Author's Note: Well, here we all are gathered around the hearth of the Circle Bar Seven once again for story time! I have been happy to see so many stories posting lately. This piece has been running around in my brain for awhile, but felt sort of pinned in by my other stories. The downside of having a clear vision of the future for the McFaddens, it tends to bleed into all your stories, limiting your story lines. But it was pointed out by a wise writer from this very room, that each of my stories can be separate and individual, and just because I wrote one version of the future one time, doesn't mean I can't switch it up in another story. So that's just what I did. I hope you enjoy.
Ever Willfully,
Red
***7***
HANNAH McFADDEN looked up from where she sat at the kitchen table working on her grocery list. Her two younger brothers-in-law stepped into the room and stood before her expectantly.
"What?" She asked immediately suspicious.
"You busy?" Guthrie asked.
"Why?"
Guthrie sighed and turned to his older brother Ford. "You do it. She's in a mood. I can tell."
"What is that supposed to mean?" She glared at the fifteen year old.
"Shut up, Guthrie." Ford said. "Don't pay any attention to him. He's got no sense, you know this."
"Is this some routine, you two have been working on?" She sighed, setting aside the pencil in her hand. "Don't make a production of it, fellas - just spit it out."
"I told you." Guthrie said to Ford. "We missed our window of opportunity."
"Window of opportunity?" Hannah's dark brows wrinkled in confusion. "Guthrie James, I swear you are just trying to irritate me."
"Listen, I appreciate that you miss Adam when he's gone, but it has only been two days! He'll be back by the end of the week."
"I am not in a mood." She grumbled. "At least I wasn't three minutes ago before you two came in here and . . .oh, for pity's sake! What do you want?"
"To take you to dinner." Ford grinned.
"And a movie." Guthrie added.
"What?"
"Come on, it's just three of us. We'll go into town, get something to eat and then watch a movie." Ford told her.
Hannah considered the two of them. "What is the movie?"
"Oh, well, we hadn't really . . ."Guthrie mumbled.
"Oh, yes you have. I suppose dinner is to butter me up?"
"I told you, I'm not asking her." Ford said with his arms folded.
"You are such a coward." Guthrie said glaring at his older brother.
"I'm seventeen." Ford pointed out. "Chances are I could get in."
"Like Paul's gonna forget how old you are." Guthrie complained. "This town is too damn small."
"Nice language." Hannah said. "Do you fellas need me here for this argument?"
"Sorry, Hannah." Ford turned from Guthrie to face her again. "It doesn't matter if you say no, we still want to take you out to dinner, but we were sort of hoping to go see Fright Night. Only . . ."
"Fright Night?" She sighed. "It's rated R?"
They nodded their heads.
"There's no way, I can sign off on that. Isn't there something else playing?"
"Some lame girl movie." Guthrie said, but watching his sister-in-law's expression change, he immediately regretted it.
"Girl movie? Because something made for girls or about girls would be boring or dumb?" She asked rising.
"Jesus! Guthrie! Why couldn't you just keep your mouth closed! I told you! Let me do the talking!" Ford turned on his brother. "Look, Hannah, never mind. Let, Guth and me take you out to dinner. Forget about the movie."
"Yeah, forget about what I said, too." Guthrie added. "I'm sorry, Hannah." He turned to Ford. "I told you this was a dumb idea!"
Hannah glanced at the clock on the wall. "Well, did you boys get your chores finished?"
"Yes, ma'am." They responded immediately.
"It would be nice to get out." She said thoughtfully. "Alright, you fellas give me a minute to change, and I'll let you buy me dinner, but no movie. Your brother would never let me hear the end of it if I let you two talk me into taking you to some R movie. That's more Brian's kind of thing."
"Adam told Brian if he ever took us to another R movie, he'd make him sleep in the barn for the winter."
"Ah, ha." She said smiling. "So, you've got a history of bamboozling your warden into taking you to the movies."
"You aren't our warden." Ford offered.
"Don't try and sweet talk me, Ford. I won't change my mind about the movie." She turned to leave the room, but paused to say. "I don't want Adam to put me out in the barn all winter!"
Guthrie slumped and sat in the chair. "I knew it wouldn't work." He sighed, resting his chin on his hand. "Man, everyone's seen the movie but me."
"Looks like it's gonna stay that way, too." Ford told him. "At least we get to go into town. Maybe we'll find some girls."
"With Hannah?"
"Now, who's the one that's in a mood?" Ford gave his brother a push. "Come, on, go get your piggy bank. I've got a feeling Hannah's gonna want something fancy."
***7***
William Hannigan leaned against the counter at the mercantile. The store was nearly abandoned. It was generally abandoned, although a couple of tourists usually wandered through on their way somewhere else. One time, a bus had broken down just outside of town, and the store had been filled with teenagers on their way to a bible camp. Today only one stranger had come through, and he had only bought a bottle of Jack Daniels. It was the usual late afternoon gathering: Will, Ben, Ed and Peter. They were covering their favorite topic - whose team sucked the most.
"I'm just saying, that there is no way they would've got anywhere close to playoffs, so you acting like a torn ligament would've made any difference." The circle of men all turned with expectation toward the target of Will's derision.
"You don't know that. There's no way you can know that!" Ben shook his head at him.
"You are just saying things because of how ashamed you are. Your team was 15th! You know what that means? There are eleven other teams that are worse than us, but every single one of them is better than that sad band you follow." Will responded.
The two other men laughed, wisely staying out of the decades old fight between their friends.
"You are just mean-spirited, Ben." Will complained.
Ben laughed, and nodded his head agreeing.
"You better get home, Will, 'fore Sue comes looking for you." Ed said pointing at the clock on the wall. "You know what happened last time." He snickered.
"I guess I better." Ben agreed. He patted his pockets absent-mindedly and then glanced around.
"What's wrong?" Ben asked.
"Do you see my keys anywhere?"
"You lost your keys again." Ed said looking around.
They looked all around but couldn't find them anywhere.
"You sure you didn't leave 'em in the truck?" Ben asked.
"No, I had them in my hand when I walked in. I usually set them on the counter by the door."
"Maybe someone picked them up accidently." Ben offered.
"Maybe. I don't mind the keys so much. It was just my truck key, and I got a spare at home, but I put my five year chip on there." He shook his head. "I worked damn hard to earn that stupid thing. I hate losing it."
"Five year?" Ed asked perplexed.
"I've been sober five years." Will said straightening.
"Those keys will turn up." Ben said reassuringly. "What would anyone want with a key to that death trap you call a truck?"
"And who would want a five year chip?" Will agreed.
"Come on," Ed said. "I'll drive you home."
***7***
Hannah McFadden step outside into the streets of downtown Murphys. Actually, not streets of downtown Murphys, but street. Singular - not plural. She sighed, the late evening sunlight slanting just right so that it blinded her temporarily. She was waited as her younger brothers chatted to two girls who'd come into Marie's just as they were finishing their dinner.
She turned to walk down the sidewalk to the jeep, when a man stepped in front of her. She couldn't make out his face at first, and then the light shifted and her eyes grew wide.
"Wha . . . what . . ." She stuttered unable to speak.
Just then, Guthrie and Ford stepped out of the diner and walked to where she stood frozen.
"Hey, Hannah!" Guthrie called. "What about some ice cream?" He stopped seeing the stranger.
"It is you." The man said his voice full of surprise. "I should've known. I've seen those eyes before."
"What do you want?" She asked, her tone so sharp and bitter that both Ford and Guthrie froze, glancing at one another anxiously.
"Hannah, what's going on?" Guthrie asked while at the same time Ford said, "Who are you?" as he moved to step in front of Hannah.
"My name's Jim Moss, and you look much too young to be my son-in-law, but too old to be my grandson. You a friend of the family?" He asked with an outstretched hand.
"Moss?" Guthrie said surprised, and turning to look at Hannah.
"Not a friend of the family." Ford said not taking the hand offered. "We are the family." But he offered no further explanation.
"Well, I uh" He hesitated briefly , but then regained his equilibrium, a bright smile returning to his face. "I'm Hannah's father, so if you are the family, then I guess we are family too."
***7***
Guthrie cringed, sinking down lower in his seat, closing his eyes. He glanced over at Ford, who watched the screen, his eyes huge with horror.
"Ford, I don't think we should've . . ." Guthrie whispered.
"Shh." Ford said. "She said it was fine."
"I know but, he just shows up out of nowhere? You ever once hear her talk about him?"
They sat together in the dark theater, and the man in front of them turned around to glare as Guthrie whispered to his older brother.
"No, but what are we gonna do. She told us to go. She paid for us to get in!" Ford sounded as frustrated as Guthrie felt.
"I've been wanting to see this movie forever." Guthrie said softly to himself. He set his bucket of popcorn down on the floor. "Ford, what should we do?"
The man turned around again, glaring, this time a finger to his lips.
"I don't know. I wish Adam were home." Ford continued after the man turned back around. "What are we supposed to do? We can't just eavesdrop while they talk! I mean she sent us away."
"I don't want to be here." Guthrie said.
"Me either." Ford agreed.
"So, leave!" The man in front of them turned around and whispered fiercely at them.
"Alright, alright." Ford said, rising. "We're going."
Guthrie followed him out of the small theater. They stood side-by-side in the empty lobby, unsure.
"What now?" Guthrie asked.
"Well," Ford shrugged, indicating the door leading outside. "I guess the worst that happens is she yells at us."
"She's yelled at us before." Guthrie said following his older brother. "Nothing to worry about then."
"I got a bad feeling about this whole thing." Ford confessed.
"You and me, both, brother."
***7***
Hannah leaned against the jeep, her arms folded protectively across her chest. She glanced around hoping that all of Murphys wasn't out to watch as she talked to a stranger. He said nothing, standing before her, waiting. Finally, she could take his silence no more.
"What do you want?" She asked sharply.
"That's the best hello you can give after all these years." He grinned and she was surprised to see it revealed a dimple as he did so. She glanced away as a memory of Adam reaching out to touch her cheek as she laughed flashed in front of her eyes. "You got the sweetest dimple when you smile, darlin'!" She shook herself free of the memory, and continued to glare at the man who stood before her.
"What kind of hello were you hoping for?" Her voice was harsh even to her own ears, but he said nothing in response. "If you want money, we haven't got it, leastways, not to spare."
He still didn't respond, choosing instead to look off into the hills in the distance. Finally, he turned back to her, and grinned.
"I forgot how pretty it is here. Too bad that wasn't enough to make up for being in the middle of nowhere! I'm surprised to find you here still. I would've thought you couldn't wait to get away from Granddaddy's farm."
"We sold the farm long time ago, and left too."
"I figured that out, when I knocked on the door and a stranger opened it." He said with a chuckle.
"You weren't expecting Mama waiting there for you still?" Her eyes grew wide with shock, and anger. "Mama's dead."
"Yeah," His response was soft. "I know that."
She raised one dark eyebrow wondering how he knew. Did they still notify husbands even if they were ex-husbands? Then again, she wasn't sure they had ever actually divorced. She sighed.
"What do you want?" She repeated.
"Still stubborn as ever I see, Hannah. Gracie said I would be crazy to come here."
"You should've listened to her."
"Yeah, well, your sister and I, sort of had falling out." He explained. "You know how she gets."
"No, I don't." Hannah replied bitterly. "You made damn well sure of that."
"Look . . ." He began, but Hannah raised a hand cutting him off.
"I'm not doing this, not now, not here in front of all of Murphys. I don't need this, okay?"
"Fine. Where can we talk? When can we talk?" He stepped in front of her as she moved to walk past him.
"Oh, it's up to me, now?" She could feel her anger building.
"I just want to talk to you, that's all." He said lifting a hand to reach out and grab a hold of her arm to keep her from leaving.
The motion of his hand to her arm, was all that Ford saw when he and Guthrie approached from around the corner. A wave of rage passed over him, as he saw it, and he found himself running to her. Hannah's face was clearly frightened, and he covered the distance between them quickly, but not before Guthrie rushed passed him, beating him there.
"Get your goddamn hands off her!" Guthrie yelled, shoving the older man hard.
"Wait, wait!" Hannah said, moving to step in.
"What's your problem, junior?" Jim Moss said as he staggered back. He regained his balance and moved closer to them again.
"Get back!" Ford said.
"Easy, fellas." Hannah said stepping in front of Guthrie. "It's fine. I'm fine. That's enough."
"You watch it." Guthrie seized, shaking a finger at the older man.
"Gotta it, pal." He said sarcastically.
"Get in the jeep, boys. Let's go home." Hannah said, but neither Ford nor Guthrie moved. "Now." She hissed at them.
"Yes, ma'am." They said in near unison, but neither one of them took their angry gaze off of Jim Moss.
"Jesus, Hannah, what did you tell them about me?" He asked.
She turned to walk to the passenger side of the jeep, as Ford turned the engine over. "I didn't tell 'em one damn thing." She said as she climbed into the seat. "There was never anything to say."
"Wait!" He called as the jeep pulled away from the curb. "I just wanna . . ."
But whatever it was that Jim Moss wanted, was swallowed in the roar of the engine.