Courting Katarina Read online

  “I’m not sure how long I’ll need to stay.” He tried to concentrate on his conversation with Kevin. How could he discriminate what God had planned for him with Katarina so close? Everything had happened so quickly. “I’ll do what I can. Ask Emily if she’d like to talk to the mermaid.”

  He handed the phone to Katarina, along with a gentle pat on the shoulder. “I’ll be back down in a few minutes.”

  Alex hurried through his shower and tried to ignore thoughts of Katarina. It was useless. He stubbed his toe on her overnight bag, then nicked his chin with the razor.

  She confused him as no other woman ever had. On the one hand, she insisted she was going to marry Ron, and yet hinted that Alex needed to find a woman who liked traveling. She didn’t understand. Jumping and marriage weren’t mutually compatible. He’d seen what following a jumper did to a woman. It wasn’t fair to ask that of anyone.

  Alex had no doubt in his mind that he’d be happy back with Kevin’s construction company. He liked the hours, and the idea that he could finally settle down. Question is, Father, is that Your plan, or mine?

  Losing his closest friend hadn’t done this to him. No matter how often he reminded himself that even before the accident he’d been thinking it was time for a change, Alex felt leaving the jumpers now was a cop-out.

  It wasn’t fear that made him look at his friend’s widow and realize what he had to give up to continue jumping. Yes, he loved fire fighting. He loved the challenge, and the responsibility. He just didn’t want to think of the woman he loved going through what other wives and ex-wives did. Even though he knew his reasons for considering leaving were valid, he still wasn’t sure it was the right decision for him.

  And now there was Katarina. The woman who proved that love at first sight was real.

  Chapter Ten

  Katarina was on the phone when Alex came downstairs cleaned up and freshly shaven. “I’m fine, Ron. I’ll make it in plenty of time.” She smiled at Alex and held up a finger, motioning that she’d just be another minute.

  Thankfully, Alex waited in the kitchen while she finished her conversation. She hung up the receiver and walked down the hall to join him. He stepped into the doorway just as she did and she took a step back.

  Had he overheard their conversation? Had he heard the irritation in her voice when they’d said goodbye? “I used my phone card to call Ron.”

  “You didn’t have to. Should have just dialed direct.”

  Katarina shrugged. Alex and Ron are total opposites. In the same way Alex opened up to people, Ron kept a tight rein on his privacy. Alex was generous, and Ron a shrewd businessman. “He phoned Emily three times last night, upset that I hadn’t called him.”

  “Guess he’d better get over it. We did the best we could.” He squeezed past her to turn out the office light.

  Katarina looked at Alex. “You don’t like him, do you?”

  Alex leaned one shoulder on the door frame and crossed his arms over his chest, his muscles fighting the constraints of his sleeves. “No.”

  She was shocked by the lack of hesitation in Alex’s reply. “You’ve never even met him. How can you make that kind of judgment?”

  “I don’t like anyone who steals that smile from your face. Yesterday I didn’t like myself much either,” he said without pause.

  Katarina hesitated, momentarily baffled. Her heartbeat quickened, and she found herself breathing faster. “That kind of comment, Alex MacIntyre, could get you into a heap of trouble.”

  One side of his mouth curved into a resigned smile as he raised an eyebrow. “I think I already am.” Standing upright, he stepped closer. “I’m starved. What do you say we find a steak house for supper?”

  Katarina paused. “Fine.”

  Alex helped Katarina into the cab of his truck. “What is it about you guys and gargantuan trucks?”

  “We have off-road jobs, Katarina. We need trucks that can take a beating. Not to mention, they’re a lot more fun in the mud.” He pressed the garage door opener and backed the truck past her rental car and into the street.

  She laughed. “I’ll trust your word on that. I’ve had way too much excitement for this week.”

  “After we eat, we’ll go over the map. When do you need to leave?”

  “Ah,” she teased. “You changed your mind about taking me yourself, huh?”

  For an instant Alex was tempted to take on her silent challenge, but he knew better than to fall prey to temptation. He needed time to himself, where he could hear God’s answers to his many questions. “Sorry, but I need to get things settled here.”

  Katarina’s smile was sweet and understanding. “I know. I can’t tell you how thankful I am you were with me yesterday.”

  He laughed. “You’d know I was lying if I said I enjoyed it. But I did enjoy getting to know you.”

  They were seated in a corner booth at the best steak house in Missoula, complete with peanut shells on the floor. They were actually able to laugh about the rotten day they’d survived together, from the overheated car to spraying her with ice-cold water to freezing and talking the night away.

  Katarina hit him playfully when he confessed that he’d been as cold as she. Her laugh was contagious. “I didn’t think that fabric looked any different, but then, it was dark. And to think, I trusted you.” She giggled some more.

  Her eyes were full of life, pain and unquenchable warmth. She wore her sense of humor like a shield, protecting herself from life’s painful moments. Alex longed to know everything about her, to help Katarina heal her pain, to carry her burdens.

  “That wasn’t so difficult, was it?” he asked gently. “Trusting me, I mean.”

  The expression in her big blue eyes seemed to plead for friendship. Not just the superficial kind she was used to, but the kind that bound friends together forever—that turned friends into husband and wife. She didn’t answer.

  Father, am I deceiving myself? Is Katarina in love with Ron? Or have You saved her for me? Alex took a deep breath. “I didn’t mean to be so pushy. Forgive me.” By the end of dinner they were both wearing down. Had he burned his chances with her, or was it exhaustion? Whatever the reason, it proved that putting space between himself and Katarina was the best thing for both of them.

  They returned to Alex’s condo. Alex pulled out a map of the area and highlighted the route she should take to Spokane and then back to Springville.

  “I should leave now, just in case.”

  “You don’t believe in ‘just in cases,’ remember? You’ll do fine.”

  A small, tentative smile seemed all she could muster.

  Alex leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest, fighting the urge to take her in his arms and calm her unspoken fears. After yesterday, he was sure there were several of them. “I think the best thing for you is a good night of sleep.”

  “I am tired. I need to be there by eleven, so I should be okay if I leave by six, right?”

  “I’ll set my alarm to fix breakfast and see you off.”

  Thankfully, the return trip was nothing like the drive to Montana. Road construction seemed confined to the northbound lane, the heat wave was over and the rental car ran perfectly. Still, she was exhausted.

  Katarina pressed the doorbell and waited for Emily to answer. The windows were open, and it smelled as if her sister had been baking.

  “Kat? Why are you ringing the doorbell? Did you lose your key?” Emily answered, then stepped back to let her inside. Slinging Ricky over his shoulder, Kevin stood in the foyer and smiled.

  “No, I didn’t lose my key. Seems the only thing I haven’t lost in the past few days. I didn’t want to walk right in.” She said hello to Ricky and Kevin.

  He lowered his son to the ground and stepped out the door. “Hi, Kat. You need help unloading?”

  “Don’t bother. I just stopped by to pick up some fresh clothes and find out the arrangements with Mrs. Simmons. I did get the apartment, didn’t I?” Katarina strode past her s
ister, hoping to put the past few days behind her.

  From the corner of her eye she saw Emily shake her head at Kevin. “Wait a minute. How did the meeting go?” Emily looked at her watch. “I didn’t expect you for at least two more days. What happened?”

  Katarina swallowed hard. “There was no meeting,” she said, struggling to remain calm. “Life goes on. I need to get settled into a place of my own. Did Mrs. Simmons drop the key off?”

  Emily looked at Kevin nervously. “Wait a minute.”

  “Emily, this has been a really lousy week. Don’t make it worse. You didn’t tell her no, did you?” Kat looked from Emily to Kevin, unconsciously holding her breath.

  Emily hesitated, then nodded. “Sit down, Kat….”

  “How could you?” Tears burned her tired eyes. It was time she put the past few days and all of her pipe dreams aside and faced reality. How could Emily turn on her?

  “We have a terrific plan. Don’t get upset.” Emily wrapped her arm around Katarina and brushed the hair from her face. “You’re going to love it.”

  Kevin stepped forward and handed Katarina a set of keys. “Here, we thought my house would work better. I don’t want to sell it quite yet. It has plenty of room, and I don’t want it sitting empty, especially with summer just starting.”

  She stared at her brother-in-law. “It was a nice thought, Kevin, and I appreciate your offer, but I can’t afford to rent a huge house. Not to mention, there’s already someone living in it. And I’m not interested in seeing your brother again.” Katarina handed the keys back.

  Kevin furrowed his brows. “What did Alex do?”

  Emily led Katarina to the sofa. “Sit down. Tell us what happened.”

  Katarina resigned herself to losing any upcoming argument, plopped herself on the couch and closed her eyes. Was it only four days ago that she’d left here, hopeful that her life was about to change forever? She would never in her wildest dreams have imagined that the week would turn out like this.

  She took a deep breath. “When I stopped for gas yesterday, I called Bearly Toys to confirm directions to their office. They’d changed my appointment to Tuesday afternoon.”

  “But that’s crazy. They only called Monday morning.”

  “They said they’d tried to call my cell phone Tuesday after meeting with another designer, to give me one last chance to meet. By yesterday morning they had already signed a contract, with someone else.”

  Emily wrapped her arms around Katarina and gave her a long hug. “If that’s the kind of business they run, you don’t need to deal with them.”

  Katarina groaned. “You sound just like Alex.” Just saying his name sent her into confusion again. For the past eight hundred miles she’d done little besides try to reason through what exactly had happened between them.

  One minute she detested him, then before she knew it, they’d become friends, and now… Well, now nothing made any sense at all. Suddenly her heart was fluttering and she was short of breath.

  “When’s Uncle Alex coming back?” Ricky chimed in.

  Trying to keep the irritation from her voice, Katarina took another breath and exhaled. “I don’t know, honey. I didn’t discuss that with him.”

  Kevin patted his son on the bottom, “Ricky, why don’t you go get a snack? I think I saw some of our favorite Snickerdoodles on the counter.”

  As soon as Ricky was gone, Kevin lowered his voice as if expecting something vile to have happened. “What about Alex? What did he do?”

  “He came along, for starters.” Katarina tapped her index finger on her opposite hand, listing their mishaps. “There was the road construction. The engine overheated.” She took a deep breath and ticked off Alex’s numerous transgressions. “So to avoid all the construction, he took me on some wild-goose chase across Wyoming. He has an opinion about everything from cars to dolls. He even had the nerve to tell me just what it takes to be sure you’ve found the right person to marry, and then he managed to run my car into the ground. We were stranded in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Your brother is the pushiest man I’ve ever met!” Katarina stood and began pacing. Just talking about their disastrous trip made her mad all over again. “If we had stayed on the interstate, I wouldn’t have missed that phone call. So I made the entire trip for nothing, not to mention I now have no car.”

  No one said a word. She caught Emily trying to wipe a smile from her face as she and Kevin exchanged glances.

  “Then your brother also had the nerve to say that maybe all these mishaps are a sign from God that this isn’t meant to be. I could strangle him.”

  “I’m sure God has something better in the works, Kat.”

  Katarina threw up her hands and let out a cynical laugh. “Not you, too. God’s will must be for me to be miserable.” Katarina combed the hair from her face. Her hand paused by her ear. “I would have thought you’d be a little more understanding.”

  “I do understand.” Emily’s smile softened. “I’m sorry about the interview and the car. But I’m still so thankful He was with you two, and that you’re both okay,” Emily said, echoing Alex’s sentiments. “You’re tired, Katarina.”

  “I’m fine,” she argued, even though she didn’t feel fine. Her entire world had been tumbled and tossed up in the air these past few days. Only problem was, she had to figure out just how all those pieces were going to fit back together again.

  Katarina couldn’t look at Kevin.

  “Humph, so that’s what this is all about,” Kevin said, then added, “I don’t expect Alex to be back for a while, in case you want to reconsider staying at the house.”

  “He’s not coming back?” Her voice rose an octave. “I’m so sorry, Kevin, it’s all my fault.”

  Emily’s eyebrows arched, and Katarina realized she’d just stuck her foot into her mouth again. Kevin and Emily looked at each other with questions hanging between them.

  Katarina didn’t need more speculation…from anyone. If Alex wasn’t going to come back, there was no point in refusing their generous offer. Doing so would only make matters worse. Katarina had invested more money into her business, anticipating expanding production. Between unexpected expenses from the trip and the accident, her entire savings had now been depleted. She had precious little money to put down a deposit on an apartment and replace the dolls damaged in the car accident.

  Tears formed as she thought of it all again. Katarina rubbed her eyes. She had to do a better job of covering her emotions. She had to stop reacting to Alex. There was only one way to keep all their questions at bay—pretend. Pretend Alex’s presence did nothing to her. Pretend she had no doubts about her and Ron. Pretend everything was fine, even though that couldn’t be further from the truth.

  Kevin closed the gap between them. “Katarina, this is what family is for. We help each other when the going gets rough, just like Alex running the company for me. And you’re my sister now. I expect to help out however I can. I want you to stay at the house as long as you need to.”

  “If the house is going to be empty anyway, I may as well consider it. As long as you wouldn’t mind if I look for someone to share the rent, until Ron and I get married, anyway.”

  Kevin handed her the key again and she sat back down on the sofa. Emily and Kevin joined her. “It’ll be rent free until we get my things out of it, so don’t worry about finding someone immediately. Until I finish the clinic project, I doubt we’ll have time to do much. Especially without Alex’s help.”

  From the tone of Kevin’s voice, Katarina could tell he wasn’t happy with the latest turn of events where it involved his brother. He needed Alex’s help. She hated to admit it, but she, too, was more disappointed than happy that Alex wouldn’t be coming back.

  Still, she felt guilty taking advantage of her brother-in-law’s generosity. “I don’t know, Kevin. I don’t feel right taking it rent free, but maybe I could do something to help out, in trade for rent….”

  Just then, Ricky wandered into the room with peanut butt
er and jelly all over the front of him. “Why don’t you ask God what to do? He knows everything.”

  Kevin opened his arms to his son, not seeming to mind the mess at all. “I tell you what, why don’t we pray, and I’m sure things will turn out perfectly.”

  The suggestion stopped her cold. Pray? About a house?

  Emily reached out her hands, Ricky and Kevin took hold immediately, and the three waited for Katarina. Finally she joined hands, completing the circle.

  “Our Father,” Kevin began, “we’re told not to be anxious about anything, but to turn to You with our needs and prayers.”

  Without missing a beat, Emily took over. “We ask for Katarina to feel at peace, Lord. You know better than we do what all of our needs are and will be in the coming months, and we ask for Your direction. We praise You for the many blessings You’ve surprised us with this past few weeks, Father. Though we don’t always understand Your ways, I thank You for always being there to listen when we need comfort and answering our needs according to Your will.”

  There was a long silence before Ricky whispered, “Is it my turn?”

  “Sure,” his daddy whispered back.

  “And thank you, God, for taking care of Auntie Kat and Uncle Alex, and please bring him back here wif us really fast. Amen.”

  “Amen,” echoed Kevin and Emily.

  Katarina clenched her jaw to curb the sob in her throat. She folded her hands and focused her gaze on them.

  “Kevin, would you mind helping Ricky clean up?” Emily asked.

  Kevin patted Katarina’s shoulder, and he and Ricky went upstairs in silence.

  “Katarina?”

  Katarina swallowed hard and buried her face in her hands to avoid Emily’s gaze. “I don’t want to talk.”

  “About anything?” Emily’s voice was soft.

  She shook her head.

  “Okay, then, just listen. I’ve wanted to tell you this for a while now, but it never seemed to be the right time.” Emily cleared her throat. “God knows you’re mad at our dad for leaving, and He’s everything Karl Berthoff couldn’t be.”