TWO

Adam wanted to lean his head back against the seat, but knew if he did Brian would tease him about being an old man. Climbing around fixing the roof all day had left him pretty worn out - not that he'd admit it. He glanced at his brother in the passenger seat. Brian was rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

"Tired, little brother?" Adam asked and Brian turned around rolling his eyes at him.

"Don't start, old man."

"Aren't you the same age?" Tom asked them.

"Please!" Brian said punching Tom's arm. "He's a million years older than me!"

"Seventeen months!" Adam leaned forward from the back seat of the jeep. "Seventeen months and eleven days."

"See, he's ages older than me!" Brian said. "It really shows up on days like today. I bet he can hardly climb out of the car."

"Watch it, Bri! Don't give me a reason to remind you how easy it is for me to clean your clock!" Adam growled.

Brian laughed and said to Tom, "He's like an old bear - all growl and no fight."

"Listen, if you two or gonna throw down, wait 'til I get a chance to make a bag of popcorn. Our tv broke this summer and I'm sort of hurtin' for entertainment." He turned the jeep onto the road that led to the Circle Bar Seven, and coming to the long driveway they could see a lone figure in the distance.

The sun was just sinking in the sky, and the hills in the distance were bright green. The sky above them was streaked with golds, reds, pinks and purples, and in the distance walked Hannah. The light shining behind her made her hair shine with gold. She was dressed in a white henley, and her jeans hugged her long legs. She saw the jeep and paused leaning against the fence, a bright grin on her face revealing dimples.

"Damn." Tom said turning around to glance at Adam.

"Got that right." Adam said with a grin. "Pull over. I'll hop out here."

"I'll bet." Tom slowed the jeep to a stop and Adam climbed out, walking toward Hannah in long strides, as the jeep roared past them.

"Hey, beautiful. You trying to a hitch a ride to the city?" She laughed and he couldn't resist pulling her close for a kiss.

"Just try and get rid of me, Rancher Man."

"No way in hell I'm gonna try that." He kissed her again. "Everything all right? One brother too many?"

"No. I just figured you'd be back soon, and if I met you on the road, we'd have at least ten minutes alone on the walk back."

"Smart girl."

She grinned at him, and twined her fingers in his as they made their way back to the house together.

"You sore?" She asked him. "I bet you are tired."

"Nah, I'm a tough guy."

"Alright, cowboy. No need to get defensive. I only asked 'cause I noticed you were limping a little bit."

"Oh, that? It's nothing." He waved his hand at her dismissively. "See, we were working on that roof, and I saw this brown bear in the distance, so I hopped down, chased him off. It would've been pretty simple too, but I had to run about ten miles to do it. Plus, I only had five minutes to accomplish it. So, you know, I guess I'm a tiny bit sore. But no big deal - just an average day."

"I see."

"Yeah, and it wasn't really the bear and the ten miles, but there was this cougar there too, and I also was carrying a load of four-by-fours, so I guess that was what did it."

She shook her head. "Okay, okay. No need to brag, Muscles."

"Oh, I'm not bragging. If I was bragging I would've mentioned that I was also carrying Brian the whole way because he was scared and crying like a little boy who lost his blankie."

"I'm telling him you said that." She said laughing.

"You do, and I'll tell him that your secret recipe chicken comes from the back of a bisquick box."

"You do, and you may as well bunk in with him!"

Adam considered thoughtfully, "Well, he doesn't hog the covers, but he doesn't kiss near as good as you."

"Oh?" She asked turning to step in front of him.

"Not even close." He said leaning in and kissing her. If he had his way, he would've stayed where he was kissing her until every star was in the sky, but the weight of responsibility drew him back to reality; like a stone dragging him to the bottom of the ocean. "The boys already eat?"

"Yep. I made them save some for you, though. It wasn't easy fighting Guthrie off."

"God, he's impossible to keep fed! Crane was one hundred times worse, though!"

"I imagine keeping you fed at twelve was no picnic." She said as they resumed their walk to the house.

"I was the perfect son." He said dramatically.

"Still are." She said seriously, but he couldn't react to this overwhelming kindness, and instead cleared his throat before speaking.

"How was your day?"

"Pretty good. Nothing too exciting."

"No broken bones?"

"Nope. Least not yet. Today isn't over."

"True that." He sighed seeing that they'd reached the house. She continued forward, but he stopped, and pulled her to him. "I kind of don't want to go inside."

"Me either," She said and he wrapped his arms around her.

"So let's stay out here." He suggested.

"Well, your brothers are watching us through the picture window so . . ."

"Damn, brothers."

"Nice language." She said laughing. "Beside, I should mention one tiny thing that happened today."

"Uh, oh." He said stepping back from her. "I don't like the sound of this."

"No, it isn't a big deal, really. I just had to pick one of your brother's up early from school." She smiled at him hopefully.

"Uh, huh." He said crossing his arms. "That's all?"

"Well, it wasn't a pick up from the nurses' office."

He nodded his head at her and rolled his head from left to right, stretching his neck. "Where?"

"See, it's gonna sound a lot worse than it was. Why don't you go inside and have a good dinner and then we'll talk about it."

"You brought it up." He pointed out. "Hannah, come on, out with it!"

"Well, I had to stop by and talk with the vice principal first, and then your brother came home."

"I swear! He'll never learn! Evan is never gonna see his graduation day! He keeps this up and I'll kill 'em first!"

She reached out and caught his arm, as he stormed toward the steps. "Adam, it wasn't Evan."

"Guthrie? He probably just did something without thinking then."

"No." She said and waited for it to sink in, and nearly smiled as his eyes grew wide with shock.

"Ford? My brother Ford? Really?"

"I know! That's what I said." She laughed. "Got thrown out of class."

"Ford?"

"Yep. For arguing with the teacher." She emphasized each word, almost enjoying herself. "Ford, your brother, argued with a teacher."

"I'll be damned!" Adam said. "Who knew? He's a dead man, but I'm almost proud of him!"

"I know, right?" She laughed.

"Why was he arguing?" He asked.

"Yeah," She said her smile and laughter fading. "That's the part that's gonna tick you off. He won't talk about it."

"He won't talk about it?" Adam felt his blood pressure rise. "He gets thrown out of class and expects me to leave it alone? He's talking, all right. He's talking right now!"

"I don't know, Adam. You've been doing this longer than me, but . . ." She hesitated, unsure. "Maybe we should give him some time. Ford wouldn't argue over nothing."

He studied her thoughtfully, trying not to be distracted by the light on her skin, or the familiar lines of her curves. Hannah was beautiful, there was no denying that. Any fool could see it - from her long, brown waves of hair, to her dark mischievous eyes, and down the long curvy line of her body, but that was just the start. She was fun-loving and quick to laugh. She brought joy wherever she went - even in the bleakest of circumstances. And she was stubborn with a capital S. She'd dig her heels in for whatever she thought was right and didn't care who she had to tangle with; she was fearless. But it was times like now, her loving kindness that completely slayed him.

She loved his brothers; all six of them. She was quick to shape herself into whatever they needed - a teasing equal to Brian's stubborn temper, a thoughtful philosopher to Crane's inner struggles, an artistic sounding-board for Daniel, a calming spirit to Evan's fiery temper, a patient, thoughtful, observer to Ford's shy demeanor, and a laughing playmate, and maternal comfort to Guthrie. It was impossible for him to express how much it meant to him - what a difference it made. She lifted a heavy load that had weighed him down for more than a decade. And he couldn't express his gratefulness.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to . . ." She said softly and he realized that she'd misunderstood his silence.

"No, hon, no. I was just thinking . . ." But words failed him. How could he possibly express it to her. He was no good at words. He sighed, frustrated with himself. "I was just thinking of how glad I am that you are here." He finished lamely.

"Oh, well . . ." She blushed, flustered and he felt like a jackass that such a pathetic compliment could mean so much to her. He remembered Crane telling him once that it wouldn't kill him to say thank you or hand out a compliment once in awhile.

"How about I eat first and then we decide?" He hit the word "we" hard hoping she'd notice it.

"We should ask Brian what he thinks." She agreed. "You two are the experts. I'm just an amateur in training."

"Nah, baby." He said kissing her again. "You could hold your own any day." And he held the door open for her as they entered the house to the hoots and teasing of his brothers. "Knock it off!" He told them, noticing that Ford was silent; watching him with anxious eyes. "Doesn't anyone have chores?" His brothers scrambled out and he turned to Brian. "You are NOT gonna believe who got kicked out of class today! Come on, Hannah saved us some dinner."

"Ah, hell!" Brian moaned. "I was thinking I could come home to a quiet, simple evening for once. I tell you what, if Evan doesn't get it together, I say we ship him off to military school. I'm sick of his . . ."

"It wasn't, Evan." Adam said with a grin.

"Oh, Guthrie! He just thinks after he does things! They always blow things out of proportion!"

"Wrong again, little brother. Ford Michael McFadden." Adam found himself enjoying the look of shock that crossed over Brian's face.

"What?" He exploded. "Holy crap! It's like finding out that the Easter Bunny is really a Duck! What the hell happened?"

"You'll have to ask Hannah. She's the one who picked him up. Come on, I'm starving!" He led a stunned Brian into the kitchen wondering what on earth could have pushed his calmest brother to his breaking point.