Ready or Not (Aggie's Inheritance) (24 page)

Aggie remembered sitting wedged between the rows of bench seats and the van
’
s doors, praying that the doors wouldn
’
t fly open and spill her into the road.
“
I don
’
t know if the kids can be ready…
”

Vannie piped up,
“
Oh, can he drop me off? Our class is having a special collection, and we
’
re boxing up care packages and having chips and salsa for Cinco de Mayo. The high schoolers are going to take the boxes to Mexico the week after school lets out.
”

Aggie looked into the face of her eager niece and thought about how the child never asked for anything for herself. Acting like it was a huge imposition, Aggie groaned and moaned and sighed, then said,
“
Oh, all right!
”

A cheer rose from the children while Aggie sent them packing.
“
Get shoes from the new ankle wren
--
er
--
shoe box! Girls, clean dresses! Boys, no
jeans
! Come on! Let
’
s get some buttoned up shirts, or at the very least, polos without holes!
”

“
Now, missy, my Martha is working in the nursery, and she
’
ll take care of the little tyke here, the little girlies can go to their class, and you can just lay here on the couch and rest. After church, we
’
ll take everyone to that new hamburger place over by the freeway that has all the gizmos. They can play
‘
til they
’
re half dead, come home, and take a nap.
”

“
I really appreciate this, Zeke. I shouldn
’
t let you do it
--
you
’
ve been so good to me already, but I really need a nap!
”

“
After church, my nephew is going to come over and put in that intercom. It
’
s pretty easy, I think
--
shouldn
’
t take him long. I
’
ll leave the door unlocked, so you don
’
t have to get up to let him in.
”

Though she felt funny about it, Aggie decided that there was nothing else she could do, short of locking up the children until she could walk. She really was at everyone
’
s mercy, and she didn
’
t like it. She barely moved her foot, and it screamed in pain. Yes, everyone needed to go. She needed to
breathe
again.

Aggie didn
’
t rest while the family was gone as intended. First, she surfed the Internet, perusing every site she could find on the subject of sprains and the best way to heal them. Aggie hoped that there was some vitamin C in the house
--
it was supposed to help heal tissue.

She tried to ding Tina on the messenger, but her friend was obviously at church. Knowing Tina, she
’
d invite the entire Mullins family out to dinner, so she could pick Priscilla Mullins
’
brain on recipes and food preparation.

Lastly, Aggie searched furniture sites, hoping to find a style that would fit her, the kind of family she had,
and
be sturdy. What she discovered was that she did
not
like the showroom type furniture groups. She found rooms decorated in only one style to be too sterile. She really liked the rooms that showed a lovely mixture of different periods, giving an eclectic aesthetic. A new thought occurred to her as she remembered the furniture she
’
d seen in the attic of the
“
new
”
house.

With no regard for day or time, Aggie picked up the phone and dialed Mr. Moss. Getting an answering machine at his office, she contorted until she could reach her purse and grabbed Mr. Moss
’
card from her wallet.
“
May I speak to Robert Moss, please?
”
Aggie hoped she wasn
’
t interrupting anything important.

“
Hi, Mr. Moss, sorry to bother you, but I just had a thought, and I wanted to know when I can look over the new house. There was a bunch of old furniture in the attic, and I
’
m curious to know if it
’
s salvageable.
”

“
If it wasn
’
t Sunday, I
’
d say to come in and get the key now. However, I don
’
t have it at home, so you
’
ll have to pick it up next week if you like. It was delivered to my office on Thursday.
”

“
Sunday. I called you at your home on a Sunday. I
’
m so sorry. I forgot what day it is.
”
Aggie
’
s voice was flat. She was so excited; she
’
d called her lawyer on his day off!

“
Aggie, are you ok?
”
Mr. Moss
’
voice seemed concerned.

“
I sprained my ankle yesterday and am on bed rest for several days. I
’
m going stir crazy already. I
’
m sorry. I
’
ll bother you next week. I can
’
t drive out there anyway.
I can
’
t drive
! What was I thinking?
”

Aggie said goodbye and hung up abruptly. The strain and pain of the last two days caught up to her, until she finally collapsed on the couch sobbing. Aggie wasn
’
t an overly emotional woman, but she
’
d held onto the frayed end of her rope for weeks now. She finally let go and cried. In minutes, Aggie slept.

Luke Sullivan walked through the door, knocking gently as he entered.
“
Aggie? Hellooooooo?
”
Entering the room, Luke saw that the young woman was sleeping, albeit fitfully. Her face appeared tearstained, and the silence of the house was occasionally broken by her muffled sobs. A glance at her feet deepened his sympathy. Luke knew just how painful a sprained ankle could be. Wait until she started feeling antsy! The poor girl would drive everyone around her crazy. Luke was very experienced in that department.

“
Poor little momma. She
’
s having it rough. Help her, Lord. Please heal her ankle quickly and be Aaron
’
s arms to her, Lord. Hold her up when she
’
s ready to fall. I
’
m sure she
’
d love to sense Your help.
”
Luke whispered his prayer as he began installing the intercom system his uncle had requested. He felt foolish. The children could have installed it in minutes. It was wireless and needed only a place to mount and a nearby outlet. His uncle had been adamant. He was to
“
install that system,
”
and Luke had wondered if Uncle Zeke was growing senile.

Aggie heard his prayer. In her exhausted state, she thought she was seeing things. She thought she saw the physician Luke, of the New Testament, hovering over her couch and praying for her healing. A fleeting question ran across her mind as she wondered if she was hallucinating, but Aggie drifted into a perfectly peaceful sleep before she could make sense of her thoughts.

Luke thought he saw the woman visibly relax as he finished setting up the intercom next to the couch. Answered prayer was a wonderful thing, but he marveled at
observing
it answered so quickly and so visibly. Whistling
“
Sweet Hour of Prayer
,
”
Luke marched up the stairs to install the second unit. He found an outlet in the middle of the hallway, and in moments, had the intercom mounted to the wall.

He started to leave, when he noticed Aggie
’
s crutches by the couch. She
’
d be hungry when she awoke from her nap. Luke put down his things and walked to the kitchen; smiling, he opened a refrigerator covered with pictures inscribed to
“
Aunt Aggie.
”
Pulling out condiments, lunchmeat, and vegetables, Luke made a whopper of a sandwich and put it on a plate. He rummaged through the pantry and found some crackers and a small bag of chips. Grabbing a banana from the fruit basket on the counter, he brought the food and set it near her on the coffee table.

A thought occurred to him, and he went back into the kitchen. At the back of the pantry, he found what he was looking for. A good quality thermos would work beautifully. Luke boiled water and mixed a thermos full of the
“
imported coffee stuff
”
mix that he
’
d seen sitting on the counter. He grabbed a paper towel and scribbled a note on it.

Aggie (Sorry, I don
’
t know your last name),

The intercom system is up and running. I thought you might wake up and be hungry before Uncle Zeke got back, so I left you a sandwich. I hope that ankle feels better soon. Having had a couple myself, I can attest to the fact that the longer you rest in the beginning, the sooner you can really move around.

Praying for you,

Zeke
’
s Nephew

Wednesday, May 8
^th

Aggie pressed the intercom buzzer for what seemed like the fiftieth time.
“
Girls, come downstairs,
now
.
”
Aggie didn
’
t know why she bothered. She was getting the hang of the crutches, but going up and down stairs was still impossible
--
and the twins knew it. Lorna would likely have come had Cari not been in one of her moods. Getting Lorna to go against Cari
’
s wishes was like getting a mule to volunteer to carry heavy packs up a steep mountain in the rain
--
wearing heels.