Plain Fame (14 page)

“For?”

She looked at the sky. “For helping me see the sunset through new eyes.” When she turned back to meet his gaze, he was struck by the depth of emotion in her eyes. He felt something stir inside him, and he took a deep breath. When she smiled, he realized that she was glowing. Such beauty, he thought and took a step backward.

“Anything for you, Princesa,” he said and realized that he meant it. He took his place beside her as they walked back to the house, a comfortable silence falling between them.

Chapter Eleven

The temperature gauge outside the kitchen window was at nearly ninety degrees, and the humidity was thick. It had been a temperate summer so far, but the heat had rolled in overnight and everything felt thick and muggy.

“What do you think about making some ice cream later on this afternoon?” Lizzie offered as she started clearing the dinner dishes from the table. Instead of a large, hot meal, she had served cold cuts and applesauce, coleslaw and chowchow, anything that didn’t require cooking on such a hot day.

Amanda looked up from where she sat at the table, one hand pressed against her cheek. Despite the heat and the beads of sweat that dotted her forehead, she gave her
mamm
a big grin. “Oh
ja
!
Wunderbar gut
idea!”

Lizzie laughed.
“Somehow, I knew
you’d
say that!”

Alejandro leaned against the open door, the breeze from outside cooling him. It was hot outside, but it was even hotter inside the house. Despite the fact that the windows were open, the room was stifling hot. The thought of ice cream sounded good to him, but he had never had it homemade. “How do you make ice cream?”

“Freeze a cow,” Elias said as he struggled to put his boots back on.

Amanda burst out laughing, and even Lizzie had to smile at the incredulous look on Alejandro’s face. “You’ll see,” Amanda said, trying to stop laughing.

Standing up, Elias grinned at Alejandro.
“
You Englische. So gullible.
” He chuckled. Walking to the door, he placed his right hand on Alejandro’s shoulder. “I’m headed out to the field to check the fence line. You’re welcome to join me or hang with the womenfolk.”

“Fence it is,” Alejandro said, glancing over at Amanda and winking at her. “Had enough canning to last me a lifetime the other day. Easier to work outside in the fields.”

“Shh,” Elias said. “Don’t let them figure that one out or they’ll be out in the fields and we’ll be stuck in the kitchen.”

“Now, Elias!”
Lizzie scolded.
“You go on and check that fence, if you must. No need to tease so!”

Amanda stared at the door, long after the two men left. She wished that she could join them outside, but it would be too hard to walk the fields with her crutches. Yet she longed to be alone with Alejandro, even if only for a few minutes. Her heart felt heavy, and she sighed, knowing that it was only a matter of time before he left for good. He had his own world to return to, whereas she knew that she was already in hers.

“Don’t be getting too attached,” Lizzie said, breaking the silence.

Amanda looked up, surprised to find her
mamm
staring at her. “
I don
’t know what you mean,” Amanda replied, a little too quick in her response to sound truly unaware of her
mamm
’s meaning.

Wiping her hands on a towel, Lizzie moved over to the table. “I can see that look on your face, Amanda. Won’t do you no good to get fancy ideas,” she offered gently. “He won’t stay, and you can’
t leave.
”

Amanda grimaced at her
mamm
’
s words.
“You are imagining things, Mamm.”

“I am,
ja
?” She reached out and touched Amanda’s hand. “He’s an Englischer, Amanda. And from what I can see, a very different one at that. You, however, are Amish.”

“And from what I can see, very different at that,” Amanda added defiantly.

“
Ja
, different, but still Amish.” Her voice remained stern. “Your
daed
might be missing Aaron and seeing something in Alejandro that just ain’t there, too. I fear you both are in for some heartache.” She stood up. “Sooner he leaves, the better. Was a mistake having him stay here,” she added as she turned back to her work, the conversation clearly over.

It didn’t matter. Amanda had nothing to add. She knew her
mamm
was right, but she didn’t want to admit it. They had been so grateful for everything that he had done that no one thought of the impact Alejandro’s presence would have on the family. But the damage was done, and Amanda’s heart felt heavy.

It was three hours later when Elias and Alejandro returned from working in the field. They were laughing as they walked up the porch steps. Amanda had moved over to the sofa and looked up as she heard them approach. Despite it being midafternoon, it was still hot inside the house. She lifted her hand to her head, touching her hair to make certain it was still under her prayer
kapp
. Her
mamm
was at the stove, standing in front of a big silver pot and hadn’t noticed the subtle move.

“Looks like rain,” Elias said as he removed his hat and placed it on the peg on the entrance wall. “Will give us a break from the heat, that’s for sure and certain.”

Lizzie nodded but didn’t say anything. She was cutting curds to make cheese and needed to concentrate. “
Rain is
gut
,
” she finally said. Then, looking up, she addressed Elias as she motioned to the stove. “Need to pour that into the mold, Elias. Would you mind?”

But it was Alejandro who hurried to help her. “
Let me,
” he said. When he saw her hesitate, he smiled. “I would like to help,” he added. Amanda wondered if he sensed her
mamm
’s apprehension, the slight shift in her comfort level with his presence in their lives. If so, he was doing a good job of breaking through her guarded shield.

Elias sank down into the chair next to Amanda as Alejandro followed Lizzie into the canning room where she would pour the curd into the cheesecloth and put it into the cheese mold for pressing. Elias removed his boots and leaned back, shutting his eyes. For a moment, he stayed like that, relaxed and quiet.

“You want the
Budget
to read, Daed?” Amanda asked, leaning over to pick up the paper and hand it over to him.

“Nee,”
he said, opening his eyes. “But
danke
.”

He glanced around the room. Through the windows he could see dark clouds rolling across the sky, blocking the sun, and the room had suddenly gotten darker. “Best be lighting the lanterns,
ja
?” He stood up and hurried over to the lantern over the kitchen table. On the wall by the refrigerator were a strike pad and a metal box. He reached inside for a match and struck it against the pad, using the flame to light the kerosene lantern. With a soft poof, followed by a gentle hiss, the room became suddenly awash in a bright glow.

Lizzie and Alejandro returned to the kitchen. She noticed the lantern was on and quickly turned to peer out of the window. “You’re right about that rain, Elias. Best be making that ice cream before it starts!”

She hurried to the counter where a large bowl with a custard mixture was cooling. She had started preparing it earlier, knowing that Amanda would want to show Alejandro how they turned it into ice cream. “
Alejandro,
” she said, “if you open the refrigerator door, I have a big plastic bag with ice all ready.”

He did as he was told while she poured salt into a measuring cup. “Now, pour this over the ice.”

“¿Sí?”
he asked, taking the salt and opening the plastic bag. “
Salt over ice?
”

Lizzie didn
’t respond, as she was focused on pouring the custard mixture into smaller Ziploc bags. Amanda watched from the sofa for a few moments before she swung the cast down and reached for her crutches. She was tired of feeling helpless, and the next part was always her favorite. Lizzie took the larger bag of salted ice from Alejandro and opened it in order to put the four smaller bags inside. Then she shut it and handed the bag to Alejandro.

“Shake,” she said.

“Shake?”

Amanda laughed at his expression. “Shake. You know how to do that,
ja
?”

He lifted an eyebrow at her sassiness and smirked. “I’ve been known to shake some in my day,”
he quipped.
“But only onstage.” He began to shake the bag from side to side, his eyes still holding her gaze. “
Good?
”

“Nee!”
She leaned against the counter and reached out. “Let me show you how the Amish shake,” she teased back, ignoring the tense look on her
mamm
’s face. Instead, Amanda took the bag and began rolling it back and forth in her hands so that the custard moved consistently against the cold ice. “Like this.”

“Ay, mi madre,”
he exclaimed, looking at both mother and daughter. “That’s not shaking! That’s rolling!”

Again, they laughed, and Lizzie took a deep breath. “Less chatter and more shaking, or rolling, or whatever you call it, if you want some cold ice cream after supper,” she replied, leveling her gaze at Amanda, an unspoken warning in her eyes.

Elias waved his hand as if dismissing Lizzie’
s words.
“It’s
gut
to hear laughter in the house, Lizzie. Been too long,” he mumbled, shutting his eyes as he rested his head against the back of the chair. “But a little less noise is just as
gut
, I reckon. Might take myself a nap before evening chores,” he added.

By the time the rain rolled in, the plastic bags of custard had turned into a soft batch of vanilla ice cream. A cool breeze blew into the kitchen from the windows, and then the sound of rain pelting against the house immediately created a peaceful change in the room. It was going to be a lazy afternoon with little chance of going outside, Amanda realized.

Alejandro excused himself, explaining that he wanted to check some messages and send some e-mails before his cell phone ran out of battery. As he disappeared through the door that connected the two houses, Amanda found herself resenting her broken leg that made it so hard to move around and escape the ever-increasing watchful eye of her
mamm
.

An hour later, she found her chance. The rain had stopped, and Elias was still napping. Lizzie had looked out the window and sighed. “I hate to do it, but I need to run to market,” she said, lowering the plain white curtain back in place. She glanced over at Elias. “Hate to wake him; he’s been working so hard.”

“I’ll tell him if he wakes,” Amanda offered.

“Won’t be gone but for an hour . . . if that,” Lizzie said, scurrying to collect her purse and hurry out the door.

Amanda listened for the horse and buggy to rattle down the driveway toward the road before she reached for her crutches. Her
daed
was still snoring, and she knew that, should he wake up, he wouldn’t think twice about her not being there. Carefully, she walked toward the door that divided the two houses, and after a quick glance over her shoulder to make certain her
daed
was still sleeping, she quickly passed through and shut the door behind her.

There was a passage between the two houses, and she paused at the door, knocking once. Her heart raced inside her chest. She wasn’t certain what she was going to say when he opened the door. She was acting on an impulse. It was a new feeling for her, and she wasn’t sure about how to deal with it.

There was no answer.

She knocked again and reached for the doorknob. When he didn’t answer, she opened the door and peeked inside. It was dark, but she could still see since the sun was starting to peek through the storm clouds that had rolled in earlier. He was standing in the kitchen, his back to her, and dancing. She shuffled inside the door and shut it behind her, her eyes transfixed on Alejandro. He hadn’t responded to her knock at the door because he wore earbuds attached to his phone.

She had never seen anyone dance with such fluid movements, such grace and sensuality. The way he moved, his hips rolling from side to side, caused a blush to rise to her cheeks. What was it about Alejandro that made her so quick to feel embarrassed and yet, at the same time, totally unable to walk away?

“¡Ay,
Princesa
!”
he exclaimed when he turned around and saw her watching him. He lifted his hand to his ears and removed the earbuds. “I didn’t know you were there!”

“Obviously,” she said softly.

There was a moment of awkward silence. Neither one knew what to say.

“You want to listen?” he finally offered, crossing the room until he stood before her. “It’s one of my songs.”

She lit up. “Really?”

Gently, he placed each earbud in her ears. He fumbled with the device in his hand, and suddenly her head was filled with music, fast-paced and heart-stopping music. The beat of the music pounded against her ears, and she jumped backward, as if trying to escape the noise. Alejandro quickly clicked a button on the side of the device, decreasing the volume, and she relaxed, lifting her eyes to stare at him as she heard the music, softer now.

And then she heard it.

His voice.

He was singing, his words fast and in rhythm with the music. Most of the words she could not make out, and she wasn’t certain whether he was singing in English or Spanish. But she did know that she felt the passion of his words inside her chest. Shutting her eyes, she listened to the words and the music, feeling her body sway in unison with the beat. When the song ended, she opened her eyes.