Plain Fame (7 page)

“‘
Sir,
’
eh?
” He pulled at his beard and stared at Alejandro. “That’s a bit formal, don’t you think? You can call me Elias, and this here is my wife, Lizzie.” The woman at his side nodded her head but didn’t speak. “We want to thank you for taking such good care of our Amanda. God has a way of providing in times of need,
ja
?”

Alejandro crossed his hands in front of him, his feet planted apart as he stood before this man. “Well, I felt a little responsible, to be truthful. It was my driver that hit her.”

“That it was,” Elias said, nodding his head. But he kept smiling. If Alejandro had expected the parents to be angry with him, he was pleased to be surprised. Again, he thought. That’s twice in less than ten minutes. Elias rubbed his hands together and bent down, looking into the car again. “Let’s see about getting her out of this fancy house on wheels, then.”

It took a few minutes to get Amanda out of the limousine. Her leg felt heavy and awkward. When it was clear that she couldn’t do it on her own, Alejandro gestured to her father to step back.
“¿Permiso?”
he asked but didn’t wait for a response as he knelt on the floor of the limousine and lifted her into his arms. “Easy now,” he murmured, his one arm under her legs and the other supporting her back. “
Hold on to me,
Princesa.”

“Oh,” she gasped, color flooding her cheeks. But she put her arms around his neck, avoiding the stunned gaze of her parents.

Carefully, Alejandro backed out of the limousine, and then even more carefully, he carried Amanda over to the waiting wheelchair. Gently, he set her down and started to stand up. But she was still clinging to his neck. He smiled to himself and reached up to touch her hands. “You can let go now,” he whispered softly, his breath brushing against her ear.

Embarrassed, she looked away, her cheeks still crimson.

Her mother was quick to cover her legs with a small quilt that she had been holding in her arms. “
You poor dear girl,
” her mother said, tucking the quilt around Amanda. “I never should have let you come home without your sister. Traveling alone through that big city? Terrible mistake! You must have been petrified!”

Recovering from her discomfort, Amanda turned toward her mother and reached for her hand. “Oh no, Mamm. Everyone was so kind and took such wonderful care of me! The nurses and doctors were very attentive.” She glanced over at Alejandro, her eyes sparkling. “And Alejandro was there every day, talking to the doctors and making certain I was doing just fine. If it weren’t for the pain and this lumpy thing on my leg that I’ll be dragging around for a while, it was quite the grand adventure!”

Lizzie stood up straight, her hands planted on her hips and her mouth twisted in a grimace. She stared at her daughter with a look of complete disbelief. “A grand adventure, she says!” She repeated and looked at her husband. “Did you hear your
dochder
? A grand adventure!”

Elias laughed and put his hand on Amanda’s shoulder. “
Ja vell,
let’s have no more grand adventures, Amanda. You had your
mamm
worried half to death!”

“I knew you shouldn’t travel by yourself,” Lizzie complained.

Alejandro stood quietly, watching Amanda’s parents fawn over her. He had his hands crossed in front of him, taking in the peaceful surrounding of the farm and feeling the love of Lizzie and Elias for their daughter. He could hear the cows in the field and horses in the barn. There were soft noises everywhere, reminders that he was no longer in the city but in a place where he might just be able to relax. No paparazzi, no fans, no phone calls, no interviews. Birds were chirping in the nearby trees, and he could hear the song of the cicadas traveling from a distant field.

Elias gently pushed the wheelchair toward the house, talking to Amanda in Deitsch. The words sounded musical, flowing together with lilts and dips. They were halfway to the house when Elias stopped as if he had forgotten something. He looked around and frowned. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Alejandro, still standing by the open car door, his hands crossed in front of him.

“You’ll be coming inside,
ja
? Have some nice meadow tea and shoofly pie?” Elias said.

With a simple nod, Alejandro followed them into the house. He was still taking in this wonderfully strange environment. The smells, the colors, the sounds . . . everything was new and different to him. He was so used to airports and big cities that he hadn’t been in the countryside for years. He was feeling himself relax, just being away from the craziness of his busy life.

The house was dark. Green shades were pulled halfway down the windows in the large kitchen. The walls were painted a softer color of green, but they were bare, all except a calendar that hung by the back door. The kitchen table had a simple green-and-white-checkered tablecloth on it with a basket of fruit set in the center. Everything was tidy and neat, clearly a well-cared-for home. It was a lot different from the farmhouses he remembered from his childhood in Cuba.

Standing in the doorway, he wasn’t quite sure where to go. He waited for Elias to motion toward the sofa against the back wall. Obediently, Alejandro walked across the kitchen in six easy strides, pulling his pants up slightly before he sat. He took off his sunglasses and slid them into the pocket of his jacket.

“
Alejandro, is it?
” Elias asked.

“Sí,
Alejandro
.”

“Strange name, that. Almost sounds Amish!”

That image made him laugh. “I can assure you that it’s not.”

Amanda reached for her
daed
’s hand. “Alejandro is from Cuba.” She said it the way that Alejandro said it:
coo-bah
. “It’s a little island near Florida.”
She smiled at Alejandro.
“Isn’t that right?”

He was struck by her innocence. He knew that she was twenty years old, but she seemed so young and vivacious. He had caught glimpses of it when they were in New York City, but here at the farm, in her familiar surroundings, she was much more comfortable. Clearly, she was home.

“An island, you don’t say?” Elias said, nodding his head in approval. “Can’t say I know about this Cuba place.”

“I live in Miami now,”
Alejandro offered.
“That’
s in Florida.
”

“Ah! I know about Florida,” Elias said proudly as he took the glass of tea from Lizzie and handed it to Alejandro. “So you are from this place Cuba, living in Miami, and were visiting in New York City. Now you are in Lititz, Pennsylvania. I’d say you are quite the traveling man.”

Again, Alejandro laughed. “I’d say you’re right. That’s what I do. Travel.”

“
Travel, eh?
” Elias sat down in the chair next to the sofa. He eyed Alejandro, a hint of suspicion in his face. “And do what when you are traveling?”

Amanda lifted her eyes and stared at Alejandro. She seemed to wait patiently for his answer. He was too aware of her stare, steady and curious. He didn’t know how much she knew about his lifestyle, apart from what he had told her. From what he had gathered over the past few days and from what little research he had conducted, he imagined she didn’t know very much about his world.

“I’m an entertainer,” he finally said, speaking slowly and carefully. He wasn’t certain what their reaction would be.

“What kind of entertainer?” Elias asked, direct and to the point.

Clearing his throat, Alejandro took a deep breath. Here it goes, he thought. “I’m a singer.”

“They call him Viper,” Amanda said softly.

“Viper?” Lizzie chimed in, her hand rising to cover her mouth, which formed a perfect O from her surprise at the word. “Oh my!”

“
Well,
” Elias said. “Can’t say I know much about entertaining people, but we do know about singing. At least in church,” he teased.

“I’m sure that I like the name Alejandro better than Viper,” Lizzie said under her breath, but not unkindly.

“It’s my stage name,” he offered. “What my fans call me.”

Elias and Lizzie exchanged a glance. The unspoken language shared between them did not escape Alejandro’s attention. It was a language that took years to develop and came from the heart. He had seen that silent language before, from his grandparents in Cuba. They could read each other’s minds, it seemed. Whatever it was Elias and Lizzie had just said to each other without words, only they understood. Yet Alejandro waited for the next question, suspecting he knew what it would be.

It was Lizzie who cleared her throat and asked, “That means you sing for people? On stages?”

He nodded, too aware of their curiosity. “Yes, that’
s correct.
” He paused. “That’s why I was in New York, meeting with a music producer.”

Elias stared at Alejandro. “You headed back to New York, then?”

He raised an eyebrow and glanced out the window. “Los Angeles in a week, then Europe for a two-week tour. Thought I’d find a little hotel and stay here for a few days.” He looked back at Elias. “It would be nice for a change. I’m tired of cities.” And he meant it. He was tired of cities and people and paparazzi. Especially the paparazzi. He knew they’d never find him here. Viper didn’t vacation in small Amish farming villages. Viper stayed in Paris or Rio, places with nightclubs and media on the prowl for a good story.

Elias glanced at Lizzie. Again, there was an unspoken communication between them. But whatever the communication was, they were both in agreement.
“Nee,”
Elias said. “You can stay here, Alejandro. You took care of our
dochder
and brought her home to us.”

“It was my limousine that hit her,” he reminded them, humbled by their willingness to forgive and forget so easily.

“Accidents happen and now she’
s fine,
ja
?”

Lizzie nodded.
“We have the
grossdaadihaus
. It’s empty and private. You are welcome to stay there.”

“Grossdaadihaus?”
he asked, repeating the strange word that Lizzie had said to him.

“Where my parents used to live. It’s next door to this house,” Elias said. “No one has lived there for a few years since they joined the Lord. Lizzie will straighten it up for you. But it’s yours to stay in while you are here.”

For a moment, he hesitated. He was used to hotels and servants. He was used to five-star dinners and hordes of people who clamored around him. He was used to sleeping late in the morning and staying out until the wee hours. But he had wanted a change, even if just for a few days. This was definitely not what he had expected, but he wondered if, perhaps, it might be just what he needed.

“I’d be honored, sir,” Alejandro said, a serious look on his face. “I could use a change of pace, and this might be just what the doctor ordered.”

“The doctor ordered?” Lizzie repeated. “Are you ill?”

“It’s an expression,” he said lightly. “It means that it would make me happy to be here.”

Elias laughed. “Well, happy is a
wunderbar gut
thing,
ja
? And you can always help me in the dairy, if you want to get some farming under your belt and dirt under those fingernails.”

“I can do that,”
Alejandro said.
“Used to farm in Cuba when I was a boy. Would bring back some memories.”

“We shall see what kind of farmer you are, then,” Elias teased. He turned his attention to Amanda. “Now, as for you, young lady,” he started. “I understand you will be in a cast for quite some time.”

“
Ja
, four weeks.”

Lizzie tsk-tsked and shook her head. “What were you doing? You should have stayed in Ohio with Anna.”

“Your
mamm
fixed up the downstairs bedroom for you.”

“
Oh,
Daed
,
” she said softly. That was her parents’
bedroom.
“
I don
’t want you to move upstairs. It’s so hot in the summer!”

Her father held up his hand to stop her. “
Nee
, none of that. We’ll move into your brother’
s room.
”

Alejandro frowned and looked around. “Brother?” He knew that Amanda had an older sister, but she hadn’t mentioned a brother.

Lizzie lowered her eyes, and Amanda bit her lower lip. They waited for Elias to say something. It took him a minute to compose himself. “Our son died when he was twelve.”

Immediately, Alejandro stared at the three of them. Grief was still apparent on their faces, and he could tell that it was a sensitive subject. “I’m so sorry.”

“Been three years now,” Elias said in a very matter-of-fact way. No one spoke for a few moments. The silence seemed heavy, and Alejandro sat there respectfully. And then the subject was dropped. “Well, best be getting to some of my chores,” Elias said, slapping his hands on his knees before he stood up.

As Elias left the kitchen, Alejandro wasn’t certain what to do. He felt out of place and was suddenly sorry that he had agreed to stay at the farmhouse. What would he do all day? Was he expected to help Elias? He stood up and carried his glass of tea over to the sink. “I suppose I should go speak with my driver. Let him know that I will be staying here.”

Lizzie frowned and glanced toward the window. “You should have invited him in.”

Alejandro appreciated her generosity, but he wasn’t certain how, exactly, to explain the situation. “It’s not like that, you see.”