LITMIR.BIZ

      5

      Rose

      Flame

      THE DAY TRUDGED on, going nowhere, it seemed. And even though I had a million things to do to occupy my time, I continued to glance at my phone every few minutes, hoping that the magic time of six o’clock would suddenly appear—the time when I felt it would be reasonable to head out to the barn and get Lady ready for the ride.

      The ride—just thinking about it stirred shivers of excitement through me. Still, a tingling doubt ran through my mind. Why was it such a secret anyway? We were just going riding together—not a big deal at all. Were Noah’s parents always so strict with him? And why would his community care about it? Maybe I’d get some answers this evening. Right now I would go with my instincts, which were telling me that I had to get to know my handsome neighbor better—even though the whole cloak-and-dagger thing was kind of weird.

      After a minute of searching through the clothes in the box, I became impatient that I wasn’t finding what I was looking for and dumped the contents unceremoniously on the floor.

      Distracted for a split second, I contemplated turning over a new leaf regarding my clean-room policy, which was basically never having one. But then, surveying the clothes scattered around the floor, I decided I liked having my room like this. It was sort of homey, and it drew attention away from the eighty-year-old peeling wallpaper, with the faded pictures of George Washington look-alikes dancing and playing instruments. That was definitely a good thing.

      I thought about just tearing the chaotic paper off the walls the way Justin had in the foyer, but then I’d have to clean it all up, and I didn’t want to deal with that at the moment. Again I looked at my cell, groaning that only a whopping two minutes had passed since I’d last checked.

      Leaving the walls as is for the time being, I hopped over the piles of clothes to lean out the window. It was strange not having a screen in it. I was sure birds would be flying around my room in no time, but the alternative was closing the window and dying of heatstroke, which wasn’t really an option. I had to remember to add the window to Dad’s ever-growing list of repairs for Miller’s Construction. That made my mouth spread into a little smile, thinking that the longer the list, the more I’d be seeing Noah, which suited me just fine.

      Closing my eyes, I held my face up to the sun, relishing the heat as it absorbed into my skin. The day had grown almost unbearably humid, but I was glad for the hot temperature. It gave me the opportunity to wear one of my cute summer tank tops this evening.

      After several minutes I grew bored with the facial tanning and instead checked out the view from the bedroom window. I’d picked this room for two reasons. First, I could see the field Lady was in, and right now she was peacefully munching grass under a big oak tree. And second, I could see the Miller farm. I never would have told anyone about the second reason.

      Spinning away from the window, I dropped to the mattress on the floor. Lying on my belly on top of the cozy comforter, I pressed my face into one of the mushy pillows that now adorned my temporary sleeping arrangements, all too happy that I’d have a soft place to sleep that night.

      I still couldn’t believe that I’d woken to see Noah peering down at me with a look of extreme irritation on his face. What a shocker that was. Never in a million years had I expected to see him in my room. But what really got me was that he seemed genuinely concerned about me sleeping on the floor. I was used to guys paying attention to me, but this was the first time one actually gave a crap about me personally. His concern touched a deep place in me that had never been fooled with before.

      Quite frankly, I was so exhausted by the time I went to sleep the night before that I was like a zombie and couldn’t have cared less where I slept, as long as I had the chance to close my eyes. When we’d returned after dinner, the water was down enough that an invigorated dad drove the ryder truck up to the house and Sam followed with his big dually truck, also fully loaded with boxes. After spending the following four hours unloading Sam’s truck and unpacking some basic necessities, I nearly passed out in the kitchen. That’s when Dad directed us all to find some clear floor space somewhere and go to sleep.

      I had to admit that I was a little stiff this morning, and my lower back was tight, but hopefully my body would loosen up during the ride. Again I looked at my cell and was pleased to see that ten more minutes had passed since my last check.

      Getting ever closer…

      I rolled onto my back and frowned, remembering what Noah had said about his parents not being happy if he was with me. I wasn’t stunned at the revelation. I’d sensed that at dinner, but it still bugged me. Everyone always loved me—my friends’ parents, my teachers, my dance coaches. Noah’s family had no right to form opinions about me when they didn’t even know me. The idea that they would find him being with me offensive just wasn’t right, and it was going to create a lot of problems. You could only sneak around for so long before something had to give, and I didn’t get the feeling that Amish people gave in much. I mean, after all, they lived their lives as if they were stuck in a rerun of Little House on the Prairie and they did it forever. Never doing so many things I automatically took for granted, like driving, going to movies or listening to music.

      While we’d been unpacking, Sam, Justin and I attacked Dad with questions about our new neighbors, and although he admitted

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