ranch, he believed that he might be ready to try to talk things out with Jeweldean.