Courting Katarina by Carol Steward Page A

thumb. “So all this stuff back here is what you turn into your classic creations, huh?”
    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 doyou 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 stopsign. 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