Plain Again by Sarah Price Page A

daed ’s wheelchair down the ramp that Harvey had built for him. She had wanted him to get some fresh air, and when she had offered, he had been quick to agree. After having been indoors for almost three weeks, Elias would certainly benefit from overseeing the afternoon chores.
    Harvey was already working on the early evening feeding. The cows had been milked and the stalls were clean. The scent of fresh hay greeted Elias and Amanda as they entered the barn through the large double doors.
    “You need help there?” Harvey didn’t wait for an answer to his question as he hurried over to the chair. It was hard to roll it on the concrete flooring of the dairy, so Amanda let him take over the task of pushing it.
    Elias stared at the cows, a look of longing in his eyes. It broke Amanda’s heart to know that her daed could only watch, but not help with, the completion of the evening chores. She didn’t need to read his mind to know what he was thinking as he watched Harvey: if only . . .
    But there was no if only . Harvey Alderfer was a right gut man, with a strong work ethic and kind heart. But even if she had met him before her New York City encounter with Alejandro, Amanda would not have been interested in a relationship with Harvey. God had other plans for her, and those plans were centered on Alejandro. Still, seeing her daed watch Harvey, and imagining what he thought might have been, bothered her.
    “Sister Anna’s coming home to visit,” Amanda told Harvey, breaking the silence. She hoped the news about Anna would awaken her daed to the fact that he had two dochders , both of whom had married, a fact of which he needed to be reminded. “She was married just the week last.”
    Harvey leaned against the pitchfork and smiled. “A happy time in a couple’s life, no?”
    Amanda frowned. It should be a happy time, she thought, fighting a sense of bitterness. She missed Alejandro and wished that she could be with him. Yet she knew that her duty was to help her parents until things could be properly sorted out. She owed that much to her parents as well as to Anna.
    She could tell that Harvey sensed the shift in her mood, and he quickly changed the subject. “Planning on spreading manure tomorrow, Elias,” he said. “’Less you object.”
    “Nee,” her daed responded, pleased that he had been consulted.
    “Right gut idea,” she added. “November spreading will bring healthy crops in spring.”
    The mention of spring caused Amanda to ponder. Who would plant those crops? Would her daed still be living there on the farm in the spring? Or would they have moved to a smaller house, one that was more manageable for a man who was recovering from a stroke? Surely, Harvey could not work on their farm forever.

Chapter Eight
    Went out last night.
    Don’t listen to the news.
    Nothing happened.
    V.
    The weather was cold in Boston, and Alejandro dreaded the weight of a heavier jacket on his shoulders. Born in Cuba and having lived most of his life in Florida, heat was in his bones. When winter came and he toured in the North, he hated the long coats, leather gloves, and boots that his stylist insisted he wear. Today was no different. Already, he missed Los Angeles. He missed Miami, too. But most of all, he missed Amanda.
    He spent a few hours at a gym, his personal trainer eager to get Alejandro back into his training program. Despite his notoriety, the other patrons merely stared and whispered; no one approached him, for which he was grateful. He needed the time alone to work with Marco. It had been too long since he had really worked out on a regular basis, and it felt good to push his body to its limit.
    He hadn’t wanted to go to the after-party the previous night, but his entourage and Mike had pressured him. “You need to get out,” Mike had said. “For the media, if not for your own good.”
    The concert had been energizing, and Alejandro finally relented, knowing that his only other option was to go back to the