Page 29 of More Than Anything

She sniffed. “That only makes me a geek.”

Avery shook his head and grinned. “No. It does not. It makes you smart and interesting and, frankly, a good catch. It gives you the right to be picky about who you date. Hell, put yourself on one of those dating websites and I guarantee you some guy will travel a long distance just to meet you and get to know you.”

Danette’s eyes went round. “You really think so?”

“Oh, I know so! They’re not looking for party girls, most of those guys aren’t. They know if they hook up with someone through one of those sites, they’ll have to woo her. And they’re willing to do that for the right woman. And you, missy,” he said, tapping the tip of her nose with his finger, “are the right woman.”

Tears started rolling down her cheeks again, and that was not the effect Avery was going for. He just stood there and wrapped his arms around her as she buried her face in his chest and sobbed. Finally, she looked up at him and tried to smile. “Thanks, Avery. You really are a good guy. No, wait,” she said and choked out a little giggle. “A great guy.”

Avery laughed down at her. “Thanks! I try. Now, you still want a fucking?”

To his astonishment, Danette shook her head. “No. Could we just lie down on your bed and you hold me? That would be nice.”

“We sure can. Come on over here and cuddle up with me.” Avery sat down on the bed and then scooted across it, and when Danette did the same, he drew her up in his arms, her back to his chest. “How’s this?”

“This is nice.” The next words she said broke Avery’s heart. “I’ve never done this before.”

He wasn’t sure what to say, or if he should say anything. Danette was a nice person. There was nothing wrong with her personality. For reasons he figured he’d never understand, she just got it in her head at some point that all she was worth was being a piece of ass. Avery realized in that moment that when he’d let her in the house, he’d never really wanted to bring her upstairs and fuck her. He’d intended to, but he really hadn’t wanted to. AveryAidan Holcomb, the guy who’d fuck pretty much anything that walked past, had once again been handed a chance to take advantage of a woman, and had passed on the opportunity. He decided right then that maybe he’d better find a doctor and have a checkup because he was probably suffering from a terminal illness and didn’t know it.

They lay like that for over an hour as Danette dozed in and out and Avery kissed her crown or stroked her hair. She was warm and soft, and he actually found the idea of lying there holding her with no expectations to be a lot more pleasant than he’d thought. After about an hour and a half, he moved to get up. “What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice hoarse with sleep.

“I need to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back, I promise,” he whispered to her and kissed her right behind her ear.

“Okay. I’ll be here,” she mumbled.

Avery hadn’t been in the bathroom more than a second or two?he’d barely gotten his fly unzipped?when he heard a buzzing sound and Danette called out, “Oh! Your phone’s ringing! I’ll get it!”

Nooooooo!!!!his brain screamed, but it was too late. He heard her say, “Hello?” The conversation that took place following that simple word was one he knew he’d pay for later. “This is DanetteMoyers. Who is this? Well, hello, Lydia!”

Oh, shit!Avery didn’t know whether to hurry and finish or cut it off midstream and get his ass back out to the bedroom, but he knew it didn’t matter?the damage was already done. So he just blended into the wallpaper and listened to the rest of the conversation to see how much damage control he was in for.

“Yes, Avery’s here, but he’s in the bathroom. I’m just sitting here on the bed waiting for him to come back.”Wow, thanks, Danette, he wanted to yell out. “Yes, at his house. Well, the signs didn’t mean me because I’m his friend.” That made him snicker. “Now you hang on just one minute here! We haven’t done a thing, not that it’s any of your business! Well, you’ve got a lot of nerve, calling me that! Just who do you think you are? Look here, missy, them’s fightin’ words,” Danette shouted into the phone, her voice husky and strong. “I’m not taking that from you. You have no… You. Did. NOT. Go. There! Oh boy, I tell you what, I see your scrawny little ass out in town, they’ll have to pull me off you. Oh, yeah, you just go right ahead, call the sheriff up and tell him I threatened you because I did! And I’ll make good on it too! No, YOU shut the fuck up! What in the holy hell’s gotten into you, LydiaKinsey? Okay, I’m not arguing with your silly ass anymore. You’re just getting ridiculous. When you can act like a grownup, we’ll have something to talk about, but not until… You take that mouth right back home and ask your mama to wash it out with soap. Goodbye, Lydia. I don’t have to put up with this!” He heard Danette huff out, “Gol’ darn skinny, skanky, smartass little sack of fluffed-up bones. I’m gonna snap her in half when I catch her out.” There was a momentary pause before he heard her yell out, “Avery!”

Somewhat relieved that he didn’t have to cower in the bathroom anymore, Avery stuck his head out the door and, wide-eyed, looked to Danette. “Yeah?”

Her gaze pierced him, her expression fierce. “You fucking that blond bundle of trouble?”

It was his turn to have eyebrows in his hairline. “No! Why in hell would you ask that?”

“Because she sure is a jealous little bitch. She found out I was here and, lord have mercy, you never heard a string of cuss words like that in your life! And then she started attacking me with ’em! I swear, she’s got the hots for you, boy, and she’s got ’em bad.” Danette was grinning and shaking her head, and Avery wanted a hole to open up in the floor and drop him and his flushed face straight into the basement?the basement he didn’t even have. “What the hell’s going on between the two of you?”

Avery sat down on the side of the bed and dropped his head into his hands. “She’s driving me crazy, Danette. Insists this farm’s hers and she wants it back. She’s tried everything, and now she’s going to try to get a court to say Sirus was crazy when he sold me this place.”

“What? Ain’t no court in the land gonna side with her on that. Sirus was a feisty old bird, and a looker for his age, but he wasn’t crazy.” When Avery gave her the stink eye, she added, “No. I did not sleep with him. But he was a pretty nice-looking old man. And he was a good old guy, but he was kinda cranky and hard to get along with sometimes.”

“I heard he really didn’t do his family right,” Avery said, scooting up and leaning back into the pillows at the head of the bed.

Danette shimmied up beside him and clasped her fingers across her belly. “Yeah, he really didn’t do right by them. Got pissed off because they wouldn’t all move out here and play ‘one big happy’ with him. Couldn’t blame ’em, though. Lydia’s daddy tried to work the farm for a while, but Sirus wouldn’t leave him alone. Tried to tell him how to do everything and sabotaged anything Rodney did that he didn’t agree with. Even took the farm equipment Rodney bought and sold it without his knowledge. Rodney came out to work and didn’t have a tractor. Sirus told him that steam-powered tractor had always been good enough for him and it was good enough for Rodney. That was when Rodney finally gave up and walked away.”

“Can’t say I blame him there,” Avery nodded.

“Nope. Sirus just made it impossible for anyone to help out or work the farm. Lydia’s uncle wanted a degree in accounting, thinking he could help out with the books. Sirus said a college education was foolish and cut him out of everything.”

“No!” Avery couldn’t believe it. That didn’t sound like the Sirus he’d met, although he hadn’t spent a lot of time with the old man. “What kind of person does that to their kids?”

“SirusKinsey. He was nice enough around town, but he treated his family like shit.”

“And Lydia’s parents?”

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