Valerie Ann Pearson

Arkansas furniture maker Grins Jenkins is a cheerful man and loving father to his five kids, as well as the life of every party in their small town. When his wife Sharon, who used to be the 'bad cop', slowly dies of TBC, so does Grins' sense of fun. The kids refuse to keep mourning forever, but dad practically retires from the world and turns his back, opposing them enjoying life again. Then Christmastide arrives, and son Alvin refuses to let his kid brother's dream be spoiled.

A couple's idyllic life is shattered when authorities accuse them of child abuse and take away their three young children. When they desperately search for the source of the rumors about them, their suspicions lead them to a young woman who recently arrived in their small town, but they can't believe that this person they befriended would turn the town against them.

A tomboyish juvenile delinquent, Paschal Draney, is sent to live in a foster home run by a well-known horse breeder where he befriends a Thoroughbred seemingly crippled by a congenital eye defect.