no-nonsense tone. The story about Beckett. How far had it spread?
I have people who will vouch for me....
But Matt wasn’t going to beg. “Thanks,” he said before abruptly ending the call.
“Already gone, eh?” Craig asked.
“Yeah.” Matt set down the phone.
“I’ll have Mom keep an eye out.”
“Thanks,” Matt said just as the timer went off. Craig jumped up from the computer and put on two oven mitts before taking the aluminum trays out of the oven.
“Go wash up,” he directed. “I’ll set the table.”
“Thanks.” Matt walked down the hall to the bathroom, closed the door and stared at himself in the mirror for a moment. He had dirt on his face from the arena. Automatically, he reached for a washcloth, dampened it and rubbed it over his face.
He was irked, but wasn’t able to bring himself to fully blame Liv anymore. Trena had done this to him, to make him pay for crimes he may or may not have committed.
No. He’d committed some crimes. He’d left her alone for too long. He could tell himself all he wanted that she’d agreed to the deal, but when she found she hated the road, he hadn’t tried to make any concessions. Her revenge seemed over the top, but maybe that was just how bitter he’d made her. He’d probably never know because they’d probably never cross paths again.
So what now?
He didn’t want to sink thirty thousand dollars, at the minimum, into a new horse, but he needed something that would put him in the money until Ready was, well, ready.
All he could do was put the word out that he needed a horse temporarily—at least until the Bitterroot Challenge was over. The problem was that most of the guys he knew who owned horses of the caliber he was looking for were using those horses and were also his strongest competition.
Maybe he could ask Liv to borrow Beckett. Not to take him back permanently. Just to borrow him. Or lease him.
Would she agree?
Maybe he shouldn’t have been pushing things with her the way he’d been recently. It didn’t strengthen his position, but he hadn’t realized just what kind of position he was going to be in.
CHAPTER TWELVE
SINCE MATT HAD STARTED working around the place, Tim had become distant in a way that Liv couldn’t quite define, but still felt. He was preoccupied rather than defensive. As if he were thinking deep thoughts, coming to important decisions.
Did it have to do with his health? With other issues? What other issues could he have?
The crazy thing was that he’d also become more open in some ways. He occasionally asked her questions about work and the people she saw there, about drill practice and her teammates. He didn’t ask specific questions, but instead set the stage and then let her rattle on, encouraging her with a nod or a word or two. Strange for a guy who’d never been much of a conversationalist. Not that he was conversing, but he was listening and not retreating behind a book or newspaper. It was odd, almost as if he were trying to get some quality fathering in at the last minute—a thought that totally froze her up. Tonight, however, would not be one of the new chitchat-at-dinner nights.
“I have an unscheduled practice this evening,” Liv said when she came in the door after work. “A dress rehearsal. If it’s okay with you, maybe we could just reheat the rest of the spaghetti from yesterday?”
“Fine,” Tim called as Liv headed past him to her bedroom. “But why do you need a dress rehearsal? It’s going to rain tomorrow. Surely they’ll cancel the performance.”
Liv shook her head. “From what I hear, the show goes on even if the arena is a giant bog.”
Tim lowered his book to his lap. “Should be interesting.”
Liv sincerely hoped that the performance didn’t go beyond interesting. “Will you be coming to see us?” she asked. “I’m sure you’ll run into some of your buddies there.” And she really wanted Tim to spend some time with other people instead of keeping himself holed up on the ranch.
“I don’t think so. Not this time anyway.”
Liv felt a pang of disappointment, but she smiled. “I guess I can understand wanting to stay home warm and dry.”
* * *
IT DIDN’T TAKE long for Liv to understand the need for a dress rehearsal. It took time to deck out the horses. The manes and tails were braided in a certain way that Gretchen demonstrated to the newer folk, and Linda