I sat at my desk going over the paperwork for the grocery store while I waited and realized that the store was running at a deficit of around a thousand dollars a month. The farm was able to cover a portion of the debts, but there seemed to be somewhere between two hundred and five hundred dollars that was missing each month. I couldn't find a record of it anywhere and this was confusing. Dat was always meticulous about money as far as I'd known. Unlike a lot of Amish families in the community, we'd never gone without shoes or essentials that we needed because Dat had saved enough to be used in case of emergencies.
I knew about the emergency account because I'd almost drained it to pay for the caskets and funeral costs. Now there was less than two thousand dollars in the account and I needed to figure out how to make up for the several thousand-dollar shortfall that the grocery had. I pulled out my cell phone and tapped the screen to check my own retirement account. I wondered if I could withdraw what was needed without being charged an arm and a leg to do it. I made a note to call the fund manager and ask her what the penalties would be then I dialed Mike's number and waited.
"Hey, Grace! How you doing, girl?" Mike shouted into the phone when he picked up. "Do you have any idea when you'll be back?"
"Hello, Mike," I laughed as he moved from niceties to business without taking a breath. "I'm not sure. What's going on?"
"Look, kid, I know you've got a lot on your shoulders, but we really need you here," he said. "Jess can't handle this account on her own and I don't feel comfortable giving her the responsibility of taking the lead on the presentation. I don't mean to sound insensitive, but I need you to wrap up the business with your family enough so that you can come back to the city and take care of this. After that, we'll talk about you taking some paid leave time and being with your family."
"Mike, I can't just walk away right now," I said trying frantically to figure out how I could manage the family business and still give him what he needed for the Miter project. "Can I do it remotely and then fly in for the presentation?"
"I'm sorry, Grace," he said in a tone that let me know he truly was. "But I need you here doing your job right now. I know your family needs you, but we need you, too. I don't like to be the bad guy, but if you can't get back here by next week, we're going to have a serious problem."
"In other words, you're going to fire me," I said glumly.
"Firing is such an ugly word, kid," he said. "But if you can't be here to do the job, then we're going to have to let you go."
"Mike, that doesn't make sense!" I cried. "I'm the lead on the project, but I can still advise from here! I could hook up Skype and work with Jess if you need me to."
"I'm sorry, Grace," he said. "But I've got a business to run and I need my best accountants here doing their jobs as we head into this crucial negotiation."
"So, it's next week or not at all," I said feeling the weight of the world settling on my shoulders.
"I guess it is, kid," Mike said sadly. Then he perked up and offered, "I can send a car to pick you up. How about a week from today? Can you make that work, Grace? Please?"
I could hear a hint of desperation in his voice and it made me realize that he wasn't kidding when he said he needed me on this one. I took a deep breath and said, "Okay, this time next week. Send a car and I'll come back to get things in order."
"You're a champ, Grace!" Mike crowed as he ended the call.
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 the 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 ro
om. 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.