Her husband had disappeared quite mysteriously the day before and Jill Dalton couldn't help but wonder where he'd run off to. He'd been pretty quiet for the past two weeks. Unable to stand it any longer, she dialed up his number and waited. Just when she thought it would go to voicemail, he answered.

"Howdy." She smiled at his typical greeting.

"Howdy, husband." He said nothing. "Where in tarnation are you?" He was quiet. "Hank Lucas Dalton, answer my question." She knew he didn't like to be bossed around but she was worried about him.

"Well ain't you jest madder than a wet hen." He emphasized his southern drawl and she rolled her eyes. When he continued, his voice was sober—almost angry. "I'm at a hospital up in Idaho right now." Dread unfurled in her gut.

"Are you okay? What happened? And why are you way up there?" she fired the questions off rapidly.

"Nothin'. Least not to me. I'm here because I got a pretty disturbing phone call from our youngest boy yesterday." She couldn't wrap her mind around what he was trying to say. Stetson had called his dad?

"You've seen Stetson?" she asked.

"Yep." he said. His voice was as hard as granite.

"Is he okay?" Jill asked. His reply to her email had been brief at best. But she had sensed something was wrong.

"Yeah. But his daughter ain't." Hank huffed. His daughter? She didn't even know he had one. She found it odd that he wouldn't have mentioned it.

"What's wrong with her?" she asked. He sighed. Before he could answer, she heard someone say "dad". That has to be Stetson!

"Let me talk to him!" No reply. "Hank!"

"I heard you. I heard you. Just a second." He sounded more than a little irritated. She heard them converse for a minute before Stetson spoke.

"Hello?" he said.

"Stetson! Oh my sweet, darling boy! How are you?" she asked.

"I'm okay. Stressed and overwhelmed but that's nothin' new I suppose." Stetson said. Her heart broke at the cynicism in his tone.

"What's wrong with your daughter?" she asked gently. He paused a beat.

"She was involved in an accident with a drunk driver. He hit her side of the car and broke her back. She's paralyzed from the waist down." Jill couldn't hear the weariness in her son's voice. She gasped.

"Oh Stetson. How awful!" She wiped at a tear that managed to escape. "How's she handling it?"

"Not well." he confessed. Stetson sounded so lost. Like he'd been before he left but much, much worse. He didn't say anything else. Oh how she wished he would come home! But she knew he didn't want to. Or maybe he did, but he was as stubborn as his father. And he wouldn't because he said he wouldn't.

"Is there a way I could talk to her?" Jill asked.

"Well," she could hear the hesitation in his voice, "I don't know if that would be a good idea right now. She's pretty mad." he said. A brilliant idea suddenly popped into her head.

"I'll just come visit." she murmured. She hung up before he could protest, ran upstairs, packed her suitcase, and drove to the airport. Within five hours, her plane was touching down at the Boise Airport. She texted her husband for directions which he quickly sent. The one thing he'd learned in over thirty years of marriage was that Jill did what she said she was gonna do. If he hadn't given her the information she'd needed, she would have found another way to get it. An hour and fifteen minutes later, she pulled into the hospital parking lot. She walked directly to the front desk and asked to see her granddaughter. After all the protocol, a nurse led her back to one of the rooms. She saw Hank first. Head in his hands, shoulders slumped, He looked every bit of his fifty-three years. She tapped lightly on the door. Stetson, who'd been standing at the window further to the left, looked over. She drank in the sight of him. He was at least six-foot-two now. Broad shoulders, black hair, and those bright blue eyes. But he wasn't the boy that had left them. He was a man now. And she was mighty proud of him. He walked over and embraced her.

"Momma. I missed you." he said in a hushed voice.

"Oh my sweet boy, I missed you too." she said. When he pulled back, she reached up and gently held his face. Pain and fear shone in their depths. He wasn't just struggling. He was running scared and too full of pride to ask for help. Except he had in a way. Calling Hank had been the right thing to do. She was convinced of that.

He gave her a sad sort of smile and she dropped her hands. He steered her towards the bed where a little girl slept. Oh, what a gorgeous little angel. Her brown hair curled in wisps about her face and she slept—entirely unaware that her grandmother was on the verge of tears. She looked over at her son and mouthed the words—"She's beautiful." She was too choked up to say them out loud. He nodded in agreement. Besides the lighter hair, Jill could've swore she was the spitting image of Stetson. She sensed rather than felt Hank walk up behind her. She leaned back and he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"How was the trip?" Hank asked. He kept his voice low.

"Good." she answered. He nodded and said nothing more. She looked over to see her youngest son watching them with a look that suggested it caused him great pain. He quickly masked it with a smile and she wondered if she had been making it up. "What's her name?" she asked Stetson. She was still praying Hank wouldn't find out about their little email conversation. He would be furious.

"Shay Linnea Dalton. Although I'd bet you guessed the last part already." His eyes held mirth. A facade to cover the agonizing feeling she was sure he felt. Even though it had been brief, his email had told her a lot about how hard the past seven years had been. After all, it wasn't always about what was said, but also what wasn't said. She longed to have a heart-to-heart talk with him but something told her he would keep a lot of it from her. Shay spoke quietly from the bed.

"Daddy?" Shay's voice was soft. Stetson immediately went to her side.

"Hey, angel. How are you feeling?" She didn't answer for at least three minutes and Jill was impressed with the patience her son showed. Waiting had never been one of his strong suits.

"I'm sad." Just two simple words and yet she could see her son crumble under the pressure. He was trying so hard to be strong for his daughter. Her heart softened further. If that was even possible.

"Me too." Stetson said.

"But why?" Her question was asked with an accusing tone as if he had nothing to be sad about.

"Well. Because when you're happy, it makes me happy. And when you're sad, it makes me sad. And when you're angry, I get angry too." She looked at him in confusion.

"That makes no sense." Befuddlement covered her face.

"Well. It's kinda like this. You know how I told you that you can't ride a horse when you're real angry, cause they will feel the tension and be more sensitive to little things?" Shay nodded and Jill couldn't help but remember when Stetson had been just a boy. His dad had spoken to him about the same thing. The only difference was, he hadn't been lying in a hospital bed with a broken back. "That's because everything you do affects them. It's the same way when you have kids. When they have a certain feeling, the parents get it too." She smirked.

"So...you're like...you're like my horse then." she said mischievously. He laughed.

"Sure. I'm your horse." Her expression changed from a teasing smile to devastation in a split second.

"I can't ride now, can I?" Tears pooled in her eyes. Jill felt Hank's hold tighten. The sorrow on her granddaughter's face was evident.

"I don't know, Shay. I need to talk to the doctor about that. Maybe you still can." Her chin quivered and Stetson knelt by the bed and leaned in close. "If there's a way to do it, sweety, I'll move heaven and earth to make sure you can." She nodded.

"Thank you, daddy." He hugged her gently. When he pulled away, Jill saw him wipe a tear off of his face before turning to them. He looked back at Shay.

"There's some folks I'd like you to meet." Stetson said

"Who?" she asked.

"My momma and daddy." Her eyes widened.

"Truly?" Shay asked. He rolled his eyes in a teasing manner.

"Have you ever known me to tell you a lie, princess?" She giggled.

"No, sir." He motioned for them to come over. Hank released his hold on Jill and she stepped forward.

"This, my darlingest of all darlings, is your grandma." With those piercing blue eyes looking her way, Jill smiled gently.

"Hello, sweetheart."

"Hi! I'm Shay!" the little girl said.

"It's such a pleasure to meet you." Before she could respond, Stetson cut in.

"And this," he said, pulling Hank forward, "is your grandpa." Awe filled her eyes.

"You look just like daddy!" she exclaimed. Hank chuckled.

"I suppose I do. Is that okay with you?" he asked. She nodded.

It did his heart good to see his little girl so happy. She was always this way before the accident. He shoved the thought to the back of his mind. In this moment, he was going to rejoice that she was truly smiling.

"Is it true that you have over ten thousand cows?" Shay's amazement was clearly written on the lines of her heart-shaped face.

"It's true. It's more like fifteen thousand now." Even Stetson had to admit that he was impressed. His father was a master in his trade. Fifteen thousand. Stetson reasoned that he must have started using some of the pasture he normally leased. Shay's eyes grew as big as sand dollars. "But they aren't all called cows. Those are just the mamas who've had babies. There's heifers and steers and bulls too. Not to mention calves." He listened to his father with a fresh perspective as he explained the difference of each term.

He'd never seen him this way before. Calm. Relaxed. And wholeheartedly devoted to answering a few questions. The man he'd known had always been busy. He had ten things on his mind at any given moment and if you wanted to sit down and talk, he needed at least a four hour warning. This guy sitting by his daughter's hospital bed was new. I suppose I've changed too, he thought. His dad was busy telling her stories from calving season when his phone rang. He quickly silenced it and walked out into the hall. The landlord. Crud. He was supposed to pay rent yesterday.

"Hello?"

"Howdy, Stetson, this is Jim Dawson. I was hoping you'd pick up."

"Nice to hear from you, Jim." he lied. "I hope you're doing well."

"Oh I'm fine. Just fine. I was actually calling to remind you that rent was due yesterday. I didn't know if maybe you'd forgotten. I know you're a mighty busy man."

"To be completely honest with you, Jim, I did forget. My daughter was involved in a car accident and I'm afraid that's about all I've had on my mind."

"Will nothin' ever be easy for that kid?" A legitimate question in Stetson's eyes. How many times had he wondered the same thing?

"Apparently not. But Jim, I have to be honest with you."

"Okay." He sounded curious.

"I can't pay you. I just got fired from my job because I didn't show up this morning and I only have about half of the money I need." Jim was quiet. Stetson braced for his reaction.

"Keep it, son. Rent's on me this go around. Just focus on your daughter." He was stunned into silence. He didn't even have the energy to protest.

"Thanks, Jim. You're a good man."

"Don't ever accuse me of that again, kid." He chuckled. "Tell Shay 'hello' for me. We'll talk later. Bye."

"Bye." He hung up and just stood there staring at his phone. How was it that one man would show no tolerance for a small glitch but another could just forgive a late payment and charge nothing for a whole month of rent? "Thankful" barely began to describe how he felt. Jim's kindness had not been something he'd expected from the seventy-two-year-old bachelor. Even for someone in his shoes. Not that he was a bad guy. He just didn't like slackers. It wasn't how he'd been raised. Then again, he'd seen how hard Stetson worked and maybe he realized that this wasn't because he wasn't trying. Because he was. But it was like swimming in a storm, and no matter how hard he fought the waves, he was still drowning.