"It's a one-twenty-eight," I laughed as I patted Danny's shoulder. "How do you know about cell phone memory?"
"Like I've said before, we're Amish, but we're not backward," Grace said as entered from the front porch.
"Grace!" Verity gasped. "There's no need to be so rude!"
"What? I'm sick of him assuming that we're some kind of uninformed group of backward country folk," Grace said gesturing toward me.
"Just because you're—" Verity began.
"Verity," Grace growled in a tone that silenced her sister immediately. Verity scowled at Grace then turned and walked back into the kitchen without saying anything else.
"What was that about?" I asked as I took the phone from Danny and pushed the power button. The screen flashed a picture of a battery with a thin line of red at one end. I sighed, "Oh great, it's out of juice."
"You can plug it in out in the kitchen and let it charge," Grace said. "There's an outlet with a 120 volt out by the refrigerator."
"How did you know that?" I asked looking up at her surprised that she knew what was needed. Next to me, Danny urgently signed something to which Grace simply shook her head. He quickly signed again, but she shook her head and clamped her lips shut. Danny sighed exasperatedly as he threw his hands up, then sat back up and signed something else.
"Don't you dare," Grace warned frowning at him. "That's not yours."
"The phone?" I asked. "Does he want the phone?"
"No," Grace said staring pointedly at her brother. "He does not want the phone."
Danny glared at his sister as he crossed his arms over his chest. Confused, I looked back and forth between them trying to figure out what was going on, but Grace said nothing. I took the phone and cord out to the kitchen and plugged it all in, leaving the phone on top of the refrigerator. Verity was at the sink washing dishes and avoided looking at me as I hooked everything up.
"Verity, I know something's going on," I said quietly. "Is anyone going to tell me anything?"
"It's not my story to tell," she said as she tossed a handful of silverware into the rinse water before adding, "Ask Grace."
Back out in the living room, Grace and Danny were heatedly signing back and forth in silence. The look on Danny's face was one every teenager who'd ever argued in favor of something—and lost—had ever worn. Defeated, he stormed up the stairs and made a point of slamming the door to his room hard enough that the pictures on the walls shook.
"I'm sorry about that," Grace said smoothing her dress as she tried to restore her usually calm expression. I could tell that she was worried, though. "He's having a tough time with everything."
"Grace, what's going on around here?" I asked. "I feel like there's something you're not telling me."
"What? Oh, no nothing that involves you," she said dismissing me in a tone that reminded me of my mother, and it made me bristle.
"Grace, dammit! Tell me what's going on here and maybe I can help!" I said as I grabbed her arm.
"Adam!
Stop it!" she yelled as turned and shoved me away. The palm of her hand hit the most bruised spot on my chest and I gasped as I fell backward onto the floor. Grace dropped to the ground next to me, "Adam! I'm so sorry; are you okay?"
"Grace," I gasped struggling to catch my breath, "Why won't you tell me what's going on?"
Her face crumpled and she burst into tears as she wrapped her arms around her waist and sobbed. Pushing myself up off the floor, I knelt beside her. I could still feel a throbbing pain in the spot where her hand had hit my skin, but I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and pulled her to my chest. She resisted only for a moment and then gave in and collapsed against my chest and let out a wail of pain that made my eyes water in sympathy.
"It's okay, Grace," I whispered as I rubbed her back and slowly rocked her until she was cried out. When Verity came rushing into the living room to see what had happened, I shook my head and she backed away, leaving me to handle her sister's anguish. "You're going to be okay. I promise."
"How...how...how do you know?" she choked out between quiet sobs. "You don't know me. You don't know my family. You know nothing about us!"
"I know that you're the kind people who were willing to take in and care for a perfect stranger without hesitation," I said as I rested my cheek against the top of her head and felt the stiff cap rubbing against my skin. I wanted to push it off so I could feel her soft hair rubbing against my cheek, but I didn't dare move any more than I already was. "I know that you are someone who has strong beliefs in something that I don't quite understand, but that you are willing to defend even when it means your sisters turn their backs on you. And I know that you love your brother and sisters more than anything in the world and that you are trying to find a way to ensure that they are taken care of no matter what."
Grace grew silent in the circle of my arms. She leaned against me and let her arms drop to her sides as she tipped her head and looked up at me. Her blue eyes were filled with sadness and worry, and I wanted nothing more than to scoop her up and take her into the bedroom with me. The memory of her warm body pressed against mine the night before sent the blood in my body racing down between my legs and I quickly shifted before she could feel the swelling in my pants.
"I also know that you're someone who thinks you have to bear the weight of the world on your own shoulders without any help," I observed. "But you don't. I don't know exactly what you need, but I'm more than willing to help you in any way I can. You just have to be willing to trust me. I know that's difficult for girls like you, but I promise you can trust me."
I felt her stiffen in my arms and then before I knew it, she was up on her feet moving across the room. She stopped in the kitchen doorway and looked at me.