Chapter seven

Crane stepped back outside from the kitchen after pouring himself a cup of coffee, briefly greeting Hannah. He walked over behind the barn, carefully carrying the steaming cup, to find Daniel working under the tractor...at least he thought he was working.

As Crane approached, he noticed Daniel was awfully still. As he got even closer, he thought he could hear the boy lightly snoring.

"How's it going?" Crane asked. He couldn't help but laugh when he saw Daniel's whole body jerk from being startled awake.

"Ouch!" Daniel exclaimed as he hit his head on the metal of the tractor, just above where his head was laying. "Dammit Crane! You scared me!" Daniel yelled grumpily. He slid out from underneath the tractor, rubbing his now throbbing temple and cutting a hateful look at his big brother.

Crane couldn't help but laugh, the motion almost causing him to spill his hot coffee on himself.

"Woah, there. Sorry 'bout that. It's kinda an odd place for nap, dontcha think?" Crane said, still laughing at the spectacle that was Daniel.

"I wasn't asleep. I was concentrating!" Daniel snapped.

"Ok, well you'd better get to a doctor then. You must have been having an asthma attack. I mistakenly took it for snoring." Crane continued to tease.

"Oh, you're a funny guy, aren't you?" Danny blushed and tried hard not to smile, then continued, "so what're you doing home so early?"

"We headed back well before dawn. Brian's knee gave out on him again and it was giving him fits. We weren't sleeping, so we started on back before daylight. Everything's good up there...for once." Crane explained.

"Thank goodness for small favors." Daniel muttered.

"So, what'd I miss?" Crane asked.

"You mean who?" Daniel replied. "Guess big brother sent you out here to grill me?"

"I don't know what you mean?" Crane replied innocently.

"Don't kid a kidder Crane. You suck at lying anyways." Daniel replied.

"Ok, you got me. Guilty as charged. So what's she doing here?" Crane continued his interrogation.

"Family business...Selling her grandparents place." Daniel replied, knowing Crane wasn't going to settle on the explanation he'd already offered Adam.

"You must've had a late night, seeing as how you're sleeping under the tractor." Crane said.

"What are you getting at Crane? You accusing me of something?" Daniel replied, his defenses on the rise.

"Danny, you stubborn mule you...you know what I'm asking. Did you spend the night with her or what?" Crane asked.

"I'm not that stupid Crane. Give me a little credit here, please!" Daniel retorted.

"Ok. So what's really up with Tally Dean? She's not the type to make a social call without a darned good reason." Crane said.

"Why not? We parted friends, didn't we?" Daniel had his guard completely up now. He wasn't going to tell Crane about anything. Not if he was just gonna take it back to Adam.

"Look. I'm not here for a chess match, Danny. If you wanna tell me, you'll tell me. If you don't, then fine. It's not my business anyway." Crane replied, hoping a more nonchalant approach would be more effective.

"I do wanna tell you. I've been waitin' for you to get back. But not if you're just asking so you can spy for Adam!" Daniel snapped.

"Hey, you know me better than that, kiddo. If you don't want me to say anything to Adam, just say so. I won't say a word to him. I've already told him as much and he knows I mean it." Crane offered. "He's just concerned."

"Concerned? Is that what he's calling it these days? He just wants to control me, like he controls everything around here." Daniel said with disdain.

"Hey. We've talked about this before. You got him all wrong. He's not controlling you or anybody else. It's just hard for him to be a brother and a father all at the same time." Crane said in defense of their older brother.

Crane knew good and well what Daniel thought Adam's motivations were. He had him all wrong, which was at the bottom of most of their quarrels. Adam didn't realize what Daniel really thought about him and Crane had not had the heart to let him in on it. He had hoped to take a less direct approach. He had tried endlessly to make Daniel understand their big brother a little better. Obviously he had not been successful with that so far.

"So, spill. Something kept you up all night." Crane said with a knowing smile.

"Well, Tally made me a really good offer" Daniel began.

He proceeded to tell Crane the whole story.

Crane didn't know what to think. This was a hell of a good offer for an eighteen year old who had aspirations of making it big in music. Hell, Crane wasn't sur if it'd be something he would turn down if it were offered to him. In fact, if this was any other band on the face of the earth, that didn't have Tally Dean in it, Crane would be helping the kid pack his bags right now. But...it wasn't any other band. It was High Sierra. It was Tally's band and that was a deal breaker.

The girl was poison to Daniel. She was the last person in the world Daniel needed to follow into the music business. She would use him up and toss him away as soon as she no longer needed him.

"Well Danny, I'll be the first one to admit that it's an incredible offer. I'm not dumb. This is just the kind of break you and the band have been waiting for.

But, it's not your band now, is it? It's Tally's band. I can't see you just running off from your band...the band you put together. The band that you are finally enjoying success with. You are the lead singer. It's your material you guys are performing. Tally is the star of High Sierra. It's right there in the billing: Tally Dean and High Sierra, you know? I'm not so sure you would really be happy riding on her coat tails.

"Look Crane. It's a band, a collaborative effort. Plus, think of my songwriting career. We may actually record stuff that I write...and with a record label like Columbia backing us. I'd be a fool not to consider it." Daniel said excitedly.

Uh oh. There it was. The kid had that look in his eye. That look that Crane had seen time and time again. The one that in the past had led to Daniel making some well meaning, but very bad decisions.

"What can I tell you Danny. You're making some good points and I definately see what a tempting offer it is. Look," Crane said, attempting to shift gears a little, hopefully shifting into neutral, "the way I see it, you don't have to decide right now. Think long and hard about it. This is a really big deal and there's a lot to consider. Take your time." Crane offered.

"Well, that'd be great, but I've only got six days to decide." Daniel stated flatly.

"What? You're crazy. You can't make a decision like this in six days! There's way too much at stake here. You can't just drop your band this fast. Then there's the family to consider. You aren't even ready to mention it to Adam...you can't just drop it in everybody's lap and then take off! That's insane Daniel!" Crane said, utter shock written on his face.

"I know it's lot to consider and not much time to consider it in, but Crane, that's the way this business is. You have to jump on these opportunities, or they'll get offered to somebody else. They aren't gonna wait around for me forever." Daniel explained.

"Ok I get that. But how long has she known that Spider was quitting? He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would just drop out on a whim. I'm sure he gave her some kind of notice. She has to give you a fair amount of time to decide." Crane said.

"Well, she gave me a week as of yesterday. That's all I've got. Take it or leave it." Daniel said.

"Then I guess you'd better leave it. Danny, this isn't just a gig. This is a committment. You'll have to sign contracts. You need some guidance. These record companies pull some pretty fast ones on folks all the time. If you don't proceed very carefully, you could end up in a deal where they own you for twenty years and pay you practically nothing. Come on, you and I have read all about these things. You know how it can go." Crane's voice was beginning to sound slightly hysterical.

"Ok big guy. I hear ya, calm it down a notch. I just wanna get my work done so I can get a little shut eye tonight and then think on it with a clear head." Daniel replied.

"Ok, but Daniel, I wanna say this. If you wake up tomorrow and are even considering saying yes to this offer, then you'd better go straight to Adam and tell him all about it. You cannot just up and leave without telling the family and giving them a proper amount of time to digest and accept it...not that I for a minute think that five days is enough time, but it beats the hell out of one or two days. Do you hear me?" Crane pleaded.

"Yeah, I hear ya Crane." Daniel relented. He reached out and gave Crane a hug and thanked him for the advice. He turned back to the old tractor and once again crawled under it. Right now, all he knew was that he had to fix the damned thing or hear it from Adam tonight.

to be continued...