Chapter 1
Daniel McFadden glanced at his watch. It was a little after five o'clock. The late afternoon shadows almost overtook the sun this time of year, or perhaps it was the awnings on the storefronts that made it look so dark. As well, the historic district appeared to be rolling up its sidewalks for the evening, so it was as good a time as any to be heading home.
He stooped to gather up the bills and coins in the open guitar case. A cursory estimate put his haul at about thirty dollars, not too bad for a few hours' work considering there were not many tourists during the off season here in Columbia, and on a weekday yet. Buses of school kids on field trips to the state historic park made up the bulk of the visitors. He enjoyed the bright faces and smiling eyes as he played their requests, and they reciprocated by tossing their small change into the case. All in all, it added up.
This busking might turn into a profitable venture. On the weekend he would have to get Crane to come along and work one side of the park while he worked the other – unregistered performers not being allowed in the park district itself. More tourists those two days should make a fair share for the family emergency fund. They had depleted it in recent months for roof and other house and barn repairs, dental surgery for Brian, Ford's broken finger, and too much else; and family accountant Crane had warned the next emergency might have them selling cattle or land if the coffers were not replenished.
So, taking heed, a unanimous decision at a family meeting had everyone doing what they could to contribute. For the time being, Hannah filled in at Marie's cafe, Brian worked a shift at the sawmill, and Crane took on bookkeeping work for a couple of area businesses. Evan and Ford donated some of the proceeds of their respective horse training and tutoring enterprises, and Daniel worked a couple days a week at a garage. As well, with their drummer out of town, Daniel's band was on hiatus, so the busking kept his fingers limber and voice honed. Practice at home would have kept him in tune, but with the current dire financial need for emergencies past and projects future, every little bit helped.
He stuffed his pockets with the proceeds of the day and placed his guitar carefully into the case.
"Too bad you're packing up. I could've used a good song to end the day." Daniel looked up to find a good looking blonde about his age looking down at him. "I've passed by a couple times between errands and just got off work."
Rising to his full height, he smiled. "I have to get home but I guess one more can't hurt." With that, he pulled the guitar out. "Hope I know what you want to hear."
Her eyes danced. "I'll leave it to you. I'm feeling happy, so something happy."
He thought a moment. "Okay, how about this." He strummed the beginnings of 'Happy Together.'
She grinned. "That's perfect!" Somewhere along the way, she joined him in singing.
When the song finished, Daniel stopped playing and regarded her. He liked what he saw. Taking off the guitar once more, he bent to return it to the case as a dollar flew past and landed on the instrument.
"Sorry, my aim isn't too good. Next time I'll hit the target."
"It would've been if the guitar wasn't in the way." He handed the dollar back to her. "This one was on the house."
"Uh uh. I pay my own way," she insisted. "Maybe next time."
"Okay, thanks." He put the bill in his pocket. "You said you passed by a few times. Why didn't you stop earlier?"
"Because I was busy doing coffee runs for the team at the store where I work and you were inundated with school kids." She laughed. "Soooo many kids!"
"Yeah, I guess it's a good time for school trips. Not too many other people around."
She nodded toward the now-closed guitar case. "Did you just start street singing? Haven't seen you around here before."
"Yeah. Gotta make a few dollars to help at home and this is an easy way to do it." The last of the sun's rays caught his eye. "It was nice talking, but I'd better get going." He paused. "You gonna be around tomorrow?"
"Yeah. We're doing inventory all week and it's boring, so I get the honor of running back and forth with the coffee to help everybody stay focused." She yawned, then laughed. "Lucky me! Just talking about it puts me to sleep." Her expression turned into one of expectation. "You?"
He nodded. "I'll be back."
"Good."
"All right, then. Maybe you can join me in another song."
She smiled. "Maybe I will."
"Good. See you then."
"I'm looking forward to it already."
"Me too." Daniel waved and started to walk to where the jeep was parked.
"Wait!"
He stopped. "Huh?"
"Aren't you gonna ask me what my name is?"
"Um, sure ..."
She interrupted, not giving Daniel a chance to say anything further. "So, what's your name?"
"Wow, you don't waste any time!" He laughed. For some reason he felt a little awkward. "Daniel."
Her nose crinkled. "Nice name." She extended her hand. "Charlotte."
He extended his as well and they shook. "Nice to meet you, Charlotte. Pretty name."
She added, "Thanks, but my friends call me Charly."
He watched as she pulled back the strands of her hair just so. "Am I a friend?"
She shrugged. "Could be, but I don't really know you yet, do I? Let's hold that for the second date."
He appeared startled for a second. "Date? We just met."
"Uh huh, but I figure you played me a song so we already have a sort of date under our belts. You think?"
Daniel hesitated. "Okay, but …"
"But nothing. It's just the way it is." She did the hair thing again.
He scratched his ear. "Okay, so the next time we just run into each other on the street is our second date?"
"Sure, why not. We met, you stopped what you were doing to play me a song, and we introduced ourselves. What else do you need?"
Not able to come up with better reasoning, Daniel replied, "Okay, if you say so. I guess I'm just used to making the first move."
She shook her head to get the hair out of her eyes. "That's so old-fashioned! I'm a modern woman, or at least I wanna be."
"I can deal with that, I think."
"Good." She started in the other direction than he needed to go. "See you around some time, Daniel!"
~~00oo00~~
That evening the dinner table at the Circle Bar 7 was abuzz with conversation of school, work, and chores. Animated side discussions between adjoining parties or those across the table intersected with each other, causing voices to rise in an ever increasing crescendo in an attempt to be heard, save one.
"Daniel?"
The middle McFadden brother picked at his food, his mind nowhere near topics being discussed.
Again, louder, "Daniel?"
His mind wandered to tunes he could play, money he could make, whether he should continue to take requests or just play what he wanted or what he thought the audience might want to hear. And on top of that, a girl kept interrupting his thoughts.
"Daniel!"
The almost shout quieted everyone and pulled the addressed from his reverie.
"Huh?" Transported back to the present and with all eyes now on him, Daniel looked at his youngest brother. "Guthrie, you didn't have to yell."
"I didn't yell."
"Yes, you did," Daniel insisted.
"No, I didn't. I just tried to talk louder than everybody else."
"Well, it sounded like shouting to me."
Before Guthrie could counter, Hannah signalled a timeout. "Okay, let's not start an argument. We were all talking loud."
Daniel was contrite. "Sorry, Guth, I was thinking of something. What do you want?"
"Nothing," the youngest said with finality. Turning to his sister-in-law, he asked, "Hannah, can I be excused?"
Hannah replied, "Sure, Guth. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, just fine," he answered, sounding anything but fine. He left the table and went out the back door.
"What was that all about?" Adam asked Daniel.
"Beats me." Daniel shrugged.
"He sure wanted your attention," Adam continued.
"I don't know why."
Oldest brother got up from his chair. "I'll go talk to him."
Hannah watched Adam leave the room, then asked, "So, Daniel, how did your street gig go today? You've been kind of quiet since you got home."
The middle McFadden brother managed a half smile. "Pretty good."
"Yeah?"
"Uh huh."
Evan laughed. "Cat's got his tongue. I bet he met a girl."
Brian joined in. "Nah, that only happens to me, and no offense, Daniel, but there's no way you have the skills that I have with the ladies."
Daniel looked wide-eyed between Brian and Evan. He knew they were joking but how they could even guess at that and be right was beyond him at that moment. Was he that predictable?
With no answer forthcoming from Daniel, Evan gloated, "Yup, he did meet a girl!"
