Page 95 of More Than Anything

“There’s no thinking about it, babe. If your mom wants us to build her a little place out here, we will. I’d love having her out here.”

“She said when she sells the house she’ll pay for it. No problem.”

Avery shook his head against the pillow. “No. I can build her a little house. If she wants to pay me back, fine; if not, that’s fine too. I know she’s lonely now that your dad’s gone, and I don’t want that for her. She’s always welcome here, but I’d rather she had her own place than be under our roof.”

“Agreed. You do realize, we’re going to have a child in this house steadily for twenty-eight years, maybe more, when all’s said and done. You sure you’re up for this?”

Avery snickered. “Watch out, we’ll have another one five years from now. That’s our average. Why mess it up?”

“God, no! This had better be the last! I can’t be raising babies when I’m sixty!” she laughed.

“When is Liza supposed to be here?”

“Soon, I hope. Danette thinks she’ll probably go into labor this weekend. She’s big as a house. Jason’s really excited about having a girl. What do you want this one to be?”

“Healthy. And if it’s not, I’ll love it anyway,” Avery assured her.

“Just one more reason why I love you.” She stopped for a second, then asked, “What about your mom?”

“What about her? She wants to stay in Clarksville. Now that I’m the principal partner in the business, Ben has to do what I say. I bailed them out, I tell him what to do, and he does it or I fire his ass, end of discussion.” His trust fund money had come in handy for getting Holcomb Industries back on its feet, and it was on firm footing with the new management he’d put in place, not to mention that it had turned enough profit to pay him back with interest. Ben’s position as general manager was a figurehead slot; as president, Michael ran the place and answered to Avery. And the quarterly reports had looked good for quite some time. He had no worries there.

“So you think he and Beth will take care of her?” Lydia asked, worry tinging her voice.

“Yes. I think Beth is a good person. She’s keeping Ben in line, isn’t she?” he asked, chuckling as he thought about his new take-charge, whip-cracking, no-holds-barred sister-in-law.

“Seems to be,” Lydia agreed.

“So I think she can handle Mom too. After all, Mom’s not the problem; Ben’s the problem,” he growled.

Lydia laughed. “Some things never change!”

“Yeah. Like the way I love you. And the way you turn me on. And those meatballs you make. God, baby, those are delicious.”

Lydia laughed. “You do love ’em.”

“Whooo-weeee, if you made those every day, I’d weigh six hundred pounds in no time!”

“You could use a few more pounds on that rock-hard body of yours, you sexy cowboy you,” Lydia purred.

“Hey, I worked hard for this body! And yes, I love those damn meatballs, but not as much as I love you.” A cry sounded out from across the hallway and Avery glanced at Lydia. “I’ll take care of it. Be back in a few.” He climbed out of bed, put on his pajama pants, and crossed the hall, opening the door. “Landon? Buddy? You okay?”

“I hadda bad dream, Daddy. A dinosaur ate Dandy.” At the sound of his name, the dog who was a dead ringer for old Skipper perked up and moved closer from his little doggy bed at the foot of Landon’s bunks.

“Dandy’s right here. See?” Avery said and pointed at the dog, who crept up to the edge of the bed and licked Landon’s hand.

“Dandy’s okay,” Landon whispered, his eyes closing again. Avery rubbed his back for a few minutes until he was sure the little boy was asleep before he stepped out of the bedroom and closed the door.

Making his way silently down the stairs, Avery pulled a bottle of water from the refrigerator, then snatched up another one for Lydia. Out of habit, he started to check the back door but instead, he stepped outside.

The night air was fresh, clear, and crisp, and the stars were out in the billions. AveryAidan Holcomb stood there and looked out toward the barn. In the distance, one of the calves lowed, and he knew it had wandered a little too far away from its mother in the darkness and was afraid. She’d find it and pull it back into the herd, and all would be well. Except for the occasional coyote call and an owl hooting, it was silent there in the country, and he turned his face upward and decided to use the stars to count his blessings.

But it only took him a few seconds to realize there weren’t enough stars. And there never would be. More than money, or cows, or land, he had the love of a family, and especially that fine woman upstairs waiting for him. She meant everything to him, and no matter how many kids they had, they’d always take second place to her. He loved them, but he loved that sassy little blond more than anything. He never could’ve guessed that he’d head out of Clarksville, Tennessee, without a clue where he was going and wander into everything he’d found on Sirus Kinsey’s farm. He’d found happiness. He’d found love.

His heart had found its home.

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