Ready or Not (Aggie's Inheritance) (55 page)

Luke saw her determination and ducked behind the van. His goal was to leave her with the illusion of impending success without actually placing himself on the receiving end of her wrath. Carefully positioning himself, Luke stood with his back to Aggie
’
s advances but watching every move reflected in the van
’
s side mirror. As he saw her throw the balloon, he jumped aside and waited for the impending splat. Nothing happened. Puzzled, Luke turned to see where the balloon had fallen and almost immediately felt the sting of latex on his face and then the cool wetness of water soaking his shirt.

“
Ha! Gotcha!
”
Aggie giggled and snorted gleefully.

“
Well, this time. I demand a rematch!
”
Luke laughed so hard he could hardly breathe.

Aggie laughed again and then remembered something.
“
Did William just call me
‘
Aggievating?
’”

Luke hesitated and then grinned.
“
Um, an appropriate term after the other night, wouldn
’
t you say? With the Aggietude you had…
”

“
Aggietude!
”
Aggie pretended to be furious, while trying not to laugh.

“
Yes, it was quite Agdorable…
”
Luke winked.

“
Ok, ok, I get it. Enough is enough. Behave yourself!
”
Aggie chuckled again as Luke muttered something about being out of Aggieisms anyway.

Later that evening, Aggie picked up the phone and dialed William
’
s phone number. Thanks to an eager-to-help Mrs. Dyke, Aggie now had his phone number and was able to call his home and apologize. When she reached his answering machine, Aggie was relieved. She left a short but heartfelt apology and replaced the phone in the charger.

William listened to the message just minutes later.
“
William, it
’
s Aggie. I
’
m very sorry. Sorry for dousing you when I was trying to get Laird, but I
’
m even sorrier for losing my temper. Please forgive me. If I don
’
t see you before, I
’
ll see you Friday.
”

William racked his brains to remember why he would definitely see Aggie on Friday. With a shrug, he decided he
’
d show up Friday around noon and hope something would remind him why he was supposed to be there. For a few minutes, he pondered the damaging power of pride and then finally went to bed. It had been a very long, wet day.

Sunday, June 30
^th

“
Now, before we pray for our upcoming meal, and in closing, I
’
d like to remind everyone that we have more than enough food; so please don
’
t hesitate to stay for the picnic, even if you weren
’
t prepared to share. We always take home leftovers; so stay and join the fun.
”

Marcus Vaughn smiled as he shook hands with the worshippers who filed out to the church
’
s side lawn.
“
Aggie! How are you settling? I
’
m sorry we haven
’
t made it out to your house yet to get to know you, but Myra made me promise that I
’
d get you to sit on our blanket, so we could become acquainted.
”

Aggie, shifting Ian from one hip to the other, accepted gratefully. She wasn
’
t quite at home in the new congregation yet, and making friends would be a good start. She sent Vannie and Ellie to the van for the brownies and the huge salad they
’
d brought, Laird and Tavish walked over to the grocery store with William to buy sodas and ready-made potato salad, while the younger children hurried to the front lawn for games that the teenagers organized for them.

Myra Vaughn smiled and patted the blanket next to her.
“
Please, sit by me. I want to know all about you and your family. We
’
ve been so busy this summer, or we would have been over by now.
”

“
Well, it
’
s quite a mess anyway
--
Hey, William! Did you find the stuff? Do I owe you any money?
”

“
I found everything, and Laird has your change.
”
William carried the bags of food and drinks over to the tables where a few of the women arranged them for him.

Myra watched the exchange and decided to try an experiment.
“
William, we have plenty of room here, would you like to join us?
”

Laird coaxed Ian from the Vaughn
’
s blanket to play with the other toddlers, and soon, the Vaughns, Aggie, and William were laughing and talking freely, while the children ate on tables nearby. Aggie learned that the Vaughns were fairly new to Brant
’
s Corners themselves, and Marcus Vaughn still studied with Steven Connors of Christ Church in Rockland.
“
I
’
ve completed my basic seminary work, but I
’
m under Steven Connors for discipleship as a minister.
”

Aggie excitedly spoke of the services that she had participated in and the especially meaningful time of communion.
“
I loved how it wasn
’
t rushed. It didn
’
t drag or anything; we just really took our time and reveled in our fellowship with the Lord.
”

William listened intently, asked a few questions, and then grew thoughtful. As much as he loved the Lord and took his faith seriously, he
’
d never had the kind of intimate time with the Lord that Aggie had described. As he often did in circumstances like this, he wondered why he was consistently drawn to people who lived and felt things deeply. Personally, he never allowed himself to become intimately involved with anyone
--
including his Savior.

William pondered his spiritual and emotional deficiencies, heedless of the conversation around him, until he heard Myra say something to Aggie about her remodeling project and realized that he hadn
’
t been paying attention. He watched as Aggie animatedly described her work on the house and the hours that Luke Sullivan was putting into it. Myra
’
s next question unnerved him.

“
Now, Mrs. Dyke said you bought the old Ma
--
”

William uncharacteristically interrupted the conversation.
“
Hey, is there any more of that potato salad left, Aggie? I
’
ll go see. Would you like some?
”

Myra and Marcus glanced at one another but said nothing. Aggie, distracted further as Vannie arrived at her side with a sleepy baby Ian, didn
’
t even notice. By the time Aggie got him settled and sleeping in her lap, the conversation had shifted to the new family Bible study that Myra and Marcus were planning for Thursday nights.

“
We
’
d start this Thursday, but we assume everyone will be at the lake to see the fireworks.
”
Marcus pretended to be hurt, but the twinkle in his eyes gave him away.

“
Are you going to the fireworks, Aggie?
”
Myra asked.

“
I don
’
t know. If I can manage to get everyone ready, and figure out how to get there before they
’
re over, then I think so.
”

William smiled at sleeping Ian.
“
I
’
ll come and drive you; you really should take the children. It
’
s my year to have the day off, but I
’
ll be half on duty when I
’
m there. We help out the Fairbury police force if we go. Carry radios, report problems, and things like that.
”

Neither Aggie nor William saw the look of interested curiosity pass between the minister and his wife. Aggie was enjoying the adult conversation, but Ian was heavy, and Cari and Lorna were showing a severe lack of afternoon rest.
“
I need to get these guys home. The twins need naps, and Ian is awfully heavy
--
dead weight, you know.
”

William stood and lifted Ian from Aggie
’
s arms. Automatically, Aggie called for the rest of the children. She waved goodbye to the Vaughns and several other families before sauntering to the van. A few speculative glances were sent their way as William helped Aggie load up the children and followed them home.

Thursday, July 4
^th

William
’
s alarm played its regularly scheduled and digitized rendition of
Taps
early the following Thursday morning. Not something the no-nonsense officer would buy himself, the clock was one of his prized possessions. A gift from a few of his fellow Marines upon the completion of boot camp, it had traveled all over the world with William and then back to Brant
’
s Corners, where it faithfully bugled him out of bed each morning with its ironic tune of death.

After a restless night, of little sleep, William dragged himself from his bed and into the shower. Anyone watching would have assumed he was on autopilot as he moved mechanically through a morning routine. Bleary-eyed, he shaved and dressed, and though the ritual seemed set in stone, his routine was jumbled. He wasn
’
t hungry and therefore, didn
’
t eat, his coffee wasn
’
t ready yet, so he
’
d have to pick some up at Espresso Yourself, and seven hours of tossing and turning would have to suffice for exercise. He was too exhausted to consider attempting his regular morning workout. Mrs. Dyke had summoned him to her home, and he was curious enough to drive over there early and find out what the elderly woman had up her sleeve, or at least in her apron pocket.