Here We Come (Aggie's Inheritance) (176 page)

“What?”

“He
got
you
a
cabin
in
Colorado.”

“Skiing?”
she
whimpered.

“Nope.
Just
a
nice
cabin
with
lots
of
snow
,
but
close
enough
to
a
town
to
give
you
something
to
do
if
you
get
bored.”

“Do
not
laugh,”
Aggie
ordered,
seconds
before
she
snickered.

“Hypocrite.”

“That’s
me.”

Tina
pointed
to
the
mantel.
“I
think
you
were
supposed
to
look
up
there.
I’m
going.
Someone
else
wants
to
come
in.”

“Wait.
Jeans.
Don’t.
I
told
Vannie—”

“For
two
weeks
out
of
the
years
you
live
with
her,
you
can
have
jeans
if
you
need
them.
Even
Allie
would
have
let
her
put
them
on
to
go
skiing
or
whatever.”

“Maybe
under
a
skirt…
Allie
was
pretty
picky
about
stuff
like
that.”

“Ask
Luke
what
he
thinks.
I
think
he’ll
be
unlikely
to
want
to
go
exploring
if
he’s
worried
about
how
warm
you
are.”

“Laura
Ingalls—”

“Wore
about
six
petticoats,
skirts
to
the
ground,
and
itchy
wool
flannel
underwear.”

“Point
taken.”

Tina
grinned.
“Good.
Oh,
and
I
put
my
birthday
present
on
the
table.
I
thought
you’
d
want
to
know
so
that
you
didn’t
go
nuts
looking
for
what
isn’t
there.”

“How
do
you
do
that?
You
always
know
exactly
what
I
got
you
and
where
I’ve
hidden
it!”

A
knock
interrupted
them,
and
Luke’s
head
peeked
in
through
the
door.
“Tina,
William
is
down
there
being
smothered
by
children
and
disappointed
that
someone
else
isn’t
doing
that
smothering…”

“Then
he’ll
have
to
be
disappointed
because
he’s
exactly
the
kind
of
man
who
would
lose
interest
if
I
did
too
much
smothering
too
soon.”

Laughing,
Aggie
shook
her
head.
“It
scares
me
not
only
how
much
she
knows
about
most
men
but
how
accurate
she
is.”

“Don’t
you
know
it,”
Tina
said
as
she
left
the
room.

Luke
kicked
the
door
open
all
the
way
before
he
stepped
any
further
in
the
room.
“Sorry
about
the
honeymoon.
I
didn’t
realize
I
hadn’t
told
you.”

“We’ve
been
busy.
I
didn’t
realize
I
didn’t
know
until
it
dawned
on
me
why
Tina
was
buying
me all these
new
outfits.”

“Is
that
one?”

She
smoothed
the
skirt
and
went
to
grab
her
favorite
flats.
“Yep.”

“I
approve.”

“If
that’s
meant
to
be
a
compliment,
then
I
thank
you—for
one
of
us
anyway.”

“For
one
of
you?”
Luke
shook
his
head
in
confusion.
“I’m
lost.”

“Well,
either
thank
you
from
Tina
because
you
think
she
has
good
taste
in
clothing,
or
thank
you
from
me
because
you
think
I
look
nice
in
the
clothing.
Works
either
way.”