"Tucker," Sonny said walking towards where Tucker was tacking up his horse. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Tucker turned around and faced Sonny. "Sure, Sonny. What is it?"

"Well," Sonny folded his arms across his chest as he spoke. "Jeweldean and I have been talking, and we have decided that you are welcome to stay with us here on the ranch, and work for us. Now, I will pay you, but it won't be a lot at first because, well, we are goin' through a pretty rough financial bump right now, but eventually you will be paid a little bit more and receive the same pay as the other hands."

"That's fine with me. After all y'all have already done for me, I would be willing to work for you for free." Tucker said.

"Well, you saved my life and brought me back home to my family, so for that alone, I would never let you work without being paid. Besides, I'm an honest man, and I wouldn't try to cheat you out of paid work." Sonny replied.

"I'm willing to work for you, regardless of the pay." Tucker said.

"Before you accept, I will go over our rules and such. Then, if you do accept, I will take you out, show you all the nooks and crannies of the ranch and find a place for you to stay."

"The barn has been suitin' me just fine to sleep in." Tucker pointed backwards, with his gloved thumb. at his makeshift leaving space in the barn.

"If you're gonna be livin' here with us, we are goin' to treat you better than that and we will make sure that you are going to have a good place to sleep."

Tucker sighed. "Okay. Everything sounds good so far. What are the rules?"
"Tack up and I will tell you." Sonny said. Sonny fetched Bronco, saddled him, then took Tucker out to see the layout of the land. While on the ride, Sonny told Tucker all of the rules and other basic things to know. Tucker accepted to be hired on as a new ranch hand. Sonny and him shook hands.

A couple hours later, Sonny and Tucker rode back to the house, where Jeweldean was calling everybody in for lunch.

"Perfect timing." Sonny said to Tucker, but looked and smiled at Jeweldean who was standing on the front porch.

"I can take Bronco for you, sir." Tucker said to Sonny who just dismounted.

"I got him, Tucker. Just because you work for me now, don't mean you have to unsaddle and cool down my horse for me." Sonny said, grinning.

"Okay. Yes, sir." Tucker replied. Sonny followed him into the barn.

"And enough with the 'sir.'" Sonny looked over his shoulder as he unsaddled Bronco and smiled at Tucker.

Tucker nodded.

After untacking his horse, Sonny walked up to the porch, where Jeweldean was still standing, and grabbed her firmly around the waist, almost lifting her off the ground, and kissed her. Sonny would've kissed her again, if Tucker wasn't standing awkwardly behind them, waiting to get up to the house.

"Sorry, Tucker." Sonny said, still holding on to Jeweldean, but moving to the side so Tucker could make it into the house.

Tucker tipped his hat to them both, then went inside the house. Once the door closed behind Tucker, Sonny leaned down and kissed Jeweldean again. Jeweldean pulled back and smiled at Sonny.

"So I'm guessing all is forgiven and good between us?" Jeweldean said, with her hands on Sonny's chest.

"Everythang is great, darlin'." Sonny smiled and kissed Jeweldean once more before letting her go so he could hold the door open for Jeweldean.

Once the door was closed behind Sonny, he heard various hoots and hollers from the ranch hands. They were all standing near the windows that looked out onto the porch. They all saw Jeweldean and Sonny kissing.

Jeweldean looked to Sonny and smiled. Sonny shook his head at the ranch hands and smiled too.

As always, Jeweldean made an amazing lunch. After the dishes were cleaned, the ranch hands, and Sonny, returned to work, and Sadie was put down for a nap, Jeweldean took Suzanne out to the front porch and sat on the porch swing. She thought about what to make Sonny for Christmas, which was now only about two weeks away. Within an hour, Jeweldean had an idea for everybody's Christmas gifts. Still, she sat on the porch swing and looked out to where the barn was. Jeweldean saw Sonny riding in one of the pastures near the barn. Sonny saw her and waved, Jeweldean waved back, then stood up to go back inside because Suzanne had fell asleep in her arms.

Jeweldean put Suzanne in her crib, then decided to see what she could make for supper. She turned to where she kept the meat, and much to her surprise, there was no meat there. When Louisa and Blake came over last night, they didn't bring any meat. They mainly brought breads, pies, and other desserts. Staring in disbelief at the empty meat compartment, Jeweldean tried to decide what to do. Jeweldean walked around the kitchen trying to find something to feed the six ranch hands, her, Sonny, and three children, but she only found enough supplies to make biscuits, and Jeweldean knew that that wouldn't suffice.

Knowing what she had to do, Jeweldean grabbed the rifle off of the shelf over the door, and grabbed several bullets. She then grabbed her coat and put the bullets in her pocket then walked out to the barn to saddle up Acorn.

Jeweldean rode out to the normal hunting spot, dismounted a ways away, tied Acorn to a tree where she could still graze without running away, then laid down on the cold earth as she looked for a deer to process for supper next week.

Bang! "Did you hear that?" Sonny asked Tucker and Austin, pulling Bronco to a halt.

"Yeah. It sounded like a gunshot." Austin said. All three men pulled their horses to a halt and looked in the direction of the gunshot. The trees were too thick to see through. They silently waited for another shot, but one didn't come.

"Whoever it is, they shot away from us. They must've hit whatever they were aiming for." Tucker quipped, just as another shot rang out.

"I don't hear anyone shooting back, either." Sonny said.

Bang! Bang! "That's two more shots." Austin said. Just as he said it, another shot rang out.

"Those sounds awful close to the house, Sonny." Tucker said, looking away from where the shots were fired, and to Sonny.

"You're right, Tucker." Sonny said, looking between Tucker and Austin. Another shot rang out and echoed through the trees. His eyes dropped to Tucker's hand when something shiny caught his eye. He realized that both Tucker and Austin had habitually pulled their revolvers out with the sound of the gunshots. Sonny realized then that he, too, had instinctively pulled his revolver. Sonny holstered his gun, and turned Bronco in the direction of the house. "I'm goin' to go check on Jeweldean and the kids. If y'all hear someone else shooting back then you know what to do. If y'all need help, I will be near the house." Sonny said, he spurred Bronco into a lope as he made his way towards the house. On his way back, Sonny heard three more shots withing ten minutes.

Once Sonny was back at the house, he dismounted, tied Bronco to a fence rail, and jogged into the house. He went first to Cody's room and saw Suzanne sleeping in her crib, then he made his way upstairs to his and Jeweldean's bedroom, and found Sadie sleeping in her crib. Jeweldean wasn't in the house.

Walking back outside, Sonny saw Cody through the open barn door.

"Hey, buddy. Do you know where your mama is?" Sonny asked Cody who was playing with his rope.

Cody shrugged. "Last I saw her she was sittin' on the porch swing with Suzanne. But that was a while ago." Cody said and began to coil his rope.

Sonny walked over and ruffled Cody's hair. "I'll be back in a bit. You stay here and keep throwin' your rope, okay?"

"Okay, pa."

Sonny grinned at his son, then made his way over to Bronco when yet another shot rang out. Sonny mounted Bronco and rode towards the noise. While he rode, Sonny looked and listened for any signs of who was shooting and what they were shooting at. Then it hit Sonny. He knew the sound of the gun. It was the rifle he kept in the house. Sonny knew that it was Jeweldean shooting, and she was most likely trying to find a good doe for meat.

Sonny rode up to his favorite hunting spot, and sure enough, there was Jeweldean.

"You nearly scared us half to death when we heard gunshots. After the fourth shot, I figured it was you." Sonny said, dismounting, and walking up behind Jeweldean.

Jeweldean looked over her shoulder from where she was tying a good sized doe to her saddle.

"You mind helping me, or are you just goin' to tease me some more?" Jeweldean grinned at Sonny.

He smiled and walked up behind Jeweldean, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Well, I don't mind teasin' you if it means getting that pretty smile out of you."

Jeweldean turned around and kissed Sonny then pulled back. She reached up and put her hand on Sonny's cheek, looking deeply into his eyes.

"I'm so glad you're home, Sonny." Jeweldean said.

"It was all God." Sonny said. Jeweldean dropped her hand from Sonny's face and turned away from Sonny and turned towards her horse.

"Can you please give me a hand?" Jeweldean said over her shoulder at Sonny.

"Yeah." Sonny replied and turned to help Jeweldean.

Jeweldean and Sonny rode back to the ranch, and Sonny carried one of the two does that Jeweldean shot to the skinning table outside behind the house. Sonny then took four rabbits and two squirrels that Jeweldean also shot and put them next to the doe on the skinning table.

"You couldn't have just killed one of the chickens?" Sonny said, smiling at Jeweldean.

"I could've, but now we have enough meat to last us through most of the winter. Once it snows again, I will make a hole to put this meat in, so it doesn't go to waste. Hey, I only missed one shot. You should give me credit for that, Mr. McAurthur." Jeweldean said and began to skin one of the does.

"Okay." Sonny walked up and placed a kiss on Jeweldean's cheek. "I taught you well. I'm goin' to get back to work. See you at supper." Sonny said and kissed Jeweldean on the cheek again, then mounted Bronco.

After the long task of skinning and prepping the meat, Jeweldean carried it all inside the house, so that it could age. Placing her hands on her hips, Jeweldean looked around her kitchen for something to make for supper. Since eggs and oatmeal were the only really substantial thing that Jeweldean had enough ingredients to make, supper consisted of eggs, oatmeal, biscuits, and corn. There was plenty of dessert since Louisa and Blake had brought over a plentiful amount.

After supper, Jeweldean and Sonny sat out on the porch swing. Sonny wrapped his arm around Jeweldean and she rested her head on his shoulder. Then, Jeweldean looked up at Sonny. This was one of the first times that she had seen him full on without his hat on in daylight since he got home.

"You sure could use a haircut." Jeweldean said, and ran her fingers through his brown hair.

"It ain't even past my ears yet." Sonny said, smiling at Jeweldean.

Dropping her hand from Sonny's hair, Jeweldean said, "Your hair always did grow slow. I haven't cut it in about four or five months, so I think that you are due for a haircut."

Sonny sighed at his persistent wife. "Okay, if you say so."

"Good." Jeweldean said, then hopped up from the porch swing.

"Where are you going?" Sonny asked.

"To get the scissors." Jeweldean said, then smiled.

A few minutes later, Jeweldean had Sonny's hair cut short and looking nice again. She was surprised that he had shaved without her telling him to. He must've trimmed his beard the day he got home, because it was in need of a trim again. Sonny never lets his beard grow out to where it is long enough for food to get stuck in it, but there's enough there to make his 'five-o-clock shadow' that Jeweldean loved. Jeweldean had never really liked clean-shaven men; instead, she always liked men with a little gruff, like Sonny.

"There." Jeweldean stood back and admired her handiwork. "You're all finished, cowboy." She held out a mirror for him. He took a quick look, then quickly put his hat on and stood up.

"Thanks, hon." Sonny said and turned to walk down off the porch. He looked around to make sure that no ranch hands had seen him get his hair cut.

Jeweldean exaggeratedly cleared her throat. Sonny turned around and looked at her. "What?" He asked.

"All I get is a 'thanks, hon'?" Jeweldean sidled up to Sonny.

"Oh. Well, what else were you expecting?" Sonny said with a knowing look in his eye. He wrapped his arms around Jeweldean's waist.

"Oh, I don't know." Jeweldean teased then stood on her tip toes to kiss Sonny.

Sonny kissed her back, then said, "Well, thank you very much for the hair cut, darlin'. I think that I now look handsome."

"Very handsome, indeed." Jeweldean replied, grinning.

Sonny kissed Jeweldean once more than walked off the porch. Jeweldean stood and watched as he disappeared into the barn, and thought to herself, "How did I end up with such a wonderful man?"

Jeweldean smiled as she walked back into the house.

Jeweldean reached over in bed and expected to feel Sonny laying next to her, but instead, she just felt the blankets. She opened her eyes and saw Sonny sitting at the small desk in the corner of the room. Careful not to wake Sadie, Jeweldean quietly slipped out of bed and tiptoed over to Sonny. She leaned over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, sliding her hands down his shirt.

"What are you still doing up?" Jeweldean quietly whispered to Sonny.

"I couldn't sleep." He whispered back and grabbed one of Jeweldean's hands, giving it a faint kiss, then placing it back on his chest, but still holding onto it.

"I'm sorry." Jeweldean looked at the several papers strewn across the desk. She stood up straight, moving her hands off of Sonny's chest and onto his shoulders. "What are you working on?" She asked him, massaging his tense shoulders.

"I'm tryin' to figure out how we are going to pay the bank back. Every time I think that I have found a solution there is always something that don't work out." Sonny replied, scooting the chair back from the desk. He sighed then whispered to Jeweldean, "It's just so overwhelming. We barely had enough beforehand to pay for the cattle and such, but now that amount is tripled. They expect me to make the first payment next week. And Christmas is nearly a week away, we haven't done nearly enough preparation work for winter. The cattle need to-" Sonny stopped whispering when Jeweldean put her finger to his lips. When she was sure he was done talking for the moment, she sat down on his lap and looked at him.

"Don't worry about everything. It will work itself out." Jeweldean folded her hands and placed them in her lap.

"I hope so." Sonny said, doubt in his voice. His arms went around Jeweldean's waist.

"It will." Jeweldean said, hoping she was right. She put a hand to Sonny's face and fingered his lips and his gruff on his cheeks and chin.

Sonny sighed. "I just don't see how we will be able to afford it."

"I know." Jeweldean dropped her hand from his face. "I know; and we will work something out, but for now, why don't you just come to bed and we can talk about this in the morning, okay? We could both use a good night's sleep."

Sonny sighed again. "Okay."

"Okay." Jeweldean kissed Sonny's cheek then stood up off his lap and crawled back in bed. Sonny gave the papers on the table one last look then blew out the lantern and crawled into bed beside Jeweldean.