Page 5 of More Than Anything

Avery shrugged. “I think I want to buythisfarm. Can you tell me a little bit about it?”

The old man gestured toward the porch. “Come on up and have a seat and I’ll tell ya how I got this here place.” Avery stepped up onto the porch and noticed that, for all its rag-tag appearance, the porch floor was solid, not spongy. When he’d taken a seat, Sirus sat down in an adjacent chair and mopped his forehead with a faded bandana. “Well, I got this farm here from my granddaddy. His daddy bought it just after the Civil War ended. The wife and I raised four kids here, three boys and a girl. Didn’t none of ’em want the place. They all moved off to the city. You from the city, son?”

Avery nodded. “Yeah, pretty much. Well, I mean, I grew up in Tennessee, outside Nashville, but we lived in the city. Clarksville.”

“Purdy place. I been there. So you’re no stranger to country ways then.”

“No, sir, I’m not.”

“Whatcha been doin’ since you got outta school?” Sirus asked. “I mean, you ain’t no little kid.”

“No, sir, I’m not. I’m thirty-six. My family owns a business in Clarksville, but some things happened and I really don’t want to be there anymore.”

Sirus fixed two dim eyes on Avery. “So you cain’t get along with your family then?”

“It’s not that. It’s… well, my wife divorced me to marry my brother.” Avery hadn’t expected the words to sting so much, but they did. He supposed they always would.

“Divorced you to marry your brother! Why, son, I don’t blame you for getting outta there. That’s pretty low if you ask me,” Sirus belted out, surprising Avery with the strength in his words. “That’s damn low, and I don’t use cuss words lightly.”

“Yes. It’s pretty low. And my mother thought it was all just fine.”

Sirus let out a low whistle and shook his head. “That’s awful. Boy, I think you need a new family!”

Avery chuckled. “I think you’re right.”

“So let’s talk about this here farm. Wanna get in your truck and let me show you around?”

“Sure!” Avery headed out to the truck and opened the door for Sirus. The old man climbed right in and away they went. As Avery drove, Sirus pointed out the ponds, barns, different fields and the crops that had been planted there, and other features of the land. It was beautiful and green, and Avery was completely enthralled with it.

When they got back to the house, Avery parked the truck and turned to Sirus. “I thought you said there were two hundred acres here.”

“Yeah, give or take a few.”

Avery looked out at Sirus from under his brow, his forehead dipping into a deepV.“Mr.Kinsey…”

“That’s Sirus to you, son.”

“Sirus,” Avery tried again, “there’s got to be at least a thousand acres here.”

“Yeah, well, two hundred, give or take a few,” Sirus said again, a big smile stretching across his face.

“So how much do you want for this place?”

Sirus sat and stroked his chin. “Whaddya gimme for it?”

Avery shrugged. He had no idea what a piece of property like that would cost. The only thing he’d ever owned was that house Shannon had wanted in the country club subdivision, and that was pitifully overpriced. “Can you give me some idea? I mean, I really don’t know what to offer you. I don’t want to shoot myself in the foot, but I also don’t want to screw you.”

“Son,” Sirus said, shaking his head, “this place didn’t cost me a penny, so anything you give me will be profit on my part.” He sat for another minute, then finally said, “How ’bout a hundred dollars an acre?”

Avery shook his head in disbelief. No way was he about to screw the old guy over. “No. How about five hundred dollars an acre?”

Sirus’s eyes went wide. “Oh, lordy! How ’bout three hundred dollars an acre?”

Avery chuckled. “I have to say, I’ve never had a seller negotiate down on a price with me.”

Sirus cut his eyes at Avery. “You planning on cutting this place up and making one-a them subdivisions out of it?”

“NO! Absolutely not! I want to learn to farm it, you know, and live here in the peace and quiet.”

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