Here We Come (Aggie's Inheritance) (49 page)

She
hadn’t
moved
by
the
time
Luke
crept
back
down
the
stairs.
From
the
look
on
his
face
she
was
certain
that
he’d
soothed
a
few
wounded
hearts
as
well.
Epic
fail,
Aggie.

“Are
they
going
to
forgive
me—really?”

Luke
gathered
her
into
his
arms
and
held
her,
his
cheek
resting
atop
her
head.
“This
isn’t
about
the
ornaments.
You
know
that,
don’t
you?”

“What
is
it
about
then?”
She
didn’t
believe
him
,
but
anything
sounded
better
than
another
failure
on
her
part.

“It’s
about
missing
their
parents.
It
was
a
familiar
memory—one
they
really
remember
well,
and
so
it
all
blew
out
of
proportion.”

“Great,
and
I
took
off
to
take
care
of
the
thing
that
wasn’t
the
thing
instead
of
being
here
for
them.”

His
arms
tightened
around
her.
“You’re
determined
to
be
the
bad,
bad
Aunt
Aggie.
Is
it
possible
that
you’re
hurting
today?”

“Of
course,
I’m
hurting!
I
failed
my
kids!”

“No,
you
didn’t.
You
gave
them
a
wonderful
day.
Had
you
remembered
the
ornaments,
the
tears
still
would
have
been
there,
but
instead
you
would
be
hurt
because
they
lashed
out
at
you
for
trying
to
step
into
their
mother’s
traditions.
You
could
have
done
no
right
today.”

“But
I
could
have
tried!”
The
first
sob
nearly
undid
her.
“You’d
better
go
before
I
lose
it.”

“I
won’t
go
until
after
you
do.
C’mon.
Come
sit
with
me.
You
need
a
good
sob-fest.”

A
thought
produced
a
snicker
and
then
a
sigh.
At
Luke’s
urging
she
finally
said,
“I
was
thinking
that
marrying
a
man
who
has
four
sisters
is
going
to
mean
that
he
has
an
unfair
insight
into
females.”

“Some
women
would
consider
that
an
advantage.”

She
snickered.
“You’d
think,
right?
You
forgot
you
were
dealing
with
an
inept
mother
of
eight—at
twenty-three
years
old.”

“Stop,
Mibs.”
He
waited
until
she
looked
at
him
and
whispered,
“Don’t
do
it.
You
are
beating
yourself
up
for
things
that
aren’t
true.”

“They
feel
true.”

“That
I
can’t
argue,
but
feelings,
no
matter
how
real—”

“Lie,
I
know.
I
tell
myself
that,”
Aggie
said,
“but
I
don’t
always
believe
me.”

Tina
skipped
downstairs
and
collapsed
on
the
couch.
“Oy.
It’s
been
so
long
since
we’ve
had
an
eruption,
I
forgot
how
draining
they
are.”
She
frowned.
“And
now
I’m
doing
the
oy
thing.
How
about
ugh?
Yeah.
Ugh.”
Her
eyes
caught
Aggie’s
and
she
sighed.
“Sorry.
I
didn’t
mean—”

“Don’t
worry
about
it.
Right
now
I’ve
got
to
figure
out
how
to
find
ornaments
t
hat
will
have
meaning
to
them.”