open the gate and he instantly went back to unloading the horse.
Liv held back the “Dad, are you all right?” already knowing how he would answer—untruthfully—and instead said, “I can’t believe he left the property.”
She held the wide trailer door open as Tim went inside to get Beckett. He led the big sorrel out of the trailer, wincing again as he made the step down onto the gravel, but not slowing his pace. Liv walked beside Beckett, stroking a hand over his neck as he moved.
“Yeah. Mrs. Raynor wasn’t exactly happy to see him since he tromped through her rose garden on his way to her yearling pen.”
“I was just thinking I should get him something for company.”
“Can you afford another horse?”
I’m living rent-free, so yes.... “I was thinking along the lines of a goat.”
Tim’s face contorted. “I hate goats. Think of something else.”
“Why do you hate goats? They’re small and cheap to feed.”
“They eat everything in sight and they tend to stand on top of the vehicles. Scratch the paint.”
“Maybe we could keep it penned.”
“Maybe you could think of something else.”
“All right. But for right now, we need to stretch the fence. It’s so low along the east side that Beckett walked over it.” Just as Matt had said he’d done, damn him.
Tim nodded without looking at her. “I’ll get on that.”
“I’ll help you, Dad.”
He opened his mouth, then closed it again. “Right now would you mind getting me a plate of leftovers? I was about to eat when I got the call.”
“All right. I’m going to keep Beckett in the barn until we fix the fence.”
A year ago, Tim would have crossed the field and worked up a temporary fix so that the horse didn’t have to be contained in a smallish stall, but tonight he simply said, “Good idea.”
Fifteen minutes later she put a hot plate of food in front of her father, then sat at the table with him.
“Nothing for you?”
“I grabbed a bite on the drive home.” Even if she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have felt like eating after the encounter with Matt. Why was it so damned upsetting to be in the wrong?
Maybe what was so damned upsetting was that Matt was in the right...and she’d set up the situation.
“How’s your mother?”
Tim always asked, and Liv answered automatically. “In a tizzy over the wedding.”
“I can imagine. She was forever worried about what people would think.” He shoveled a forkful of spaghetti into his mouth.
“How did you two ever get together?” It was a rhetorical question, but Tim surprised her.
“By lying to ourselves.”
“Yeah?” she asked slowly. Both he and Vivian were matter-of-fact about the failure of their marriage, something Liv had once marveled at, until it occurred to her that her mother may not have been as accepting if she hadn’t married David so rapidly. But Tim had never talked about it before.
“What can I say?” he asked. “Dave is better for her than I ever was.” He pushed the plate away, then met his daughter’s eyes and said, “Don’t get a goat.”
Liv laughed at the sudden change of topic, but she knew it was brought on by the fact that Tim had almost given her some insight into his relationship with her mother. She picked up his plate and carried it to the sink. “I won’t get a goat.”
“You don’t know how much I appreciate that.” Tim got up slowly, hanging on to the back of the chair for longer than he should have, then started for the living room.
“But I am fixing the fence tomorrow.”
She stopped at the doorway and waited for her father, who stood by his recliner, to answer.
“I can help you when I come in for lunch.”
“I’ll be done by then. My horse is using the pasture, I can fix the fence.”
“You shouldn’t have to do that.”
Liv’s eyebrows shot up. “We worked on the fence all the time when I stayed with you.” It was a spring ritual to check and tighten fence, replace the corner braces, tighten the gates.
“Taking care of this place is my job. If you want to help that’s one thing—”
“I am helping, Dad. I’m fixing the fence tomorrow.”
* * *
MATT WALKED OUT of the Bozeman physical therapist’s office in a much worse mood than when he’d gone in, but his determination to come back from his injury hadn’t diminished one iota. He’d been doing his exercises and his range of movement was increasing, while the amount of pain he endured during the half-hour-long sessions was decreasing,