Here We Come (Aggie's Inheritance) (39 page)

Luke’s
turn.
Vannie
called
out
his
orders,
and
giggled
as
he
bumped
William
from
his
spot.
“Sorry,
man.”

“Sure,
you
are.”

Standing
next
to
Aggie
and
beneath
the
mistletoe,
he
turned
and
called
out
to
Martha,
“Mother,
may
I?”

“Yes
you
may!”

Aggie’s
eyes
grew
wider
as
Luke
bent
to
kiss
her
.
Panicked,
she
was
ready
to
cry
and
run
,
but
couldn’t.
Why
would
he
do—
His
lips
touched
her
cheek.
“Gotta
trust
me,
Mibs.”

The
room
cheered,
but
Vannie’s
face
fell.
Eager
to
get
out
of
the
game,
Aggie
missed
it
but
led
Luke
to
the
window
where
they
watched
the
rest
of
the
game,
giggling
when
Laird
had
to
kiss
Ellie
and
William
kissed
Kenzie.
The
little
girl
walked
around,
hand
on
her
cheek
for
the
duration
of
the
game,
but
Vannie
seemed
unwilling
to
send
Tina
and
Tavish
to
the
same
mistletoe.

After
a
couple
of
awkward
steps,
Aggie
realized
the
problem.
She
tiptoed
to
Vannie’s
side
and
whispered
something.
The
girl,
visible
relief
on
her
face,
giggled
and
nodded.
Aggie
stopped
next
to
Ellie,
whispered
something,
and
then
moved
to
William’s
side.
He
seemed
to
hesitate
until
his
eyes
caught
Tina’s
over
the
heads
in
the
room.

With
two
more
players
on
the
board
,
the
game
ended
swiftly.
Tavish,
already
beneath
a
sprig
of
mistletoe,
was
ordered
to
take
one
step
forward
and
one
back.
Tina
was
ordered
to
take
two
steps
to
her
left
and
one
step
back.
William
gave
Vannie
the
romance
she’d
tried
to
create—but
a
little
more
chaste
than
she’d
imagined.
His
lips
met
Tina’s
for
a
second—and
maybe
a
half,
before
he
spun
her
and
led
her
from
the
floor.
Tavish’s
face
was
beet
red
when
Ellie
stepped
one
to
the
right,
kissed
her
brother’s
forehead,
and
sent
him
from
the
room.

The
room
erupted
in
applause.
Luke
and
William,
along
with
a
couple
of
the
other
men,
moved
furniture
back
in
place,
while
Aggie
pulled
Vannie
into
the
m
udroom.
“
Is something wrong
,
Vannie?”

“I
thought
it’d
be
fun,
but—”

“But
you
forgot
that
you
were
forcing
people
to
be
publicly
affectionate?”

“I
just
thought
engaged
couples
should
kiss
at
their
party,
and
I
knew
without
something
to
encourage
you—”

“
We’ll
talk
about
it
later,
but
if
you
have
any
more
of
these
kinds
of
games
planned,
you
need
to
plan
for
something
else.”

“Did
you
see
Deputy
William
kiss
Aunt
Tina—really
kiss
her—sorta?”

“Yep.”

“Did
you
know
he’d
do
that?”

“I
suspected
he
might,
but
I
told
him
her
cheek
or
hand
was
sufficient.”