Courting Katarina (7 page)

Katarina gasped and her hand flew to her chest. “Stuff? That ‘stuff’ is my livelihood,” she wailed dramatically as she broke into an irresistibly devastating smile that didn’t begin to disguise the serious scolding she was giving him. “I don’t go anywhere without it. You can’t call it ‘stuff’ until you’ve at least carried it up three flights of stairs. And back down again.”

He laughed softly. “I stand corrected. I guess I better make sure I qualify by the end of this trip then, hadn’t I?” Alex tore his gaze from her, suddenly uncomfortable being in such tight quarters with Katarina. What was it about her that tugged at him? Maybe getting to know her wasn’t such a great idea after all. In a few weeks he’d be off to some remote forest fire.

He studied the sparsely covered bluffs and pointed out the herd of antelope who were hoping for a meal.

Katarina quickly glanced at them. “There are so many of them. It’s hard to believe there’s going to be enough grass for everyone, isn’t it?”

“God provides what they need.”

Her only reply was a soft “Hmmm.”

They crossed the Wyoming border, and immediately ran into road construction. Katarina pulled to a stop behind the long row of cars. “How long do
you suppose this will take?” Though the car ahead of her hadn’t moved at all, she continually eased her sandaled foot from the brake as if it would make the traffic move.

She was getting pretty close to the car ahead of them, and he found himself pressing against the floorboard. “Who knows how long it’ll take? You may as well put it in Park and shut off the air conditioner so the engine doesn’t overheat.”

There was a long hesitation before she followed his suggestion. Within a few minutes it got stuffy inside, and she opened the windows, then leaned out. She looked forward, then behind. “I can’t even see any highway department vehicles. What’s going on?”

“It is the season for construction. Good thing you don’t have that interview tomorrow.”

The smile on her lips wavered a bit. “What’s one delay going to mean, another half hour? No big deal, right?”

“Right.” He didn’t want to point out that where there was one highway under construction, there were probably five more. She was hopeful, and so was he—hopeful that her optimism paid off.

Half an hour later they’d finally passed through Cheyenne, ready to make up the time they’d lost. Less than sixty miles later, the dreaded orange signs appeared again. As they approached the flagman, he stepped closer to the center line and waved the stop
sign. The man leaned toward the car and Katarina opened the window.

“It’s going to be a forty-five-minute wait.”

Katarina groaned and turned the car off.

Alex shrugged, got out to stretch and wound up visiting with the highway crew for most of the delay. He leaned his hand on Katarina’s window. “There’s major work on the interstate all the way to Bozeman. At least four more long delays that they’re aware of.”

“You’re kidding.” The locket clung to Katarina’s moist skin ninety degrees off-kilter. She folded a tiny doll dress, put it into the basket and replaced the lid, then pulled a small sketch pad from the door pocket and began to fan herself. “What a bother.”

“We could cut across the state,” he suggested.
I wonder if her fiancé’s picture is inside the locket. She wears it most of the time
.

“But we can make up a little time in between construction zones if we stay on the interstate.”

“Okay. It’s up to you.” He walked around to the other side and crawled back into the car. The flagman spun the sign to slow, and waved her forward.

The hazed, dingy, mud-color sky seemed to drown out the sun. Dust devils blew dirt across the road, pelting the car with sand. Clouds of bugs were thick. It was unbearably hot, with not even a thundercloud in sight.

The pop radio station faded as they disappeared into the valley. Katarina hit the scan button in search
of another. The blue iridescent numbers scrolled past, and back around to where they’d started. She switched to another band, finding only small stations with a sad array of music or livestock reports. “I can’t believe I forgot to bring my music.”

She pulled off at the first exit and began to look for a restaurant. The two local diners were closed, so they filled the car with gas and grabbed some snacks to hold them over till they reached Casper. Alex joined Katarina at the register with his arms full. She looked at him, then at the water, two juices and two sodas in his arms. He looked into her eyes. “Just in case.”

She splayed her hand on her hip. “In case what? I don’t do ‘just in cases.”’

He smiled in spite of her naiveté. “Good, you’re welcome to say ‘I told you so’ when we arrive at my place with two full bottles of unused water.”

She smiled at his challenge. “I’ll do that.”

“I didn’t know which you’d prefer to drink, so I got a little of everything.”

She simply stared at him and her eyes misted over, then she spun around and was out the door. He handed the clerk a twenty-dollar bill and pocketed his change, not even waiting for a bag to carry everything in. He followed her outside. “Katarina! What did I do wrong this time?”

Katarina Berthoff was nothing like the women he met in his line of work. Not that he had any complaints about them, per se. But there was something
very different about a soot-covered woman carrying a hundred-pound pack on her back and the equally determined, yet undeniably feminine creature walking in front of him. Watching her, he decided it was no wonder his mind had gone up in smoke the day his brother married her sister.

Her yellow-and-white-knit sundress fit as if it were made specially for her. Was it the shade of yellow, or the wonderful way her face glowed? Rows of white leather flowers covered the straps of her sandals, showing off her pretty pink toenails. Sunshine. No other way to describe her, he decided.

Katarina got into the station wagon, closed the door and started the engine. Trying to hurry, Alex hit his head ducking into the seat beside her. He dropped the drinks at his feet, closed the door and took hold of her hand before she could shift into gear.

“Hold on right there!”

Tears trickled down her cheeks.

“Kat,” he whispered. He let go of her hand, placed his fingertips on her chin and gently turned her to face him. “What did I say?”

“I told you before, Alex, I don’t need you. I didn’t need you to come along to take care of me.” She gasped for air. “I don’t need you to tell me how to drive, or see that I have something to drink.” She carried on, her voice and temper escalating.
She’s about to hyperventilate
.

“Cool down, Katarina. You’re taking this a bit
too far.” He opened the bottle of cold water and offered her a drink. “Kat, come on, take a sip of water.”

She pushed it away. He felt it slipping from his hand and clutched it tighter, spraying her with the icy-cold liquid. Her eyes shot open and she gasped.

He stared at her, wide-eyed. “I didn’t mean to do that!”

She took two deep breaths, then another one. “I’ve managed on my own all these years, Alex. I don’t need or want a father to take care of me now.”

He slammed his palm on the top of the water spout.
A father? She thinks I’m trying to replace her…father?
Feeling as if he’d just been doused in cold water himself, he leaned his head back. “You don’t have to worry, Katarina.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to understand what was happening between them. “The
last
thing I want to be is a father figure to you.”

Just hearing those words made everything crystal clear. Though he hadn’t given it too much thought, he had to admit, he hadn’t totally ruled out a relationship with Katarina. Reason had told him that she was his little sister’s age, and he had quickly dispelled the comparison. But her
father?
It was a bit much.

No use hoping there could ever be something between them. They were at two opposite stages in their lives. She was young and energetic, ready to experience life to its fullest. He, on the other hand,
had seen the best the world had to offer and longed to settle down, find someone to share his life, maybe even start a family.

Her father?
He groaned silently.

Katarina pulled onto the highway without another word.

He needed a distraction. Why hadn’t he thought to look on the rack for the latest John Grisham novel? “If you’d like me to drive, just let me know. Otherwise, I’ll try not to bother you.”

Alex wiped sweat from his brow and instantly remembered the friends and responsibilities he’d left behind. They were probably off to a fire somewhere by now.

His mind was no longer on the lovely woman next to him, but stuck on the current drought. As much as he tried to forget, the career he’d put on hold haunted him. There was no way he could douse the guilt that gnawed at his gut. His mother’s call to help Kevin had come right before the doctor’s appointment that would have cleared him to return to fighting fires.

Why did he try to kid himself? He knew his leg was ready, but he was far from it. Despite the accident, jumping out of a DC-3 didn’t bother him, but what would be waiting for him when he hit the ground did. He tried to forget memories of the two friends who wouldn’t be with him this year. He should have been there that day. Why had his best
friend failed to see the severity of the fire, leaving a young widow and baby behind?

Fires were unpredictable by nature. That was one of the first concepts he’d learned. Yet it hadn’t stopped him from jumping into the middle of a blazing forest for the past eight years. Now, suddenly, it seemed unimportant. He knew better, but for some reason, it just wasn’t enough.

Kevin had mentioned needing help running his expanding company. They had tried it once before. And he’d been the one to walk away, leaving Kevin to find his own way. Alex had wanted adventure, and if the truth be known, he didn’t care about the element of danger the job involved.

He glanced at Katarina.
What are you trying to tell me, God? Just when I think I know the plan, I hit a smoke screen
.

And the current smoke screen had a name. Sweet, optimistic-to-a-fault, yet deeply hurting… Katarina.

Alex recalled the day he and Adam had made that ridiculously childish pact. In eight years he hadn’t been as tempted to break it as he had in the past four days.

This is ludicrous
, he thought.
There’s no such thing as love at first sight
.

Chapter Eight

K
atarina closed her window and fanned herself with her pocket calendar at the third construction zone. What should have been a five-hour drive had taken nearly seven, and they weren’t even close to Montana yet. She started the engine and turned the fan to high.

“What are you doing?”

He watched her turn the vents toward her.

“What does it look like? I can’t stand this dusty hot air any longer. Just a few minutes.” He started to repeat his warning about the car overheating when she lifted her finger to her mouth to shush him. “If we hit one more construction zone, I’m going to scream.”

Alex didn’t say another word.

Not even when it took another ten minutes for traffic to move through the road construction. Not
even when the temperature warning light came on. Not even when it meant sitting in the unbearable heat for an hour before Alex could go near the radiator. They’d barely pulled into the restaurant in Casper before the temperature gauge began rising again. By mutual consent they agreed to look for a place to stay for the night. They called all the motels listed in the phone directory, disappointed to find no vacancies for a hundred miles.

She was exhausted. “I wish we could get out of this heat.”

“Be careful what you ask for—you just might get it.”

Before leaving town, they stopped for gasoline. Katarina started filling the tank with fuel and Alex opened the hood.

“What’s wrong now?”

“I want to check all the fluid levels.” A few minutes later, he headed into the convenience store.

Katarina scrubbed the bugs from the windshield while she waited. In addition to paying for the gas, Alex emerged with another gallon of water, engine coolant, oil, windshield washer fluid and a small Styrofoam cooler.

“What’s that? Heavens, we just ate half the restaurant. And I had the oil changed before we left.”

“Then I wouldn’t bother going back to the same place again. I’m afraid they took you, big time. Either that, or your car goes through fluids faster than I do,” he grumbled. “I hope this takes care of everything.
I bought a couple of sandwiches in case we need a snack.” Alex set the cooler in the back seat. “The clerk confirmed that construction report. He suggested we cut across through Yellowstone. What do you think? There shouldn’t be any traffic this time of night.” He proceeded to add the oil and fill the radiator as they talked.

Katarina rested her hip against the car and crossed her arms. “It sounds so isolated, but I can’t take another delay, either. I’ll do whatever you think is best.”

Alex touched her forehead with the back of his hand. “You aren’t feverish. Maybe it’s heat exhaustion.”

She gave him a playful pout.

“So, what’s up?” He closed the hood, then smiled.

She looked at him again, this time less upset that she’d let him come. If she’d been alone, she’d still be stuck on the interstate, waiting in an endless line of traffic. “I think it’s your turn to drive. I haven’t a clue where we’re going.”

“Aha, I knew the other shoe was about to fall.” He looked at his watch. “Even if we stop to rest somewhere along the way, we should make it to my place by tomorrow evening, and you’ll have another day to get to Spokane. Might even have a chance to show off the sights. You ever been to Yellowstone?”

“No.” She had to admit, the scenery part sounded
nice. She’d had it with traffic jams, exhaust, heat and the dry, dusty, barren plains.

“You’re sure you’re not going to change your mind? I realize it is a woman’s prerogative. I don’t want to take over or anything.”