For Keeps (Aggie's Inheritance) (60 page)

~*~*~*~

Luke found her in the back yard playing Mother, May I? with the children. Ian, always trying to join in the children’s fun, copied each of the older children’s steps, clapping his little hands after they told him he did well. Lorna saw Luke first and ran to him squealing. The child threw her arms around his legs and cried,
“
I missed you, Luke!
”

A lump filled his throat as he knelt down to meet the child’s eyes.
“
I missed you too.
”

“
You didn’t come for days and days and days. It’s been a month!
”

“
Not even a week, but thank you.
”
Luke winked at Aggie from across the yard.
“
There are cupcakes on the counter! Winner picks first.
”

The players redoubled their efforts to
eke
out as much space in each
“
step
”
as possible. Vannie teased Luke from the swing, protesting that she couldn’t possibly win if she wasn’t playing.
“
I think you’re playing favorites!
”

Lorna refused to leave Luke’s side.
“
I’ll pick last.
”

He picked up the girl and brought her to the swing, smiling at Vannie as he sat down.
“
How’d your first day go?
”

“
I have homework. Isn’t that weird? Homework when all the work is at home.
”

“
How does that work?
”

“
I didn’t get everything done, so Aunt Aggie said I could have until four o’clock, and then I had to go back and finish.
”

“
That makes sense,
”
he agreed.
“
So, why didn’t you get it done? Was it too difficult?
”

“
I just had to get used to watching the DVD, taking notes, stopping, reading the book. It’s just different. I had a hard time concentrating. It’s easy to get distracted when you don’t have a teacher waiting to give you detention for not paying attention in class.
”

“
Aaah. That sounds like a learning curve. Is the work difficult?
”

Vannie shook her head.
“
Not really. I might
even
like it once I get used to it. Right now, I just
miss what was
familiar.
”

A squeal erupted from the yard as Kenzie dashed to Luke’s side.
“
I won! Can I go pick?
”

“
Go ahead.
”

Aggie dragged herself up to them looking completely worn to a frazzle.
“
Vannie, why don’t you go in and get your cupcake and then check and see if you’ll need help on your grammar?
”

The moment the girl rounded the corner, Aggie dropped her head in her hands, clearly willing herself not to cry.
“
I think William was right.
”

“
Oh, Mibs no.
”
Luke struggled with the desire to comfort her and knowing he didn’t have that right
--
yet. The hope of a
yet
kept him from feeling utterly defeated.
“
It’s the first day. I bet if you talk to most teachers in any school, they’ll tell you their first day, or maybe even week, was frustrating.
”

“
Is it horrible that I want to get in my little Beetle convertible, drive home, crawl up onto the couch next to mom, put my head in her lap, and let her stroke my hair and tell me everything will look better tomorrow?
”

“
What happened?
”

“
Well, no one wanted to get up. They seemed to think life is just one big summer vacation, and school was something they could do when they felt like it. Ian was always into everyone’s stuff, Cari and Lorna decided to finger paint with the calamine lotion, Kenzie can’t fathom school any way but the way ‘Mrs. Tompkins’ did it, and Laird is easily distracted. It took him two and a half hours to do about thir
ty review problems. Vannie over-
thinks every instruction,
rewatches
each DVD half a dozen times, oh, and she read our conversation from the other night. I think we have some ‘splainin to do Lukey.
”

“
Lukey?
”
He wrinkled his nose in distaste.

“
It’s close to Lucy…
”

He took a deep breath.
“
What’s for dinner?
”

“
What?
”

“
What’s for dinner?
”

Aggie stared at him as if he’d lost the little sense he was born with and shrugged.
“
I don’t know. I was so prepared for breakfast and lunch, but even though I spent most of the day in the kitchen
--”

“
Why the kitchen?
”

“
I had to move everyone to the dining room so I could put Ian, Cari, and Lorna in the kitchen and living room. Otherwise it was chaos.
”

Luke nodded.
“
Come with me.
”

He led her downstairs to the basement and glanced around the room.
“
Ok, what if we rethink the layout. I can shrink the storage room, but it’d add a lot of work for very little gain. I’m thinking that we move the swings inward a bit so we can add a half wall here as a visual boundary…
”
Luke outlined a study area between the family room and play area.
“
This way you have a comfortable spot to help the kids, the little ones have lots to do, and there’s plenty of room to work.
”
He settled his hands on his hips and waited for her verdict.

Aggie glanced around the room taking in his suggestions and then nodded.
“
How long? How long will this take?
”

Luke glanced around him. The floors were done, the walls were done, and he’d have to build the half wall. The play equipment hadn’t been purchased, and he was still working on the built-ins, but it was a lot closer to finished than he thought she expected.
“
If we get the play equipment tomorrow, I might get it done by the end of the week if I can come early and stay late.
”

“
How does that affect your work schedule?
”
She shook her head.
“
What am I thinking? I can’t do that to you. We’ll make the dining room work.
”

“
I’ll do it, Mibs, but I’m confused.
”

“
About what?
”

“
Why do you have to use the dining room? Why can’t Laird work in his room where there are no distractions, Ellie and Tavish can work in the library, and you can move Kenzie with you wherever you need to go? If the little ones want to play outside, she can bring her work to the picnic table.
”

That idea had obviously never occurred to her.
“
Do you think it’s ok to leave them on their own so much?
”

“
It’s not like you’re forbidding them from coming to you for help. But if Laird needs no distractions, then put him where there are none.
”
When he saw Aggie’s uncertain expression, he added,
“
You could always ask on the email loop Tina found.
”

She glanced around the room again as if assessing the proposed changes once more.
“
Well, I can also try it while you finish this. I wish I could help, but
--”

“
But you can’t. Let me do this for you, Mibs. You have no idea how much it means when I have a chance to do something for you.
”

Aggie’s eyes met his, and her smile made his mouth go dry.
“
You’re always do
i
ng something for me, Luke. Always.
”

Luke says
: Everyone in bed?

Mibs says:
Yep. The house is finally quiet.

Luke says:
Are you ready for tomorrow?

Mibs says:
I still have Laird’s math to correct. I never got done with it, and he can’t go on until I do.

Luke says:
I can let you go.

Mibs says:
Oh. Are you busy?

Luke says:
Are you kidding? I’ve been ignoring my dishes because I was afraid I’d miss you signing on.

Mibs says:
Luke?

Luke says:
Too personal?

Mibs says:
Not at all. I was going to say that I really needed to hear that tonight.

Luke says:
Do you have any idea how long I’ve done that? Even when you were talking to mom instead of me, I’d be chatting with her asking how you were doing.

Mibs says:
How long, Luke? Either I’m really dense, or you’re really good at keeping your feelings to yourself.

Luke says:
Well, I was first intrigued by a sleeping woman with a sprained ankle and tear-stained face. I realized I had met a good friend when she dug a list of work out of her purse with
“
FIX THE WIRING
”
at the top.

Mibs says:
LOL. I was so embarrassed that morning. But that doesn’t tell me when…

Luke says:
Well, I know something happened sometime while we were working on Vannie’s room, because my heart sank the day I thought you were firing me, remember?