For Keeps (Aggie's Inheritance) (59 page)

“
I know. I’m sorry.
”
Vannie did look truly miserable.

“
Don’t let it happen again, Vannie. I need to be able to trust you.
”
Eager to change the subject, Aggie pointed out the door.
“
Have you seen Cari and Lorna?
”

“
I heard them come up a little bit ago, but then they went away again.
”
She hesitated and then added,
“
Did Luke ask you to marry him too?
”

“
No, Vannie, he didn’t.
”
She hadn’t intended to elaborate, but the girl’s disappointed face tugged at her conscience.
“
However, as soon as he thinks I care for him, I believe he will.
”

“
But you don’t love him?
”

Aggie shook her head.
“
Not like he loves me, no.
”

“
Two men in one week. I bet that doesn’t happen often.
”

“
Well,
”
Aggie said, deciding to enlighten the girl just a little,
“
William suggested we marry so that you guys would have a father-type figure around here. He didn’t want to marry me for me. It was chivalrous in a way, but it wasn’t romantic in the least. I actually felt a little insulted.
”

“
But Mr. Markenson is so handsome and he’s an
officer
!
”

“
Well, obviously you like men in uniform, but I don’t consider a job and a handsome face to be the best qualifiers for a man.
”
Her eyes softened at the disappointed look on Vannie’s face.
“
Besides, Luke isn’t exactly unattractive!
”
She glanced at the door.
“
I need to find those girls. Are you doing ok in here?
”

“
Yeah.
”
Vannie swallowed.
“
I really am sorry, Aunt Aggie.
”

“
I understand. That must have been awfully difficult to ignore.
”

With a wave, Aggie went on a twin hunt, searching through all the rooms, the downstairs, and even out into the yard. A giggle from above sent her feet flying through the house and up to her room. There, in her bathroom, her nieces were painting each other with the calamine lotion.
“
Is this dolls or Duplos?
”

Cari, in a rare moment of penitence, shook her head, tears springing to her eyes.
“
No. I’s sowwy, Aunt Aggie.
”

“
Into the tub. Do
not
turn on the water, but get undressed and get into the tub. I’ll be right back with clothes.
”

Vannie stuck her head out the door when Aggie thundered down the stairs to retrieve clean clothes.
“
Do you need some help?
”

“
They just decided to finger paint with calamine lotion
--
all over themselves.
”

“
I could give them a bath…
”

For a moment, Aggie almost accepted the offer. Kenzie was probably already done with her work and waiting for her next assignment. Remembering the large amount of work Vannie had ahead of her, Aggie shook her head.
“
That’s ok. I’m going to give them a quick rinse bath
--
won’t even fill the tub. You get to work on your assignments.
”

Clothes in arms, Aggie hurried back up the stairs and then down again.
“
Actually, can you go make sure they’re still watching Ian? Maybe bring him up to play on your floor until I get done? It’ll just be a couple of minutes.
”

“
Sure!
”

Aggie hated herself for doing it, but she went back upstairs with her mind unconcerned knowing that Vannie was watching the little guy. She rinsed off the girls, soaped them up, rinsed again, and then examined their hair. It seemed as if it had managed to miss the infusion of calamine, so she shut off the water and wrapped the girls in towels.
“
Ok, let’s get you dressed and downstairs.
”

She stopped on the second floor to grab Ian, thank Vannie, and supervise the procuring of toys before leading them all to the library. The moment she brought them in, pandemonium erupted. Kenzie dropped her pencil, Ian grabbed it and tried to run, making Aggie lunge to avoid a fall-induced pencil puncture. Cari and Lorna tried to set up their Duplos on the table next to Ellie and Tavish earning them a snarl of protest.

“
Whoa
! Ok. This isn’t going to work. Why don’t you guys go work at the dining room table, and I’ll take the little guys into the kitchen?
”

After a shift of possessions from one room to the next, Aggie was sure the work would run smoothly, but when she went to check Kenzie’s progress, she found a blank page.
“
Why haven’t you done your problems?
”

“
You didn’t show me a sample problem. Mrs. Tompkins always showed us a sample problem. We weren’t allowed to do anything until she showed us the sample problem. I was waiting for you and waiting for you.
”

“
I told you to do the problems, Kenzie. That means no sample problem.
”

“
How am I supposed to know that? All I know is that we’re supposed to wait. That’s what Mrs. Tompkins did!
”
The child’s voice sounded angry, but Aggie recognized the frustration behind it.

“
I’m sorry, Kenzie, but how am I supposed to know how one teacher in one school that I’ve never attended told you something like that? If you’d gone to the school in Brunswick, the teacher there might not have shown you a sample problem on review work either.
”
Aggie worked one problem with the girl and said,
“
Now finish the page and next time if I say to do something, you do it how I say to do it, not how you did it before.
”

Ellie grabbed Aggie’s sleeve as she passed and asked for help. Aggie took one look at the girl’s book and nearly snapped at the child.
“
Ellie, why do you only have five problems done?
”

“
I can’t remember how to do these. It says to simplify six plus twenty minus two.
”

“
Do you know how to do the fractions on the next box?
”

“
Oh, sure! Those are easy.
”
Ellie beamed.
“
I just can’t remember if I do twenty six minus two is twenty four or if I do eighteen plus six is twenty-four.
”

“
Since the answer is the same, on that problem it doesn’t matter. But usually, you work from left to right. Start with six add the twenty, then subtract the two.
”
As Ellie picked up her pencil, Aggie stopped her.
“
Next time, don’t just wait for help. Go on and do what you do know, and when I’m available, I’ll help you.
”

Laird’s work was slow, but appeared to be steady. He’d worked through about eight problems in the half hour she’d been distracted which seemed reasonable considering Ian might have kept him occupied. Tavish was nearly done with his assignment making Aggie wonder if she’d assigned enough work. The number of missed problems might give her insight into the speed. If he missed too many, she’d have to slow him down. He was probably trying to hurry up so he could finish his book. That thought sent her digging through her pocket for her phone.

Two text messages greeted her. One was from Tina reminding her that the printouts from online were still in the printer unless Aggie had moved them. The other was from Luke letting her know he was praying for her and offering to bring a treat around three o’clock. She sent Tina a message of thanks and started to send one to Luke but stopped. She’d planned to call her father about the L’Amour books, but changed her mind and dialed Luke’s number.

“
Hey, got your message. That’s really nice of you.
”

“
I’d be happy to do it.
”
Luke’s voice soothed the frazzled nerves she’d developed during the events of the morning.
“
How’s it going?
”

“
So far, Murphy has the upper hand.
”

“
The lawmaker or the neighbor?
”

“
Lawmaker. Right now, the neighbor would be a welcome distraction.
”
She rubbed her temple, wondering if it was too soon to resort to aspirin.
“
I was wondering what you know about Louis L’Amour.
”

“
Westerns by ‘America’s Storyteller?’
”

“
That’s the one. Too mature for Tavish?
”

“
I doubt it. There might be a rogue word or two, but they’re clean in the smutual sense.
”

Aggie giggled.
“
Smutual?
”

“
One of Mom’s words. Is L’Amour on the list for Tavish’s schoolwork? Seems a bit advanced for fourth grade.
”

“
I found him reading it this morning,
”
Aggie explained.
“
I just didn’t know what was in it. Westerns seem like something that can be a little racy, so I wondered. I’ll just tell him to bring it to me if he thinks there’s anything inappropriate for him to read.
”

Luke laughed.
“
He’ll probably be bringing you a few damnations without the ‘ations.’
”

“
Ah, well, I can handle that.
”
She glanced into the dining room and saw Ian trying to climb into a chair and Tavish waiting for her.
“
Looks like I’m needed. I’ll see you later then.
”

“
Chin up, Mibs.
”