Chapter 9

Daniel went straight to his room and flung himself on the bed. He stared across the room at his guitar, which was leaned against the wall. Normally, he would have picked it up as soon as he entered the room, but tonight, he was tired and frustrated. His mind was swirling with confusing thoughts.

He was reflecting on all the advice he'd gotten from Crane. He was also fuming at Adam. Just what had he done to make Adam so mad this time? True, he had gotten a little smart-mouthed, but that was nothing as far as Daniel was concerned. They all tended to smart off when they were in a bad mood. Adam was their brother, not their father. He usually let it slide. Daniel couldn't understand why big brother had gotten so bent out of shape with him.

Tally...What was he gonna do about her? The offer was way to big to pass up. But, did he really want to get tangled up with her again?

She had made him mad when they were talking at Pony's. Daniel hadn't appreciated her comments about his band. Who did she think she was all of a sudden? 'barely out of the garage' Daniel remembered her saying. What the heck was that? She knew good and well that most bands start out that way. She was in the business and knew how things worked. How was it she was suddenly so above him that she thought she could make fun of him? It had hurt his feelings. It had hurt his pride, too. Daniel shuddered at the thought of having to listen to her day after day. Would it be worth it?

Daniel decided to do what he had told Crane he was gonna do. Get a good nights sleep and think about it tomorrow. It was only six-thirty in the evening, but he was exhausted and ready to just sleep.

When he woke up, the room was dark. He heard Crane snoring in the bed next to him. What time was it? He looked at the alarm clock sitting on the nightstand and saw that it was almost ten o'clock. He tried to roll over and go back to sleep, but he couldn't turn his mind off. He was thinking about what Crane had said about the amount of time Tally had given him to make his decision. It did seem pretty quick. When had Spider quit? Why was everything such a rush?

Daniel was agitated with himself for not asking such logical questions when Tally had made the offer. Unable to turn his brain off and go back to sleep, Daniel got up and dressed quietly. He decided to ride over to the hotel and talk with Tally. She would be up, he was sure. Tally was a night owl. Most musicians were that didn't have day jobs. He walked quietly downstairs, grabbed the keys to the truck off the desk and headed for the front door.

Adam was having a hard time sleeping...again. He hadn't wanted to disturb Hannah's rest, so he had gotten up, gone downstairs and made himself some warm milk. He heard movement in the living room and wondered who was up. Everyone else in the house was tucked in sleeping. When he heard the jingling of keys, he stepped into the living room to investigate.

"Where the heck do you think you're going this time of night?" Adam asked, seeing Daniel heading for the front door.

"I'm just going to see a friend in town. I'll be back in an hour or so." Daniel replied.

"That friend being Tally, you mean?" Adam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What does it matter who? I won't be too late, I promise." Daniel said, reaching for the knob on the door.

"Hold it right there mister. It's already too late." Adam corrected.

"What? Are you serious? Adam, I'm going out for a while and I'll be back later. End of story." Daniel said, trying to keep his voice low, so as not to wake up Brian or Guthrie who were aleep on the foldout.

"Daniel, let's talk on the porch." Adam said, motioning for him to go ahead and open the door.

They stepped out on the porch, closed the door and everything went downhill from there.

"Daniel, there aren't too many reasons why you'd be going to see that girl at this time of night. It's inappropriate and you know it! And furthermore, don't you have the good sense not to get involved with her like this again?" Adam exclaimed in that judgemental tone that always managed to set Daniel off.

"Who are you to tell me who I can and can't get involved with?" Daniel asked, his voice full of indignation. He wasn't even going to bother to correct Adam's wrong assumption. As far as he was concerned it didn't matter anyway. Once again, his big brother was judging him and trying to control his every move. That was all that mattered to Daniel at the moment. His virtue was way down on his list of concerns just now.

"Daniel. You have way snarter than this. That girl is no good for you and she proved that when you got involved with her the first time!" Adam said, his voice raising in spite of his attempts to control the volume.

Crane awoke to the sound of his brother's arguing. Dammit! What had set them off now?

Crane hated to see them fight. Truth of the matter was, he was closer to these two than he was to his other brothers.

Daniel was his sidekick...his shadow. They did everything together and usually agreed on everything. Adam was his big brother. His advisor and friend. Crane was quite often the deciding vote between his two older brothers. He rarely saw eye to eye with Brian and usually had Adam's back whenever the two of them disagreed.

But when it came to disagreements between Adam and Daniel, Crane always found himself smack in the middle, usually seeing both sides...he hated it. He hated it with a passion.

Crane strained to listen to the argument through the open window of his bedroom. He recognized that the voices were coming from the front of the porch.

"Well, if you think I'm so smart, why can't you let me make decisions for myself? Adam, why can't you just go back to bed and trust me to use my good sense?" Daniel asked.

"Trust is earned, Daniel. You were out all hours of the night last night with that girl. You got up late and you didn't get half the work done that I gave you to do today. This ranch comes first. It's what keeps clothes on your back and food in your mouth. I'm in charge of it, so when you're personal life interferes with your responsibilities here, then you're darned right I'm gonna say somthing. Now get your ass back upstairs and go to bed. I expect you up and ready to work at five and not a minute later!" Adam exclaimed.

Daniel stared at his big brother in disbelief. He didn't know what to say. What was his problem? Daniel stood there with his hands turning into fists, hanging at his side. He was ready to swing on Adam. He was fighting it with every ounce of his being.

Crane had jumped out of bed and hurried down the stairs.

Brian had woken up and was also making his way toward the front door. He turned to Crane and whispered. "What the Hell is going on with those two? What...or who- are they fighting about? I'm lost brother."

"Not now Brian. We gotta get those two under control right now." Crane answered. They both stood hesitantly at the door, listening. Neither of them yet ready to make the move to open it.

"Look Adam. I'm sick to death of this. You can't control me like you control everyone else in this family! I'm not like the rest of 'em. They don't see things the way they really are. You may have all of them fooled but not me!" Daniel shouted.

Crane knew in that instant where this was going. He knew exactly what Daniel was thinking and he needed to shut him up...now!

Crane rushed through the door and rushed over to stand behind Daniel. He laid his hand on his little brother's shoulder, but Daniel snatched away from him.

"Leave me alone Crane! I'm sick to death of this!" Daniel snarled, glaring at Adam.

"Sick of what?" Adam retorted, hands on his hips in indignation.

"Daniel, shut up. Don't say anything else. Just come back upstairs with me, please." Crane begged.

"No, he needs to hear this." Daniel snapped, then continued, his breaths coming hard and fast and his eyes were welling with tears. "Adam you are not gonna control me. I know how you operate. As long as you get your way everything's great, isn't it?" Daniel said, his voice breaking.

"Just what are you trying to say to me?" Adam asked.

"You try to manipulate all of us so you can have your way. Look what you did to Hannah! You put a ring on her finger and had her bound to a marriage contract without saying one word to her about any of us! You made sure she couldn't just walk away from you."

Daniel was now breathless, but he continued to spew his venom at Adam.

"You sent Crane to college, but made sure there were strings attached! God forbid if he may have wanted to use his degree to do anything else other than come back here. You made sure he knew that he was obligated to come back and handle the business end of this ranch!

"Look at Brian...You're accusing me of running off to sleep with somebody but Brian does it on a regular basis and you don't say a word about it. He goes off to the bars, gets drunk, chases wild women and you say nothing because you know he's gonna be here at sunrise working side by side with you every day because it's what he wants to do with his life.

"Daniel, shut up!" Crane begged again. Brian began to ease himself up behind Daniel too.

"Then what about Evan? You can't wait to help him out with his bronc and bull riding can you? That's only because you know he may get a few good seasons on the rodeo circuit, then he'll be right back here beside you poking cows!"

Daniel continued, his rage was completely uncontrollable now.

"God forbid that Ford and Guthrie decide to do anything besides ranching. Are you gonna treat 'em like you treat me? Oh I gotta keep a finger on 'ol Daniel. If I don't he may actually go off and find a life for himself. That music thing of his is no good to me! How's that gonna help me with my ranch?" Daniel began to break down completely now.

Brian maneuvered quickly. He put one hand firmly on Daniel's waist, while with his other arm he reached around Daniel's head, grabbing him across his chest and began to pull him backwards, trying to lower him into a chair behind them, at the same time hoping the feel of his touch would calm the boy down some.

Daniel stiffened at first, then Brian felt him relax a little. Daniel began to sob. Everyone in the house was awake by now and they'd all come downstairs and were standing in the doorway, seeing and hearing the whole thing unfold. Daniel slowly turned around and buried his head in Brian's chest and continued to sob. His legs suddenly folded underneath him and all Brian could do was slowly lower his kid brother to the floor of the porch. His breaths were spastic, his sobs uncontrollable. Brian looked up helplessly at Crane, then to Adam.

Crane looked sad, but knowing while Adam...he looked devastated and hurt. His eyes were full of tears and he just stood there...stunned, staring at the heap on the floor that was Daniel.

to be continued...