Page 49 of More Than Anything

Avery let out a laugh. “It’s true. And you need to know that I didn’t set out to buy one horse—I set out to buy two, one for me and one for you.” Avery watched as she stared at him, her lips slightly parted, and he had that overwhelming urge to kiss her again, but not until he’d said what needed to be spoken aloud. “Look, I don’t want to keep you away from this place. Truth is, I want you to be here. I want you to enjoy it, to feel free to wander, to ride the horses, to check on the cattle, to play with Skipper. I want you to be able to get in the car and come out here whenever you want, do whatever you want, and,” he hesitated, wondering how his next words would be received, “to stay as long as you want.”

“Whaaaa, what are you trying to say?” she gasped out.

“What I’m trying to say is, I love having you as a friend. But I wouldn’t mind having you as more?a lot more. I don’t know how you feel about that, but I?—”

“Avery?” Lydia whispered out.

“Yeah?”

“Shut up and kiss me.”

There was no need to ask a second time. Avery grabbed the beautiful woman beside him and pulled her to him. As her arms wound around his neck, her kiss wound its way into his soul, and he could feel himself opening, his wounded, battered heart pounding strong and fast inside his chest. Her lips were perfect, so soft and sweet, and when they parted to allow his tongue inside, Avery could’ve sworn he heard angels singing. She felt right in his arms, like she’d been sculpted just for him. He thought about the things they’d fought their way through to get where they were in that moment, and he was amazed. By all rights, that little slice of time shouldn’t have been happening, and yet there it was, magical and wondrous in itself, and he could feel her right there with him. He wasn’t alone in it. They were together in this thing, and it was more than he ever could’ve expected or asked for.

When she finally broke the kiss, Avery looked down into her face and watched a single, sparkling tear roll from the inside corner of one of those sky blue eyes. “Oh, Avery, I’m so sorry for all the things I?—”

“Shhhh, precious. Don’t think about any of that. It’s in the past, and we’re going to leave it there, okay?” he said, trailing a finger down the path the tear had taken and wiping it away. “That’s all over.” He hesitated, then gave her a goofy smile. “Right?”

She laughed and slapped his chest. “Yes! That’s all over. But why? Why would you want me?”

“Why wouldn’t I? I saw past all the anger and hurt and saw the beautiful woman in there. But damn if I could figure out how to get to her! Never thought I’d have to send her to jail to get there,” he quipped.

She nodded and blushed. “You know why I was so damn mad?” He shook his head. “It wasn’t just because of the farm. It was because I felt something for you but I only wanted to be mad at you. And every time I felt it, I just got madder and madder.”

Avery threw back his head and laughed. “You know what they say about that fine line between love and hate!”

“Honestly, I didn’t really understand what that meant until I met you. Because that hatred I felt for you was so strong, but now, the way I feel about you is just as strong. And it’s, I, maybe I shouldn’t…”

“What? Say it? If you won’t, I will.” Avery straightened and looked down into her eyes, then took her hands in his and took a long, close look at them. They were soft, her fingers thin and fine, her nails perfect with their French manicure, and he smiled as he wondered what a big honkin’ diamond would look like on that one, the next to last one on her left hand. Then he looked back up to those blue orbs. “I’ve fallen in love with the woman who hated me, Lydia. I couldn’t help it. You just yelled and screamed and fought your way into my heart and wouldn’t go away. Gotta tell ya, I’m glad you’re tenacious or you might not be here now!” he laughed.

“That screaming, snarling, spitting woman wasn’t the real me. She was the girl who got her dreams ripped up and torn apart and handed back to her in pieces. You do realize I’ve got a lot of baggage, right?” she asked, her eyes serious.

“Hell, so do I. My brother stole my wife, fucked her, talked her into divorcing me, and married her. Whaddya think that did to me?”

She screwed up her face. “Ouch.”

“Hell yeah, ouch. Not pretty. You got a crazy ex somewhere?”

“No. He was killed in a skiing accident over on LakeFoster three years ago.”

“Ouch, I’d say,” Avery said and winced. No one had bothered to tell him that story, and it explained a lot.

“Yeah. Ouch for sure.” Her eyes were sad. “Landon and I were high school sweethearts. He was a Tucker. You know, the Tuckers that TuckerCity’s named for. I thought we were set for life, getting married, planning to buy a house and have babies, and he had a degree in agricultural sciences too. We were going to farm this place together, grow soybeans and corn and sorghum and winter wheat, maybe even cotton. First we found out Landon was sterile, and then he died, and then when GrandpaSirus did what he did, that pretty much pushed me over the edge, and I’m sorry for that. Every dream I’d ever had was dust. It was like my whole life had been wasted on something that would never happen. Before that…” Her voice trailed off and she seemed to be shutting down in front of his eyes. When she finally spoke, she said, “I was made fun of the entire time I was growing up because I was so small. The bigger kids bullied me and beat me up every time they got the chance. Then I got involved with a guy who knocked me around, and I didn’t think I deserved any better.”

That shocked Avery. “Why?”

“When my brother was little, he got hit by a car while he was riding his bike. He almost died. My parents were so worried about him that they kind of ignored me for several years. I was lonely and afraid, and too young to understand that they were just scared because they’d almost lost him. I really thought they loved him more than me. I got involved in the agriculture department and spent a lot of time out here because I felt at peace. There was no one to pick on me or ignore me except Great-Grandpa Sirus, and he didn’t give a shit about me. He just let me do my thing and left me alone. But when he killed my rabbits, well, that was it for me. I decided I wanted this farm and I wanted to show them all that I was smart and hard-working enough to make a career of it.” A tear had rolled down her cheek, and Avery reached over to thumb it away. “Landon came along and made me think all of it was possible. And then he was taken away from me. I thought I’d get it back when Sirus died, but when you showed up, everything in my world went to hell again.”

“I’m sorry,” Avery said softly. “I wish you’d told me all this early on. I would’ve tried to be much kinder to you. I feel like an ass,” he added.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, I can tell you that I kept thinking, ‘He must be a really good guy or he would’ve shot me by now,’” she said and giggled.

“Don’t think it didn’t cross my mind! Only thing that saved you is, well, you’re beautiful, but I didn’t think your head would look all that great stuffed, mounted, and hung over my fireplace,” he said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, with that snarl on my face,” she barely managed to say from laughing so hard.

“Yeah, that snarl would’ve run off all my visitors.”

“Oh! Danette! Should we check on her?” Lydia asked, glancing back toward the house.

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