Ready or Not (Aggie's Inheritance) (65 page)

Aggie says:
Mornin
’
Tina!!

Tina says:
Missed you last night.

Aggie says:
They had a camp out for Laird
’
s birthday on the front lawn.

Tina says:
Who
’
s they?

Aggie says:
Luke, Zeke, Laird, Tavish and Luke
’
s nephew Justus. He
’
s such a cutie!

Tina says:
Luke or Justus?

Aggie says:
Justus you goof!

Tina says:
Gotta make sure you answer quickly enough.

Aggie says:
Aaaaaaahhhhhh, now I know how to protect myself.

Tina says:
So, how come William wasn
’
t there?

Aggie says:
Don
’
t know. He just didn
’
t show at all yesterday. He must have been busy. Came by last night though. I saw an unusual side to him last night, though.

Tina says:
Oh?

Aggie says:
As he was leaving, he peeked into the tent and somehow got the boys to chase him to his car. It was so lighthearted and goofy. Not like the serious guy he keeps in the forefront.

Tina says:
Hmm, what
’
s he thinking? I can
’
t wait to meet these guys!

Aggie says:
I just can
’
t wait for you to get here.

Tina says:
We
’
re going to shake up these kids and give them some fun before school starts again.

Aggie says:
Sounds fun! My troop is back inside. It started raining a few minutes ago and their breakfast looks really soggy. Guess I
’
ll go make pancakes. I
’
ve gotten good at them. Did I tell you?

Tina says:
No, but I am glad you can cook something!

Aggie says:
Very funny!! Off to make blueberry pancakes… too bad you
’
re not here to eat them.

Tina says:
I
’
ll take a
“
rain check.
”
hee hee

Aggie says:
ROFLOL… I
’
ll do it. Bye!

Tina says:
Bye!

Enter: Murphy

Friday, July 12
^th

After a week of scraping, sanding, and painting the massive house, William and Aggie were ready to paint the trim. William focused on the eaves and window trim, while Aggie laid out shutters over sawhorses and painted them the glossy black she
’
d chosen. Occasionally, one of them would take a swipe at the other as they worked. William wasn
’
t used to the kind of playful silliness that Aggie displayed, but her antics seemed to inspire him. Naturally, Aggie took the first swipe at the back of William
’
s knee as he walked past where she worked. Unwilling to let that slide without retaliation, William made a perfect x on the back of her t-shirt. All morning they dabbed at one another with their brushes, until they both were covered in black trim paint.

With an impish glint in her eye, Aggie handed the paintbrush to Cari and motioned for the girl to swipe William
’
s ear. Giggling in delight, Cari tiptoed around the entire house and up the other side of the steps. Aggie thought the child was taking her role in the caper a bit too seriously, but she decided to let the child have her fun. With careful aim, Cari took a big swipe at William as he knelt to refill his paint tray and ran behind Aggie, thrusting the brush into her aunt
’
s hand before William could look their way.

The result was bedlam. William reached up and felt the black paint on his ear, looked at Aggie with paintbrush in hand, and grinned. The usually stoic deputy thrust his index finger into the open can of paint, turned to her, and with slow deliberate strides, he advanced in her direction. Aggie took one look at the dripping finger and the determination in William
’
s eyes and ran. William was in hot pursuit. Although he was faster, she was able to dart and dodge much more easily. He began to think it wasn
’
t worth the exertion in the muggy heat, when Aggie foolishly darted behind a shed near the back of the property. It was apparent that she didn
’
t realize that the shed butted up against the fence on one side, and she was trapped. He caught her arm just as Aggie tried to climb over the fence. If she hadn
’
t been laughing as hard as she was, the look of abject terror on her face might have been alarming. Instead, she simply looked like a naughty elf.

“
I
--
I
--
I didn
’
t do it! Cari did it! Honestly!
”
Aggie pleaded as William pinned her arms behind her back and walked her back to the house.

“
If you didn
’
t do it, there was no reason to run, Aggie.
”
William
’
s deep voice was smothered with amusement.

“
But you were coming at me! What was I supposed to do, wait until you painted Mickey Mouse ears on me before I convinced you that it wasn
’
t my fault?
”
Aggie gave an unexpected wrench and broke free. Darting around the house, the fleeing woman didn
’
t even think to check if William was pursuing her.

William ran the opposite direction. His side of the house was shorter, and he knew exactly where Aggie would run. He pressed himself against the side of the house and waited. Looking at his finger, William realized that the paint was dry and there was no way he could get her with it. Spying Cari, he motioned for her to bring him a paintbrush. The little girl grinned and darted across the porch for it. William thrust his finger deep into the bristles and recoated his finger. Hearing Aggie
’
s footfalls and heavy breathing, William timed his catch perfectly. As Aggie darted around the corner, William reached out and briefly pulled Aggie against him. With his wet finger, he put a very large black blob of paint on her nose then released her.

Aggie collapsed on the ground in laughter. William
’
s hearty guffaws rang across the yard and into Mrs. Dyke
’
s kitchen, where the older woman was baking more Snickerdoodles for
“
her boy.
”
The children giggled and made senseless jokes that amused everyone further. They combined the word black with everything imaginable until somehow even black grass was hilarious.

William and Aggie cleaned up as much as possible before dragging their laughter-laden selves inside to make sandwiches for the children
’
s lunch. Aggie noticed a pile of rubbish near the base of the stairs and looked bemused. Winking at William, Aggie tiptoed to the door that led to the closet under the stairs and threw it open. There sat Tavish with a flashlight in one hand and a water bottle in the other.
“
Caught you! Now, it
’
s time to help the little guys go clean up.
”

Tavish grinned, put his book, flashlight, and water back in the far corner of the closet and climbed out. Giving William a wave, Tavish raced out the door, shouting it was time to come in and
wash
for lunch. Laughing at his antics, Aggie turned to William, her amusement with Tavish more than evident. The look of pain, horror, and fury on his face startled her.

“
William, what is the matter? What happened?
”
She watched him struggle to speak, then stared speechless as William opened the door and stormed out, letting it slam shut behind him. She took a step forward to follow and then jumped back again when William flung the door back open.

“
Aggie, I don
’
t know what you are thinking, locking that boy in there
--
and to
laugh
about it! I don
’
t understand you!
”
He turned to push the door open again, but Aggie jumped forward and grabbed his arm.

“
Hey! Don
’
t just walk out like that! Why are you so angry? Tavish always reads under the stairs
--
has for years from what I understand. What is wrong with it?
”
A range of indiscernible emotions flickered over William
’
s face like a movie projector in a theater. Aggie wasn
’
t used to seeing him show
any
emotion. Their date was the first time she
’
d seen anything but a calm, serious, and professional demeanor.

“
William? Come on, talk to me. I
’
m new to this parenting thing. Is it not safe? Is it too anti-social for him to do that? What?
”

William sighed. A look of utter dejection washed over him, and he looked at Aggie with pain-filled eyes.
“
Aggie, it
’
s just me. I have this hang up about it. I guess I
’
m not rational about the idea. Let the boy play, it won
’
t hurt him. Not with an aunt like you.
”

Releasing another deep sigh, William stepped toward Aggie again. With his thumb, he rubbed a bit of black from the corner of her eye and pushed her bangs away from her face. She could see the deep suffering in his eyes and wanted to comfort him. He wanted something from her, she could see it, but what it was, she couldn
’
t tell. His hand on her shoulder, William whispered in a voice filled with pain,
“
You
’
d never hurt anyone, would you, Aggie?
”