Plain Fame (21 page)

Dios
mío,
he thought to himself. Could Sue Jarrell have been right?

Chapter Eighteen

His car, a black Escalade with tinted windows, pulled into the farm, the tires grinding against the macadam and gravel. The police had let him through, despite their instructions to block everyone. It was obvious that he was there on important business, and the local police weren’t about to argue, especially when he rolled down the window, ignoring the paparazzi that crowded around the car. The police questioned him, recognized him, and, after making a brief call back to the dispatcher, permitted him through their small blockade. Anything to stop the paparazzi and get them to move out of town. Even the police wanted to get on with their lives.

Alejandro ignored the throng of camera people who took photos of him in the black SUV as it was driven down the driveway. The rocks crumbled under the weight of the vehicle that looked so out of place pulling into the farm. He knew they had telephoto lenses and were taking pictures of him exiting the car, adjusting his sunglasses, and approaching the house. This was, after all, the moment for which they had been camping out near the farm for almost a month. They had known that, with enough pressure, it was likely that Alejandro would return.

Indeed, he thought. They had won.

One of his security guards opened the passenger door and quickly blocked the photographers from approaching the car as the driver hurried around to open his door. Alejandro took a deep breath before stepping out of the car. His dark sunglasses hid his eyes from the photographers, and he tilted his head so that they couldn’t see his expression. He was annoyed that he had to take the trip from California to Pennsylvania, even more annoyed that he had to take her away with him. Yet there was a part of him that pulsed with new life, an excitement over the unknown that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

He could hear the cameras clicking as he walked up the path to the porch. He glanced around, knowing all too well that every movement he made was being recorded and photographed. This was, after all, what they had wanted all along. In fact, he realized, they had orchestrated it by making Amanda Beiler the most famous Amish woman in America. No, he corrected himself.
In the world.

The paparazzi and media had forced his hand toward this very moment, the moment when he stood on the porch, straightening his black suit jacket before reaching his hand out to knock at the door. He took a step backward, his back to the paparazzi, as he waited for what seemed like an eternity.

And then, the door opened.

It had been just two days ago when he had watched the news report about Amanda. It was Rodriego who had alerted him to the story. Alejandro had been in Los Angeles, recording a new song that he had just written. He was still steaming about the interview with Sue Jarrell, refusing to watch it when it aired the evening before last. All of a sudden, he had been interrupted by a simple text message that flashed across his phone:
Channel 7 News. Now!
If it came from Rodriego, Alejandro had thought, it had to be something important.

Quickly, he had waved his hand to stop the recording session. As the noise died down, everyone stared at him expectantly. If he was at the mercy of his manager and fans while on the road, he was the boss inside the studio.

“Let’s take a break,” he announced, reaching for a towel to wipe the sweat off his neck. “Got a call I have to take.”

He found a television in the lounge and flipped it on to channel 7. It was an entertainment program, one that followed immediately after the evening news. The anchor was talking about the recent breakup of two popular movie stars. With a sigh, Alejandro leaned against the back of the sofa and kept watching, wondering why Rodriego wanted him to see this. Certainly it was about his repeated appearances with Maria. At least he hoped it was. He had made certain to be seen with her repeatedly while in Miami the past week. He had even flown her out to Los Angeles so that the photographers would see her near him both before and after his interview with Sue Jarrell.

The headline for the news segment flashed and, immediately, he caught his breath: “The World’s Most Famous Amish Girl.” The reporter began speaking, slowly summarizing the past weeks of what was being called “Viper’s Romance with the Amish.” There were photos of Maria on Viper’s arm, but the reporter was stating that a source close to Team Viper confirmed that the relationship was a sham to distract the media and public away from the real story, the one that, according to the reporter, was waiting patiently in Lititz, Pennsylvania, on an Amish farm.

And then he saw her.

Staring into the camera was Amanda, her dark eyes flashing and her face pale. Her dark hair framed her face, and the hint of her prayer
kapp
looked like an angelic halo around her head. Plain, yes. He swallowed and glanced around the room, glad that he was alone. Yes, it was Amanda, so beautiful, with those high cheekbones and plump lips. He had almost forgotten how lovely she really was. Yet there was stress about her. He could see that she looked weary. Her expression was tense, and there were dark circles under those beautiful eyes. Something was wrong, very wrong indeed.

The reporter was talking about Viper’s interview with Sue Jarrell, the one that aired just two days before. There was a clip of Alejandro ripping off his microphone and pointing his finger at Sue Jarrell when he had raised his voice and said, “You need to just leave her alone!”

He had groaned, furious that he had fallen for that trick. The cameras had still been rolling, and as usual, the media had taken his statement out of context. The way that it played on the news made it look as though Alejandro was defensive and angry, protective of Amanda. And he had known that it would only fuel the interest in the Amish girl.

The report had then switched to a film clip from the farm. His heart pounding and pulse racing, he had leaned forward to watch the scene unfold before him. He recognized the barn and the fields behind it. Then the camera had closed in on her. Amanda. When she had looked straight into the camera, not trying to hide her face, she spoke slowly and directly. “If you don’t leave, I am being sent away,” she had said.

Clearly, she had been speaking to the paparazzi. But as Alejandro had watched, he realized something else was being said. She was sending him a message: she was going to be sent away because of the media attention. Because of me, he thought.

He had spent the next two hours on the phone, trying to get a message through to her. It had taken that long to finally locate a police officer who was willing to approach the house in order to find her and hand her a cell phone. Lizzie and Elias were apparently in the barn, milking the cows for the evening chores while Amanda was still trapped inside the house. The police officer had knocked on the door, and when she answered, he merely handed her the phone.

“
Hello?
” she had said into the small contraption in her hand as she pressed it against her ear.

“Princesa,” he had said. Hearing her soft, sweet voice had made his heart swell. “I am so terribly sorry.” He had thought he heard her sob, and she was silent for just a few minutes. He let her collect herself. “What is happening out there?
Dígame.
”

It had taken her a moment to compose herself. The relief of hearing his voice made her feel safe for the first time in weeks. She had shut her eyes and, after taking a deep breath, finally whispered into the phone: “They just won’t leave me alone, Alejandro. And now the bishop and my
daed
want to send me away.” She paused. “
I don
’t want to go to Ohio, Alejandro. It will be just like here. It will hurt more people.”

He had rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers.
What to do, what to do?
he thought. “I’m sorry, Princesa.”

She had paused, and for just a moment Alejandro had thought the call had been lost. Finally, there was a noise, and he knew that she had turned away from the police officer and was trying to hide her voice. “
I won
’t go to Ohio. I can’t ruin my sister’s life, too. And they have made it clear that they won’t let me stay here, Alejandro. My parents will be shunned, and then their lives will be ruined.” She hesitated before she asked the final question. “Where am I to go?”

It dawned on him what she was truly saying. “Amanda,” he said slowly. “Are you asking me to come for you?”

Silence.

“Is that why you spoke to the reporters?” No answer. “Do your parents know that you did that?” This time, he had waited, letting the silence grow. He could wait all day. It was time for her to answer his questions.

He had heard her shuffle the cell phone in her hand. “Yes,” she had breathed into the receiver. “I cannot stay here. It will ruin my parents. I cannot go to Ohio. It will ruin my sister. I have nowhere else to go.” She repeated her argument as though trying to convince herself. “My life is ruined no matter what happens. Do I have to drag them with me?”

That had been two days ago. He had spoken on the phone with her for another fifteen minutes before they finally hung up. He was glad that no one else was in the room with him. Sitting alone on the sofa, he leaned against the side and rested his chin on the back of his hand. His mind had cycled through several different scenarios until he finally decided on the only path that the journey could take. And that led him back to the Beiler farm in Lititz, Pennsylvania, just two days after that media story aired on the entertainment channel.

The greeting he received differed tremendously from the first time he had arrived at the farm. Unlike when he had returned Amanda from the city after her accident, this time there was a heavy tension in the house. He could feel it even before he entered. Lizzie looked relieved, while Elias seemed disturbed. He couldn’t see Amanda from the doorway.

“I’ve come for Amanda,” he said slowly.

“
Alejandro!
”
he heard her call out from the darkness of the room.

If he hadn’t been such a gentleman, he would have pushed past her father to go to her, take her in his arms, and console her. But he knew that there was a right way and a wrong way to approach the situation. “Elias, we both know she can’t stay here,” he said, reaching up to take off his sunglasses. He slid them into his shirt pocket. “I’ve dealt with these people for years. I know what they want, and the only way to get the frenzy to die down quickly is to let her come with me. As soon as they have what they want, they’ll lose interest and move on.”

“She’ll be ruined!” Elias said.

“I already am,” Amanda retorted, having joined the circle at the door. “If you send me to Ohio, Daed, they will only follow me. Then you will create problems for Anna and her new life. Would you have all of us ruined?”

Lizzie laid her hand on her daughter’s arm. “That’s not fair.”

“Isn’t it?” Amanda retorted, feeling a newfound courage. She had grown tremendously in the past few months, the exposure to the world having given her a strength she had never known was actually inside her. “What about what happened to Aaron? I was already ruined because of that!”

Lizzie gasped and turned her face away.

“Amanda!”

She faced her
daed
and shook her head. “You know that his death weighs heavily on my soul. And I know that you blame me.”

“That’s not true!”

She fought back the tears. “I should have been the one harnessing the horse. I know that, Daed. You didn’t have to say it. Your silence during those first months was more than enough to know what you truly thought. It should have been me who was kicked, me who died. Not Aaron! Then you’d still have your son to help you in the fields and inherit the farm. The guilt has burdened me every day since he left . . . has ruined me just as much as this craziness with the camera people!”

“
I don
’t blame you,” her
daed
said softly. But his eyes said differently. “You cannot use that as a reason to leave, Amanda.”

“Yet I cannot stay here!”

Alejandro cleared his throat and stepped forward.
“Con permiso,”
he said softly. “If Amanda stays here, they will continue to stalk her. If she comes with me, I promise to take care of her. No harm will come to her, and I will end this. Let the paparazzi have their pictures, their interviews. It is better to let them get it out of their system, no? But if you send her to another community, it is likely they will follow her.”

“I cannot agree to this,” Elias said, his eyes sharp and piercing through Alejandro. Then he straightened his back and lifted his chin. “If you were to go, Amanda, you could never come back.”

“They cannot shun me if I leave, Daed,” Amanda replied, her shoulders back and her chin lifted as she spoke with conviction. “But they can shun you if I stay, and I will not go back to Ohio. I will not ruin Anna’s chance at happiness nor yours.” She looked at Alejandro, her gaze steady and determined as if strengthened by the fact that he had come for her. “Besides, I am old enough to make my own decisions and I trust you,” she said boldly.

Alejandro nodded his head once, then stood back, his arms crossed behind his back as he waited.

She hurried up the stairs to her room and took a quick glance around, trying to memorize everything. She didn’t know when she would return, if ever. But she did know that her heart was pounding inside her chest. She was making the most potentially dangerous decision of her life, but she had been thinking about it for days. She had packed her bag and kept it hidden under her bed. In truth, she hadn’t had much to put in it.

The kitchen was silent when she returned. No one had moved in her absence. Her mother had her back turned, but her shoulders were shaking. Her father’s jaw was clenched, and his face pale. She wasn’t certain what to say or do. She knew that this was a monumental decision, but she also knew that she couldn’t keep living with those photographers following her every move and risk her parents being shunned. She also couldn’t return to Ohio. What choice did she really have?