For Keeps (Aggie's Inheritance) (17 page)

Sunday, August 10
^th

Frustration built as William drove Aggie home from their date. Though she’d enjoyed the delicious dinner and the conversation had been interesting, there had also been an awkwardness and formality that she found miserable. With each block that whizzed past, she became more upset and agitated. A glance at William showed her that he was oblivious to the turmoil whirling in her mind which, irrationally, irritated her further.

As he pulled up to her door, Aggie nearly jumped from the car before he could turn off the engine.
“
Thanks for dinner. It was delicious. Don’t bother to ask me out again, though. I’m determined to remain a happy and
single
mommy of eight.
Forever
.
”
She smiled at him as she pushed the door shut. A glance at one of the upstairs windows showed Vannie watching them. She turned back to William once more.
“
Thank you again, William. Goodnight.
”

The bewildered look on William’s face troubled her. In his mind, everything had probably been just fine. They’d gone to eat, had a nice conversation, driven past the lake to see the lights of the houses reflecting on the water, and then come home. If he had kissed her, it would have been the perfect romantic date, but she felt like a fraud. The thought of being kissed made her shudder. It wasn’t that William was repulsive; he most certainly wasn’t. However, the idea of something so intimate, with anyone, felt revolting.

Inside the house, she picked up the phone and dialed his home phone. Once the machine picked up, she spoke.
“
Officer Markenson, this is Aggie Milliken at 101 Last Street. I would like to report a domestic disturbance.
”
She thought for a moment before continuing.
“
It appears that the lady of the house was just insufferably rude to her most dashing and gracious date tonight, and she would like to apologize in person. She will arrange for her handyman to watch the children and will be waiting at Espresso Yourself at eight o’clock tomorrow morning. She will understand if you choose to decline her invitation.
”

Her thumb hovered over the buttons on her phone. This was a call she dreaded making. If she asked his help, she knew she’d need to explain. Well, she
felt
obligated to explain even if it wasn’t technically necessary. With a deep sigh, she punched the familiar numbers and waited, but to her disappointment, his voice mail picked up. It seemed like life was growing more complicated every second. If Luke would just come early the next morning, she could go and try to explain her irrational behavior to William over a cup of coffee. If only it was that simple.

The beep came, but she left no message. Instead, she clicked off the phone and flipped up her laptop. Maybe he’d be online. Even Iris or Libby would work. She glanced at the couch and smiled at a snoozing Mrs. Dyke. The dear old woman needed to go home.

“
Mrs. Dyke?
”
Aggie shook the woman’s arm gently.
“
I’m home. Would you like me to walk you home?
”

“
I’ll do it, Aunt Aggie.
”
Vannie stood at the bottom of the stairs with a hopeful smile on her face.

Their neighbor fought to open her eyes and pulled herself to her feet.
“
That’d be very thoughtful of you, Vannie.
”
To Aggie she added,
“
You have a gem of a girl here. I don’t think I was really necessary tonight.
”

“
Of course, you were, Mrs. Dyke. You made Cari go to bed when she didn’t want to listen to me, and you stopped Kenzie from putting the kitty in the microwave to dry him off.
”

All the way out the door and down the steps, Aggie listened as Vannie chattered about the fun she’d had with the elderly woman. To listen to her talk, Aggie would have assumed Vannie had the time of her life watching Mrs. Dyke play with the kitten, rock Ian, and sing Lawrence Welk songs to the little guys from the hallway.

Luke popped up on the messenger just as Vannie returned, so Aggie typed a quick,
“
I need to talk to you, bbiab,
”
meaning be back in a bit, and turned to her niece.

“
Thanks for helping with the children.
”

“
She really did a lot more than she said.
”

Aggie followed her to the stairs, giving the girl a hug.
“
Thanks anyway.
”
She waited for Vannie to go back upstairs, and then returned to the kitchen. Just as she started to grab the laptop and carry it to her favorite spot on the couch, she heard the shuffle of feet on the hardwood floor. Vannie stood in the kitchen doorway, her red hair curling into tight ringlets, and hanging down around her shoulders.
“
You know,
“
You could pass for Anne Shirley wearing that gown with your hair like that.
”

“
Did she have frizzy hair or was it just red?
”

“
Who knows? I just think it’s beautiful.
”
Aggie sighed.
“
So, do you need something?
”

“
You looked upset when you came home. Is everything ok?
”

She stifled another sigh, slid her laptop back onto the counter, and pulled two bowls from the cupboard. In the freezer, she found Rocky Road and Mint Chip ice cream.
“
Which one?
”

“
Rocky Road.
”

With heaping bowls of ice cream in each hand, Aggie led the way to the living room couch, and passed one to Vannie.
“
Eat up.
”

“
Ice cream this late? What would grandmother say?
”

It took every ounce of self-control, but she did manage not to say,
“
Hopefully something horrible.
”
Instead, she shrugged.
“
I guess that’s why Allie and Doug asked me to take care of you guys. They knew I’d know when it was best to sleep and when you need ice cream to sweeten your dreams.
”

“
What’s wrong, Aunt Aggie? Didn’t you have fun with William?
”
The girl’s disappointment was evident from the sad eyes to the droopy lips that should have been enjoying the ice cream.

“
Nothing is really wrong, sweetie. I just learned tonight that I don’t ever want to go on another date again.
”

Perplexed, Vannie asked the expected questions.
“
Don’t you like Mr. Markenson? Didn’t you have fun? I thought that’s why people went on dates
--
to have fun.
”

“
Well,
”
Aggie began, praying for wisdom in how to explain her new thoughts to her niece.
“
Yes, some people do go on dates to have fun. Others do it as a way to get to know someone they think might be a good candidate for marriage, and others do it because that’s what they think you’re supposed to do when you get to be a certain age.
”
She shrugged.
“
I think that’s the only reason I went tonight, and it’s just not a very good one.
”

“
You don’t like Mr. Markenson then.
”
It wasn’t a question.

“
No, actually, I think he’s a very interesting and kind man. I like him quite a lot, actually.
”

“
So why not go because you want to get to know him better? Why isn’t he a good choice for marriage?
”

“
I don’t know that he isn’t. I just know that this way of determining that isn’t going to work for me. It was so
--”
Aggie searched for the right word.
“
Artificial.
”

After another bite of ice cream, Vannie set her bowl on the coffee table, pulled her legs up against her chest, and rested her head on her knees.
“
What is artificial about going out to dinner with a nice man? Doesn’t everyone have to eat? You’ve had dinner with him here…
”

As she thought about how to respond, Aggie grabbed their bowls, carried them to the kitchen, and then returned with an idea.
“
Ok, let me try to explain it like this. Tonight we went out to eat, right?
”
Vannie nodded.
“
Well, when William picked me up, he was wearing his best casual clothes, freshly shaved and showered, and this time,
”
she winked,
“
he had on his best manners too.
”

“
He told me he was an ‘insufferable bore’ on your other date.
”

“
That about sums it up. It doesn’t sound like him though.
”

The girl giggled as she pushed her hair from her face.
“
I was reading one of those old books that Mommy collected and asked what someone would have to do today to be one. He said, ‘Take a woman out to dinner and make the meal miserable because you’re embarrassed at what someone else did.
”

“
Well, I want to be gracious and say it was understandable, but frankly, it wasn’t. I was very upset that he took it all out on me.
”
Forcing the memory from her mind, Aggie redirected her thoughts to the example she wanted to share.
“
Anyway, I wore my favorite dress, a little perfume, and made sure I looked my absolute best.
”

The girl looked more confused than ever.
“
I don’t understand. Shouldn’t you look your best? Mommy always dressed up when she went out with Daddy.
”
Vannie swallowed hard.
“
She was all dressed up that night
--”
Though she didn’t collapse in tears, the bereft girl couldn’t continue.

“
I know, but your mother was dressing to please her husband
--
to make him feel special by looking as attractive to him as she could. I don’t like the feeling I got dressing up for a man that wasn’t ‘my’ man. Does that make sense?
”

“
I guess…
”