happy kind of sigh that told Liv that although her stepsister’s life was hectic, she was enjoying her wedding preparations. “I may give up on that idea, but if I do, then I’d have to go with lilies and they are mucho expensive.”
“It has to be the lilies? Why not white roses? Or carnations? Carnations smell so good.”
“Oh, come on,” Shae said. “First of all the symbolism is all wrong and roses are so passé. And carnations? Boutonniere fodder.”
“They’re pretty and they are a lot less expensive. Besides that,” Liv said, thinking of her mother’s call, “do you really need to break the bank on this wedding? I know it’s important, but in a year or two, will it matter?”
“This will be my one wedding,” Shae said. “I want it to be right.”
“But what about mom and dad and finances?”
“I offered to pay. Dad said no, but don’t worry. Reed and I will strong-arm him into taking at least half of the money.”
“Are you sure you’ll be able to do that?”
Shae laughed. “When haven’t I been able to get Dad to do what I wanted?”
No one should be that sure of themselves and somehow it depressed Liv, who couldn’t get her own father to admit that he was feeling ill.
“By the way, did you get the email about shoes?”
“Our shoes don’t show, Shae.”
“They’re not that much.”
“They’re satin and pretty much one use.” A total waste of seventy-nine dollars.
“Order before your size goes out of stock.”
“Aye, aye,” Liv said. “Well, I’ve got to run. Say hi to Mom for me.”
“Uh, all right. Thanks for calling.”
Liv hung up and shoved the phone into her pocket. Shae drove her crazy. But she hadn’t thought about Matt for a whole five aggravating minutes.
And she wasn’t going to think about him. She was getting out of there. She could see the tractor at the far end of the pasture so felt safe hooking up the trailer and loading Beckett. She and her favorite confidant were going to the mountains, where she was going to put all her cares aside and enjoy a day in the saddle.
* * *
THE TRUCK AND TRAILER disappeared down the driveway in a cloud of dust. Matt opened his water bottle and took a long drink. He’d kind of hoped that he and Liv might “talk” again before he left, but it looked like she wasn’t up for that.
He capped the water bottle and put it away. Another half hour and he’d have the fence done, then maybe he could talk to Tim about some other stuff he could do around the place. Just an hour or two for a few days—enough to make the point to Liv that he did pay his debts, past and present, and to maybe see if he could light her up again.
Had she been like this all along? Hiding her feistiness behind the facade of shy braininess?
The crush had probably only added to her shyness. Well, she wasn’t shy now, and Matt found himself more than a little intrigued by that fact. What had made her break free?
Once the fence was finished, Matt walked out across the field Tim was working. The big tractor rolled to a stop and Tim took it out of gear and climbed down out of the cab. From the way he winced when his feet hit the ground, Matt wished he hadn’t.
“All done,” he said, pulling off his gloves.
Tim nodded.
“I, uh, could come back and do some other stuff.” He was roping in the afternoons, but his mornings were wide-open.
“Like what?”
“What did you let slide while you were sick?”
“The grain sheds need to be scraped and painted. Screws need tightened on the plank fences. Need new gravel in the driveway, have a couple gate posts that need reset.”
Okay, he hadn’t expected a list, but apparently Tim had had some time to think while driving in circles around the field.
He sucked in a breath. “All right. What needs to be done first?”
“Gravel, then posts, then planks and if Liv hasn’t kicked you off the property or you’re not sick of paying your debt, you can tackle the sheds.”
“You think she will? Try to kick me off the property?”
“I think it’s a good possibility.”
“Then why are you letting me help?”
“I got no beef with you.” Tim pushed back the Zimmatic emblazoned ball cap he wore. “But if she kicks you off the property, then you should probably go.”
“As in gives me a direct order as opposed to just hinting she doesn’t want