Bolstered by this thought, Leah decided to go in through the back door, hoping she’d be less conspicuous. When she turned the knob, she wasn’t ready for the blast of loud country music or the dim interior where the air was thick and blue with cigarette smoke. The front center of the large room was filled with pool tables where men of various ages stood with cues, playing or awaiting their turns. A bar spanned one wall, and the other walls were lined with dark tables, dimly lit by hanging glass lamps that advertised various brands of beer.
Leah shut the door and stood near it, nearly suffocated by the smoke. Her burning eyes took in a scantily clad young woman who was flirting with two of the nearby men.
“You are just askin’ for it, when you do that to me, Natalie,” one of the guys teased loudly as she plucked the cigarette from his mouth.
“Nah, Natalie’s beggin’ you for it,” the other fellow countered with a loud laugh. “Better pour your beer on her to cool her off.”
Leah sucked in her breath, hoping she didn’t have to witness such an incident. A song about honky-tonk angels came over the speaker system just as she spotted two identical young women in tank tops at a back table. She bit her lip to keep from crying out.
Adeline and Alice both held cigarettes and beer mugs.
Leah’s first urge was to hurry outside and ride off on Mose, back to where Plain life was quiet and predictable—but she’d come here for a reason. She had to make her point with the twins, or her search had been for nothing.
Leah kept to the wall as much as she could, hoping to reach the girls without calling attention to herself, but other folks at the tables immediately picked up on her presence.
“Say, sweetheart, you lost?” one of the young men at the bar teased her.
“If you’re lookin’ for the church where the guys in beards and the women in those funny little hats and long dresses go, you’re in the wrong place!” his companion called out.
“You didn’t come here to save us, did ya?” a fellow in faded, holey jeans taunted her.
Focusing on Adeline and Alice, Leah ignored the men. A squeal made her turn her head just as one of the rowdy young men yanked Natalie’s lacy see-through tank top down over her shoulders. Shaken, Leah walked faster—and she knew the moment the twins spotted her. They stiffened, beer mugs poised in front of their faces, and for a desperate moment, Leah thought they were going to bolt out the front door.
“Wait!” she pleaded as she reached their table. She pressed her palms against the sticky tabletop, praying for the right words. “Please come home before your dat gets worried,” she pleaded beneath the loud music. “I know you feel cheated by what he said this morning, but he is the father who’s given you a home all your lives.”
Alice and Adeline exchanged a doubtful glance. “What are you doing here?” one of them asked as though Leah’s presence embarrassed her.
“Jah, how’d you find us?” the other twin demanded in a voice slurred with beer. “Why would you care how we feel?”
Aware that several pairs of eyes were watching her, Leah slipped into the chair nearest the girls. It wasn’t the right time to chide them for seeming so familiar with this raucous place, so comfortable with their beer mugs and cigarettes—nor was it a good idea to deride them for wearing such sheer, snug tops and sparkly earrings that dangled provocatively from their ears. They’d asked her a question that demanded a sincere answer, and if she was ever to gain their trust, she had to convince them that she did care about them.
“I know you’ll always miss your mother, and that I’ll never replace her,” Leah replied, holding their gazes. “But I want us to be a family. I want us all to find new ways to be happy—and that means you have things to teach me, like how to cook food you love to eat, and—”
“You can’t tell . . . um, Jude—or the bishop—where we’ve been,” the twin closest to Leah insisted.
“Jah, all bets are off if you don’t promise to keep your mouth shut,” her sister chimed in with a wave of her cigarette.
Nailed by two blue-eyed glares, Leah realized Alice and Adeline were testing her—expecting her to comply with their demands so they could keep coming to the pool hall without suffering any consequences.
“I’ll only keep your secret if you come home with me right now,” Leah shot back, holding their gazes. She bit back a retort about how they’d done enough damage to the Shetler family today—and no matter what she was promising the twins to get them out of this dangerous place, she would tell Jude about his girls’ escapades in a heartbeat to keep them safe. “Please come home now, before your dat realizes you’re gone and comes looking for you himself.”
“Dat? Enter a pool hall?” the sister nearest Leah said with a snide laugh.
The other twin stubbed out her cigarette in an ashtray overflowing with butts. “Mr. Clean wouldn’t have the first idea about where to find us—unless you tell him,” she added sharply.
After a brief pause, the other girl set her beer mug down with a thunk. “We might as well go,” she said as she plucked her hoodie from the back of her chair. “I’m tired of waiting for the guys.”
“Jah, they should’ve been back a long time ago. Let’s go.”
Leah was so relieved that the twins were starting toward the back door, she could ignore the catcalls and derogatory whistles from some of the young men who were playing pool.
“Come back and see us again sometime, girls!” one of them teased in a falsetto voice.
“But leave your frumpy old lady at home!” another one put in.
“What’ll we tell Dex and Phil?” a third
