For Keeps (Aggie's Inheritance) (75 page)

“
Nice sweater. You ready?
”

The brightness in her smile and spring in her step seemed to fade a little, but she nodded.
“
Let’s go.
”

All the way to the passenger door of his truck, Luke pondered her reaction to his compliment until he remembered something his sister once told him.
“
Compliment the woman, not the garment. You don’t want us to feel like we wouldn’t be anything special without that garment instead of us making the garment special. People before things. Don’t forget.
”

He opened the door, his mind whirling through the different ways he could remedy his gaffe. Even as he pulled onto the highway, Luke ran dozens of retractions past his new filter, and failed to find any way to start over again. His laughter surprised both of them.

“
Mind telling me what is so funny?
”
Aggie’s voice sounded as strained as the silence that had hovered between them when he didn’t respond to her attempts at conversation.

“
I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out how to take back what I said.
”

“
What did you say that you want to take back?
”
She obviously hadn’t analyzed his comment as thoroughly as he had.

“
Well, when you came down stairs, you were so
--”
he swallowed hard.
“
Pretty.
”

“
If it’s that hard to say it, maybe you shouldn’t bother.
”
Her words sounded hurt, but her face twitched with repressed laughter.

“
It is hard to say it. That’s why I made that inane comment about your sweater, as if I’d have even noticed it on anyone else.
”
He chanced a glance her way and saw the twinkle back in her eyes.

“
Why do guys have so much trouble complimenting girls? If I think a girl is beautiful, it’s no big deal to say so, and I obviously am not shy about telling a total stranger that he’s too good looking to be a lawyer.
”

“
I don’t know. Maybe
--”
Even as he spoke, Luke realized why and didn’t want to admit it.

“
Come on, why?
”

The temptation to toss out a generalization that may or may not apply to him was acute. He glanced at her, marveling at how she personified the all-American
“
girl next door.
”
Luke had overheard William say that she wasn’t his idea of feminine beauty, but even William had admitted a certain charm and attractiveness. His mother said she was
“
fresh
”
and
“
appealing,
”
and he now realized that those words were perfect.

Curiosity filled her eyes as she waited for him to work through what he wanted to say.
“
It’s not easy to say. I think it’s because, for me anyway, it’s putting more of me on the line. It feels like I’m risking more rejection if I open myself up like that.
”

“
More rejection?
”
Aggie frowned.
“
Since when did I reject you?
”

“
Ok, that came out wrong. It’s an added risk of rejection.
”

“
Have you considered that showing that kind of vulnerability might open doors rather than close them?
”

“
In other words, ‘faint heart ne’er won fair lady?’
”

“
Yep. Exactly. Robert Burns was charming, wasn’t he?
”

“
That was Cervantes.
”

“
I know I’ve read it a poem by Burns. I remember because you can see his brogue even in the lines.
”

Luke shook his head.
“
You don’t even like poetry. It was Cervantes. I remember seeing it on one of those signs people put in their houses. It listed it as Cervantes. That’s kind of a hard name to ignore. Sounds like Scott, though, doesn’t it?
”

“
I know Burns said
--”

Luke’s laughter interrupted her.
“
Perhaps Burns quoted Cervantes then? After all, wasn’t the guy, Michael? Mario?
”

“
Miguel.
”

“
Miguel, right. Didn’t he live a long time before Burns?
”

Aggie shook her head.
“
This is ridiculous. Neither one of us care about the guy. So someone said that. It’s true. Some girls want a guy to jump through hoops for her. I think that’s crazy. Guys aren’t trained seals.
”
She laughed as Luke wiped imaginary sweat from his brow.
“
But, even more reasonable females want to know they’re worth a little effort!
”

“
Mibs
--”

“
Never mind. I know how you feel about me, and that’s enough for now. What are we doing at your new place today?
”

“
We’re measuring for flooring, cabinets, and planning new light fixtures.
”
His hand slid across the seat to give hers a quick squeeze.
“
It’s that ‘for now’ that keeps me awake at night.
”

~*~*~*~

“
I think if you took that out of here, painted it white, and put it in the bathroom over the tub, you’d have one of those Paris-inspired-looking master baths.
”

“
You think? I think it’s horrible.
”

“
I do too. It’s not my style at all, but I’ve seen so many of those in magazines, that I have no doubt that it’d be a hit. You could always tell the agent that it could be changed out, but I bet it’d be a selling feature.
”

Luke pulled out his cell phone, snapped a picture, strolled upstairs to the master suite, snapped a picture of the tub area, and sent both to his real estate agent with a text asking if Aggie’s idea was a good one. He knew it probably was, but it felt odd to do something so style specific in a house when he usually tended toward neutrals.
“
Well, we’ll see what Amber says.
”

“
She’ll go for it. Ok, so what next?
”
Aggie felt her wrist for her ever-present ponytail holder and frowned.
“
I don’t suppose you have a rubber band handy?
”

“
What for?
”

“
To get my hair out of the way.
”

Grinning, Luke dug into his pocket for a rubber band he knew wouldn’t be there.
“
Tina was wrong. I can’t wait to rub that one in.
”

“
Wrong about what?
”

“
She said you changed because you wanted to look nice for me. I disagreed. She insisted that if you came downstairs with your hair down, it was because she was right. Now look at you.
”

“
What’s wrong with me?
”

He held up empty hands.
“
Sorry, no bands. Nothing is wrong with you. You just forgot your hair tie after you brushed your hair. I win.
”

Aggie’s face darkened.
“
You lost. Tina won.
”
Without another word, Aggie left the room and hurried downstairs and into the kitchen.

Luke followed. He found her staring out the window.
“
Mibs?
”

“
What?
”

“
You’re angry or at least irritated with me, why?
”

“
I’m more irritated with me.
”

Shaking his head, Luke contradicted her.
“
I don’t think so. I think you’re upset with me, and I don’t know why.
”

“
Because I did try to look nice, and it didn’t do me any good. I always have to go back to practical Aggie mode. I can’t work with my hair down, and I look like a twelve-year-old tomboy with it up.
”

With a gentle brush of his thumb across her cheek, Luke gave Aggie a tender smile.
“
Well, if that’s true, then I guess I like women who look like twelve-year-old tomboys, because I think you look like the Aggie I love when you have your hair up like that. I love it down too, but up reminds me of hours of painting, scraping, sanding, and moving furniture. Do you know how often I wanted to tug it?
”

She giggled.
“
You sound like a little boy in school. They used to tell us in the third grade that if a boy kicked you it was because he liked you.
”

“
It’s true. I kicked Melanie Carstairs to keep me from blurting out my undying love and affection. Of course, today I feel bad that I hurt a girl and am relieved that I did. The next day I saw her share her brownie with Jeff Garner. It broke my heart.
”

“
You seem to have recovered.
”
She shook her head.
“
I thought boys were supposed to think girls were cootie-riddled species from outer space.
”

“
When you have the sappy family that I do, you learn early the advantages of a good woman
--
or girl.
”
His eyes spoke volumes of what was on his heart. Aggie circled the island, retracing her steps and drawing her hand through the dust on the counters. Luke’s forehead wrinkled, confused.
“
What are you doing?
”

“
I think you should move a few things.
”

“
Like what?
”

“
The sink has to stay or it won’t be near the window, but I think you should move the stove closer to it this way and the fridge should not be on the other side of the island. It’d be a bear to walk around all the time.
”
She frowned again.
“
Actually, it’d be nice if the island could be bigger and have a cook top on it. Then a bank of ovens could go where the fridge was and the fridge where the stove was. Ovens over there wouldn’t be so odd.
”