Temptation (A Temptation Novel) (14 page)

I was athletic and had played volleyball in gym class too many times to count, so it wasn’t a surprise that within a minute I had given our team a point. Suzanna high-fived me with a smack that left my palm stinging red, and I finally got the first peek into how these kids released some of their pent-up energy. A few of the girls were really sporty, and although I didn’t see any of them crash into the ground the way I did a couple of times, they were running around with abandon, seriously trying to get the ball.

Sarah was on our team, too, and she commented, “You’re really good at this, Rose. You have to always be on our team!”

Her saying that made me wonder if I’d be invited to these events every Sunday or if this was a one-shot deal. It would be a bore to sit through the singing again, but the volleyball part was more than okay.

The last time I hit the ground saving the ball, I managed to smear grass clippings all over the front of my dress, and while I was attempting to brush them off, the ball from Noah’s game flew into my chest hard, bumping me back a step. It happened so quickly I barely knew what hit me.

Within a split second Noah was beside me, asking if I was all right with an edgy voice. Even Sam was walking with purpose from the other side of the net. The girls had gathered around me, and as if I didn’t feel idiotic enough, the boy who’d spiked the ball was there in front of me, pleading for my forgiveness.

I would’ve spoken right away, but when I tried, the air wouldn’t come and within seconds Sam was with me, holding my arms over my head and patting my back. Finally, with his help, I caught my breath and took a big gulp of air.

The intense worry on Noah’s features hadn’t escaped my notice. Luckily for him, everyone was looking at me as if I was on exhibit in a freak show, and not paying attention to him at all.

“I’m…fine…really… Just lost my…breath for a…minute,” I stammered, breathing slowly in and out of my mouth.

“I didn’t mean to hit you. I’m so, so sorry,” the dark-haired boy repeated.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. My words came out easier and I could fill my lungs up fully again.

He continued to hover over me until Noah pulled him back and ordered him with a tight voice, “Give her some space, Timmy. She doesn’t need you in her face.” Then he said to me, “Are you really okay, Rose?”

My eyes locked on his and my heart slowed. Time seemed to have stopped altogether and for a brief instant Noah and I were completely alone. His dark eyes stared into mine and I knew right then that he really did have feelings for me. The realization shocked me and a cool sweat prickled along the skin of my neck and arms.

Maybe we had a chance…

The trance was broken by Sarah’s dove coo of a voice beside my ear and her hand going around my waist. “Come on, Rose. You come into the house with me for a while to rest.”

I looked into her kind eyes and mumbled, “Yeah, that would be good. Thank you.”

As we walked up the gentle slope leading to the house, I stared at the grass, not looking back toward the other kids…or Noah. My mind was swimming with uncertainty and my legs were still wobbly, but Sarah’s strong arm gripped me tightly as we walked, giving a sense of realness to the moment.

She shuffled me in the side door and up the stairs quickly, which I was grateful for. I could hear the buzzing sound of women’s voices coming from the kitchen, and I was all too happy to avoid their questions and concern. Again, I took notice that Sarah was a quick-thinking kind of girl. And even though we were as different as night and day on the outside, there was still a strange kind of connection we shared that made me feel as if I’d known her forever.

She guided me around a corner and into a dusty-pink-hued room with maroon curtains. Lightly she pushed me onto one of the two twin beds in the room and muttered something about a glass of water and then she went back through the doorway with a swish of her dress.

The trek from the nets to her bedroom was hazy to me, but now that I was sitting on the bedspread, the sharp smell of roses hit my nostrils, fully rousing me. I looked around for the source and immediately located a vase with white flowers on the dresser by the window.

Sarah must share the picture-perfect room with Rachel, I thought, noticing that although the bed on the opposite wall had the same blanket on it, it was mostly covered up by a quilt that sported royal-blue-and-white designs. There were also wooden letters above the other bed spelling out Rachel’s name.

The room was amazingly clean and free of stuff for two teenage girls to be sharing, and for an instant I wished that my room was so organized. Then I reconsidered. My posters, photos, trophies, clothes and shoes scattered about my own sleeping space made it
my
room. I wouldn’t want all those things hidden away—I wanted to see them each and every day.

Either Sarah and Rachel had no interests, or they weren’t allowed to display them. But as Sarah stepped back into the room and softly closed the door behind her, I decided that it didn’t even matter that she was a neat freak and I was a slob—we were still going to be close friends.

Handing me a glass filled with water, she sat down on the bed beside me and began rubbing my back.

I said, “Thanks,” closing my eyes and enjoying the peaceful moment.

“That ball hit you pretty hard, Rose. Are you sure you’re all right?” Sarah asked kindly.

I opened my eyes and met her brown ones. “I’m fine, really.” I paused and said, “I feel kind of stupid causing such a ruckus, though.”

Sarah shook her head and smoothed out the crinkles in her dress, saying, “Oh, don’t feel like that. It’s not your fault that some of the boys have such rotten aim.”

The corners of her mouth twitched, and a second later she began laughing wholeheartedly, giving me a slap on the back that surprised me. At first, the big snort and barking laughter had me staring at her, but her mirth was contagious, and all too quickly I was laughing right along with her.

When we finally calmed and she was patting the wetness from her eyes with her sleeve, I took a breath and asked her, “Do you like any of the boys, Sarah?”

Her eyes widened, followed by a quick shake of her head, which slowed and then a blush darkened her cheeks. “Well, maybe one, but I don’t think that he knows I exist.”

She was a pretty girl, with the same wide-spaced eyes and full lips that her brother had, but the sprinkling of freckles over her nose made her look girlish, even younger than me. Her deep blush and downcast eyes showed how shy she was when it came to the boys, and I figured that was probably the reason that her crush was ignoring her.

I couldn’t help reaching over and squeezing her knee when I said, “I bet he’s noticed you. You’re too pretty for him not to have. He’s probably just afraid to approach you since you aren’t very outgoing. Maybe if you start flirting a little bit, he’ll be more confident.”

Her eyes went as round as her mouth for an instant before she said, “Do you really think that he’s
afraid
to ask me to court?”

Feeling a twinge of worry stir my insides, I swallowed and hoped that I was guessing right. After all, I didn’t know a thing about this boy—he might have his sights on another girl altogether. But seeing the bright hopefulness suddenly light up Sarah’s face, I decided that I couldn’t be wrong. The best thing in the world for my new friend would be for her to gain some of her own self-confidence. She spent too much time with her eyes down and her shoulders slumped.

“Yeah, I think a lot of guys are as afraid of us as we are of them. The only way they begin to open up is when they know for sure that the girl they like is into them, too.”

As I talked to her, I thought about how quickly things had progressed between me and Noah. I had no doubt that he liked me now, and the knowledge made me want to jump up and squeal, but at the same time I had the urge to cover my head with Sarah’s pillow and cry. Why did I have to be falling for a guy that I could never have?

“But what can I do to let him know that I like him without being…well, you know, too forward.” Sarah leaned in closer, speaking in a whisper even though the door was solidly shut.

I tried to keep the smile from spreading my lips. She was very serious and I didn’t want her to think that I was mocking her, but the thought that this girl sitting next to me had no idea how to flirt was amazing.

Remembering back to all the guy tips that I received from my friends Amanda and Britney when I was younger, I said, “Eye contact. The best way to let him know that you like him is to keep your eyes locked on his for a couple of seconds the next time he looks your way.”

Of course, I wasn’t totally sure that it would work with an Amish guy, but I didn’t think that it would hurt anything either.

Hesitantly, she asked, “Is it really true that you don’t have a special boy in your life, Rose?”

The question startled me until I saw that her face lacked the look of knowing—thank God.

Shaking my head, I lied, “Nope, not a one.”

Even lower, she said, “Do you miss your old home and your friends there?”

I glanced away toward the window, thinking. I’d been too busy pining over her brother to miss anyone, but I certainly couldn’t tell her that.

“Oh, I’m okay so far. I’ve got Dad and my brothers…and now I have you.”

Sarah’s eyes were misty when they glanced up quickly and looked away, saying, “I could never leave my community. It would be awful.” Then her eyes met mine and stayed locked. “And I’m so sorry about your mother. I don’t know how I’d cope if I ever lost mine.”

I had no words and the tears were threatening to spill. It was obvious that Sarah was as emotional as I was, and the last thing I needed was a giant cryfest—lucky for me that’s when Sam’s voice boomed out from down the stairs.

“Hey, Rose, are you up there?”

I quickly bounced off the bed, hating the sound of my brother yelling for me in front of everyone like a barbarian.

Pulling the door open, I said, “I’ll be right out!

“Thanks for taking care of me, Sarah. That’s another one I owe you for.”

She looked at me with raised brows. “I don’t understand—”

I interrupted her with a quick hug. “I’m just happy that you’ve taken me under your wing, that’s all.”

Before she could say another word, I was out of the room and jogging down the stairs.

“We need to get going, Rose. We’ve got to be up early tomorrow, and you’re so hard to wake, even on the weekends.” Sam wasn’t teasing. That was the truth.

We managed to exit the house with only a few nods and waves to the ladies peering around the corner at us and again I was extremely grateful for the side door.

Once outside in the faded dusky light, depression began to descend over me. It was sinking in that I wouldn’t see Noah for an entire week. And even though a part of me rationalized that it might be for the best, the bigger part was silently mourning the fact.

Sam called out to Justin, who was near the barn with the rowdy boy group playing with, of all things, a pellet gun. The boys were target shooting some cans on the white board fence, with not an adult in sight to supervise them. Momentarily tearing myself away from my self-induced moodiness, I decided that I’d have a discussion with Dad about it—or at the very least, threaten Justin with death if he ever did it again.

I didn’t feel like getting into it with my kid brother when he joined us at the corner of the barn, though. For a change, I wasn’t in the mood for battle.

As we passed the last building and came into the open field, the sound of the birds calling to each other while they settled in for the night filled the air, along with the soft swooshing sound of the tall grass bending in the breeze. On the horizon, the sun was about to disappear, and I watched in fascination as the sky to the west blazed with the reds and pinks of the sunset.

What a wondrous evening it could have been, I thought to myself, if Noah and I’d been allowed to hang out and watch the sun go down together. As I trailed along behind my brothers, picking the seed heads off the top of the blades and rubbing them between my fingers, I began to review in my head every glance, smile and facial expression Noah had directed at me. Especially his dramatic display when my chest had stopped the ball. I’d probably have an enormous bruise. I absently rubbed the place the ball had smashed, thinking it was well worth it to have Noah’s full attention in that moment.