"God, Grace!" Adam shouted. "Can you please just cut me some slack and listen to what I have to say?"
"Fine," I said stubbornly crossing my arms over my chest and setting my jaw as I prepared to listen.
For the next half hour, Adam recounted the details of how he'd wound up standing next to his parents at the top of the stairs at the reception. As I listened, I realized that he, too, had been shouldering familial burden that he hadn't wanted to share with anyone else, and as he explained his reasoning it became clear that Adam and I were even more similar than I thought.
"So, you see? I didn't even know Veronica, and I told her that there was no way I was going to marry her," Adam finished. "I told her that there was someone else who'd stolen my heart, and I couldn't possibly betray that. Not even for my father."
I felt my heart pounding in my chest as Adam spoke. I understood what he was saying, but I wasn't ready to let go of the hurt yet.
"Grace, I'm sorry," he said looking at me expectantly. "Will you accept my apology?"
Adam looked at me expectantly.
"I'll accept your apology," I said. "We need you and your technology in order to make this plan work."
"Grace—" he began.
"Look, we don't have a lot of time and we need to get this show on the road," I said cutting him off before he could say another word.
"We need to plan for tomorrow's event," Verity said, trying to ease the awkwardness between us. "Let's talk about what we're going to do at the store."
Danny and Honor headed off to bed as the rest of us sat going over the details of the plan that Adam and Verity had worked up in my absence. It was a brilliant plan, but as I was well aware, even the most brilliant plans could go awry, but this time I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.
"Okay, I need to get some sleep," I yawned as I looked at the clock and realized that we only had a few hours before we had to be up and on our way to the store. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Adam looking at me, but I ignored his pointed stare and went upstairs to get ready for bed. I could hear Verity talking with Adam downstairs before she, too, came upstairs.
"Don't you think you're being a little hard on him, Grace?" she said as she peeked into my room on her way to her own room.
"No, I don't," I said stubbornly. "He humiliated me in front of all those people and made me feel like a fool."
"And then he prostrated himself before you in front of your whole family to ask your forgiveness," she said. "I'd say it's just about even."
"Not even close," I grumbled as I turned off the light and pulled the covers up to my chin.
"Oh Grace," Verity sighed as she pulled the door shut and left me alone in the darkness with my thoughts.
Chapter Forty-Four
Adam
Being able to explain myself to Grace in front of her family had been a relief, but her response had not been as positive as I'd imagined it would be, and now I was left wondering if I had blown my chance with her. I spent the night tossing and turning as I wondered what she was thinking upstairs in her room, and when Danny came to wake me up, I could barely drag myself out of bed.
"Morning, English," Honor said as she put a cup of coffee in front of me at the kitchen table. "You ready for your big show today?"
"Huh?" I mumbled as I picked up the cup and sipped the steaming liquid, hoping that it would breathe life into my tired body.
"Up, up, up, man!" Honor urged. "We're counting on you to do what you do best today!"
&n
bsp; "And that is?"
"Sell stuff, English!" she said giving me an irritated roll of the eyes. "C'mon, we need you to sell the turbines like you've never sold them before!"
"I never have sold them before," I muttered.
"Adam," she said looking around to make sure the kitchen was empty. "I'm gonna say this once and only once. Get your shit together, man."
"Honor Miller!" Grace bellowed as she walked into the kitchen and caught the tail end of the pep talk. "What on earth do you think you're doing, young lady?"