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    Amanda fought the urge to roll her eyes. What difference does it make? she wanted to ask. “He is Mennonite. From Ephrata.” The bishop raised an eyebrow, and Amanda felt the need to explain. “He was a farmer but lost his farm. Now he hires himself out to others, and Alejandro is paying for him to help while Daed is unwell. ”
    “Then you will be leaving soon, ja ? And taking with you those people?”
    Amanda wished that Alejandro had been next to her in order to confront the abrupt manner with which she was being addressed. However, she knew it was most likely best that he was not here, for she could only imagine what his response would have been. Always the gentleman, he would have found a way to defend her while letting the bishop know that his manner of speech was totally unacceptable.
    But he wasn’t there to speak on her behalf. Since the question had been directed to her, Amanda knew that the bishop was waiting for her response. While disappointed in his abrupt manner of addressing her, she knew that she had made the choice to leave the Amish community while her parents had not. She needed to respond and to choose her words wisely. The last thing she wanted to do was to say something confrontational that would jeopardize her parents’ standing in the church.
    With a deep breath, Amanda nodded and swallowed. “I am married now,” she said. “I am not here to stay.” Her eyes flickered at her mother, who seemed to cringe at the announcement. “My sister is to be married next week, and then she will travel here with her husband. We will decide how to best care for Daed as a family then.”
    The bishop nodded his head, approving of the plan. Apparently, family decision making was tolerable under his guidance for the g’may . “That is gut ,” he admitted. Then, for the first time, he turned to look at Lizzie. “I have heard that he will recover, ja ?”
    “That is yet to be seen,” Lizzie stated. “To what degree, anyway.”
    “We will pray for him at church,” the bishop said.
    “Danke.”
    He looked at Amanda again but said nothing, his eyes disapproving. She wondered what he had thought when he had noticed her uncovered head, no prayer kapp pinned to the elastic headband to keep it in place. With her simple dress, one that was plain but clearly not Amish, she knew that she stood out as a non-Amish woman. Yet her mannerisms still reinforced the fact that she once had been one.
    From the disappointed and fierce look on his face, she knew exactly what he thought of her: a lost sheep from the flock, one that had willingly drifted away from the shepherd and found peace in the company of wolves.
    She felt the muscles in her jaw ache as she clenched her teeth, angry that the bishop’s main concern had been her return to the farm, rather than her father’s well-being. Still, she knew better than to say anything. She was no longer part of the community and, as such, had no voice or right to complain. Her heart felt heavy as she realized that she had changed more than she had thought. Never would the old Amanda have wanted to lash out at the bishop. Once again, she was stunned by how little she fit into the place once considered her home.

Chapter Four
    Tried to call earlier. No answer.
    Meeting with Mike in thirty minutes.
    Tonight is the Teen Choice Music Awards.
    Wish you could go with me, Princesa.
    V.
    Alejandro stood against the window, one hand pushing back the sheer curtains as he peered outside, his blue eyes searching the crowded streets below. Despite it being November, the sky was blue and the sun shone. From the look of the people walking by the apartment building, he could tell that it was warm outside. After all, Los Angeles had near-perfect year-round weather.
    Behind him, Mike leaned back in his chair at the table and tapped his finger against the stack of newspapers that were strewn across the glass tabletop. He watched Alejandro carefully, too aware of the tenseness in the