Chapter Thirty-Nine
Grace
I tried to call Adam the next morning, but after the third time my call was sent to voicemail, I gave up and went to the gym to work off the nervousness that had been building overnight. I had never been to an event as fancy or exclusive as this one was going to be, and I was terrified that I'd stick out like a sore thumb.
I swam off my nerves for an hour and then showered and headed home, where I spent the next several hours going over the fine print on all the paperwork for Riser merger with Mija-WalCo merger. If anyone asked me questions tonight, I wanted to have the answers ready and waiting. My goal was to look pretty and be as businesslike as possible, then get out of there as quickly as I could manage.
Around noon, a call from a blocked number came in and I answered it, wondering if it was Adam.
"Grace!" Honor yelled as I answered.
"Honor? What's going on?" I asked. "Why are you calling from a blocked line?"
"I don't know. Come home, Grace!" she said. "As soon as possible."
"Honor, I'm in the middle of a business deal," I said, wondering what was going on and whether Verity knew she was calling. "I'll be back Sunday night or Monday morning."
"Grace, I'm sick of living here!" Honor cried as the words came tumbling out. "I hate this place. I hate the clothes! I hate the food! I hate the way Verity treats me like I'm a baby!"
"Honor, I know you miss Mamm and Dat, and that it's been really hard for you since they died," I said.
"No, it was hard for me before they died, Grace!" Honor yelled into the phone. "Mamm knew I hated it here. She was going to help me get out as soon as I turned eighteen. I want to go to college like you did, Grace. I don't want to be stuck in this dinky, little town for the rest of my life! I want to leave now!"
"Okay, we'll talk about it when I get back," I said trying to calm her down. "I promise, we'll figure something out."
"I can't breathe here," Honor whispered. I could hear the anguish in her voice and it tore at my heart.
"Honor, promise me that you won't do anything foolish," I said, silently cursing the lack of technology that would keep me from calling Verity to tell her what was happening. "I'll be back in two days and we'll figure things out, okay? Promise me!"
"Hurry back, Grace," she said before the line went dead.
"Honor? Honor!" I shouted into the phone. Frantic, I called Adam, but after two rings, the call went to voicemail and a staccato voice unhelpfully said the mailbox was full and to try again later. I sunk to the floor as feelings of helplessness and rage washed over me.
I wracked my brain trying to find a way to get a message to Verity, but I knew that even if I did, she wouldn't understand what Honor was feeling. For Verity, Amish identity was who she was and even though she supported my decision to leave the community, she had no desire to step outside of it herself. If I could just get a hold of Adam! Briefly, I entertained the idea of packing up and heading home, but I knew that I couldn't let Mike down tonight.
My stomach churned as I grabbed my purse and headed to the salon. The stylist chatted amiably as she swept my hair up into an elegant French knot and then brought in the makeup artist to transform my face from plain to glamorous. When I smiled, but didn't say much, they chalked it up to nerves and offered me champagne to help calm them. I accepted a glass and sat quietly holding it without sipping as they put the finishing touches on my hair and then spun me around to see the results.
"Oh wow," I whispered as I turned my head from side to side wondering where the elegant, sophisticated woman in the mirror had come from. Awed by their handiwork, I said, "It's me, but better."
The girls laughed and wished me well as I gathered my things and paid the bill. Back home, I took a quick sponge bath and then slipped into the filmy, silver underpinnings that I'd bought to match the dress before pulling the dress off its padded hanger and stepping into it.
I zipped the dress up, stepped into the silver pumps I'd bought to match the dress, then turned to look at myself in the mirror. The combination of hair, makeup, and dress was a drastic switch from the plain, Amish clothing I'd been wearing just two days ago.
"No one would ever guess that you come from Corner Grove," I said as slowly turned from side to side marveling at the way I looked. But even the beautiful dress couldn't erase the sound of Honor's voice and the fact that I knew I needed to get home as soon as possible. I dialed Adam's number, hoping that he'd answer or, at the very least, cleared out his voicemail, but I had no such luck. I tucked the phone in my silver clutch as I murmured, "Where are you, Adam?"
The sleek, black car that Mike had sent arrived just as I'd finished going over the financials one last time. The driver held open the door and helped me slide in to the backseat, dress and all. The soothing sounds of smooth jazz filled the car as we headed downtown, and I tried to will myself to relax and enjoy the moment. By the time we pulled up in front of London House, I had calmed myself enough to smile as the driver helped me out of the car.
I took the elevator up to the twenty-first floor and found Mike waiting for me in the outer room.
"Holy moly, kiddo!" he exclaimed as I exited the elevator. "You sure do clean up good!"
"Thanks, Mike," I laughed. He was wearing a tuxedo with the tie rakishly twisted. I looked at him and asked, "Do you need me to fix that?"
"If you don't mind, kid," he said waving me off. "These monkey suits make me itch and putting a noose around my neck really isn't my strong suit."
I laughed as I straightened the tie and then pronounced him ready. Mike held out his arm and escorted me down the short flight of stairs into the room. It looked like something out of the fairy tales Mamm had read to me as a child. Above, the ceiling was embedded with thousands upon thousands of tiny lights that twinkled like stars and cast a warm glow over the room. Hundreds of white trees with clear glass icicles hanging from their branches lined the edges of the room and the pale spotlights shining up out of the planters gave the room the feel of an enchanted forest.
"Champagne, kiddo?" Mike asked as a server dressed in a crisp, white shirt slowly moved around the room, holding a tray full of thin glasses that sparkled in the dim light. I nodded as Mike took two glasses from the tray and gave one to me. "This is the life, kid. This is what I aspire to someday. Champagne and low light will keep me young."
"Mike!" I laughed as I sipped my champagne and scanned the room. I didn't expect to see anyone I knew, but I did want ask Mike who these people were. Luckily for me, he had already begun to tell the tales of those he knew and those whom he'd only heard about. I listened raptly as I memorized the names and faces.
I'd just shook the hand of a man who'd launched a chain of successful coffee shops throughout the Chicago area when a bell chimed and Gordon Wallace stepped to the edge of the landing. With him was a beautiful woman wearing an elegant, eggplant colored gown and a necklace made of large amethyst stones set in gold that had probably worth more than my entire year's salary.
"That's Gordon's wife, Felice," Mike whispered. "She's a force to be reckoned with, let me tell you."
The two of them looked so familiar that I suddenly remembered I had wanted to ask Adam if he was related to Gordon. Gordon spoke for a few minutes about the opportunity to merge Mija and WalCo, and what it meant to make such an important connection. He then turned and said, "And I could not have done this without the love and support my beautiful wife, Felice, and my brilliant and talented son, Adam."
The crowd clapped loudly as Adam stepped from behind his parents and briefly bowed at the waist before straightening and stepping back. I was stunned.
"That kid is a genius," Mike whispered. "But I've heard Gordon threatened to disown him when he went off to MIT and majored in engineering. Not sure how true that is, though. They look like a happy, little family, don't they?"
It was all I could do to nod and keep a smile on my lips. Adam was supposed to be in Corner Grove looking after my family and preparing for the one shot he had at selling the turbines to the Amish community! I was furious that he'd ducked my calls to avoid telling me that he was coming back to the city, and I knew that as soon as the presentation was over, I'd seek him out and demand answers.