Ready or Not (Aggie's Inheritance) (79 page)

“
Ok, guys. Here
’
s how it works. Each of you older four children will have a
“
sheep
”
who is one of the younger four. It
’
ll work oldest takes youngest and on up, so that middle children aren
’
t working with the least trained. So, Vannie, your job is to help Ian, when he learns to walk that is, get his things upstairs and in his drawers. Laird, you help Lorna. Gather all of Lorna
’
s clothes and help her fold them. Ellie, you help Cari, and Tavish, you help Kenzie. You guys have thirty minutes to have this room ship shape and your drawers filled but not overflowing.
”

Aggie giggled as she watched the younger children excitedly rush to get the clothes folded, hung, and put away quickly. Vannie talked to Ian, as she folded his clothes and ticked his feet with his socks. Tina folded towels and sheets, while Aggie put them and her own clothing where it belonged.

Iris and Libby arrived at exactly the same time and introduced themselves to each other as they came up the steps.
“
Aggie! The paint is magnificent! How did you get it painted so quickly?
”

Aggie giggled.
“
William, a friend, painted it during his vacation. It was a lot of hard work, but Laird and Tavish were an enormous help. They each earned about fifty dollars in the process!
”

“
Hi, Mrs. Landry; where is Jonathan?
”
Laird seemed very disappointed.

“
His father had to take him to the doctor to get his stitches checked, and then they
’
ll be by.
”

Without a thought to saying hi, welcome, or in any other way acknowledging Libby Sullivan, Laird dashed off to tell the others. Aggie shook her head.
“
I
’
ll figure out how to instill basic etiquette eventually!
”

The four women joked, laughed, and talked as if they
’
d known each other for years. Libby and Iris knew many of the same people and spoke regretfully of the years that they could have spent together. Iris, in particular, seemed blessed to have new friends at that time in her life. Smiling as she glanced around her, Iris grabbed Aggie
’
s arm and said,
“
So, Aggie, show me your house! I want to see everything. The dining room looks like it
’
s really coming along!
”

Aggie led the women into the kitchen with their eyes closed and described her dream kitchen. At her word, all three women opened their eyes, and Libby spoke.
“
He did it, didn
’
t he? I knew it was what you wanted, but I didn
’
t realize how closely he came!
”

Iris was enthralled.
“
I love the graniteware!
”

Aggie laughed.
“
I took Mrs. Sullivan
’
s advice and accented with it. Thanks to Tina
’
s shopping skills, it
’
s here already, but I haven
’
t found curtains. There must be some geranium curtains somewhere!
”

Iris raved over each room and its décor. Aggie and Tina showed the other ladies plans that were not yet executed and described how each room would look when the final pieces of furniture and the accents were added. The jungle room, with its huge tiger draped over the boys
’
dresser, made everyone chuckle.

“
Aggie.
”
Iris frowned as she stood in the doorway of Aggie
’
s room.
“
What about your room? Aren
’
t you going to do something in here? Oh
--
look at those windows!
”

Everyone looked at the two half circle topped windows that flanked each side of the fireplace.
“
Stained glass! How wonderful! What do you plan to do in here?
”
Iris waited anxiously to her the plans.

Aggie grinned.
“
Tina and I have been talking. We think we know what we
’
re doing. Tell
‘
em, Tina.
”

Her friend nearly beamed, becoming extremely animated.
“
Well, that fireplace has to go. The brick is all wrong.
”

Aggie looked confused.
“
And when did we decide this?
”

“
Just give me the chance to explain. Luke doesn
’
t know it, but he
’
s going to cover all of this with stone. That ugly brick is stained, chipped, and garish.
”

Aggie pondered the potential transformation of her fireplace, as Tina described the white and tan color scheme.
“
It
’
ll have Windsor green accents here and there but not too many. I
’
m trying to talk her into a four-poster bed with sheer canopy type curtains just kind of looped over it. Ohhh, and over the windows too.
”

Aggie laughed.
“
Ok, but if I don
’
t like it, you can come redo it.
”

“
What kind of furniture do you have for the room, Aggie?
”
Iris was intrigued by Tina
’
s ideas.

“
None. But, we
’
re taking you guys up to the attic, and maybe you can help us find some! That place is just stuffed with antiques.
”
Aggie was obviously very excited.

“
Aggie?
”
Mrs. Sullivan stood in the bathroom doorway.
“
Are you going to carry the colors in here?
”

“
Well, I want to keep the colors the same but add more of the green. It
’
s such a ridiculously large bathroom. Especially for one person.
”

“
Are you sure you want green in a room where you
’
re getting ready every morning? It might give you sort of a Martian look.
”
Libby frowned as she tried to picture Aggie
’
s plans.

Tina nodded in agreement.
“
She
’
s right. You want something more neutral in there. Maybe go with a lighter tan and add another color accent.
”

“
What color?
”

“
I don
’
t know,
”
Tina demurred.
“
Maybe blue or something. We
’
ll figure it out.
”

The ladies excitedly planned Aggie
’
s rooms in the most incredible detail. After a long time of debating different options, Aggie dashed downstairs to retrieve the baby, so Vannie could read her book in peace. The children
’
s squeals announced the arrival of Jonathan and his father before Aggie could go back upstairs.

“
Come on up, Mark.
I
’
m showing your wife my room and what we
’
re doing, but you
’
ll survive, I
’
m sure!
”

“
There
’
s nothing Iris loves more than to see a room get a face lift.
”
Mark Landry tickled the baby
’
s chin and reached for him. Aggie handed the baby over willingly. He seemed extra heavy lately, and Aggie personally thought that Solomon must have been talking about carrying babies when he commented on how the ideal woman
“
makes her arms strong.
”

When Mark heard the ideas for the bathroom, he pulled his wife aside. Iris was obviously excited about what her husband had to say. She squealed like a teenager and hugged her husband, which seemed ridiculously out of character. Taking Ian, she sent Mark back home and turned to share with her friends.

“
Mark just reminded me. Last weekend we were at this garage sale over in Marshfield and found these hand-painted tiles. They
’
re leaves
--
oak, maple, ash
--
all kinds of leaves in various shades of green on buff colored backgrounds. I think there were twenty-five of them. You could use them here and there in the backsplash, maybe around the shower surround
--
something like that.
”

With Tina talking a mile a minute, Aggie led the group up to the attic and listened as Tina and Iris planned her bathroom. Though she
’
d always loved rearranging her bedroom as a girl, and had created a very home-like space in her dorm room at college, Aggie was somewhat insecure about making such detailed decorating decisions. To date, anything she
’
d tried had cost little to no money and was easily changed. In this house, she needed to make a good plan the first time, because she didn
’
t have time for redecorating if the idea failed.

As the women reached the top of the attic stairs, the dank scent of age and decay assaulted them. She
’
d opened the windows a few times, but after forgetting them and discovering destroyed books from rain, she didn
’
t trust herself to try it again. Aggie pointed to the wall in front of her.
“
I thought I
’
d use that mirror and paint it the Windsor green. What does everyone think?
”
The consensus was a unanimous affirmative, so Aggie leaned the mirror against the stair railing.