Best Friend's Ex Box Set

"They're going to leave us to figure this out on our own," Gabe said as he removed his hat and hung it on a peg outside of one of the stables. "The way I see it, you're sweet on Grace, but what you don't understand is that she's one of us."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said. "I thought Grace was pretty clear when she told you no, and in my world, we understand that when a lady says no, she means no."

"Do you have any idea how our world works, English?" Gabe said as he crossed his arms over his chest and casually leaned against the stall door. He was broad shouldered and muscled, but I had a good four inches on him and a pitchfork in my hand. He shook his head, "I didn't think so."

"Grace seems pretty clear about what she wants and doesn't want, despite my lack of knowledge about your community," I said eyeing him warily.

"We are bound by our love of God, our family, and our community," he said. "We believe that our good works pave the way for the afterlife, and that our families and community offer the best opportunities to exhibit that love and devotion."

"I'm not sure what that has to do with me," I said as I shifted the pitchfork from one hand to the other before leaning my back against the stall.

"You're not one of us, English," he said with a smile. "You don't belong here, but Grace does."

"Okay? Again, not sure what that has to do with me," I said feeling confused.

"You think you're the first English outsider to express an interest in Grace?" he asked. Now I understood what he was getting, and I grinned at him.

"You're pissing on Grace's leg," I chuckled as I stood up and walked toward him. "I get it. You think that if you scare me off, you'll have a shot at making her see how much you care about her. Well, I've got news for you, my Amish friend. She's not interested. She's told you flat out that she's not interested, and yet you persist. That doesn't really register as an act of love and devotion. Where I come from, that's called stalking and it's punishable by law."

"You have no idea what you're talking about, English," Gabe said narrowing his eyes as I pulled himself up to his full height and stood face-to-face with me.

"The lady said no, Amish boy," I said as I gripped the handle of the pitchfork and hoped that my tone and height would be enough to get him to back off. I wasn't sure that, in my condition, I'd be able to withstand a barnyard fight. In fact, I knew I wouldn't be able to, so the best I could do would be to play alpha dog and see if he would back down. "I would suggest that you back off and leave her alone."

"Or else what?" Gabe growled as he sized me up.

"Or else you and I are going to have a problem that won't be solved by talking it out," I said as I pulled myself up to my full height trying to hide the fact that my chest and head were still incredibly tender and painful.

"Oh my God, will you two knock it off?" Honor said as she and Danny came through the barn door carrying two bales of hay stacked on top of a third. "You're like two old hens!"

"What the—" Gabe said turning around to see Danny laughing silently as Honor gave us both an annoyed look.

"I'm serious, Gabe," she said. "Knock it off. Grace said no, and you keep pushing like you're going to bully her into something that she's already said she doesn't want. It's embarrassing."

"Honor! That's incredibly rude," Gabe said as his face began to turn bright red. "Grace said no because that's what she's supposed to say."

"Good Lord, you really are clueless, aren't you?" Honor replied as she and Danny dropped the bale next to the far wall. She marched back to where Gabe stood and looked up at him with her hands on her hips. "Grace doesn't love you, Gabe. I'm not sure how much clearer it needs to be for you to get it through your head and let go. She doesn't want you pursuing her, and she certainly doesn't want to marry you."

Gabe's face was now beet red as he stood listening to Honor dress him down in front of Danny and I. I felt bad for him, but I knew that Honor was doing him a favor by laying it out clearly. Still, I looked away as she spoke hoping to spare him a little of the humiliation even though I was taking a tiny bit of pleasure in it.

"And you, English," Honor said as she turned and looked at me. "You're no better than he is! You think that you're going to sweep my sister off her feet and carry her away from her family just because you're handsome and charming? Guess again!"

Now it was my turn to feel the heat of shame rushing through my body and turning my cheeks bright red. I saw Gabe avert his eyes as Honor dressed me down.

"That's not fair!" I protested. "I'm here because I was trying to bring technology to—"

"To the poor, backward Amish folk?" Honor said in a sarcastic tone. "Please, we don't need your largesse, English. We're doing fine the way we are. You're both idiots. Now get out of the barn and let us do the work needed to keep our animals clean and fed."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Danny sign something as Honor shoved him into a stall and yelled at him to get moving. She grabbed the pitchfork out of my hand and shoved me toward the barn door muttering, "Out! Now!"

Gabe quickly grabbed his hat and beat a hasty retreat to his buggy, and I wasn't far behind. Neither one of us said a word as he unhitched the horse and swung himself up into the driver's seat of the buggy. He stared at me for a long time before he slapped the reins and turned the horse toward the road.

As I watched him go, I wasn't sure who'd won that round, but I knew that neither one of us was going to give up so easily. Something about Grace had sparked my interest in a way that no woman had before, and I wanted to know how she felt about me, too.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Grace

I'd never felt such pure lust for a man as I felt for Adam Wallace, but I also resented his ignorance and the way he stereotyped me and my family as simple minded people who couldn't possibly understand the complexities of life outside of Corner Grove. And after Honor told me about what had happened in the barn, I was furious with both Gabe and Adam for being so stupid and childish.