Page 45 of More Than Anything

But it didn’t seem to faze her. “I get your rationale there. Maybe those are the last three. I hope so, for their sake and for yours.”

Avery couldn’t stand it anymore. “Lydia, is this for real? You’re really not gunning for me anymore?”

There was a long pause, and when she spoke again, Avery was sorry for what he’d said. “I’m not gunning for you anymore, Avery. I’d hoped my actions would show you that.” Avery could hear the grief in her voice. “One of the things I had to agree to was counseling, and I’m going like I’m supposed to. And the counselor’s really helping me. I’m trying hard to accept that the thing I thought was my legacy, the one thing I wanted more than anything in the whole world, was stripped away from me. And that wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know any of that when you paid crazy old Sirus that money. It was just the last in a long list of things that have gone wrong in my life, and I was tired of always losing out on anything that looked like happiness.”

Avery was stunned. There was nothing but sincerity in her voice, and he could just picture the hangdog expression on her face. “I never wanted to be anything but your friend. Never. I don’t want to fight with you, and I don’t want you upset and hurt all the time. And I certainly didn’t mean for you to fall off the porch,” he added.

She laughed. “Oh, I know that! That was me, all me. I have no one to blame for that but myself.”

Avery smiled there in the parking lot of the seafood restaurant. “So I’ve got an idea, but it’ll have to wait until my mom’s gone.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“You’ll see. Just wait.”

“Okay. Just don’t forget or I’ll go crazy wondering what’s going on!” she said with a laugh.

“I won’t?I promise! Now, I’d better get back inside before she gets mad at me. I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“I bet! Okay. Sorry I bothered you.”

“No bother. I’m glad to hear from you. Talk to you soon.”

“Okay… friend!” she laughed out.

“You got it, friend!” Avery laughed back. “Bye!”

“Bye.”

Avery listened to the phone go silent and held it in his hand, staring at it. What was happening? He was afraid he knew, and he was terrified.

And overwhelmingly happy and excited.

* * *

Avery started makingcalls before his mother had even left town, and he made arrangements to go to the neighboring farm late on the afternoon of her departure, after she’d left. Then he set about trying to figure out how to make it all work while still spending time with her.

On the morning she was leaving, she packed up everything and Avery loaded it in his car, then took her to the local breakfast restaurant for waffles and eggs. They’d gotten their food and started to eat when, out of the blue, Beverly said, “You really should call your brother.”

It was work to keep the fury tamped down, but he tried. “Okay. So what do you want me to call him?”

“Avery, stop it. You know what I mean,” she cajoled, then took a big bite of chocolate chip waffle.

“I know exactly what you mean, and I’ll have to decline, thanks,” he said, still chewing a bite of his pecan waffle.

Beverly shook her head. “You two were close when you were growing up.”

“No. He was close to Caleb. I think he’s been mad at me our whole lives because it was Caleb who drowned and not me.”

Her eyes were sad. “That’s a horrible thing to say about your brother.”

“And if it’s true, it’s true.”

She shook her head. “Well, if you really believe that’s true, you should most definitely talk to him.”

“Why? So he can lie to me? ‘Do you love me, Ben?’ ‘Yes, Avery, I love you.’ ‘Are you fucking my wife, Ben?’ ‘No, Avery, I’m not fucking your wife.’ So if he answers the first one yes and the second one no, what am I supposed to believe, hmmm?”

Beverly set her jaw and glared at Avery. “Stop it. Apparently it was over between you and Shannon before that happened or she wouldn’t have slept with Ben.”

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