Chapter Thirty
Adam
"Grace, what's going on?" I asked as I walked into the kitchen. Honor and Danny had explained the relationship between the bishop and their family, and I'd realized that whatever Grace had done was something major, but neither Honor nor Danny would tell me what it was. "Grace! Just tell me!"
"Fine," she sighed as Verity cast a nervous glance my way before leaving the room. "I'll tell you."
"What was your uncle going on about out there?" I asked.
"It's a long story, but it basically boils down to the fact that I'm what they call a jerked-over Amish person," she said.
"And that means what?"
"It means that I don't belong to this community," she replied. "I moved to Chicago to go to college ten years ago, and I haven't been a part of this community since then, so he's angry that I'm back and taking care of the business and family without actually being a part of the rest of the community."
"Wait, you live in Chicago?" I asked completely confused by her revelation. "But you're..."
"Plain and simple?" she said dryly.
"No, I wasn't going to say that."
"Yes, you were. You've been saying it since the night you came into the grocery store," she said. "You thought I was a simple country girl who'd never been outside of Corner Grove."
"But you didn't say anything!" I protested.
"I was too mad at you for making assumptions about things you knew nothing about," she said. "You were arrogant and kind of a jerk, and I didn't feel it necessary to tell you my entire life history."
"But what about when you took me in?" I asked as shock of discovery began to wear off and the realization that she wasn't a simple, country girl set in. I was embarrassed to admit that she was right, but I was also mad that she'd kept the information from me.
"I didn't take you in," she said. She stared at me with a stubborn look on her face as she said, "My family did. I just went along with what they felt was the right thing to do. If I'd had my way that day, I'd have shipped you off to the nearest hospital and washed my hands of you."
"But you didn't," I said as the image of her soft, warm body under mine flashed in my memory.
"No, you were pretty bad off," she said then added, "And rather charming."
"I am that," I grinned as I moved toward her.
"Don't," she said as she held up a hand and stopped me. "I'm trying to figure out a way out of this mess, and the only way I see this working is if you and I clear out of Corner Grove and leave this situation alone."
"You can't leave your family!" I said.
"Adam, you heard my uncle. He's going to shun my family if I stay," she said. "Do you have any idea what shunning means?"
"They just kind of ignore them, right?" I said. I based my understanding on nothing more than the definition of the word, but was fairly sure that it was, as usual, woefully inadequate.
"You have no idea what it means," Grace said shaking her head. "He will cut them off from everything. Honor and Danny will not be allowed to attend services or be baptized, and Verity won't be allowed to marry Levi this fall or settle in the community. It'll be as if they don't exist."
"Okay, so what if they just keep going to service and Verity and Levi still get married," I asked. "I mean, your uncle can regulate lots of things, but he can't stop people from caring about one another, can he?"
"You have no idea," she repeated. "It's also that everyone will stop shopping at the grocery store and buying our produce, eggs, and milk. It will be as if our family no longer exists."
"So, what if they move?" I asked realizing the implausibility of that as soon as the idea left my mouth.
"This is not an apartment complex where you can just pick up and relocate at the drop of a hat, Adam," she shouted. I could feel her frustration.
"I know that," I said. "I'm just trying to help."
"Well, try harder," she snapped before slapping her hand across her mouth and turning away. I could see her shoulders trembling as she fought to maintain control.
"What do you want to do, Grace?" I asked as I crossed the room and touched her shoulder. She shrugged my hand off and moved just out of reach.
"I don't know," she whispered. "Adam, I have to go back to the city."
"You're leaving?"
"I have to or I'm going to lose my job," she choked out as the tears began to fall. "And I can't lose my job. I just can't!"
I reached out and took her arm pulling her to me. She resisted only for a moment and then let herself sink into my arms. Her tears fell hot and heavy, soaking the front of my shirt as I held her tightly and tried to reassure her that everything would be all right.
Meanwhile, in the pit of my stomach the knot of fear tightened. I had a week to secure the twenty turbine leases and so far, I had leased exactly zero. I had no idea how I was going to pull this off, and more than anything, I wanted to get back to Chicago, but I couldn't let Bugsy down and I didn't want to lose face in front of my father.
"Grace? How can I help you?" I asked not quite believing the words I heard leaving my mouth.
"You can't," she whispered. "There's no way to win. I have to leave in order for them to stay in the community, but if I do leave, my uncle is most likely going to try to take over the store and the farm before we can sign the turbine lease."
"But what about Verity and Levi? I thought they’d be here.”
“They will be, but they’re part of the community,” I explained. “If they go against my uncle’s Ordung, they’ll be shunned, but if I got against him, there’s nothing he can do to me. I’m the legal guardian of the farm, but if I leave…”
“What if I stay?"
"Why would you want to stay here?" she asked looking up at me with teary, blue eyes.
"I don't know, I kind of like it here," I shrugged. "Besides, I have nowhere else to go, really."
"What about your turbines?" she asked.
"True, I do need to sell those, but maybe I can go to the farmer's outside of the Amish community and ask if they want to take a chance?" I said as I wondered how many non-Amish farmers were in this community.
"Adam, the next non-Amish community is a good thirty miles away," Grace said answering my question. "This is the perfect place to set up your turbines, and you should. I've been trying to figure out how to make it work on our farm since this morning, but the most we can take on is eight and you need to set up at least twenty, don't you?"
"Yes, twenty is an ideal start to get a return on the investment," I said wondering what she was getting at.
"Then put up eight on our farmland and you only have to find room for twelve more," she said.
"But Grace, the bishop said absolutely not," I reminded her. "If you defy him, it won't matter where you live."
"Yes, but the income from the turbines will keep the store and the farm going, and the rest won't have to worry about money," she said.
"But what about being shunned?" I asked.
"We don't care about being shunned," Honor said through the screen door. "Danny and I talked about it and we agree."
"What are you talking about?" Grace said stepping away from me as she wiped her eyes. "You have no idea what you're saying, Honor."
"Of course, I do," Honor replied stubbornly. She yanked open the screen door and marched into the kitchen followed by her brother who looked like a very determined second-in-command. "You think we're stupid or backward or something, but we're not, Grace. We know what's going on and we know what it takes to run a farm."
"But if you're shunned, then you have no one in the community to...how will you survive?" Grace asked then shook her head and said, "No, no that's not happening! I won't allow it!"
"You can't make that decision for us, Grace! It's not fair!" Honor shouted. "No one ever asks us what we want!"
"Fine, what do you want?" Grace shouted back.
Honor turned, looked at Danny, and nodded her head. From out of his pocket, he pulled a small box that, after a few moments, I recognized as my smashed and discarded phone. He tapped the screen a few times and then held the phone up before he touched it once more.
"We want to go to college," the tinny electronic voice said as Grace and I stared at him.
"Danny, how did you do that?" Grace whispered.
"How did you fix that phone?" I asked almost talking over Grace.
Danny tapped the screen a few times and then held the device up and pressed play. Again, the mechanical voice spoke, "I read. I learn. I like technology. I'm not dumb."
"Of course you're not!" Grace said moving toward him with a look of awe on her face. "No one ever said you were dumb."
"Grace, we don't want to be Amish," Honor said as she dropped into a kitchen chair. "Now that Mamm and Dat are gone, we want to live with you."
"But what about Verity?" Grace asked as she looked back and forth between her brother and sister.
"What about me?" Verity said as she entered the kitchen carrying a basket full of sheets and towels.
"They want to move to the city with me," Grace said.
"Oh, I've known that for ages," Verity replied as she set the basket down by the back door and returned to the table. "They don't belong here, Grace. They belong in your world. Mamm had talked about sending Honor home with you the next time you visited."
"She did?" Honor said as she spun around to look at Verity who smiled and nodded.
"Why didn't Mamm talk with me about it?" Grace demanded.
"I think she was waiting until Dat could get the store business on solid ground, so that you wouldn't have a financial burden if you said yes," Verity said. "I'm sorry, Grace. I don't know what they were planning exactly, but I should have at least told you."
"This family is crazy!" Grace shouted.
"Not crazy, just disorganized," said the small mechanical voice coming from the box in Danny's hand. Everyone went silent for a moment, and then they all burst into laughter that filled the room. I watched in amazement, feeling envious of their closeness as I slowly moved toward the door.
"Oh no you don't, Mr. Wallace," Verity said noticing my attempted escape.
"But I'm the one who caused the problem," I protested as I looked around for a way to escape.
"That may very well be," Verity smiled. "But now you're going to be an important part of the solution."