Chapter Eleven
Grace
"Well, this place has gone to hell in a hand basket since Mamm's been gone, hasn't it?" Faith said as she entered the kitchen before sunrise. She had her smallest child strapped to her chest and a basket of eggs draped over one arm.
"Knock it off, Faith," I said as I pulled out the milk and flour preparing to make pancakes for the younger ones. "You know I'm trying to keep the store running while Verity and Honor do the housework. There's no need to be so petty."
"Cleanliness is next to Godliness," Faith said in the prissy voice that I'd hated since we were children. When I rolled my eyes, she added, "You'd better not make a habit of that, Grace Miller. Your eyes will get stuck in the back of your head."
"That's an old wives tale and you know it," I replied as I slammed an egg against the side of the bowl causing the shell to splinter and slide down into the mix. "Dammit!"
"Grace! Language!" Faith admonished.
"Oh, do shut up, Faith," I said as I tried to pick the shell out of the bowl. "I'm doing the best I can with what I have."
"Why do you always have to be so rude?" Faith asked as the baby started to fuss. She pulled it out of its sling and checked its diaper.
"Who is always so rude?" Hope said as she pulled open the kitchen door carrying a basket of fresh baked bread.
"Who do you think?" Faith said looking pointedly at me before carrying the baby into the living room to change its diaper.
Early on, my younger sisters had formed an impenetrable team that left me outside looking in. We were all two years apart, but Faith and Hope acted like twins. It didn't help that they also looked almost identical. All of us girls had the same wheat-colored hair and blue eyes, but Faith and Hope had also inherited the petite bone structure from Mamm's side of the family. They looked like the perfect Amish girls with their impeccable dresses, which now were black because we were all still in mourning, and their crisply starched kapps pulled down on their heads without a hair out of place.
I, on the other hand, had inherited the larger bone structure of Dat's people, and the blonde hair and blue eyes from Mamm's. Since I was a child, I'd never been able to keep myself as neat and clean as Faith and Hope. I always had hair sticking out from under my kapp and my dresses seemed to constantly be missing a pin or two. Once my sisters were old enough to dress themselves, they began giving me the once over before we left our room in the mornings. It had been kind and helpful when we were children, but the habit had extended into areas where I did not welcome my sisters' input, and by the time we were teenagers, Faith and Hope had fully conformed to the Amish way of life whereas I was constantly pushing the boundaries to see where they would give.
"Grace, what's going on with the store and the farm," Hope said as she pulled a loaf from the basket and began slicing it on the sideboard.
"We don't need toast, Faith. I'm making pancakes," I said gritting my teeth as I poured batter into the hot cast iron skillet and listened to it sizzle in the melted butter.
"I know, but you'll need it later for lunches and you know you never get the slices all the same size," she said without turning around. I bit my tongue to keep from saying something I'd probably regret. All I had to do was figure out how to keep the store and the farm running until Verity and Honor could take over, and then I could go back to my life in Chicago. Until then, I was going to need help getting everything on the right track, and Faith and Hope were the only ones in a position to assist. I could not afford to alienate them over issues that, in a few months, would no longer involve me.
"How's Danny doing?" Faith asked.
"He's been quieter than usual, but I imagine he's just trying to make sense of things the same way we all are," I said, wondering why she'd asked.
"Mmm, okay," she nodded as she finished cutting the bread and grabbed a cloth from the sink to wipe up the crumbs she'd left on the cutting board.
"And the store?" she asked as she brushed the crumbs from her hand into the compost bin under the sink.
"I've got a meeting with the suppliers this afternoon and I'll find out what's going to need to be done to keep everything on track," I said as I slid the spatula underneath the bubbling circle of batter and quickly flipped it over silently cheering when I saw that it was the perfect shade of golden brown. "Then I'll take a look at the books for the farm and figure out how we're going to harvest the crops this year. I'm sure we can get some help from the community, but we'll need to figure out an alternate plan for next year's planting."
"I don't see why you don't just turn the store and the farm over to the Uncle Amos and let him figure out what to do, Grace," Hope said as she reentered the kitchen with the baby in her arms. The baby, Glory, was Hope's fourth child, and she'd made it clear that she was nowhere near done having children.
"You know as well as I do that I'm not going to do that," I said as I flipped the finished pancake onto a waiting plate.
"Not going to do what?" Verity asked as she walked into the kitchen rubbing her eyes. "Something smells really good, Grace."
"Pancakes!" I said as I motioned toward the table. "You want to set it for breakfast?"
Verity nodded and began pulling the plates from the cupboard as she repeated, "Not going to do what?"
"Not going to turn over the store to Bishop Miller," I said as I put a second skillet on the stove and warmed it up before dropping the sausages in. The fat, brown links quickly began sizzling in the pan as I poured more batter into the first pan. "Did someone wake up Danny?"
"Grace, you're just being stubborn," Hope said as she rocked Glory. "Jakob says that Bishop Miller is best equipped to take over the business. After all, he's family."
"Just because he's Dat's brother doesn't make him automatically capable of running Dat's business," I said as I pushed the sausages around in the pan trying to remember how Mamm got them to brown on all sides without burning. I looked over and saw that the edges of the pancake were begging to turn too dark, so I quickly flipped it and realized I was a fraction of second too late. I muttered, "Darn it!"
"Here, let me help you, Grace," Verity said as she took the tongs out of my hand and stood over the sausage pan. I shot her a grateful smile as I flipped the slightly burned pancake on top of the first one and poured another ring of batter into the pan.
"We're just saying that you haven't been here for a long time and it might be better to turn the store over to someone who actually knows the community," Faith said in the prissy Sunday school voice that she knew I despised.
"I grew up here," I said clenching my jaw. "I know the community."
"Okay, well, maybe what we really mean is that people don't trust you, Grace," Faith said hitting her mark. I inhaled sharply and bit my lip to keep from saying the first words that entered my brain.
"Be that as it may," I said as I exhaled slowly. "I'm still not turning the store or the farm over to anyone until I have a clear idea of what's going on here. Verity, Honor, and Danny are still at home and they need someone to look out for their interests."
"Oh, and you're going to be the one to stay and do that?" Hope asked skeptically raising an eyebrow. "Won't your city friends and employer expect you back soon?"
"I took a leave of absence," I said as I leaned a little too close to the stove and felt my wrist hit the edge of the hot pan. "Ouch! Dammit!"
"Grace! Language!" Hope and Faith said in unison.
"All right, that's enough!" I roared. "You two either need to stop talking about things you know nothing about or you need to leave. It's your choice, but I'm not going to have breakfast ruined by your nagging!"
"No need to be so sour," Faith said as she stood up and wrapped the blanket around Glory before turning for the door. "We're just trying to help, Grace."
"I know, I know," I said as I flipped another pancake onto the plate and poured again. Verity had finished browning the sausages and had covered the pan with a lid before moving it to the table. "Look, message received. Now will you let me figure things out my own way, please?"
"Fine," Hope said as she gathered up her basket and followed Faith out the door. "If you need us, you know where to find us."
The door slammed as my sisters exited. I looked at Verity and rolled my eyes.
"Grace, you shouldn't be so harsh with them," she said as she smiled and shook her head. "They aren't as worldly as you are and they really are just trying to help."
"I know they are, Verity," I said as I added another pancake to the stack. "But I don't think they have any clue as to what it takes to actually run a business, so their advice is just annoying. Plus, they're both so bossy!"
"You must be talking about the Judgment Twins," Honor said as she walked into the kitchen with Danny close on her heels. They looked like bookends, small and thin with blue eyes and pale skin, but whereas Honor's hair was light like the rest of us girls, Danny's was dark and curly like Dat's had been. Looking at him was a painful reminder that he was the perfect mix of our parents.
"Gracie!" Danny signed as Honor moved toward the table. "I'm hungry! What's for breakfast?"
"Bullshit and attitudes, sounds like to me," Honor said.
"Honor!" Verity scolded in a pseudo-shocked tone. "That's not nice. What if Danny picks that up and repeats it?"
"Eh, let him," Honor shrugged as she tugged at her dress and then sighing in exasperation as she refastened the pins that held the front together muttering, "Stupid dress!"
"Good morning to you, too, Danny!" I laughed as Honor finished fussing with her pins and got Danny settled in his usual chair and reminded him to put a napkin in his lap. "I hope you're hungry this morning because I made a lot of pancakes that need to be eaten!"
"I'll eat 'em all, Gracie!" Danny signed as Honor nudged him toward his seat at the table. He signed, “Can I say a blessing this morning?"
"Of course you can," I nodded as I set the plate full of pancakes on the table and sat down. We all folded our hands and turned our eyes toward our brother as he signed the blessing.
"Bless this food and bless the family who eats it," he signed. "And look after Mamm and Dat who are with you, Lord, in heaven. Amen."
"Amen," we three replied. Danny nodded his head and reached for the plate of pancakes in front of him as the rest of us wiped our eyes. I added my own silent plea for help and guidance hoping that I'd make the right decisions for my younger siblings.