Best Friend's Ex Box Set

I put the phone down and dropped my head into my hands as I tried to think my way through what I could accomplish in the next week. I needed to make sure the store stayed open and that the farm had enough money to keep everything on track. I also needed to arrange for the supplies we'd need for Verity's wedding and for the coming winter. I wondered if Verity and Levi would consider moving into the house and looking after Honor and Danny, but I knew that was only a temporary solution. As a newly married couple, they couldn't be expected to take on running the farm and the store in addition to looking after the other two as they set up their own new household. But if they didn't, it would mean that I would have to move back to Corner Grove and take over until Honor and Danny were old enough to be on their own.

"Mamm! Dat! What do I do?" I whispered as I tried to make everything make sense. In the still air of the hot July afternoon, I waited for an answer, but there was only silence.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Adam

For the next two days, Grace did everything in her power to avoid being anywhere near me unless she absolutely had to be. She steered clear of me after her mini-meltdown, so after I'd checked the phone and found it wasn't yet charged, I volunteered to pitch in and help with th

e housework.

My cooking skills were non-existent, but I told Verity that I could wield a mean mop and broom. She laughed and refused my first several offers before she finally handed the tools over and told me to start with the living room.

"Mr. Wallace, are you sure you want to clean in those clothes?" Verity asked as I headed to the other room. I looked down at the clean dress pants and shirt I'd pulled from my suitcase that morning. I did look a little formal for what I was about to do. Hell, I looked formal for just about anything I was going to do except give a presentation about wind turbines. I hadn't packed anything other than dress clothes since I hadn't expected to be down here longer than a couple of days.

"A little formal for cleaning?" I asked.

"Well, you just don't look like you belong here," she said biting her lip and hesitating a little.

"I don't have anything else to wear," I said looking down at my clothes again. "And I don't think I'd look very good in a dress."

"Oh no, Mr. Wallace," Verity burst into giggles as she looked at me and imagined me in one of the girls' plain dresses and bonnet. "I can give you some men's clothing to wear. If you would prefer."

"You're going to dress me like an Amish guy?" I asked warily. I wasn't sure what she was up to, but there was no way I was going to drink the Amish Kool-Aid. I was here as a temporary resident with no intention of staying.

"I just thought you might be more comfortable in clothing that you didn't have to worry about getting dirty," she said.

"Well, I guess it would be smarter to keep these presentable, wouldn't it?" I said. Verity nodded and motioned for me to follow her as she headed toward the bedroom where I was staying. I followed her and watched as she pulled a pair of black pants and a white cotton shirt out of the dresser. She stopped for a moment and closed her eyes before handing the clothing over to me.

"They were my father's clothes," she said quietly.

"I'll be careful with them," I said taking the pile.

"Oh no, it's not that! Dat wore these to do the farm work in as well as to Sunday services," she smiled. "I was just reminded of him and how much he loved Corner Grove and our family."

"Then I'll try to do a good job cleaning," I said with a smile. Verity laughed again and left the room. I quickly pulled off the dress clothes and hung them on the pegs in the corner of the room so they wouldn't wrinkle. I pulled on the big, white shirt first and was surprised to find it had buttons. It was slightly large on me, so I rolled up the sleeves before pulling on the pants. They fit me better than I expected, but I struggled to figure out how to attach the suspenders that seemed to stand in for a belt. I decided to go barefoot since that seemed be what everyone who stayed around the house did, and then I walked into the kitchen to show Verity.

"Did I do this right?" I said as I entered the room. Verity turned and began laughing. She laughed so hard that tears rolled down her cheeks as she came toward me and began fixing the suspenders and pulling the shirt down so that it actually fit my body.

"I'm sorry, but you look so foreign in this!" she laughed. "If we get you a hat, you'll pass for Amish!"

"Oh no, you're not cutting my hair using a bowl!" I said backing away from her warily. "I've seen the way the men around here look and I'm not doing that!"

"No, no, we wouldn't ask you to," she laughed harder as she looked at me.

"You're picturing me with the bowl cut, aren't you?"

"I am!" she said as she dissolved into another fit of giggles. I smiled as I realized that this was the first time I'd seen Verity laugh. She looked sweet when she smiled, and I understood what Levi found attractive about her. She was a softer version of Grace. Once Verity had straightened me out and stopped laughing about the imagined haircut, I grabbed the broom, mop, and bucket, and headed into the living room to clean.

In my entire upbringing, I'd never had done anything more than toss my towels on the bathroom floor knowing that they'd be picked up, laundered, and replaced after the cleaning staff came through every day. There was something oddly satisfying about sweeping and mopping, and even though it took me four times longer than it probably would have taken any other of the Miller children, I finished the task without incident.

When I limped into the kitchen and went to dump the bucket out back, I caught a glimpse of Danny struggling to pull a bale of hay into the barn. I looked around and didn't see Honor anywhere, so I headed out to help him.

"Want some help?" I asked as he huffed and puffed pulling the bale toward the end stall. He nodded, so I bent down and pushed. Together we moved the hay quickly and then Danny snipped the rope holding the bale together and began tossing it into the stall.

"Wow, you've really cleaned this place up quickly, haven't you?" I said looking around and marveling at how clean the barn was. He nodded and signed something that I didn't understand. I shook my head, "I don't speak sign language, buddy."

Danny thought for a moment, and then grabbed my sleeve and pulled me over to the milking pen where he pointed at the cow, the bucket, and then me.