"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.
"I'm not like you, Gabe," I replied wiping the last of the tears from my cheeks and straightening my kapp. "I love my family, but I have a life outside of this community, and I want to go home to it."
"I don't understand your need to put yourself before your family," Gabe said sadly.
"And that's precisely the problem," I shot back. "You've never understood anything about me."
"I love you, Grace," Gabe said. His expression was sad, but calm. "I always have and I always will. And no matter how hard you try to push me away, I'll always be here. Waiting for you."
"Gabe, don't," I said shaking my head. "Just don't. I'm not coming back."
"Grace?" Verity called from the kitchen. "Is Gabe staying for supper?"
I looked at Gabe and raised an eyebrow silently asking the question. He simply shook his head and headed for the front door.
"No, he's not staying," I called as moved back out to the porch watching Gabe walk across the yard, unhitch the horse and then swing himself up into the front seat of the buggy. He slapped the reins and the horse took off, heading for home as I stood silently watching him go.
"Your boyfriend seems like a nice guy," Adam said startling me.
"Huh? My boyfriend?" I said looking down at him holding the pot of peeled potatoes in his lap. “What on earth did you do?"
"Thought I'd help out," he shrugged giving me a lopsided grin and I could feel my pulse begin to race again. "You know, earn my keep and all. It looked easy enough. Did I get it right?"
I nodded as I took the pot from him and balanced it on my hip so that I could take it inside to Verity. I searched for something witty to say, something that would make me seem more cosmopolitan than I felt dressed in my plain clothes, but my mind was blank.
"Thank you," I said as I pulled open the front door and slipped inside.
"Don't mention it," Adam said, and then I heard him add, "I hope you two can work out your lovers spat."
I opened my mouth to reply, and then quickly shut it. I wasn't going to let Adam Wallace see that he could get to me—not when I had bigger issues to deal with in order to get back to my life in Chicago.