“Well, why don’t I have a little chat with them and see what they say,” the sheriff said as he turned to look in the car windows. Then he turned back to Conrad. “It might be best if you took the young lady into your office while I talk to the boys.”
Conrad nodded. “Makes sense.”
“And make sure she doesn’t make any phone calls,” the sheriff added. “She might be working with someone.”
“I’m not working with anyone,” Katrina protested. “I mean, I didn’t do anything either so I don’t need a partner.”
The sheriff grunted and looked at Charley. “Why don’t you go with them, too?”
Conrad could see that Katrina wanted to protest, but she didn’t. Instead, she walked ahead of him with her head held high and that long hair of hers swinging again like she was some princess. Her back was straight with indignation.
And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, Uncle Charley leaned over and whispered, “Did you hear that? She’s single.”
Conrad muttered low enough that only Charley could hear. “Give it up. We’ve got trouble enough.”
He couldn’t stop watching her, though. Her high heels didn’t even wobble as she marched across the concrete floor. Which was more than he could say for his heart. He supposed it was only natural that, after he’d looked at that calendar a hundred times over the past week, he would feel some warmth for the woman in the picture. He had sense enough to know that had nothing to do with real life though. This woman could be a criminal.
The three of them had no sooner stepped into his office than Katrina turned on them.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” she demanded. Her hands were on her hips and the color was high on her face.
Conrad didn’t figure it was the time to say she looked magnificent.
His uncle wasn’t so sensitive. “My!”
Fortunately, the older man didn’t elaborate, but Conrad recognized the appreciation anyway.
“The sheriff got a call,” Conrad answered. He figured she deserved to know. “The car you’re driving was reported stolen.”
“That car belongs to my sister. She lent it to me so I could go out scouting around for places that look romantic.”
“You mean like our stop sign?” Conrad asked in astonishment.
Uncle Charley just stood there looking like a cat who’d found a bowl of cream. “Romance?”
“If you must know, I’m hoping to become a professional photographer. I took some shots for a calendar called Romance Across America. I am—well, was—looking for locations for photo shoots this morning.”
The fire went out of her as she spoke.
“That’s the job you lost?” Conrad asked softly.
She nodded. “I’m thinking I could make another pitch for it, but I’ve already sent them my best work so I don’t know. They said my pictures lacked heart.”
“What do they know?” Conrad said without thinking. He wasn’t ready to champion this woman. True, something about her tugged at him. But he had sense enough to know that she would break his heart if he let himself get involved with her.
“So you’re a professional photographer?” Uncle Charley asked. “That’s why you wanted someone to stand by our heart sign?”
Katrina nodded.
“Then young lady, that makes you an answer to prayer,” he said with satisfaction in his voice.
“What?” Conrad almost swallowed his tongue. Here he was trying to be sensible and his uncle was diving off the deep end. Surely, there had to be a limit to what his relatives would do in pursuit of a bride for him. “I’m sure you don’t mean—”
“No, she’s an answer to prayer.” Uncle Charley was adamant. He turned to Katrina. “My wife, Edith, has been praying up a storm asking God to send us a photographer to take some pictures for the church directory. She’s set on us having photos now that the church in Miles City has them. She says we need to keep up with the times.”
“The church directory?” Conrad was so relieved he didn’t care that he sounded like a simple-minded parrot.
“I don’t really—” Katrina stammered. “That is, I mean, I really should keep looking for more—well, other work. I used to be a secretary. I suppose I could do that again.”
Conrad saw all the life leave her face.
“We’ve got money to pay for the directory pictures,” Uncle Charley said.
“I don’t work for churches,” Katrina said. “I don’t even go inside them.”
Conrad could hear the bitterness in her voice. He expected his uncle to concede defeat. There might be a prayer request in the church bulletin asking for a wife for him, but no one would suggest he marry a woman who wasn’t at peace with God. That would be unending trouble. Instead of dropping the subject, though, his uncle got a thoughtful look on his face.
“I’ll help you find a blonde for that picture you want of the heart sign,” the older man bargained. “All you have to do is help my wife set up the directory. Give her some pointers. Maybe take a few photos for starters. And you’ve got yourself a model.”
“But I—”
“You don’t need to set foot inside the church if you don’t want. And I’ll get you the best-looking blonde in Dry Creek.”
“Really?” Katrina asked. Her face glowed. “That heart sign is perfect.”
Conrad didn’t know how a post of rusted metal could move a woman from despair to happiness, but it sure looked like one had.
Uncle Charley nodded. “It’s a deal then.”
Conrad’s heart sank. He loved his uncle and didn’t want to see him get hurt. But no good could come from being so friendly to a woman who showed up in a stolen car. He’d make sure the church didn’t give her any advance money in the hopes she would take the directory job.
The woman walked over to the window. “Can I see the sign from here?”
“Just look down the road to your left as far as you can see,” Uncle Charley told her.
“I see that garden gnome,” she said without glancing back at them. She was quiet for a second. “Then the church. You know your church could use a steeple.”
“We’re looking into it,” Charley said. “It takes money, though. And we have the directory to do. We’re a small church.”
She turned back. “I’m not taking all those pictures. Just so you know. I’m willing to get your wife started and do a few for examples, but that’s it.”
Charley nodded and she turned back to the window.
“I don’t see it,” Katrina said.
“You’re looking in the right direction. It’s farther down,” his uncle answered.
She moved her head, straining even more to locate it.
Conrad started to wonder if she wasn’t trying to figure the fastest way out of town instead of looking for that sign. Or maybe she was just searching for a place to hide. If so, it’d be difficult. Most of the houses had fences around them, but all of them were see-through bars or wire so they wouldn’t conceal much. There weren’t any leaves on any of the bushes so she couldn’t hide in the shrubbery, either.
“The doors are all locked around here,” he said. That was an exaggeration. Granted, most of the front