Ready or Not (Aggie's Inheritance) (73 page)

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 ma
ny 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 whole
‘
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.