Here We Come (Aggie's Inheritance) (105 page)

He
hurried
to
Vannie’s
room
and
let
himself
in
the
door.
“Vannie!”
he
hissed.

“What?
I’m
trying
to
sleep
here
,
and
you’re
going
to
get
us
into
more
trouble.”

“Aunt
Aggie
was
talking
to
Luke—well,
I
think
it
was
Luke—and
she
was
talking
about
enrolling
us
in
school
again.”

She
sat
up,
pulling
her
robe
around
her
shoulders.
“What?
How
do
you
know
that?”

“I
heard
her
say
it.
Oh,
and
William—Deputy
Markenson—is
down
there.
What
if
she
called
him
about
us?”

“If
you
got
us
in
trouble
with
your
stupid
idea—”

“You
liked
it
well
enough
when
it
got
you
out
of
algebra,”
Laird
growled.

Curled
in
the
corner
of
the
daybed,
Vannie
shook
her
head.
“I
thought
I
would,
but
I
was
miserable
all
day.
I
don’t
know
anything
that
happened
in
my
book
after
I
refused
to
do
my
math.”

“I
know
what
you
mean.
I
think
we
need
to
apologize
and
just
do
our
work.
We’d
have
to
do
it
at
school
anyway—and
homework
besides.”
He
stood
at
the
end
of
the
bed,
his
arms
crossed
over
his
chest,
but
this
time
they
were
crossed
to
keep
him
warm
rather
than
in
the
defiance
he’d
felt
for
so
long.
“I
can’t
believe
I
got
that
upset
over
a
dumb
book.”

“It
wasn’t
the
book,
Laird.
It’s
everything
else.
I
was
looking
up
grief
on
Google.
In
teens
and
pre-teens
it
often
comes
out
as
anger
and
rebellion.
In
wives,
it
sometimes
manifests
in
a
makeover
or
decorating
or
buying
things
her
husband
wouldn’t
have
liked.
Aunt
Aggie
is
kind
of
doing
that
in
reverse.
She’s
trying
to
be
Mommy
when
it’s
not
her.
Aunt
Aggie
is
carefree
and
spontaneous
and
Mommy
was—”

“A
bit
uptight
about
things.”

“Yeah,
but
she
loved
us,”
Vannie
seemed
compelled
to
add.

“Who
said
she
didn’t?
She
was
the
best
mom
in
the
world.”

“And
Aunt
Aggie
is
the
best
aunt.
We could at least
show
her
the
courtesy
of
acting
like
we
know
it.”

Laird
dropped
his
arms.
“Agreed.”
He
turned
to
leave
,
but
at
the
door
,
her
voice
stopped
him.

“Laird?”

“Hmm?”

“It’s
ok
to
miss
them.”

“I
know.”

She
stopped
him
once
more.
“It’s
also
ok
to
like
our
life
here
too.
It’s
ok
to
enjoy
spending
time
with
Luke
and
be
grateful
that
he’s
going
to
be
our
uncle.”

“I
know,”
Laird
said
again.
But
this
time
he
added,
“It
just
doesn’t
feel
ok.”

Mibs says:
Guess what William wanted?

Luke says:
To beg you to reconsider and marry him after all.

Mibs says:
You’re not getting rid of me that easily. Nope, but he sure is missing Tina…