The sound of laughter echoed through the empty store and bounced off the bare walls as we celebrated our small victory.
Chapter Forty-Five
Epilogue
I had just finished setting out the celery flower center pieces on the long tables we'd set up in the barn when Adam came in to tell me he was worried that the weather wouldn't hold.
"I think a storm's moving in, Grace," he said with a wor
ried look on his face. “I'm not sure that holding this wedding outside is a good idea. Maybe we should move the whole thing into the barn?"
"Are you sure?" I asked looking at him as I shifted one of the centerpieces around so that the flowers were facing the table where the bride and groom would sit. "How do you know it's not just some clouds passing by and that the sun won't be out in time for the ceremony?"
"You're kidding me, right?" he said. "I spend my life working with wind turbines and you want to question my weather forecast?"
"In case you've forgotten, you're an engineer, not a meteorologist," I said with a knowing smile. That made him laugh a little as he gave in and put his arm around me.
"You're such a know-it-all," he said, kissing my softly. "So beautiful and so smart. How did I ever get so lucky?"
"If I remember correctly, you lost your cool and crashed your car," I teased as he wrapped his arms around me and held me close.
"Ahh, yes. My foolish youth," he said.
"Oh my God, that was only a few months ago!" I laughed as I slid my arms around his neck and returned his kiss.
In the week after we'd cleared out the store, Adam had sold the turbine project so well that he'd gotten permission to place one hundred turbines on farms across the Corner Grove area. Bugsy had had to call the manufacturer to ask if they could accommodate such a large order. They could and they did, and by late fall, Agape had erected almost three quarters of the turbines that they'd contracted for. The energy output immediately provided enough for the Corner Grove community and gave the farmer and businesses the power they needed at a deeply discounted price. The rental income on each farm's turbines kicked in almost immediately and many families went from subsistence living to being able to save money for next season's crops.
Adam received thank you notes from farmers and their families almost weekly. And the families, who'd benefitted from the grocery give-away we'd staged to help save us from losing our farm had been among the ones who'd approached Uncle Amos and demanded that he not shun the entire family. There'd been an uproar in the community over the role of lay people in determining church policy. This had been put to rest when Uncle Amos and those who wanted my family shunned splintered off into a separate ward and the rest elected Levi as their new bishop.
I'd returned to Chicago to start my new position as Director of Auditing. Adam had returned to the city not long after I did, and after a long talk about where we had been and where we were headed, I'd agreed to move into his new, luxury penthouse in the Loop. Much to my surprise, no one was shocked, least of all Honor who had come back to the city with me to finish her senior year of high school at a top-ranked Chicago school where she'd have a much better chance of getting into Harvard or MIT. Adam had assured her that he'd put in a good word at the latter, and when the time came, he escorted her to the campus for a visit.
Danny had stayed at the house with Verity, explaining that he'd rather work the land than live in the city with Honor and I, but he missed us both terribly. In September, Adam had hooked up a computer that Danny could use to communicate with us more regularly, and we'd hired a speech pathologist to come down several times a month and work with him to see if he could learn to speak.
Today we were finally celebrating Levi and Verity's wedding by throwing a huge party for the entire community. On an emotional morning, two days before the wedding, Verity, Honor, and I had harvested the celery that Mamm had planted just before she died. We laughed and cried as we clipped the celery and talked about all the wonderful family memories. Verity had called on Hope and Faith, asking them to be present at her wedding, but they'd been part of the community that had sided with Uncle Amos and the bond between sisters had been irrevocably broken.
Levi had agreed to move into the house with Verity and take over farming the land my parents had left us. Coupled with the income from the turbines we'd installed, they would be able to live a comfortable life and support their future family without worry.
Later that afternoon, the sun broke through the clouds just as the wedding was about to start. Verity looked lovely in her new cotton dress and kapp, carrying a bouquet of freshly picked wildflowers that grew behind the house. I smoothed her hair one last time and smiled as I kissed her cheek.
"You make a lovely bride," I whispered. "And I wish you all the happiness and love of a lifetime."
"You're next," she said with a playful grin as she patted my cheek then took one last look in the mirror before announcing, "Let's get this show on the road!"
I stood next to Adam and held his hand as the couple said their vows. After they'd signed the marriage license and then kissed for the cheering crowd, Verity and Levi moved toward the barn to begin the feast we'd prepared. Many of the guests had brought food to contribute to the wedding banquet and the table groaned with all the offerings. We'd opened the barn and given it a good cleaning so that there was room for a band in one corner. They struck up the music as soon as the newlyweds entered the barn. Adam and I watched as the wedding guests began to fill the tables.
"Come with me," he said, pulling me toward the backfield where the hay had been cut and bundled in bales waiting to be put on a truck and transported to the loft above the barn. Out in the middle of the field, one bale sat covered in a mossy green cloth with something on top. As we got closer, I saw there were two glasses and a bottle of what looked like champagne. Adam stopped in front of the bale and looked down at me before he reached down, popped open the bottle, and poured two glasses of the bubbly drink. He handed me one and then dropped to his knee and said, "Grace Miller, I've loved you from the moment I met you, and here today on this land that your parents loved and farmed, I want to ask you if you'll spend the rest of your life letting me love you."
"Adam? Oh my God," I said as he produced a box from his pocket, flipped it open, and offered me a ring with a diamond larger than any stone I'd ever seen before. "Are you—"
"Asking you to marry me? Yes, indeed I am," he said with a wide smile. "Grace, will you marry me?"
For a split second, I was torn between past, present, and future, and then I came to my senses and looked down at him with a smile as I replied, "Yes, Adam Wallace, yes I will marry you!"
As Adam slipped the ring on my finger, a loud cheer erupted from the barn and all the guests came pouring out, laughing and clapping as Levi and Verity led the shouting crowd. "Congratulations, Adam and Grace!"
"What is going on?' I asked confused as to why my engagement had become the focus of my sister's wedding celebration, but when I looked off to my right and saw my brother holding a camera up, I knew that everyone had been in on the proposal. I shouted, "You all are too much! Go celebrate the wedding!"
Adam laughed loudly as I turned to him and said, "Mr. Wallace, you are incorrigible!"