Here We Come (Aggie's Inheritance) (7 page)

“All
done,
Aunt
Aggie!”
The
bananas
were
definitely
sliced
in
thicknesses
ranging
from
a
penny
to
a
thumb.

“Done,
Gaggie!”
Ian
threw
his
hands
into
the
air,
touchdown
style,
and
clapped
at
the
empty
tray.

“Good
job,
guys!
Ok,
why
don’t
you
two
go
into
the
bathroom
and
wash
your
hands.
I’m
going
to
count
to
one
hundred.
See
if
you
can
get
them
all
clean
and
be
back
by
a
hundred.
One,
two,
three…”

After
washing
Ian’s
hands,
she
sat
him
on
the
floor
while
she
browned
the
meat
,
covered
it
with
beef
broth,
and
left
it
to
simmer.
In
another
p
ot
,
she
measured
water
for
Jell-O
and
put
it
on
the
stove
to
boil.
The
girls
returned
on
eighty-nine
with
reasonably
clean
hands.
“Ok,
bring
me
the
hand
towel
now.”

The
girls
exchanged
confused
glances
,
but
raced
back
to
the
bathroom
to
retrieve
it.
Aggie
arranged
the
bananas
in
thirteen
by
nine
pans
and
tried
not
to
watch
for
the
pot
to
boil.
The
towel
was
damp
but
clean.
“Good
job!
You
got
all
the
banana
off
with
water
instead
of
the
towel.”

“You
said
to
wash
them,”
Lorna
reminded
her.

“That
I
did.
You
can
put
that
back
now.”
Just
as
Aggie
tried
to
measure
the
cold
water
to
add
to
the
Jell-O,
she
sprayed
herself
with
the
faucet.
“Ugh!”

“Is
that
what
the
water
looks
like
in
Luke’s
house?”
Lorna’s
voice
was
awestruck.

“Wuke
doesn’t
have
fountains
in
his
house!”

“Well,
this
morning
he
had
fountains
of
water,
that’s
for
sure.
It
probably
looked
a
lot
like
that
too.”

“We
should
bake
him
cookies,”
Lorna
suggested.
“He
likes
our
cookies.”

“Yeah.
Wuke
wikes
cookies.”

So
much
for
Cari’s
improvement
with
her
L’s,
Aggie
thought
to
herself.
I
can’t
handle
that
today.
Maybe
tomorrow.
Even
as
she
thought
it,
Aggie
realized
it
was
the
wrong
thing
even to think
.
Anything
that
implied
weakness
on
her
part
was
an
open
invitation
to
mischief
for
Cari.

“Can
we
pl
ay
outside?”

There
was
an
L.
Relief
was
a
wonderful
thing.
Aggie
didn’t
need
to
add
speech
therapy
to
her
daily
list
of
things
to
do.
The
girls
stared
at
her
waiting
for
an
answer.
“Let’s
see
if
anyone
is
ready
for
a
break.”

Thankfully,
Laird
and
Tavish
seemed
to
be
ready
for
a
break,
as
was
Kenzie.
Vannie
didn’t
want
to
stop
until
her
paper
was
finished,
and
Ellie
was
now
struggling
over
then
and
than.
She
bundled
up
Ian
in
warmer
clothes,
remembering
how
cold
it ha
d
been
during
her
brief
conversation
with
Luke,
and
helped
the
twins
to
zip
up
their
coats.
“Your
coat
is
too
small,
Cari.
We
need
new
ones.”