"I never said you were," he said calmly placing the potatoes he'd gathered in the pot by my chair before moving closer. He was less than a foot away from me and I could smell the scent of his cologne as I tried not to stare at the triangle of bare skin exposed by his open shirt. I looked up into his eyes and saw that he was smiling warmly as he looked down at me.
"What?" I said trying to make my tone slightly less defensive and not succeeding.
"You're quite pretty," he said holding my gaze.
"You mean for a country girl?" I shot back.
"No, for any girl, really," he said as he reached out and pushed a stray piece of hair away from my face. I shivered as I felt his fingers lightly caress my cheek. He tucked the hair behind my ear and I inhaled deeply as he cupped my face with his warm hand. Then he bent down and brushed his lips across mine whispering, "Grace."
I whimpered as my mind spun in a whirling vortex of yes and no and yes. Just as I had opened my mouth to reply, I heard a buggy turn into the drive and I jumped back away from Adam knocking over the pot of potatoes near my feet. Again, the vegetables went rolling across the porch as a familiar voice called my name.
"Grace! Grace!" Gabe yelled from the driver's seat of the buggy. "I was hoping I'd catch you at home!"
"Hi, Gabe," I called trying to force myself to sound cheerful as Adam and I gathered up the potatoes for a second time. "Yes, I'm home."
"Well hello, Mr. Wallace!" Gabe said as he reached into the back seat of the buggy and pulled out a small, leather suitcase and matching briefcase. "Mamm said you needed these, so I volunteered to bring them over."
"Thank you, Gabe," Adam said gingerly descending the stairs and attempting to take the bags from the tall man with the bowl-shaped haircut. Gabe's bare face told me that he wasn't yet married, and I wondered what he was waiting for. There were plenty of eligible young women in the Corner Grov
e community, and I was certain that there were at least a few who had their eye on him.
"Oh no, let me take them inside, sir," Gabe said holding the bags back. "It's the least I can do."
I could see that Adam was visibly relieved by Gabe's offer, but I was not. If Gabe came into the house, then we would have to invite him to stay for supper, and then he'd want to take a walk with me after we ate. I wasn't in the mood to have a conversation with him.
"I can get them," I said reaching out to grab the handles of both bags. Gabe lifted the bags up as he climbed the stairs before I could stop him. He set one bag down and pulled open the front door and went inside.
"Grace, where do you want me to put Mr. Wallace's bags," he called from the living room. I sighed as I followed him into the house.
"Put them in the front bedroom," I said without emotion.
"But Grace, that's your—"
"The front bedroom," I said cutting him off before he could say anything more. Gabe nodded and followed my directions without further protest.
Before Gabe emerged from the bedroom, I looked to see that Adam had stayed on the front porch. I was grateful that he'd extracted himself from the interaction between Gabe and me.
"Grace, what are you doing?" Gabe whispered as he returned to the living room. "You know that you shouldn't have him in your house. What would your Dat say about this?"
"I think he'd say that we're put here on this earth to be useful," I said irritated that Gabe had drawn my parents into the discussion. I knew perfectly well what Mamm and Dat would have said. They would have been polite to Adam, but they never would have offered to let him stay in the house with our family.
"That's not what I mean," Gabe said with a concerned look. He stepped closer and I quickly backed away. "Grace, this isn't appropriate. You have to think of Verity and Honor. Your Mamm would not like this."
"Yeah, well, she's not here, is she?" I shot back angrily as the stress and grief welled up inside me and threatened to spill out.
"Don't be mad, Grace," Gabe said as he cautiously stepped toward me. "You know I'm only trying to help. I'm just worried about you and the kids."
"Well, don't be!" I hissed. "We're just fine! I've taken care of everything, haven't I?"
"Grace—" Gabe said as he put an arm around me and patted my shoulder. I wavered for a moment, but the feeling of his calm familiar presence cracked my facade and I began crying. I raised my hands to my face as I tried to choke back the sobs and cover the tears that flowed fast and hot down my cheeks. Gabe simply wrapped his other arm around me and said nothing as he waited for the storm to subside.
"I don't know what I'm going to do," I said in a small voice. "Everything's a mess and I don't know how to fix it. I want to go home!"
"You are home, Grace," Gabe said quietly. "This is your home. This is where you belong."
"No," I said as I stiffened. He quickly withdrew his arm and moved a short distance away from me.
"How can you say that after everything that's happened?" he asked.