Here We Come (Aggie's Inheritance) (56 page)

Kids.
She
should
look
for
them.
A
glance
out
the
dining
room
window
answered
that
question
quickly.
They
stood
on
each
side
of
the
fence
that
separated
her
house
from
Murphy’s
and
listlessly
threw
snowballs
back
and
forth.
What
might
have
pricked
her
heart
only
hours
earlier
,
infuriated
her.
Did
they
really
think
they
had
the
right
to
feel
put
out?
They
destroyed
the
house—knew
better
and
did
it
anyway—and
then
had
the
audacity
to
get
their
little
feelings
hurt
because
she
wanted
them
out
of
the
way
while
she
cleaned
up
a
dangerous
mess?

She
grabbed
another
wad
of
wrapping
paper
and
stuffed
it
into
the
already
overflowing
trash
bag.
A
sponge
scrubbed
off
the
jelly
from
the
walls,
and
two
laundry
baskets
contained
the
floor
mess
within
the
space
of
about
fifteen
minutes.
Work
seemed
to
dissipate
her
anger.
Aggie
stared
at
the
baskets,
debating
whether
it
would
be
a
kindness
to
put
away
the
toys
or
a
bad
precedent.

On
her
way
down
the
stairs
after
putting
away
the
first
basket,
the
children
traipsed
into
the
house—through
the
front
door.
A
mud
trail
led
from
the
door
to
the
mudroom
,
along
with
mittens,
scarves,
and
both
of
the
twins’
jackets.
She
blinked.
The
freshly
restored
room
looked
like
a
mud
tornado
had
left
a
swath
of
destruction
in
its
path.
The
walls
were
decorated
in
finger
painted
mud
streaks—likely
compliments
of
Ian
and
the
twins.
What
had
been
a
sticky
mess
less
than
half
an
hour
earlier
was
now
a
dirty
nightmare.

The
little
composure
she’d
managed
to
achieve
dissolved
on
the
floor
along
with
the
snow
that
had
coated
the
children’s
outerwear.
She
turned,
without
saying
a
word
to
them,
and
sang
repeatedly
under
her
breath,
“…careful
little
mouth
what
you
say.
Be
careful
little
mouth
what
you
say.
For
the
Father
up
above
is
looking
down
in
tender
love
so
be
careful
little
mouth
what
you
say.”

~*~*~*~

Laird
burst
into
the
house
on
Cygnet
gasping
for
air.
“Luke!”

A
voice
called
from
the
garage.
He
started
to
run
across
the
room
,
but
hesitated
and
then
removed
his
boots
at
the
door.
His
socks
slid
on
the
floor,
but
he
managed
to
make
it
into
the
garage
without
falling.
Flinging
open
the
garage
door,
he
stopped
at
the
sight
of
the
water
heater
dismantled
on
the
garage
floor.

“What’s
wrong?”
Luke
hardly
glanced
up
from
his
work.

“It’s
Aunt
Aggie.
I
don’t
know
what
happened,
but
she’s
not
right.
She’s
crying
and
won’t
talk
to
any
of
us.
Vannie
broke
some
dishes
and
she
wouldn’t
even
let
us
help
clean
it
up
.”