Chapter Eighteen
Rhett
The apartment isn’t as nice and spacious as our home in Papina, but Avery won’t let me transfer closer. She’s a stubborn thing. Once my degree is finished, we’ll move back. I don’t need a masters when all I really want is to be a good husband and dad. My degree can get me a decent job at the boarding school as a science teacher. If not, I can always look into the family business—law enforcement.
“Rhett!” Avery pats Dakota’s back, trying to get her to burp. “Grab my phone for me?”
I hurry over and pluck up her phone. It’s Bray again.
“Hey, Mom. We’re here safe and sound.”
As she talks and rocks Dakota, who’s now seven months old, strong, and extremely active, I work on setting up our apartment. When Avery gets Dakota to take a nap, she opens several boxes and huffs.
“Hungry?” I ask.
She looks to me, nodding. “Starving.”
I head out to go grocery shopping. While I’m there, Anne appears up ahead of me in the aisle. She sees me, and waves. I really don’t want to talk to her, but I can’t avoid it.
“Hey, Rhett.” She runs her hand through her hair. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“Yeah, I stayed home last semester, worked online.”
“Yeah, I heard about Donny. How’s he doing?”
“Great.” I smile. “He’s really bounced back. He transferred closer to home so he can remove himself from the crowd that got him into drugs in the first place. He’s definitely more like the Donny I used to know.”
“That’s great.” She glances into my cart, then raises an eyebrow. “Baby food?”
“Yeah.” I shrug, grinning.
“You have a baby?” I can’t quite tell if she’s disapproving or not.
“Yeah, a little girl. My wife is home with her now.”
“And a wife?”
I nod. “Life sure turned out.”
“But you’re only twenty.”
I shrug. “When it’s the girl I’ve loved my whole life, age doesn’t matter. Adding that little girl into the equation just makes it all worthwhile.”
She looks me over as if I’m completely mad. “I guess I dodged that bullet.”
As she walks away, I mutter, “The feeling’s mutual.”
At home, Avery smiles as I enter. “Thank heavens! I’m starving.”
She rummages through the bags before I have a chance to unpack, and slides the pizzas into the preheating oven. As she stands, I wrap my arms around her. “You know something?”
“What?” she asks, tilting her head.
“I’m glad I didn’t give up on you completely, and I’m glad everything happened the way it did. It made me appreciate you more than if it had been simple.”
She chuckles, stretching up to kiss me. She was meant to be my Mrs. Clark. As she leads me to our room, I know I never had a choice but to fall in love with Avery Davis.
Read about how the Davises and Clarks started in Papina.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to all who helped me pull this together. Loving Avery was something that gave life to itself, with Rhett wanting his story told when I finished Papina.
So thank you to Lauren McKellar for her editing services. She is a delight to work with and very thorough.
Thank you also to my cover artist, Jada D’Lee Designs, for helping me when I was in a pickle. The cover came out beautifully!
And to my readers, for sticking around to finish the books and for picking up one after another and encouraging me to write more. In this industry of critics and obstacles, you are the people who help me through.
Xox Katie
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born and raised in Australia, Katie’s early years of day dreaming in the “bush”, and having her father tell her wild bedtime stories, inspired her passion for writing.
After graduating High School, she became a foreign exchange student where she met a young man who several years later she married. Now she lives in Arizona with her husband, daughter and their dogs.
She has a diploma in travel and tourism which helps inspire her writing. She also works as an acquisitions editor.
Katie loves to out sing her friends and family, play sports and be a good wife and mother. She loves to write, and takes the few spare moments in her day to work on her novels.
Blog: http://kjhstories.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Katie-Hamsteads-Stories/247238178656484
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Katie-Hamstead/e/B008T8M8PA/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
Other Books by Katie Hamstead
Kiya Trilogy ―
Kiya: Hope of a Pharaoh
Kiya: Mother of a King
Kiya: Rise of a New Dynasty
Branded
Papina
Loving Avery (Bearville County Book 2) Page 13