Page 17 of More Than Anything

“I did what anybody with any sense would do. I went straight to my attorney,” he answered, fighting a smile with everything he had.

“Why didn’t you just follow the order?”

“Because it’s MY house! What is it that you don’t get about that?” As she glared at him, he added, “I can tell just by talking to you that you’re not stupid. You know better than to do what you did. Why the hell did you do that?”

“You just don’t get it! This is MY farm! I can do with it as I like!” she shrieked.

Something hit Avery and in a split second, he felt sure he knew what was going on. “What? Sell it off parcel by parcel? Subdivide it?”

Her eyes burned into him and her words were laced with venom. “Yes. That’s exactly what I’m going to do with it. Just like you, I’m no country bumpkin. I may have grown up here, but I’m notfromhere.”

He leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms across his chest. “Like you didn’t spend summers here?”

A hardness came over Lydia’s face that surprised Avery. “This conversation is over. If I can’t stop you one way, I’ll just try another.” She wheeled to walk away, but Avery grabbed her arm. “Let go of me!” she screamed and yanked away from him.

Avery lost his grip and she staggered backward before tumbling off the porch. “Jesus, Lydia! What the hell?” he yelled as he jumped off the porch and crouched beside her.

“Get away from me!” she screamed, rolling around and holding her arm. “You broke my arm!”

“I didn’t break your arm! You broke it yourself when you jerked away from me!” Avery barked, trying to get her still. “Let me look at it, for god’s sake.”

“No! Don’t touch me!” she whined. “Please!”

“For god’s sake, I’m not going to hurt you. Let me look at it.” When he finally coaxed her into sitting up, she was holding the arm he hadn’t touched. “I didn’t do this. You fell on this arm when you fell off the porch. And that’s quite a drop. Can you move it?”

A big tear rolled down Lydia’s cheek. “N-n-n-no, I don’t think so.” Avery put a hand on either side of her elbow and tried to pull her arm away from her body. “Owwww! That hurts! Stop!” she cried out.

“I don’t think it’s broken. I think it’s dislocated. Let me get my wallet and I’ll take you to the hospital.” Avery stood and wiped his hands down his jeans. “I’ll be right back.”

“No! I don’t want to go anywhere with you!” Lydia called back.

“You can hate me later. Right now I need to get you to the emergency room.” He darted down the hallway to grab his wallet and when he got back, she was nowhere to be found, but her car was still there. “Lydia?” When she didn’t answer, he called again, “Lydia? Where the hell are you?” He waited a few seconds and listened. Sure enough, there was a sniffling sound around the corner of the house and he found her there, leaning against the siding. “Come on. Let’s go. We’ll take your car and I’ll find a ride back so you don’t have to be around me any longer than necessary.”

“Don’t be an ass,” she hissed out.

He just shook his head. “Get in the damn car,” he ordered, pointing toward the BMW. With a huff, Lydia headed that direction.

He helped her get into the car and then did his best to buckle her seat belt, but she fought him the whole time. “Would you stop? Quit! No, don’t do that! What are you doing?”

“Can you possibly be a little more difficult and combative? You haven’t blacked my eye yet and I’ve still got all my teeth,” Avery snapped. “Stop fighting me. I’m just trying to get you there in one piece.”

“After you tried to kill me by throwing me off the porch?”

Avery stopped and stared at her, thinking of all the things he could say. Finally, he just stood and looked down at her there in the passenger seat, clutching her arm, her face blotchy with unshed tears. “Tried to kill… You know what?” He glared at her. “I give up. I thought I felt something for you, some, I don’t know, measure ofhumanness.” Suddenly, complete sadness fell over him and he found it hard to breathe. “I don’t wish you any harm. I haven’t done one damn thing to you. And yet you treat me like shit, torment me, cuss at me, accuse me of things. Take yourself to the hospital. I don’t care anymore. I’m tired of this shit. From this point on, you’re trespassing when you come here. Come back and I’ll have you jailed. I’m done.”

Without another glance, Avery turned and headed back to the house. He’d tried, he really had. Everything in him had sprung into action when he realized she was hurt, and all he wanted to do was take care of her. But not if she was going to do everything in her power to hurt him. No. All he’d gotten from his own family was hurt, betrayal, and disrespect. He hadn’t driven all the way from Clarksville and spent a chunk of his trust fund money to relive it all, and if that’s all she was going to do, she could damn well stay away. He’d post signs on the property later that afternoon. She’d have no excuse once he’d done that, and he’d just have the sheriff pick her up next time. And yes, he’d press charges. She could sit in a jail cell for all he cared. At least there she wouldn’t be making his life miserable.

Slamming the door behind him, Avery picked up an apple on his way through the living room and snatched a bottle of water from the cooler there. God, he’d be glad when the kitchen was done! The TV was on, so he turned it off before making his way down the hallway to get a shower. And that was when he heard it.

That ever-so-soft knock on the door. At first he thought he’d imagined it, but the second time, he was sure of what he was hearing. Tiptoeing back to the living room, he could still see the BMW sitting in the driveway. The knocking happened again, and he finally took a deep breath and opened the front door. “What do you want?” he snarled from under his furrowed brow, knowing full well what she was about to say.

“Um, Avery, I can’t drive. I’m sorry. Could you please take me to the hospital?” she asked, her voice so soft he could barely hear her.

“I’m sorry. What did you say?”

“I can’t drive.”

“No, not that part. The other part,” he goaded.

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