Rhett reached Wildcreek Ranch and handed Featherlite to Sam. He went to the dairy farm to meet his right hand man Derek Smith. After attending to the work, Rhett went home. 

"Hey Ryder, are you free?" Asked Rhett to his cousin. Ryder nodded.

"Yes sort of. Why bro?" He asked sitting casually in the porch steps, fiddling with his mobile phone. 

"Can you come with me to the riverside? Something precious has fallen into it," said Rhett. 

"Sure let's go. I'll get Ryan and some nets," he said, getting up and going inside to call his twin. Rhett called Sawyer and asked him to go to the riverside. 

"Wait for me beside the old maple tree at the Bearhead creek," he directed Sawyer. The maple tree was huge and the oldest in the region and they all had played under it since their were children. 

"Sure, bro," said Sawyer. 

Ryan and Ryder arrived fully prepared to go into the water. They loved Rhett more than they loved themselves. Rhett's selfless way of quietly helping out everyone endeared him to the whole family. He was like a rock upon whom everyone knew that they could depend on. He had never asked for anything ever so Ryder was quite surprised to hear him ask for help.

"What's the precious thing that fell into Bearhead Creek, bro?" Asked Ryder, curiously. 

Rhett scratched his head out of embarrassment, not knowing what to tell him. "It's a.. actually it's a bracelet, " he said as faint spots of color appeared on his cheeks. Ryder and Ryan's mouth hung open. A bracelet and Rhett didn't go together, did they? 

"Who's bracelet is it, bro?" Asked Ryan, wiggling his eyebrows. Rhett smiled but didn't spill anything. 

"Answers later only if you find it," he told them and they groaned out loud. Rhett smiled, a rare, shy yet excited smile that lit up his face. His brothers had never seen their big brother so excited in the nineteen years of existence. 

"Okay bro. Then we guess we oughta do our best to find it," said Ryder, straddling his horse, Stormy. Ryan galloped away on his horse, Chestnut. 

"Whoa, Thunderbolt, let's go find that bracelet for Adelaide. You met her, boy, didn't you?" He smiled and followed Ryan with Ryder hot on his trail. They saw Sawyer from a distance, lying under the maple tree. Having been brought up at the ranch with them since childhood, Sawyer was a year younger to Rhett and a very capable man, handling their whole ranch effortlessly. He was the most trusted person of the Wilson household and they all treated him like a family member. He was an orphan whom their grand dad Joe Wilson rescued from the river banks and brought home. He was abandoned at birth and it was a miracle that he was alive when Joe Wilson had found him. The Wilson's were all he had and he lived at the ranch house with everyone just like a family member. He called himself Sawyer Grace as it was by God's grace that he was alive.

"Saw, c'mon bro, we need to hunt for a bracelet. Only then Rhett would tell us about his crush," yelled Ryder. 

"What crush?" Said Rhett, colouring a little. 

"Aww, are you blushing, Rhett?" Asked a grinning Sawyer, eying Rhett with amusement. 

"Shut up all of you. I just met Adelaide yesterday. She lost her bracelet in the creek. I'm just helping her," said Rhett, giving up. There was no way he could win against the three cheeky chipmunks who were hell bent upon learning about the owner of the bracelet. 

"Oooo, Adelaide! Is she sexy?" Asked Ryan, wiggling his eyebrows. 

"Don't even think about it. She's off limits," warned Rhett and they all gaped at his sudden defensive stance. 

"Relax bro, I was just asking. No one's stealing your Adelaide from you," laughed Ryan. They all walked towards the river bank where Rhett indicated that they should start their search. They scanned the banks first before going into the water. Even, after twenty minutes of search, they didn't find it. They were about to give up when Sawyer dived under the water. 

"Leave it Saw, the water's getting colder now, " said Rhett, concerned that he would fall sick. 

Sawyer emerged with a victorious grin on his face, holding out a shimmering, delicate diamond bracelet on his palm. "Found it bro," he said, with relief. Rhett grinned and took it from his hand.

"Thanks Saw. You deserve a treat for this," said Rhett. They all climbed out and wore their clothes and galloped away towards Wildcreek Ranch to change our id their wet clothes. Their granny, Jenny Wilson looked at them with horror. 

"Quickly get out of the wet clothes. I'll get you all hot chocolate," she offered.

"Granny, please not hot chocolate. We want coffee," said Ryder with an eye roll. 

"What's in coffee? Hot chocolate's therapeutic," said aunt Katherine, who was uncle Kevin's wife. 

"I'll have hot chocolate, ma," said Sawyer, as he sneezed loudly.

"Goodness, boy, hurry and change. I'll come down with your hot chocolate, " said aunt Katherine whom Sawyer called 'ma'. They all hurried inside to their rooms. 

Rihanna came home with her appointment letter. She had got the job of a primary school teacher at the nearby Bloomingdale Elementary School. She danced to her heart's content with excitement. Her first job! 

"Congrats sweetie, " said granny, hugging her. Everyone congratulated her. It was the best day of her life. Renee Wilson, a beautiful, slender seventeen year old girl, came into the house. She was in her final year at school and considered herself a grown up already. She was Ryder and Ryan's sibling and they both doted upon her. 

"What's the celebration all about?" She asked Rihanna. 

"Hey Ren, guess what? I've got the job at Bloomingdale Elementary, " she informed on a sing song note. 

Renee squealed with delight. "Yay, I told you. Now I want my treat," said Renee doing a happy dance. The sudden noise of Sawyer's sneeze echoed from the back of the house where his bedroom was located. Renee stilled. 

"Who sneezed, granny?" She asked with a worried look on her beautiful face.

"Sawyer, as usual. He'd been swimming in the cold waters of Bearhead Creek," said granny, with a displeased look on her face as she made the hot chocolate for him. 

"Is that hot chocolate for him?" Asked Renee, shyly. 

"Yes, sweetie," said granny. 

"I can take it to him. He needs a scolding anyway," said Renee. Granny pushed the glass of hot chocolate towards her and she picked it up and walked towards Sawyer's room with purpose. She didn't know when the crush that she had for Sawyer turned into a deep-seated love. It was an unrequited love since Sawyer didn't in any way encourage her. He was least bothered about her feelings. 

She walked up to his door and opened it wide, angrily. Why did he have to do such things when he knew that they would make him fall sick? She saw him lying on the bed and looking out of his window at the sun setting in the distance. 

"Keep it Renée. I'll have it later," he told her without looking at her. She was puzzled as to how he knew that she had come into his room? 

"No, have it now, " she said stubbornly, sitting beside him. He looked at her, his eyes scanning her entire face, as if boring a hole there. 

"Leave it Renée, " he repeated huskily but Renee wasn't taking a no for an answer. She knew that he was stubborn and wouldn't drink it if not forced down his throat.

"Drink it Sawyer, else I'll feed you, " she told him, her eyes threatening him that she was serious. 

"Feed me, then," he said quietly. Renée's eyes widened with surprise. He usually would either have ignored her or asked her weird questions. That was all he'd been doing ever since she'd returned home. She suddenly felt shy of his unwavering gaze. 

She brought the glass near his mouth and his rough hands covered hers as he drank it quietly, his eyes holding her gaze in a staring contest. Renée was shaken by his sudden change in behavior. The air was filled with a silent tension between them as she tried to calm her rapidly beating heart. She jumped up when he released her as if scalded by his touch. 

"Lie down, I'll get you your medicine," she said, in a trembling voice. Sawyer nodded and lay down, watching her movements. She took out a pill and handed it over to him. He took the pill from her, his rough hands brushing against her creamy soft skin. Renée watched his Adam's apple move with fascination as he gulped it down with some water. After taking the medicine, Sawyer lay down.

Renée went closer and felt his forehead with her soft hand. She could feel his harsh intake of breath at her touch. It made her remove her hand immediately. She took out a duvet and covered him.

"Now rest and you should be better soon," she told him, turning to leave but he caught her hand to stop her from leaving. 

"I don't want to get better," he told her, watching her with hooded eyes. 

"Are you crazy? Why don't you want to recover?" She asked him with disbelief but he didn't answer her and kept on staring at her. 

"Close your eyes Sawyer. Sleep. You need to get better," she said softly.

"Why do you still care about me?" He asked her earnestly. 

She shrugged and looked at him. "Don't you know Sawyer?" She asked in return. 

"I want to hear it," he whispered, his breath hitched as he waited to hear it. 

"I love you, that's why," she told him, looking straight into his brilliant blue eyes.

"I'm not worthy of your love, believe me, " he told her, closing his eyes and releasing her hand.

"That's for me to decide, Sawyer. Go to sleep," she said, walking out of his room and closing it after her.