For Keeps (Aggie's Inheritance) (76 page)

“
Or,
”
Luke gestured as he spoke,
“
I could put the ovens to the right of where the stove is now, and put the fridge here. That’d leave that whole wall over there for one huge bank of pantry cabinets.
”

“
Then you could do glass doors and a few open-shelved cabinets in the uppers on this side.
”

“
Or,
”
Luke added again,
“
I could pull those cabinets there and there,
”
he pointed to each side of the current window,
“
and double the window width. With that huge wall, you could lose four feet of upper cabinets without feeling the storage loss at all.
”

Excited at his description, Aggie’s face lit up.
“
Are you going to do a big farmhouse sink?
”

“
Well, I’ll probably do one in stainless. There’s a place in Rockland where you can get hammered stainless steel sinks that are amazing. Since I can pick them up and can take seconds, I usually get a good deal. I just have them call when they have one that someone didn’t like, and I take it.
”

“
Why not porcelain? Aren’t most farmhouse sinks porcelain?
”

“
Or hammered brass, but I’ll want the sink to match the appliances.
”
Luke shrugged at her accusing look.
“
I know, I know. It looks cold and sterile
--
too much like a restaurant and not enough like a home.
”

“
You listen well.
”

“
I do. However, I have to listen to what people buy, and thanks to those home improvement shows on TV, people want stainless and granite. I have to give them what they want.
”

Aggie walked around the room, taking in the planned changes and thinking.
“
Can you go with a dark brown stain then? You know, that brown-black color?
”
Even as she spoke, Aggie shook her head.
“
No, that won’t work. This house is too traditional to go so contemporary. White. You need white. It’ll work well with the stainless and it’ll keep the room bright. Use a lot of molding and it’ll be perfect.
”

“
Architectural elements. I see where you’re going.
”

“
Yep. Get a granite in the black and gray tones.
”
Aggie grinned.
“
And I have a few green bottles that’d look awesome on the window ledge for when you show the house.
”

He glanced around the house.
“
I don’t even know if I have enough of my furniture to pull this off. It’s so big.
”

“
Furniture?
”

“
I keep style and color-
neutral furniture in storage for when I’m showing a house. Some rooms can be left empty and people are fine, but others
--
not so much. I’ll have to use both leaves of the table and all of the chairs in that dining room. I’ll need both sections of the sofa, and both chairs.
”
He walked through the rooms pointing out what he’d put where.
“
But I don’t have anything for those other two bedrooms, and I think the office might be better without anything than with too little. I’ll have to see what Amber thinks.
”

“
Does Amber sell all your houses?
”

“
And helps me find the new ones, yes. She’s amazing.
”

Turning abruptly into the dining room, Aggie asked about the size of the necessary light fixture.
“
I think the other one was too small.
”

He noticed a faint catch in her throat and questioned her.
“
What’s wrong, Mibs?
”

“
It’s silly. Ok, so what about the broken porch and back lights?
”

“
What’s silly?
”
She started for the door, but Luke caught her arm, allowing his hand to slide down and weave his fingers through hers.
“
I don’t understand.
”

“
I don’t either! I told you; it’s silly!
”

“
And I asked what was so silly.
”

“
Me. Hearing about Amber and suddenly feeling very jealous that she knows something about you and your life that I don’t know and don’t have the courage to ask.
”

Luke knew the grin that grew on his face was as goofy as any that Mark Twain had described in his little friend Tom.
“
Dare you.
”

“
Dare I what?
”

“
Dare you to ask whatever you want to know about me.
”
He winked,
“
Or even about Amber.
”

“
You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?
”

“
Enjoying hearing that you are feeling a little jealous? Oh, yeah!
”
He tugged her out the front door so she could get a feel for the necessary lights. He didn’t need her input; they both knew he was perfectly capable of doing the entire renovation successfully and without any input from anyone. However, he wanted the time with her, he wanted her to feel included in his ventures, and have some measure of satisfaction when the house sold for the price he wanted.

“
Luke?
”

“
Hmm?
”

“
How will you know?
”

He chose not to show that he understood the question.
“
Know what?
”

With each attempt to answer, Aggie grew more flustered until Luke took pity.
“
I don’t know how I’ll know, but I think you’ll manage to tell me somehow. I can’t see you walking up to me and proposing or anything, but you’ll either give it away accidentally or you’ll find a way to tell me
--
somehow.
”

“
You make it sound certain. Are you really that sure?
”
Her eyes traveled to where their hands still hung intertwined between them, but she made no move to change that.

“
Let’s just say that after I told you about my trip to see your parents, I saw it as an if, but lately I’ve been thinking of it as a when.
”

She nodded.
“
Good. I wondered if it was just me.
”

“
Just you what?
”

The twinkle was back in Aggie’s eyes as she said,
“
Just me that had started thinking of things as when instead of if.
”

Luke says:
Mibs, are you there?

Luke says:
Hmm… I thought you signed on, but maybe it’s just Tina.

Luke says:
Or, perhaps you’re angry with me.

Luke says:
Confused?

Luke says:
Out with another man in a studied effort to break my heart?

Luke says:
On a brighter note, maybe you’re scrubbing toilets or something equally stimulating that doesn’t involve other men. I like that better.

Mibs says:
Aggie is settling Laird’s hash over something. She’ll be down in a minute.

Mibs says:
Luke, do you not see the irony of you yakking away up there without hesitation when usually we have to pull conversation from you like a dentist pulls teeth?

Luke says:
LOL. I was hoping she hadn’t gone to bed with her laptop still online.

Mibs says:
Uh, oh, I hear her coming. Bye.

Luke says:
Bye, Tina.

Mibs says:
Tina?

Luke says:
I was having a nice chat with her.

Mibs says:
I don’t see anything.

Luke says:
I think she must have closed it out then. I can copy and

paste if you want.

Mibs says:
Just give me the run down.

Luke says:
I was making lots of little comments about where you
were, who you were with, what you were doing, and Tina teased me and told me you’d be down soon. Did you get Laird all squared away?
”

Mibs says:
Yeah. He’s mad at me.

Luke says:
Why?

Mibs says:
Well, I found him in his room tonight working on school work.

Luke says:
Hooligan.

Mibs says:
*giggles*

Luke says:
So what was the conflict?

Mibs says:
He was trying to do everything on his assignment sheet for next week. He was over half done!

Luke says:
Are you sure you’re giving them enough work?

Mibs says:
I took everything they’re supposed to do in a year, divided it by weeks and then days, and added a bit extra to make up for lost time and if they get sick. Everything I read says that until high school, most kids are done in under two and a half hours a day with our type of curriculum.

Luke says:
So, then if you built in getting ahead, what’s the problem with him doing it himself?

Mibs says:
I don’t think it’s a good thing to have so much time between lessons. I think you need the reinforcement of frequent use to keep your mind sharp.