by Claire Adams
"I also know that you're someone who thinks you have to bear the weight of the world on your own shoulders without any help," I observed. "But you don't. I don't know exactly what you need, but I'm more than willing to help you in any way I can. You just have to be willing to trust me. I know that's difficult for girls like you, but I promise you can trust me."
I felt her stiffen in my arms and then before I knew it, she was up on her feet moving across the room. She stopped in the kitchen doorway and looked at me.
"I'll have you know that girls like me are capable of handling a lot more than you think we can, Wallace," she said with a grim expression. "I'll thank you not to make assumptions about what we can or cannot do."
"Jesus H. Christ, lady!" I exploded. "You need to knock that chip off your shoulder and join the rest of the world! The rest of your family is doing the best they can to help you, but you're shutting them out! I'm offering to help too, but you're so suspicious of everything that you're going to reject me before you even give me a chance! Fine, whatever! Do your thing, lady. I wish you the best of luck trying to save the world all on your own! I've got my own shit to worry about!"
I was livid and had no outlet for my anger, so I did what every other member of the family did and headed for the door. I limped down the stairs and up the drive to the road where I stopped and stood staring across acres of open farmland. My anger at Grace and her stubbornness quickly dissipated as I stood wondering how long before the phone was charged so I could call Bugsy and figure out what it would take to get the people who owned these fields to install our turbines. I was so lost in my thoughts I didn't hear Honor until she was standing behind me.
"I know you're crushed out on her, but she belongs with Gabe," Honor said breaking the silence.
"Jesus H. Christ!" I shouted as I spun around and then bent over holding a hand to my chest until the sharp pain subsided. "Don't sneak up on someone like that!"
"Sorry, I thought you heard me," she shrugged as she kicked at the dirt with her bare foot.
"I didn't think she wanted to be with Gabe," I said wondering what she was getting at. "And what the hell are you talking about crushing out? I'm not a teenage boy."
"They always disagree like that. She and Gabe have been sweethearts since they were kids. She's just trying to figure out whether she's going to stay or go," she said. With a wry grin, she added, "And you don't have to be a teenager to have a crush."
"Where's she going?" I asked as I slowly stood up. Honor stared at me for a long time before she replied.
"Away, so you better say something before she does," she said before suddenly taking off in a dead run toward the end of the road.
"Honor!" I shouted. She ignored me as her feet pounded the dirt, leaving behind small clouds of dust in her wake.
"That does it. One way or another, I'm going to get to the bottom of this mess," I muttered as I limped back to the house. I scoffed at Honor's assertion, but as I pulled open the screen door, a part of me knew she was right.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Grace
I spent most of the afternoon holed up in my bedroom, waiting for the appointed hour to call Mike and find out what was going on with the Miter account. His messages had sounded urgent, but then Mike had a way of making a lunch order sound urgent, so I tended not to get too worked up about things he said.
I sat at my desk going over the paperwork for the grocery store while I waited and realized that the store was running at a deficit of around a thousand dollars a month. The farm was able to cover a portion of the debts, but there seemed to be somewhere between two hundred and five hundred dollars that was missing each month. I couldn't find a record of it anywhere and this was confusing. Dat was always meticulous about money as far as I'd known. Unlike a lot of Amish families in the community, we'd never gone without shoes or essentials that we needed because Dat had saved enough to be used in case of emergencies.
I knew about the emergency account because I'd almost drained it to pay for the caskets and funeral costs. Now there was less than two thousand dollars in the account and I needed to figure out how to make up for the several thousand-dollar shortfall that the grocery had. I pulled out my cell phone and tapped the screen to check my own retirement account. I wondered if I could withdraw what was needed without being charged an arm and a leg to do it. I made a note to call the fund manager and ask her what the penalties would be then I dialed Mike's number and waited.
"Hey, Grace! How you doing, girl?" Mike shouted into the phone when he picked up. "Do you have any idea when you'll be back?"
"Hello, Mike," I laughed as he moved from niceties to business without taking a breath. "I'm not sure. What's going on?"
"Look, kid, I know you've got a lot on your shoulders, but we really need you here," he said. "Jess can't handle this account on her own and I don't feel comfortable giving her the responsibility of taking the lead on the presentation. I don't mean to sound insensitive, but I need you to wrap up the business with your family enough so that you can come back to the city and take care of this. After that, we'll talk about you taking some paid leave time and being with your family."
"Mike, I can't just walk away right now," I said trying frantically to figure out how I could manage the family business and still give him what he needed for the Miter project. "Can I do it remotely and then fly in for the presentation?"
"I'm sorry, Grace," he said in a tone that let me know he truly was. "But I need you here doing your job right now. I know your family needs you, but we need you, too. I don't like to be the bad guy, but if you can't get back here by next week, we're going to have a serious problem."
"In other words, you're going to fire me," I said glumly.
"Firing is such an ugly word, kid," he said. "But if you can't be here to do the job, then we're going to have to let you go."
"Mike, that doesn't make sense!" I cried. "I'm the lead on the project, but I can still advise from here! I could hook up Skype and work with Jess if you need me to."
"I'm sorry, Grace," he said. "But I've got a business to run and I need my best accountants here doing their jobs as we head into this crucial negotiation."
"So, it's next week or not at all," I said feeling the weight of the world settling on my shoulders.
"I guess it is, kid," Mike said sadly. Then he perked up and offered, "I can send a car to pick you up. How about a week from today? Can you make that work, Grace? Please?"
I could hear a hint of desperation in his voice and it made me realize that he wasn't kidding when he said he needed me on this one. I took a deep breath and said, "Okay, this time next week. Send a car and I'll come back to get things in order."
"You're a champ, Grace!" Mike crowed as he ended the call.
I put the phone down and dropped my head into my hands as I tried to think my way through what I could accomplish in the next week. I needed to make sure the store stayed open and that the farm had enough money to keep everything on track. I also needed to arrange for the supplies we'd need for Verity's wedding and for the coming winter. I wondered if Verity and Levi would consider moving into the house and looking after Honor and Danny, but I knew that was only a temporary solution. As a newly married couple, they couldn't be expected to take on running the farm and the store in addition to looking after the other two as they set up their own new household. But if they didn't, it would mean that I would have to move back to Corner Grove and take over until Honor and Danny were old enough to be on their own.
"Mamm! Dat! What do I do?" I whispered as I tried to make everything make sense. In the still air of the hot July afternoon, I waited for an answer, but there was only silence.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Adam
For the next two days, Grace did everything in her power to avoid being anywhere near me unless she absolutely had to be. She steered clear of me after her mini-meltdown, so after I'd checked the phone and found it wasn't yet charged, I volunteered to pitch in and help with th
e housework.
My cooking skills were non-existent, but I told Verity that I could wield a mean mop and broom. She laughed and refused my first several offers before she finally handed the tools over and told me to start with the living room.
"Mr. Wallace, are you sure you want to clean in those clothes?" Verity asked as I headed to the other room. I looked down at the clean dress pants and shirt I'd pulled from my suitcase that morning. I did look a little formal for what I was about to do. Hell, I looked formal for just about anything I was going to do except give a presentation about wind turbines. I hadn't packed anything other than dress clothes since I hadn't expected to be down here longer than a couple of days.
"A little formal for cleaning?" I asked.
"Well, you just don't look like you belong here," she said biting her lip and hesitating a little.
"I don't have anything else to wear," I said looking down at my clothes again. "And I don't think I'd look very good in a dress."
"Oh no, Mr. Wallace," Verity burst into giggles as she looked at me and imagined me in one of the girls' plain dresses and bonnet. "I can give you some men's clothing to wear. If you would prefer."
"You're going to dress me like an Amish guy?" I asked warily. I wasn't sure what she was up to, but there was no way I was going to drink the Amish Kool-Aid. I was here as a temporary resident with no intention of staying.
"I just thought you might be more comfortable in clothing that you didn't have to worry about getting dirty," she said.
"Well, I guess it would be smarter to keep these presentable, wouldn't it?" I said. Verity nodded and motioned for me to follow her as she headed toward the bedroom where I was staying. I followed her and watched as she pulled a pair of black pants and a white cotton shirt out of the dresser. She stopped for a moment and closed her eyes before handing the clothing over to me.
"They were my father's clothes," she said quietly.
"I'll be careful with them," I said taking the pile.
"Oh no, it's not that! Dat wore these to do the farm work in as well as to Sunday services," she smiled. "I was just reminded of him and how much he loved Corner Grove and our family."
"Then I'll try to do a good job cleaning," I said with a smile. Verity laughed again and left the room. I quickly pulled off the dress clothes and hung them on the pegs in the corner of the room so they wouldn't wrinkle. I pulled on the big, white shirt first and was surprised to find it had buttons. It was slightly large on me, so I rolled up the sleeves before pulling on the pants. They fit me better than I expected, but I struggled to figure out how to attach the suspenders that seemed to stand in for a belt. I decided to go barefoot since that seemed be what everyone who stayed around the house did, and then I walked into the kitchen to show Verity.
"Did I do this right?" I said as I entered the room. Verity turned and began laughing. She laughed so hard that tears rolled down her cheeks as she came toward me and began fixing the suspenders and pulling the shirt down so that it actually fit my body.
"I'm sorry, but you look so foreign in this!" she laughed. "If we get you a hat, you'll pass for Amish!"
"Oh no, you're not cutting my hair using a bowl!" I said backing away from her warily. "I've seen the way the men around here look and I'm not doing that!"
"No, no, we wouldn't ask you to," she laughed harder as she looked at me.
"You're picturing me with the bowl cut, aren't you?"
"I am!" she said as she dissolved into another fit of giggles. I smiled as I realized that this was the first time I'd seen Verity laugh. She looked sweet when she smiled, and I understood what Levi found attractive about her. She was a softer version of Grace. Once Verity had straightened me out and stopped laughing about the imagined haircut, I grabbed the broom, mop, and bucket, and headed into the living room to clean.
In my entire upbringing, I'd never had done anything more than toss my towels on the bathroom floor knowing that they'd be picked up, laundered, and replaced after the cleaning staff came through every day. There was something oddly satisfying about sweeping and mopping, and even though it took me four times longer than it probably would have taken any other of the Miller children, I finished the task without incident.
When I limped into the kitchen and went to dump the bucket out back, I caught a glimpse of Danny struggling to pull a bale of hay into the barn. I looked around and didn't see Honor anywhere, so I headed out to help him.
"Want some help?" I asked as he huffed and puffed pulling the bale toward the end stall. He nodded, so I bent down and pushed. Together we moved the hay quickly and then Danny snipped the rope holding the bale together and began tossing it into the stall.
"Wow, you've really cleaned this place up quickly, haven't you?" I said looking around and marveling at how clean the barn was. He nodded and signed something that I didn't understand. I shook my head, "I don't speak sign language, buddy."
Danny thought for a moment, and then grabbed my sleeve and pulled me over to the milking pen where he pointed at the cow, the bucket, and then me.
"Me? Milk the cow?" I said looking confused. "You're out of your mind!"
Danny laughed silently and then pushed me toward the pen. The pain in my chest sent a jolt down one side of my body and I backed up shaking my head. Danny's face formed a question, and I replied, "I can't sit down like that, it'll hurt too much."
He nodded and signed something that, combined with his sheepish look, I took as an apology.
"Hey, no problem, big guy!" I said patting his shoulder. "Maybe in a few days, when I feel a bit better, I'll have a go at it."
Danny nodded happily and then sat down, thrust the bucket under the cow's udders, and began quickly milking her. Watching him, I marveled at how easy he made it look and how at ease he seemed doing it. I felt bad that I couldn't speak sign language and carry on an actual conversation with him, but when I thought about the fact that I wasn't going to be here for much longer, I decided there wasn't much I could do about it aside from helping him in the barn as best I could. It wasn't easy and I knew I was going to pay for it later, but I helped Danny clean out the stalls and then carry the dirty hay out to the compost bin until Verity told us to come in and get cleaned up for supper.
Both Grace and Honor were missing, but when I asked Verity where they were, she shrugged and said, "Probably at the store. They'll be home later."
After dinner, I tried to help with the dishes, but Verity shooed me out on to the front porch, saying that I'd done more than enough for one day and that I should rest. She said she'd come check my head and chest after she finished in the kitchen. Out on the porch, I suddenly remembered the phone that had been charging all day, but decided that I'd wait to grab it before I went to bed. Somehow bringing technology out on the porch felt wrong.
"God, look at me," I muttered. "I'm going over to the dark side now."
I looked up as Danny tapped me on the shoulder and handed me the phone, excitedly signing something I understood as, "Hurry up and turn it on." I laughed as I hit the power switch and waited for the phone to power up. Danny watched the screen light up and then clapped when the phone glowed in my hand. I quickly tapped the screen and set it up with my old phone number, and after a few minutes, the small device was up and running. I saw that there were numerous messages from Bugsy, but when Danny looked at me, pointed to the phone and then pointed to himself. I shrugged and handed it over saying, "Have at it kid!"
For the next hour, while I sat quietly watching the sky shift from twilight to a shade of inky purple I'd never seen before, Danny played with the phone. It wasn't until Verity came out and told us it was getting late that he handed the phone over and went inside. She quickly checked my injuries and put some salve on the bruises before bidding me goodnight. I waited up as long as I could, but soon the work I'd done hit me and I headed in to bed.
I woke up late the next morning wanting to talk to Grace before she left for the store, but she'd been quick to grab her things and head out to the
barn. By the time I made it to the front porch, she and Titan were already half way down the road toward town.
"We're going to talk at some point, Grace Miller!" I shouted as I watched her crest the hill and disappear.
I quickly dialed Bugsy, but his phone went straight to voicemail, so I left a message telling him to call me back. I figured he was probably making connections with investors or something, and hoped he'd get back to me quickly. There were two messages in my voicemail from my mother telling me to call her immediately. I deleted them both and then put the messages out of my mind before heading back into the house.
#
It wasn't long after Grace had left for the store that a buggy pulled into the drive. Danny and Honor emerged from the barn where they had finished the milking and were starting on cleaning the stalls.
"Gabe!" Honor shouted as the young Amish man climbed down from the buggy and tethered his horse to the post in front of the barn.
"Hiya, Honor, Danny!" he smiled as he ruffled Danny's hair before removing his own hat and running a hand through his sandy brown hair. "Sure is hot out here this morning!"
I stood observing from the kitchen window for a few moments before turning to find Verity looking at me pointedly.
"What?" I said trying to maintain a neutral expression.
"Now don't go starting trouble, Mr. Wallace," she warned as she carefully hung the towel she'd been using over the edge of the sink.
"Who said anything about trouble?" I asked feigning an innocence I didn't actually feel. "I'm just going to go help Danny and Honor with the chores in the barn."
Verity simply shook her head and sighed. I walked to the back door, trying as best I could to hide my limp.
"Hello, English," Gabe said with a wary smile.
"Morning, Amish," I called as I limped into the barn and grabbed a pitchfork. Danny gave me a confused look as I walked to the stall he'd just cleaned, and then signed something I couldn't understand.
