Amish Sweethearts by Leslie Gould

“Jah, since we were all little.”
    Mandy rolled her eyes. “No. On Facebook.”
    “Simon doesn’t have a—”
    “There he is. Zane Beck.” She held the phone closer to her face. “He needs to update his privacy settings.”
    Lila craned her neck.
    Mandy turned the phone toward her. There was a large photo of the poplar trees along the creek between the two houses and then a small photograph of Zane. Just a head shot. But below that was a picture of Zane, wearing a gray T-shirt that fit tightly across his chest with ARMY across the front, and beside him stood a petite woman. She had on an ARMY T-shirt too. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she had a big smile on her face.
    “Don’t worry,” Mandy said. “The girl just posted the photo. Today.”
    “What?”
    “She posted it to Zane’s wall. It’s not like he put it up there.” Mandy turned the phone back toward herself and touched the screen with her finger. “Here’s another photo of him and the girl. Casey. From a couple of months ago. She seems to be the only one who posts on his wall.” She held the phone up for Lila to see. The photo was taken in front of a brick building. Both wore Army uniforms.
    Casey. Lila had been right about Zane having a girlfriend—or at least a friend. Her chest tightened. She focused on keeping her voice even as she changed the subject. “So Simon has one of these accounts?”
    Mandy nodded. “I helped him create it last night, on my phone.” She touched the screen again. “Oh, look. He stole Zane’s cover photo. The little sneak.”
    Simon’s big photo was the same as Zane’s—the poplars andthe creek. Instead of a headshot, he had a photo of a deer’s head—probably the one he shot last fall. Mandy scrolled down. There was a photo of Simon at his shooting range and another one of him by Daniel’s truck. Dat would explode again if he knew Simon had let someone take an image of him.
    “How did he take the photos?”
    Mandy smiled. “On my old phone.”
    Maybe Mandy and Simon had been hanging out more often than Lila realized. “Is Daniel on Facebook?” Lila asked.
    Mandy shook her head. “Not that I know of. If he is, he’s not friends with anyone I know.” She dragged her finger along the phone again. “You’re prettier than she is.”
    “Than who?” Lila asked.
    Mandy squinted. “Casey Johnson. Zane’s Englisch girlfriend.”
    Lila sank back against the seat.
    Mandy put her phone into her pocket, and then shifted the car into reverse. “Daniel’s having a party tonight. Want to stop by?”
    Lila shook her head. Good thing she hadn’t depended on him for a ride.
    “Just for a minute?”
    “No thank you,” Lila said.
    Mandy laughed. “You’re nothing like your brothers.”
    Lila smiled, just a little. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
    Mandy turned left instead of right.
    “Where are you going?”
    “Just a little detour.”
    Daniel only lived a mile away. Lila shook her head. “I won’t go in.”
    “You can wait in the car,” Mandy said. “I’ll be fast. Simon has something he wants to give me.”

    Daniel lived down a side road in a run-down house with three guys on his construction crew. Lila had never been in the house and had no desire to.
    Mandy parked alongside another car and left the motor running while she ran inside. Lila could only imagine how Mandy’s father would react if he knew where his car was. Lila had met Mandy’s parents at the restaurant. Her father wasn’t quite as imposing as Dat, but he was definitely cut from the same cloth.
    A couple of people stepped out on the porch. Lila squinted through the exhaust smoke that swirled around the car. When the two started down the front stairs she realized one was Mandy. The other figure, a guy, was leaning against her.
    Lila groaned. It was Simon, and he’d obviously had too much to drink. He stumbled a little coming down off the last step, but Mandy supported him. Lila stared straight ahead. The