Chapter 13
T wo weeks went by and everything was quiet. No one saw Shannon again, and Avery wondered where she’d gone. He’d signed all the divorce papers and was hoping that Shannon would go home, find them, and sign them, then send them back. JudgeBennett had assured them that if he didn’t get them back in eight weeks, he’d go ahead and give Avery a divorce decree. He was a judge; he could do that if he wanted to. And Avery knew the judge had enough information to know that every day he spent legally married to Shannon was another day of hell for him.
“Do you know how good you’re getting at that?” Avery called to Jason from astride Dixie.
“Yeah. I think I’m getting the hang of it.” Jason had practiced moving the herd with Buttercup every afternoon, and Avery could tell he was enjoying himself. The first few days he’d seemed a little overwhelmed, but when he learned that the horse would do the work if he’d let her, he relaxed and really started to fall into it. And it meant that, besides himself, Avery now had two people who could help him―Jason and Lydia. She’d been riding all her life, so it was nothing new to her, and she and Buttercup moved as a singular unit, darting about to bring in this and that stray. With the two of them on board, Avery was confident he could handle more. “So what’s this all about?” Jason asked as he tore up to Avery and reined Buttercup in.
“It’s about me buying more cattle. I think I’m going to the auction over in Parkersville tomorrow night to pick up more. Maybe a hundred, hundred and twenty, something like that.”
“I think that’ll be great. You’ll have to have a couple more pastures bushhogged again since they haven’t been used from the last mowing.”
“I suppose I should buy a bushhog for my tractor and start doing that myself. But damn, this is growing. I can’t wait until I start having calves out of this herd. I’m going to have quite a bit of beef on the hoof,” he said, gazing out over the fields at the black cattle everywhere.
“Avery?” He turned to Jason and found his friend smiling at him, a gentle smile, the kind a father would give a son. “Man, I’m so proud of you. You’re doing so well with this. And you know,” Jason said, waxing philosophical, “there’s something about this place. I feel comfortable here, like I belong and I’m connected to it somehow.”
“You are. You’re connected by your dick to that brunette with the Texas-sized rack,” Avery said, just as sarcastically as he could manage. When Jason scowled, he started to laugh. “Man, I’m just yanking your chain! I’m happy for you―for her too. She’s turned out to be a great friend to me, even though I tapped that as soon as I got to town.”
“What?” Jason’s eyebrows shot up and his eyes went wide. “You slept with Danette?”
“Son, everybody slept with Danette. All the men and half the women,” Avery said, howling with laughter. “But don’t let that rattle you. I got hold of her and set her straight. Before you, she was dating a guy…”
“Greg,” Jason offered.
“Yeah. Nice guy. But I told her she was worth a lot more than just a random fuck, and I think she believed me. I gave her a challenge, and she met it. I told her I wouldn’t do her again until she went out on a real date. That lit a fire under her that, thankfully, didn’t include me. She’s a sweet thing. I wanted better than that for her. And by damn, she went right out and found herself a boyfriend! Shame what happened there, though.”
“I suppose it worked out okay, though. She was free when I got here, and that was good for both of us,” Jason said, smiling so hard that Avery was sure his face hurt.
“You guys seem to be good for each other.” Skipper let out a couple of short, quick barks. “Somebody’s at the house. Better go see who.” Before he could get Dixie to the gate, he could see Lydia coming across the backyard. “Hey, baby!” he sang out, sliding out of the saddle and ground tying Dixie.
“Hey yourself!” she said and gave him a big kiss across the top of the gate. “Brought your mail.”
Avery thumbed through it. Nothing important, at least until he got to the last envelope. “What the fuck?”
“What is it?”
Avery opened the envelope. “It’s a bankruptcy notice for the company. God damn him!” Avery shouted. “I can’t believe this! That idiot’s run the place completely into the ground! What the hell am I going to do?”
Lydia shrugged. “Go back there and straighten it out?”
“No! I’m not doing that. I’ve got a life here. Holy shit, I’ve got to try to find somebody I can trust and then intervene somehow.” Running through a list of possible candidates, his face softened a little, but not much. “I know who I can call. It’ll take me a little bit, but I think I can straighten this out.”
“Good. I don’t want you preoccupied. Are you still thinking about tomorrow night?”
“Oh, yeah! I told Jason I’m pretty sure I’m going to do it. A hundred more head will be a great way to go into fall, don’t you think?” he asked her, then gave her lips a light nip.
“Yeah. I think so too. I bought some new throw rugs for the bathrooms, so I’m going in to put those down. But I’ll wait until you come in before I leave.”
“Good deal. I’ll be in shortly.” Avery mounted Dixie and sat watching Lydia sashay back to the house. The sway of those hips could get him into trouble in about ten seconds, so he turned and headed back to talk to Jason.
Between Avery and Jason, a plan was in motion five minutes later. Avery called MichaelShort, the head accountant at HolcombIndustries, and then made a call to his mother. He had to listen to her cry; she had no idea what Ben had done. She begged Avery to come back, but he made sure she knew he could take care of it from home and he wasn’t coming there. Then he called Ben.
After thirty minutes and the threat of a lawsuit for his corporate malfeasance, Ben agreed to the terms. Avery was glad to call Michael and tell him he was being named the new president of the company. As soon as Michael was in place, Avery would transfer money to them and Michael could go about righting all of Ben’s wrongs with vendors and customers, and the possibility of salvaging the company would be a whole lot better. And Ben would be out on his ass, where he’d needed to be for a while.
An hour and a half after he’d seen the letter, everything was handled. Avery drew in a deep breath and took stock. Crisis averted for Holcomb Industries―hopefully. More cattle in two days. Two people who knew how to ride and could help him with the herd. Lydia said she’d help him with writing both short-term and long-term business plans for the ranch to keep him on track. The renovations on the house were finished. All the fencing was up. He’d go buy a bushhog through Lydia’s dad down at the equipment company and he could keep the fallow pastures cleared out so they could be used at a moment’s notice. He had a load of hay coming before the week was out. Damn, I’m doing pretty good! he told himself. Maybe I can kick back and take a vacation in a few weeks. Wouldn’t it be nice if I could take my angel and get away? Nowhere expensive or fancy, just a lake somewhere nearby? Maybe rent a cabin? God, that sounds good! He couldn’t help but smile as he unsaddled Dixie and brushed her down. Maybe he’d buy another horse or two, one for Jason and one for Danette. Then they could ride anytime they wanted. They could even do some trail riding.
Jason and Avery came through the back door to find sandwiches, chips, and potato salad waiting for them. Lydia ate with them, but she had a house to show. “I’ll be back this evening. Maybe we can go to dinner somewhere.”
“Sure! Sounds good. Jason, see if Danette can go,” Avery told his buddy.
“Will do,” Jason answered, and they left it at that.
After the evening feeding of the cattle and horses, Avery took a long, hot shower and put on his best jeans and his favorite new shirt, a bright, red plaid short-sleeved number with pearl snaps, just the kind a real cowboy would wear. He’d trimmed up his facial hair to look just right, then made sure his hair was perfect. Everything looked okay, so he pulled on his boots and stood, but when he turned and caught a glimpse of himself in the full-length mirror, he was shocked.
The man who stood there was not the Avery who’d come to Texas. Gone were the slumped shoulders of a guy who’d been beaten down one too many times. In his place stood a cowboy―that was plain to see even without a hat on his head. His back was straight, his shoulders squared, and his skin was tanned to perfection. The worry lines on his forehead had softened, and the bags under his eyes were gone. Better yet, his waist was a lot slimmer, but his shoulders were far broader, and his upper arms sported biceps he hadn’t even realized he had. And the definition of his legs through those jeans that had once been a little baggy was startling, his thighs thick and well-defined. He hadn’t really paid attention, but he felt sure his calves looked about the same too. Even his hands were different, more muscular, and on his palms were calluses, the kind born of hard work and dedication.
Avery nodded to the guy in the mirror, who gave him a nod back. Avery the kid who’d wandered into farm ownership months earlier was gone. A man stood before him, rugged and determined and satisfied with his life. He smiled, and the smile his mirrored image sent back to him made everything inside him warm. There was no doubt in his mind that he was right where he needed to be. He strapped on his watch, slapped on a little cologne, and headed downstairs to see what was going on.
Jason sat there, dressed pretty much like Avery, and he noticed for the first time that his friend was taking on some of the same physical characteristics he’d noticed in himself. He’d made a difference in Jason’s life too, and that was worth everything. “Danette meeting us?”
“I think so. She said to let her know where and when and she’ll be there,” Jason replied, tossing down a magazine. “Lydia coming here?”
“Nah. We’re meeting her at Smokestack Barbecue. Ready?”
“Sure!” Jason followed Avery to the truck and the two men headed out.
Avery drove into town, then made the familiar turns that would take him to the barbecue joint. He was almost there when he saw something that made him do a double take: He could’ve sworn he saw Danette going the opposite direction in a green pickup truck. But she drove a small compact car, gold, a Nissan or Toyota or something like that. He’d only gotten a glimpse of the woman, but he was sure it was her. “Did Danette get a truck?”
Jason gave him a weird look. “No. Why would you ask?”
Avery shook his head. Something didn’t seem right. “No reason,” he tossed back, trying to act nonchalant. “Just wondered if she was in the market for something else.”
“No. She thinks that little car is the greatest. I have no idea why,” Jason said, snarkiness in his voice. “I think it’s a piece of crap.”
“Yeah, but I bet it’s paid for. A paid-for piece of crap may still be a piece of crap, but at least it’s a free piece of crap, right?” Avery said with a laugh.
“You’ve got a point there,” Jason agreed.
They’d been at the restaurant for about five minutes when Lydia joined them, but it was another ten after that before Danette got there. When she walked through the door, Avery was even more sure she was the woman he’d seen―she had on a pink top just like the woman in the truck had. What the hell was going on? He made it a point to go to the restroom so he could look out the back door at the parking lot, and there sat her little car, just like always. What the hell was she doing? He thought about asking, then decided he’d wait. Maybe she’d give them some hint.
But she said nothing. Dinner went on as usual, the same kind of general conversation as always, until Lydia said, “You haven’t heard anything of Shannon, right?” Just as Avery turned to answer her, he caught Danette’s expression.
It was practically in flames. Now he was worried. Something was happening behind the scenes, something he wasn’t aware of, but right there in the restaurant wasn’t the place to get into it, he was sure. “Uh, no. Nothing. It’s all quiet,” he said in answer to Lydia’s question.
Lydia sighed. “Good. Maybe she’s gone.”
Avery checked as Lydia spoke and, sure enough, Danette didn’t look up, just stared at her plate, her jaws clenched. Yup, something was going on.
“Danette,” he said, trying to bait her, “did you have a good day? You’re really quiet over there.”
“Oh, yeah. Just really busy. We’re working on a new, safer pesticide and it’s taking up a lot more of my time than I anticipated,” she offered in explanation. “What about you guys? Get a lot done?”
Jason gave her a pointed stare. “We were just talking about the auction tomorrow night and that I was out herding today and doing a good job. Didn’t you hear any of that?”
“Oh! Oh, yeah, I got that. The auction. More cows.”
“And maybe a couple of horses for you and Jason,” Avery said, repeating himself from earlier.
“Oh! That’ll be awesome!” she sang out, and he knew she hadn’t heard him earlier. She’d been lost in thought. But about what?
Dinner was over and they all strolled out into the parking lot, sluggish from the feast. “See you at the house?” Avery asked Jason.
“I’m going to Danette’s. May stay over there tonight. Whaddya think, beautiful?”
Danette glanced around the group before she gave a half-hearted, “Uh, yeah, sure. Sounds good.”
Now Avery knew something was up. Danette not jumping on a chance to have Jason in her bed? That wasn’t normal. He was pretty sure Jason picked up on it too when his friend said, “If you’d rather I’d not…”
“No, no, nothing like that. It’s just that my place is kinda messy.” Avery had never known of anything being out of place at Danette’s. She was a neat freak. The few times he’d been there, he’d been a little afraid to move anything because she was constantly adjusting things and straightening. Her place messy? Avery didn’t buy that at all.
Lydia followed Avery home and in an hour, they’d settled in for a night of fun. She held the bottle of warmed honey over Avery as she sat atop him, and he grabbed it out of her hands. “No! I want to put it on you!” she pouted.
“No. I don’t want that all stuck in the hair on my chest and, well, everywhere else. But you, baby, you’re shaved smooth. I think that’ll work out nicely,” he told her, his voice a throaty growl. “Licking this off you? Oh, yeah. I’m into that. Lie down here.” Lydia climbed off, but not before he’d slapped the cheek of her ass with an open palm.
“Owww! Do it again!” she laughed. He smacked it again and she wiggled it, so he smacked it a third time. “Oh, yeah,” she purred, then dropped down beside him, giggling.
Avery’s smile was pure evil. “Like that, huh?” When she nodded, he straddled her hips, his cock thumping against her tight belly. “Oh, yeah,” he moaned as he drizzled the amber liquid around her nipples and down the center of her chest. “Dessert is served.” The bottle got relegated to the nightstand and Avery knelt between Lydia’s legs, lapping at her chest, making the sticky trail disappear, then moving to a hard, peaked nipple. Her back arched toward him and he ringed the rosy little bud with his tongue before sucking it into his lips and teasing it with his teeth.
“Oh, god, baby, ummmm,” Lydia groaned out. “You’re good at that.”
“Yeah?” He grinned up into her face. “More honey, honey?”
“Silly!” she laughed and ruffled his hair.
“Yeah, silly over your sexy little body, that’s what I’m silly over. You, woman, are the finest fuck I’ve ever had, know that?”
“Good to know. And you’re longer and harder and bigger than any guy I’ve ever known. God, Avery, you’re fucking awesome, know that?” she said, burying her face in his hair as he sucked the other nipple. “Ohhh, damn, that’s good,” she whispered.
“Yeah? How ’bout this?” He rose up on his knees, grabbed the honey bottle, and poured a thin, golden trail over the head of his cock, letting it drip down until it ran down his shaft. “Get this off me before it gets to my balls and you’ll win a prize,” he told her, laughing.
“Prize? What’s the prize?”
“A quart of cum.”
“Aha! Great prize!” Lydia laughed back.
Avery positioned himself right above her. “Open your mouth and say ‘ah.’” When those sweet pink lips opened, Avery pressed the head of his cock into them and proceeded downward. He felt her gag around him, so he drew back. “Try again, babe.” Another stroke in and she choked again. Drawing back again, he smiled. “Third time’s a charm, girl. Open up.” On the third stroke, he felt her reflex kick in, but he could also feel her fighting it, and his shaft slid deep into her throat. When he glanced down into her face, her eyes locked with his, and the tears that filled them hardened him painfully.
Ten strokes; that’s all he would allow himself, but when he pulled his entire length from her mouth, she whined. “No! No, I want it, babe,” she whimpered, and he smiled and let her take it again as she craned her neck and reached for it with her lips. He let her have it; he let her have every inch, and he gave her throat a gentle, rhythmic stroking, watching her eyes and nose run and loving the way she dug her fingers into his hips, drawing him in, shaking her head occasionally to feel his length move inside her. It was almost more than he could take, and he clutched the headboard, the muscles in his forearms and shoulders bunching with the effort of staying above her and holding back what was inevitable.
A half dozen more strokes and the inevitable became the imminent. “Baby, I don’t want you to choke,” Avery whispered, his voice strained, but Lydia just shook her head and instead of letting him stroke, she grabbed at his hardness with her lips, sucking harder, pulling and stroking faster, and Avery braced himself, waiting for the coming storm. Sure enough, three hard sucks and he poured himself down her throat, listening to her swallowing as fast as she could. Her nails dug into his hips and he told her, “Babe, let me up. Please? Stop, Lydia. Let go.” He could tell she didn’t want to, and when she finally turned loose, he fell onto the bed beside her, gasping for breath. “Holy shit, little girl. What was that?”
“That was me loving you. Like it?” she cooed as she nuzzled his neck.
Avery’s hand headed south and stroked her mound. “Oh, yeah. Now I’m going to have to work up another head of steam,” he chuckled.
“I can help with that.” Before he could speak, her hand wrapped around his softness and he felt himself stiffening again. God, the things that woman did to him, and he was going to treat her right, that was for sure.
His fingers worked feverishly, and in minutes she was writhing and begging for release. It never ceased to amaze him, the way the female body worked. He slowed his stroking and her body calmed; he ramped it up and she squirmed and groaned, her hips churning and legs shaking. He wanted to watch her fly apart, watch her overtaken by the fire he was stoking. She was so overwhelmed that she’d stopped stroking him, but it didn’t matter―watching her cry out and listening to her beg him to stop, to go on, to give her more, was what he craved. Satisfying her was his number one goal, and he knew he could. That was all he really wanted. Nipping her earlobe softly, he whispered to her, “I love you more than anything, Lydia. You’re my whole world. Come for me, baby. Let go.”
Lydia’s hands grasped the headboard as her body gave in and her back arched impossibly high. “OHHHHH, god, Avery, STOP! Please, baby, please? Please stop?” He didn’t quit immediately; letting her know he was in charge was part of the fun of it, and he knew she wanted that, no matter what she said.