I closed my eyes, listening to the shuffling and thuds of the guys moving furniture around downstairs. I hoped they all left me alone so I could take a little catnap. Within a few minutes I was drifting away, an image of a black buggy with Noah at the reins the last thing in my mind.
* * *
“Rose, wake up. Rose. Rose!” I heard Justin but ignored him, all too warm and comfortable curled up in the plushy comforter. The afternoon sunlight was down far enough to leave the room in a dull, dreamlike haze and I burrowed deeper into the softness, close to falling back asleep. Then the little twerp had the nerve to grasp my shoulders and start shaking me violently. That woke me up.
With all my weight I hurled myself onto him, knocking him off the mattress. Satisfaction filled me as I observed Justin lying on his back on the floor. But the feeling was short-lived, replaced with a panic attack when it suddenly occurred to me how late it was. Swiftly I slid across the mattress, frantically searching for the phone.
Once my hand grasped it under the sheet, I said a silent prayer and peeked at it. Yes! I danced in my head when I saw that it was five o’clock, early enough to leisurely start getting ready, but late enough to be almost ready to go. Perfect. I bounced up, grabbing the clothes I’d set aside for the occasion.
“Gee, Rose, you didn’t have to do that,” Justin said, rubbing his head.
I figured I had five seconds to spare, so I rounded on him and hissed, “What do you want?”
“I was going to invite you to go with Sam and me to the movies in town tonight. Dad went to the hospital to get his office in order, so we thought we’d eat dinner out and go see the Transformers movie.”
“You’ve already seen it twice. Isn’t there something else playing?” I suggested impatiently.
“We like that movie. It has everything—robots, explosions and a hot babe.” Justin smiled slyly.
“You’re too young to be interested in hot babes,” I informed him with my nose wrinkled in disgust. “But I’m not going, so I don’t really care what you guys waste your money on. Now get out of my room so I can change.”
“What are you going to do?” he asked keenly. Maybe he was growing a brain.
That would be dangerous.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but if it gets you out of my room faster, I’m going for a ride.”
With that I pushed Justin out the door and locked it behind him. A few minutes later I was dressed, and hearing Sam’s truck engine revving up, I leaned out the window to watch him drive away—perfect timing again.
Turning to the big round mirror attached to my retro-style dresser, I studied my reflection. I left my long, wavy hair down, with a few stray curls around my face. I decided to put a little blush on my cheeks and some gloss over my lips. Less was definitely more with Amish guys, I determined. Besides, I didn’t wear much makeup anyway.
Standing back, I admired myself in the mirror. I looked pretty good. Hmm, except the top. Maybe it was just a bit too formfitting. Turning sideways, I was impressed to see how I was filling the shirt out this year. I certainly didn’t remember looking so…developed in it last year. Yeah, probably the wrong shirt for a guy who was used to seeing women dressed in smocklike dresses. I took it off and rummaged through the closest pile on the floor.
I finally decided on a cute light blue top that had a little lace along the collar. His family seemed to like blue, and it hugged my chest just enough, without being trampy. And the lace made it feminine—just right.
Stopping in the kitchen briefly, I spread mayonnaise on two slices of bread and stuck a thick piece of cheese between them, proceeding to eat quickly. Justin’s comment about my cooking popped into my head, and I was doubly glad I had body slammed him. I was in too good of a mood to dwell on it, though, and let my obnoxious brother slip from my mind, to be replaced with thoughts of Noah.
Catching, grooming and saddling Lady didn’t take much time, and when I did the final time check, it was six-thirty. The exact time I wanted to be heading up the road.
Easily, I found the opening Noah had told me about, and once on the other side, I was delighted to see the fields went on as far as I could see. There were pockets of woods dappling the scenery, separating one hay field or crop from another. The picture was breathtaking enough to have been plucked from an art-gallery wall. And the property was isolated by a thick row of trees along the road, making it a superb place for a secret meeting. The lane was wide and level, spotted intermittently with grass and dirt. After a few minutes of getting used to the new surroundings, I squeezed Lady into a canter, reveling in the exhilaration of her muscles moving beneath me as we sped up, the wind whipping my hair back.
I was so into the joy of the ride that I failed to hear another horse moving up behind me fast. Almost too late, I caught sight of Noah from the corner of my eye, just in time to urge Lady faster before he passed us.
Glancing sideways, I saw him grin wickedly at me, and I knew the game was on. Leaning lower over my horse, I moved with her, pushing with my lower legs, asking for still more speed. We were going so fast tears were developing at the corners of my eyes—still I urged her on.
He was right alongside us, and if Lady swayed at all in his direction, we’d brush legs hard. I didn’t care, though. I wanted to win. I saw the challenge in his eyes, and I knew Lady was fast. Faster than the tall bay buggy horse he was riding. And even if she wasn’t, I was sure my Arabian could keep the race close.
But before either of us won, we ran out of running space as the path narrowed and I could see a sharp turn ahead leading into a stand of trees. Noah held out his hand, indicating for me to slow down, and I responded in unison with him and his horse, reining down to a walk right before the turn.
Sitting up and patting Lady vigorously on the neck, I exclaimed, “That was awesome! I would have beaten you if we’d had more room.” I exhaled loudly, still filled with the powerful adrenaline rush.
“Your horse is really fast,” Noah commented, catching his breath. He studied her for a moment and then brought his eyes up to me with the same admiring look on his face.
Blushing, I glanced away, feeling butterflies spreading out in my stomach. It was a strange feeling, being both pleasant in one way and totally unsatisfying in another. When I got the nerve to turn back to him, he was still silently watching me, this time with an unreadable expression.
“Wow,” I breathed. “Do you do that often?”
“No. That’s the first real race I’ve run in several years,” he answered thoughtfully.
“Why?” I asked him, relaxing in the saddle, swaying with the movement of the horse.
Pausing to answer, he said, “Well, since I’ve been done with school and working full-time, I just don’t have much time for joyrides. Then when I do, it’s difficult to make plans with my friends. There’s always so much to do around the farm.” He scowled and I suddenly felt sorry for him. He was too young to have to work all the time.
I was miffed and without thinking I blurted out, “Do you like being Amish?”
He sighed, scanning the trail ahead, brooding over my question for an amount of time that I was becoming uncomfortable with, when he finally answered, “Yes, I like being Amish—for the most part.” He glanced over at me with a slight tilt to his mouth and then continued, “I enjoy the simple way of life we have, the sense of community and the closeness of our families.”
After considering what he said for a minute, I asked with astonishment, “But don’t you want to be able to drive a car or watch TV?”
He laughed at that, shooting me a look of amusement. “Do you think those things are so important?” His grin spread into a full-blown smile. “I can get to most places I want to go in my buggy, and if I need to go farther away, I hire a driver. And you know…there are more enjoyable things to do at night besides watch TV.”