Three's A Crowd, Four Is Too Much
Sometimes brothers just enjoy giving each other a hard time... especially when they are teenagers living in the same small town, pursuing the same crop of girls. Sibling rivalry can get ugly at times, even with siblings who are very close. Then, there are times when it can be just downright fun...
Daniel McFadden whistled happily as he headed for the barn. Big brother Adam had asked him go out and pitch some hay for the horses. With Brian and Crane in town, Ford working on a science project in his room, Daniel had managed to place himself in the wrong place at the wrong time; in Adam's plain line of sight. He wasn't sure what had Adam hanging around indoors on a Saturday, but the little twinkle in his eye as Adam practically skipped down the stairs had given Daniel a clue. Hannah and Adam had disappeared upstairs a while ago. Hannah, he supposed, was still in their room. Ah, lovebirds. Wasn't that just the sweetest thing? Daniel figured a little romantic time might help to "chill out" an overly stressed eldest brother/guardian.
Daniel didn't really mind the chore; he liked to stay busy. But truthfully, there was lots of things he could do to stay busy that didn't require manual labor. That song he had been trying to finish was calling out to him, but he would have time tonight to work on it. He eased into the old barn pondering where Evan might be. He saw the jeep was back, which meant Evan had returned home from... well, wherever it was he tore off to earlier in the jeep.
Daniel had gotten a little annoyed when Evan beat him to the punch this morning, asking Adam for the keys so he could head into town. He'd gotten more annoyed when he asked Evan to give him a ride, but had been told no.
"I'm not going all the way into Murphy's Daniel. I'm picking up a friend and we're gonna hang out, but not in town. You can have the jeep when I get back. What've you got to do today that can't wait anyway?" Evan had asked.
"Nothing in particular. I just planned to go hang out a while." Daniel replied irritatedly.
"So go with Brian and Crane." Evan suggested.
"No, they'll just expect me to help run the errands. I just wanted a little me time. Forget it, no big deal." Daniel had relented.
Easing into the barn, Daniel quickly realized he wasn't alone. Noises coming from the hayloft quickly let Daniel in on the fact that somebody was having some extracurricular fun up there. No, it didn't sound like Guthrie playing. Daniel detected the giggle of a female voice. Hannah was the only female on the ranch and he knew she was still in the house. Daniel grinned silently as he heard more giggling and moving around above his head. When the strands of hay began falling on his head Daniel felt a growing satisfaction build. He caught a strand of the hay and promptly stuck it in his mouth to chew on as picked up the pitchfork and quietly crept towards the ladder to the hayloft.
Evan- that little sneak. He must be nuts rolling around in the hayloft with a girl with Adam around, Daniel thought to himself. Big brother Adam did not condone his younger brothers being disrespectful of a young lady. Basically, he didn't want any of them to have any kind of fun with a female anyplace, anytime, anyhow until the 'I do's' had been said. No fun was to be had until the honeymoon.
It had always cracked Daniel up. Adam was only twenty-seven, but he acted like he was seventy. He had to know that his brothers weren't saints; that they had their share of good times with the ladies.
Daniel knew he had. Being front man in a band had garnered him lots of attention from the fairer sex and, while Daniel wasn't a cad, he was a red-blooded eighteen year old with raging hormones. Adam had to have gone through that himself.
So now here was little brother getting some action and Daniel couldn't help but find delight in the whole situation.
Hey, Adam told me to pitch some hay, so I'd better get up there and pitch some hay. I have my orders, right? Daniel stifled a giggle. He wanted this little meeting to be a complete surprise to Evan.
As he quietly crept up the ladder, he held on tightly to the pitchfork, being careful not to bump it against the wood. He didn't want his targets to have any warning. He stifled another giggle as he imagined poking the pitchfork into his hot-headed little brother. He prayed that he would find the opportunity to plant the thing right into Evan's backside... gently of course.
Daniel expected to find Evan trying to find a little first and second base action. He was caught more than a little off guard to find his brother rounding third base and diving for homeplate with... What? Is that Cheryl Seaver? Daniel could hardly believe his eyes. Daniel himself had been out with that little vixen three times in the last month. He knew she was no angel, but she had warmed Daniel up only to cool him off cruelly on each date.
I'm not that kind of girl, Daniel McFadden. She had said numerous times. Daniel knew she was no saint. The girl was just playing hard to get for some reason. There had been talk amongst the guys in the football locker room and the head cheerleader had been the subject of those talks more than once.
Daniel wasn't in love with her. It was just physical attraction and Cheryl had been the one doing most of the flirting. He knew she flirted with Evan too. He wasn't blind. But Evan had yet to score a date with the blond bombshell... Well, he was certainly making up for lost time today.
Daniel was so startled at what he saw that he lost his grip on the pitchfork and it fell with a hard clanging thud to the floor of the barn. Cheryl saw Daniel first. She squeeled and grabbed at the horseblanket.
Daniel was startled, but not easily embarrassed. Oh, this was gonna be fun. Seeing the look of horror on Cheryl's face was very satisfying to him.
Evan's loud yelling broke through the solitude of Daniel's bliss.
"What are you doing! Get the hell outta here Daniel!" Evan spat, quickly throwing the banket over Cheryl. His face was red with embarrassment and anger as he glared at Daniel.
Daniel felt a wide grin grow across his own face. He used his pointer finger to push his light brown cowboy hat up higher on his forehead. He wanted to make sure Evan had a really good view of the smile on his face.
"What am I doing? I was gonna pitch some hay. What are y'all doing is the question, little brother." Daniel said. He broke out into a series of the silliest giggles anyone had ever heard.
"I said get the hell outta here Daniel!" Evan repeated his demand.
"Oh, okay sorry man. Hey there Cheryl, how ya doin' darlin'? Is my little brother treatin' you okay?" Daniel asked, his smile broadening even more when he saw the look of contempt on the girls' face. "Looks like you're doing okay now, doesn't it?" Daniel continued. Oh this was too great. Christmas came early for Daniel McFadden. Payback is sweet sometimes.
"You're a real jerk Daniel McFadden!" The girl spat out furiously as she tried to quickly adjust her clothes back into the right position while cowering underneath the blanket.
"Geez Cheryl, I thought you weren't that kind of girl. Guess I'm gonna have to tear out a page from little brothers' playbook." Daniel continued his taunting.
"Daniel!" Evan's voice was pleading now.
"Oh, right. Y'all want some privacy. I'll just go back inside and tell big brother that the hay will have to wait until your date is over." Daniel laughed, acting as though he was going to descend the ladder.
"Wait! Daniel pleeeeaaasssee! You wouldn't dare!" Evan begged.
"What? You don't want Adam to know about this?" Daniel asked innocently.
"Dammit Daniel. I'll do anything you want!" Evan pleaded.
"Hmmm, anything? Well, that's gonna require a lot of thought. Anything is a broad statement." Daniel giggled as he rubbed his chin pretending to be in deep thought and consideration.
A voice from below startled Daniel. He felt himself jump as he grabbed the ladder once again to try and regain his balance.
"Daniel, what'cha doing up there?" Hannah's voice reverberated through Daniel's brain. He froze, wondering as he stared straight ahead at his brother and Cheryl, if his eyes were as big as there's were right now. He had to think fast.
"Uh, hey Hannah... what?" Daniel stammered, his brain racing. He didn't really want Evan to get caught. It would be embarrassing to everyone involved. Mostly it would embarrass Hannah, Daniel feared.
"I said what are you doing? Why is this pitchfork laying on the floor like this? If you lose your balance and fall, you could be impaled on this thing." Hannah lectured as she bent over and picked up the pitchfork.
"Oh, I uh... I dropped it a minute ago. I was gonna come down and pick it up." Daniel continued to stammer out a lame excuse as his brain tried to come up with a good one.
"Well, why didn't you then?" Hannah asked sounding irritated. Uh oh, I guess the love fest between her and Adam is over. He thought silently as he picked up on her newest, less than pleasant mood.
Evan continued to stare pleadingly at Daniel. Cheryl seemed eerily calm when Daniel glanced back at her.
"Uh, I'm coming down Hannah. I just need to see if I dropped my walled in the loft. Just a second." Daniel said, stalling. He started to move up one wrung when Hannah replied, "Oh, well move over and I'll help you."
"No, no! I got it." Daniel said his voice now sounding a bit too panicky. Would Hannah pick up on it? He wondered.
"Yeah, I think you got something." Hannah said as she eyed the boy suspiciously. It was at that moment that she noticed strands of hay falling to the floor from the loft. Somebody else was up there, she realized.
"Daniel, who's up there? What are you trying to hide? Your wallet is right there in your back pocket." Hannah said irritatedly as she pointed up to the back pocket of his jeans.
While he was thinking of his next reply Daniel was stunned to see Cheryl suddenly drop the blanket and undo three buttons on her blouse. Then, she crawled toward Daniel and before he realized what was happening, the girl had peeked over the edge of the hayloft and revealed herself to Hannah. She was now the one giving Daniel an evil grin.
"Oops, Sorry Ms. Hannah. I'm so embarrassed. Daniel is so persuasive. I'm sorry I just lost my head for a minute. I knew I shouldn't let him talk me into this." She said, smiling sweetly down at Hannah. "Daniel, I told you this was wrong!" Cheryl whined, doing a pretty good job of acting innocent and at the same time embarrased.
"Daniel! I can't believe this. This is just unacceptable. What do you think your big brother will say?" Hannah admonished.
"Huh?" Shit! How had his good fortune turned bad so quickly? He considered telling Hannah everything, but thought better of it.
"Daniel would you please move so I can climb down? I want to go home now and please don't bring me out here again! If I'd known you had those kind of ideas, I'd have never agreed to come out here. She said sounding oh so innocent.
Daniel risked a quick glance at Evan and saw the boy was now completely dressed and his skin had turned an unnatural shade of purple from holding in gut busting laughter.
If I rat out Evan, Hannah's gonna think we were all three up here doing bad things. Would that send her flying inside to fetch Adam? Daniel couldn't take that risk.
Daniel eased down the ladder, deciding to keep it secret that there was still a co conspirator in the loft. After reaching the bottom, Cheryl began her descent. On the last couple of steps, she innocently held out her hand for Daniel to help her. Daniel was ever mindful of Hannah's gaze, so he gallantly offered his hand to Cheryl.
Cheryl didn't wait around for him. She muttered an embarrassed sorry as she past Hannah and announced to Daniel that she'd wait for him in the jeep.
"Daniel McFadden!" Hannah said accusingly. "What am I gonna do with you? That was compleley unacceptable. I bet that poor girl is mortified! I know I would be... and I hope you are too."
"What are you gonna tell Adam?" Daniel asked weakly. He didn't know how he'd get out of this, but he tried using his last weapon. Using his own acting skills, he gave his sister in law the biggest, most pitiful puppy dog eyes and the most shameful face he could muster.
"Don't even try that, Daniel. I'm not telling Adam anything." Hannah admonished him as she handed him the pitchfork. I believe you were supposed to bale some hay, weren't you? I mean, that's why Adam sent me out here, to make sure you were doing as you were told. Well, that and to see if Evan had made it back yet with the jeep. Adam is working on the water heater and he thinks he will need to run to Murphys for a new part."
"Huh?" Now Daniel was completely confused. "Hannah, I-" Daniel began.
"No, no... I've seen and heard enough. Hannah leaned in and kissed her brother in law on the cheek. You know, if I were you, I think I'd have ratted out my little brother, but- hey, that's just me." Hannah smiled as she turned to leave.
Daniel watched her in disbelief. Yet again, he was lost. "Evan, I suggest you take your little friend home. I want you back in an hour. I am way behind on housework and I'm gonna ask Adam to let me borrow you for the rest of the day. I'm sure he won't mind." Hannah said, tossing a glance up to the hayloft then giving Daniel a wink.
Evan leaned sheepishly over the side of the hay loft. "Yes ma'am." Was all he could think to say.
Hannah headed out the barn door and Evan climbed down, shaking his head. "How the heck did she know?" a bewildered Evan asked of his equally bewildered big brother. Daniel just shrugged his shoulders.
Hannah overheard the exchange between the boys. She quietly shook her head and smiled. "Boys are so easy." She muttered to herself. "Don't these McFadden men realize that after living with them for eight months, that this little woman will always be one step ahead of them all!" She couldn't help but throw her head back and laugh as she made her way back to the house.
the end