Read Online Plain Again by Sarah Price - Free Book Online

she, too, had been Amish? Hadn’t she been treated with the respect and courtesy that the community practiced among their friends, family, and neighbors? However, today she had seen a different side to the people she used to consider her own. It was as if they had decided to unofficially shun her, and that feeling ripped through her in a way she had not expected.
    Amanda had no response and, in typical Amish fashion, merely remained silent, her eyes staring straight ahead. Best to let angry words remain unspoken , her mamm had always told her.
    Indeed, she told herself, I have nothing to say that would soothe either my raw nerves or hers.
    Quietly, she paid her bill and pushed the cart with the food toward the door. She struggled to open it, finally pushing it with her hip and jerking the cart over the slightly raised metal bar that covered the threshold. When she approached the second door, she managed to maneuver the cart better and felt the cold air on her face as she stepped outside.
    The photographers were waiting, eager to snap her photo as well as some shots of what was inside the cart. Amanda tried to look straight ahead, but a few of the men walked backward in front of her. She looked away, but there was no escaping their invasion of her personal space.
    “That’s enough,” a deep voice said. Immediately, an arm seemed to come out of nowhere, pushing the photographers away and blocking Amanda from view. “Give the lady some space. You boys don’t have much else to do, eh?”
    Amanda blinked twice, stunned to see Harvey guiding her through the paparazzi and toward the car. He leaned over and whispered into her ear, “Get in. I’ll take care of the food.” Without a second’s hesitation, Amanda did as he commanded, hurrying into the car, shutting the door and locking it. She covered her face with her hands, knowing that they were still taking photographs. After all this time, she wondered why they were still so interested in her.
    After Harvey loaded the groceries and got into the car, he turned to look at her. “You all right, then?”
    The concerned expression on his face touched her. It was all that she could do to simply nod her head, not trusting her voice to speak.
    “I think I’ll get a list from you or your mamm next time,” Harvey said, putting the car into drive and pulling away from the photographers. “No need for you to go through that type of scene again.”
    It had been so different with Alejandro. Wherever they went, there had been crowds of people, true. But it had been controlled, and Alejandro knew how to handle them. Now, in her own hometown, along the small back roads of Lititz in Lancaster County, she couldn’t even go to a grocery store.
    She remained silent on the short drive back to her parents’ farm. Staring out the window, she saw things in a different light. The large, open pastures and well-kept farmhouses, normally so serene and beautiful, now seemed barren and devoid of joy. Indeed, she realized as they approached the line of cars parked along the side of the road outside of her parents’ lane, there is no joy left in Lancaster for me at all.
    “Let me help carry in these groceries,” Harvey said when he parked the car in front of the house. He didn’t wait for an answer as he opened the door and grabbed the two large boxes of food.
    Silently, Amanda followed him into the house, her mind reeling from what had just happened at the store. From meeting her friend to the unkind words uttered by an aging Amish man to the rebuff from the cashier at the register, Amanda was still in shock. How is this possible, she wondered, that people can be so cruel and insensitive?
    “You alright, then, Amanda?”
    “Hmm?” She looked up, unaware that Harvey had been watching her. The two boxes were on the kitchen table, and he stood behind them, one hand on the tabletop as he stared at her. “Oh, ja ,” she said dismissively, knowing that she wasn’t telling the full truth. “I