away. He was dead wrong about our families. When the bishop announced Noah and Constance’s separation on Sunday, it would get worse.
Wiping the wetness from my eyes quickly, I went back to work. I had to get Micah Schwartz out of my mind.
He was nothing but trouble.
4
Sam
Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I stared at the ceiling. Why the hell did I have to get dragged into my family’s shenanigans? How did Summer manage to get me to do whatever fool thing she wanted? It was beyond me, but I was looking forward to the day when the honeymoon phase ended, and I could think straight again.
“Come on, Sam, Dad’s downstairs and about to pop a blood vessel. He wants to get moving,” Justin said, peeking in the doorway. He was too smart to come all the way in and risk my early morning wrath.
“If he only knew, he wouldn’t be in such a damn hurry,” I mumbled into the pillow.
Justin risked a step in but kept his hand on the door. “What did you say?”
I opened my eyes and stared at my little brother. He’d grown a couple of inches over the summer and was nearing my height now. At some point, my intimidation tactics might not work on him.
“Are you so tied up in your fantasy military world that you don’t notice anything going on in the here and now?”
Justin thought for a second, before saying, “I know everything going on. You’re the naive one, thinking I’m clueless. That’s what makes me smarter than any of you.”
The smug expression on his face made me sit up straighter and narrow my eyes at him. Could he possibly know about Rose? I was suddenly suspicious that he might.
With a speed that surprised even me, I was out of the bed and through the doorway. I tackled Justin to the floor in front of Rose’s room. The kid might be sneaky, smart and growing, but I still held the superior strength. Thank God.
Near his ear I whispered, “You better tell me exactly what you know, or I’m going to sprain your hand and you won’t be able to hold your controller for weeks.”
“You wouldn’t. Dad’s in the kitchen,” Justin whined quietly.
“I don’t care where he is. I’ll do it and then I’ll lie to him about what really happened...you know I will.”
The extra pressure on his wrist did the trick. Justin puffed out, “All right, ease up.” He lowered his voice and said, “Rose is pregnant.”
The volume wasn’t low enough, though. Rose was standing in the doorway. I caught only a glimpse of her pale, shocked face before she stepped back into her room and slammed the door.
Rolling off of Justin, I sighed loudly, “Now you’ve gone and done it, you idiot.”
5
Noah
Elijah’s cold, hard look sent a shiver through me, but I didn’t turn away. The man’s anger was thick in the air even though he’d remained silent during the announcement of the wedding’s cancellation. I can’t say that for the rest of the community, though. The gasps and fervent whispering had to be quieted by Aaron. He quickly jumped into reciting the rest of the morning’s news, obviously trying to calm the situation.
Father sat staring straight ahead. He didn’t meet the hostile looks coming from the Schwartz men. Father was a formidable and respected man in the community, yet I knew that he was worried about the situation. His fear about the future had settled over me like a heavy blanket in wintertime. If he was afraid, then we all should be.
The ball of tightness in my stomach became too much for me as we left the Schrocks’ church building. I had to get away now. Moving past Marcus Bontrager and several others stalled in the aisle, I pushed the sliding door open and stepped into the cool morning brightness. The warm-up we’d had in April had been tempered by colder air in May. Ruth’s line of pink peonies was still blooming, but their petals were drawn up tight, as if they were attempting to shield themselves from the harsh wind that pricked my own skin.
I didn’t button up my vest, thankful for the cold, stiff breeze. It cleared my head.
The hand on my shoulder didn’t surprise me, and the voice close to my ear was expected.
“What’s going on? Have you lost your mind?” Timothy whispered.
I glanced back, and seeing that Matthew was close behind him, I signaled both of them to follow me toward the stable.
Once through the doorway I turned and faced my friends, knowing they were completely loyal to me. The Troyers would side with Father if it came to an open contest between us and the Schwartzes in church, but I wasn’t so sure about the Weaver family. Mervin Weaver, Matthew’s father, always had his own agenda.
“It’s about Rose.”
Timothy rolled his eyes and leaned against the stall door with a groan. Matthew’s jaw dropped, and he stared at me with wide eyes.
Before either of them could speak, I plowed on. “Her brother wrote the letter saying she’d quit me—not her. She didn’t know anything about it.”
“How did you find this out?” Timothy asked. His voice was calmer and his face serious.
“It’s a long story. Basically, Sam had a moment of clarity. He must have felt guilty about his father’s lies. At first when he told me, I didn’t believe. But after a torturous night of running it through my head, I realized he must be telling the truth. Rose would never have left me like that. She’d have talked to me at least, explained things in person.”
I sat down on a bale of hay. Timothy and Matthew followed suit, taking the bales across from me.
“I was angry with myself that I so readily believed Doctor Cameron’s story, and abandoned my girl.” I looked up and met their steady stares. “I had Mr. Denton take me to the city. He found out her address on the computer when I told him the names of her aunt and uncle—the people she was staying with. We went there that next day, and Mr. Denton left me.”
Matthew continued to watch me, hanging on my every word, but Timothy closed his eyes and thudded his head against the barn wall. Timmy was a whole lot sharper than goofy Matthew.
“You didn’t,” Timmy said.
After a pause, I met his gaze. “I did. It was incredible to have her in my arms again. All the feelings came rushing back. I’d never stopped loving her. I never will.”
“Your father let you dump Constance to be with Rose? How is that ever going to work?” Matthew exclaimed. “Is she going to become Amish?”
“Shhh, someone might be listening.” I leaped up and went to the door to look out. When I turned back, I said, “No one knows the particulars yet, and I’d like to keep it that way.”
The soft voice from inside the darkened stall to my left made my heart stop dead away.
“Sorry,
