Here We Come (Aggie's Inheritance) (17 page)

“Guilty,”
Martha
agreed
, trying
to
escape
into
the
kitchen.
Ron
shooed
her
to
her
chair
while
he
promised
to
check
the
turkey.

She swallowed hard and rushed through introductions, hoping he wouldn’t connect dots she’d tried to hide.
“
Well
then,
Aunt
Agatha,
Aunt
A
thena,
this
is
my
Luke.
Luke
Sullivan.”

Luke
offered
his
hand
and
found
himself
enveloped
in
hugs,
while
Aggie
escaped
into
the
kitchen,
hoping
to
keep
him
distracted.
However,
the
moment
she
opened
the
fridge,
she
heard
Luke
call
in
an
exaggerated
fashion, “
I
guess
little
Agathena
is
growing
up,
isn’t
she?
First
a
mother
of
eight,
now
a
wife!”

So much for unconnected dots
, she grumbled to herself.
Aggie
closed
the
fridge
and
opened
the
freezer
without
missing
a
beat.
She
grabbed
a
chip
of
ice
from
the
ice
bowl,
closed
the
freezer,
swiped
a
mug
of
hot
apple
cider
from
a
tray
on
the
peninsula,
and
sauntered
back
into
the
family
room.
Next
to
Luke,
she
took
a
sip
and
then
frowned.
“Oh,
Luke,
I’m
sorry.
I
should
have
gotten
you
one.
Would
you
like
some
?”
As
she
spoke,
Aggie
reached
up
to
rub
Luke’s
back
in
an
apologetic
manner
and
in
the
process,
pushed
the
ice
cube
down
his
sweatshirt,
patting
it
thoroughly.

Of
course,
Luke
jumped,
howled,
and
dove
for
her,
but
Aggie
managed
to
get
out
of
the
way
just
in
time
to
avoid
attack
and
spilled
cider.
Practical joking on their engagement day—only Aggie and Luke would
be
that
ridiculous
. T
he
competition
commenced.

~*~*~*~

Huddled
in
the
corner
of
the
family
room
with
fistfuls
of
Uno
cards
,
but
with
very
few
landing
on
the
table,
the
Stuart
children
whispered.
The
adults
in
the
kitchen
were
distracted
by
Ron’s
recounting
of
his
bungled
proposal
and
oblivious
to
the
conspiracy
brewing
in
the
other
room.
“I
don’t
know
how
we’d
get
the
stuff
we
need
though,”
Vannie
protested.
“I
like
the
idea,
I
do.
But
we
can’t
just
say,
‘Aunt
Aggie,
can
we
have
a
tea
party?
We
need
fifty
plates,
fifty
cups,
a
congratulations
sign—’”

“But
our
birthday
is
just
over
a
week
away,”
Ellie
piped
up
brightly.
“You
guys
could
pretend
it’s
a
surprise
party
for
us
.
We’ll
ask
the
Merchamps
to
let
us
come
play
for
an
hour
that
day
so
that
Aunt
Aggie
has
to
come
get
us
and
you
can
set
everything
up
while
she’s
gone.”

“We
can’t
set
everything
up
in
ten
minutes!”
Laird’s
voice
was
too
loud,
but
a
glance
into
the
kitchen
showed
that
no
one
in
there
had
noticed.

“No…”
Tavish
began
,
“but
Mrs.
Merchamp
would
stall
Aunt
Aggie
for
a
bit
,
talking.
You
could
say
you
have
to
go
to
the
bathroom
really
bad
just
as
we
pass
the
Pizza
Palace.
Between
everything,
we
could
stall
it
a
good
thirty
minutes
I
bet.”