Chapter 12
A s soon as he got home, an agitated Jason met him at the door. “Shut that and lock it,” Jason barked at him.
“What are you so worked up about?”
“Call your girlfriend. She’ll tell you.” He watched as Jason stood by the door and peered out through the sidelight before he took out his phone.
It only rang once before Lydia’s voice called out, “Avery? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I just walked into the house and Jason told me to call you.”
There was silence for a few seconds before Lydia said, “Didn’t you notice that car following you?”
Avery was a little surprised. “There was a car following me?”
“God! Men!” Lydia huffed out. “You don’t notice anything !”
Avery’s heart pounded as he thought about all the possibilities. “Did it go away? Where did it go?”
“It didn’t. It kept following you. Matter of fact, I’m following them now.”
“Lydia, go home,” Avery told her forcefully, total panic rising in his chest. It was bad enough that someone was stalking him; he didn’t need them stalking her too. “Don’t get involved in this, and don’t get caught out around someone like that. Go home―please. Right now.”
“I’m gonna get their license plate number.”
“Babe, don’t you think that car of yours is a little obvious?”
“I don’t care,” Lydia fired back. “I’m getting that license plate number if it’s the last thing I do.”
Avery’s blood pressure rose as he got more and more pissed. “I said go home. Now. Don’t make me go out looking for you because if I find you, I’ll spank your ass and take you home. You understand?”
“Get a piece of paper!” she screamed, and Avery grabbed the first note pad and pen he found. “Write it down! It’s…” Lydia recited the number as she drove and Avery wrote like his life depended on it, because it did. “Got it?”
“Yes! Now get out of there. Right now! I mean it!”
He heard her huff out, “I’m going! I’m turning around in the Atherton’s driveway and going back home.” That was the farm next door, and Avery could feel his heart slamming against his ribs. They were close―too close.
“Get out of there! Go straight to your parents’ house. And don’t do anything like that again.”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Lydia asked with a chuckle.
“Yes. Thanks. Now GO!” he blasted into the phone.
“Okay, okay! Going!”
“And call me when you’re there and locked down tight,” Avery instructed.
“Yes, sir, I will.”
“You’d better. And Lydia?”
“Yeah, babe?”
“I love you, baby. Nobody but you,” Avery whispered into the phone.
“I love you too, gorgeous guy. Talk to you in a few minutes.” The phone went dead and Avery was left to sit there, terrified that she’d never make it to the Kinseys’ house, that the car would double back and follow her.
Just as bad, he realized they knew where he lived from following him. And she hadn’t said they’d left.
His hands shook a little as he dialed the three numbers, and then a voice said, “Nine-one-one. What is your emergency?”
“This is AveryHolcomb. SheriffHenderson visited me earlier and told me his department had information that someone had been hired to kill me. There’s someone in my driveway now, someone who followed me from town. I need some help out here. The old Kinsey place, fourteen three ninety-six GrangerRoad. And I have their license plate number too.”
“Can you give me that number, sir?” the dispatcher asked.
“Yes, ma’am.” Avery read the number he’d written on the paper, then said, “My roommate and I are going to take appropriate measures to defend ourselves.”
“Sir, be careful and a cruiser will be on its way in seconds.”
“Thanks. Gotta go.” He took off at a dead run up the stairs.
“Where are you going?” Jason yelled up at him.
“To get my shotgun,” Avery yelled back. “And my three eighty.”
“Got an extra shotgun?” Jason asked when he made it to the bedroom door.
From inside the closet, Avery said, “No. Only one. And I’m keeping it. They’re not looking for you; they’re looking for me.”
“Yeah, and we look a good bit alike―same coloring, about the same height. Hope they’ve got a good picture of you,” Jason bit back as he stepped back into the hallway, his brand new forty-five pistol in his hand.
“Me too. I don’t want anything to happen to you because of me.” Avery checked the magazine in his pistol, then shoved it into the holster he’d strapped around his waist and to his leg. He thought about his order for Lydia to call him when she got to her parents’ house, but he couldn’t take a chance on his phone ringing or flashing, so he dropped it on the bed. They’d come after him; they weren’t interested in her. Taking a look at Skipper, he pointed to the bed and the dog jumped up onto it. “You stay there. Don’t move.” Stretching out on the bed, Skipper dropped his chin to his paws and lay there like a statue.
“Where do you think they are?” Jason asked.
Avery turned, his eyes locking with his friend’s. “They’re here. She followed them as far as the end of the driveway. The chances that they’ll show up in the next twenty minutes to an hour are stacked highly against us.”
He was surprised at the fear on Jason’s face. “What should we do?”
“I’ll tell you what we’re gonna do. I’ve called nine-one-one and given them the license plate number, and now we’re going right out there to the front barn,” Avery told him, grabbing a box of double-aught buckshot shotgun shells and shoving some into the big side-by-side double barrel that he’d gotten from his grandfather. “I’m sitting in the front door of the hayloft and watching. You’ll come back and stay here in the house. Anyone comes in without announcing themselves, shoot. Don’t even think about it– just shoot. Understand?”
He watched Jason swallow hard and saw his friend’s hands tremble a little. “Yeah. I get it. They don’t announce themselves, I shoot,” Jason repeated.
“Yes, Jason. That’s the plan. I need you to keep it together, buddy.” Avery carried the shotgun, still broken open, down the stairs and across the house. “You’re coming to the barn with me, and as soon as I know there’s no one in there and I’m up topside, you’re coming back in here. Lock the doors and turn off the lights. Then go upstairs and go from window to window, watching. Got it?”
“Got it.” Jason’s hands were shaking, and all Avery could hope for was that he’d take good enough aim to protect himself. Anything else was pretty iffy at the moment.
“Good. Let’s go.” They slipped out the back door into the silence of the country. The sun was almost gone, with just enough light left to let them see their way. Jason walked backward behind Avery, keeping watch, and they reached the barn with no problem. Avery leaned into Jason’s ear. “I’m going up the stairs. Anything moves that can’t be me, you shoot up through the upstairs floor. Got it?”
“Got it. I’ll watch for dirt and straw falling too.”
Avery nodded and slapped his friend’s shoulder. “Good. That’s the kind of thinking I need here. Well, here goes nothing.”
Avery advanced up the ladder into the hayloft and stared around, but nothing moved, and he took a deep breath. After he’d checked around and behind all the bales of hay, he climbed halfway down the ladder and whispered loudly to Jason, “All clear. I’m going back up. Turn the light on in here and go back to the house. Be careful. Then get into position. The cops should be here shortly.”
Climbing back up and positioning himself, he closed the action on the shotgun and watched as Jason shut the back door, then saw the lights in the house go off one by one. In just a couple of minutes, Jason appeared in one of the back upstairs windows and waved to Avery. Good. He was locked in and as safe as he could possibly be under the circumstances. Even so, it didn’t matter. Avery was pretty sure they’d watched him go to the barn. At least out there he had a better chance with more open space and less damage to be done.
Avery watched the area he could see from the loft. Nothing was moving, but that didn’t mean they weren’t cutting through the fields and coming around from the side or behind. It was silent there, and he worked to get his heartbeat and breathing under control so he could hear even better. The silence was thick, but occasionally it was cut by the sound of a cow lowing. Then he heard something that made his skin prickle.
One of the horses whinnied. And that rarely happened unless they were disturbed by something. If someone were coming up from that direction, they’d be to his right, so Avery tried to shift that direction without making any noise, but it really wasn’t possible. He sat and waited, watching as best he could, wondering if whoever it was had gotten near. He saw Jason in the back window again, pointing toward the horses’ pasture. Avery knew then; someone was advancing on the barn.
The wait was excruciating, and in just a few minutes he saw the back door open and Jason coming down the steps, creeping toward the barn, pointing through the front door. Avery waited, waited, waited, until he heard a tell-tale sound.
The ratcheting click of a gun’s hammer being drawn back.
Jason disappeared into the shadows of the front of the barn, and Avery knew that was it. One of two things was about to happen: He was about to meet his maker, or someone else was, and he was most definitely hoping for the latter. After sitting in the silence all that time, his ears picked up on the shuffle of feet downstairs, even though there was an obvious effort being made to be quiet. Shouldering the big shotgun silently, he waited. And then it happened.
The ladder creaked. He knew that creak; it was about halfway up. He had to wait, but it was the hardest thing he’d ever done, and he sat there, motionless, until he saw a slight movement at the top of the stairs. Taking aim just slightly below it, Avery put his finger on the trigger and, without another second’s hesitation, fired.
The sound of the shotgun in that enclosed space was deafening, but he didn’t miss the scream and the racket of something or someone bouncing down the ladder and hitting the floor below. “Jason?”
“Yeah! He’s on the floor!” He heard his friend yell out, “Hand away from that gun! Don’t touch it or I’ll shoot!”
Avery half climbed down what was left of the ladder and slid the rest of the way. At the bottom lay a man he’d never seen before, a bloody mess and wriggling toward his pistol. As soon as his feet hit the floor, Avery kicked the gun away and stared down at the man. Even though Jason was pointing his own forty-five at the man, Avery pulled his three eighty and pointed it at him too. “Who’s with you?”
“What?”
“Who’s with you?”
“Nobody! I’m alone!” the guy screamed.
“Who sent you here?”
“Fuck you,” the man said as he sputtered and coughed.
“The cops are on their way. You’re sunk. Who hired you?”
The man moaned. “I need some help. Get me some help,” he wheezed, the pool of blood growing larger.
“They’re on their way. Who hired you?” Avery asked him again.
He coughed, then coughed out, “Fucking stupid redhead. She said this would be easy.”
As soon as the words were out of the man’s mouth, Avery dropped to his knees and started checking the guy over. Yanking his tee shirt off and over his head, he wadded it up and pressed it into the wound on the man’s side. “Jason, call nine-one-one again and tell them we need an ambulance out here.”
“Gotcha.” As Avery listened, he heard Jason talking on the phone and before his friend hung up, the sounds of sirens pierced the air. “I’m going out front to bring them back here,” Jason yelled, and Avery heard the sounds of Jason’s feet pounding in the dirt as he ran back toward the house.
The man on the floor coughed again. “I’m not gonna make it. Her name is…”
“ShannonHolcomb. I know what her name is. What did she pay you?” Avery asked, fury in his veins.
“Twenty thousand. Ten up front and ten more when the job was done.” He wheezed a little. “She must be a real bitch. You seem like a stand-up guy.”
“She is a real bitch. Left me for my brother. Then married him without divorcing me, and lied to me about the divorce. She’s cost me a good portion of my life, and then tried to have me killed. And you’re a dumb sombitch for trying it.”
“Looks that way.”
There were the sounds of more than just Jason running and two deputies appeared in the doorway. “He needs some help,” Avery called back to them.
“I was an army medic. Let me down there,” one of the deputies called out, then took Avery’s place on the floor.
Exhaustion hit him in seconds and the next thing Avery knew, he was on the floor too, the whole barn spinning. “Deep breath, buddy,” Jason murmured as he took off his own shirt and wadded it up under Avery’s head. “It’s okay now. Everything’s okay. We’ll get them to check you out before they leave. Did he get off a shot?”
“No. I hit him first. I heard him cock his gun and then heard him on the ladder.” Avery closed his eyes and tried to breathe normally. “I didn’t want to kill him. I aimed low so I wouldn’t get his head.”
Hearing the conversation, the deputy called out to Avery, “Yeah, you got him right in the side. It’s not just buckshot; he’s got a bunch of splintered wood in there too. Well, there we go,” the deputy added. “He’s unconscious. But he hasn’t lost enough blood to do that. Must be the pain.”
Another siren, different in quality, came screaming from the distance and in less than two minutes, an ambulance crew knelt by the injured man, checking his vitals and loading him onto a gurney. “He okay?” one of the EMTs asked Jason and pointed at Avery.
“Just check him over, but I think he’s fine. Just freaked out,” Jason answered, nodding.
As soon as the man was in the ambulance and headed to the hospital, one of the deputies followed the truck while the other stayed and questioned Avery. He told them everything, including what the guy had told him about Shannon, and the deputy told him to try to relax, get cleaned up, and they’d talk more the next day. All he really wanted was a hot shower and a cold beer. As filthy as he was, the shower was his first course of action. When he was finished, he got a big surprise.
Lydia sat in the middle of his bed, poring through a magazine. She looked up and grinned when he wandered through the doorway. “Hey, babe!”
Avery couldn’t have been more surprised―or happy. “Hi! What’re you doing here?”
She patted the bed beside her, and Avery plopped down, his towel still around his waist. “I wanted to see you. I was scared to death! Jason called me and told me everything was over. I would’ve much preferred your voice, but at least someone called me. And he was trying to take care of you, so I can’t complain.” She leaned into him and kissed him, and he couldn’t help it―he wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her up to him, planting his face in her hair. The scent of her shampoo and perfume calmed him, and he let out a big shuddering sigh. “You okay, babe?” she whispered up to him.
“I am now.” She pulled back to look up at him and he gave her a tired smile. “I just needed to be close to you.”
“No. You need something to eat and some rest. This has been one helluva day, sweetie. You’ve got to be exhausted, and you barely touched that soup earlier.”
“I’m still not hungry.” He couldn’t shake all the feelings from the day, first the fear that Lydia would turn him away, and then that he was about to die. The adrenaline rush when he’d sat in the barn and then after he’d shot the man who’d hunted him down had been almost too much. He’d damn near collapsed in the shower from pure stress. Not to mention that he was smart enough to know it wasn’t over. The job hadn’t been done, and now Shannon would really be on the warpath. “You realize she’s still going to come after me, right?”
“Let’s not think about that. At the very least, it’ll take her a few days to regroup. Maybe the cops will find her before then. Right now, you need some real food, not canned soup, and you need a good night’s rest.”
“Okay. But I have to check on the horses. I heard one of them whinny while I was in the barn. If that scumbag hurt one of them, I’ll kill him with my bare hands,” Avery ground out through gritted teeth.
“I’ll go with you. Just put on something, anything, and we’ll walk out there, okay? And when we get back, I’ll help Jason put together something for dinner.” She stood and looked around the room. “Clothes. What do you want?”
“My sweats. Top right-hand drawer of the dresser. And a tee, any tee, from the other drawer,” Avery told her, but he didn’t move. As she started moving around the room, he slumped forward and braced himself with his hands on his thighs. It was almost as though he didn’t have any blood in his body. All his limbs felt heavy, and he wasn’t sure he could stand.
“Here we go. Come on; I’ll help you.” She threaded the legs of his sweatpants up over his feet and legs, then helped him stand. His towel dropped to the floor, and Lydia smiled. “Hope you feel better by tomorrow. I’ve missed my little buddy here,” she said, then bent and kissed the soft crown of his cock. It never flinched. “Wow. You are tired,” she mumbled as she stood.
“Yeah. I am. I can’t even think about that right now. I just want to check on Dixie and Buttercup and then come back inside. I feel like I’ve been run over by a herd of buffalo,” Avery moaned.
“Then hold my hand and let’s go get it over with.” She led him out the door and down the stairway, but halfway down she said, “Wow. Whatever that is smells good.”
Jason’s smile was huge as they walked into the kitchen. “My famous wings! Hope you guys like ’em. And I’ve got corn on the cob roasting in the oven and some leftover potato salad.” He grinned as Lydia kissed him on the cheek. “Awww! That’s sweet!” he said, laughing.
“Thank you for being a good friend. Avery wants to check on the horses. We’ll be right back,” Lydia told Jason and pulled Avery to the door.
They strolled out across the yard, her arm around his waist, his arm around her shoulders and Skipper on their heels, until they got to the gate. Avery opened it and let her and the dog through, then followed her and closed it behind them. He leaned against it for a few seconds. “Baby?” Lydia called out to him. “You coming?”
“Yeah.” It took some effort to catch up to her, but the minute she took his hand, he felt stronger. They crested the hill and, to Avery’s surprise, Lydia stuck two fingers into her mouth and let out an ear-piercing whistle. He was even more shocked to hear the sound of hooves, slow but steady, and in seconds the two horses came into view. “I didn’t know they’d come to a whistle.”
Lydia grinned as she stroked Buttercup’s face. “They’re waiting for us. We’re their people. If they know we’re near, they’ll come.” She kissed the horse’s cheek and the big animal nuzzled her.
Watching her there in the moonlight, the horse standing next to her tiny frame, begging Lydia to pet her, made Avery’s eyes fill with tears. He’d do anything for her―anything. He hoped she knew she made his heart beat and his days worth living. He loved that farm; he loved Lydia a whole lot more. As he stood there watching, he felt a shove from behind and turned to find Dixie standing there, bobbing her head at him. He wrapped his arms around his four-footed friend’s neck and the horse rested her head on his shoulder, letting out a low nicker.
“Avery?” Lydia’s soft voice brought him back from the frustration and pain, and he turned to face her. “I want you to know, what you said about the farm? About a will? I…”
“I’m doing it. I’m willing it to you. If she manages to get me, I want you to have it.”
Lydia crossed the three feet between them and reached up, pressing her palms to his cheeks. “I love this farm. But it wouldn’t mean anything without you here. Avery, I wanted to plow this place up and plant all kinds of crops, but you love it just the way it is. You love it more than I ever could. Nothing in my whole life has made me happier than seeing how happy you are here. You were made for this. This is your place as sure as we’re standing here. My family? We loved it, but we’ve never fought for it. You fought for it. You deserve it. And I’m so happy you’re here.”
He didn’t even think about it―he just leaned down and kissed her as his tears began to fall. Even though he might not live to see daylight if Shannon had anything to do with it, he was happy, happier than he’d ever been. If he had to die, it would be in this place where he felt so at home, with this woman who made him feel so alive. He broke away from her lips and whispered, “Promise me, if she finds a way to kill me, you’ll bury me here on this land.”
“Baby, she’s not going to―”
“Promise me, Lydia. Promise me? Please?” he begged, his heart breaking. That wasn’t how their story was supposed to end, but if it had to, he wanted to be there, near her and in that peaceful place.
“You’re not going to die. I promise you that. But if you do, yes. I’ll bury you right here on this farm.” She took his hands and kissed his knuckles, then smiled up at him, and he smiled to see her own tears coating her face. “We’ve got a lot more life to live. These two girls are fine,” she said, slapping Buttercup’s neck. “Let’s go eat.”
Wandering back to the house, he got another surprise―Danette was there, and she’d brought a huge pan of Arlene’s scalloped potatoes and some of BunnyBlack’s homemade biscuits. “Hey there, big guy! How ya doin’?” Danette sang out and crossed the kitchen to hug Avery.
“I’m okay, I guess,” he sniffled.
“You look tired. Sit down. Arlene and Bunny made stuff. Oh, and Babs sent a rhubarb pie, and Loueva made some of that awesome pasta salad everybody loves. Let’s eat!” Danette announced.
He shot one glance at Lydia and she nodded to him, then set about filling a plate for him as he took a seat at the table. When everyone else had their food, they all sat down, and Avery just listened to their happy chatter, smiling when anyone said something in his direction, but otherwise just eating slowly, committing the tastes and smells and voices to his memory. This was his home, a happy place where the people he loved felt comfortable and safe, a place where he was sheltered and fed. A place where he felt loved.
And it occurred to him that the love he felt there was what he’d missed his entire life. From being the little boy who couldn’t save his baby brother, to the young man who couldn’t do anything right, to the grown man who couldn’t keep his wife happy or keep his company together or keep his brother off his ass, he’d been looking for this all his life, people who genuinely cared about him and wanted to see him healthy and happy. Clarksville wasn’t a huge town, but it was bigger than anything near it except Nashville, and part of that was the military base over in FortCampbell. Those people moved in and out as they were stationed there and then moved elsewhere, and nothing seemed permanent.
This was permanent. This place was roots and friends and kids and grandkids. It was lazy Saturday nights spent around a roaring bonfire in the backyard, a galvanized steel tub of ice with bottles of beer stuck down in it, and a beat-up guitar with one wonky string that never stayed in tune. It was an old horse and an even older dog, neither of whom were worthless just because they weren’t young anymore. It was building a love so strong that when they hit their sixtieth wedding anniversary, they’d still be tearing off each other’s clothes and whispering “I love you” at two o’clock in the morning.
“Avery? Did you hear me?” Lydia’s voice cut into his thoughts and he whipped his face toward her. “Baby, do you want Jason to go into town for you tomorrow so you don’t have to?”
“No. I’ve got errands to run. But if he wants to go with me, I’d appreciate that,” he said, realizing they were staring at him because he was still holding his fork in mid-air. He took that bite quickly and swallowed so they’d quit watching him, but their eyes were still on him. “What? What’s wrong?”
Danette reached over and put her hand on top of his free one as it rested on the table. “Sweetie, I think you need to finish eating so you can go to bed. You’re not looking so good.”
“Wow. Thanks. Makes a guy feel better,” he muttered. “But thanks for caring.” Even though he didn’t feel like smiling, he winked at her and she giggled.
“We do,” Jason assured him. “We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t.”
“I know. I’m just tired. I’m sorry if I’m being an ass,” he groaned. “I just can’t believe this is happening.”
“Finish your dinner, sweetie, and let’s go to bed,” Lydia whispered loudly to him.
Avery’s slouch went ramrod straight in an instant. “You’re staying?”
Lydia snorted. “I won’t even consider being more than a foot from you at any given time until we get this all straightened out.”
“Watch this.” In under two minutes, he had his whole plate empty, his glass empty, and his pie eaten. “Ready for bed,” he announced with a silly grin on his face.
“Wow. Okay then.” Lydia pushed her chair back and stood. “I guess this is good night, everybody. See you in the morning.”
Avery bolted up out of his chair. “Yeah. Good night. Turn up the music loud, okay?”
Jason and Danette were laughing so hard they were almost falling out of their chairs. “Oh, yeah! We’re turning up the music down here! We don’t want to listen to that!” Jason sputtered.
“Nooooo!” Danette cackled. “Nobody wants to hear that!”
“Jealous!” Lydia laughed and grabbed Avery’s hand. “Come on, babe. We’ve got better things to do.”
“Yes. We do,” Avery said over his shoulder to Danette and Jason as he and Lydia climbed the stairs. He waited until the bedroom door closed behind them before he spun Lydia and kissed her hard. “Much better things to do.”
“I’ve got something much better to do,” she told him, turning him around and sitting him on the edge of the bed. She bent down to kiss him, but instead of pushing him down on the bed, she knelt in front of him and dragged his pants and underwear down. Avery’s manhood stood and saluted almost immediately. The air in the room was cool as it drifted over his skin, and he smiled at her as she knelt there, then reached down, took hold of the hem of her top, and pulled it up and over her head, her arms trailing out through the sleeves. To his utter delight, she bent her head down and took him in her mouth, and when she did, he leaned over her and unhooked her bra, thrilled as he watched her let it fall until it hit the floor.
The sight of those two beautiful, firm breasts hardened him even more, and she moaned around his cock as she took it deep into her throat. She loved it with her lips, with her throat, with her tongue, licking up and down its length, and Avery leaned back, bracing himself with his hands on the bed, and groaned in agony and ecstasy. His fingers twisted into her hair, guiding her as she bobbed up and down on his hardness, and occasionally his hips thrust upward, independent of his wishes. He couldn’t help it. Every muscle in his body ached to dip into her and call her his. “Baby, I want you so bad. Every inch of me is aching for every inch of you. I just want to plow into you and take you. I need you so much.”
She let go with a pop and looked up at him. “I need you too. I was dying without you, Avery. We can’t let anything like this separate us. We belong together.” He reached for her and tried to lift her, but she whined out, “No! I want to make you come. I want to swallow. Please, babe?”
Avery shook his head and lifted her, and she finally decided to help out, her hands on his thighs and struggling to get her feet under her. “Nuh-uh, baby. Up here in the bed with me. I need you in my arms. Come on.” Avery scooted up into the bed, then stripped off everything and set about taking off her jeans and panties. When they were both bare, he rolled toward her and scooped her into his arms. “This feels right, Lydia, you and me here together. I don’t want to think about anything else, just the two of us, here and now. I love you, baby. I’ll love you forever. I love you more than anything.”
“And I love you more than anything,” Lydia whispered to him as they lay there together, his hand reaching to stroke her masterfully, her body responding, shuddering and convulsing as he worked his magic. As her orgasm dwindled, Avery kissed her and before his lips left hers, he was inside her, stretching and stroking, thrusting and retreating, giving her all of him and taking all of her. He rolled her on top of him and watched her ride his cock; he rolled her under him, pressed her knees to her chest, and rose up on his knees, dominating her with powerful, strong strokes. Coaxing her onto her elbows and knees, he knelt behind her and powered into her, listening to her cry out and beg him for release. And in the end, lying on their sides facing each other, they rocked together until they both lost their breath in the swell of their climaxes and lay panting in each other’s arms.
In the silence, Avery listened to Lydia’s even breathing as she drifted off to sleep in his arms. He could hear a cow moo out in the pasture somewhere in the distance, and heard Skipper snoring on his bed at the foot of Avery’s big king bed. His throat was dry, so he managed to wiggle away from Lydia without waking her, slipped on his pajama pants, and tiptoed out into the hallway and down the stairs.
Sure enough, one of his favorite lemon-lime sodas was in the refrigerator, and he pulled it out and popped the top, took a sip, and turned to go back to bed. He hadn’t taken a single step when he ran straight into someone.
Danette. With a sheet wrapped around her.
“What the…” he sputtered out.
“Shhhhhh!” she warned, a finger to her lips. “Hush! Don’t wake them up!”
One eyebrow shot up. “What the hell? Why are you… No. I don’t want to know, do I?” Avery asked.
Danette grinned. “I think he’s cute. He reminds me of you in a lot of ways. And in a lot of other ways, no,” she said, winking. “Let’s just say he’s very interested in me and very attentive.”
“Well, bully for you. And for him. Don’t let me or my discomfort over this get in your way,” Avery said, chuckling under his breath. Then he stopped and stared at her. “Does Lydia know about this?”
“No, but she will,” Danette said, giggling. “It’ll be kinda hard for her not to when I’m still here in the morning, you know.”
“True. Well, good night, Dan. Sweet dreams,” Avery told her, then kissed the top of her head and, as she walked on past, slapped her on the ass.
“Eeek! Okie-dokie! See you in the morning!” she squeaked. Avery heard the refrigerator door open, but he didn’t look back.
Back in the bed, his drink deposited safely on his nightstand, Avery looked at the sleeping woman tangled in his sheets and felt his heart swell with love and pride. If they could get to the other side of his nightmare, things would be fine.
* * *
The next morning was bright and full of promise. He woke the way he wanted to wake every day for the rest of his life―with Lydia in his arms and her head on his chest. It was hard to climb out of bed and leave her there, but the cows had to be fed. He padded in his sock feet down the stairs, Skipper right on his heels, and found Jason there, a pot of coffee started, and a sappy, goofy grin on his friend’s face.
“Good night’s sleep?” Jason asked.
Avery nodded. “And you?”
“Not a wink,” Jason said from inside his coffee cup, the corner of his lips escaping the cup’s edges with the smile he couldn’t squelch.
“Yeah. Just as I figured. I’ve got to feed the livestock,” he said, carrying his coffee cup toward the laundry room to put on his boots and head out the back door.
“I’m going with you,” Jason announced.
“Why?”
Jason gave him a stern frown. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t the sheriff tell you not to be alone?”
“Yes. He told me not to be alone.”
“Then you’re not alone. Besides, I need to learn how to feed them, so let’s go.” Jason stepped into his boots, pulled the legs of his jeans down over them, and yanked the back door open. “Hallelujah, smell that fresh country air!”
“You’re a crazy fucker, know that?” Avery snarled.
“Now there’s the AveryHolcomb I know and love!” Jason laughed out, and Avery smiled. It was kind of nice, having the relationship with Jason that he’d had before Shannon had done everything she’d done and ruined his life.
But in that instant he realized that she hadn’t. He’d salvaged it, and it was better than before. Now if he could just keep her away from him, everything would be fine.
Their return from feeding the cows and horses was rewarded with eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits, and sawmill gravy. As the men ate, the women fussed over them, and Avery decided there was nothing better than a hearty breakfast served by a beautiful woman in nothing but panties and one of his tee shirts. And having a second one in nothing but her panties and his best friend’s tee shirt, buzzing around both of them, didn’t hurt a damn thing either.
As soon as he was showered and dressed, Avery strapped on his pistol and told Lydia and Danette that he and Jason had errands to run. Both women had to go home anyway, so he told Lydia to just lock up and he’d see her later.
His first stop of the day was at Frank’s office. Not only did Frank have papers drawn up for the divorce, but Avery told him there was a need for a will. They talked about what would be in it, and Frank told him that, under the circumstances, it would be ready in two hours so he could sign it. After thanking him, Avery and Jason headed down to the farm equipment lot to check on some parts Avery had ordered for his tractor, then looked at a couple of late-model pickups at the only car dealer in town. A sign at the discount store advertised jeans on sale, so they stopped there and got a couple of pairs apiece. After that, they set out to find some lunch.
They’d been in the diner for about fifteen minutes, their lunch had come, and they’d both taken a few bites when Jason whispered out, “Don’t turn around.”
Avery froze. “What?”
“Shannon’s car―silver Lexus?”
“Yeah.”
“Then she’s across the street,” Jason mumbled.
Avery’s hands fumbled with his phone, and when he put it to his ear, the voice on the other end said, “Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”
“Shit!” Jason sang out. “She’s leaving!”
Avery told the dispatcher what was going on, and in minutes a sheriff’s deputy strode into the diner. “Mr.Holcomb?”
“Yes. I called. Have a seat.” Both men explained to the deputy what Jason had seen, and he radioed the dispatcher to have all officers watch for the car. They watched as he left, just as frustrated as they were by the whole situation. “Well, at least we know she’s still around.”
“Yeah, and we know she’s skittish. She knows everybody’s looking for her.”
Avery sighed. He didn’t want to see her, but right about then, it would’ve been good if it meant they could find her and stop her.
After buying some fly spray for the horses and cattle, they climbed back into Avery’s pickup truck and drove back to Frank’s office. As promised, he had the will ready. If anything happened to Avery, Lydia would get the farm. He could take a deep breath; she’d be protected, and that was really all that mattered to him.
By the time they got back, they had time to start the washer and dryer before feeding the cows again. That evening, Lydia and Danette both came back to Avery’s and the guys told them about seeing Shannon. Lydia was upset, and Danette was just downright pissed off. “You should’ve chased the bitch down!” she snapped.
“And do what?” Jason asked.
“If I ever catch her, you won’t have to ask that question because I’ll take care of her,” Danette assured them.
Avery had no doubt she would.