Ready or Not (Aggie's Inheritance) (35 page)

Later, Aggie unpacked a stack of decorating magazines and catalogs that Tina had mailed them and encouraged the Vannie to see if she could find something that appealed to her.
“
Maybe it
’
ll give us a place to start. There are so many things that would look good in there, but I don
’
t know anything about decorating, and I don
’
t know what you like.

After half a dozen magazines that either showed rooms that looked like hotel suites or overly themed rooms that promised everything from a beach hut look to a disco nightmare, Vannie said,
“
You know what I think I want? I don
’
t like the themes
--
they
’
d be good for the little girls or the boys, but I want something I
’
ll like for a long time. I don
’
t like change.
”

“
So, what do you want?
”
Aggie realized that with the words,
“
I don
’
t like change,
”
she
’
d been given a priceless look into Vannie
’
s thoughts.

“
I read a series of books at Grandmother
’
s last summer that she
’
d read when she was little. In the first book, there was this girl who visited her four aunts one year, and one of the aunts created such a beautiful room.
”
The girl sighed.
“
It would be silly though. There were a lot of white and light colors. It would get very dirty with all the little hands.
”

“
Vannie, this is
your
room. There won
’
t be that many little hands in there, unless you invite them in. So, if you like, you can decide who you want in and if they need to wash their hands or even take off their shoes before they come in. It
’
ll be your decision.
”

“
But what about when I am at school? The twins will come in anyway, and they
’
ll ruin everything. I had better stick to something more Victorian or something. The big flowers will hide the dirt.
”

Aggie
’
s heart broke for the young girl who wanted something she was convinced she couldn
’
t have.
“
Vannie, w
e have three months to teach them to stay out of the room. If necessary, we
’
ll put a chain on there so that they can
’
t get inside.
”
With a rueful smile, she added,
“
And I consider it a personal challenge to teach them better respect for my word and my rules.
”

The change in Vannie was tremendous. All the weights and cares that she had put on her shoulders seemed to roll off, much like Christian
’
s burden in
Pilgrim
’
s Progress.
Eagerly, the girl described a room with white trim, robin
’
s egg blue walls, and apple green accents.
“
I don
’
t think it would be expensive. I think we could even use that old white eyelet comforter that Momma gave us when we were sick. We could dye it apple green couldn
’
t we?
”

Aggie laughed and assured the girl that they could afford to buy her a few pillows and a new bedspread without too much expense. They would go shopping for paint and accessories the next morning.
“
The only thing is…
”

“
What is it, Aunt Aggie?
”
Vannie put a guarded look on her face. Her face screamed her thoughts
--
she knew that this was too good to be true.

“
Well, I wonder if I should see about getting some new outlets put into the rooms before we paint. I think you only have one in your room; I know that Laird only has one. While we get the paint and things, I might want to find an electrician to add some outlets.
”

“
I can still have the room, though?
”

Aggie laughed.
“
Get those catalogs out and find the comforter or bedspread you want. We
’
re doing the room, and we
’
re starting first thing tomorrow.
”

Wednesday, June 5
^th

By Wednesday, the house was littered with items that had no assigned place to rest. From shoes to purses, books to toys, and everything else in between, just keeping the two huge dormitories picked up when there was no place to store things was difficult. The trip to the store for paint and bedding had been pushed back one day, and then another. Aggie was determined to get to the store that Wednesday morning, regardless of any further obstacles.

As the children ate their cold cereal, the reality of their food choices pressed on Aggie again. They were back to paper plates and macaroni and cheese. She knew that they were going to miss the
“
real
”
food that Mrs. Landry had provided for the last few weeks. When the potpies, canned soups, and frozen burritos were brought back to the table, the children were likely to revolt! Well, they would, unless the children were too weak from rickets or some other terrible deficiency. Even if the children didn
’
t, her stomach would. Two days back on the convenience food menu, and already, Aggie had had it. A trip to town was an immediate necessity.

After forty-minutes of searching for shoes, socks, and hair accessories designed to hide the fact that no one had bathed in four days, Aggie loaded her charges into the van and drove to town. They piled out of the van and into a hardware store, but the absence of shopping carts killed that idea. Immediately, she sent them back to the van, getting directions to Brunswick in the process.

The whole gang waded through the paint department of Brunswick
’
s Wal-Mart store. Aggie allowed each child to choose three paint chip cards and the children had a grand time picking out which colors they wanted. When Laird chose three cards of all blue paints, she decided that Vannie
’
s nautical theme suggestion might be a good one. Aggie pulled her favorites from the rack as well, though she knew that she wouldn
’
t get to use them for a while. The children
’
s rooms must come first.

Vannie found the bedspread and throw pillows that she wanted and the color matched her paint swatches perfectly.
“
Let
’
s go have them mix that paint. This is going to look beautiful!
”
Aggie found a rocking white wicker chair from a mismatched set that was on sale in the garden department and got an idea.
“
Vannie, go back and get that really big pillow that we saw, remember? It
’
ll make a perfect cushion for this chair!
”

She
’
d planned to shop the Brant
’
s Corners
’
market, so she
’
d know what they had available, but the ease of purchasing everything at once and not having to load and unload four children in car seats trumped that idea. They strolled through the produce aisles looking for carrots, apples, celery, strawberries, and any other quick to fix and easy to eat fruit. She bought bread, lunchmeat, frozen lasagnas and eggs. They
’
d eat a lot more eggs. Aggie wasn
’
t much of a cook, but she could make a mean omelet and quiche. At the last minute, she added a bottle of multi-vitamins to her cart. Surely, whatever she failed to provide nutritionally could be augmented by a nice chewable vitamin.

The children chattered excitedly about their rooms, the croquet set she
’
d purchased, and lunch all the way home. Aggie groaned audibly when she drove into the driveway and parked behind the Stuart
’
s Mercedes. The children gave her odd looks, but Vannie seemed to understand.
“
Aunt Aggie, can I show Grandma the playhouse out back?
”
The look of horror on Aggie
’
s face was hidden to Vannie as she continued,
“
We swept it out, scrubbed the floor, got rid of the glass and all the bugs. It looks pretty neat, and maybe she
’
ll forget what she saw in the kitchen?
”
Aggie saw the wisdom of the plan and nodded her appreciation.

Vannie was out of the van and running to the house before Aggie was out of her seat. As usual, Laird unbuckled Ian and handed him to Aggie before reaching back to help Kenzie unbuckle the twins. To say that Aggie was moving slowly would be an understatement; snails have moved swifter than Aggie
’
s dragging steps. Tavish looked over at his tired and discouraged aunt and said,
“
Aunt Aggie, are you in trouble?
”

Aggie
’
s laughter could be heard out in the playhouse. Saying that Geraldine Stuart frowned would be the epitome of understatement.
“
Why do you ask a question like that, Tavish?
”
Aggie was afraid of the answer.
“‘
Cause you look like Cari does when she
’
s about to get a spanking,
”
was the observant child
’
s innocent response.

Aggie decided she needed to look more confident than she felt, so she went directly to the bathroom, splashed water on her face, pulled her hair up into a loose
bun,
and tucked her shirt in. Stepping out of the door, she found Geraldine Stuart standing there.
“
What have you done to these children?
”
The woman was beyond livid; she was irrationally furious.
“
You uproot them from the home that some of them were
born
in, move them to this unsafe, filthy pile of rubble, dump them into dormitories, and expect that I won
’
t have a problem with this?
”
Aggie was certain she could see steam coming from the woman
’
s nose.
“
I demand that you send the children home with me, or my lawyer will serve you with papers before morning.
”