Read Online We Can Laugh Together Too (Walnut Grove Trilogy) by Cindy Baker - Free Book Online

managed to whisper.
    The tack room was redolent with the scent of saddle soap and
linseed oil. Livi pulled a pile of horse blankets off a shelf and spread them
on the floor. “Not the Spyglass Inn I’m afraid,” she admitted with a giggle,
“but better than nothing.”
    This time Matt undressed her, kissing her bare flesh, his
hands moving lightly, running his fingers over her breasts and stomach, his
touch little more than a whisper against her skin. Then he stood back up and
removed his own clothes; the fading light slanting through the window reflected
off his suntanned body in almost a patina.
    He lowered himself back down into her arms and slid his own
arms around her. The undisguised emotion in his eyes consumed her and when he
spoke his voice was hoarse. “I love you Livi, I’ve never felt like this about
anyone before, actually, I never knew I could feel like this, you’ve
changed my life completely.”
    Livi kissed his neck, then his chest and felt her back arch
involuntarily as she pressed against his hard, muscular body. “I love you too.
God knows, I tried not to, but like you said, we don’t choose who we fall in
love with; it just creeps up on us. Please," she added in a whisper,
". . . now fate has brought us together and it’s so perfect, don’t leave
me and go to Napa.” There were tears of distress in her eyes.
    “I must,” he whispered. “If I let the agency down this late,
it’ll be another huge black mark against me. Six weeks will soon pass.”
    He silenced her with another kiss, before slowly,
sensuously, his lips traveled down her neck to her breasts and her stomach. His
tenderness made her shudder and her need for him became palpable. They fit
together as if made for each other.
    ♠  
♠   ♠
    It was nearly midnight when eventually Matt left. They sat talking
in the kitchen for ages, putting off his inevitable departure, but when he saw Livi
stifling a yawn, he got to his feet and kissed the top of her head affectionately.
    “I’d better leave, you look exhausted. No . . .” he
interrupted her protest “. . . we can’t hide in your kitchen for the rest of
our lives. I’ll see you tomorrow, I promise.”
    They walked outside to his SUV, and for once the dogs didn’t
follow; they were curled up sound asleep in their beds.
    He kissed her one last time, then climbed into the vehicle,
started the engine and drove slowly away. Livi stood watching his tail lights
until they disappeared from view.

CHAPTER FOUR
    Monday morning brought Livi sharply back to reality. Her
attorney phoned to break the news that he had heard from Edward’s attorney.
They were pursuing Edward’s claim for a quarter of a million dollars in
compensation for his loss. Sitting at the familiar kitchen table, she buried
her face in her arms and wept.
    She had absolutely no idea what to do, but clearly she had
to do something or she would lose Walnut Grove. Consumed in her thoughts, she
didn’t hear the front door bell — no-one ever used it, so it wasn’t a sound
familiar to her — consequently, she was startled when a man poked his head
around the kitchen door. “Livi . . . ?”
    She raised her tear-blotched face, startled, and for a
moment failed to recognize her visitor, then she realized it was Sam Nichols,
the owner of their lone boarding mare.
    “Sam!” she jumped to her feet. “What are you doing here?”
    “Arriving in the nick of time to rescue the damsel in
distress by the looks of things. Whatever’s the matter Livi?”
    She rubbed away her tears with the back of her hand and made
a futile attempt to conjure up a smile. “It’s a long story. I’ll make some
coffee and tell you.”
    Sam was a rotund man in his late sixties. He’d accumulated a
ton of money negotiating shrewd property deals, and had, in fact helped Will
and Livi buy Walnut Grove at an especially good price.
    He listened to her story attentively, then said just two
words: “Ben Veiga.”
    Livi was bewildered. “Ben