Here We Come (Aggie's Inheritance) (111 page)

“Dibs
on
Aunt
Aggie’s,”
Vannie
called,
running
up
the
steps
at
a
speed
Luke
couldn’t
fathom
in
his
present
state
of
exhaustion.
“Can
I
take
a
bath?”

“Fine,
but
when
the
water
gets
cool,
no
adding
more
hot.
Shower
and
get
out
then.”

“Thanks!”

Laird
shook
his
head
as
he
reached
the
top
of the basement steps
.
“What
is
with
girls
and
sitting
around
in
dirty
water?
You’d
think
that’d
be
a
guy
way
to
get
clean.”
Three
steps
up
the staircase
,
he
turned.
“Oh,
I
keep
forgetting
to
tell
you.
My
church
pants
are
all
too
short.
I
look
ridiculous
according
to
Vannie.”

“Thanks.
I’m
not
going
shopping
now,
so
looking
ridiculous
tomorrow
it
is.”

“
Won’t
kill
me.”

She
collapsed
next
to
Luke
twenty
minutes
later.
“Big
change
in
Laird—sort
of.”

“What
do
you
mean?”

“He’s
back
to
normal
now
,
which
is
huge
compared
to
what
he
was
for
a
week
or
two
there.”

There
was
no
argument
with
that.
Laird
had
teased,
played,
and
ignored
things
that
he
usually
ignored
for
the
past
week
and
it
had
felt
good
to
see
normalcy
settle
into
Aggie’s
family
again.
“Hey
,
Cassie
said
you
guys
had
a
good
time.”

“We
did.
I
think
I
hurt
Corinne’s
feelings
by
asking
Cassie
first,
though.
I
didn’t
even
think
about
that.
You
said
Cassie
over
the
phone
and
I
fixated
on
that.”

“That’s
ok.
It’s
good
for
Corinne.
So,
what’d
you
guys
talk
about?”

“You.
I
know
all
your
tricks,
your
virtues,
and
your
faults
now.
You
cannot
get
away
with
hiding
anything
from
me
anymore.”

“I
think
Cassie
likes
you.
She
sent
a
text
message
after
she
left
Espresso
Yourself.”

“Well,”
Aggie
pushed,
“w
hat
was
it?”

“‘She’s
a
keeper.’”

She
smiled
up
at
him.
“I
agree
—Cassie is definitely a keeper
.”

Luke
pulled
her
close,
one
arm
around
her,
and
nearly
sighed
with
satisfaction
when
her
head
nestled
into
his
shoulder.
“This
is
pretty
much
perfection.”

“I
was
thinking
the
same
thing.

“Two
months.”

“Two
eternities,”
she
argued.

“I
like
how
you
think.
Now
,
I’ve
been
thinking.”

“Uh-oh.
Whenever
Dad
says
that,
M
om
cringes.
Should
I
cringe?”

“I
don’t
think
so.
I
was
just
thinking
that
it’s
probably
time
for
me
to
make
a
permanent
move
to
the
Church.
I
mean,
I’m
back
and
forth
all the time already
that
I
really
almost
have
no
home.
I
kind
of
feel
like
a
foster
kid
,
but
in
the
church.”

“That’d
be
nice.”

“Yeah,
we
could
maybe
have
people
over
for
a
game
night
or
maybe
a
snowman
building
contest.
Didn’t
you
say
that
looked
fun
at
that
party
the
kids
went
to?”