“Wow!” Lucy dropped the plastic bag containing all of her worldly possessions and shaded her eyes so she could stare straight up. “Holy cow!”

Jane laughed and stepped up beside her, hands on her hips and a smirk of amusement playing about her lips. Coming from the same background as Lucy, she understood the younger woman’s astonishment. “You talking about Boris or the mansion?”

“Both, I guess…” Lucy trailed off taking in her temporary new home, which was easily the biggest house she was likely to ever step foot in. It came complete with the biggest man she’d ever seen, standing in the doorway, watching them closely.

“Is he going to eat us?” she asked timidly. He truly did look like he could consume a couple of mid-sized women for lunch. Jane was feisty and fast, which meant Lucy would be the appetizer if he came after them.

Jane chuckled. “Just don’t call him the butler and you should be fine.”

The giant lumbered down the stairs toward them, muscles rippling under his shirt, tattoos flashing in the sunlight. Lucy’s eyes widened and she began backing toward the SUV. Maybe if she locked herself inside she could convince Jane to take her back to the farm. She was beginning to think city life wasn’t for her. Not if men and houses looked like this.

“Jane Sitnikov,” he rumbled in a deep voice, thick with a Russian accent, “you are late.” His words sounded accusing though his tone was warm with affection.

Jane rolled her eyes and waved his words away. “We had to stop a few times along the way for food and leg stretches. I didn’t want my sister to start her year of freedom hungry and all bent up from hours of travel. I assume my husband is annoyed?”

Boris nodded. “His stipulation on your going alone to pick up Lucy Miller was that you go straight there and come straight back, no breaks, no leg stretches.”

Lucy watched them with curiosity, her fear of the giant man starting to recede when she saw the sparkle in his eye as he spoke and the clear attachment he felt for Jane. Her sister was not the easiest person to get along with, yet this man seemed to enjoy sparring with her and was giving her a warning on what to expect from her formidable husband. Lucy’s heart began to warm toward him.

She stepped toward him and stuck her hand out. “I’m Lucy.”

He stared down at her and then gave her a broad, toothy grin. “Of course you are, pchela,” he agreed kindly, engulfing her hand in one of his own bucket-sized hands. “Welcome, Lucy Miller, it is good to have you here.”

She was immediately disarmed by the terrifying Russian who released her hand and bent to pick up her plastic bag. He ushered the two women inside and tossed Jane’s car keys to another man, ordering him to park the vehicle in the massive garage she’d caught a glimpse of as they’d rounded the huge, curved driveway. Clearly her new brother-in-law didn’t do anything small when it came to his property.

“You’d better go in and soothe the beast,” Boris said to Jane. “I will get your sister settled in her new bedroom and then bring her down to meet the Boss.”

Jane grumbled something impolite, gave Lucy a quick pat on the shoulder and disappeared into the darkness of the mansion. Lucy gaped after her, staring around at the heavy furnishings with awe and the severe sense of being a fish out of water. She’d never seen anything like… well… any of it. She clutched her stiff blue smock and held on for dear life. It was the only thing familiar to her as she navigated a new world filled with things she was both terrified of and dying to see.

Boris led her up the ornate staircase, down a long hallway and into a gorgeous, expensive room, unlike anything she’d ever seen before. Her heart beat faster as she moved into the room, her fingers automatically reaching for the plush duvet. Unable to resist after just one touch, she dropped down onto the bed heaving a sigh of sheer bliss as her butt sank into the mattress.

“Wow…” she whispered.

Boris’ chuckle drew her attention back to the doorframe and she felt the heat rise to her face to see him standing there waiting. “Uh, I just need a few minutes to change,” she glanced down at her outfit, a uniform smock dress of dark blue that covered her from neck to wrists to ankles. It had never bothered her before. She looked like some variation of every other woman in the Amish community she grew up in, but the further away she travelled, the more she noticed other women and the way they dressed. Nothing like her. Jane had provided her with a few items until she could go out and shop.

Boris nodded. “I will be right outside when you’re ready to go back down to your sister.” He spoke in a quiet, kind voice as if sensing her fear of this new world.

Lucy wanted to explain to him that she wasn’t a fearful person. Not normally. She was just out of her element. She needed to gather new experiences. Assimilate. She had no doubt she would be completely fine once she figured out how and where she fit into this new world.

As soon as Boris closed the door behind him, Lucy began digging through the garbage bag. She pulled out the pair of jeans and sweater that Jane had brought for her. They would be slightly small since Jane was smaller, but she would manage. After she changed into the strange and uncomfortable clothes she wandered toward the window and peeked out at the magnificent manicured back lawn.

“Wow,” she said again, for about the fiftieth time since leaving the farm. These people really didn’t do anything understated or small.

As she stared out the window, Lucy’s thoughts drifted to Mack Hudson. For four months, she wrestled with banishing the man from her brain; banishing the kiss he forced on her in the shadows while her family had been at a gathering. The traditional Amish girl in her knew she should hate him for causing her to feel things she didn’t want, but he’d woken something in her. Maybe she would get to see Mack while she was in the city. See if reality lived up to memory. And if it didn’t… well… she was certain there were plenty of other kissable men willing to banish Mack Hudson’s image, more than willing to experiment with her.

Something caught her eye. Lucy had good eyesight, so she knew she wasn’t seeing things when she spotted a man with nearly as many tattoos as Boris, stalking along the perimeter wall with a gun slung over his shoulder. She tilted her head and watched until he disappeared from sight behind a row of tall hedges.

It was then that Lucy began to wonder who exactly her brother-in-law was and what kind of adventures she might have in the next year. She turned away from the window and headed for the door. “Welcome to Rumspringa, Lucy Miller,” she whispered to herself.