The acrid smell of smoke was everywhere and all Hannah McFadden wanted to do was sink into a warm tub and wash it all away. Stiffly she rose from where she'd been hunched over her brother-in-law, Daniel. She adjusted the bandage on his arm one last time and asked, "Hurt?"

"Worse than an angry woman's glare." He answered with a grin. "Nah, it's better now."

"Take the meds they gave you, Daniel. It's gonna hurt worse later."

"What about you?" He asked.

"I'm fine." She smiled at him, glancing around the living room which was growing dark. "Where's Guthrie?"

"Brian threw him in the shower. Ford's next." He answered. "I want a bath in the worst way, but I haven't got the energy." He shrugged. "We all stink like that smoke."

She nodded and glanced around the room. "Evan still with Diablo?"

"Crane took him a blanket. He's gonna sleep out there." He shrugged. "He's worried because Diablo is so freaked." He paused, studying her arm thoughtfully. "Did they look at that cut? It seemed pretty deep."

"No stitches." She said, pulling her arm close to her body. "I'm fine."

Silence hung between them and he watched her dark blue eyes as she glanced around the room, anxiously. It was clear she was worried and stressed. The ache of his arm was a dull background to his own worry and exhaustion. He wished the whole day could start over; that everything could be undone. He watched her face a minute more and then finally broke the silence.

"He's still outside."

"I know." She looked around the room again. "I was just . . ."

"We are all fine. Don't worry, Hannah. Brian's got Guthrie and I'll keep an eye on Ford." He smiled warmly at her. "Go on."

"I wanted to make sure Guthrie wasn't too . . ."

"He's fine." Daniel said, cutting her off. "It's okay, Hannah. 'Sides, there's a brother who probably needs you more right now."

Still she hesitated and Daniel shook his head wonderingly at her. They'd all been shocked when Adam had brought home his surprise bride but more shocking than that was the slow revealing over time of her good and loving nature.

"Go on, honey. Everyone is just fine."

She blushed shyly, and squeezed his shoulder gently. "Take your meds, Daniel. Don't be a tough guy." And turning she walked out and stood on the porch.

The view was disorienting. She scanned the hills in the distance trying to adjust to the altered view. Sighing heavily she saw him just to her left, sitting on some of the stacked hay they'd managed to save. As she crossed the yard to go to him a light drizzling of rain began to fall and tears filled her eyes at the grim irony. If only . . . She thought.

"Someone look at your arm?" He asked without looking up at her.

"I'm fine." She answered quickly. She stood just a foot to his right, both of them staring out straight ahead.

"That's not what I asked, Hannah Joy." He turned to look at her then. His face was streaked with soot and dirt, and his normally bright, mischievous eyes were dim with exhaustion and sorrow.

She lifted her hand and ran it over the familiar line of his jaw. "You oughta wash your face, at least." She said softly. "That soot'll sting your eyes."

"Hannah. . ."

"They looked at it. No stitches." She sighed, leaning back and stretching her tired back. "I'll live."

"Good news at last, then." He grinned at her, and then turned back to gaze at the barn.

To gaze where the barn used to be.

"I don't know, Adam." She said with a sigh. "I think we've had better days than today."

She made a broad sweep of her arm indicating the charred remains of the barn. They'd managed, through a difficult and concerted effort to extinguish the fire before it spread anywhere else, but the barn was gone - mostly gone. The far end was still standing - two stalls, more or less. Adam and Brian had worked to shore up the sides of it after the fire had been extinguished.

He sighed, but reaching out, caught her hand in his pulling her down beside him. "You sure that arm is okay?" He asked again.

"I'm fine." She repeated. "Everyone is fine. The boys are getting cleaned up. I just checked on Daniel, and Crane is with Evan." She turned to look at him. "Everyone is okay, Adam."

He nodded his head without looking at her, squeezing her fingers gently. "Okay."

She thought of all the times they had stood together in the dim light of the barn - talking, arguing, kissing. It had been a place away from their responsibilities - away from the watchful eyes of their brothers.

She thought of the first time she'd ever stepped inside the small office in the far corner - his father's office - unchanged since Adam, Sr. had occupied it. She remembered the unveiled look in his dark eyes, as he said softly, "So this was Daddy's office." His voice a hesitant mix of pride and pain so raw, that she'd drawn in a sharp breath, a physical pain cutting a deep scar into her own heart.

"I'm sorry, Adam." She said softly.

"Well," He shrugged, glancing her away. "I . . . uh . . ." But he couldn't speak and his look of pain matched the anguish she felt for him; for his loss. She leaned in closer, her chin resting on his shoulder, and she whispered softly. "I'm really sorry, honey." She brushed a light kiss on his cheek as he slid his arm around her still saying nothing - too hurt for words.

***7***

It had been a really ordinary morning. She managed to haul herself out of bed on time, and had fresh coffee and toast before Brian, Adam, and Crane stumbled out for early morning chores. Everyone, even Brian, seemed in relatively good spirits.

"Thanks, Hannah." Crane said accepting the coffee she offered. He thanked her every single morning.

"You're welcome." She smiled at him, and Adam winked at her from across the room.

"Looks like a storm's brewing." Brian remarked from where he stood peering out the kitchen window. "Better not hang your laundry out today, Mrs. McFadden."

"You can't imagine my disappointment." She teased.

"Probably wind up with all of us stuck in here with you all day." He added. "I'm sure that will really add to your anguish."

"Well, I mind some of you more than others." She laughed, as he shook his head at her. It was then that she saw the flash of lightning across the sky. They all turned to look out the window.

"Lightning storm." Adam said.

"No rain?" She asked.

"Maybe later. Stay inside." He turned to Brian. "We better get the goats inside the barn. Never know if there will be a strike."

"So much for hanging around the house and bugging Hannah." Brian said, setting his coffee aside. The light flashed again and she turned toward the window.

"It sure is pretty."

"Don't tell Mr. Tomkins that." Crane said with a laugh, sliding his arms into his jacket. She looked up at their faces as they laughed.

"He got hit by lightening - maybe ten years ago." Adam said to her. "Every time we get a storm, he gets jittery."

Brian laughed adding, "And starts exercising his whiskey arm!"

"Can't really blame him." Adam said, sliding his arms into his jacket. "Don't worry, honey." He told her as his brothers stepped out into the early morning light. "They don't usually last long and hardly ever touch down."

"Who said I was worried?" She answered with a grin. "I was just looking forward to spending my day with some lazy cowboys."

"Well, don't worry, baby, that rain is coming." He kissed her, and settling his white hat on his head, he left.

It was a slow morning. It seemed to take forever to convince Guthrie and Ford that it really was morning and time for school. By the time the two of them had finally crawled downstairs, the lightning had stopped and all the brothers had gathered back in the kitchen for breakfast.

"If it's raining this afternoon, I'll meet you at the bus stop." Hannah told the younger brothers.

"Why didn't Adam marry you when I was still in high school?" Daniel asked bitterly. "No one EVER picked me up on raining days. I had to trudge home through floods!"

"Well, you weren't alone." Evan scoffed, reaching for another piece of toast. "We were trudging right next to you!"

"Please!" Brian said shaking his head. "Daniel! You sound like a whiney little gir. . ." He was cut short from a glare from Hannah. "A whiney little weak person." He corrected himself remembering his sister-in-law's feminist sensibilities.

"Thank you." She said to him rising and turning to the dishes in the sink. She glanced up and thought she saw another flash of light near the far end of the barn, but heard no rumble of thunder and figured she had been mistaken. She turned to the dishes, as the brothers gathered lunches, backpack and coats.

It was always a chaotic time. She'd tried a hundred different methods to bring peace and order to this part of the morning, but had eventually resigned herself to the inevitability of the McFadden Morning Chaos. One of them would need to rush back upstairs for something they'd forgotten, the screen door would rattle as it opened and shut, and then opened and shut again, and someone would yell for someone to grab something or that they forgot about something they absolutely need to have right now for school. She had taken to remaining where she was, watching them swirl all around her. The ritual disaster generally ended with a wave and a shouted, "Bye, Hannah" or an occasional, "Thanks for breakfast!". Once, on a particualary chaotic morning, Guthrie had doubled-back and given her cheek a kiss saying softly, "Sorry 'bout the noise." She had just put the last dish in the drainer when, it seemed that the morning ritual had reach it's conclusion. She could see Adam and Crane striding toward the paddock out the kitchen window, as a beautiful peace settled over the house. She turned expecting to find herself alone, but was surprised to find the three youngest standing in the doorway silently.

"What's the matter fellas?" She asked glancing behind her. "Forget your lunches."

"No." Ford said, holding up one of the bags she'd packed for them.

"We just wanted to say thanks for thinking to pick us up in the rain." Evan told her with a grin.

"And for breakfast." Guthrie added, blushing shyly.

"And for the lunches." Ford said with a wink.

"Oh," She said surprised, and surprised by her sudden emotional reaction to their simple thanks. "You boys are welcome. You have a good day." She smiled at them, fighting the urge to grab them all in a big hug.

"Yes, ma'am." Guthrie answered with a grin, and then they were gone, the screen door banging loudly behind them.

She wiped a ridiculous stray tear from her face, and turned back around to tackle the mountain of laundry that lay piled in the tiny laundry room, but as she crossed the kitchen a curl of smoke caught her eye.

At first she thought maybe Adam and his brothers were burning something, but realized they would never burn anything that near the barn. It was strange because the smoke was coming right from where she'd seen the flash of light earlier, and then suddenly she'd realized it; realized what must have happened. She ran down the back steps, not even grabbing her coat, and the morning cold hit her like a wall of ice. She sprinted across the yard, skidding to a stop near the edge of the barn, shocked by the sight of yellow flames already licking at the bottom of the side wall. The animals! her mind raced. She turned and entered the barn, opening the door wide, and moving into the barn which was already filling with smoke, she opened Diablo's pen first, but the horse huddle in the corner, too frightened to move. The sound of coughing surprised her, and she looked up to see Crane standing wide-eyed in the doorway.

"Hannah!" He yelled.

"Go ring the bell!" She yelled back to him. "We've got to get these horses out of here!"

"No, you shouldn't . . ." He began, but recognized there was no time to argue, instead he spun, and seconds later she heard the bell ringing - the family signal for alarm. She had managed to get most of the stalls open by the time they all came running - Crane first, who dragged her out by her arm.

"Get out of here!" He spat angrily at her. "Go call the fire department."

She turned to go back in but nearly ran smack into her husband, who with a look of absolute furry, simple lifted her up and carried her out.

"God dammit, you stay the hell out of there!" He set her down just outside the barn doors. "I got enough to worry about without you . . ." He spun away from her, without finishing the thought. She turned to see Guthrie standing a few feet from her wide-eyed and pale.

"Go call the fire department, Guth!" She shouted, startling him.

"I just did." He said and then turned to see the goats huddle in the far corner of the pen that was just outside the barn. "Ford's goats." He said, too rattled to form a complete sentence.

She looked where they were huddled, frightened. "We better move them to lower pasture." She was already moving forward toward the gate. It took both of them to convince the terrified animals to follow them, and by the time they'd managed that, she realized that the other pen behind the barn housed the pregnant cows. She ran around the back of the barn, not even bothering to explain to Guthrie as he closed the lower pasture's pen. The cows were still there - the brothers too distracted by the horses and the flames to remember that Evan had brought the pregnant cows in just yesterday afternoon. She flung the gate where the cows huddled anxiously trying to escape the smoke that poured out of the barn. One of the cows knocked her down, and she had to roll quickly to avoid being trampled by the others that followed. Rising, she reached out and pulled herself up, not realizing that she was using the barbed wire fence to regain her balance. Guthrie had caught back up to her then, and they stood together watching the cows run out and away from the barn. They'd have to round them up later - they didn't have horses or enough manpower to manage a small herd of frightened cows.

She wrapped an arm around Guthrie's shoulders, and moved him back around to the front yard as the sound of sirens split the air.

"Firetrucks are here." Guthrie said flatly.

She tried to calm the panic in her heart as she looked all around wishing she could see all the brothers; could see Adam. In the distance she could see Evan, battling with Diablo who's wild eyes and spirit made him twice as difficult to control as any other horse. Brian emerged from the barn coughing and sputtering with Daniel right beside him. Her eyes grew wide, at the sight of Daniel's arm, which was wrapped in the remains of Brian's shirt. She ran to them, skidding to a stop on her knees beside Daniel.

"I got it out, right away." Brian told her coffing.

"Where's Adam?" She asked trying to keep herself from bursting into tears. "Where's Crane?"

They emerged seconds later, Crane pulling Adam out by the arm. She couldn't hear any of their words, the roar of the flames, the fire trucks and firemen who now spilled out and into their yard, covering over everything. It was clear though that Adam wasn't happy with being pulled from the barn.

She glanced around and could see all the brothers now, relief washing over her so powerfully that she was thankful that she sat beside Daniel knowing that otherwise she would've collapsed to her knees. One of the firemen came to her side saying, "He got burnt?" She nodded, rising to go to Adam on unsteady feet.

She stood beside him, as he watched the barn burn. He was covered in soot and ash, his face white with anguish. Reaching out she took hold of his arm, and startled he turned to look at her.

"The boys . . ." He began, but she stopped him, squeezing his arm.

"Everyone's okay. Everyone is out."

His eyes grew bright with tears and he glanced down at her. "Your arm!" His voice was filled immediately with panic, and she looked down surprised to see her arm was covered in blood. "Sweetheart!"

"I'm okay." She said lifting it up to look at it.

"Where's that EMT?" He asked, ignoring her completely and striding quickly away from her. She bit at the corner of her lip watching him dart in panic around the yard until he found an unoccupied firefighter. He gestured wildly as the firefighter nodded. She shook her head recognizing that there would be some difficult hours ahead.

Adam McFadden was a man of action, and dealing with the loss of the family barn would not be a problem he could solve. She knew, from experience, that he would spend his days dealing with absolutely anything else - sometimes even creating imaginary problems that had to be dealt with. She remembered with searing pain, his obsession with clearing all the brush out of the upper pasture after they'd lost the baby. He had time for little else. It was the most important problem in the entire universe and demanded all of his attention. Brokenhearted herself, she had neither the strength nor energy to combat his determined efforts to avoid dealing with that which was right in front of him. She hadn't known the ins and outs of all that had happened, but after Brian had found her sobbing alone in the laundry room, she knew he had gone after Adam bringing him home to her. She always wondered what her somewhat brash brother-in-law had said to his older brother, but she was forever grateful for the result. She hoped things wouldn't get as bad this time around.

"Hello ma'am." A voice startled her, and she looked up to find a young EMT standing in front of her.

"I'm sorry, I was just . . ." She smiled at him.

"Are you feeling light headed?" He asked.

"No." She shook her head. "It's a surface cut." She indicated her arm. "I don't think stitches are necessary - maybe some glue. It looks worse than it is and my husband prefers panic over anything else. It's how he deals with shock."

"That might be, but may I look at your arm anyway?" He smiled at her. "He already told me you would try and convince me you're fine, and he asked me to point out that you didn't finish nursing school."

"Two semesters." She shook her head, lifting her arm for him to see. "Actually, it was really a semester and a half that I had left."

"Yes, ma'am."

She recognized that he was just humoring her - that he figured she was just an irrational female who thought she knew all things medical. She sighed and accepted her fate.

***7***

"We might as well just let it go." Brian said to the fire chief. "You aren't gonna be able to save it."

"No." The chief agreed. "Still we gotta make sure it doesn't spread to any of the other buildings."

"Yeah." Brian sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck. "My grandaddy built it."

"It was well made." The chief squeezed Brian's arm, and then added, "Excuse me." He strode away just as Hannah approached her tall brother-in-law.

"Arm okay?" He asked her.

"I'm fine. What about you?"

"Oh, I'm alright." He sighed, glancing around. "Adam storming around here somewhere?"

"He and Crane are putting the hay in that shed." She indicated a building on the far end of their property.

"Oh. Maybe I should help."

"Let me see your hand." She demanded.

"Why?" He was immediately defensive and she had to grin at her most problematic McFadden brother.

"You don't have to be difficult 100% of the time, Brian." She put a hand to her hip. "You put out that fire on Daniel's arm. I know you burned your hand."

Saying nothing he held it out and she studied his palm, thoughtfully. She ran her hand gently over the surface watching his face to see if he winced.

"It looks like it might sting some. I'm sure those medics have some burn salve. I don't suppose you'd go ask them for some and maybe let them take a look?" She looked up at him through her bangs which had fallen in front of her eyes.

"I thought you were a good nurse." He offered. "What do I need strangers pawing me for?"

She sighed heavily. "Oh, alright. I'll get it." She paused, thoughtfully. "I thought you liked strangers pawing you." She added mischievously.

His eyes widened in shock and a soft blush covered his face. "Mrs. McFadden!" She winked at him and went to find the medicine for his hand.

"You alright?" Crane asked approaching him. "You look a little . . ."

"I'm fine." Brian answered with a reassuring nod. "Hannah was just teasing me. How's the Super Hero?"

"Oh, you know." Crane shrugged. "He's restacking the hay we saved. Doesn't like how it's leaning." Crane turned to face the barn shaking his head. "It's pretty hard to believe."

"Yeah." Brian agreed.

They stood side-by-side watching as the bright flames subsided and the billowing smoke filled the air. Brian wrapped an arm around Crane's shoulders.

"I kind of wished we'd cleared out Daddy's office now." Crane said mournfully.

"Yeah." Brian's terse response was emphasized with a gentle squeeze of Crane's shoulder. "Why don't you go check on Dan'l. Florence Nightingale is gonna keep me occupied for a little bit. Make sure the babies are doing okay. Evan was stressing out about Diablo."

"I got 'em." Crane said, watching as Hannah approached, a determined look on her features.

"Crane, you alright?" She asked as he turned toward the house.

"I'm fine. I'm gonna go check on the boys."

"Adam's still stacking that hay." Brian said to her, as she reached for his arm, pulling his hand in front of her.

"Sounds about right." She answered.

"I'll knock some sense into him later." He offered.

"And what about you?" She looked up to into his face with bright, compassionate eyes.

"Knock it off, sweetheart." He growled. "I'm a tough guy with way too much to do, to be bawling about my Daddy's barn."

"Stubborn." She said softly, her eyes still locked on his. She offered a warm, sad smile, and then turned her attention back to his hand, gently rubbing in the burn ointment. "McFaddens are nothing but stubborn cowboys."

"You ought to know. 'Sides you're a McFadden too, darlin'." He said with huff. "I bet Adam had to drag one of them medics over to look at your arm."

"We aren't talking about me." She answered sharply and he shook his head at her.

"McFadden stubbornness."