Temptation (A Temptation Novel) (9 page)

“You have to go home first, Rose. That’s what I mean about being careful. We can’t just ride up the road together. Someone might see us, and that would be a disaster. Just please trust me on this,” he implored.

“But how long are you going to wait, then?” The fact that there would be dire consequences if we were caught together or if I even called him on the phone was triggering little bells to go off in my head, but I chose to ignore them. My girlfriends back in Cincinnati would be locked up in jail for sure under these rules.

“I’ll hang out here for about fifteen minutes and then head home. Now, Rose, you ride straight home, and if any cars slow down for you, just gallop that mare as fast as I know she’ll go until you reach your driveway. Hopefully, everything will work out and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The urgency in his voice finally got me moving, and I turned, cantering toward the gap. Once on the road, I trotted the rest of the way home, the darkness quickly descending around me. Goose bumps spread up my arms when the light vanished and I squeezed Lady back into a canter once I reached the driveway.

I couldn’t deny the way Noah made my body feel, that was for sure, but my mind was still struggling with the whole Amish thing. Where on earth could this relationship go?

But then, I didn’t care what the answer was. I just wanted to enjoy it while it lasted.

6

Noah

Walking the Amish Line

IT WAS GOING
to be difficult to get away with it, I thought as I passed through the gap in the fence and rode onto the road. Rose was absolutely naive about what we were up against. And she certainly didn’t hide her emotions well either.

Whenever she looked at me with those lovely eyes, there was no doubt about her feelings. She wanted me as badly as I wanted her. And as much as I liked having those eyes directed at me in that way, she’d have to learn to control them or she’d get us in a whole heap of trouble. Secretly meeting up with an English girl was the type of thing that could get me sent off to a community in Pennsylvania. And I wouldn’t be able to come home until the bishop there felt I was truly rehabilitated.

Nathaniel Yoder barely missed making the trip out of state when his father caught him with a cell phone last year. Lucky for him, the worst punishment he received was being forced to smash the phone with a hammer.

Of course, I didn’t think Rose even worried about getting in trouble. It seemed she was allowed to do pretty much anything she wanted, and even if she did break a rule in her house, she’d probably be able to talk her way out of it with her father. She was very compelling. I certainly hadn’t planned to touch her hand, but when she talked about her mother and then looked at me with her sad eyes, I just couldn’t resist. And her hand had fit perfectly into mine. I really wanted to kiss her there in the cornfield, and had almost done just that, except somehow I’d been able to rein myself in before I got carried away.

It was just too soon for that. We weren’t even courting, and although I realized that the chance of doing so was slim at best, I still needed to try to make it happen. Somehow, in just a few short hours, I had developed feelings for Rose—strong feelings. And the thought of her being mine was intoxicating.

I’d never reacted to a girl this way before. My body was on fire when I was around Rose, and when I wasn’t with her, all I did was think about her. Today had been the longest day of my life, dragging on forever until it was finally time to go meet her in the field.

I was planning to sneak up on her, but when I saw her start to canter ahead of me, I was impressed by what a good rider she was, and impulsively kicked Rumor into a gallop to race her. If the field had been a little longer, she would have definitely whipped me. Rumor was carrying a lot more weight and beginning to labor. I was happy that we were even able to stay with the gray horse for as long as we did.

Not being able to keep the smile from stretching my mouth, I decided that the evening had been the most fun I’d had in a very long time—maybe ever. She was the perfect girl for me, I reckoned—except for not being Amish. But I didn’t care that she was English. My ideas about the people of the outside world had changed overnight—at least about one of them anyway. I knew that my feelings weren’t rational and that my behavior was dangerous, but I wasn’t willing to walk away at this point. I was driven now to see it through.

Cantering up the driveway, I quickly unsaddled Rumor and put him out in the pasture. I finished cleaning the stalls and then hurried to the house. The sky was coal-black by the time I entered the mudroom and pulled my boots off.

Seeing Jacob and Father sitting at the kitchen table under the dim light of the gas lamp with a pile of papers strewn out around them, I wasted no time asking, “Jacob, have you found a driver for tomorrow yet?”

Without raising his head, he replied, “No, I called several people, but they’re all busy.”

His voice held a hint of disappointment, and I seized the opportunity. “I found a driver for you.” Both Father and Jacob looked up at me speculatively and I continued, “While I was out riding, I met Sam on the road and he was in a dually truck with an extended cab.” I took a second to breathe. “I asked him if he would be interested in driving us to a horse sale tomorrow with our trailer, and he said he would—but he’d have to check with his father first.”

It was strange how easily the lie came to me. I was willing to do just about anything to see Rose again. Obviously the time spent with the beautiful girl was already corrupting me.

Studying their expressions, I saw Jacob’s face brighten at the news and Father purse his lips, thinking for a few seconds before answering. “That sounds like a possibility. This is the biggest sale of the season, and I’d hate to miss the chance to trade those two horses in for the quality of team you could find there, Jacob.” He paused, meeting my eyes directly before asking, “Will the girl be going?”

“I don’t know, Father.” I said it with no emotion, hoping my face showed none either.

Father thought for a minute or so longer, absently scratching his beard, before saying, “Well, I suppose it will be all right. After all, your uncle Reuben will be going with you boys. But…” He paused to look at me, unsmiling. “If the girl does go, I’ll not have you talking to her
at all,
Noah. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Father, I do,” I said tonelessly, but inwardly my heart was beginning to race.
I’d say anything you want me to say, Father.

The phone in the shed rang at that moment and I knew it was Sam. “That’s probably Sam. Do you want me to go talk to him?”

“Yes, you can make the arrangements. I think I’ll be turning in now—morning will be here before we know it.”

I put my hand on his shoulder as I passed by him and said, “Good night, Father.”

Stepping out into the cool night air, I knew that sleep would be a long time coming for me. I was so stirred up with the knowledge that I’d be spending the entire day with Rose that I’d probably be up all night.

* * *

When I saw Sam’s truck coming up the driveway, all feelings of sleepiness left me. I could make out that Rose was in the passenger seat, and my heart skipped a beat. I quickly turned away and continued currying old Buttercup’s tawny fur, being careful not to let my eyes stray back to the truck.

I finished Buttercup and moved over to Sally. Starting on her, I could hear Sam backing up to the trailer behind me. I was nervous that Rose would walk over and begin talking to me. She was so forward that it wouldn’t surprise me at all if she ignored my warnings.

Instead, when I spied over my shoulder with a glance, she was standing behind the truck, directing her brother to the hitch. Not something a girl would usually be doing, but at least she wasn’t talking to me, and that was a good thing at the moment.

Resuming Sally’s brushing, I registered that Rose’s long hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and she was wearing faded blue jeans and a blue T-shirt. She looked good in blue. It matched her eyes. I had thought the same thing the night before, but that shirt had been different than this one, prettier in a way. Then again, she was beautiful in anything.

Once the trailer was hitched up, Jacob and I loaded the horses and climbed into the backseat of the truck. Jacob explained to Sam that we were picking Uncle Reuben up on the way.

As Sam pulled carefully out of the driveway, I couldn’t help wondering what Rose was thinking at that moment. She had been silent, not even a nod in my direction. I was beginning to think either she was a very good actor or she didn’t like me anymore. How irrational to think that. She was doing exactly what I had told her to do, but now I was aggravated with how well she was doing it. It made no sense at all, but then, all my common sense went out the window when I was around her.

It was still early morning and the cloudy, overcast gray sky had not opened up to the sun yet. The air was warm, though, and I figured it would be a hot day later on.

Pockets of wispy fog covered the roadway, and Sam slowed down accordingly.

Rock music was blaring from the radio, and I wasn’t surprised when Jacob, speaking loudly to be heard over the noise, said, “You probably shouldn’t play the radio when my uncle gets in.” He said it in a friendly but uptight way.

“Sure thing, bro,” Sam replied amicably as Rose reached for the knob and turned the music off.

It took just a few minutes to reach Uncle Reuben’s house, where he was waiting by the roadway for us. When the truck stopped, Rose jumped out of the front seat, offering it to my uncle, who tipped his hat and thanked her. Then she did the unthinkable—pushing the front seat forward and climbing in the backseat, right next to me.

While I was worriedly trying not to let my long leg touch hers in the cramped space, Uncle Reuben turned and said, “Good morning, boys.”

I froze.

“Good morning, Uncle. It looks like we’ll have a nice day for the sale,” Jacob answered in his best adult voice, thankfully getting Uncle’s attention away from me.

Uncle Reuben then looked over at Sam and said, “I don’t think I’ve met you, young man.”

“I’m Sam Cameron, sir, and that’s my sister, Rose,” Sam said, not taking his eyes off the road.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sam,” Uncle responded without acknowledging Rose. Usually I didn’t pay much mind to how the other men ignored the young, unmarried women of the community, but at the moment I felt the heat of embarrassment wash over me at my uncle’s rudeness. Wondering what Rose thought of it, I shifted just my eyes over to her. She sat perfectly still, looking out the window away from me, so I couldn’t tell what was going on in her pretty head.

It was uncomfortably tight in the backseat with very little legroom for two men over six foot. I continued to be careful not to lean my leg onto Rose’s, instead holding it awkwardly away from her.

As I tried to listen to Jacob and Uncle speak about crops and workhorses, the closeness of her body distracted me. I wanted to hold her hand and relax my leg onto hers. The scent coming from her was tantalizing my nostrils, a subtle, warm smell of lavender. I knew that smell well, for Mother had the plants growing in her garden.

I tried not to think about her scent, her body or her face, and just stared straight ahead for the hour-long journey through the countryside. It was damn near impossible, though, with her sitting just inches away.

When we finally arrived at the stockyard, I was happy to get out of the truck and stretch my legs. I needed to get my body away from the object of all its discomfort. Sitting so close to Rose without being able to touch her was like having an itch that I couldn’t reach to scratch. It bordered on torture. Careful not to look in her direction, I went to the back of the trailer with Jacob and unloaded the horses.

Uncle Reuben waited with me while Jacob went into the building to get the horses’ numbers. The place was filled to bursting, and we had to park in the neighboring field just to get a spot.

There was a festive atmosphere surrounding us with the murmuring of so many conversations popping from the crowd, mixed in with the neighing of horses in the air. The scent of grilling hamburgers floated on the breeze and my mouth watered even though I wasn’t actually hungry. Once Buttercup and Sally were tied to the trailer, I risked peeking at Rose and saw her staring intensely at the workhorses.

Then she turned to my uncle and asked, “How old are they?”

He seemed a little surprised that she had spoken to him, but he recovered and answered, “I believe they are eighteen and nineteen.”

“That’s not very old. There was a lesson horse at the barn I boarded at that was twenty-nine.” She spoke with a sharp voice, and I braced myself for what she’d say next.

Uncle took her statement in stride. “Well, I’ve heard of riding horses being usable to that age, but truly, the type of strenuous work these horses must do on a farm is too much for them when they get on near twenty.”

“But what’s going to happen to them now that they’re too old to work?” she asked Uncle pointedly. Then she turned her frown on me.

Uncle didn’t seem to notice her worry since he was barely paying any mind to her at all. Instead, he was inspecting the pair of black horses that were being unloaded off the trailer beside us.

“Oh, don’t worry about those drafts, missy. Some English will buy them for a small hobby farm or recreation,” Uncle said as he walked away to greet Simon Troyer and his four teenage sons, who were coming up from the sale barns.