William smiled and gave the girl a quick squeeze. “It’s just fine, honey. I understand. Really.”
Vannie glanced up at him curiously. “You don’t like our house though, do you?”
William was visibly startled. “What makes you say that?”
“I don’t know, really. I just noticed that you don’t seem to like to be inside, is all. You seem nervous. Well, not the first time you came. You sure showed Grandmother who was boss.” The girl giggled as she got into the van. “I think Grandmother is a little scared of you.”
Aggie’s eyes questioned William through her tears, but he just smiled. The drive home was swift and punctuated with sniffs and sobs, and William began to worry. He was used to people pulling it together after an initial burst of grief. He’d never been around long enough to see the aftermath of the misery that a bereavement call created. As he turned into the driveway, William visibly sagged with relief when he saw Luke’s truck still parked in its usual place on the side of the house.
Luke sauntered out onto the porch, looking quite pleased with himself, but when he saw William driving Aggie’s van, he rushed down the steps to help. “Aggie, are you ok?” It was one of those unnecessary questions that people ask and then kick themselves for later.
The temptation to throw herself at Luke and sob out her troubles on his understanding shoulders nearly overrode her last shred of self-control. Luke had that something, she never could define it, that understood women, or at least understood how to respond to them, even if lost as to who they were or what they wanted. However, it wouldn’t be right to take advantage of him like that. Clinging to a single man, one who spent most of his days and many of his evenings at her house might just qualify as inappropriate behavior for an equally single Christian woman and mother of eight. Instead, she ran upstairs and threw herself on her bed, in the same manner that she had done the night that her sister told the family that she was getting married. It seemed to her that not much had changed in fourteen years.
William helped Luke get everyone inside, and though it was nearing bedtime, Luke turned on a movie and popped popcorn for everyone. William seemed surprised. “You don’t think that they should go to bed? I was going to put everyone down.”
“I think they’ll need reassurance that Aggie’s ok before they can sleep. Do you think Mrs. Dyke would come over and talk with her? Can you tell me what happened?” For once, Luke didn’t struggle for words.
William gave him a brief recap of the evening’s turmoil and then headed down the driveway. Luke was surprised to see him turn toward Murphy’s house. Knowing Aggie’s dislike for the woman, Luke dragged himself upstairs. He hesitated outside Aggie’s door. Should he knock or just go in? Knock and go in? He doubted she’d answer, but Luke knew that Aggie would not want to be caught unaware by Murphy. Taking a deep breath, Luke knocked and then entered her room.
The scene was heartbreaking. Out of habit, Luke started to close the door and realized that this wasn’t a good idea. Instead, Luke pushed the door wide open and sat on the edge of Aggie’s bed. “Aggie? Mibs, you need to cry, really. Cry it out. Let it all go. I’m so sorry.”
Vannie appeared at the doorway. With a weak smile in Vannie’s direction, Luke pulled Aggie’s hair away from her face. “I wanted to let you alone to cry it out, but William seems to have gone after Murphy, and I knew you’d want to know.”
What had been sobs, turned into gut-wrenching wails loud enough to reach the neighboring houses. It seemed like the world was against her. As she gained a little control, she looked tentatively toward the door, as if expecting to see Ellene standing there already. Seeing Vannie made her smile through her tears. Luke nodded at Vannie’s silent question and watched as she ran and threw herself into Aggie’s arms. A moment later, he left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. When he arrived downstairs, William and Murphy were rushing up the steps to the front door. “Mur-- um, Ellene, I think she’s going to be ok, but--”
“I’ll go up. I’m used to dealing with situations like this. It’ll be ok. Really. She’ll see that I’m not a threat soon enough. I’m just here to help.” Ellene gave Luke a reassuring smile and climbed the stairs. It was easy for her to find the correct room. The sounds of sniffles and sobs were audible down the hall. Ellene wondered, irrelevantly, if that little round room she passed was the one William had talked about so long ago. She shivered. Turning her focus back to where it belonged, Ellene knocked on Aggie’s door and then entered.
Luke and William stood and stared at one another, neither knowing what to say or do. Cari, unaware that things had changed, tugged on William’s pant leg. “The man said we could have ice cweam, but we didn’t get any. Can we have ice cweam?” Luke looked questioningly at William.
“Of course, we can, Cari. We’ll get it right now.” Following Luke into the new kitchen, William whistled. “This is looking sharp!” His second thought, almost on the heels of the first, as his mind registered what his eyes saw, was indicative of the question Aggie would probably hear for years. “Why don’t any of the cabinets match?”
Luke shrugged, as he pulled dishes out of one of the cabinets that he’d tried to fill just minutes before they arrived home. “Aggie wanted the kitchen to look like it’d been created with old furniture. She thought about buying stuff at garage sales and thrift or antique stores but decided it was too much work, time, and effort. Instead of the prefabricated ones she settled for, I made custom cabinets with a furniture façade. This way, she has the kitchen she really wanted, but they’re easier to use and keep clean.” He passed spoons to William before changing the subject. “Now, can you elaborate a bit on what happened?”
William explained further regarding the scene at the restaurant, while Luke scooped ice cream into bowls. Once every bowl had a generous scoop, Luke grabbed for the phone on his tool belt. “I’m calling my uncle; he’s good with Aggie. Can you pass out the bowls?”
As Zeke’s pick-up bounced up the driveway, Ellene, Vannie and Aggie came downstairs. Almost like universal cure-all, the ice cream, served with generous toppings of love, understanding, and compassion, slowly melted the fresh layer of grief that had stolen over the hearts of the Stuart-Milliken family that night. Assured that the situation was well in hand, William called Ellene aside and whispered something to her. The woman nodded and left with a wave and instructions to call at any time of day or night if Aggie needed help.
William then whispered to Aggie as she prevented Ellie from taking a second helping, “I’m actually on duty tonight, and I left the cruiser at the ‘ria. Ellene is going to drive me back to work now that everyone is ok. I hope you understand.”
While Luke cleaned up the ice cream mess and marked holes for the placement of upper cabinets, Zeke played with the twins, rocked the baby, and comforted Kenzie. Once the youngest four children were tucked into their beds with fresh pajamas, teeth brushed and faces washed, Zeke led Tavish and Elspeth out back to the swing. Though they were outside for a long time, both children returned with genuine smiles, although a bit weak, on their faces and went up to bed. Laird was next. With one arm around his shoulder, Zeke walked down the road talking with Aggie’s oldest nephew, and though Aggie never learned exactly what Luke’s uncle said that night, Laird returned looking more peaceful than he’d ever seemed. Later, Vannie and Zeke sat on the bench on the front porch as Vannie sobbed out the ache and loss she felt over the death of her parents. Without a word, the old man stroked her hair and wiped her tears, wisely allowing her the freedom to express herself without feeling the need to instruct.
Aggie watched it all with mixed emotions. Although he clearly helped each child that night, would it make the children emotionally dependent on Zeke too? What would happen to them if he died? How would the children cope with another loss? Aggie shook herself and sighed. This was no time to become paranoid. At Luke’s quizzical look, Aggie confessed, “Faith and obedience are so interlocked that they are pretty easy at times. Trust-- now trust is a w
hole ‘nother ball game.”
By ten o’clock, all the children were in bed, and Aggie sat next to Zeke on the couch, Luke in his favorite recliner. Zeke held one of Aggie’s hands and listened to her ramble about all sorts of incomprehensible subjects. While Zeke comforted and advised, Luke, while appearing to be resting, prayed more fervently than he’d ever prayed in his life.
Once Aggie seemed at peace again, Zeke prayed for her and promised to bring his wife over sometime in the next week or two. “She’s back from that mission trip she took for six weeks. They did sewing for families in Haiti, but she’s coming home tomorrow.”
“I’d like that. I’ve only met her that once. I’m sorry you had to come rescue me again.”
Waving her apologies aside, Zeke opened the screen and called out goodnight, as he climbed down the steps. Luke followed, intending to leave himself, but Zeke stopped him. “Son, you need to go back in there and talk a spell. Don’t leave here without speaking about this. It’ll build a wall in your friendship. Things’ll get awkward, and that little lassie needs all the friends she can get.
“I saw what you did with the kitchen in there. I bet she hasn’t noticed some of it yet. Ask her if it’s ok or if there is anything she wants changed. That’ll do the job. Trust me.” Zeke hesitated, as if he wanted to say more, but the wise old man kept his counsel and ambled slowly to his ancient truck.
A strange feeling of awkwardness washed over Luke as he considered his uncle’s words. The realization of that awkwardness proved his uncle’s insight to be true, and he opened the screen door once more. “Aggie, I know it’s not a convenient time, but can you tell me if everything in the kitchen is ok? The counter guy called while you were gone and said he has an opening tomorrow--got a cancellation. So, if everything is all right…” He looked around the living room and saw that she wasn’t there.
Movement in the kitchen told him where he’d find her. As he watched from the kitchen doorway, Aggie opened and closed every cupboard and ran her fingers along the details he’d added to each piece. For a moment, Luke was concerned that he’d done everything wrong. Perhaps what looked right as an individual piece, didn’t work once assembled. Her expression, while unreadable, didn’t have the ecstatic overjoyed look he’d hoped to see. “Aggie? Are they ok? I can change things around or make new ones if these aren’t right. You don’t have--”
She spun in place, a huge grin lighting her face. “It’s better than I ever imagined! Luke, I love it!” Impulsively, she threw her arms around him, hugging him fiercely. Embarrassed at her outburst, Aggie moved to the other side of the room, trying to hide her pink cheeks.
In order to avoid yet another set of walls from forming, Luke chose to ignore her embarrassment. “I take it that means this is ok? I can call Chet and have him bring the counters?”
Aggie nodded. Biting her lip, she tried hard not to overreact to her overreaction. “I think it’s perfect. This island is just so amazing! I thought we decided I couldn’t afford one.”
“Well, buying the cabinets you were going to, you decided you didn’t want to spend the extra money. Since you’re only paying for the wood, this kitchen is actually costing less than you’d budgeted.”
“Oh, no! I intend to find out exactly what the going rate for this kind of custom work is, and I intend to pay it. You’ve already given me a huge break on your labor; I’m not going to take advantage of it now!”
“But--”
Unwilling to start the argument she knew would ensue, Aggie interrupted with another question. “Why is the island so much shorter on that side?”
“Well, that was Mom’s idea. She gave her input on almost every piece, and when I got to the island, she drew it and told me exactly how big to make everything.” Scrunching down on his heels, he demonstrated. “Mom said when we were little she always wished that she had a part of the counter area that we could work at comfortably without a stool.” He shrugged. “I just thought I should listen to Mom, or we’d both regret it.”
Laughing at Luke’s wink, Aggie ran another appreciative hand across the shorter side of the island and murmured absently, “What a wise mother; I wish I knew her. She could probably teach me so much.”
“Would you really like to meet Mom?” Luke beamed. The love and respect he felt for his mother were etched in his eyes and his smile. “She’s been anxious to meet you, but I didn’t want to impose…”
Aggie stood in the middle of her new kitchen in thoughtful contemplation. If all went according to plan, her kitchen would be complete by Friday, at the latest. Could she get the dining room cleaned up by Sunday? Throwing caution to the wind, she issued her first official invitation. “Luke, would you and your mother like to come to church with us on Sunday and then here for dinner? I was planning a large roast. There’ll be plenty, but…” She winked at him. “You might not have as many sandwiches next week!”
Without hesitating, Luke grabbed the phone off his work belt for the second time that night and dialed a family member. “Mom-- no, I’m not home. Aggie has invited us to church with her on Sunday and over for lunch.” He listened for a minute, and then, covering the phone with his hand, turned to Aggie. “Mom has my nephew, Rodney, this weekend. She’d have to bring him…”
“The kids will love it. Someone to play with. I can’t wait to meet them both.”
Luke relayed the message to his mother, promised to call soon, and disconnected the call. “We’ll be here. Mom wants to know if she can bring something.”
Ignoring Luke’s question, Aggie asked, “How did you know that she’d still be awake? It must be after eleven by now!”
He shrugged with an obvious deliberate air of nonchalance. “Well, I may be almost thirty, but mom still worries about me. I call every night before I go to bed, so she can sleep well. I’ve offered to move back home, but Mom thinks I need to live near my duplexes so that the tenants will take me seriously.”
Thanking him again for all the extra work he’d put into her cabinetry, Aggie walked Luke to the door, waved goodbye, and then climbed the stairs to her room, toting the laptop with her. She hummed “Burdens Are Lifted at Calvary” as she scrubbed her teeth, washed her face, and brushed her hair. Her characteristic lilt on the word lifted made its way into her humming, as she donned her favorite pajamas and crawled under the covers. Jesus was most definitely near.
Aggie says: Whew, what a night!
Tina says: How so? And howdy to you too!
Aggie says: hee hee… I took the kids to the local pizza place
Tina says: ALL OF THEM? Alone? You are a brave woman!
Aggie says: It was mayhem. Spilled drinks, I dumped pizza on William, and then this older couple gave us ice cream money and told the kids to tell their parents that they’d been good.
Tina says: uh, oh!
Aggie says: Yep, everyone fell apart right there in public. It would have been hysterical, if I hadn’t joined the sob-fest.
Tina says: Everyone ok now? Are YOU ok now?
Aggie says: Yep, William brought us home and went for Murphy.
Tina says: Ugh!
Aggie says: Well, I have to admit she was very comforting.
Tina says: Really? What’d she say?
Aggie says: She said what Luke is always saying. “Cry it out, honey. It’s not good to hold it in. I’ll hold you, and you just cry.”
Tina says: Luke offers to hold you, huh?
Aggie says: Ok, ok, so she was nice! And no, Luke doesn’t offer to hold me, thank you very much!
Tina says: Gotcha! Did she say anything else?
Aggie says: She thinks maybe we need grief counseling. I told her no.
Tina says: Uh, oh, how did that go over.
Aggie says: Well, surprisingly she didn’t argue. She said that counseling doesn’t do any good if you don’t want to be there.
Tina says: Sounds like I’d like her.
Aggie says: Well, you like her, and I’ll avoid her, and we’ll all be one big happy family.
<
br /> Tina says: Hee hee… so you ready for the invasion?
Aggie says: You’re coming!! REALLY? WHEN!?
Tina says: Sunday.
Aggie says: No way!
Tina says: WAY!!!!!
Aggie says: I thought you weren’t coming until next month!
Tina says: I decided I wanted a longer visit. Do you mind?
Aggie says: NO!!! OOOH!!!! Luke is coming with his mother to church and lunch! You’ll get to meet her with me.
Tina says: Nope, sorry not leaving until after lunch myself. I have to substitute for the 4th and 5th grade Sunday school teacher.
Aggie says: Rats. Well, maybe I can get Luke to watch the kids one day and you and I can go out and meet his mom at Espresso Yourself for coffee.
Tina says: So… still having fun having William around?
Aggie says: Well, he left kind of oddly last night and then didn’t come back today like he said he would, but I figured he was just busy.
Tina says: Think he’s getting interested?
Aggie says: You should have watched Quiet Man with us the other night. It was so funny. He gave me a rose.
Tina says: What color?
Aggie says: Red. Why?
Tina says: Just curious. Interesting that he chose red.
Aggie says: You silly. There are only red roses planted out front. He couldn’t pick any other color if he wanted.
Tina says: But who PLANTED the red roses? Why didn’t he plant yellow?
Aggie says: Because with the red door, red is more striking.
Tina says: uh huh
Aggie says: Look, I won’t pretend that I don’t know that he’s interested in something, I’m just not sure it’s me.
Tina says: Then WHAT?
Aggie says: I don’t know. He still doesn’t like to be in the house. I wonder if it’s some propriety thing.
Tina says: Like eight chaperones of varying ages and sizes aren’t enough.
Ready or Not (Aggie's Inheritance) Page 32