"You two are so narrow minded," I sighed. "It's a pity really, because otherwise you're not so bad."
"There's no need to be mean, Grace," Hope said as she turned and walked back toward the buggy with Faith following close behind. "We're only doing what we think is right. I'm sorry if it's too small town for your big brain and big life."
"Please let the others know that if they want to visit us, they are welcome," Hope said looking down at me from the driver's seat. "You, however, are not."
"Take care, Grace," Faith said as Hope clicked the reins and turned the buggy back toward the road.
"Goodbye, Grace," Hope said as the horse picked up speed and carried them away.
I stood in the drive watching the buggy rolling down the road back toward their homes, and as they disappeared into the dark night, I felt the sting of rejection overwhelm my self-righteous outrage. In the span of a couple of weeks, I'd lost my parents and been shunned by my own sisters. I inhaled deeply to try and keep my pain from leaking out, but once I opened the front door, my carefully constructed walls came tumbling down and I sunk to the floor.
"I want to go home," I whispered as the tears began to flow. The problem was that I wasn't quite sure where home was anymore.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Adam
I was in the kitchen, gingerly holding an ice pack to the lump on the side of my head when I heard Grace come in through the front door. There was silence and then the sound of something hitting the floor.
"Grace?" I called. "Are you all right?"
When she didn't respond, I got up and walked into the living room and found her crumpled on the floor holding her face in her hands. Her body jerked as she swallowed her silent sobs.
"Grace, what happened?" I asked as I set the ice pack down on a side table and moved toward her.
"Don't," she said holding up a hand. "Just don't. I can't..."
"Can't what?" I asked. I maintained the small distance between us, but watched her closely.
"I just can't," she rasped as she swallowed another sob. She looked small and fragile crumpled on the floor with her bonnet askew.
"Grace, do you want me to get Verity or Honor?" I asked unsure how to help her.
"No!" she replied fiercely before looking up at me. Her face was streaked with tears and the look in her bright blue eyes was one that could only be described as broken. I wanted to pull her off the floor and wrap my arms around her, but I had a feeling that this might only make things worse, so I stood still and waited. "Don't get either one of them. There's nothing they can do."
"You want to tell me what happened?" I asked as she covered her face with her hands and cried. I tried a softer approach, "Can I at least help you up off the floor?"
She didn't immediately respond, so I waited.
"Yes," Grace replied. She said it so quietly that I could barely hear her whisper over the sound of the night noises coming through the open windows. I reached out and offered her my hand. Her hand was warm and wet with tears, but I held tightly to it as I pulled her up off the floor and wrapped my arms around her pulling her into my chest. She started to pull back then stopped and wrapped her arms around my waist resting her cheek on my chest.
"You want to tell me what happened?" I asked. I could feel her soft warm body pressing against my own, and I had to quickly shift my mind to the most recent Cubs batting line up to tame my natural reaction.
"My...my...my sisters shunned me," she said stumbling over the words.
"Why would they do that?"
"They want me to fall in line with the rest of the community," she said inhaling deeply and swallowing another sob. I could feel the dampness from her tears soaking through my shirt, and I knew there was more to this than she was telling me.
"What exactly do they want you to do?" I asked. There was a long pause before she answered and I was acutely aware of the way her hands felt as she gripped my back.
"They want me to make you leave," she whispered as she loosened her grip and ran her hands up my back. When I didn't move a muscle, she continued, "They think it's inappropriate for you to be staying in our house and they said that I'm no longer welcome in their homes."
"I'm so sorry, Grace," I said trying to calculate how quickly I could move out of the house, but unsure of where I would go until the Mustang was in working order again. "If it helps, I'll go tonight."
"No, it doesn't help at all!" she cried as she pulled back and looked up at me. Emotions flashed across her face as she bit her lip and then said, "I'm so sick of all of this. I want my parents back. I want my life back. I want to wake up in the morning and find that this has all been a terrible dream and that I'm back in my own bed living my own life!"
I nodded, not knowing how to respond to her outburst. I was acutely aware of the way she was still pressed against me and as I loo