Here We Come (Aggie's Inheritance) (189 page)

No,
it
was
a
good
day—perfect
really.
Nothing
could
have
been
better.
The
house
is
clean,
the
kids
had
good
meals,
a
criminal
is
behind
bars,
and
my
family
is
safe.
William
is
falling
in
love
with
my
friend;
Luke
took
the
time
to
come
see
me.
All
is
right
with
the
world.

In
her
room,
she
grabbed
a
pair
of
pajamas
and
hurried
to
change.
As
she
reached
for
the
toothbrush
in
the
cup
on
her
sink,
Aggie
froze.
Hair,
disheveled
and
looking
like
she’d
slept
in
it
greeted
her
in
the
mirror.
Her
eyes
traveled
south
to
see
her
favorite
pajama
shirt
spattered
with
catsup
from
the
mishap
with
the
bottle
at
lunch.
“Grumpy
sleeps
here
is
right,”
she
muttered.

She
didn’t
want
to
do
it,
but
Aggie
couldn’t
resist.
A
peek
at
her
legs
told
her
what
her
mind
had
already
accused.
She’d
never
gotten
dressed,
never
brushed
her
hair…
“Oh,
ick!
I
didn’t
brush
my
teeth!”

Her
phone
sat
on
her
nightstand,
blinking
furiously
from
unanswered
texts
and
voicemails.
Tina
had
called
five
times
and
sent
at
least
twenty-five
texts.
There
were
two
calls
from
her
mother,
three
from
Luke,
and
one
from
Libby.
William’s
voice
came
on
and
she
frowned.
Why
hadn’t
he
told
her
he’d
tried
the
cell
phone?

“Lord,”
she
whispered
as
she
crawled
beneath
the
sheets
and
snapped
off
the
light,
“did
my
perfect
day
have
to
end
with
proof
that
I
can’t
even
dress
myself?
So
much
for
finally
getting
my
act
together.”
Seconds
before
she
drifted
off
to
sleep,
Aggie
added,
“But
thanks
for
the
good
parts.
It
was
mostly
perfect.
Oh,
and
thanks
for
Luke
showing
up
after
the
kids
were
in
bed.
He
probably
didn’t
realize
I’ve
been
dressed
for
bed
all
day…”

F
riday, F
ebruary
27
^th

There
was
a
line
at
the
county
clerk’s
office—something
Aggie
hadn’t
expected.
“I
thought
marriage
was
almost
dead.
It
kind
of
surprises
me
that
there
are
so
many
people
here.”

Luke
shrugged.
“I
suspect
when
people
figure
out
that
they
can
do
a
wedding
for
the
fun
of
it
without
the
commitment
of
a
marriage,
numbers
will
drop
drastically.”

“Oh,
that’s
true.
I’d
never
thought
about
that.”

“Well,
and
this
state
doesn’t
recognize
domestic
partnerships
or
common
law
marriages,
so
for
most
health
insurance
and
tax
purposes,
people
will
keep
people
getting
married
until
that
changes.”