Page 50 of More Than Anything

Avery nodded. “Yeah. Probably. Let’s go see about her, maybe get something to eat. If we can get her settled down, maybe she’ll go home. But she brought her bag to stay the night, I noticed, so I may be stuck with her.”

Lydia shrugged. “We’ve gotten this far. We can hang in there a little while longer, I think.”

Avery leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “I’m sure we can. But I don’t want to have to just hang in there.” He stood and offered her his hand. “Come on?let’s go check on the dying princess in there.”

She let him pull her up and then wrapped her arms around his waist. “I love you, Avery. I don’t care if you can’t say it back.”

“I don’t have a problem with that. I love you too, Lydia Simone Kinsey.”

“How’d you know my middle name?” she barked.

“I know all kinds of things. I’m just full of surprises,” he laughed and hugged her tight.

She laughed back, “You sure are!”

* * *

“I’m so sorry,man. If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know.”

Greg’s voice was weak and he sounded completely broken. “There’s nothing. I tried to think of anything I can do to change it all, but there’s nothing. My sister’s husband is disabled and she’s got a bad back. There’s no one else to take care of them, so I’m moving them up there closer to her in Arkansas and I’m going too. She can at least sit with them during the day while I work, and then I’ll be there with them the rest of the time.”

Avery shook his head even though Greg couldn’t see him through the phone. “But that’s no kind of life for you. You deserve a life too.”

“I wish I could get on board with that, but they’re my parents, you know? I have to take care of them. I don’t know what else to do.” Avery didn’t want to ask, but he was pretty sure Greg was in tears. “And I can’t ask Danette to give up everything and move with me. She’s got her company, and she’s worked all her life to put that together. Asking her to give it up would be wrong, especially since we haven’t been together all that long.”

“I understand.”

The phone was silent for a few minutes before Greg said, his voice weak and small, “Please take care of her. I just, well, I don’t know what else to do, but I love her, Avery. I really do. And this is killing me.”

Avery’s heart was breaking. He’d always believed where there was a will, there was a way, but this seemed like an impossible situation. It was grossly unfair, and yet he understood Greg’s position. “I will, I promise. Danette’s my friend. I’ll do whatever I can to help her. Lydia will too.”

“Thanks.” There was some noise in the background and Greg said, “It’s time for me to help my mom with her bath. I’ve gotta go. Take care, Avery. And please, take care of Danette.”

“Consider it done. Call if I can help.”

“Thanks. But nobody can help me now. Bye.” The phone went dead and Avery was left standing there, holding it and staring at it. Poor Greg. There was nothing anyone could do to help him.

He opened the back door and went inside to find that the pizza guy had been there and brought their dinner. Lydia and Danette had ordered, and there was more than enough to go around, plus cheesy bread and some kind of brownie bites. Avery and Lydia talked throughout dinner with Danette only offering one-syllable responses and, for the most part, just picking at one piece of pizza the whole time and saying pretty much nothing. She hadn’t even eaten half of that piece when she announced, “You know what? I’m exhausted. I think I’m going to bed.”

“You sure?” Lydia asked.

“Yeah. I’ll see y’all in the morning,” Danette told them, rising slowly and practically pulling herself up the stairs.

“I’ll come up in a few to tell you goodnight,” Avery called after her.

“Okay,” was the weary response that drifted down to them.

The gentleclickof the door closing on the spare bedroom was all they heard, and everything went silent. They’d sat like that for a minute or so when Lydia said, “That’s all so horrible. What did Greg say?”

“He feels completely helpless. There’s nothing he can do. He’s trapped. They’re his parents, and he feels responsible for them, which I suppose he should. But it’s costing him a relationship that’s important to him. I mean, I know they haven’t been together all that long, but he really loves Danette.”

Lydia grimaced. “Is she in love with him?”

“She said she didn’t know, but I think she is. If she isn’t, it’s the strongest case of ‘like’ I’ve ever seen. And he says he can’t ask her to give up her company and come there with him, and I can definitely agree with that.”

“Where are we talking about?” Lydia asked.

“Southwest Arkansas.”

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