Ready or Not (Aggie's Inheritance) (75 page)

Tina says:
Hee hee… so you ready for the invasion?

Aggie says:
You
’
re coming!! REALLY? WHEN!?

Tina says:
Sunday.

Aggie says:
No way!

Tina says:
WAY!!!!!

Aggie says:
I thought you weren
’
t coming until next month!

Tina says:
I decided I wanted a longer visit. Do you mind?

Aggie says:
NO!!! OOOH!!!! Luke is coming with his mother to church and lunch! You
’
ll get to meet her with me.

Tina says:
Nope, sorry not leaving until after lunch myself. I have to substitute for the 4th and 5th grade Sunday school teacher.

Aggie says:
Rats. Well, maybe I can get Luke to watch the kids one day and you and I can go out and meet his mom at Espresso Yourself for coffee.

Tina says:
So… still having fun having William around?

Aggie says:
Well, he left kind of oddly last night and then didn
’
t com
e
back today like he said he would, but I figured he was just busy.

Tina says:
Think he
’
s getting interested?

Aggie says:
You should have watched Quiet Man with us the other night. It was so funny. He gave me a rose.

Tina says:
What color?

Aggie says:
Red. Why?

Tina says:
Just curious. Interesting that he chose red.

Aggie says:
You silly. There are only red roses planted out front. He couldn
’
t pick any other color if he wanted.

Tina says:
But who PLANTED the red roses? Why didn
’
t he plant yellow?

Aggie says:
Because with the red door, red is more striking.

Tina says:
uh huh

Aggie says:
Look, I won
’
t pretend that I don
’
t know that he
’
s interested in something, I
’
m just not sure it
’
s me.

Tina says:
Then WHAT?

Aggie says:
I don
’
t know. He still doesn
’
t like to be in the house. I wonder if it
’
s some propriety thing.

Tina says:
Like eight chaperones of varying ages and sizes aren
’
t enough.

Aggie says:
Yeah. Something like that. But, then again, I talked to Mrs. Dyke and I think it
’
s something more. I think he
’
s more interested in the house… or rather NOT interested in the house. I think if I lived anywhere else, he
’
d be both happier and less interested in me.

Tina says:
that
’
s ridiculous.

Aggie says:
Well, you
’
ll have to see when you get here.

Tina says:
Ok. I guess I
’
ll go pack the rest of my boxes.

Aggie says:
Ok… no matchmaking when you
’
re here. I have very good friends in Luke and William, and I don
’
t want to ruin that.

Tina says:
Fine then, I
’
ll leave my Yente shawl at home.

Aggie says:
Silly. Goodnight! Poofs!

Tina says:
Poof.

Friends

Saturday, July 20
^th

Luke, William, and Laird half-dragged, half-carried a huge farmhouse trestle table into the dining room. It needed to be refinished, but with a good scrubbing and a large tablecloth, it
’
d work for dinner. Vannie pawed through boxes, trying to find tablecloths and napkins to run through the washing machine. When the table was in place, scrubbed, and ready for the linens, Aggie looked around the house. The living room, library, downstairs bathroom, mudroom, and dining room were the only rooms that remained to be completed. As soon as the children went back to school, Aggie hoped to work on her bedroom and more on the yard.

For the first time ever, Aggie knew why mothers looked forward to their children going back to school. She also knew that she would miss them. The idea of home schooling flitted across her mind again, but Aggie had enough to do without adding in more work. She decided to think about it again next summer when the house would be done and she had at least a year of mothering under her belt.

“
Luke, where did you find this great table? I love it!
”
Aggie watched, as the men hefted a huge lazy Susan onto the top of the table and fitted it into the hole provided.

“
There was an auction in Ferndale a few weeks ago, and I went looking for pieces for a couple of my rentals. When I saw this, I knew it was exactly what you needed, so I nabbed it.
”

Luke was like a child in a toyshop with the table. He reached down and picked up Ian.
“
Here, bud, try this for size.
”
Luke sat the baby in the middle of the lazy Susan and slowly spun him in circles. The children all begged to try, but Luke, realizing the example he
’
d set wasn
’
t optimal, shook his head.

“
Sorry, guys, I shouldn
’
t have done that. Don
’
t ever sit on this. The baby doesn
’
t weigh much more than a dressed turkey, but you are all too big.
”

“
That
’
s right, guys. It
’
s an instant twenty minutes of work to anyone who attempts it. We have to take care of things, so they
’
ll last.
”
Cari and Lorna exchanged glances, but Aggie saw them and stopped their mental shenanigans.
“
And that goes for you girls, too. You can scrub walls until your fingers pucker if anyone sees you on that table.
”
Her tone was firm, but she winked at the girls to soften the disappointment, leaving William amazed at how successful her interaction with them was. Things that would make many mothers lash out at the children, never seemed to faze her.

Sunday, July 21
^st

Sunday morning dawned bright and surprisingly cool. Rain was forecasted for the evening, and it was keeping the day much cooler than the previous weeks had been. Aggie dressed carefully. For reasons she couldn
’
t identify, making the best impression possible on Luke
’
s mother was very important to her. Knocking on Vannie
’
s door, Aggie called to her and told her to get ready for church. Down one side of the hallway, and up the other, Aggie went and awakened the family.

After six months of Sundays, Aggie had learned that, for everyone but Ian, granola bars were the most filling and cleanest foods she could feed them. She fed Ian and set him in the makeshift playroom, with Tavish keeping watch from a nearby couch. She wondered as she left them, if she called on him too often for that job. Brushing the twins
’
pixies, Aggie sighed over their lost curls. A real mother would have known to take pictures of the crazy events surrounding those cuts; Aggie hadn
’
t. With a million things to do before leaving for church, Aggie forced herself to let the guilt go.

Her family was ready and at church on time, much to Aggie
’
s delight. It was one of those rare and magnificent days, where everything rolled smoothly without any hiccoughs. She had learned to treasure days like those
--
they were too few and far between. She was so amazed how much more quickly things could be done when the house wasn
’
t in a constant state of emergency.

Once by their usual pew, Aggie placed the children in their seats in order of whom she was likely to have to correct most. Since becoming a fulltime Mother-Aunt, Aggie had spent most of her Sunday mornings training children to sit quietly, whisper, go to the bathroom before they left for church, and similarly exciting things. She had begun to wonder if the Apostle Paul was referring to Sunday mornings when he said that women would be
“
saved through childbearing if they continued to persevere.
”

Aggie spied Luke escorting his mother into the church. The middle-aged woman, dressed in a classic summer dress, walked beside him with her arm tucked in his in the quaint way of days gone by. Luke led his mother to Aggie, who stood to welcome her.
“
I
’
m so pleased to meet you, Mrs. Sullivan. Thank you for coming.
”

Libby Sullivan smiled at Aggie. Luke
’
s mother had wondered what kind of young woman
“
Mibs
”
was. Her son spoke of the Stuart-Milliken family so often, that Libby had been concerned for him. A compassionate man like Luke could become emotionally entangled with the wrong woman if that woman knew how to play her cards right. One look at Aggie, as her eyes slid sideways and she shook her head at a little girl swinging her feet and kicking the pew in front of her, and Mrs. Sullivan knew that she didn
’
t need to worry. This young woman seemed more focused on her children than trying to entice Luke
’
s emotions.