Page 15 of More Than Anything

Without warning, Lydia planted both hands in the middle of his chest and shoved. Didn’t matter. Avery had anticipated her next move being physical, and he’d been prepared. He didn’t budge an inch, and he could tell it infuriated her even more. “That all you got?” he chuckled.

“Fucking bully,” she growled out and darted around him.

He spun to face her. “I’m no bully. You’re out here trying to bully me into leaving, and it won’t work.” He puffed out his chest and folded his arms across it. “And there’s something else you should know. I’m no country bumpkin. I’m not from around these parts, as y’all would say,” he mocked. “The money I paid your grandpa for this place? It was just a drop in the bucket. I’ve practically rebuilt this house, and I’m just getting started. So if you think I’ll be easy to get rid of, you’d better dig in and cash in all that blue-chip stock, sweetheart, ’cause it’ll take every penny you’ve got, not to mention most of your life and a lot of your energy. Got that?”

“God, you’re irritating as hell,” she groused and headed to her car.

“Yeah, well, you’re just about as arrogant as anybody I’ve ever met. You think you’re God or something, but you’re not. You’re nobody to me,” Avery tossed out.

The look she gave him when she turned back to look at him was something he’d never forget?that wounded, sad look that held a kind of emptiness he could feel in his soul. “Yeah. I see that. No need to spell it out. I get it.” Before he could say anything else, she dropped into the car, started it, threw it into gear, and slung dirt and gravel as she took off down the bumpy little road.

God damn it, Avery, you jackass!All those promises he’d made to himself to treat her with kindness and respect? He’d just broken every one of them. She didn’t know that, but he did. And he wasn’t sure what it was, but he’d just said something that hadn’t had the effect he was going for.

He’d hurt her. He could see it in her face. All the guys were right?there was a lot more going on there than he knew about. He’d probably never get a chance to find out what it was after that little show of testosterone-fed braggadocio, and he knew he should be glad, but he wasn’t. Things weren’t adding up, especially that look on her face, the one that made his heart sink into his stomach.

Hose in hand, Avery washed out the trailer and then pulled it out into the yard beside the garage he’d had built for his truck. The whole time he worked, he thought about Lydia, those big blue eyes and that blond hair, the way the sun shone off of it. He wandered back out to the barn and hitched his utility trailer to his four-wheeler, then gathered up the buckets in the barn, measured out feed into them, and loaded them on the trailer. The cattle all looked up when he drove up to the feed trough and a couple of them darted away at the sound of the motor on the ATV, but they headed right straight back when he started dumping the feed into the long metal bin. In minutes the air was filled with the snuffling sounds and the crunching, grinding music of cattle rhythmically feeding. Avery climbed aboard the four-wheeler and sat for a few minutes, looking at the heifers enjoying their dinner, and wondered if LydiaKinsey had ever taken joy in doing something so simple.

And it hit him like a ton of sweet feed. LydiaKinsey was plainly a woman who didn’t know what joy was. Someone had to change that. And he prayed that someone didn’t have to be him.

* * *

“These cows all look great,”Dr.Tompkins told Avery the next day. “So now they’re up to date on all their immunizations and their paperwork’s all in order. When fall comes, there’s no reason they can’t be bred. You should have a nice herd from this group in the spring. How soon do you need to start slaughtering to live?”

“I don’t. I’ve got money to live on so this breeding program will be fine. I want to get a good herd started before next summer,” Avery said, reaching into the cooler on the back of his four-wheeler and pulling out a bottle of water, then offering it to the vet. Dr.Tompkins took it and nodded his thanks as Avery pulled one out for himself.

“Good. And unless you want to keep one for breeding, which I wouldn’t recommend genetically, of course, the bull calves they have you can get rid of, either sell or raise and slaughter. So you’ll still have a few you can sell. Or trade for more heifers, if you want them.”

“That’s a good idea. I could swap them with somebody. That would work.” The ice water slid down Avery’s throat and he finished half the bottle in one chug, then wiped his face with his bandana. “I appreciate you coming out so fast.”

“No problem. Mac told me you’d probably be calling me. I didn’t know when, but I knew the sales were starting. You got a good deal on these cows. I’m impressed, seeing as how you don’t have a farming background.”

“Mac, Kevin, and Bob have been good to me. Cletus did me a favor pairing me up with them. They talked me out of planting and into ranching, and I think it’s a good decision.” Avery felt ten feet tall as he admired the cattle. They were damn pretty scattered out over the pasture, and the pride he felt was something he couldn’t even begin to convey.

He and Dr.Tompkins loaded up all the vet’s things onto the ATV and headed back to the house. When everything was loaded in Dr.Tompkins’ truck, Avery decided to ask him a question that was tickling at his brain. “So, can you tell me something?” When the vet turned to look at him, Avery asked, “Have you always been around here?”

“Yup. Except for my college years, all my life.”

He gathered up his courage. “And did Sirus always have cattle?”

Dr.Tompkins shrugged. “Yeah. Not many, but a few. Why?”

“Did Lydia spend any time out here at all?”

A splash of wistfulness lit up Dr.Tompkins’ face. “Oh, yes. She was out here all summer every summer. She loved playing out here. One year he let her raise rabbits. Actually, she kept them for three years before he finally sold them off.”

“Sold them off?”

The vet nodded. “Yeah. Lydia loved those rabbits, but Sirus saw everything as livestock, even his old dog. When the rabbits had been around for awhile, he sold them off for meat.”

Avery shuddered. “And Lydia?”

“Oh, she was heartbroken. Didn’t come out here that summer, she was so upset. Of course, Sirus just said, ‘Girls. Whadda they know about farmin’?’” Dr.Tompkins shook his head. “She was back out here the summer after that, but she was different. It was like the light in her eyes had just flickered out. But she still loved this farm.” He tipped his head to the side and eyed Avery. “Why would you ask?”

“Just wondered, that’s all.” Avery dragged the toe of his boot back and forth in the dirt. “You know she’s giving me trouble, right?”

“Oh, the whole town knows she’s giving you trouble after yesterday.” When Avery’s head snapped up, Dr.Tompkins laughed. “Yeah, she went straight to the diner in town and found somebody she could rail at about you. She was kicking up quite a fuss!” he said, laughing.

“’Zat so? And exactly what did she say?” Avery asked, grinning.

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