Here We Come (Aggie's Inheritance) (204 page)

“Great
idea!”
Tina’s
fingers
flew
over
her
keyboard.
“I
think
I’ll
see
if
the
craft
store
in
Brunswick
has
them
before
I
go
all
the
way
to
Rockland.
What
else?
”

Children
seemed
to
converge
on
them
before
they
could
make
any
further
progress.
“Are
we
going
to
go
get
pizza
now?”

Aggie
glanced
at
the
clock
in
shock.
“It’s
barely
five—”

“Yes,”
Tina
said,
jumping
up.
“Get
in
the
van.
It’s
time
to
go
!”

Luke
and
Aggie
stared
at
one
another
and
then
at
Tina.
“What—”

“The
earlier
they
eat,
the
earlier
they
feel
like
it’s
bedtime,”
she
hissed.
“Last
one
in
the
van
is
a
rotten
something
or
another!”

Friday,
March
6
^th

Chaos.
Mayhem.
Pandemonium.
Despite
the
desperate
need
for
quiet
for
Martha
Milliken,
the
house
seemed
to
pulsate
with
craziness.
While
Aggie’s
mother
lay
in
the
guest
room
with
earplugs
and
Luke’s
industrial
fan
pointed
toward
the
ceiling
in
the
hallway
to make white noise
,
the
rest
of
their
families
were
working
on
something—anything.
Luke’s
sisters
were
at
the
schoolhouse,
taking
orders
from
Tina
on
what
to
put
where
and
how.
The
men
were
moving
tables
as
fast
as
Tina
could
direct
them,
and
Libby
kept
the
children
corralled
downstairs
as
much
as
possible.

Aggie
skittered
from
place
to
place,
nearly
worn
to
a
frazzle
with
frustration
and
one
crisis
after
another.
Her
phone
buzzed.
“What?
I
mean,
sorry.
Hello?
Tina?”

“The
guys
have
moved
all
the
big
stuff
into
place.
The
bakery
is
going
to
be
here
soon
with
the
cake,
but
they
assured
us
they
don’t
need
help
moving,
so
I’m
sending
them
your
way.
Luke
has
the
rental
truck.”

“Ok.
Does that mean that
I
need
to
make
sure
the
kids
are
out
of
the
way
for
the
furniture
?”

“Right.”

“Operation
piñata.”

“You
go,
girl.”

The
phone
clicked
off
before
Aggie
could
respond.
Great.
She
stuck
her
head
downstairs.
“Libby?”

“Y
es
?”

“Piñata
time.”
Her
almost
mother-in-law’s
response
was
impossible
to
understand
over
the
children’s excited screams.
Aggie
waited
for
the
din
to
die
down
before
she
added,
“I’ll
send
down
the
hot
dogs
and
fries
as
soon
as
they’re
done.”

The
moment
lights
turned
into
the
driveway,
Aggie
dashed
to
the
basement
door
and
called
for
Vannie.
“Can
you
come
help
with
this?
I’ve
got
guys
coming
in!”

The
girl
hurried
up
the
steps
and
grinned.
“This
is
so
exciting!
I
think
Kenzie
is
going
to
break
it
on
her
turn
too!”

“Well,
that’s
cool.
Just
don’t
let
her
break
her
arm
again.”