For Keeps (Aggie's Inheritance)

by Havig, Chautona

  Long before Aggie could have seen it had she looked, he felt the heat of embarrassment creep up his neck and burn his ears. As if transfixed by the scratched knuckles, he stared at his right hand until Aggie threw his previous words back at him-- taunting him, almost accusing him, of misleading her about the safety of L’Amour’s works. “I’ve never read anything that described something like that!” He knew he sounded defensive; he was, but Luke couldn’t stand the idea that she thought he’d read something so risqué.

  After the marriage comment, Luke lost track of the movie for a while, his mind wondering what would happen to the country if more people took such a strong stand in favor of marriage. Aggie’s laugh at something captured his attention once more. Slowly, his interest returned. “I can’t decide if she’s that fickle or if she’s playing Mabry.”

  “She’s playing him. No woman would see him as a better choice than Tom.”

  That comment intrigued him. “Why? He’s younger, better looking, more exciting… Why would she want a man who is so… so… boring?”

  “The guy is a killer! Who wants to trust their heart and life to a man who gets paid to murder?”

  “But,” Luke continued, almost needing to hear her reassurances, “wasn’t that something people were accustomed to?”

  “I don’t think she was, anyway. She recoils at the idea.”

  Luke shook his head. “But Tom comes off as weak-- almost effeminate.”

  “No, Tom comes off as a man strong enough to stand behind his code of values and ethics--as warped as they are in some ways--and won’t violate that code. Mabry has no code but to save himself.” She shrugged. “I just think she’s like most women. She wants a little security instead of a lot of uncertainty.”

  Her words soothed him. Though not insecure, Luke had wondered if a more assertive man might not be more attractive than his quieter nature. Hearing that she valued security buoyed his spirits immensely. “I can see that. I think I’ve seen too many ‘girl goes for the bad boy’ old movies where she thinks she’ll reform him or something.”

  “Yeah,” she agreed, unaware of how comforting her words were, “this was the era for those bad boy/good girl movies, wasn’t it?” Aggie shook her head. “I never got that. I mean, Guys and Dolls is like that. Sky Masterson makes a big deal about how no guy wants to feel like he’s got to become someone else to get the girl, and then turns around and marries a girl who definitely wants to change him!”

  Luke waited until the movie was over and resting in the garbage before he decided to ask the question that she’d prompted with her observation of Sky Masterson’s character. After removing their empty bottles and replacing them with cold new ones, he gathered his courage and asked. “So, do you think that that tendency has changed?”

  Aggie blinked. “What tendency? What are you talking about?”

  “Sorry,” Luke felt like an idiot, “I was thinking about what you said about movies where the girl wants the bad boy but expects him to change. You’re right; they were popular in that era, but what about now?”

  “I don’t know.” The young woman shook her head. “I’ve really never thought about it, but really, isn’t that what most teen movies are about?” She shook her head. “I never got that. I’d be afraid that changing someone like that would make you find out that you didn’t really know the person at all.”

  “I can see that.”

  “You know,” Aggie mused, “I think that’s part of my problem with William. I always feel like I didn’t give him a fair chance, but there’s just so much drama surrounding him. It’s exhausting. I think I like a guy more like my father. Dad spoiled me.”

  “What is your father like? I mean, I’ve gotten to know him a little now, but I wonder what you see in him that appeals to you.”

  “You can count on him. He’s always what you expect. He’s fun, and he’s able to be spontaneous at the right times, but most of the time he’s fairly predictable.”

  “That’s not boring?” He knew he was pushing it a bit much, but Luke felt compelled to ask.

  Aggie stared at him for several seconds until Luke squirmed inside. “Luke, is this about you?”

  “Well…” He swallowed. “Ok, yeah. I was wondering…”

  “Why not just ask? If you were someone I knew wasn’t right for me, don’t you think I’d have told you?”

  “I wasn’t thinking of it like that per se…”

  She shook her head in amused disbelief. “For someone so confident, you sure do have an insecure side, don’t you?”

  “When it comes to you, yeah. I do.”

  He could see his confession touched her, but he didn’t know if it was a good thing or not. He didn’t want affection returned based upon pity. His mother had warned him repeatedly that a young woman like Aggie, especially in the vulnerable position she was, could easily be manipulated into assuming feelings she didn’t truly have. The thought revolted him and contributed highly to the self-doubt he endured.

  After one long swig of root beer, Aggie set the bottle on the coffee table, turned to face him, and reached awkwardly for his hand. “Look, Luke. You said you love me, right?”

  Nodding, Luke smiled. “That much is indisputable.”

  “And you want us to come to a place where we both want marriage, right?”

  “That’s a great way of putting it. That’s what I was trying to say the other night and couldn’t.”

  “Well,” Aggie continued, “I guess my question for you is how do we do that?”

  “I have no clue.” Luke felt as if he’d failed her. “I don’t know. I know how to interact with Aggie the friend only, and I think I know how to treat Aggie the beloved--”

  “That sounds like a sappy Amish romance novel. Aggie, My Beloved.”

  “Well,” he agreed laughing, “I do get your point, but it’s true. I don’t know what to do to try to get you to return my feelings. I don’t know how to do this.”

  “Well, I don’t either! I should talk to your mom. It’s probably something I’m doing wrong. It usually is.”

  “Mibs…”

  “No, really. I’m not fishing for disagreement and compliments. I’m serious. I’m clueless in this department, and with all the new stuff I’ve had to learn over the past year, it’s no wonder I’m not catching on very quickly. I’m burned out in the learning center. Dead. Kaput.”

  “And on that note, I think it’s time for me to go home.”

  “I didn’t mean to run you off.” Her voice, disappointment in every word, did much to soothe his heart.

  “I know.” He took a risk that surprised even him, and reached out to brush his fingers across her cheek. “I’m glad you’re not eager to get rid of me-- even this late.”

  “I’ve never been in a hurry to see you go.” Clearly trying to bolster his spirits, she added with a teasing glint in her eye, “And I certainly can’t say the same about William.”

  She followed him onto the porch and watched as he dragged his feet down the steps and across the drive. At his truck, he glanced back at the steps and paused, watching the breeze flick at her hair and send cold shivers over her. For a moment, the impulse to run back and kiss her goodnight nearly overtook him. He reached for the door handle and made up his mind.

  Her smile as he retraced his steps encouraged him. “I forgot something.”

  “What’s that?”

  Indecision, as uncomfortable to him as indigestion sounded, sent a flush of heat over him before he gathered his courage and wrapped gentle arms around her, burying his face in her hair. “Goodnight, Mibs. I love you.”

  He was halfway to his truck before he heard her quiet reply. “Goodnight, Luke.”

  Aggie says: Libby, are you there?

  Aggie says: Hmmm wonder if you’re off doing something or if you just didn’t turn off the messenger.

  Aggie says: Well, when you get a minute, if you’d ding or call me, I’d appreciate it. I was sorry not to get to thank you for helping out with the ch
ildren so I could take Vannie. I know it meant a lot to her too.

  Aggie says: Hmm, you must be asleep. I hope you’re resting well.

  Aggie says: I really do need to talk to you about Luke, though. I’m so confused about some things.

  Aggie says: But, I guess that’s best saved for tomorrow.

  Aggie says: Goodnight, my involuntary mentor. You have no idea how blessed I feel to have you in my life.

  Findin’ a Groove

  Chapter 21

  Tuesday, October 14th

  “We’ve already made up one of the missed days of school by not taking Columbus Day off,” Aggie announced to no one in particular. She closed her notebook with the attendance sheets in it with a self-satisfied snap. One day down, fourteen to go. She’d find ways to make them up if it killed her.

  A glance at the clock told her it was almost time to call the children in for a snack. Tina had the little girls and Ian outside playing with puppies and dirt--a mother’s nightmare and a child’s dream--but the rest of the children were scattered about the house doing their work. Tavish and Ellie had awakened at six-thirty, gotten dressed, finished most of their chores before breakfast, and completed what was left half an hour before they were expected to start their schoolwork so Aggie did expect them to finish a little early, but was stunned when they both arrived downstairs with their books and assignments, declaring them complete.

  “What did you do-- pick a subject and fill in the answers for both of you?”

  Tavish’s eyes lit up. “That’s a great idea! We could get done in an hour or less if we did that!”

  “That’s a terrible idea. You’d learn nothing.”

  “Besides,” Ellie added, “you get lazy with your math problems and make silly mistakes. I’d rather do my own work.”

  “Are you sure it’s all done?” Aggie couldn’t imagine that they’d gotten a whole day’s work done in just two hours.

  “Yep. Ellie and I realized that if we worked fast, we could have most of the day to do whatever we wanted!”

  Laird, stepping into the room with a question, heard the last part of Tavish’s sentence and frowned. “Why do they get the day off?”

  “They don’t.”

  “But he said they could have most of the day to do what they want.” The injustice of the idea clearly did not set well with Laird.

  “And you came into the middle of a conversation without hearing the beginning,” Aggie corrected. “Tavish and Ellie have finished their work, so of course they have more free time.” She turned to the expectant twins. “I’ll correct this now, but why don’t you go wash some apples and use the slicer to cut them up for everyone?”

  All ideas of sharing work went out the window as Aggie corrected the papers. Tavish, just as Ellie predicted, made several simple and unnecessary math errors, while she missed none. Her answers to comprehension questions included possible motives and thoughts of the characters while Tavish’s answers were strictly focused on the facts that the story presented rather than the ideals. However, in science and history, Tavish’s work included details that made his answers interesting to read, while Ellie’s answers included only exactly what was required.

  The work needed to have mistakes corrected, but she didn’t find any more errors than usual. She’d expected, at the least, to find dozens of sloppily written answers, but instead, it was clear they’d done the work, done it right, and well. It seemed as if two of her students might have hit a groove for their new educational program.

  Laird’s voice reached her from the kitchen, and Aggie frowned. He needed to be finishing his work as instructed. She’d helped him find the answer to his history question, but he was supposed to go back to his room and finish the lesson before he came down for a snack. Just as she entered the dining room, Aggie froze.

  “But how? How can you get so much done. Come on, did you take the answer keys? What?”

  “No. We just realized that avoiding the work was wasting a lot of time. If we got it over with, kind of like taking out the trash and wiping down the cupboards, we’d have more time for what we want to do.” Ellie always sounded so much more mature than her age.

  “But if we do that, she’ll never send us back to school. We’ll be stuck at home forever.”

  Tavish’s voice stunned her. “Good! Why would we want to go back if we can do the same stuff here in half the time? Who wants to sit on the bus for an hour, sit in school for several more, go back on the bus… This is better. I’m thinking about doing the rest of the week tomorrow. Then I don’t have to do anything until Monday.”

  “You think she’ll let us?” Even Aggie could hear the gears grinding in Laird’s mind.

  “Sure. We’re supposed to do the work and learn the stuff. She keeps saying how it’s ok that we’re behind because all that matters is we learn it. Well, we’ll learn it--just faster!”

  The boy’s words sent her heart racing. What would she do if she couldn’t keep them occupied all day? The fact that she hadn’t had a problem with them remaining occupied a month earlier didn’t cross her mind until much later. Though tempted to march into the kitchen and inform her students that they would not get a day off if they worked ahead, Aggie returned to the library and dug through the home-school group’s co-op list. The six-week classes all started that coming Friday, and suddenly, Aggie’s prior decision to consider co-op classes for the next semester seemed like a very foolish idea. With a calendar in hand, she picked up the phone and called the coordinator. It was time to get serious about this schooling thing.

  ~*~*~*~

  Tina stared as Aggie dumped container after container of leftovers into the garbage, muttering the whole time. After the third attempt to find out what the problem was, she turned, dug her cell phone from her pocket, and searched for Luke’s number in her phone list. Luke, sounding slightly panicked, answered on the second ring. “Is something wrong?”

  “Hello to you too.”

  “Sorry,” he sounded like it too. “I’m not used to seeing your name on my phone. I was sure someone was half-dead.”

  “Well, Aggie’s gonna be unless you get over here and stop her.”

  “What’s she doing?”

  “Well,” Tina began, peeking around the corner before she hurried back toward her bedroom. “Right now, she’s throwing everything in the fridge away. I asked what the deal was, but she either can’t hear or is ignoring me. I think she needs an infusion of Luke mellowy goodness.”

  “That sounds like the insides of a s’more. Ew.” His laughter assured her that Luke wasn’t offended.

  “Whatever it is, you calm her when she’s agitated, and man is she agitated!”

  “I’m coming. Should I bring coffee?”

  “Is that place open this late?” Tina glanced at her phone. “Don’t they close at like seven?”

  “Usually, but I saw something about being open on Tuesday nights until nine for study groups. I think I can barely make it if I leave now.”

  “Then what are you waiting for,” Tina shook her head at the phone as if it’d tell him something he needed to hear. “Get going. Get her a brownie too. Maybe this is PMS.”

  “Oh, ugh. I forgot about that. I’ve been away from daily living with my sisters for too long. Brownies it is.”

  Luke snapped his phone shut and grabbed his keys. His note, abandoned at the table as he answered the phone, looked a little forlorn and unfinished, but he’d finish it some other time. Aggie was more important. “Ok, Lord. Here we go!”

  It took him longer than he expected to get the coffee in the packed little café. The brownies were hot out of the oven and couldn’t be wrapped or iced, but Luke wheedled three out of the barista anyway. With brownies stuffed in clear containers, he watched impatiently as she stacked them in a brown paper bag and added napkins for good measure. Once his arms were full of coffee and brownies, he tackled the task of extricating himself from the crowds of non-studious teenagers using the special opening as an excuse for an outing on
a school night. After all, what parent would forbid a “study group”?

  Driving with one hand steadying three very hot cups of coffee wasn’t as easy as with two, and trying to keep the brownies from sliding all over the seat nearly caused him to sideswipe a car. By the time he pulled into Aggie’s drive, Tina was on the steps with feet and hands tapping exaggeratedly. She jogged to his truck, and opened the door before he could turn off the engine.

  “Took you long enough! Do you hear that?”

  Aggie was singing--that much he could tell. He strained to hear the words but they were indiscernible. “She’s singing.”

  “Take the cof--” She stared at the three cups in the holder he carried. “You got me one?”

  “Well, sure! I wasn’t going to leave you out!”

  “You have my permission to marry her.”

  Luke gave her a mock disgusted look. “Get her to agree with you and that’ll mean something to me.”

  Tina shoved him toward the door and demanded he resolve her friend’s angst fest. “I’m going to my room.” She grabbed her coffee and turned, but Luke tapped her shoulder.

  “Brownie?”

  “Man, do me a favor.”

  “What?”

  She winked as she took the plastic container from him. “Train my boyfriend whenever I get one.”

  “I don’t think I could train a boyfriend. I don’t even know how to be one!” Luke opened the front door for her.

  “Could have fooled me.”

  Her words were lost on him. The moment Luke stepped into the house, he heard Aggie singing and frowned. It was after nine o’clock and she was in the kitchen singing about work? “What the…”

  “Toiling on… toiling on… toiling on… toiling on… Let us hope and trust…”