Until the End of Time (30 page)

“Just for you,” he said, sounding happy. “You’ll be here in a few minutes. How did it go when you left?”

“Fine. Everyone was asleep. Willy took me to the dairy in the buggy.” Bob had feared a scene with her father as she walked out the door. He was relieved that hadn’t happened.

Ten minutes later, they were at his office. Bob was waiting on the sidewalk, he couldn’t contain himself anymore. He held out a
hand to her, to help her, as she stepped out of the car. She looked up at him with the now-familiar sense of déjà vu she had every time she saw him. Bob had said he felt it too and suggested jokingly that maybe they had known each other in another lifetime. Lillibet said that this one was extraordinary enough.

“It is
quite
amazing,” she said with awe. Everything looked so tall to her, even in Tribeca, and she tucked her hand into his arm as they walked into the building. The driver was going to drop her valise off at the hotel. Lillibet peered into the elevator when it opened. “What’s that?”

“This is magic.” Bob was teasing her a little. “It’s an elevator. In this case, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. It will take us upstairs to my office. You get in, you press a button, and a trolley system pulls you upstairs.”

“Is it solid?” She was wary of it, although she’d read about them, but the one in Bob’s office building was ancient and looked it.

“Very.” She walked in with him, and he looked at her seriously. “Say abracadabra.” He seemed to mean it, and she laughed and did what he said. He pressed five as she said it, the door closed, and with a hideous rattling the elevator went up, and a moment later they were on five and the door opened into Bellagio Publishing. There were desks everywhere, fluorescent lights, and the first thing they saw was Pat Riley, looking worse than usual, with a stack of manuscripts on his desk—the slush pile, yet again. It had proven to be a treasure trove for Bob. He walked Lilli over to it, introduced her to Pat, and pointed to the manuscripts on his desk. There were even more than before.

“That’s where I found you, Lilli,” Bob said softly, as Pat stared at
her with interest. He had never seen a woman in Amish dress before, and he was fascinated. She looked like someone in a movie. And as they talked, Mary Paxton came out of her office, belly first. She came over to Lillibet quickly and gave her a warm hug.

“Welcome to New York!” Lillibet looked overwhelmed, but she beamed when she saw Mary.

“It’s hard to imagine, but my mother was bigger with our twins. They each weighed over nine pounds. Amish babies are huge!” The women ate well and lived a wholesome life.

“These two are big enough, thank you. I can’t wait to have them—you came just in time. I hope I last the week.”

“I’m sure you will,” Lilli said reassuringly. “Ours were two weeks late.”

“Don’t even say it!” She followed Lillibet and Bob into his office, and the three of them sat down on his couch. He had ordered lunch from a nearby deli, and they were planning to get right to work. Every moment with Mary was precious. Lillibet looked around as she took off her cape and bonnet, and set them next to her on a chair, as the two New Yorkers watched, mesmerized by her. She looked like a Dutch portrait come to life, with her long blond braid hanging down her back. She had never cut her hair in her life. She turned to look at them, and she was smiling blissfully.

“I can’t believe I’m here.” She had had to endure weeks of her father’s threats to get there. But it seemed worth it now, and it was only for a week. She wanted to soak up everything she could in the meantime, and do the work they wanted on the book. “It looks exactly the way I expected, only bigger and with more people.”

“That’s about right.” Bob was planning to take her sightseeing, but not yet.

And as the lunch came from the deli, they got to work. Lilli ate little and worked hard and made all the changes Mary wanted to improve her book. They had made good headway by five o’clock. Both women were pleased, and Bob had left them alone to do other things and checked on them from time to time. He could see it was going well.

At five, Mary got up and stretched, and they agreed to call it a day. Bob said he would take Lilli to her hotel. They had put her up at the Mercer in SoHo. She put her bonnet and cape on again, and a few minutes later they went back down the elevator and walked through Tribeca toward SoHo, as Lillibet looked at everything on the way.

“It’s just like the book!” She was delighted with all she saw, and seemed oblivious to the stares of passersby. She was so busy observing what was around her, that she didn’t register their amazement at her antiquated garb. To them, she appeared to be wearing a costume. Few people realized that she was Amish, or what that meant. She looked like someone in a time warp. But Bob was proud to walk beside her. She was so bright and alive, and such a beautiful girl. He felt giddy being with her.

They walked into the lobby of the Mercer, after a brief stroll through SoHo, as she glanced at all the shops. She had never heard of any of them before, which he found refreshing. Prada, Chanel, Miu Miu, she was more intrigued by the people than by their wares. And she found the street vendors interesting too. They went to check
in at the desk—the hotel was expecting her and her room was ready. He had taken a suite for her, in case she and Mary preferred to work there. This time she recognized the elevator and felt very worldly as she got into it, and they followed the bellman to her room. He unlocked the door and handed her the key, Bob tipped him, and the bellman disappeared. She noticed that the key was actually a card of some kind that he had slipped into a slot in the door, a green light went on, and it opened.

“That looks complicated,” she said to Bob in a whisper, and he grinned.

“It isn’t.” But she was staring at the room by then, and he had sent her flowers, a big bouquet of pink roses. And the suite was very handsome, with a nice view. She walked from the living room to the bedroom, thinking of her small cell-like room at home. And here everything was lit by electricity. Bob showed her how to work the lights, the TV, and the bathroom. She stood staring at the bathtub and shower.

“We had to bathe in the barn until I was eleven. And then Papa built a bathroom. We all share it. But we have hot water now from the propane tanks.” He showed her how the hot and cold water worked, flushed the toilet for her, and skipped an explanation of the bidet. Everything was new to her, and she loved the TV, although she jumped when he turned it on. She had never watched television in her life, and had only read about it.

“Are you exhausted, Lilli?” He knew that new information and stimuli were coming at her fast and furiously. There was so much to absorb.

“No,” she said honestly, although she had worked hard on the
book that day, “just a little overwhelmed. There’s so much to see and learn and discover. I must seem very stupid to you.” She looked embarrassed. “Everything is so new to me. Even if I wrote about it, I’ve never seen it.” Bob had expected that, and he found it touching, not stupid. They discovered the minibar then, and Lilli helped herself to some candy with delight. There was a disposable camera too, and Bob explained it to her. It seemed like a fantastic idea to her. “Can I take a picture of you before I go home?” she asked him shyly, and he grinned at her.

“I want one of you too,” he said, and she grew instantly serious and shook her head.

“I can’t. It’s in the Ordnung. You can’t photograph the Amish. It’s not allowed.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, looking contrite. He had as much to learn as she did, about her customs in his case. And he had already learned a lot in the past two months, the expressions, the rules, the German words they used. “Would you like to go out to dinner?”

She nodded, looking intrigued. “Could we look around New York a little afterward? I want to see everything before I go home.”

“You just got here. I promise, we’ll see it all.” He looked at his watch then. It was almost six o’clock. “Why don’t I come back in an hour? We’ll go to dinner and drive around afterward. That’ll give you an hour to relax, lie down, do whatever you want.” She wanted to try the bathtub, but she didn’t say it. It looked fantastic. And she wanted to change.

She thanked him for the roses after she read the card, and he left a few minutes later. And then she opened her suitcase and took out the clothes she had brought with her. She thought about it and decided
to wear the black skirt and white blouse, the dark blue coat, the little black ballerina shoes, and the sheer stockings.

She attacked the bathtub first. The hand shower sprang out of control the moment she turned on the taps, and leaped at her like a snake, spraying everything with water, as she laughed and caught it, turned some knobs, got it under control, and got the water coming out of the faucet. She got in and tried all the body wash and scented soap, and she was smiling when she got out of the tub. She looked at herself in the mirror and brushed her hair and braided it again. And then she got dressed and stared at herself in amazement. She looked like a different person.

She felt shy when Bob came to pick her up, and she opened the door to him. He was shocked by what she was wearing—you could no longer tell she was Amish, she was a beautiful young girl.

“I feel very English,” she whispered, suddenly worried about the outfit. She felt very strange and had never worn such a short skirt or even seen one. It reached her knee, as did the coat, but she felt naked in it, particularly in the sheer stockings. She looked up at Bob and seemed about to cry. “Do I look stupid?” She trusted his opinion in all things, and he was her guide to modern times.

“No, you look beautiful, Lillibet. I just didn’t expect to see you in—in ‘normal’ clothes.” He could see how odd it felt to her.

“I love the zippers,” she giggled conspiratorially, showing him how the one on her skirt worked, as though he had never seen one before, and he laughed as she did it. “They’re so efficient. I wish we had them. Even buttons would be an improvement. I’m always sticking myself on pins and bleeding on my apron when I prick my finger.” He couldn’t imagine living like that, but she had done so all her
life and intended to continue. She never made any mention of leaving her community, and he didn’t ask her. And she still thought being shunned and forced to leave was the worst fate of all, which told him she planned to stay. But would her father take her back? Lillibet believed he would never shun her and Bob hoped she was right. She was convinced her father would forgive her disobedience when she got home.

Bob took her to a nearby Italian restaurant, and she ordered pizza. She said some of the teenagers brought pizzas in during
rumspringa
, and she confessed that she loved them. He had pasta, and a glass of wine, which she declined. She had never tasted alcohol and didn’t want to try it. She wasn’t trying to break all the rules and go wild. She had come here to edit a book and didn’t want to take advantage of it. She was an honorable person.

Bob had rented a town car after dinner so he could show her around. He took her to the Empire State Building, and they went upstairs and looked at the view. All of New York was below them, and they talked about the tragedy at the World Trade Center. He pointed out the tall buildings all around them and where the Twin Towers had been.

They drove to Broadway and Times Square and saw all the theaters sparkling brightly, and then they headed uptown and then through the park. He had no idea why, but he wanted to show her Central Park, and they drove down Fifth Avenue until he told the driver to stop at the Plaza. When they got out of the car, they looked up at the enormous hotel, and then she noticed the hansom cabs and the horses parked along the street.

“Almost like home,” she said, smiling, except she thought the
horses looked tired and old, and the buggies were more ornate with plastic flowers and little decorations, as young couples got in, for romantic rides in the park. It was a little more commonplace to Lilli, as she rode in horse-drawn buggies and carriages every day. There were none as fine as her father’s Sunday carriage, she noticed. “Do you ever ride in them?”

“No,” he said with a terrified look. “I hate horses. I’m afraid of them.”

“Really? Why? Did you fall as a child?” Horses were part of her daily life, like buggies, and always had been.

“No, I’m just afraid of them. I always have been. I mean really terrified. They scare me to death.” He looked anxious as he said it.

“Something must have frightened you about them,” she said gently, and he shook his head again.

“I’ve been frightened of them as long as I can remember. I feel like I’m going to die if a horse comes near me.”

“Well then, we won’t offer you a ride in my father’s Sunday carriage,” she said gently, as they walked away from the carriages and horses, crossed the street, and stood in front of the fountain outside the Plaza, as Bob looked pensive, as though remembering something.

“What are you thinking?” He had a faraway look in his eyes as she asked.

“I don’t know. I had one of those crazy déjà vu moments again, as though we’d been here before.” She was smiling at him, and as he looked at her, he could see a scene of a woman in the snow, but it wasn’t Lilli, and then the feeling was gone. For a moment he had felt as though they had both been there before.

“Where are we going next?” she asked, looking like a child at Christmas. His moment of déjà vu outside the Plaza had rung no bells with her. She was having too much fun being a tourist.

They drove down Fifth Avenue then, toward Washington Square in the Village. He told her about the big Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center every year, and she glanced at St. Patrick’s Cathedral as they drove past. And then he took her to a coffeehouse in the Village, where they had dessert and cappuccino, which she thought was delicious. Their tour of Manhattan had been perfect, and there was more he wanted to show her in the coming days, historical parts of New York that he thought would interest her, between her editing sessions with Mary.

He brought her back to her hotel at eleven-thirty, and took her to her room to make sure she could open the door with the electronic system, and she was beaming when she thanked him.