Free Plain Fame by Sarah Price Page A

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