Ready or Not (Aggie's Inheritance) (37 page)

Aggie looked startled that the officer would divulge private information so freely but wisely held her tongue and offered her hand.
“
Hello, Mrs. Dyke, I hope we
’
ll be good neighbors. I
’
ll try to keep the children away from your beautiful plants and pray we don
’
t break any windows with stray baseballs! Bill has been most helpful already.
”

Both Mrs. Dyke and Deputy Markenson suddenly looked uncomfortable. After an awkward silence, Mrs. Dyke smiled and leaned conspiratorially near Aggie.
“
Miss
--
um, Aggie, our William doesn
’
t go by nicknames. They just don
’
t seem to fit him. I
’
m sure you understand.
”
William looked visibly relieved, while Aggie stammered an apology. They talked for a few minutes, until Aggie heard Laird calling her. She quickly excused herself and jogged across the road.

Mrs. Dyke looked at William and gave a small smile.
“
She
’
s a pretty little thing isn
’
t she? Not flashy like most girls these days, and isn
’
t that a relief? Quite the responsibility she has taken on. Eight children… My, I remember when Herbert and I had four, and we were worn out with them!
”
William nodded absently. The wise older woman grinned to herself and went back to her pruning.
“
I imagine we
’
ll see a lot of you around here until all is settled up with that grandmother. You come see me when you are around. I still keep a jar of snickerdoodles for visitors.
”

William slowly walked back to his cruiser. He wasn
’
t sure he agreed with Mrs. Dyke. Aggie wasn
’
t homely by any means, but William had always been attracted to women with a little more shape and sparkle. Whatever Aggie didn
’
t have in physical attractiveness; however, she sure made up for in personality. He didn
’
t know how to take her comments, but then people often said odd things to him.

Tina says:
Well?? What is going on these days?

Aggie says:
Well…

Tina says:
Come on girl, is the house painted? Ready to move into?

Aggie says:
We are technically moved in, but a lot of work needs to be done.

Tina says:
You still starting in Vannie
’
s room?

Aggie says:
Yep.

Tina says:
All right… something isn
’
t
“
right.
”
Spill it

Aggie says:
Hee hee… just had another run in with the GIL

Tina says:
The gil?

Aggie says:
I
’
m calling her the GIL. Grandma-in-law, or for short, Geraldine is livid.

Tina says:
That bad huh?

Aggie says:
I
’
ll say.

Tina says:
Well, what now? Spit it out.

Aggie says:
Well, between her yelling, slapping me, getting escorted off the property by the sheriff
’
s department, I think our family has made a definite impact on this community already.

Tina says:
OH, nooooooooooooo, she didn
’
t!

Aggie says:
I
’
ve still got the imprint on my face. The kids were scare
d
that th
e
officer was going to take me away.

Tina says:
I wish I could come.

Aggie says:
Me too. Think you
’
ll get down this way before the ne
w
term?

Tina says:
I was thinking that I could come for two weeks before I have to register, and then I can just drive straight to school.

Aggie says:
Sounds good to me! I miss you.

Tina says:
Sounds like you are busy enough without me.

Aggie says:
Why do you think I want to see you? I WANT THE HELP!

Tina says:
Well, mid to late August, I
’
ll be there.

Aggie says:
I have to get outside. I hear havoc building. Bye!!!

Tina says:
Well, I
’
m glad I convinced you to have internet set up before you got there! Poof!

Enter: Luke

Thursday, June 13
^th

Chaos was an understatement. The children squealed with delighted hysterics, while Aggie tried not to cry as she dashed from room to room trying to identify which room
’
s lights were coming on from which switch. As she jotted down notes, she decided that she would kill Deputy William Markenson. There was no doubt about it. As an aside, she wondered if they made jail cells with mother
’
s quarters.

He
’
d asked her about her house renovations after church on Sunday, and when he heard that she was looking for an electrician to add outlets, William had given her the name and phone number of an electrician that he recommended. Too busy to do the work himself, the electrician sent his brother-in-law to install the new outlets, and the result was scary! The concept was simple. He would add new outlets to every wall of every room that didn
’
t have one, add an extra breaker or two to the box to handle the new load, and arrange for each room to have its own circuit on the breaker in order to shut off power to each room of the house.

However, after the ad-hock electrical genius disappeared down her driveway with a substantially larger check than he
’
d earned, they
’
d discovered that flipping on a light switch in one room did nothing. At first, she thought maybe he
’
d forgotten to turn the breaker box back on but on her way to check it, found the hall light burning. Undaunted, she started to flip the switch off and found it already in the off position. Assuming he
’
d installed it upside down, Aggie flipped it on and nothing happened, or so she thought.

“
Aunt Aggie, the light just came on in the kitchen, but no one turned it on!
”
Ellie sounded both indignant and a little frightened.

“
What! Turn on the light in there.
”

The bathroom light shone brightly.
“
How is this even possible?
”
she
’
d muttered and began a hunt for switch patterns that looked like a stunt out of a reality TV show. Not knowing where to find her pathetic electrician, Aggie poured her frustrations into the absent and oblivious officer.

“
If that man was here I
’
d give him a piece of my mind. What kind of electrician did he recommend anyway? This guy would fail standing in line in kindergarten!
”

Aggie
’
s ranting carried through the open window and across the yard to where Mrs. Dyke weeded around her driveway. Though she couldn
’
t hear all of what her neighbor said, at the sound of William
’
s name, she wisely went inside and called the sheriff dispatch to send out Deputy Markenson. When William arrived, the children, sent outside by Aggie, were playing tag in the front yard as she systematically switched each room
’
s lights on and off, making notes and trying to see if there was any kind of
discernible
pattern.

William cautiously entered the house after waving hello to the children, calling Aggie
’
s name.
“
I
’
m in here,
Mr. Markenson.
”

Something in her tone unnerved him. Angry females weren
’
t his specialty, but when William reached the upstairs landing, his laughter boomed loud enough to be heard across the street. The sight was beyond funny, but Aggie had lost her sense of humor.
“
If you want to laugh, you go right ahead, but
you
can pay this incompetent bozo. Do you see this? I can
’
t figure out if this room
’
s switches really do turn on the one right behind it or if there is a mix up at the breaker box.
”

Not familiar with electrical wiring, he pulled out his cell phone to call the electrician to come fix the error, but, Aggie shook her head.
“
William, I appreciate you trying to help me, really I do; but I can
’
t do this.
”

The young woman looked ready to collapse with frustration and exhaustion.
“
If that man shows up at my home, I am liable to say or do something that I shouldn
’
t. I
’
ll call Zeke. Somehow, I think he
’
ll know what to do; he
’
s always been so good to me and known exactly what to do when I didn
’
t.
”
Aggie slumped on the couch downstairs and picked up the phone. The local pizza delivery had already been added to speed dial, and Aggie needed to feed this crew
--
fast
.