Here We Come (Aggie's Inheritance) (53 page)

“Well,
I
think
why
you’d
want
to
marry
Luke
is
obvious.
He’s
a
good
man
and
if
you
want
to
marry,
a
good
man
is
a
wise
choic
e.
I
just
see
someone
my
age—almost
to
the
day
Chad
says—
and
I
wonder
why
you
want
to
marry
at all
.
What
about
marriage
appeals
to
you?”

“Well,
I
don’t
know.
Don’t most women desire to be a wife?
Most
of
my
friends
dreamed
a
bout
husbands
and
our
weddings—
most
of
our
lives.”

“Are
men
like
that
too?
Do
they
dream
of
marriage
and
wives
and
their
wedding
days?”
Willow
asked
very
quietly.

The
whole
conversation
seemed
strange,
but
Willow
was
obviously
bothered
by
something.
“Why
do
you
ask?
I
mean,
I
don’t
know
about
guys
—
I’ve
never
been
a
guy
,
but
I’m
pretty
sure
most
do
n’t
dream
of
their
wedding
day—
wedding
night
maybe
not
their
wedding,”
Aggie
teased
trying
to
lighten
the
somber
mood
that
suddenly
filled
the
room.
“I
think
most
guys
probably
grow
up
expecting
it
,
but
I
don’t
know
that
they
spend
as
much
time
dreaming
of
it
that
women
do.”

“I
just
don’t
understand.
At
first,
I
thought
Mother’s
experience
warped
her
perceptions
,
but
she
had
nineteen
years
or
so
with
her
parents.
You’d
think
—
”

“I’ve
never
been
through
what
your
mother
went
through
,
and
maybe
I’m
being
a
bit
naïve
,
but
I
think
there
was
more
to
her
rejection
of
men
than
marriage.
Luke
mentioned
something
about
her
giving
birth
here
all
alone.”

“She
was,”
Willow
agreed,
whispering.
“
It
was
raining
and
she
was
afraid
to
walk
to
town
for
help
,
so
she
stayed
alone.
She
was
terrified
.”

As
delicately
as
possible,
Aggie
tried
to
explain
that
Kari’s
experiences
probably
magnified
the
horror
in
Kari’s
mind
until
it
was
blown
out
of
proportion.
“I’m
not
sure
that
your
mother
was
anti-marriage
,
but rather that
she’d
been
so
deeply
scarred
by
a
man.
Physically
she
endured
the
attack
and
then
a
horrific
labor
after
it.
She
had
no
support—
no
one
to
tell
her
she
wasn’t
crazy
when
she
wanted
to
kill
or
maim
and
no
one
to
encourage
her.
Labor
alone
is
so
intense
—
my
sister
used
to
say
she
couldn’t
make
it
through
labor
without
her
husband.
She
said
once
that
if
he
even
left
to
use
the
bathroom
she
felt
like
she
was
going
crazy.”

Willow
stood
and
stoked
the
fire,
her
cheeks
pink.
“I
like
watching
Chad’s
parents.
They
remind
me
of
this
couple
I
saw
in
a
restaurant
right
after
Mother
died.
They
didn’t
talk
much
,
but
the
way
they
interacted—i
t
was
…
harmonious.
The
Tesdalls
are
like
that.”