Chapter 11
A very drove home, showered, and dressed. He needed to go out to the pasture and see how Jason was doing, but he just didn’t have the strength or motivation. Instead, he sat down with his phone and looked at pictures he and Lydia had made of each other. In one of them, she stood there in jeans and a TexasA don’t if you don’t.” He settled on the sofa with the remote and flipped from channel to channel, not caring if he watched anything or not. He could hear Jason and Danette talking in the kitchen, but he didn’t know what they were saying and he really didn’t care.
“So I’m going to go on home,” Danette said when she appeared before him. “But I’ll be checking on you.”
“Thanks,” Avery said. He hoped she had some idea how much he appreciated her friendship. “And please,” he added, “check on Lydia. Tell her I love her. I’m going to try to call her in a few minutes, but I doubt she’ll talk to me.”
“At least try. Love you, Avery. Bye, Jason!” she called back into the kitchen. “See you soon, I hope.”
“I’ll be around,” he called back.
Danette took Avery’s chin in her hand. “Call if you need me,” she told him and kissed his forehead.
“I will. Love you, Dan.”
“Mwah!” she called out as she closed the door and blew him a kiss at the same time.
“Think I’ll go to the farm store and check out the boots and clothes. If I’m going to live in Texas, I suppose I should look like a Texan, huh?” Jason said, giving Avery a lopsided grin.
“Yeah, sure. Knock yourself out.”
“Want to come with me?”
Avery shook his head. “Nope. Think I’m going back to bed until it’s time to feed the cows again.”
Jason shrugged. “Suit yourself. Back in a bit.” Avery heard the door close behind his friend and he snuggled back into the sofa. There was a throw over the back of the sofa, and it might’ve been the middle of July, but there was a chill in the air around him.
When he hit her contact on his phone, it rang and rang but she didn’t answer. The voicemail prompt asked him to leave a message, and he hoped it wasn’t too rambling.
“Lydia, it’s Avery. Baby, I love you. I’ve never loved anybody the way I love you. All the light’s gone out of my life without you. Please, talk to me. Please? I didn’t do any of this on purpose. I didn’t lie to you. All I want is for things to be the way…”
BEEP. Her voicemail cut him off. He thought for a few seconds about calling back and starting again, but there wasn’t any point. She wouldn’t answer the next time either.
Avery set the alarm on his phone to go off at four o’clock, then lay down and covered himself with the throw. He’d sleep until time to feed the cows again, then he’d take care of them, clean up, and go back to bed. Nothing mattered anymore. Nothing but Lydia.
* * *
At least he was feeding the cows, but that’s all he’d managed to do. Avery saw to them just like always, then lay in the bed the rest of the time. He’d fed Dixie and Buttercup too, but that was a chore. Seeing the palomino only made him think of Lydia, like he wasn’t already.
Three days had passed and Avery hadn’t bothered to shave. He’d barely showered. Sometimes he just stood under the water, unable to pick up the soap. Everything seemed pointless. Jason tried to get him to eat, but he didn’t want to. Nothing tasted good.
All he wanted was Lydia.
He was a little surprised when he heard Jason call up the stairs, “Avery? Come down here. Somebody wants to talk to you.”
When he pulled on his jeans and a tee and almost crawled down the stairs, he was surprised to find the sheriff standing just inside the door. “Mr.Holcomb?”
“Yes, sir. I’m AveryHolcomb. What’s going on?”
“We need to sit down and talk. Mind if I have a seat?” When Avery swept an arm toward the sofa, the big man sat, leaned with his forearms on his thighs, and clasped his hands together. Avery sat and waited, wondering what in the world was going on, but he couldn’t have been prepared for what the lawman was about to say. “I needed to tell you I got a little visit from a guy name AnselGrey. Know him?” Avery shook his head. “Well, he knows you, or at least who you are. He stopped by the station to tell me a very interesting story.”
“Yeah? What’s this got to do with me?” Avery asked, stumped by the whole thing.
“It seems someone approached him and offered him money to kill you.”
Avery’s eyes went wide and in the background he heard Jason whisper, “Shannon.”
The sheriff looked toward Jason. “Would this Shannon happen to be a redhead?”
“That bitch,” Avery muttered. “She tried to get a guy to kill me?”
Jason rushed across the room, sat down, and looked back and forth between them. “Don’t you see? If she kills you, there’s no bigamy charge.”
The sheriff turned to Avery. “You got an insurance policy?”
The very breath caught in Avery’s chest. “Yeah. A million. And if she knows I have my trust fund money, as of right now, it would legally revert to her if I died.”
The sheriff perked up. “So you’ve got money?”
“Yeah. Even with the purchase of the farm and cattle and all the renovations, I’ve got about two and a half million dollars,” Avery said in way of explanation. “She ran through my brother’s money and then the company’s money,” Avery said in a near whisper as he stared at Jason. “She’s come for my money, all right, and as usual she doesn’t give a damn about me.”
“Do you know where she is?” the sheriff asked.
Both men shook their heads. “No,” Avery told him, alarm spreading through his body. Shannon was trying to have him killed. If this guy didn’t deliver, she’d find someone else. Matter of fact, if he had to bet, he’d wager she was looking at that very moment. “Is she not at the bed and breakfast?”
“Nope. Checked out of there. She could be anywhere. What tripped her trigger, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Avery spent fifteen minutes telling the sheriff all about Shannon and the whole mess, with Jason throwing in a detail or two occasionally, until the sheriff’s phone rang. “I’ve got to take this. I’ll be right back.” He stepped out onto the porch and left Avery and Jason sitting there.
“I don’t believe this,” Jason whispered.
“Why? I’ve known for a good while that Shannon’s totally insane, and this just proves me right,” Avery told him without hesitation. “She won’t give up either.”
The sheriff opened the door and stuck his head in. “I’ve got another call, but stay on the lookout. And you,” he said to Avery. “Don’t be alone if you can help it.”
Avery stood and extended a hand to the man. “Thanks, sir. I’ll take that under advisement.” He watched as the sheriff left in his cruiser, then turned back to Jason. “I guess this couldn’t be a bigger mess.”
“No. I don’t think it could,” his friend agreed.
“I’m going to Lydia’s. I’ve got to talk to her.” Avery grabbed his ball cap and stuck it on his head. “I’ll be back in just a little while.”
“I’ll go with you,” Jason offered.
“No! It’s broad daylight. I’m going by myself. I’ll be back in just a bit.” As soon as the words left his lips, he thought, Well, at least I hope I make it back.
Driving into town, he was lost in thought, his truck seeming to know it’s way there. He pulled up to Lydia’s apartment building and found her car sitting right out front. Knocking on the door, he waited, and finally she opened the door a crack. “Hi, Avery.”
“Baby, I really need to talk to you. It’s important.”
Lydia opened the door a little wider, then her eyes went round. “God, you look awful!”
“I know. I’m sorry. But I only want to talk to you, nothing else. I understand why you feel the way you do, and I’m sorry for everything. After this, I won’t call you or come by again, okay?”
“It’s not that I don’t want you here. It’s just that this is a small town and I can’t…”
“I know, I know. Your reputation and all that. I get it, really, I do. But this can’t wait.” Avery rolled a rock around with the toe of his roper. It was hard to look at her and not touch her, but she was pulling back as he spoke. Nothing in his life felt right anymore, but seeing her was far more painful than he’d ever dreamed. “I just want you to know that I love you more than I’ve ever loved another human being. More than anything. Ever. If this is what you want, I’ll accept it, but know that I’m losing the love of my life when I walk away from this door today. I won’t ever recover. And when I’m gone, I hope you remember what we had and it makes you smile sometimes.” He looked down into those beautiful eyes and tried to smile, but he couldn’t. “So I’ll go now and I won’t bother you again. Have a great life, Lydia. You deserve it. You’ll find somebody to love you.” Avery turned to shuffle back to his truck. Maybe Shannon had hired someone and they’d come along and finish him off right there. Anything was better than the pain of walking away from her.
“Avery!” she called out behind him. He turned to see her standing there with her hands on her hips, and he remembered that first day when she stood there on his porch just like that and told him to get out. And it was happening again, but this time it wasn’t his land or his home―it was out of her life. “It’s not like you’re eighty. Just take care of all this. I can wait. I have time.”
“I may not have a lot more time.”
“Why not?” Lydia leaned against the door facing. “It shouldn’t take that long to straighten everything out.”
“That part may not even matter. I’m being hunted.”
“By Shannon,” she said, her voice flat.
Avery shook his head. “No. By someone she’s paid to try to kill me.”
“Dear god! Get in here!” Running straight for him, she grabbed his arm and pulled him through the door, then shut it behind him. When she rounded on him, her eyes were wide with terror. “She’s paid someone to try to kill you?”
“Yeah, there’s this guy who went to the sheriff’s department and told them she’d approached him with money, asked him to kill me, but they can’t find her. We think she’s most likely looking for somebody else to do the job,” he explained.
Lydia stood before him, her arms folded across her chest, disbelief lining her face. “Why would she want to do that? I thought she wanted you back.”
“No. She wants my insurance money and my trust fund, since she’s already blown through my brother’s money and the company’s money too. She thought she’d come here and I’d welcome her with open arms, but when I didn’t, she realized she couldn’t get to my money that way. And if I die, the bigamy charges go away too. So that’s her answer to all her problems.”
Lydia dropped her arms and stared at the floor. “Now I don’t know what to do.”
Avery just shook his head again. “I understand. But if I’m going to die, I wanted a chance to tell you in person that I love you and I’m sorry for all this.”
“No!” He didn’t anticipate the speed with which she leaped at him and threw her arms around his neck. “No! We won’t let that happen! Oh, god, Avery, I love you. Please, don’t let this happen!” Dissolving into tears, she gripped his neck as he held her close. “Oh, god, no. No. This can’t happen. I love you, Avery. Don’t leave me.”
There it was―that scent, the one that told him he was close to her and everything would be okay. He just wanted to stand there and take it in forever. “I don’t want to leave you,” he whispered to her. “I hate Shannon and everything about her. I don’t want to lose you. I only want to be with you, any way you’ll let me.”
Just as abruptly as her embrace, she relaxed her grip on him and looked up into his eyes. “Where is she now?”
“We don’t know. Nobody’s seen her. They’re looking for her, but as of right now, they can’t find her. She’s probably over in Texarkana somewhere. I tipped my hand and I shouldn’t have; I told her I knew she was after my money and that I’d already taken steps to divorce her. And she knew right then that if she didn’t kill me before I did that, she’d lose everything. But if I die before then, it’s all hers. That’s what she’s banking on.”
“The cops have got to find her. I have to believe they will. Oh, god,” she said, her soft palm resting on his cheek. “Baby, you look terrible. What can I do?”
“Love me. Just tell me you love me and you haven’t stopped.” Avery’s tortured heart was aching. All he wanted to know was that when it was all over, she’d still be there.
“I love you and I’ll always love you. Right now, you need a shower, a shave, and some rest. Come on,” she said, pulling him toward her bedroom.
“Where are we going?”
Lydia smiled back at him. “To get all three.”
Two hours later following a shower and an hour nap, Avery sat at Lydia’s table, trying to choke down some soup, his throat so constricted from stress that he could barely swallow. She’d taken his phone and called Jason to let him know where Avery was. He told her to tell Avery not to worry; Jason would feed the cattle and take care of everything. To Lydia’s surprise, Jason let her know that he planned to buy a gun and carry it. “And you be sure to let me know when he’s headed home so I’ll be watching for him,” he told her.
“No problem. Thanks, Jason,” Lydia said. “I’m sure he’ll be there in a bit.”
“That’s what friends are for. Talk to you soon,” Jason said.
Lydia hit END and watched Avery. “How’s the soup?”
Avery shook his head. “I’m really not hungry.”
“You have to eat.” Lydia took his hand. “Are you scared?”
Avery shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know how I feel. This has been… I don’t even know what to say.” He lifted his eyes from the soup bowl and looked straight into Lydia’s blue ones. “Are we okay? Please tell me we’re okay.”
“We’re fine. I made a decision before I jumped into your arms.”
“Yeah?”
“I decided I don’t give a damn what the little old ladies all over town say about me. We’re more important to me than they are. If they want to whisper and talk, that’s their problem, not mine.”
Avery shook his head. “Baby, I don’t want to cause you any trouble.”
“The only trouble I’m going to have is if somebody hurts you. Then I’m going to have a big problem―and they will too if I catch them.”
Avery snickered. “And you’ll do what?”
Lydia stood, walked to a cabinet across the kitchen, reached into a drawer, and pulled out a forty-five pistol. “I’ll shoot ’em deader’n a stone.”
Avery’s eyes popped. “You know how to handle that thing?”
Lydia cocked a hip and laughed. “You’re talking to a Texas belle, boy. Of course I know how to handle this thing!”
He shot her a slow, sexy smile. “Come here.” Pushing his chair out, he patted his lap and Lydia laid the gun on the table before taking a seat on his knees. He pulled her hair back and held it in both hands, then leaned in and kissed her. When he turned loose, he gave her the most serious stare he could muster given his exhaustion. “If anything happens to me, you do whatever you have to do to fight for the farm. I mean it, Lydia. Don’t let them take it away from you. I’m going to do a will in the next couple of days so it’ll be yours if… so they can’t get it.”
“Babe, you don’t have to―”
“No. But I want to.” He gave her another sideways grin. “Promise you won’t have me bumped off after I have the will made?”
Lydia threw back her head and laughed… god, he’d missed that sound! “No way! I don’t want to feed the cows twice a day by myself!” She gave him a tiny, soft little kiss. “Those are your cows― you take care of them!”
Avery finally managed a little laugh. “Yes, ma’am!” He looked at his watch. “I should probably go home.”
She plumped out her lower lip. “But I want you to stay.”
“I’ve stayed longer than I should. Every minute that I’m here with you, your life’s in danger. And I can’t have that. It’s my job to protect you.” With another little peck on the lips, he told her, “Hop up. I’ve got to go.”
“But Avery―”
“No. End of discussion. But know that I’d rather be here, or you there with me. If they can find Shannon, maybe it’ll be soon.”
As Lydia stood, Avery saw a big glistening tear drift down her face. “You call me the minute you get home, okay?”
“I will. I promise.” He strode to the door and stood, reaching for her hand. When she took his, he felt stronger and more sure that everything would be okay. “I love you, my Texas rose.”
“I love you too, my big, strong, handsome cowboy,” she murmured as she rose on her tiptoes to kiss him.
But he laughed right into her lips. “Cowboy? I’m no cowboy!”
“You have cows and two horses to herd them. And a herding dog. That makes you a cowboy.”
That made Avery laugh even louder. “Well, I suppose I can’t argue with that logic!”
“No.” She kissed him again, and that time he got serious about it. She tasted so sweet, like strawberries and chocolate, and he didn’t want it to end, but he had to get home. When she pulled away from him, she glared up at him. “Don’t argue with me. Just tell me everything’s going to be okay.”
“Everything’s going to be okay. And I hope I didn’t just lie to you,” Avery said, then gave her a quick peck on the lips. “I’ll call you as soon as I get home.”
“Okay. I love you, AveryHolcomb. Everything’s going to be okay. I’m sure of it.” She hung onto his hand until he pulled it away and headed down the steps.
“I love you too, LydiaKinsey.” He stopped at the bottom of the steps and looked back up at her. “You’re my one true love. You’re my soulmate.”
“And you’re the love of my life.”
“Lock the doors when I’m gone.” Avery turned and walked to the truck. He couldn’t look back because he knew if he did, he’d run right back to her and that couldn’t happen. He had to get back home before dark, and he had to get away from her so she’d be safer. Climbing into the cab of his truck, he started the engine, pulled out, and waved to her as he drove away. He didn’t see the gray sedan pull out of a parking space a half block away and follow him at a distance.
But Lydia did.