he wanted was a quiet night at home . . . and another slice of that fabulous apple pie that tasted like nothing he’d ever put in his mouth.
Adam chuckled as he pulled his horse to a halt outside the barn. Matthias was going to rub him good for eating half of that pie already, but he didn’t care—Annie Mae had given it to him, after all. As he fed and watered the horses, Adam allowed his mind to wander to the tall, slender girl he’d known all his life but had only recently seen . If he asked Annie Mae, would she go out with him? Especially now that she’d given Luke Hooley the boot?
And why would you want to get that started? Sooner or later, you’ll be a major disappointment to a girl like Annie Mae, because she likes wild excitement . . . running the roads and looking for trouble. She said so herself—even though she also said she was finished with that sort of thing.
Adam turned. Like a magnet, the motorcycle in the back stall drew him . . . coaxed him to remove the tarp and take a good hard look at temptation . The shiny black fenders, red accents, silver studs, and the sleek black helmet on the seat seemed like something the Devil himself had designed—which was exactly why Adam had gotten a cycle license and acquired this sleek machine when he’d been sixteen. For a very brief time during his rumspringa, he’d known all about running the roads, looking for trouble.
And he’d found it. And his mother had died because of it.
Just as Mamm hadn’t had any idea about this motorcycle he’d hidden away at a friend’s house, nobody else knew the awful, exact details of how her buggy had raced into the intersection where the county blacktop crossed the highway . . . the heavy secret he couldn’t bear to confess because he’d been young and scared—
“Ya really ought to sell that thing,” Matthias said from behind him. “Not doin’ it any gut to sit there and get rusty as time goes by.”
Adam nearly jumped out of his skin. He’d been so absorbed in his memories that he hadn’t heard his brother enter the barn—and he didn’t want to let on about how those memories still haunted him, either. “ Jah, you’re right. What with Hiram hiding that Cadillac in his garage—and now driving it around in front of God and everybody—I’m not much better than he is if I’ve still got this cycle tucked away,” he agreed. “But I don’t have the first clue about where to sell it, or—”
“Ask Rebecca. She could probably get on her computer and find all sorts of fellas lookin’ for a wicked- gut ride like this one.” Matthias ran his hand over the cycle’s black leather seat, which was outlined with red leather piping and steel studs. “And ya traded a horse for this mean machine?”
Adam shrugged. “It wasn’t the smartest deal I’ve ever made, but you knew I’d swapped Jake for something else. And since I’d bought him with my own money, and I was getting into rumspringa then, Dat didn’t fuss about my gelding being gone.”
“Somebody must’ve been desperate.”
“Remember Allen Stoltzfus, Yonnie’s cousin?”
Matthias frowned, thinking back. “The one who got two girls in trouble but could only marry one of them?”
“He suddenly needed a gut horse a lot more than he needed this motorcycle—which he told me had driven him straight to the Devil.” Adam sighed a little louder than he intended to. “And Allen was willing to stash it away for me at his place . . . so Mamm and Dat wouldn’t find out.”
And that’s all you’re going to say about that.
Matthias cleared his throat to cover a laugh. “ Jah, well, we all had our little secrets,” he teased. “That’s what our runnin’-around time is about. And because you were the little brother with the big mouth, I never let on about the smokin’ and drinkin’ I did with a couple of English friends who thought it was pretty hilarious to lead a backward, backwoods Amish kid astray.”
Adam raised his eyebrows. “So
Adam chuckled as he pulled his horse to a halt outside the barn. Matthias was going to rub him good for eating half of that pie already, but he didn’t care—Annie Mae had given it to him, after all. As he fed and watered the horses, Adam allowed his mind to wander to the tall, slender girl he’d known all his life but had only recently seen . If he asked Annie Mae, would she go out with him? Especially now that she’d given Luke Hooley the boot?
And why would you want to get that started? Sooner or later, you’ll be a major disappointment to a girl like Annie Mae, because she likes wild excitement . . . running the roads and looking for trouble. She said so herself—even though she also said she was finished with that sort of thing.
Adam turned. Like a magnet, the motorcycle in the back stall drew him . . . coaxed him to remove the tarp and take a good hard look at temptation . The shiny black fenders, red accents, silver studs, and the sleek black helmet on the seat seemed like something the Devil himself had designed—which was exactly why Adam had gotten a cycle license and acquired this sleek machine when he’d been sixteen. For a very brief time during his rumspringa, he’d known all about running the roads, looking for trouble.
And he’d found it. And his mother had died because of it.
Just as Mamm hadn’t had any idea about this motorcycle he’d hidden away at a friend’s house, nobody else knew the awful, exact details of how her buggy had raced into the intersection where the county blacktop crossed the highway . . . the heavy secret he couldn’t bear to confess because he’d been young and scared—
“Ya really ought to sell that thing,” Matthias said from behind him. “Not doin’ it any gut to sit there and get rusty as time goes by.”
Adam nearly jumped out of his skin. He’d been so absorbed in his memories that he hadn’t heard his brother enter the barn—and he didn’t want to let on about how those memories still haunted him, either. “ Jah, you’re right. What with Hiram hiding that Cadillac in his garage—and now driving it around in front of God and everybody—I’m not much better than he is if I’ve still got this cycle tucked away,” he agreed. “But I don’t have the first clue about where to sell it, or—”
“Ask Rebecca. She could probably get on her computer and find all sorts of fellas lookin’ for a wicked- gut ride like this one.” Matthias ran his hand over the cycle’s black leather seat, which was outlined with red leather piping and steel studs. “And ya traded a horse for this mean machine?”
Adam shrugged. “It wasn’t the smartest deal I’ve ever made, but you knew I’d swapped Jake for something else. And since I’d bought him with my own money, and I was getting into rumspringa then, Dat didn’t fuss about my gelding being gone.”
“Somebody must’ve been desperate.”
“Remember Allen Stoltzfus, Yonnie’s cousin?”
Matthias frowned, thinking back. “The one who got two girls in trouble but could only marry one of them?”
“He suddenly needed a gut horse a lot more than he needed this motorcycle—which he told me had driven him straight to the Devil.” Adam sighed a little louder than he intended to. “And Allen was willing to stash it away for me at his place . . . so Mamm and Dat wouldn’t find out.”
And that’s all you’re going to say about that.
Matthias cleared his throat to cover a laugh. “ Jah, well, we all had our little secrets,” he teased. “That’s what our runnin’-around time is about. And because you were the little brother with the big mouth, I never let on about the smokin’ and drinkin’ I did with a couple of English friends who thought it was pretty hilarious to lead a backward, backwoods Amish kid astray.”
Adam raised his eyebrows. “So
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