Rum Spring by Yolanda Wallace

apartment, but I know he would like to so he can assure himself I will be as safe there as I would at home.”
    “I could use the same assurance.”
    “You’ll have it. You can visit as often as you like.” Rebecca grinned.
    “What’s so funny?”
    “I never thought I’d have a place of my own. Not without having a husband and children first.” A veil descended over Dylan’s eyes the way it did every time Rebecca mentioned becoming a wife and a mother. To lift the shroud, Rebecca moved to less weightier matters. “I like Philadelphia.”
    “You should,” Dylan said with a laugh. “We’re here practically every weekend.” Her expression turned serious. “Could you see yourself living here one day? Could you see yourself living with me?”
    “I’m like Uncle Amos. I can visit the city, but I couldn’t live there.”
    “What if I were there to help you?”
    “You would quickly tire of having to lead me by the hand.”
    “If you think I would ever get tired of having you in my life, you need to think again. But it sounds like you’ve made up your mind. When your rumspringa ends, so will we.”
    Rebecca heard the air of finality in Dylan’s voice. End? They had barely begun. “I have made no such decision.”
    “Then why can’t you talk about the future with me? Why can’t you talk about a future with me? Tell me honestly. Where do you see yourself in five years?”
    “Married to Tobias and learning to love him.”
    Rebecca didn’t know she was going to say the words until they tumbled out of her mouth. Once they were said, she couldn’t take them back. She had known from the first weekend of her rumspringa that she would choose Tobias. The day Esther had told her Tobias was interested in her, Rebecca had felt fated to become his wife.
    Tobias was calm and steady. Life with him would be untroubled, devoid of the emotional peaks and valleys that characterized her relationship with Dylan. Tobias was the easy choice, but was he the right choice?
    Dylan’s eyes filled with tears. “You would marry a man you don’t love and have his children in order to fit in instead of remaining true to yourself?”
    Rebecca thought of Uncle Amos living by himself because he couldn’t be with the one his heart desired most. “I don’t want to be alone.”
    “You don’t have to be alone. You can be with me. Why should you have to learn to love Tobias when you already know how to love me? You can have the life you want.”
    “The life I want or the one you want for me? How do you know what I want?”
    “Because I feel it every time you kiss me.”
    Rebecca sighed. “You’re not making this easy for me.”
    “I don’t intend to. Tell Tobias not to make those wedding plans yet. I’m not letting you go without a fight.”
    Rebecca’s father stood in front of the open refrigerator. “There is more food in here than you girls will eat in two lifetimes.”
    “That’s Uncle Amos’s fault,” Rebecca said. “He gave me three boxes of vegetables because he didn’t want me eating out of cans.”
    Marian tossed a plastic container of macaroni and cheese into the microwave. “Canned food is better. You don’t have to cook it as long and you don’t have to worry about it going bad after a week. Hello again, Mr. Lapp.”
    “Marian.”
    Rebecca was embarrassed by Marian’s immodest attire. Why was she wearing skimpy shorts and a tank top when she knew her father was coming to help her move in?
    “I’d best be going,” he said.
    “So soon?” Rebecca asked.
    “I want to get home before dark. Neither I nor my horse see as well as we used to.”
    Marian sat on the counter, causing her short shorts to ride up even higher on her long legs. “Come back when you can stay longer, Mr. Lapp.”
    Rebecca shot Marian what she hoped was a baleful look. She would discuss Marian’s disrespectful behavior later. “Let me walk you out, Papa.”
    “No need. I’m sure I can find my way.”
    Rebecca didn’t want him to