Page 46 of More Than Anything

“No, Mom.” Avery shook his head and tried to keep his temper under control, but it was getting harder by the second. “She’d just asked me to buy her a new car and we were looking at bigger houses. Houses, Mom. You don’t look for houses with a husband you’re getting ready to fuck over with his brother. What kind of person does that?”

“Shannon’s a sweetheart. I don’t believe she…”

“Shannon’s an opportunistic whore. You don’t believe she’d what? Lie? Cheat? Betray? Because that’s what she does best. Oh, and for the record, the fact that my brother’s taking sloppy seconds from me is one of the grossest things I’ve ever had to consider,” Avery whisper-growled at his mother.

“That’s just about the crudest thing I’ve ever heard you say, AveryAidan Holcomb.”

“Oh, those are just about the nicest things I can think of to say about Shannon. And my brother? Don’t even get me started there. It takes a special kind of low-life asshole to steal his brother’s wife,” Avery snarled. Then he straightened and stared at his mother. “You know what? This conversation is too undignified for me. I love you, Mom, but don’t mention either of them in my presence again, ever. As far as I’m concerned, they’re both dead.”

Her face contorted, and he knew she was thinking about Caleb. “Oh, Avery! Don’t say that!”

“Too late. I’ve said it and I mean it. As far as I’m concerned, I have no siblings. I’m an only child. And if you can’t accept that, maybe we shouldn’t spend time together.” With that, he went back to eating his waffles with gusto. He’d had enough of that conversation. No more.

It took her about five minutes to compose herself enough to say, “So what are you doing from here? More cows?” It was obvious she was trying to make some kind of conversation in which he’d actually engage, and he decided he’d grab the carrot she was dangling.

“Maybe. I’m not sure. But I’ve got a couple of acquisitions to make in the very near future.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

Avery grinned. “Can’t say yet, but you’ll find out.”

He spent every afternoon for a week at the farm down the highway until he felt he had a good handle on everything. Then he brought his trailer down, paid the owners, and took away his prizes.

Lydia had called almost every day to ask about the cows, and it was his turn to reciprocate. Nothing she’d said or done had given him any reason to doubt her word, and their conversations had been friendly and pleasant. But Avery was about to up the ante, and he wondered what would happen.

When she answered the phone the very next afternoon, it was with a cheerful, “Hi, Avery!”

“Hey! What are you up to?”

“I just sold a house!” she gushed into the phone.

“Yay! That’s great! Big one, little one?”

“Ah, just a medium-sized one, but a nice one. Got a good price for it. The seller’s pleased, the buyer’s ecstatic, and I’m getting enough commission to pay my utilities for the next two months, so I can’t complain. Talked to your mom since she got home?”

“Yeah, a couple of times. How are your parents doing?”

“They’re great. I think they’re going on a cruise for their anniversary next month.”

Avery smiled. Her mom and dad were really nice people. He’d gotten a chance to meet her mother at a street carnival up in town the weekend before, and he’d treated them to slushies and cotton candy. It had been great to watch them. They seemed very much in love and very happy together, and Avery thought about his parents, how distant and cold they’d been to each other until his dad had died with the heart attack. The Kinseys were just the opposite, and he was a little jealous of Lydia and her brother, Josh, for being able to grow up with all that love and togetherness. “That sounds like fun. I hope they go and have a good time.”

“Yeah. They said they saw you last weekend. Dad likes you.”

Avery smiled. “I like them.” He hesitated. “So, anything new going on?”

There was a long pause, and then Lydia said, “Stop teasing me. You said there was a surprise, but you’ve never told me anything else. What is it?”

How to do it? “So, um, I’m a rancher. A cattle rancher.”

“Yeah.”

“And cattle ranchers have to herd their cattle, right?”

“Yeah. And you have Skipper for that.”

“Yeah, but he’s, well, he’s a dog.”

There was silence again before she finally said, “Yeah. He’s a dog. Unless something’s happened to him and he’s suddenly become a horse.” When Avery said nothing, Lydia went silent again, but then she finally gasped out, “You bought a horse?”

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