"You will be stuck on that one for quite some time." She laughed, and he saved that sound in his memory. He probably wouldn't hear it again for the rest of the day.

Levi got to his feet and pulled her up with barely a flick of his wrist. She was still so skinny. "Okay, are you ready for the rest of your day at Misery Park? I'm really looking forward to it."

She let out a breath and nodded. "Where to?"

"I say we do go-carts first and save the big coasters for last. That way, you're more likely to throw up at the end of the day instead of the beginning."

They made their way to the big Trojan horse. The long wait in line proved to be a bad thing, because the longer Rebecca stood there, the more agitated she became. By the time they came to the front of the line, Levi couldn't remember the last time he had heard her take a breath.

Before they got into their little cars, Levi said, "You don't have to-"

"I know," she said.

Not very patiently, the attendant showed Rebecca how to use her feet on the pedals. "Don't slam on the brakes," he said, "or you'll cause a crash."

Dread washed over Levi. One more thing to worry about on a long list of worries. Rebecca hadn't the faintest idea how to maneuver a car, let alone have the instinct to push and release the pedals when she went flying around the track. The other drivers would eat her alive out there. He'd have to stay glued to her like a moth on flypaper. He clenched his teeth. Was it possible to roll the thing if she got going too fast? He said his third prayer in as many hours.

Please, don't let her die.

Rebecca came out of the gates at a snail's pace, but Levi knew her too well to think she'd keep to a conservative speed. She took perverse pleasure in terrorizing herself.

She pushed on the gas too hard, then slammed on the brakes, then punched the gas and squealed her wheels when she tried to slow down. This stop-and-start sequence went on for about a hundred yards before she abandoned the brake altogether and sped through the course with her head hunkered down over the steering wheel.

"Slow down, slow down," Levi muttered as he doggedly followed her trail. She passed three other go-carts. Had she no sense of caution? By the time she thankfully reached the end of the course, Levi didn't know whether the urge to strangle her or embrace her was stronger.

After she finally braked at the finish line, she unbuckled her seat belt and stumbled out of her go-cart like a drunken sailor. He wanted to throttle her. He didn't.

"Did you see how fast I went?" she said.

"Yeah, I did."

"I even passed three cars." She panted and put her hand to her heart. "I thought I was going to die."

"So did I."

She walked almost deliriously in the direction of the first roller coaster. "That was the worst experience of my life," she said. "But it's off my list. Never, never have to do it again."

Levi finally took pity on her and put his arm around her waist so she wouldn't run into the trees on the edge of the walkway. The roller coasters would be worse for her but better for him. At least she wouldn't be driving.

The long lines couldn't be helped. Summertime in Wisconsin was short. People made the most of it. But it gave Rebecca a chance to recover from each ordeal before plunging into the following one. After each ride, she stumbled to the next, traumatized and shaken, but determined to finish what she set out to do.

Finally, the fastest roller coaster in the park was the only one left. The line for that snaked around the ride itself. After the other rides, Rebecca couldn't fathom why this one was so popular. They sat together, with Rebecca keeping her viselike grip on the bar in front of them. She never held on to him when they did stuff like this. She had to attach herself to something completely immovable.

When the first drop came, she didn't scream, just clamped her eyes shut and held her breath. He knew better than to say or do anything to divert her attention. She had to stay completely focused on survival. It took all his willpower not to gather her up in his arms and hold on for dear life.

When the coaster came to a screeching stop, he took her shaking hand and pulled her from her seat. They walked to the nearest unoccupied bench, where she sat down and buried her head in her hands-a pose she'd taken several times today.

"My head is throbbing," she whispered.

"That was the last roller coaster. Only one more ride to go." Levi studied her with a mixture of sympathy and confusion. Could he convince her, though he hadn't been able to before, to give it up? Self-imposed torture was not his idea of fun.

"Wait here," he said. He went to a concession stand and bought her a Coke. When he came back, she still held her head in her hands, oblivious to what went on around her. "Here, drink this," he said. "It will make your head feel better."

She took a sip and grimaced. "I hate Coke."

Levi parked himself next to her. "We really can go-"

"Do not say it."

"Okay. I just think this is so dumb. I don't mean you're dumb, but you hate this. Why don't you change that insane list? Who cares if you ride a roller coaster before you die?"

"I know it seems crazy." Rebecca looked at him out of the corners of her eyes and frowned. "You won't tell anybody?"

"About your list? No way. You know I wouldn't."

Rebecca looked at the sky then at Levi before closing her eyes and rubbing her forehead. "I am doing it for my friend, Dottie Mae, who passed away."

"How did she die?"

Rebecca trained her attention on the ground in front of her. "She... It was horrible..." Rebecca's voice broke, and she stopped to regain her composure.

"You don't have to talk about it," Levi said, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb.

Rebecca cleared her throat. "We were best friends. She had a way of getting into trouble because she was always looking for some new excitement. One day while doing laundry, she took a clean sheet to the roof and tried to use it like a parachute. She broke her ankle."

"Ouch."

"We always talked about what we would do when our time came for rumschpringe. She kept a list, an actual list, of things to do when she turned sixteen. I wasn't that interested. I am a chicken at heart."

Rebecca took another sip of her Coke and made a face. She concentrated on her straw as she slid it up and down in the hole in the lid. It squeaked noisily. "When she died, I promised myself I'd do everything on that list because she'd never get a chance." She rubbed her eyes with her fists. "That's why I'm going to finish. I have to do it for her."

Thousand-ton weights pulled Levi's heart to his toes. He wished with every fiber of his being that he didn't know exactly how she felt. He had been responsible for cutting a life short. Someone wouldn't ever have a chance to live her dream-because of him. He'd give anything to have that moment back again.

At times like this, he wished he hadn't stopped drinking.

Why did he ever in a million years think he deserved someone like Rebecca-someone so perfect and innocent, who probably never had a vengeful or impure thought in her life?

Tara was right. He wasn't fooling anybody.

Taking a deep breath, he leaned back on the bench and closed his eyes to let it pass. Rebecca didn't need to see the inner turmoil he'd kept so well hidden. She'd experienced enough of her own.

"You have one last ride before we can get out of here," he said. "I say we get it over with."

Rebecca sucked up the remainder of her Coke with her straw. "Let's go," she said. "It will be fun."

Chapter Twenty.

Levi pulled his car in front of the old brick house that must have been eighty years old. But the style and the aging red brick were the only clues that the house was so ancient. The trim had a shiny coat of paint, and the shingles on the roof looked brand new. The front walkway, paved with flagstones, wound through rosebushes and huge pots overflowing with hostas and impatiens. The yard was shaded with trees and teeming with flora and felt twenty degrees cooler than the rest of the neighborhood.

Levi turned off the car and caressed Rebecca's cheek then wove his fingers through her hair. Warmth pulsated through her body like a cup of hot cocoa...with marshmallows. She closed her eyes and savored his smell, just for a moment.

"You okay?" he said.

"I am sure I will be. Someday. Maybe next week."

He grinned reluctantly. "One of these days, you're going to push me past my ability to endure, Rebecca Miller."

"Your ability to endure? Those rides don't even scare you."

"No. You scare me when I'm on those rides."

She shook her head. He was teasing again. He grabbed her hand, sending a wave of sparks up her arm.

"I'm okay," she said, trying to ignore the sensation of his hand touching hers.

"At least one of us is." He came around to her side and opened the door. He put his arm around her waist and supported her as they walked to the porch. Her legs still shook after that last ride that catapulted her and Levi into the air and whipped them back again in a matter of seconds. She honestly thought the entire seat was going to come loose from the cables and she and Levi were going to crash into the parking lot at the other end of the park. When they got off the ride, Rebecca felt lucky to have escaped death. Compared to the waterskiing, the roller coasters, and the movie, the catapult had been the worst experience of her life.

Except for losing Dottie Mae. Nothing compared to that.

After Levi peeled her off the sidewalk at the amusement park, they had taken a short twenty-minute drive west into a tree-lined neighborhood.

Rebecca breathed in the fresh air of trees and flowers. "Where are we?"

The door swung open, and a large man with a deeply wrinkled face greeted them with his arms spread wide.

"Levi Cooper! Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle." His booming laughter could probably be heard the next block over. "I guess I am." He attacked Levi with a smothering hug, and Levi barely had time to hug back before the large man released him and turned his attention to Rebecca. "And who is this?" He smiled warmly and held out his hand. "A cute girl. Levi, I didn't know you had such good taste."

He kept hold of Rebecca's hand and pulled her into the entryway. "Come in, come in." Ushering them into his kitchen, he invited them to sit on padded bar stools. He sat next to Levi, and Rebecca couldn't help fearing that the stool would collapse any minute under his significant frame.

"Rebecca," Levi said, "this is my dad's uncle Joe."

Uncle Joe squinted and studied her face. "Rebecca. I have a granddaughter named Rebecca. They call her Reba." He waved his hand. "She's their kid. I guess they can call her what they want."

Uncle Joe bounced his fist on the bar. "So, what brings you to my neck of the woods? Come to get my permission to marry?"

Rebecca felt a blush move up her face, but Levi simply flashed his teeth while his eyes danced. "No, not yet. We came from the amusement park, and she feels a little sick. I thought you might let us rest here for a minute or two."

"Amusement park, huh? I haven't been there. Too afraid I'll get stuck in the turnstiles going in."

"It was fun," Rebecca said.

The laughter bubbled out of Levi's mouth. "Yeah, fun. And anyway, Rebecca loves flowers. I wanted her to see your yard."

Uncle Joe smiled big and clapped Levi on the shoulder. "All Tillie's doing. She tells me what to plant and where to move the rocks. I just do what she says."

"It is beautiful," Rebecca said. "I love the climbing roses on the fence out front."

"I built that trellis about six years ago. Tore it down twice because Tillie said it leaned to the left. Now it leans to the right." He slid off his stool. "Come on. I'll show you around."

They went out the back door and stepped into a carpet of impatiens. Rebecca caught her breath at the sight.

"Good shade flowers," said Uncle Joe.

He took them down a path with moss growing between the flagstones. A small pond fed by a trickling stream graced the back of the property, while a gazebo almost completely enshrouded with ivy and clematis straddled the stream. Three benches covered with overstuffed pillows sat in the gazebo, forming a semicircle along the short walls.

Rebecca stepped reverently up the stairs to the gazebo, ran her hands along the ivy, and took a whiff of a purple flower twined around the post. Levi, with his hands in pockets, stood staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face.

Uncle Joe clapped his hands together. "I'll go get some lemonade."

He hurried back to the house with the agility of someone much younger, and Levi slowly walked up the gazebo's steps. He took Rebecca's hand, and they sat on one of the benches. He didn't take his eyes from her face. "This is how I want to see you."

"In a garden?"

"Jah," he said, slipping into Pennsylvania Dutch and lowering his voice to a whisper. "This is what you love. You are so beautiful here."

Rebecca hardly had time to realize how close his face was to hers was before he abruptly pulled away, stood up, and moved to the bench across from her. He shook his head and frowned wistfully. "This is going to be the death of me. The death of me."

Uncle Joe came tromping up the steps of the gazebo with two glasses of pink lemonade. He handed one to each of his guests. "You got some color back, Rebecca. In fact, now you look flushed. Have a drink."

"Aren't you having any?" Levi asked.

"Mine's in the house," Uncle Joe said. "You two don't need me out here to ruin your fun. I'm making jambalaya. You wanna stay for dinner?"

Levi looked to Rebecca. She smiled. "Sure we would," he said.

"Okay, good. Tillie will be home at six." He whisked a leaf off the gazebo with his foot. "Sit out here as long as you like. Although, if I were you, Levi, I'd be sitting a whole lot closer to your date."

"I'm trying to be a gentleman," Levi mumbled.

Uncle Joe looked from Levi to Rebecca. "That's the most refreshing thing I've heard all day. Your dad was like that. A good boy, always a gentleman."

Levi rested his elbows on his knees and looked at the floor.

Uncle Joe glanced at Levi. "He still in Chicago?"

Levi nodded. "With Bunny."

Uncle Joe's booming laughter shook the ivy growing up the gazebo. "Bunny. You always knew how to hit my funny bone." He turned toward the house. "Let me know if you need anything else. Do you like your jambalaya spicy?"

He kept talking-to himself or Levi, Rebecca couldn't tell-but his voice disappeared with him into the house.