Here We Come (Aggie's Inheritance) (13 page)

Aggie says:
Oh, do! Feel better! Night!

Libby says:
Before I go, will you do me a favor?

Aggie says:
Anything!

Libby says:
Convince Luke to do his tile shopping on Sunday. It’ll have been a full week of hard work at that point. He’ll need a break, but my Luke won’t take one unless forced to. He has a lot riding on this house

Aggie says:
I’ll try. Tina isn’t going to see her father after all, so maybe she and William will take the kids out for pizza after church.

Libby says:
Thank you, Aggie. Goodnight.

Aggie says:
G’night.

Over the Highway and…

Thursday,
November
27
^th

Aggie’s
heart
was
heavy
as
she
neared
Yorktown.
She
missed
him—much
more
than
she’d
expected.
Even
late
night
chats
had
been
limited
to
a
couple
of
text
messages
.
Each
day
he
got
up
early,
ate
a
cold
breakfast,
tore
out
the
damaged
walls,
floors,
or
cabinetry,
cleaned
it
up,
and
tried
to
install
it
all
over
again.
They
went
shopping
once,
she
helped
with
the
tiling
for
a
couple
of
hours,
but
most
of
the
work
was
left
to
Luke
and
Laird—something
Aggie
imagined
would
become
a
frequent
occurrence
in
their
lives
.
Someday.
She’d
also
received
a
couple
of
tender
notes,
but
otherwise,
Luke
had
been
noticeably,
painfully
absent.

The
din
rose
in
the
van,
reminding
her
to
pay
attention
to
the
road.
“Ok,
you
guys,
that’s
enough
roughhousing
back
there.
Settle
down
and
put
your
stuff
away.
We’re
almost
to
Grandma
Millie’s
house.”

With t
hat
chaos
tamed,
Aggie
refocused
her
attention
back
on
the
road.
Though
she’d
looked
forward
to
dinner
in
her
childhood
home
with
family
she
hadn’t
seen
in
months,
she
already
missed
what
seemed
to
be
the
rest
of
her
family.
Both
Luke
and
his
mother
had
declined
the
invitation
to
join
the
Milliken-Stuart
clan
in
Yorktown
for
Thanksgiving
dinner.

As
Aggie
turned
onto
her
parents’
street,
she
saw
that
Christmas
decorations
were
already
making
a
show
in
several
yards.
There
was
fierce
competition
amongst
the
men
on
Lafayette
Drive.
For
decades
,
they’d
tried
to
outdo
each
other’s
decorative
efforts
,
including
one
man’s
miniature
city
designed
out
of
wire
and
blue
and
white
lights.

The
moment
her
foot
applied
the
brakes
in
front
of
the
house,
children
spilled
from
the van
and
tore
across
the
front
yard
into
the
house.
Anxious
to
get
inside,
Aggie
crawled
between
the
seats
to
Ian’s
spot
and
stared
at
the
empty
seat.
Somehow,
someone
had
managed
to
grab
him
in
the
melee.
She
strolled
to
the
back
of
the
van,
opened
the
door,
and
pulled
the
box
with
Vannie’s
pies,
hard
crust
and
all,
from
it,
shutting
the
door
with
her
backside.
Before
she
could
make
it
up
the
walk,
Laird
and
Vannie
rushed
back
out
the
door
to
her.

“I’ll
take
that!”
Laird
reached
for
the
boxes.

“Go
see
what
is
out
back!
Grandma
said
to.”
Vannie’s
eyes
sparkled
with
excitement
as
she
gently
shoved
Aggie
toward
the
back
gate.