And now you will not come to the bank. What am I to tell Señor Bentley?”
Catherine threw her hands into the air. “Tell him I have a strange disease. I don’t care what you tell him.”
Jacinda’s mouth fell open in surprise at this outburst. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the women had gone ahead, and she lifted her skirts and hurried after them without another word to Catherine. Heaving a sigh, Catherine walked to the coffee shop, relieved to be out from under the scrutiny of Jacinda’s sharp eyes.
She slid onto a stool at the counter, and Don Panchito filled a small cup of hot coffee for her. Gratefully she sipped her coffee, satisfied that she had avoided a meeting with Josh. But her satisfaction didn’t last long. Someone scraped the legs of the stool next to her across the concrete floor.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Josh sit down next to her and order an espresso. He didn’t say anything, so they sat there drinking their coffee, acutely aware of each other, without speaking.
Finally he broke the silence. “I hear you’re suffering from a rare disease,” he remarked.
“Don’t worry. It’s not contagious,” she assured him.
“Good. Let’s have dinner. I need to talk to you.”
“I can’t. This doesn’t make sense, you know.”
He turned to face her. “What?”
“Us seeing each other. We’re far from home. We’re lonely, even homesick. It’s natural that we seek out each other’s company, but...” Funny how she had it all worked out in her mind, and now that he was here, sitting next to her, she couldn’t remember what she was going to say.
“Very natural,” he said smoothly.
“But not very professional. I’d feel better if we had a business relationship.” Yes, that was it, a business relationship. How could he argue with that?
“So would I,” he agreed. “In fact, that’s why I’m here.”
She blinked. “It is?” His agreeing with her so readily disarmed her.
“Yes, I need some help with a loan application.”
“But I thought you didn’t handle loans except...”
“Except on rare occasions. That’s right. But this is a cousin of Duran’s who’s a fisherman on Lake Cordillera. He heard we were making small loans to small businesses. They want a motorboat to improve their catch. Duran would handle it, but that’s a conflict of interest, so I volunteered. It’s his cousin, after all. He shouldn’t be discriminated against just because Duran works in the bank.”
Other customers paid for their coffee and left. Catherine looked at Josh. “What does that have to do with me?”
“Nothing, except I need a translator and somebody to give a frank opinion of the situation.”
“I can tell you right now I’m in favor of their getting the loan.”
He set his cup down. “Without even seeing the operation?”
“Well... I suppose it would help.”
“Then you’ll come with me, as a favor to the bank, as a favor to the fishermen.”
She smiled. “If you put it that way.”
“Have you ever been there before?”
“To the highest lake in the world and the center of the Inca civilization? No, I’ve never been there before.” And she really shouldn’t go now, business or not. Yet those fishermen needed a spokesperson, someone who would understand and sympathize with their situation. She imagined standing on the shore of the lake, watching the sun reenact the Inca legend. A shiver ran down her spine at the thought. But was it the thought of the lake or sharing the experience with Josh that made her skin tingle in anticipation?
She dragged her eyes from his and stared into her coffee. “How would we get there?” she asked, knowing she’d already made up her mind.
“Take the train from Castillo.”
Her heart leaped. A train ride through the high Andes. A trip she’d always wanted to take with a man who could make sharing a cup of coffee exciting. She wrapped her hands around her cup. “I suppose I could get away for a few days,” she said slowly.
“Good.” His eyes gleamed as he took her hand and they walked out the door together. They walked through the darkness toward the truck without speaking. When they reached the truck, he trailed his hand along her shoulder in a caress.
“Drive carefully,” he said. “I’ll pick you up next Wednesday morning at your house.”
The days seemed to drag until Wednesday. Josh didn’t come to the market and she didn’t go to the bank. She hadn’t told Josh about Old Pedro changing his mind yet. She was afraid he’d say no again, even though deep