Rebecca's Rose (9 page)

In less time than Levi would have thought possible, Beth pulled up to Tequilita’s Bar and unlocked the passenger door. His nose had stopped bleeding, but he held the napkins to his face so he wouldn’t drip on the seats in case it started up again.

Patient, reliable Beth didn’t utter a word on the ride home, and Levi didn’t volunteer any information. He felt ashamed enough without having to recount every detail to his sister.

She parked the car, and they trudged up the three flights of poorly lit stairs to the apartment. Unlocking the door, she glanced at Levi. “You’re lucky Mom had to pull an extra shift.”

They walked into the kitchen and Beth turned on the light. “Let me see,” she said.

Levi pulled the napkins away from his face.

Grimacing, Beth ran her finger along the bridge of Levi’s nose. “You did yourself up a good one.”

“You should see the other guy.”

“I’ll get some ice.”

Beth filled a plastic bag with ice cubes, laid it on the counter, and pulverized it with the thick end of a butter knife. She handed it to Levi. “I’m afraid Mom’s going to notice this with or without the ice. What are you going to tell her?”

Levi wrapped the ice bag in a towel and laid it gingerly on his nose. “I’ve never lied to Mom.”

“I know. What are you going to tell her?”

“Tara wanted to get back together.” Holding the bag carefully, he stretched out on the sofa. His legs hung twelve inches over the side.

“And she hit you?”

“Her boyfriend did. After she kissed me.”

Beth sat on the floor next to the couch. “You let her kiss you?”

“She kind of surprised me.”

Beth crossed her ankles and leaned back on her hands. “Does this mean you’re getting back together?”

“No,” Levi said. He went quiet and listened to his own breathing.

Beth threw her head back and looked at the ceiling. “Thanks for all the info.”

“You’re nosy.”

“I’m never nosy.”

He glanced at his sister. “You’re going to think this is dumb.”

“Probably.”

“It doesn’t seem honorable to go out with Tara anymore. Whether she agrees or not, I’ve been using her. It’s not right. It doesn’t feel right.”

Beth peered at Levi. “That’s not dumb. That’s the smartest thing I’ve heard you say in ages.”

“I met somebody,” Levi said.

Beth gave him all her attention. “Somebody new?”

“A nice girl.”

Struck dumb, Beth stared at Levi for a long time. “Not the type you usually date?”

“Yeah.”

“Why are you interested?”

Levi cleared his throat. “At first I felt sorry for her. She crashed a skateboard in front of the store, and I gave her a bandage.”

“So, a clutzy, nice girl who rides a skateboard.”

Levi lifted the bag of ice off his nose and sat up. “She’s different from the other girls. She couldn’t care less how good-looking I am.”

“That
is
different.” Beth grinned. “What else?”

“She doesn’t flirt or try to impress me. She’s just herself.”

“And you probably find that behavior surprisingly refreshing and a bit unnerving at the same time.”

“You use too many big words.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“I’ve never had to work this hard to get a girl to like me.” Levi ran his hand through his hair. “And I don’t know if I like it or hate it.”

“The emotional roller coaster that we mortals experience all the time,” Beth said. She rested her elbows on his knees and looked into his eyes. “You really want her to like you.”

Nodding, he furrowed his brow. “Yeah, I do.”

“And the uncertainty is killing you.”

“Yeah.”

Beth smiled and slapped him on the knee. “Good. It’s about time you felt nervous about a girl.”

“Some sympathetic sister you are.”

“Of course I’m sympathetic. I picked you up from the bar, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“This still doesn’t explain why your preference in girls has suddenly changed.”

“You use too many big words,” Levi said.

“Answer me.”

“Maybe I want to prove to her that not all guys like me are bad. That she doesn’t have to be so suspicious of outsiders. Maybe deep down, I’m not a typical guy at all. Maybe at heart I’m still an Amish boy.”

Beth raised an eyebrow. “You have more ties to the Amish than I do. I was only three when we left.”

“I don’t know if I’m anything like them anymore.”

“You missed them when Mom married Dad. But you didn’t want to feel out of place in the new environment, so you purposefully behaved badly to prove that you didn’t belong with the Amish. Especially after Dad left.”

Levi shook his head. Beth’s logic made little sense to him. “Whatever.”

“But I’m all for this new relationship. I’ll do anything I can to help you ensnare this poor, unsuspecting girl.”

“You will?” Levi said.

“For my brother, anything.”

“Do you have a swimsuit I could borrow?”

“I don’t think any of mine will fit you.”

“I hope not,” Levi said.

Sorry about the text. I have to go to work. I found a swimsuit for you. We are going boating next Monday after work. I will pick you up at 4:00. Would you like to learn to water ski?

Levi pulled his 1991 Toyota Celica to the designated meeting spot and killed the engine. Rebecca insisted on a very strict list of protocols when it came to their meetings. No engine humming, no horns, and for goodness’ sake, no car in her driveway. Levi gazed down the lane and into the thick growth of bushes that ran along the side of the road. No sign of her.

He almost turned on the radio but then thought better of it. No noise. Instead, he sang a Muse song in his head and tapped on the steering wheel to keep the beat. She wouldn’t be long. If there was one thing she wanted to avoid, it was detection. An Englisch boy sitting in his car a few hundred yards from her house looked too suspicious.

Right on time, she darted through a space in the bushes and ran to the driver’s side of the car. Levi rolled down his window and handed her Beth’s swimsuit. Without a word, she snatched it out of his hand and disappeared through the bushes again. He smiled to himself. No precaution was too extreme. She wasn’t about to be caught and forced to give up their outings.

Neither was he. He hadn’t expected to have this much fun with an Amish girl. He contemplated all the places he wanted to take her. Time to start thinking about another source of income.

She reappeared a few minutes later, draped head to ankle in a fluffy gray robe that was cinched and knotted at the waist with what looked like a black scarf. Clutching the collar around her neck like she wanted to strangle herself, she jumped into the passenger seat and motioned for Levi to drive away. That slight flick of her wrist meant “as fast as possible.”

Levi started the car and wasted no time in putting some distance between them and Rebecca’s house. “That was a quick change,” he said.

“I have a toolshed.”

Levi grinned at the cute, sort of panicked look on her face. She worried too much.

With every fence post they passed, Rebecca seemed to relax, but she never released her grip on the robe at her throat.

“Did the suit fit?” Levi asked, trying not to laugh at her discomfort.

“Jah, fine.”

“Do you think I will get to see it on you before the day is out, kid?”

Rebecca rolled her eyes and adjusted the robe to cover more of her leg.

Actually exposing herself in that swimsuit might prove to be more of an adventure for Rebecca than waterskiing. Levi had picked the swimsuit of Beth’s that had the most fabric—high at the neck and low at the bottom. He was smart enough to know that Rebecca would never agree to a bikini. And he had a great deal of respect for that.

“It might be a little cool in the water. It’s still June,” Levi said. “I brought you a big towel to wrap up in.”

“Ach, I forgot a towel.”

Levi stared straight ahead and cleared his throat. “There are going to be other people today. Three or four.”

Out of the corners of his eyes, he saw Rebecca pull the robe up past her chin. “In your boat?” she said.

“I don’t have a boat. It’s my friend Ryan’s. He said we could come.”

Rebecca took a halting breath and held it for about three years.

“Hey, kid. We don’t have to go. There’s a swimming pool in Westby. Or the one in Sparta is nicer.”

“Nae, I want to go. It will be fun.”

Levi almost chuckled. He’d heard that endearing little phrase before. He glanced at her face and then at the road and then back at her again. Her telling expression made his heart swell about three times its normal size. “We really don’t have to go.”

“I want to go.”

He didn’t know what came over him, but he couldn’t resist putting his hand on top of hers. Initially, she inched slightly away from his touch but seemed to change her mind and left her hand under his. Gratified, he smiled at her. “There. That isn’t so bad, is it?”

A reluctant grin appeared on her lips. “Not so bad,” she mumbled.

Levi caressed her silky fingers between his own and savored the sensation that coursed through his body. She was the first girl he could remember who invoked not only a strong physical response but a powerful emotional response, as well. What was going on with him?

Levi felt a bit uneasy, himself, about today’s adventure. He had purposefully chosen Ryan to take him out on the water, not only because he had a boat, but also because he was the tamest of Levi’s friends. Jason and Dax were hard-core drinkers and carousers who would, more likely than not, frighten Rebecca away. His other friends were more of the same. Levi had a different drinking buddy almost every night of the week.

And the girls… The girls were worse—the type you just had to look at to know they had a reputation. Not the kind of kids a nice girl associated with. A nice girl like Rebecca. Funny that Levi’s choice of friends hadn’t really made him uneasy before.

At least Levi had no fear of Tara making an unwelcome appearance. Ryan was bringing his girlfriend, Ellie, and inviting his newly married brother and his wife. There wasn’t room in the boat for other skiers.

Ryan’s boat, a small six-seater, was already on the water by the time Levi pulled into the parking lot overlooking the lake. He retrieved his cooler and towels from the trunk and motioned for Rebecca to come.

He reached out his hand to take hers, but she shook her head. “It is not proper in public,” she said.

He squinted in her direction and smiled. Some of the notions she held made him scratch his head in confusion.

Ryan must have been watching for them, because he met them halfway to the shoreline, his dark tan evidence that he had already spent a good part of the young summer on the water. He took a gander at Rebecca in her weird cover-up before turning to Levi. “I hope you don’t mind,” he said. “Ellie invited a couple of friends, and they invited a couple of friends, and it turned into a beach party.”

He pointed to the edge of the water by the trees where a couple dozen people had set up beach chairs and towels. Guys threw sticks into a blazing fire pit, and three or four others roasted hot dogs. A radio blared the latest rap song.

Levi groaned inwardly. One girl in a bikini lay flat on her stomach with the strap undone so she wouldn’t have an unsightly tan line at the center of her back. Levi had seen it a hundred times before, but this time it annoyed him. Did she have to put it all out there for everybody to see? For Rebecca to see?

He hoped Rebecca hadn’t noticed.

It didn’t matter. If they proceeded down the beach, she’d see soon enough.

Levi glanced at Rebecca, who had waxed unusually pale in the bright afternoon sun.

Ryan laughed nervously when he saw both their faces. “We’ll have to take turns on the boat, but the more the merrier, right? You don’t mind, do you?”

To Levi’s surprise, Rebecca chimed in. “No, we do not mind. Thank you for letting us ride on your boat.”

Ryan’s smile widened. “Brady’s taken it out, but as soon as he comes back, you two are next.” He turned and ran down the beach.

They watched him melt into the crowd at the beach party. “It’s really okay if you want to go home, kid.”

She took his arm as they walked slowly to the shore. “I am not leaving, bud.”

He chuckled at her undaunted stubbornness. “Bud. It sounds like a tobacco-chewing hillbilly. I like it.”

Rebecca’s fingers tightened around Levi’s arm as they got closer to the group of partyers. Curious eyes followed both of them. One guy pointed to Rebecca’s robe and snickered with his friends. Levi knew most of the kids there, some from high school, some as friends of friends.

For the hundredth time since he’d met Rebecca, he sincerely regretted the reputation he had made for himself. If Levi Cooper was out with a new girl, everybody wanted to know who she was. They’d make assumptions about her not because of her behavior, but because of his. Levi Cooper only dated a certain type of girl.

As the staring intensified, he wanted to scream at all of them,
Don’t you dare think those thoughts about Rebecca! She’s a good girl. A nice, decent girl, and I don’t deserve her.

Levi turned his back on the crowd of onlookers and pinned Rebecca with a serious look. “I know you want to go waterskiing,” he said, “but people are going to assume things about you because you’re with me.” He took several steps back the way they had come, and she followed him. “I’ve done a lot of things I regret, Rebecca, things I shouldn’t have. I don’t want anyone to think badly of you because you’re with me. We should go.”

Rebecca folded her arms and planted her feet in the sand. “I am not leaving.”

“But I think it would be better for you—”

“I do not care what people think about me.”

“I do,” Levi said.

Rebecca glanced at the loud party behind Levi. “All Englisch boys fool around with the girls.”

Levi shook his head. “That’s not true. Some guys do control themselves.”

She firmly took his elbow and pulled him farther from the party. But she hadn’t decided to leave as Levi hoped. She decided to scold him.