Courting Katarina (2 page)

The dress tied her legs together like a mermaid’s.

Alex’s younger brother lifted the tablecloth in front of her and took hold of her ankle. Then her calf. Startled, Katarina pulled back. “Just leave me alone,” she begged. So much for a silent escape.

“I’ve got her.” A strong arm wrapped around her waist from behind and slid her out from under the table and into the spotlight. “Are you deaf?”

She looked over her shoulder to see the sun-bleached hair of her handsome rescuer. Alex. Trying to fend off the memories of children’s cruel teasing, she forced herself to focus on him. He didn’t know she
was
truly deaf in one ear. And only a select few knew the degree of her hearing loss in her “good” ear. Katarina laughed. “Silly me, I must have forgotten my hearing aid today.” Struggling to free her foot, she felt Alex hoist her off the ground. “Wait!”

Before she could explain, he let go and she fell against him. “My heel is caught.”

The warmth of his hands pressed into her upper arms. “Sorry, why didn’t you say something? Here, have a seat while I try to do something.” He helped her over to the chair. Alex knelt on one knee and struggled with her shoe. “You did a dandy job snagging that heel somewhere in there. Maybe we should take it off?”

“Excuse me?” Her voice squeaked.

“The shoe.” As he tugged, she heard the satin rip, and her leg straightened.

He held up her pump. “I’m sorry about the dress.”

Stunned, Katarina stood and turned to look at the tear, then took her shoe from him. No one had ever flustered her like this. The words caught in her throat.

“I’ll replace the dress.” One eyebrow rose as Alex looked at the rip.

It’s over. Just laugh, Katarina. That always helps
. “Don’t worry about it.”

Emily rushed over, white lace flowing behind her. “Are you okay, Kat?”

“I’ll be fine.” She twisted to the side to examine the damage to the dress. “I wondered how this would look with a slit.” She lifted her foot and twirled on the other so the bride could see, noting that Alex also watched. Then she straightened the dress and slipped her other shoe off. Glancing up, Katarina saw a smile teasing Emily’s lips. “I don’t want to hear about this again.”

The bride excused herself from her guests to help Katarina and led the way down the hall to the bride’s dressing room. Emily’s concern was genuine. “You are okay, aren’t you, Kat?” Once inside, Emily could no longer restrain her laughter.

“Other than my bruised ego, I’m fine.”

A light tap on the door, followed by their younger sister’s voice, startled Katarina. “Is there a damsel in distress in here?” Lisa opened the door just enough to slip inside with Katarina’s other outfit.

The facade of Katarina’s humor faded. She tossed both shoes into her bag and sighed. “Why do these things always happen to me?”

Lisa turned Katarina around and unzipped the gown, then helped tug it over her shoulders. “What things? It’s not your fault the chair broke into smithereens.”

Katarina buttoned the flowered rayon skirt at her
waist, pulled the camisole over her head, then slipped into the coordinating sweater. “Like when I fainted at the all-school concert in sixth grade. Like tripping over the base in kickball. Like dropping my brand-new hearing aid into my punch at the prom. Why is it always me… Klutzy Katarina?”

“This isn’t the same, Kat. Your ear infections were to blame for most of that.” Emily smiled as she gave her sister a hug. “If you wanted to meet Alex, why didn’t you just ask? We’d be glad to set the two of you up.”

“No, thank you.” Her sister’s medical explanation soothed her ego, and she felt the fear subside. “That’s not the issue, and I don’t want to hear about this again.”

Her sisters’ smiles returned. “Well, you can dream on. This is a classic. The tall, rugged, single and not to mention drop-dead-gorgeous hero hauls you, the ‘heart specialist,’ out from under the table, stands you up and you collapse into his arms.” They giggled harder.

Lisa and Emily did a poor imitation of the accident. “You looked like a flamingo balancing on one foot,” Lisa added.

Quelling her own laughter, Katarina crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her sisters until they quieted. “Ha ha ha.” Though she tried to remain cross, just the sight of their fake restraint made her see the humor of the entire situation.

“Why did it have to happen in front of Alex, though?” she whispered, shaking her head.

The room turned silent. Realization hit Lisa. “Ah, yes,
Alex
.”

Katarina placed the bridesmaid dress on the hanger and zipped it, then turned to help Lisa and Emily with the wedding dress and veil. “I mean, it’s been eight years since I had that childish crush on him, and of course I’m long over
that
, but still…”

“Of course,” both sisters said simultaneously with mirroring smiles.

“Come on, don’t do this. I’m as good as engaged to…to…”

“Ron?” Lisa suggested.

“Of course, to Ron,” Katarina snapped.

Emily groaned. “Oh, please, Kat. You’ve been ‘engaged’ so many times we quit counting. Don’t try to convince us that you’re serious about marrying
Ron
. Need I point out you just moved four hundred miles away from him?” The bride slipped the green dress over her head.

“This will only be my second official engagement. Besides, the move is temporary.” She looked at them, putting her hands up in front of her. “It’s all part of a logical, strategic plan. Ron understands my need for financial security.”

“Strategy, my foot. Admit it—the thought of settling down with him bores you to death!”

Katarina looked at Emily—with her hands on her
hips—and tried to argue the well-made point. “As does the idea of chasing a man almost ten years older than myself, Dr. Know-it-all.”

“Alex is only nine years older, Katarina.”

“Close enough. Needless to say, I discovered that mistake with fiancé number one. I made it this far without a father in my life. I certainly don’t need some older man to act as a substitute now.”

Just the mention of the father who had abandoned his three little girls sobered them all. Katarina looked at her sisters. “I’m sorry. I didn’t need to bring that up today. I really didn’t mean to. Open mouth, insert foot.”

Lisa remained silent.

As usual, Emily was the first to forgive and console the younger two sisters. “It’s okay, Kat. You can’t have a wedding without missing the father of the bride.”

A loud knock resounded through the room. “Mrs. MacIntyre,” came the groom’s seductive voice. “Are you ready to toss the bouquet?”

Emily opened the door and greeted her husband. “Don’t forget, you have to toss the garter, too.”

Kevin gave his wife a lingering kiss. “Then we’d better get back to our guests.” Kevin looked at Katarina as she passed through the door. “You okay?”

Katarina looked at Kevin, suddenly seeing Alex instead. She blinked the image away, then set her shoes on the floor and stepped into the flats as she walked. “I’m just dandy, thanks.”

Chapter Two

A
lex washed shaving cream from the windows of Kevin’s hunter-green pickup with the wand at the car wash while his new nephew and the best man, watched.

Bryan looked at his watch. “We’d better hurry—they should be ready to leave soon. I think Alex got it all off, don’t you, Ricky?”

“Yup, looks pretty clean.”

The best man laughed. “You’re too kind, Alex,” Bryan said as he opened the door. Ricky jumped into the cab of the truck. “Do you know how many newlyweds Kevin has sent off for their honeymoon in a decorated car?”

Alex slid the wand into the tube and flipped the switch off. “Nice has nothing to do with it.” Alex winked. “I don’t want to take any chances of damaging the paint. I don’t need a repair bill hanging
over me. Where are they going for their honeymoon?”

The men climbed into the truck and closed the doors. “You don’t actually think he’s going to tell me, do you?”

Alex turned the key in the ignition and pulled forward. “Well…” He paused, eyeing the orphaned little boy his brother and new sister-in-law had officially adopted at the end of the wedding ceremony. After all these years, it was a shock to see one of the MacIntyre brothers actually married. “Surely they told someone where they can be reached, didn’t they?”

Silently Bryan raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

As if the four-year-old understood, he interjected, “Auntie Kat is ’sitting me, Bryan, ’member? And Uncle Alex promised to take me for pizza. Can Katarina come with us? It wouldn’t be nice to leave her home alone.”

Alex wanted more than anything to ignore the question. He was most likely the last person Katarina Berthoff wanted to spend time with after he’d snapped at her. It wasn’t like him to be so short of patience, but he’d tried to find out what had happened, and how he could help. She’d ignored him. How could he help if she wouldn’t talk to him?

Of course, then he’d hauled her out from under the table like some brute and embarrassed her. “Well, Ricky, we’ll have to see how your aunt Katarina feels about that first.” He certainly wouldn’t
mind a dinner with his sister-in-law’s charming sister, yet he wasn’t sure she’d agree.

“She might get lonely.”

The two men looked at one another and laughed, obviously of the same opinion that Katarina would probably relish a few minutes of solitude after two days alone with the talkative little boy. Alex pulled into the driveway that led to the exclusive restaurant perched on a bluff with a view of town. Emily and Kevin exited the Dutch-style building and looked around for the truck. Alex paused for a minute, enjoying the momentary look of panic on his brother’s face.

Alex slowly pulled forward and stopped just in front of the bride and groom, opening his door just as Emily invited all eligible women to gather for the bouquet toss. Alex unbuckled Ricky’s seat belt. “What a ridiculous tradition,” he muttered. “They don’t actually believe catching a bouquet can predict the next bride-to-be, do they?”

Bryan chuckled, “Need I remind you, Emily caught Laura’s bouquet merely five months ago?”

“Coincidence.” Alex tried to ignore the shrill screams of excitement and pleas for Emily to throw the wildflowers. As she did, he stole a quick glance at Katarina. When had the gangly teenager turned into an alluring young woman?

Alex tugged at the knot of his tie and unfastened his collar button, then looked up. The wildflowers were caught in the tree. On the other side of the
truck, his brother jumped up and knocked them loose.

Alex batted the bouquet away when it dropped in front of him. The screaming resumed as the bundle glided directly into Katarina Berthoff’s hands.

She stared at it as if it were a kiss of death instead of a prediction of marriage. He couldn’t help but smile as Lisa, the bride’s youngest sister, arched her eyebrows and gave Katarina a hug.

Wishing he could crawl back into the truck and drive away, Alex walked over to his youngest brother and repeated his earlier question. “They don’t actually believe this stuff works, do they?”

Adam laughed. “Doesn’t really matter, does it? Takes two to tango, and I’ve had enough toes stepped on to stay off the dance floor permanently.”

“Those city women are what made you run back to Granddaddy’s ranch?”

His brother looked indignant. “You must be kidding. That ranch has been my dream forever. You should know that. But there’s one thing a guest ranch doesn’t need. Women.”

Alex chuckled. “Give it time, and you’ll be singing a different tune.”

He glanced at Katarina again, imagining her in a white lace gown, holding her own bouquet. Would the owner of Kat’s Kreations put together as fancy a wedding for herself?

Adam’s voice pulled Alex from his daydream. “So, brother, what’s kept you from tying that proverbial
knot? Will we be adding one more plate to the Christmas table this year? Or are we going to hold strong to our bachelorhood?”

Alex looked around at the variety of couples in the crowd. If he were only in a different line of business, the first thing he’d do was find himself a wife and start a family. After all, he was thirty-five already. Where had the time gone?

As long as he was fighting fires, he wasn’t husband material. Six-month stretches away from home were no way to make a marriage work. No way to raise a family. Not for him, anyway. In his eight years as a smokejumper, he’d seen more marriages fall apart than stay together. “Don’t count me in for Christmas. Who knows where I’ll be by then.”

“Bachelors, gather around,” called Kevin. “Your turn.” With much ado, Kevin seated Emily in the wicker chair, retrieved the garter from his wife’s leg, turned around and tossed it over his shoulder.

Adam slapped Alex on the back. “It’s headed right for you, bro. Better run quick.”

Alex shook his head and laughed as he saw the blue-and-white lace sailing directly toward him. “No way! You’ve got the wrong guy.”
The last thing I need is a woman to complicate my life right now
. “Wrong guy,” he repeated, staring at the frilly garter in his hand.

The competing bachelors gathered around. With Adam in the lead, they not so gently “guided” him
to Katarina. “Now you put it on her,” Adam explained.

Katarina’s eyes grew huge and the color drained from her cheeks. Someone gave Alex a blatant shove and he stopped short of running into her. He looked at Katarina and shrugged. “Do you mind?”

She leaned forward, lifting her ear closer to his mouth. Wildflowers. She smelled like a forest before a fire. Was it the bouquet in her hand, or some carefully concocted perfume? Or his imagination? He didn’t dare explore the answer.

“What did you say? I didn’t hear you over all the noise.” Katarina’s voice held a mixture of shyness and teasing. There was something warm and enchanting about her. If he didn’t get this over with, the crowd wouldn’t give him a minute of peace for the rest of the afternoon. Katarina was trouble with a capital
T
. He could tell that already.

She was too young. Too sensitive. Too beautiful to be alone all summer long while he jumped out of planes, wondering where the next forest fire would take him. Worried that he might not make it home at all.