Honor shook her head as she stood by the door looking like she wanted to duck back outside and join Danny in the garden. She was the moody Miller sister. The one who would suddenly go silent for days only to explode in laughter at something only she found funny or lose her temper at an injustice that she could no longer bear. We'd all learned to give Honor a wide berth when she was in her quiet phase. Dat had nicknamed her the percolator, saying that what she was doing was simply brewing her ideas.
"So, what did you find out?" I asked as I surreptitiously tried to read the papers I was stacking.
"It's the presentation he gave to Uncle Amos," Honor said as she walked to the sink and washed her hands.
"Honor!"
"What? Don't tell me you're not trying to read them, Grace," she said as she dried her hands on her dress.
"Use a towel, Honor Miller!" I scolded as I did my best not to look at the papers in my hand.
"Grace, stop being such a priss," Honor said. "I called the garage and they're coming to get the car this afternoon. Then I called Yoder's and told Mrs. Yoder that Adam had an accident and that we'd get him back to the B&B by tonight. But she said he'd only paid for two nights and she's got a group of quilters coming in from out of town for the week, so he's going to have to stay here with us while they fix his car. She said she'd pack up his things and send Gabe over with his suitcase after supper."
"Oh no," I groaned as I slammed the papers down on the table. "Honor, how could you?"
"What did I do?" she said defensively. Seconds later she realized why I was upset and grumbled, "Well, don't blame me! It's not my fault you have to deal with the messes you left."
I said nothing as I thought about how to avoid being home when Gabe came to deliver Adam's suitcase. It was bad enough that I felt myself powerfully attracted to the stranger convalescing on our living room couch, but now I'd have to deal with a blast from the past that I'd rather have left there. I'd arranged to take the day off from the store so that I could help with the summer plowing, and Danny had already hook Bella and Blackie to the plow, so there was no easy way for me to make my escape.
"I'm sorry, Grace. Really I am," Honor quietly repeated as she anxiously twisted her skirt with one hand leaving damp wrinkles in the fabric when she let go.
"It's okay, it's not your fault that Gabe hasn't been able to let me go after all this time," I said sinking down into a chair at the table. "I'll just have to deal with it the way Mamm would have: politely but firmly."
"Oh right, you'll do that for sure," Honor said rolling her eyes. "Just like all the other times you dealt with him openly and honestly rather than packing up and running away. Uh huh."
"Honor," I warned.
"Thin ice?" she asked pushing her back against the screen door readying herself to escape if she needed to.
"Definitely." I nodded as I stood up, grabbed the stack of papers, and walked toward the living room where Adam lay on the couch covering his eyes with one hand. Quietly, I asked, "Are you okay? Do you need anything for the pain?"
"No, I'm okay, just a little woozy," he said moving his hand away so that he could look at me. "And trying to figure out how I'm going to do business without my phone."
"Oh, yeah, that's a tough one," I said thinking about my own phone, which was tucked in my purse upstairs.
"You know about cell phones?" he said sounding surprised.
"Yes, we do get news from the city about modern inventions," I said dryly. His assumptions about the ignorance of people in the Amish community irritated me, and I tossed the stack of papers onto his chest saying, "Honor fished these out of your car. The garage will be here to tow it this afternoon. If you need a phone, you can ride into town with them, if you feel up to it, and make a call. Otherwise, the only phone available in the part of town is in the booth at the end of the road."
"Thank you, Grace," he said with a note of sincerity that caught me off guard. "I know this is a huge inconvenience for your family and I'm sorry. I can go back to the Yoder's place, if the two truck driver will give me a ride."
"No, actually you can't," I said looking down into his warm amber eyes. "Mrs. Yoder said you only paid for two nights, and there are attendees coming to the quilting convention arriving today, so she's booked up for the next two weeks."
"What?" he said, rising off the couch and sending the papers flying to the floor. "She never said anything about that to me when I checked in!"
"Did you tell her you'd be here all week?" I asked.
"No, I’d only paid her for two nights," he admitted, sinking back down on the couch and dropping his head into his hands. "This is beyond messed up. I've got sales calls to make and I need to be able to call my business partner and let him know what's going on. This is a disaster!"
"Oh, c'mon, it can't be that bad," I said trying to pull him out of the downward spiral. "The garage will fix the car and I can drop you off at your sales calls on my way into the store. You can call your partner from the phone booth or I'm sure the businesses you're visiting will let you make a call or two."
"You really do not get it, do you?" he said looking up at me as he shook his head. He ran a hand through is messy, dark curls and muttered, "But then again, why would you?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked stiffening at the implication he was making.
"Oh, don't go getting all wound up about your Amish culture," he said sighing. "I'm not trying to insult you, I'm just saying that you live a very different life than I do so it's not reasonable to expect that you'd understand the challenges I face right now."
"Ha!" I exhaled loudly thinking about all the work that would be waiting for me once I returned to Riser Tech and my air-conditioned office on the 27th floor. I knew I should say something about my other life, but every time Adam opened his mouth and said something about the Amish, he managed to assume that was utterly wrong. It angered me that someone so worldly could be so ignorant, but then I also recognized that I was in the unique position of straddling both worlds and that it was unreasonable to expect that he would have the same understanding about my community as I did. Still, Amish or not, it annoyed me that he didn't take me seriously, and my reaction was to stubbornly refuse to reveal the part of my life that existed outside of my Amish community.