The afternoon sun shone brightly, but the air was crisp and cold. The twins lay in their portacrib on the porch. Jeb was sleeping, but Jackson lay looking up at the sky and kicking his feet and arms, happily. Izzy reached down into the crib and lifted him into her arms.
"He alright?" Hannah called from where she worked in the garden.
"He's happy." Izzy said kissing his head.
Hannah smiled at her niece who had moved to sit down on the porch, setting Jackson carefully on the blanket. She held a plastic set of brightly colored keys over him. He kicked his legs and arms excitedly as she did.
Hannah turned back to the apple tree she was pruning. In the distance she could hear Adam, Brian and Crane as they came from the barn.
"Yeah, but if we don't repair that stretch of fence soon, we're going to spend more time looking for cows than anything else." Crane was saying.
"I just want to know what's happening with Springer before we go spending money." Adam said. In the two days, since Roger Taylor had left town, Adam had left messages with Timothy Springer's secretary. The only message he got in reply was that Mr. Springer would be in contact with Adam soon.
"Need help?" Adam asked seeing Hannah.
"I'm just about finished." She said smiling. "Your timing is perfect."
"It usually is." He said winking at her, and she grinned. As long as they avoided the topic of Roger Taylor, they were in perfect harmony, but beneath their usual warmth was a strangeness that he found disturbing. Yesterday, when he'd passed by the bathroom while she showered, he thought he could hear her crying, but later she acted as though nothing was wrong. He wanted to ask her about it, but didn't, afraid she would lie to him. It was a horrible feeling and he was at a loss how to repair it. It was as though there was great chasm between them and he was powerless to cross it.
"Who is that?" Crane asked as they saw a car turn into their driveway. "You expecting company?"
"Nope." Adam said. They all stood together as the car pulled up and the door opened, revealing Timothy Springer himself.
"Hello!" Adam said surprised. "We weren't expecting you. Thank you for coming all this way." He walked over and shook his hand.
"Under the circumstances it was the least I could do." Mr. Springer said, and Adam furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Under the circumstances? What circumstances?" Adam asked.
"Brian?" Hannah said looking at him with fear on her face.
"It's going to be okay." He said to her. Turning to Crane he continued. "Hey, why don't you help Izzy take the boys inside." Crane stared at Brian, ready to protest, but seeing his eyes, he simply nodded and walked to the porch. He helped Izzy inside and then came back out and stood at the edge of the porch, watching.
Mr. Springer turned toward Hannah, "You can't know how sorry I am." He said and she stepped back in surprise.
"Oh, well . . ." She fumbled for words.
He turned to Adam. "I want you to understand that I take this matter seriously. I fully support whatever your decision is. He in no way, represents me, or this company. I understand completely if you choose not to sign the contract, and will even recommend you to other businessmen, I know. He no longer works for me, to say the least and if you should choose to press charges, I would lend whatever help I can."
Adam stared at Springer. "What are you talking about? Hannah, what is he talking about?"
Timothy Springer's mouth opened in surprise. He turned to Hannah. "You didn't tell him?" She shook her head. "You wanted to protect the deal? You thought . . ."
"This ranch is important to us." She said after a time.
Timothy Springer turned to Adam, "Wow, I . . . you've a good wife, Adam. And I am afraid I've complicated things immensely for her." He turned back to Hannah. "You want me to tell him?"
"Tell me what? What happened?" Adam had moved from being afraid to angry. "Hannah Joy McFadden, how did you get that scratch on your arm?"
"He hurt you?" Springer turned pale. "Mrs. McFadden, I'm so sorry."
"What do you mean he hurt you? Who? Taylor? Hannah, what the hell's going on?" Adam's face was white and his hands shook.
"Adam, I . . . listen, it wasn't that big of a deal at first. He was just pushy, and too friendly." She swallowed hard. "I'm not a little girl, I can take care of myself."
"What? You never said anything? Hannah?" He turned and threw his hat down at the ground.
"Mr. McFadden, I'm sorry for blindsiding you. Your brother contacted me and told me that Roger Taylor had aggressively pursued your wife. He told me he threatened to shut the whole deal down if she wasn't cooperative. I can't begin to express how sorry I am. I've a wife and two daughters. No woman should be treated like that." He looked from Adam to Hannah, and said, "I think its best I leave now. I'll be in Murphys. I'm staying here until this matter is resolved. I'll contact you this evening." He turned and headed back to the car, "Brian, thank you for contacting me." They all silently watched the car disappear. Crane walked down the steps and stood beside Brian. All three men stared at her.
"What the hell?" Adam exploded. "You called him? Brian you knew about this?"
"Listen, I took care of it. Well, actually, Hannah took care of it. And she insisted that we not say anything to you. She didn't want to mess up the deal with Springer." Brian explained realizing how stupid it sounded.
"Are you alright?" Crane asked her and she nodded her head. "You sure?"
"What do you mean she took care of it? Took care of what? Why didn't you say something? I sent her to meet with that bastard - I sent her alone!"
"Listen, I don't know if you've met the lady," Brian said gesturing toward Hannah, "But she can be pretty damn stubborn." He stared at Adam. "I'm sorry. I should have told you. You are right." He looked over at Hannah. "I'm sorry, honey, but he's right. You should've told him. You can't keep secrets from him, even if you think its protecting him."
She still hadn't spoken a word since Springer had left. Crane nudged Brian in the ribs and said,"Listen, we got the kids. Don't worry about anything here." He stepped to her, and kissed her cheek. "Hey, Sis, it'll be alright, huh." She nodded her head softly. He and Brian went inside the house.
Hannah stood silent, and Adam turned and picked up his hat. He stepped closer so that he stood just in front of her.
"What happened?" He asked sharply, and she looked up into his eyes. Her own eyes filled with tears, and she turned away from him.
"I took Brian with me because I didn't want to meet him alone. I have some sense, you know. And Brian arranged to meet with him, so that I wouldn't have to at all. I thought that would be the end of it. He was leaving the next day."
"You could have told me. Hannah, I sent you to him!" Adam said.
She sighed and crossed the yard and sat down on a low stone wall that separated the yard from the garden. Adam put his hat back on his head, and followed her.
"You didn't know, and I wasn't thinking clearly. I was upset and worried about the deal. This ranch means something to me too. Anyway, he told Brian to meet him at the cafe, but didn't show up. I had gone out to the cemetery." She looked up into his face, his eyes wide.
"Why did you go there?" His voice still strained but softer.
"I took a picture of you and the boys. I don't know. I wanted to share them with their grandparents." She looked up at him.
Overwhelmed with too many emotions, he ran his hand through his hair, and said, "Alright, that's really sweet, but I'm way too angry to even . . . I'll remember that later. What happened?"
She sighed, "He must have followed me there and there was no one else around." She looked down, ashamed. "He said he would make the deal go away if I said anything, and he . . .tried to . . . he grabbed me and . . ."
"He put his hands on you?" Adam's voice was sharp and unfamiliar to her.
"He tried to. He tried to kiss me, but I hit him and knocked him back and tried to run. He grabbed me, but Brian came then and knocked him flat out. Brian would have probably killed him, but I made him leave." Her voice had faded away to near silence.
"He put his hands on you." Adam said again. "And you didn't tell me."
"I thought, if I didn't say anything about it, he wouldn't ruin the deal. He was a jerk Adam. I was a waitress from the time I was seventeen, I've faced jerks before."
He turned away from her, fighting a wave of rage. Adrenaline poured through his system, and he drew in deep breaths to calm himself.
"Adam, I'm sorry." She said. "I know it was wrong for me not to say anything. I know that, okay. I was upset and ashamed."
"Ashamed? Why are you ashamed?" He moved closer to her.
"I don't know. I just am." She kept her head down.
"So, he treats you . . ." He struggled. "And you feel ashamed?"
He knelt in front of her, but she kept her head down. "You think I'd care about the ranch more than you? You think that I would want you to sacrifice yourself like that?"
"I just thought if I could keep him away long enough, he would be gone, and we wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. He was going to leave, and why should you be upset?"
He sat back on his heels and rubbed a hand over his face. He looked at her. She sat hunched, her face down. He remembered the very first time he'd seen her. She was at the cafe, of course, and talking to another one of the waitresses. As he passed by her, she looked up at him with her big brown eyes, and then she'd smiled, and he had melted. If he were completely honest that was the exact moment when he realized he had to marry her. And after being married to her just two years, he couldn't look at her without being flooded with memories of their days and nights together. He couldn't even remember anymore what his life had been like before. No one knew him or understood him better. And looking at her now, he could imagine how miserable she had been - desperately struggling to protect him, and the ranch.
"Hey," He said "Hannah?" She kept her chin low. He reached out and with gentle fingers, lifted her chin.
She was crying.
"Hey now," He said and moving beside her, he pulled her into his arms and she wept against his shoulder.
"You listen to me girl," He said with his arms tight around her, "There ain't nothing in this wide world more important than you. This ranch? It's just dirt and trees and cows, but you? You are the blood in my veins."
***7***
It was nearly eleven p.m., the younger kids were all in bed. Guthrie had bunked in with Ford and Evan. Brian, Crane, Adam and Hannah sat around the fire in the front room. Crane sat on the couch and Hannah and Adam shared the armchair. She lay with her head resting on his shoulder. Brian stood next to the fireplace, warming his hands.
"He'll be here around 10 a.m." Adam said.
"Seems to me, we can get any deal we want, now." Crane said.
"No doubt of that." Brian said.
"What do you think? We don't have to sign anything. How do you feel about it?" Adam asked Hannah.
"Oh, I like Springer, and we won't have to worry about . . . him anymore." She sighed. "It's your ranch, you boys should decide."
"Its our ranch, Sis." Brian said.
"We decide together. That's the way it has always been, even with Mom and Dad." Crane said.
"I don't have any problems with working with him." She said. "And its good for the ranch, isn't it?"
Adam nodded. "The only things that are good for this ranch, are things that are good for this family."
"Dad, used to say that all the time." Brian said with a grin.
"He did." Adam said.
Hannah kissed his cheek and rose, "I'm going up. The boys will be hungry in about twenty minutes." She crossed to where Brian stood. "I'm sorry, Brian. I should never have . . ."
"Don't worry about it." He said interrupting her. "It is pretty rare that I know something he doesn't." He said gesturing towards Adam. "I'm sorry, I let you go off alone like that."
"You didn't know he was following me." She said.
"I had a bad feeling about it all though, and I should've listened to my gut."
"Thanks for looking out for me." She said and standing on tiptoe, she kissed his cheek. "Another couple of years and you might actually start to like me." She winked at him and turned to go upstairs.
"Night, Sis." Crane said and she reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "Night."
"I'll be up in a minute." Adam said. She was just stepping on the first step, when Brian turned and called to her.
"Hannah," He said and came to stand at the foot of the stairs.
"Yes?"
"Listen, I know I gave you a hard time at first, and I tease you all the time, but uh . . ." He looked down at the ground embarrassed. "Well, I guess, I just I'm real glad you're here, and um, I . . . uh, well, I love you."
She smiled at him and reaching across the rail, put her arms around him. "I love you too, Brian."
He watched her climb the stairs and disappear into the bedroom. He could feel his brothers' eyes boring into him. Sighing he turned around waiting for a barrage of teasing.
"Well, I've had enough excitement for one day." Crane said. "I'm going to bed. Looks like Circle Bar Seven hits the big time tomorrow."
"Looks like it." Brian said relieved that they hadn't teased him.
"The only thing missing is Daniel." Adam said. "He hasn't called in five days. Remind me to lecture him when he calls. I'm always so happy to hear his voice, I forget."
"There's only four more months of tour left." Crane said. "Seems like a long time."
"Try three years of college, brother." Brian said. "You want to talk about a long time."
"Yeah." Adam said looking up at Crane.
"Well, it's nice to know I was missed." Crane said. "Good night!"
"Good night." Adam and Brian said.
"You alright?" Brian asked Adam after Crane had left.
"Yeah, I guess. If I work at it, I can still be mad at you, but I'm grateful too. If you hadn't been there . . ."
"Nah, Hannah can hold her own, and he was a city boy. She could have snapped him in half."
"I wish I'd had my chance." Adam said staring out the window. "I would have . . ."
"I say this, if we ever see him again, which is highly unlikely considering the low number of people who wander through Murphys, but if we ever do, I'll hold him down, and you can make an end of him."
"That's a deal." Adam said. "Thanks, Brian. Thanks for all you did. Not just jumping in like you did, but calling Springer, and keeping your promise to her - even though it meant not telling me. You did a good job of taking care of her. I appreciate it. 'Course you've done a good job of taking care of all of us, for a long time now, so I guess it's no surprise."
"Ah, don't get all mushy on me, Adam. Geez!" Brian said punching him in the arm. "I'm going to bed before you start hugging."
"Too late." Adam said embracing his brother.
"Ah, geez." Brian said pushing him back, "Go hug your girl."
Laughing Adam punched Brian back, and said, "I will." He turned and took the stairs two at a time.
***7***
Adam sat in the armchair in their bedroom, watching as Hannah lay Jeb in his crib. She gently tucked a blanket around him and stood gazing down at the boys surrounded by a halo of moonlight.
"Come here." He said holding out his hand to her. She crossed to the chair and he pulled her down and into his arms.
"It was pretty scary?" He asked.
"Yeah. He was . . . really strong. If Brian hadn't been there." She looked down. "I don't know what would have happened."
He reached out and ran his finger along her cheek. "I'm sorry." He said.
She shook her head, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "You didn't do anything wrong."
"I'm sorry he hurt you."
She rested her head on his shoulder. "I only wanted to be here. To have your arms around me; to feel safe. But I knew if I told you, you would have . . ."
"I would have killed him." He said, his voice deep and sharp.
"And that would have probably messed everything up." She said.
"You think?" He asked grinning.
"Yeah. So I kept it inside."
"Nothing is as important as you. You know that, Hannah, don't you?"
"I do." She said softly, looking into his eyes. And he realized for the first time that she hadn't really been looking him in the eye since that day.
"I felt separated from you." He said. "And I didn't like it. It felt like a death inside. I could never go back to living life without you here."
She nodded and wiped her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she had the chance, he kissed her.
Breaking away from him she said, "Adam, I'm . . ."
"I know you aren't about to apologize for something that jackass did." She looked at him. "Its over, sweetheart. There's nothing separating us now." He wiped the tears from
her face and she smiled. "Okay?" He asked.
"Okay." She said giving him a gentle kiss.
"You went to visit them?" He asked and she nodded.
"I feel sometimes, like I know them. You all talk about them and I wanted to tell them about the boys. They are grandparents now. I want our boys to be connected to them. And I wanted to thank them - for giving me you, and all your brothers."
He was silent. She sat up in his arms so she could see his face. "I didn't overstep my bounds, did I? I meant to show respect."
"No." He said his voice full of tears. "I was thinking how lucky I am and how special you are - how dear you are to me. And to think he wanted to harm you. It makes me so angry."
She put her hands on the sides of his face, tracing the strong line of his cheek with her fingers.
"You are important to me too, Adam. There's nothing more important than you."
He smiled at her, "I sort of picked up on that."
"You did?" She said with a grin. "Because I was thinking I was going to have to do something dramatic to prove it."
"I think you got it covered, honey." He laughed.
"I love you, Adam." She said softly.
"I love you too." He said, and rising, he lifted her up and carried her to bed.