by Joan Wolf
“Sure,” I said. “Your place or mine?“
“We're closer to your place.”
“Okay.”
We both washed our hands at the sink and I put the kettle on the stove to heat and sat at the table across from him.
“I'm glad you were here, Annie,” he said.
“I'm glad I could help.”
“I thought of trying to straighten her myself, but I thought a vet would do a better job.” He gave me a measuring look. “You're stronger than you look.”
“You have to be strong to work with horses. I work out at the gym three days a week.”
“Do you have muscles?”
“You bet I do.”
“Let's feel.” He reached across the table and cupped his hand around my upper arm.
Once again that bolt of electricity shot through me. He dropped his hand and gave me a startled look. Had he felt it too?
“That is a muscle,” he said.
Maybe he was just surprised that I had a real muscle.
“I know.”
The kettle whistled and I went to fill the teacups.
He was looking down at his hands as I brought one of the mugs to the table for him. The usual unruly lock of hair was falling over his forehead and he needed a shave. I put the cup in front of him and he flashed me a quick smile. “Thanks.”
I always felt his smile in my heart.
I brought my own mug to the table and took my usual seat. “Mom says she liked the house. Lucky for us you saw that ad.”
“Yeah.”
I thought he was looking tired. And worried.
“Has anything happened?” I asked.
“Yesterday an auditor showed up to look at the farm books.”
I frowned. “What does that mean?”
“I'm not sure, but the farm and the horses belong to my father. They are part of his assets. If he's really in financial trouble, I suppose his creditors could come after the whole shebang.”
“Oh Liam, no.”
“It's not a happy scenario.”
“You don't own any of the horses?”
“Actually, I own Buster. I saved the money to buy Pennyroyal and two other mares, and I paid the stud fees on them when I bred them. So Buster is mine.”
“And the rest of the horses are your father's?”
“They belong to the farm, which belongs to my father.”
“What made you buy Pennyroyal for yourself?”
“It dawned on me one day that, after years of hard work, I had no financial stake in the farm. I was completely dependent on my father. He paid me a salary and I ran the farm. I decided that I would be better off financially if I bought some horses on my own.”
“It sounds as if you made a wise decision.”
“Still, I don't know what I'd do if the farm was lost. It's been in my family for almost two hundred years!”
“It would be a terrible shame,” I agreed. “But I doubt things will come to that point, Liam. Your father won't want to sell it. It won't look good for him.”
“That's true.” He sipped his tea. “It's nice having you home, Annie. I've missed you.”
“You've missed my sympathetic ear, you mean.”
He smiled. “No matter what happened, I always knew that you'd be on my side.”
“That hasn't changed, Liam.” I hesitated. Should I say this? But I had never had any secrets from Liam. I said quickly, “I saw you and Leslie together the night of the Hunt Ball, you know. You were out by the fountain and I came out onto the back patio to get some air. You were yelling at each other.”
He went perfectly still. His blue gaze got hard. “You never told me this.”
“I know I didn't. And I didn't tell anyone else, either.”
“Why?”
“Because it would make you even more of a suspect than you already are.”
“And that's precisely why I've said nothing about it.” His voice was bitter. “Leslie was trying to make me jealous, and she succeeded admirably. I was furious with her, but I didn't kill her, Annie. I promise you, I didn't kill her.”
“I never thought you did. That's why I didn't say anything.”
“Why are you telling me this now?”
“I don't know. Habit, I guess. We don't keep secrets from each other.”
He said, “Are you going to tell the police now?”
I gave him an affronted stare. “How can you ask me such a question? Of course not.”
“You must be pretty sure that I didn't do it.”
My stare became even more affronted. “Of course you didn't do it.”
He put his teacup down. “The thing is, Annie, someone did. And it had to be someone who was at the party. Leslie went out to the summerhouse with someone; I'm sure she didn't just wander out there by herself.”
I shivered a little. “I know.”
He sighed. “I've thought and thought and I just cannot imagine anyone I know doing such a terrible thing.”
I said again, “I know.”
We were quiet for a while. Then Liam said, “Enough of such depressing conversation. We should be happy. Pennyroyal has once again given birth to a beautiful baby.”
I lifted my teacup. “To Pennyroyal.”
Liam touched my cup with his. “To Pennyroyal.”
We drank.
He said, “So tell me about this guy you almost got engaged to.”
“There's nothing to tell. He was a very nice man and I liked him a lot. I just didn't love him like he loved me. It wouldn't have been fair of me to marry him, feeling the way I did.”
“I almost got engaged once myself,” Liam offered.
My heart plummeted. “You did? To whom?”
“A girl I met at the University of Virginia. She was a cheerleader.”
I immediately pictured a beauty with blue eyes and long straight hair, like Jennifer Aniston's. “What stopped you from getting engaged?” I asked.
“Same thing that stopped you. It just didn't feel right.”
I nodded.
There came a step at the door and my mother, wearing pajamas and slippers, peered into the kitchen. “I thought I heard voices down here.”
“We didn't mean to wake you, Mom,” I said.
“I woke up on my own, and then I heard the voices. Hello, Liam. How are you?”
“Fine, Nancy. Annie just delivered a foal for me, that's why we're up so late.”
My mother came further into the kitchen. “Was there trouble?”
“A little. Pennyroyal's foal was coming out with only one foot. Annie turned the baby so that both feet could come out at once. Both mother and daughter are doing well, I'm happy to report.”
“Would you like a cup of tea, Mom?”
“No thank you, honey. I'm going back to bed.”
“I'll be up in a few minutes.”
She nodded and disappeared into the hallway. Liam got to his feet. “I should be getting back home. You need your beauty rest.”
I smiled at him in reply.
He came over to where I was sitting, bent and kissed me on the cheek. He was so near that I could feel the warmth from his skin. “Thank you for helping out tonight.”
“You're welcome,” I returned a little breathlessly.
“By the way, tell your mother if she wants to move herself, I'll be happy to help out with one of the horse vans.”
“Thanks, I'll tell her.”
“Well… I'll see you tomorrow.”
He seemed strangely reluctant to leave.
“Oh, Liam. Can you tell Kevin that I'm not going to ride with him tomorrow morning—actually this morning. I think I'll try to catch an extra hour of sleep.”
“Are you and Kevin riding out in the mornings?”
“Yes, didn't he tell you?”
He scowled. “He didn't say a word.”
“Oh. Well, we're just exercising the hunters. It's good for them.”
His scowl didn't lift. “I like to be informed of these things.�
�
“Sorry. I thought Kevin had told you.”
“Kevin doesn't tell me anything.”
He sounded very stiff.
“Do you want us to stop riding?”
He said through his teeth, “I didn't say that. I just said I like to know when my horses are being ridden.”
“Fine,” I replied. “So now you know. But I don't want to ride this morning. Will you tell Kevin, please?”
“Yes.”
“Goodnight, Liam.”
“Goodnight.” He paused. “Thanks for helping with Pennyroyal.”
“I was happy to be of assistance.”
He nodded. “Well… goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
He went.
I sat back down at the kitchen table and stared into my empty teacup. Well, this looked promising, I thought. Clearly Liam was annoyed that Kevin and I were riding together, and I didn't think it was because we were taking the horses without his permission. I thought about this for a little while and then I yawned, fatigue flooding through me. I gave up thinking and went to bed.
I was working with one of the yearlings in his stall when one of Senator Wellington's assistants came to the stall door. “I'm Brent Walker, Dr. Foster,” he said. “Would you mind terribly if I watched? I've always liked horses.”
“You can watch as long as you stay quiet and don't get in the way,” I said.
“Okay. Thanks.”
I turned my attention back to the Going West colt. I was having Jacko get on his back for the first time; always a tricky situation. I gave Jacko a leg up and when the colt felt the man's full weight for the first time, his ears went back.
“It's okay, little boy,” I crooned. “You're just fine.”
The colt went forward, trying to walk out from under the weight. I let him walk, still holding him by the lead shank. Jacko patted his neck and spoke to him. We kept this up for perhaps five minutes and then Jacko dismounted.
I rubbed the colt's forehead and gave him a piece of sugar. “What a good boy. What a good boy.”
“That was fascinating.”
I startled at the voice. I had forgotten that Brent Walker was still there.
He smiled at me. “It's a far cry from those old Westerns, where they got on a horse and rode out the bucks.”
I smiled back. “The goal is not to scare or alarm the horse. By the time we finish with these exercises, the horse will tolerate a person on his back with relative calmness.”
“What are you going to do now?”
“More of the same. We have twenty-five yearlings to break and each one of them gets the same treatment you just witnessed.”
“Wow. You sure must have a lot of patience.”
A strand of hair had come loose from my ponytail and I took off the rubber band and re-did it. I hadn't yet gotten around to getting my hair cut. I said, “Every good animal person has patience.”
“Do you mind if I stay around and watch some more?”
“Of course not.”
Brent stayed for the rest of the morning and he walked with me back to the house when I went home for lunch. We parted at my front door and he said, “The senator and Mrs. Wellington are dining with friends tonight and I'm on my own. Would you like to have dinner with me at a restaurant in town?”
My first impulse was to say no, but then I remembered my plan to show Liam that other men thought I was grown-up enough to take out. I smiled. “That would be lovely.”
He gave me a boyish grin. He was a nice-looking man of about thirty, with a short haircut and blue-gray eyes. “Great. I'll pick you up at seven?”
“Sounds good.”
A front had come in the previous night and the weather had turned cooler. I wore my ever-serviceable black slacks with a lavender sweater set. Brent picked me up at seven and we drove into town to the Jockey Club, parked the car and went inside.
The Jockey Club was one of Midville's finest restaurants. This was the first time I had been in it, and I looked around curiously. The walls were all richly paneled in dark wood and pictures of famous racehorses hung on the walls. The tables all wore fresh white tablecloths and fresh flowers.
I smiled at Brent and when we were seated I confided that I had never been in the restaurant before. He looked surprised. “How can that be?” he asked.
“If I had lived in Midville all the time I'm sure I would have come, but I was away at school and I work in Maryland now.”
“Are you at a hospital or do you work in a private practice?”
I picked up the menu. “A private practice that specializes in horses.”
“You look awfully small to be working with such large animals.”
I had heard this comment before. “I'm stronger than I look,” I said evenly.
We both looked at the menus for a minute, then, when he looked up from his, I asked, “What about you? What do you do in your job?”
He folded his menu. “I'm sort of the middleman between the senator and the rest of the world. I make sure things get done properly.”
“That sounds like a big job.”
“It's big in scope. That's why I like it. It's not boring.”
“Do you handle the press? I know the Post had two articles on Leslie being found.”
“Yes, I handled the press on that one. The senator is usually very good about meeting with the press, but he didn't want to say anything officially in regard to that particular story.”
The waiter came to take our drink order and I ordered a glass of White Zinfandel. Brent had a Scotch and soda.
“Do you like working for Senator Wellington?” I asked.
“Sure,” he said.
“Is he sincere, do you think?”
He shrugged. “He's as sincere as anyone in Washington ever is.”
“That's a cynical remark.”
“I suppose it is. Why did you ask me that question?”
“I was curious. I've known the senator almost all my life, but I don't really know him at all. And I've heard things about him.”
“What have you heard?”
“I've heard he's not faithful to his wife.”
He gave a harsh laugh. “If fidelity to one's wife was a prerequisite to being in Congress, there'd be a lot of men weeded out.”
“That's a depressing thought.”
Our drinks came and I took a sip of my wine. When the waiter came back I ordered the salmon. So did Brent.
“Don't judge the senator too harshly, Anne,” Brent said when we were alone again. “It can't be easy being married to a drunk.”
“Ah, but does Mrs. Wellington drink because he's unfaithful or is he unfaithful because she drinks?”
“Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”
I smiled. “I guess it is a lot like that.”
“Let's talk about something more interesting,” he said.
“What?”
“Let's talk about you. What kind of schooling do you need to become a vet?”
I obliged and let him change the subject. We talked of other things for the rest of the evening.
Brent took me home, and when I went in, my mother was sitting in the living room watching television. I looked to see if there were signs of tears but she looked okay.
“What are you watching?” I asked.
“Law and Order.”
“That's what we need in Midville,” I said. “Someone like the Law and Order detectives to find out who killed Leslie.”
“If they arrest anyone, honey, it will be Liam. I don't think you want that.”
“Liam didn't do it and I want them to find out who really did. It's horrible for him to have to live with people thinking he's guilty.”
“It's hard to believe that anyone we know could be guilty of such a vicious thing.”
“Maybe it wasn't anyone we know. Maybe it was someone from the outside. I don't think the police should rule that out, Mom. Who knows? Maybe some vagrant was making his home in the summerhouse and he
panicked when Leslie found him. That could have happened, couldn't it?”
My mother looked at me pityingly. “I suppose so, honey.”
“Don't look at me that way,” I said with annoyance. “People are murdered by strangers all the time.”
“They are,” my mother said.
Law and Order had finished and the news was coming on.
“I'm going to bed,” I said.
“I'm going to watch the news.”
I hesitated, then I leaned over and kissed my mother on the cheek. “Goodnight, Mom.”
“Goodnight, honey.”
I left the room, went upstairs and got into bed.
CHAPTER 7
Mom wanted to move as soon as the paint dried on the walls of her new house, so Thursday morning Liam came over to the house with an empty horse trailer, which he parked in front. We had already moved a collection of cartons out onto the porch.
I was surprised, and pleased, to see Kevin get out of the van after him. Two moving men were definitely better than one.
Both of the men were dressed for the job in jeans and sweatshirts. I wore the same outfit myself, and so did Mom. “We were all on the same wavelength when it came to clothes,” I said with a laugh.
“Don't worry, Anne,” Kevin teased. “Nothing can mar your beauty—not even a bulky Virginia Tech sweatshirt.”
“You're much more gorgeous than I am,” I shot back. And it was the truth. His jeans were molded to his body and his blond hair shone golden in the morning sun. His azure eyes regarded me with a smile of approval.
Liam said in annoyance, “We're here to work, not to participate in a mutual admiration society.”
My mother said, “What do you want to load first, boys? The furniture or the boxes?”
“Let's put the furniture on first,” Liam said.
Kevin agreed and the two of them went into the house and took out the sofa.
“Mom and I will continue to bring out the boxes,” I said.
“Just don't clutter up the doorway,” Liam warned. “We need to be able to get in and out of the house.”
“Thank you for pointing that out,” I said tartly. Did he think I was an idiot?
He shot me a look, but didn't reply.
Kevin said, “How are we going to get the bureaus down that narrow staircase?”