We Can Laugh Together Too (Walnut Grove Trilogy) Read Free

explained how he
could follow a dirt track between the paddocks to and from his new home without
needing to use the main road, and after thanking both of them effusively, he
set off with a jaunty spring to his step and a huge smile on his face.
    Livi followed Matt back to his truck outside the barn. “I
don’t know how to thank you,” she confessed. “I was beginning to despair, but
with one act of kindness, you’ve turned everything completely around. Not only
have you given me a lifeline, you’ve helped Isidoro and his family too.”
    He gave her a crooked grin and for the first time she noticed
the direct blue of his eyes. “All part of the service ma’am. Actually, my
motives are completely selfish. Now you’re not so busy, maybe you’d like to
have dinner with me one evening.”
    Alarm bells rang and Livi took a quick, jerky breath. “I
don’t know Matt, I . . .”
    He interrupted her gently before she could say any more.
“Just dinner, that’s all. I’m a stranger here, when I finish work, all I’ve got
is a little bedsit above the practice. I’d just like some adult company for an
evening. Remember the other morning when you asked me in for coffee . . ?”
    His surprising insightfulness startled her. “You’re very
perceptive Matt. Okay, I’d love to have dinner with you next week. Just give me
a couple of days to get re-acclimatized to staying awake during the evening.”
    He chuckled. “It’s a deal. I’ll call you as soon as I know
my schedule for the week.” Then he gave her arm a lingering squeeze, jumped
into his truck, and was gone.
    ♠  
♠   ♠
    The next morning, Saturday, Isidoro was waiting at the barn
door at seven sharp. Livi was concerned to see he was still clad in the smart
clothes he had worn to meet her the evening before. When she mentioned this, he
explained all his possessions were temporarily stored in a friend’s shed in a
town close to where he had been working. She urged him to get everything moved
down as quickly as possible, and Isidoro smiled shyly.
    “Don’t worry Mrs. Leonard. My friend has a big truck. I will
phone him later and he will bring all my stuff tomorrow.”
    They turned the horses out, Livi showed Isidoro around,
explained the farm’s routine, and then left him cheerfully humming to himself
as he tackled the dirty stalls.
    She was hardly back inside the kitchen when the phone rang.
    “Good morning boss lady. How’s your staff settling in?”
    Livi laughed, indisputably pleased to hear his voice. “Good
morning Matt. Just fine, thanks for asking.” As she spoke, she walked through into
the sitting room and dropped into a chair. “He said he’s going to get his
friend to drive all his belongings down for him tomorrow. I didn’t ask him
about his family, how are they going to get here?”
    “They’ll find a way,” Matt assured her. “Hispanics tend to
have wide reaching networks. They’ll be there in a few days, I guarantee.”
    And he was right. Rosa and her fifteen-year-old daughter,
Katia, arrived at Walnut Grove late on Monday. Rosa tut-tutted about the state
of the house and immediately set about cleaning it from top to bottom. It was
still full of Jose’s furniture and possessions, so Livi told her to box up
anything they didn’t want and Isidoro could store it in a corner of the hay
barn.
    The little family had no transport so Livi added Isidoro to
the farm’s insurance and loaned him an elderly but reliable pickup truck to
drive.
    All her immediate troubles seemed, at last, to be resolved.
    ♠  
♠   ♠
    Matt phoned again on Tuesday and suggested dinner the
following evening. He arranged to pick Livi up at seven thirty.
    Seven o’clock found her in front of the mirror, trying to
decide what to wear. She had pinned up her honey blond hair in a simple French
knot and applied a little lipstick, but the choice of clothing wasn’t so easy.
She stared at her reflection whilst holding up a print dress for consideration;
it