“What do you mean?”
Vannie sat up, her hands pulling the pillow behind her into her lap and clutching it to her chest as if for support. “Laird has always been really laid back. You can make him do everything all the time, push him hard, or totally ignore him and he doesn’t say anything. The only time he fights back if is you do all that and you’re still not satisfied with him.”
“Right…”
“Well, this isn’t that. The way he’s reacting is different. Laird gets in your face and says that. ‘What do you want from me? I can’t do anything right so maybe I should quit.’ Stuff like that. This is sneaky. Little things under his breath and nasty looks.” The girl buried her head into her pillow as she said, “And it’s mostly at you when you’re not looking or can’t hear.”
All of Aggie’s hidden fears were confirmed in that one half-muffled confession. “Thank you for telling me. I’ve wondered if I’ve seen things lately, but then everything seems fine, and I allowed myself to be convinced that it was my imagination.” She hesitated—unsure if her next idea was a good one or not, but Aggie was desperate. “If you hear or see anything that you think I need to know, I want you to tell me. You have to do it for Laird’s sake.”
Vannie dragged herself from the bed a little while later and started to leave the room. At the door she hesitated. “You know, I used to try so hard to tattle to Mommy about everything. I wanted her to see how grown up I was—that I could be a good helper. She never let me and I kind of grew out of it—mostly. I don’t think I like it anymore. I hope he just quits. I feel sick.”
“I’m sorry. Maybe you shouldn’t worry about telling me,” Aggie said, doubt creeping into her voice.
“No! That’s not even what I was talking about. I was talking about coming up here. I just thought Mommy was trying to punish me or something for being too bossy and stuff, but I think she was trying to save me from feeling bad now. I used to get a kind of satisfaction out of telling Grandma Millie that one of the kids did something wrong and see them get in trouble because of it. This is just icky though.”
“Well, if you decide it’s too much, you tell me. If I’d known that Allie didn’t allow it…”
“Mommy didn’t allow tattling. You asked me to report. I think it’s different.”
~*~*~*~
“What do you think she meant?” Aggie’s hands cupped her coffee, savoring the warmth as she inhaled the comforting aroma.
“I think she meant that tattling is telling with an attitude—either a desire to feel superior or to make someone else pay for something. Reporting is simply relaying facts that might ultimately help the person being reported.”
His words made sense; she could see the difference clearly, but Aggie wasn’t certain. “I just wish I knew. I wish there was a flow chart for parents. “If the kid does this, answer this question and follow until you reach the final answer.”
Luke reached for the gifts they’d brought and pushed hers across the island. “Mom’ll be back soon. We can talk to her. Better open that.”
The box was long and slim, almost like a jeweler’s necklace box. Aggie pulled off the bow and stuck it to the top of her head as she unwrapped the paper. “Do you think we’re overreacting?”
“No. I thought he looked penitent that day, but I think I’ve seen signs of that same arrogance I saw when he handed me the paper with shortness erased and brevity inserted. It’s not right.”
She lifted the lid and smiled at the carved wood nestled in cotton. “It’s perfect.”
“I thought we’d be needing a name change, so while I helped Chad with something, I did that.”
Without hesitation or even a jacket, she hurried outside to lay the piece over the names on her plaque. Milliken-Stuart now read Sullivan-Stuart. Luke handed her the box as he stepped onto the porch after her. “You didn’t get it all.”
Under one layer of cotton, another small piece lay. “I thought we’d put it there at the bottom. There’s just enough room there and it seemed like it’d look more balanced if there was more than one raised portion.”
His words registered in some part of her brain, but her concentration was on the words of the verse. “…makes her the joyful mother of children…”
“That verse personifies you,” Luke murmured between teeth inclined to chatter.
“Let’s go in.”
She planted herself back on the stool she had been using and played with the little wooden pieces. “Will you use black screws?”
“Not brass?”
Her nose wrinkled. “Ew, no. Too shiny.” As she spoke, she looked up at him apologetically and then frowned. “That wasn’t nice.”
“What’s wrong?”
“That verse. It’s not like me at all. I’m not joyful.”
“You’re having a bad week, but that doesn’t mean that usually you don’t enjoy this life you have.”
“Then I’m a really good actress I guess.” She dropped her head in her hands. “I’m also a failure it seems.”
“Laird?”
“Yes. I took the world’s most easy-going boy and turned him into a nasty rebel. Allie is probably crushed.”
“You know, a couple of weeks of bad attitudes doesn’t mean the kid is a hopeless case—ruined for life. It just means we have to find the root of the attitude and fix it.”
“Have any ideas?” Aggie shoved Luke’s present across the counter. “Your turn.”
“I do, but I don’t like it.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
That didn’t bode well. He was stalling. She opted for what was likely the less painful answer. “What don’t you like?”
“I think he’s lost respect for you.”
“Or never had it is more like it.”
Luke rested his chin on the box in front of him. “You’re determined to be miserable, aren’t you?”
“That’s not fair…” She sighed. “Yeah, I guess it is.” She shook her head and eyed the box. “Just open it.”
Nestled in a square box were half a dozen hand-tied fishing flies. “Where—Willow. Chad said she made them. You bought them when you went to do the dresses, didn’t you?”
“Yep. I hope Chad forgives me. They were supposed to be part of his gift.”
Luke grinned as he fingered each one, commenting on their uniqueness and beauty. “We won’t tell him then, eh?”
Another package sat between them, but neither wanted to acknowledge it. Once open, Luke would feel obligated to leave. “Oh, I decided not to do school all week. I think a break is going to be good.”
“Well, I think I know the answer to my dilemma then. I’ve been deciding if I should invest the time in a set of built-ins around the fireplace on Cygnet. What if I do it and see if Laird wants to help? Maybe he’ll open up to me if we’re just working together.”
“If he doesn’t respect me, will that make it worse?”
“I don’t see how it can. We’ll see. It can’t hurt to try.” Luke pushed the gift toward her. “I had to do it when I saw it.”
Aggie considered the decision made and the subject changed as she pulled the wrapping paper from the box. “Oh, Luke! It’s too much!”
“Now you can have your favorite coffee in half a minute if the reviews I read are true.”
She walked him to his truck, her arm wrapped around his and leaning on him. “Thank you. I didn’t expect you to have time to come tonight.”
“Mom says she’s got plans to give us some time to go out and do couple things like registering at stores and all that stuff. I say we spend it kicking back and doing something fun.”
“I need it,” she whispered. “Besides, it’s not like we need to register anyway. We’ve got everything we need and then some.”
Luke pulled her into a hug. “We’ll get through this, Mibs. Every mother has bad day—sometimes weeks. We’ll start with a few days off from Laird and then a few days away from everyone so you can recharge. I think you just need a break.
”
Friday, December 26th
“He just loved the flies. It was perfect. I can’t thank you enough.”
Willow smiled her acknowledgement and pinched at the bodice. “I think this fabric stretches—which is weird. It shouldn’t. Anyway, I’ll have to take it in a bit, but even if I don’t, it’ll work.”
Aggie smiled at Vannie’s pleased face. The dress was perfect. She looked like a red-headed Zenita Shinn. “How does that pink look good with her hair? It should look terrible. We were going to go with blue at first, but this worked and it looks even better now.”
“No green?”
“On St. Patrick’s month? You’re kidd—oh, you are kidding.”
“Well, I don’t think it would really matter. Not really but this pink and red… I never knew it would look this nice together.”
“Ok, this one is ready to go. Ellie’s is next.”
Neither Ellie nor Kenzie needed any changes to their dresses, but the twins’ were several inches shorter than Willow expected. “I’m not going to hem these until the last minute. I don’t want to cut them off now and find out that they grew more.”
“Children are a’pposed to grow,” Cari informed their hostess. “Mrs. Sullivan said so.”
“Yes you are! I remember my mother embroidering me a very special dress for spring one winter. By the time she finished it and spring was here, she had to add an underskirt so it wouldn’t be too short. I think I got two sets of clothes that spring and summer. About the time we’d finish something and I’d wear it for a month or two, it’d be looking like time to start making more.”
“Did your sister get your old clothes? We get Kenzie’s old clothes sometimes.”
“I didn’t have a sister. Just my mother.”
Lorna’s eyes welled up with huge tears. “That’s terrible! You’re like—like an orphan!”
“Lorna!” Aggie sighed, apologizing quickly. “I think they were too young to see even our highly-edited version of Annie…”
Willow caught Aggie’s eyes over the heads of the children and shook her head slightly. “Yes I am. I don’t have a mom or a dad.”
“We don’t either,” Cari said. “Does that make us orphans?”
“Well, yes,” Willow said, “but you have other family like your aunt and your grandparents. I don’t have anyone—not really.”
“Your mommy should have had more children.”
“Cari!”
Willow’s attempt to stifle a snicker failed. “I remember Mother saying, ‘Children say the darndest things,’ but I never knew what that meant. I understand it now.”
The children were sent to play while Aggie and Willow sat on the couch, chatting. “Are you all set for the wedding?”
At first, Aggie assumed the question was a joke, but the confident expression on Willow’s face assured her that the question was spoken in earnest. “I’ve hardly done anything and now my organizing friend has had to go home just as I’ll have time to do something.”
“Well, it can’t be that much trouble, can it? I thought Chad said you were doing it at home.”
“We are, but there’s the reception, and I have to find someone to cater the thing. Mom can’t do a lot of the things that we’d want to if she was in better health and I wasn’t busy with a brood.”
“Books always make weddings sound like such a hassle, but when they describe what is causing the trouble, it never seems like a very serious problem. I suppose that’s fiction for you.” Willow didn’t sound as though she thought the problem lay with stories, but with people.
“I don’t know. I’ll tell you once it’s all over. It sounds daunting, but it’s probably not that bad. We do have to get going on things. I’m so glad I had you take care of the dresses early enough.”
“Do you have yours finished?”
“I haven’t even looked. There’s a huge sale at one of the chain stores next week though. I’m hoping to find one there—cheap.”
“Smart girl. Chad said that some people spend several hundred or even thousands of dollars just on the one dress that they only wear for a few hours!”
“Yes, they aren’t cheap.”
“I don’t suppose you have anything white at home…”
Aggie stifled a snort. “Not that would work for a festive occasion like this, no.”
Before she could continue, Aggie’s phone rang. She excused herself and answered, telling Luke that all was well, but his words sent her rushing to the window and nodding as she listened. “You’re right. We’ve got to get out of here. Thanks for calling.”
Just then, Tavish burst into the house. “It’s coming down pretty hard, Aunt Aggie. I can’t get Cari and Lorna to come in and Kenzie won’t leave them. She’s afraid she’ll get in trouble.”
“We’re going. Tell everyone to get in the van.”
Ellie crept from her place on the stair landing and replaced a book in the library. “Do you want me to carry Ian out to his seat?” The girl looked pointedly at the sleeping baby on the couch.
“I’ll do it. It might be slippery.”
“That one listens,” Willow said. “She’s an intelligent girl.”
“She scares me sometimes. She’s too adult for a child her age.”
“I think,” Willow said, retrieving the baby’s coat for Aggie, “I would have been like her as a child. If there had been others talking, I would have found a way to be near. You would learn more about people and life that way.”
“That’s why I said she scares me sometimes. I can’t be on my guard as much I probably should be.”
Willow’s next words sounded terrifyingly odd to Aggie—and true. “I wouldn’t worry about it. She’ll be an adult soon enough and you won’t have to think about it anymore.”
Thursday, January 1st
Mibs says: Did you find your gloves?
Luke says: Mom says Uncle Zeke says he thinks he has them.
Mibs says: Well, can you stop by tomorrow and grab ‘em?
Luke says: Yep. And I can leave Meggie for the day. She’s been
alone a lot lately.
Mibs says: You could bring her here. I mean, what’s the difference
between now and March?
Luke says: I still have to see how she does with Miner and Sammie. I should do that when I’ll be around.
Mibs says: I suppose.
Luke says: Mom says Willow enjoyed holding Ian. Aunt Marianne told Mom that Willow joked about you maybe giving him up, so she could have him.”
Mibs says: Not on your life.
Luke says: I think that’s the gist she got from Aunt Marianne. Mom also says she gave Willow an earful about marriage.
Mibs says: Marriage? Willow? She seems pretty set against it.
Luke says: She is. Mom thinks that Chad wants to go the marriage route and Willow is fighting it.
Mibs says: Willow isn’t going to do it if she doesn’t want to do.
Mibs says: Hey, got a question for you.
Luke says: Shoot.
Mibs says: Well, today when I went up to get Ellie for breakfast, she hid something from me.
Luke says: Hid something? Like what?
Mibs says: I don’t know. If I knew what I’d have told you.
Luke says: Did you ask her about it?
Mibs says: No. I thought maybe a kid needs a little privacy even if it doesn’t make sense.
Luke says: Well, if she had a history of it, I’d disagree with you there, but Ellie’s usually open if you ask. Maybe she’s working on a project and isn’t pleased with it. You know how she is if things aren’t working out right.
Mibs says: Maybe. Just after this whole thing with Laird, I think I’m a bit jumpy.
Luke says: I can understand that.
Mibs says: I should tell you. I dread Monday.
Luke says: Why?
Mibs says: I think it’s going to be telling whether Laird has really come out of his bad attitude or if it’s just a calm before the storm.
Luke says: I’m sure it’s fine.
Mibs says: I should go to bed. The kids
went to bed early. Even Vannie complained about being tired. I bet
they’re all up at sunrise.
Luke says: Ok. Mom said that she’ll be there Tuesday at eight
o’clock, so you can get into town in time for the opening.
Mibs says: Oh, good. Thanks.
Luke says: Get something amazing.
Mibs says: That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one without her best friend to advise you.
Luke says: Did you hear from Tina?
Mibs says: Yeah. She’s doing pretty well I guess. She’s taking over the finding of a place for the reception, where I go to taste test the cakes, and she’s ordering the invitations as soon as we have a place for the reception—“the venue.” I need a list.
Luke says: Mom’s got that.
Luke says: Wait, is there a Cinderella Bridal in Yorktown?
Mibs says: Yeah.
Luke says: Why don’t you drive up there Monday night. Your mom can go with you to the store to see and maybe Tina can show up for a couple of hours.
Mibs says: Drive eight hours?
Luke says: You’ll be glad you did once you’ve got the memories. I’ll come stay with the kids until Mom gets here on Tuesday.
Mibs says: You are so tempting me.
Luke says: Come on. Do it. Think of how much fun it’ll be.
Mibs says: And the gas!
Luke says: Take my truck… or even rent a car.
Mibs says: I can’t rent a car! I’m not twenty-five.
Luke says: You can too. Yeah, it costs more, but trust me. You can.
Mibs says: Are you really trying this hard to get rid of me?
Luke says: It’s that obvious, huh?
Mibs says: Fine. I’ll go. But under one condition.
Luke says: What’s that?
Mibs says: You find me a sitter for Thursday or Friday so we can
do the big returns. I’ve got bags of stuff that has to go back!
Luke says: Deal. See you tomorrow. You go to bed.
Here We Come (Aggie's Inheritance) Page 14
