Page 6 of More Than Anything

Sirus snickered. “Then two hundred and fifty an acre.”

Avery threw up his hands and laughed. “You drive a hard bargain! Okay, I’ll give you three hundred an acre and not one penny less!”

Sirus let out a belly laugh. “You know what I’m-a doin’ with the money?” Still laughing, Avery shook his head. “I’m-a goin’ to the Bahamas! I ain’t never been there and I hear there’s lots of purdy girls there! And I wanna see a few afore I die.”

“Good for you! I’ll give you cash, if that’s okay.”

Sirus nodded. “I think that’ll be fine. And find you a lawyer to draw up a deed.”

“I sure will.”

Sirus slipped down from the cab of the truck and stood in the open door. “Well, come on in and see your new home.”

Avery followed Sirus in and looked around the house. It might’ve been old, but it was solid. The stairs creaked a little as they climbed them, but the banister was sturdy. Upstairs there were four bedrooms, and Avery realized one of them could very easily be turned into a bathroom and closet for the master bedroom. And there was even a balcony over the back porch at the rear of the master bedroom, and big French doors that led out to it. When he stepped out and looked across the land, Avery felt something he’d never felt before.

He felt at home. Even though he knew absolutely nothing about farming, he knew deep down inside that it was the right thing to do, to buy that place and connect with the land. “Whaddya think, son?” Sirus asked, leaning on the balcony railing.

“I think it’s beautiful. I feel very lucky right now,” Avery said, almost choking up. “I hope I can do your great-grandpa proud.”

Sirus clapped him on the back. “I’m sure you can, son. I’m sure you can.”

* * *

The title workhad been quick and painless, and Avery drove out to the farm to find Sirus packing up some things. “You leaving so soon? Can I help you?”

“Nah, but thanks. I’m not taking much. You can have the furniture and stuff. I’m just taking my personal things and going to the city. I’ll rent a place there until I can get my passport ready and get some travel plans made.” Sirus was throwing things into boxes and Avery wasn’t sure how he even knew what he was doing, but he seemed to be happy about moving out.

“Aren’t you going to miss this place?” Avery asked.

“Yeah, I will. But I worked it my entire life. It’s time to play!” the old man said, laughing.

In an hour, Sirus had packed up and loaded up everything he wanted to take, then said his goodbyes to Avery and drove away. The house was silent when Avery finally whispered to himself, “I own this. I just bought myself a farm.” Then he started to laugh hysterically. “What the hell have I done? I don’t know shit about farming!” he cackled to no one. “I’ve lost my mind!” And he laughed all the way to bed.

* * *

Avery gotup the next morning and made some coffee before going outside. He looked around at the stuff in the yard and decided maybe he’d start selling some of it off. It wasn’t needed, and then he could mow the grass and make the place look nice.

He went into town and hired a crew to come and work on the house, with a promise that they’d get to work in two days. They’d come highly recommended by the attorney who’d done the title work, so he took it that they hadn’t been sued for not doing work properly.

His next stop was at the county extension office. They set up meetings with him and an agricultural expert who could help him understand what would need to be done and get a partnership set up with some other farmers who would be willing to help him. Avery left that office feeling more hopeful than he had in a long time.

Six weeks had passed and he was starting to get a handle on what it would take to run the farm. It was too late in the season to plant anything that year, but he did have the cattle that Sirus had left behind, and he knew he could have them slaughtered in the fall and sell the meat to make some money. Plus he had plenty of money left from his trust fund and he could skate by for the fall and winter months. The house was coming along nicely, and he’d bought a few more furnishings that made it look very homey. Some days he’d go into town for something and couldn’t wait to get back home.

Home. It felt like a home to him, even though he was there alone. The town only had one bar, and he went there a couple of times. Some of the local guys asked him to play pool with them, and he’d had fun. One had invited Avery to his house for dinner, and another asked him about going to a ball game. He was making friends. That didn’t surprise him. He’d never had trouble in that way. Sure, the people in the little northeast Texas town of Tucker City were different than his friends in Tennessee, but not in a bad way. Things were going pretty good for him and he was feeling better about himself than he had in awhile.

He’d stayed up late the night before studying information about the futures market, and the coffeepot was running full tilt the next morning when Avery heard a noise out front. He peeked out the curtains to see a white BMW sedan sitting on the lawn. Before he could move, the door opened and someone got out.

That next breath hung in Avery’s throat and he almost choked. Two long, straight, firm legs ending in stiletto heels stood in the gravel, and the body attached to them was beyond fine. The hot pink dress the woman was wearing hugged every curve and straightaway, and there were plenty of those on that body. She stood and stared at the house, her long, straight, blond hair barely moving in the breeze. As she made her way toward the house, Avery looked down at himself in his ratty lounge pants and tee shirt with the neck binding worn out.Classy, Holcomb, he told himself. He could see her look around when she stepped up onto the porch, and then he heard the knock on the door.

Swinging it open, he was met with a pair of eyes so blue that the sky looked pale in comparison. Her lips were full and lush, and they were coated with the most perfect shade of pink he’d ever seen. “Hello. Can I help you with something?” he asked her.

She cocked a hip and folded her arms across her chest. “Yes. I’m here to inform you that we can’t continue to honor your lease agreement on this property, whatever my great-grandfather drew up with you. Since he’s passed away and…”

“Sirus passed away?” Avery cried out. “No! When?”

“About two weeks ago.”

“Oh, no!” Avery’s heart hurt. In the brief time he’d known Sirus, he’d gained an enormous amount of respect for the old man. “What happened?”

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