Here We Come (Aggie's Inheritance) (52 page)

Inside,
Willow
handed
Aggie
a
cup
of
hot
tea
and
a
cherry-almond
bar.
“
What about the dresses?
W
hat
did
you
have
in
mind?”

Aggie
hurried
to
the
van
,
returning
with
two
large
plastic
shopping
bags.
From
within,
she
pulled
chiffon
and
peach
skin
in
several
shades
of
pink—nearly
to
red
.
“I
bought
both
the
white
chiffon
to
go
over
the
pastel
and
the
pastel
chiffon.
I
didn’t
know
which
looked
best.”

“And
a
style?”

“I
was
thinking
something
like
the
shipoopie
outfits
at
the
end
of
Music
Man.
Well,
actually,
it
was
Vannie’s
idea,
but
I
like
it.
”

Willow’s
blank
expression
sent
Aggie
into
a
frenzy
of
explanation
,
but
Willow
still
clearly did not
understand.
“It’s
a
movie
right?”

“Yeah
—
”

“I’ll
get
Chad
to
bring
it
to
me.
I’ll
watch
it.
Meanwhile,
why
don’t
you
bring
the
oldest
inside
and
keep
the
boys
out
until
we
get
her
bodice
constructed.
I’ll
make
the
dress
to
fit
the
bodices
once
I
know
what
it
should
look
like.
You’ll
see.”

As
they
worked,
Willow
and
Aggie
forged
a
new
,
if
somewhat
tentative
,
friendship.
Willow
told
hilarious
stories
of
her
childhood
on
the
farm
and
Aggie
told
even
funnier
ones
of
her
children
and
their
escapades.
By
the
time
they
were
finished
with
the
dress
mock-ups,
the
awkwardness
was
all
gone.

However,
Willow
asked
a
perfectly
normal
question
in
such
a
way
that
made
Aggie
wonder
what
she
meant.
“How
long
have
you
known
Luke?”

“Since
t
he
end
of
May
or
first
of
June—
somewhere
in
there.”

“Wow,
that’s
fast.
Do
you
mind
me
asking
why
you
decided
to
marry?”

Aggie
sat
in
Willow’s
kitchen
rocking
chair,
held
her
tea
warming
her
hands,
and
observed
as
Willow
added
wood
to
the
stove,
put
a
chicken
in
the
oven,
and all while
she
talked.
“It
was
fast
,
I
guess
,
but
it
didn’t
feel
fast.
When
you
see
someone
almost
all
day
every
day
for
months,
it
makes
you
feel
like
you’ve
known
them
all
your
life
somehow.”

“I
know
what
you
mean
,
and
I
haven’t
seen
Chad
nearly
that
much.
I
thought
it
was
because
we’d
worked
together
so
much.
It’s
like
I
woke
up
one
day and
found
Mother
dead
,
but
she
gave
me
a
brother
that
I
never
knew
and
have
always
known
at
the
same
time.”

Smiling,
Aggie
handed
Willow
her
empty
cup.
“Maybe
it’s
just
the
Sullivan
men.”

“Sullivan,
Tesdall…
not
sure
what
,
but
there
are
similarities
to
them
aren’t
there?”

There
seemed
something
not
quite
answered
in
Willow’s
question,
but
Aggie
didn’t
know
what
it
was.
“So
did
you
mean
you
wanted
to
know
why
I
want
to
get
married
or
why
I
want
to
marry
Luke?”