“How many bishops are there?”
“One. And two ministers, a preacher, and the deacon. Did you not have a service like this at your church?”
He shook his head. “I’ve never been to church.”
“You are talkin’ about an Amish service, jah?”
“Any church.”
Katie Rose swung around in the seat to stare gape-mouthed at him. “Please tell me this is not true.”
Zane shrugged. “Sorry.” Never before had he felt like he’d missed out on anything by not attending church, but after Katie Rose’s reaction he couldn’t help but wonder.
She watched him, her brows knit together. “And how do you get the Lord’s word, Zane Carson?”
“I don’t.”
She gave him that look. The one that all believers gave those suspect of not being among them. Zane was accustomed to the look. Normally he brushed it off and went about his way. But Katie Rose had him wondering about what he might be missing.
He mentally shook himself. He was just under the power of her jade-green eyes. He had taken the “when in Rome” creed a little too far. Just because she needed the Bible and its contents to make each day valid didn’t mean everyone did.
“Do you not believe in God?”
He sucked in a breath. Did he?
She looked as if she would pray for him at any moment. “One look at a battlefield and even the most devout would doubt.”
“One look at the beach, and it would all come back,” she primly replied.
His head swiveled in her direction. “And when have you seen a beach?” He gestured toward the fields and trees around them. He might not be a geography scholar, but the last time he checked, Oklahoma was a landlocked state.
“Some friends and I went to Cabo San Lucas for a trip.”
He straightened. “On your rumpringa?”
She nodded.
“To Mexico?”
She gave him the tiniest of smiles.
He continued to watch her.“If you won’t allow your picture to be taken, how’d you get a passport?”
“There are ways around such matters, Zane Carson.” The mystery in her voice set him back.
“Abram and Ruth let you go all the way to Mexico without a chaperone?”
“That is what rumspringa is all about. Seein’ the world, experiencin’ it. Samplin’ what it has to offer before we make the commitment to God and church.”
When he was younger, he’d wanted to be a part of something like that, something larger than himself, something more meaningful than his own wants and needs. But once he reached his teens he knew it was a hoax. The cooperative was close, but it was still made up of the people who formed it, and they weren’t always what they seemed. Every organization he joined turned out the same. His college fraternity, the Army, everything. So he’d given up and concentrated instead on getting the most out of life.