Page 115 of To Catch a Latte Thick as Thieves

“I thought that was the way to the highway,” she said. “Obviously, I was mistaken.”

“How long have you been mistaken?”

“A half hour, give or take.” She rolled down her window and stuck her arm out, attempting to shoo the cow away. It was useless.

“And you didn’t wake me?” he shouted.

“I didn’t think it was necessary,” she answered. “I’d have found the highway eventually.”

“Your brother’s right,” Jared marveled. “You have the sense of direction of a chicken with its head cut off.”

“I do not,” she protested.

“You do realize that we’re heading north?” he asked.

“Yes,” she lied.

“And when we left the highway, we were headed north?”

“Yes,” she lied again.

“Then how are you going to find the highway if you keep traveling north and are, in fact, driving away from it?” he grilled her ruthlessly.

“I figured I’d run into a sign sooner or later,” she explained lamely.

“Oh, you’d have hit a sign all right, probably one that reads ‘Welcome to Iowa.’” Jared shook his head in disbelief.

Cat turned a serene glance from the cow to Jared and back again. A chuckle tumbled out of her lips before she could stop it. Jared’s eyes narrowed at her amusement before he, too, began to laugh. He had a rich deep laugh that was as contagious. They laughed at each other, glanced at the immovable cow, and erupted into laughter again.

“I’ll say one thing for you, Catherine Levery,” Jared said as he wiped the tears from his eyes. “You’re never dull.”

“I think I’ll take that as a compliment,” she retorted.

The cow, apparently bored by their laughter, resumed its walk across the narrow road and into the pasture beyond. Only after it was out of earshot, did Lucy leap up and begin to bark.

“Fine watchdog you are,” Jared teased and ruffled her ears.

“I’ve been trying to retrace my steps to find the highway,” Cat said, taking her foot off the brake. “But so far, nothing looks familiar.”

“Let’s drive until we see someone, then we can stop and get directions,” Jared advised.

“Sounds like a plan.”

They traveled through the rolling hills until they saw two men visiting over a fence. One was sitting on a tractor, the other stood on an overturned crate. Cat pulled over to the side of the road and waited while Jared went to get directions from them.

She saw the men glance at her and break into sympathetic grins. How annoying. It wasn’t her fault that there was such lousy signage leaving the grocery store. If there had been a proper sign, she never would have gotten lost.

Jared thanked the gentlemen for their help and ambled back to the waiting van. How Cat could have taken the wrong turn was beyond him. It certainly validated Cameron’s opinion of his sister’s navigational skills. No wonder he worried about her.

Jared tried not to think of Cat alone in Copper Creek. He wouldn’t be there to share her misadventures or rescue her when she got lost. It was disconcerting to realize not how much she would need somebody, but how much he wanted that somebody to be him.

Jared tried to shake those thoughts loose as he climbed into the van beside the woman who was beginning to torment his every waking hour. She was his friend’s little sister and that was as far as it went. If he touched her, he was pond scum. He’d never forgive himself, and he was quite positive neither would Cam.

“So how far off are we?” she asked.

“Not terribly,” he reassured her. “Just go straight until the road forks, veer to the left and that road should lead us to the highway.”

“See? I told you I would have found it,” she said.