Best Friend's Ex Box Set

"No, it's just decent business practice," Grace said. "We can't sell this stock fast enough, so we're helping out the community and donating it to those in need."

In the baking aisle, an Amish mother with her five children in tow burst into tears as she loaded several, large bags of flour into her cart. Elsewhere in the store, people were emptying the shelves, but as I watched, I noticed that no one was hoarding the goods. Everyone was taking only what they needed and leaving the rest for those who would follow. I picked up on this theme and worked it in as I started the third round of explaining the turbine project.

At the door, Honor and Danny stood waiting with printouts of the information and sign-up sheets that anyone interested in the project could put their name and address on so we could stop by and talk to them about what the turbines entailed. On my fourth pass at the information, Honor looked over at me and gave me a thumb's up as she waited for yet another farmer to sign the paper.

By noon, the store was beginning to empty out as the Amish headed home to make dinner for their families, but we were far from finished. The farmers that Al had assured me he'd share the information about turbines with started pulling into the parking lot. As they entered the store, Grace handed them baskets and told them to shop the store for no charge. After the shock wore off, the farmers moved around the store in much the same way the Amish had, gathering needed supplies, but only taking as much as they could actually use. I repeated the turbine talk over and over as waves of afternoon shoppers entered the store and cleaned out the dairy case, baking supplies, and canned food aisle. Watching people's faces as Grace informed them that there was no charge for the groceries gave me a new appreciation for the farmers who worked the land in this area.

We worked without breaks as Verity brought food and drinks to us all and kept our spirits up by encouraging us to keep pushing the message. By eight o'clock, my voice had cracked and I was exhausted from having been talking over the intercom for almost twelve hours. When Grace finally locked the doors and turned out the lights, I collapsed into a chair as Verity handed me a cup of hot tea with lemon and honey and told me to drink it to soothe my throat.

"Well, that's done," Grace said as she came over to the desk where I'd been stationed and tossed the keys into a basket on the desk. "We're out of the grocery business for good."

"How did we do on the turbines?" I croaked looking up at her hopefully.

"You guys, we got fifty people to sign the sheets!" Honor yelled as she and Danny came racing across the store and dropped the clipboards on the desk. "We handed out a lot of information sheets to people who didn't want to sign up, but who wanted to know more about the turbines."

"That's great!" Verity cheered as she hugged them and then looked at Grace. "What about the store? Can we claim a tax deduction for giving it all away?"

"I'll have to do the books and see if we met the requirements, but it looks like we're really close from what I can see," Grace said as she pulled off her starched, white cap and threw it on top of the sign-up sheets. "I am never wearing that thing again!"

"Grace!" Verity cried. "What would Mamm and Dat say?"

"I think they'd say that I shouldn't be doing things simply to make other people happy," she said wearily. "And I think they'd tell me to follow my conscience and trust that they'd taught me everything I needed to know in order to do that."

"I think they'd be proud of you, Grace," Verity said as she hugged her sister and then looked at me. "Now it's up to you to turn this opportunity into the business you want, Adam!"

"Sure, sure," I croaked. "You guys take the easy part and leave me to do all the work!"

The sound of laughter echoed through the empty store and bounced off the bare walls as we celebrated our small victory.

Chapter Forty-Five

Epilo

gue

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 worried 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.