We Can Laugh Together Too (Walnut Grove Trilogy) (7 page)

“I told him about a company I know in Fairfield Connecticut
that will buy my share in a heartbeat and run it as a cold business investment
– they call it collaboration, or . . .” he  sketched quotation marks in the air
with his fingers “. . . a management culture that produces deliverable business
results.”

He smiled at last. “I think the threat hit home.”

Livi stared at him, lost for words. “And all the time I’ve
been crying on your shoulder over my problems, you never mentioned a word to me
about your own,” she stated meaningfully, clearly hurt and confused. “Matt, I
can’t believe you’ve never brought this up before.”

He grasped her hands. “Livi, no, you’re misunderstanding. I
didn’t shut you out. I shared the problem about my temporary contract here, how
I’m dreading it ending; we’ve both supported each other. I genuinely didn’t
want to burden you with yet
more
of my difficulties until you’d resolved
your own. Now you have, I’ve told you.”

She wasn’t mollified. “No, you shouldn’t have kept it to yourself;
it’s not as if we’ve never discussed you looking for a new partnership. What
would have happened if you’d been offered one? Told them you’ll come up with
the cash sometime in the future?”

“Of course not. I would have no option but to take the steps
I threatened Mike with today, and put them into action a lot faster. Sweetheart,
I wasn’t hiding it from you, I just didn’t see how I needed to burden you with
yet another problem, especially since it’s already been unresolved for nearly two
years.”

But Matt’s disclosure had broken Livi’s mood and it couldn’t
easily be restored. He paid the bill and drove her back to the farm with very
little else being said. At the top of the drive he switched off the engine and
turned towards her. “Livi, sweetheart, please don’t let’s quarrel over this. I
never meant to mislead you, it’s the last thing I’d ever knowingly do. You mean
the world to me.” He reached across and stroked her shoulder.

Livi nodded. “I know and I’m sorry if I over-reacted, but I
guess I didn’t see it coming. I’ve poured out my heart to you and I assumed
you’d been just as open with me. It was so unexpected, that’s all.”

She glimpsed his smile in the darkness. “I promise it won’t
happen again; my intentions were honorable, I swear.” His hand moved from her
shoulder to her back and he gently pulled her towards him. She didn’t resist.
“We’re still learning about each other,” he whispered into her hair, “I can’t
think of anything else important you don’t know about me . . . although I don’t
believe I’ve mentioned I suffer from
equinophobia.”

Despite her best efforts Livi couldn’t stop herself from
laughing. “Idiot,” she said. “Okay, maybe we both were silly, let’s just forget
it shall we.” She opened the door. “Come and check the horses with me.”

Matt exited the vehicle. “Will it include a visit to the
tack room?” he asked enigmatically with the twitch of an eyebrow.

Livi glanced up at her daughter’s bedroom where a light
shone through the uncurtained window. “No, Chrissy could be watching us. Hang on;
I’ll let the dogs out.”

♠  
♠   ♠

The weekend arrived quickly. In spite of his protests, Livi
insisted Isidoro take both days off and spend it with his family, and they decided
to visit with relatives in Southern California. Katia invited Chrissy to accompany
them and she agreed readily. Matt received the news of these arrangements with
a mischievous gleam in his eye.

“So we get the best part of two entire days together? I’m
first on-call on Saturday and second on Sunday, but we should still have plenty
of time to ourselves – unless you have other plans of course.”

Livi considered enigmatically. “No, nothing too important,”
she replied solemnly, and then gave him a delighted kiss. “We’ll have a weekend
to remember, just the two of us. It won’t be as glamorous as San Luis Obispo,
but it will be just as special. That last bottle of champagne’s still in the
fridge.”

“I’ll bring some strawberries and cream and we’ll drink it
in bed,” he promised.

 
♠  
♠   ♠

After a great deal of soul searching, Livi concluded there
was no way she could sleep with Matt in the bed she’d shared with Will for so
many years, so she made up the big, comfortable spare bed in a room at the back
of the house. When she told Matt of her decision, he smiled in relief and confessed
he too had been having reservations at the prospect.

Chrissy left with Katia and her parents early on Saturday
morning and Matt arrived shortly afterwards bearing a big punnet of strawberries,
a carton of thick cream and another bottle of champagne, all of which he dumped
in the fridge. “Let the weekend begin,” he declared sweeping Livi into his
arms.

Despite their best intentions, they didn’t even make it
upstairs, ending up making love on the couch in the snug. Livi marveled at his
extraordinary tenderness; on the one hand it seemed he couldn’t get enough of
her, yet he was gentle and considerate and his touch sensual and loving.

Afterwards they showered together in the connecting bathroom
and hand in hand went for a walk through the paddocks and beyond, into a
contiguous area of oak, cottonwood and black walnut woodland, then chaparral where
the land rose gradually toward the Santa Ynez Mountains. Before leaving, Livi
made sure the two dogs were secure in the kitchen, as where they would be
walking held a real danger of rattlesnakes for dogs snuffling through the
undergrowth. “Even with my own tame vet on hand, I don’t want to risk them
getting bitten,” she remarked, pocketing the backdoor key.

Matt grabbed her and pulling her close, nibbled at her neck
in mock attack. “Don’t make assumptions about me being tame,” he growled.

The early summer hadn’t been quite as hot as was customary
and the countryside was fecund and beautiful. Verbena, California milkweed, Mariposa
lilies, and a whole array of other wild flowers still bloomed in abundance,
especially in sheltered corners and in rocky shaley areas.

Matt was
entranced. “This is quite amazing,” he said as he drank in the vistas around
him. “Absolutely stunning.” Livi touched his arm and pointed to where a coyote
was trotting economically along the trail ahead of them. They watched silently
until it veered abruptly to the right and vanished behind an outcrop of rock.

“We get a lot of coyotes on the farm,” she said. “In the
evening you see them drinking at the water outlets in the paddocks. Last summer
we often had a mother and her pups come down from the hills. The entire farm’s
posted, no-one’s allowed to trespass or shoot. It’s our little sanctuary.”

“Just don’t get any chickens,” Matt chuckled, “not that your
wily friends would complain.”

They continued on the trail as it gently ascended; only
stopping as it looped sharply and the going straightaway became much steeper.
At that point they were able to enjoy an exceptionally lovely view across the
Santa Ynez Valley. Below them stretched Walnut Grove with its white, double-fenced
paddocks, red tiled house, horse barn and other ancillary buildings. They
watched as the mailman stopped at the end of the drive and deposited mail into
the mailbox.

Their love-fest lasted more than thirty hours. Apart from
their walk in the morning and brief forays to feed and check on the horses,
they didn’t get dressed all day. It was a bittersweet time because it was
constantly in the back of their minds how, the following weekend, Matt would be
departing for Napa.

They made love, drank champagne, ate strawberries and cream,
and made love again. On one occasion Matt drizzled cream from Livi’s throat to
her pubis, then slowly and sensuously licked it all away.

The fates were on their side in that Matt’s phone never once
rang; he could hardly believe their good fortune and checked it several times
to be certain it was tuned on and charged up.

Isidoro had told Livi he planned to be back at the ranch by
late afternoon on Sunday, so she was careful to eliminate all evidence of the
passionate time she and Matt had spent long before Chrissy arrived home.

It was gone five when eventually they returned. Livi was
dozing in the sun on a lounger, while Matt sat in a chair next to her reading
the Sunday papers. She mustered enough energy to raise herself on her elbows
and offer everyone drinks, but Isidoro declined, saying he needed to get back
to his house. So Chrissy was decanted from the pickup truck and flopped down in
an ungainly heap beside her mother. The two dogs descended upon her to welcome
her home.

“I’m so hot,” she complained. “We were stuck for ages in an
accident by Ventura. Isidoro turned the engine off so there was no air
conditioning. We all were baking.”

“He did the right thing,” Livi said placatingly. “It’s an
old truck and would probably have overheated just sitting with the engine
running. Go and get a cold drink.”

“Yeah, in a minute.” Chrissy fanned herself and shoved the
dogs aside in an attempt to dodge their lolling tongues and panting breath.
“Give me a break you two, you’re like a couple of fan heaters.”

Matt stood up laughing and deposited the newspapers on the
grass. “I’ll get you a drink. What d’you fancy, a soda or a glass of lemonade?”

“A soda will be fine thanks,” she replied. “Boy, I wish we
had a swimming pool. I could almost go jump in that fountain.”

“Feel free. I don’t know about jumping, but it’s big enough
for you to sit on the edge and dangle your feet in the water,” Livi observed.

Chrissy didn’t need to be invited twice. By the time Matt
returned with sodas all round, she was sitting on the low wall surrounding the
fountain and the little pool it fed, swishing her feet through the water.

They stayed outside until darkness began to fall. Matt
helped gather up the accumulation of cans and plates and carry them into the
kitchen, then said he should be leaving.

Livi was despondent as she walked with him to his SUV. “I
can’t believe how the weekend flew past,” she said. “It only seems a few
minutes ago when you arrived, laden down with strawberries and cream.”

“And didn’t we have fun with the cream,” Matt chuckled. He
put his hands on her elbows and drew her to him. “Don’t be sad, there are
plenty more weekends ahead for us and they’ll be even better, I promise. All I
want now is to do my stint at Napa, then come back to this area.” He kissed her
tenderly one final time, then climbed into his vehicle. “I’ll see you tomorrow
evening,” he promised.

Matt’s final week at the practice passed as quickly as the
preceding weekend had done. Doc Massey returned to work on Wednesday and on
Thursday evening Doc Blair treated everyone to dinner at an elegant restaurant
on the outskirts of Buellton. Livi of course was invited as Matt’s dinner
partner, Doc Massey was accompanied by his wife, and Doc Blair, who was
widowed, escorted an effervescent lady he introduced as Barbara. Livi thought
she recognized her as the owner of a flower shop in Buellton.

Everyone had a good time, but neither Livi nor Matt could completely
banish his impending three hundred mile move north from their thoughts. Their
eyes kept meeting and the message they conveyed was implicit: this is great,
but I’d rather be alone with you, making love to you.

Matt had unenthusiastically decided to leave early on Sunday
morning. Livi made a point of having Chrissy present when she invited him to
spend Saturday night in their guest room, hoping to communicate the probity of
her invitation. Matt accepted solemnly, but couldn’t completely disguise a
wicked twinkle in his dancing blue eyes.

He cleared out his belongings from the little bedsit above
the practice first thing on Saturday and arrived at the farm in his packed SUV,
bearing a bag of warm croissants from a local bakery. Livi rose to greet him as
he walked through the open kitchen door.

Matt folded her into his arms and kissed her. “Hi
sweetheart, I hope I’m not too early.”

“No way, I want to spend as much time with you as possible
before you leave tomorrow. Come and sit down, we’ll eat these with some peaches
and a cup of coffee.”

They ate, hands touching constantly across the table,
fulfilling an innate need to maintain contact.

“Michael Majors called from Florida earlier,” Matt said. “It
seems they can’t come up with a potential partner willing to purchase my share at
such short notice so, very grudgingly, they’ve offered to buy me out themselves
over the next four months.”

“Well, that’s good isn’t it? Unless of course, something
here opens up and you need the full amount in a hurry.”

“That’s what I told him. I still have the option of the
company in Connecticut I told you about, but frankly I don’t want to do that to
them unless I absolutely have to, especially in view of the way I just walked
out and left them in the lurch.”

Livi nodded and bit contemplatively into a juicy peach. “I
hope it doesn’t end up becoming a tough choice for you. If it’s a busy,
thriving practice I wonder why they’ve never bothered to replace you.”

“Well, as I explained, while I’m not actually working there
and drawing a salary, they still have my investment sitting in the bank,
earning interest. That’s what’s so frustrating; all the partnership monetary shares
are safe in an escrow account, so Michael could simply write me a check. He’s deliberately
being obstructive.”

Livi considered. “I take it the partner you were involved
with is still working there? Maybe she’s influencing how you’re being treated.”

“That’s very possible; she’s the junior in the practice, but
only in station; in opinions expressed she’s everyone’s equal.” Matt shrugged introspectively,
“I apologize if that comes across as being chauvinist; it isn’t my intention.”

“I know that.” She patted his hand. “It’s just another
obstacle to be overcome; eventually, they’ll all be behind us. Another thing
still hanging over my head is Edward; my attorney’s heard nothing from him
since we spoke with Ben Veiga.”

“Didn’t he take a long time to reply to your lawyer
originally? I expect he’s got his own attorney chasing his tail looking for a
get-out. You said your lawyer wasn’t pleased when he knew he’d given you bad
advice, well his guy’s been made to look twice as incompetent; his letter to
you started everything.”

Livi giggled. “You’re right. Everyone’s got a lot of
proverbial egg on their faces. But enough doom and gloom. Do you want to hang
out here today or maybe go somewhere?”

“Let’s just hang out and go out to dinner tonight.” Matt
stretched contentedly. “I’m feeling disgustingly lazy and all I want is your
company and maybe Chrissy’s – where is she by the way?”

“Still in bed; I doubt we’ll see much of her for a couple of
hours. Last night I told her she had to clean her room today so she’s in denial
mode, putting it off for as long as she can.”

♠  
♠   ♠

The day drifted past. There was a minor calamity in the
afternoon when Heather, one of Livi’s Dalmatians ran to her shaking her head
violently; both dogs had been frolicking through long grasses and a foxtail had
lodged in her ear canal. Matt fetched an otoscope from his SUV and quickly
confirmed that it was indeed a grass seed, then Livi held her dog steady while
he fished it out with tweezers.

“All done,” he said, sitting back on his heels when he’d
finished. “Jeesh that brings back memories, it’s been years since I’ve worked
on an animal smaller than a foal.”

“Fast service too,” she responded. “Will you be sending me
your bill Doc?”

“Either that or you can work it off in kind tonight.”

“Shhhh -- Chrissy might hear you,” Livi glanced
apprehensively over her shoulder. “I hope you aren’t planning on any corridor
creeping later.”

“Absolutely not, I know your room’s out of bounds, but I was
hoping you might tiptoe along to me.”

And that was exactly what transpired. In the evening Matt
took both Livi and Chrissy out to dinner, and at around eleven they all ostensibly
retired to their separate bedrooms. Livi took a long, relaxing soak in the
bath, then stole on bare feet along the corridor to Matt’s room at the rear of
the house where she found him sitting in bed reading.

He lifted the bed covers and she slipped in beside him, into
his waiting embrace. “Mmmm, you smell good,” he murmured.

Their mouths and tongues sought each other out and their
kisses were deep and passionate. Eventually, his mouth left hers and began a
slow, tantalizing journey down her body. Livi groaned in ecstasy and reached
out to grasp and caress his hardness.

“Please,” she begged eventually. “I want you inside me.”

She gasped as he slid into her warmth and her fingers explored
and stroked his skin until every nerve end in his body was seemingly on fire.

After a long time, deep inside her they climaxed together in
a shuddering passion that left them both weak and blissfully spent.

But they didn’t sleep. They lay for hours in whispered
conversation, then just before dawn broke they made love again. It was a night
of sheer, sybaritic pleasure.

Eventually Livi forced herself to leave his bed and tiptoe
with an aching heart back to her own room. The next six weeks, lonely and
uncompromising stretched bleakly ahead.

She showered and by the time she reached the kitchen, Matt
had the coffee pot perking and croissants left over from the morning before
warming in the oven. He was standing in the doorway which he’d opened for the
two dogs. She joined him and they wound their arms around each other.

“I’ll come back down for a weekend during my contract,” he
promised. “I’ll fly down from San Francisco to Santa Barbara on the Friday
evening and you can pick me up.”

Livi stared at him in delight. “Really? Oh, Matt that’ll be
wonderful. When Chrissy goes to the vet school she’s begging me to let me let fly
up on her own, but that will be to Sacramento. I can see I’m going to be making
a lot of trips to Santa Barbara Airport.”

“We’re all leaving you.” He hugged her close. “But I’ve
already told the agency I don’t want any more locum jobs too far away from this
area. It will most likely mean they won’t have much to offer me, but if that’s
the price I have to pay --”

“Something will turn up. Ben Veiga is looking and you’ve
approached a lot of practices. Maybe you could drop in at the veterinary
college while Chrissy’s there and talk to a few people. I know Davis isn’t far
from the Napa Valley.”

“What a good idea.” Matt slapped his forehead with the heel
of his hand. “Why on earth didn’t I think of that? Colleges often have a finger
on exactly what’s available. In fact, I got my very first job on a
recommendation from my professor at Davis.”

“You went to school in California?” Livi exclaimed. “You’ve
always talked about the ten years you spent in Florida, so I assumed that’s
where you trained.”

Matt laughed. “No way. I was lucky enough to get a
scholarship to the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and that’s where I got
my degree, then I did an internship in large animal medicine and surgery at
Texas A&M and after that went to Hallandale. A lot of practices always call
the veterinary schools when they need new staff. I can’t believe it never
occurred to me.” He hugged Livi close. “You’re brilliant!”

They lingered over breakfast, putting off the inevitable,
but in the end Matt had little choice but to start on his five hour drive. Livi
called Chrissy down to bid him farewell and he told her of his plans to visit
the college in search of a job lead. Chrissy seemed pleased; she clearly
thought the other kids would be impressed. Matt keyed her cell phone number
into his own and promised to keep in touch.

♠  
♠   ♠

After Matt’s departure, Livi put on a brave face and went across
to the horse barn to talk with Isidoro. She had already nominated her three
yearlings to the Barretts’ October Sales and Sam Nichols had similarly entered
his yearling colt. Their preparation leading up to the sale was the stumbling
block. In previous years the farm’s youngsters had been skillfully honed to
peak appearance by Will and Jose; when they entered the sales ring their
manners were impeccable, their muscles rippled, their coats gleamed.

Livi had often lent a hand with the fillies, but Will had
preferred she left the colts to himself and Jose. Fit, precocious yearling
colts could often prove difficult to handle and he didn’t want them learning
bad habits. Consequently, she was painfully aware that she wasn’t competent to
take part in, or even oversee their preparation this year.

Isidoro apologized and apprehensively admitted he had no thoroughbred
sales experience; something Livi had already presumed, but his acknowledgment left
her wondering what to do for the best. The obvious answer was to send the four
yearlings away to be prepared professionally, but she knew this would be
expensive and she could ill-afford to lose any part of her farm’s core source
of income.

Deep in thought, she called the dogs and went for a walk
around the property. Everything looked smart and well-tended and she reproached
herself for embarrassing Isidoro; it had been insensitive. He’d proved to be an
excellent horseman and he tended the farm beautifully. She shouldn’t have asked
him when she already had a pretty good idea of the answer.

The yearlings were in two paddocks; colts in one, fillies in
another, and she leaned on the fence observing her colt as he grazed, wondering
what she should do for the best. Her three youngsters were the result of
breeding their mothers to popular sires whose progeny usually sold extremely
well, and all were well developed with no discernible faults in their
confirmation. This colt was especially attractive and his two year old sibling
had recently enhanced his value by winning well.

Livi and Will, like most breeders, retained a proprietorial
interest in the horses they had bred and followed their careers long after they
had left the farm. On one occasion, Will had rescued a horse he heard had
injured itself and was no longer able race.

When her route took her back past the horse-barn, she was
surprised by Isidoro rushing to meet her, beaming from ear to ear. “Mrs. Leonard,”
he exclaimed before she had even reached him. “I talked with my wife and we
think we have the answer. My cousin Luis worked for many years on thoroughbred
farms. He’s retired now, but I could ask him to help you. His last job was
foreman at Dry Gulch Farm and they sell many yearlings. He will teach me well.”

Livi contemplated this for several seconds. “It could work,”
she conceded guardedly, “but I’ll need to talk to him. When could he come and
see me?”

“I’ll call him. If you like him he could stay with us. I
will take Jose’s old bed back from the barn and paint it. It will be good.”

Infected by his enthusiasm, Livi smiled. “Okay, arrange for
him to come and discuss it with us. Will and Jose always worked with the
yearlings for two full months leading up to the sales, so if they’re going to
be prepared here he’d need to start at the beginning of August. Make that clear
to him.”

“I will. I tried to phone him after I talked with Rosa but
he did not answer. I’ll keep trying.”

♠  
♠   ♠

As soon as he arrived for work on Monday morning, Isidoro
tapped on the kitchen door, evidently anxious to bring Livi up to date. He had
spoken to his cousin late the previous evening and he’d promised to drive up that
day. Isidoro was confident he’d found a workable solution to her predicament.

Livi had already discussed Luis with Matt when he’d phoned
her the night before and he suggested she should speak to the owner of Dry
Gulch Farm and ask him for an honest assessment of his ex-foreman’s abilities.
Matt had been quick to point out that if he came with good references, she
could perhaps use him next year as well, after which, Isidoro should be more
than competent himself.

Matt assured her he had arrived safely in Napa at around
three thirty and found the veterinary practice quickly. In reply to Livi’s
question, he admitted he would be living for the next six weeks in a studio suite
in an extended stay hotel in Fairfield, a few miles from Napa. He didn’t sound
especially enthusiastic about his accommodation and he had little to say when
she quizzed him about the senior partner who had met him at the clinic. He
confessed he was already looking forward to his flying visit back to Walnut
Grove, all being well in three weeks. Her heart ached for him; it was a pity he
was being so ethical about honoring his obligation to the agency.