Ready or Not (Aggie's Inheritance) (9 page)

Before she could reach the basement door, the phone rang. Aggie answered and was elated to hear that the car dealer had a van ready for her inspection.
“
Oh, Mr. Zeke! I will get there as soon as I can find someone to watch the little ones. It might take me a little while, but I
’
ll be over ASAP.
”

Her face registered surprise, then relief, before she said,
“
Well, if it isn
’
t too much trouble, you bringing it here would be wonderful. I can put the car seats in it and
--
Oh, I am sorry. I tend to talk to myself when I am thinking. Do you have my address? Oh, good, I
’
ll see you when you get here then, and thanks, Mr. Zeke. Ok, Zeke it is. Bye!
”

Aggie hurried the children into their jackets, shoes, and socks while waiting for Zeke to arrive. After what seemed like hours, a large white van eased into the driveway. With a squeal of excitement, she rushed out front with Ian on one hip and holding Cari
’
s hand. Lorna followed dutifully behind her twin, as though conjoined by an invisible tether.
“
Ok, girls. Listen carefully. You may look for early flowers or play on the steps, but you may not step off the grass. Okay?
”
Somehow asking a child if it was
“
okay
”
when you weren
’
t giving an option, sounded foolish, but Aggie didn
’
t have time to think about it. The little girls sweetly nodded their heads and then skipped into the grass.

“
Good morning, Zeke! Any trouble finding us?
”
She hustled to meet Zeke as he ambled up the walkway.

“
Hello, missy. This is obviously the van. Let me show you what it has to offer, and then I
’
ll put those baby seats in, and we can take it for a spin.
”
Zeke smiled as he rubbed Ian
’
s little head.

Tuesday, March 5
^th

The next morning, a sterile white van in the driveway replaced her beloved blue convertible. It had been a difficult decision, one Aggie hadn
’
t wanted to make, but today her little convertible beetle sat on consignment at the dealership. The idea of having the van, the convertible, and Laird
’
s inherited Jaguar seemed excessive for a one-driver family.

Aggie illogically hoped that the children would miss their bus to give her the opportunity to practice driving the new Stuartmobile. As she tied her shoes, she fought the rising panic that driving such an immense vehicle can bring.
“
If I never kill anyone, I
’
ll be thrilled,
”
she muttered under her breath as she stood, her shoes tied tightly enough to sever circulation in the top blood vessels of her feet.

“
Aunt Aggie, I can
’
t find my shoes. They
’
re all gone.
”

“
Come on, Kenzie, we have to hurry, the bus will be here any minute!
”
Vannie, voice muffled by the couch she was ransacking, was determined not to miss another bus.

“
This is silly, guys. We have a van, I can drive you; let
’
s not get worked up over things that aren
’
t an issue anymore. Everyone, look for Kenzie
’
s shoes. Any shoes will work; we just need shoes.
”

Twenty minutes later, a sheepish Kenzie found her shoes in the freezer and put the cold shoes on her feet before dashing out the door with the other children. Aggie weighed the cost, in time and gas, of driving the children to school each day with the extra time they
’
d have at home. The children spent almost an hour and a half every day sitting on the bus.

“
Ok, Vannie and Laird, out you go! Come home on the bus. I
’
ll see you then. Have a good day!
”
Aggie waved and watched as her eldest charges entered the throng of students flooding the entryway to Jefferson Middle School.

“
Ok, you three,
”
she called to Tavish, Ellie, and Kenzie.
“
Next stop, Westbury Elementary.
”

“
Can you pick us up after school and take me to get the stuff for my science project, Aunt Aggie?
”
Tavish
’
s eager voice melted Aggie
’
s heart. She tried to think of any request he
’
d made of her in the last three weeks, with no success.

“
I
’
ll be here at two-thirty on the dot. Be ready.
”

Aggie mapped an alternate route home after ensuring her youngest scholars were safely delivered to their school. She had a list of a dozen possible houses and was determined to eliminate at least half of them before returning home. Aggie
’
s concern was unfounded. After two hours of driving to each home on her list and peeking through the windows on several empty ones, her options were nil. Every house on her list was completely unsuitable.

“
What a wash. That was an absolute waste of time and refined petroleum products,
”
she muttered to Ian as she unbuckled him from his car seat.
“
Is
everyone
asking double the reasonable price for a house? Every one of those houses was tiny
--
and the bedrooms! They were ridiculously small!
”

* * *

Aggie waited impatiently for Tina to answer her cell phone, but Tina
’
s trademarked,
“
Hello, hello, hello!
”
relaxed her features into a characteristic smile. In a robotic, mechanical-sounding monotone Aggie responded,
“
Help me. I am in need of immense amounts of your wisdom. Teach me, Tina.
”

“
It must be bad if you
’
re resorting to
Riotous Robots
!
”

Aggie laughed at the memory of the pathetic science fiction movie they
’
d been obsessed with as young teenagers.
“
Well, bad isn
’
t quite right, but it is perplexing that there are no houses in the Rockland area that are realistically priced and large enough for all us.
”

Moments later, Aggie was zipping along the information super highway in search of a suitable home. She scoured several realtor websites, but to no avail. Grabbing the phone, she punched the
“
redial
”
button then hung up abruptly and clicked the instant messenger icon on her desktop instead.

Tina says:
Broaden the area that you
’
ll agree to live in. Change that to say within 5 miles, then 10, then 20 then 100 if necessary.

Aggie says:
You think? Leave the town?

Tina says:
If they are going to be uprooted, make it a place YOU want to live and are comfortable living in.

Aggie says:
Even as far as say… closer to mom and dad?

Tina says:
Now you are talking! Why don
’
t you just say the whole state? Your parents are in the center, so pretty much anywhere would be the same distance you are now.

Aggie says:
Well, now what about house size. I
’
ve been looking for houses that are about the same size as this place. The deed lists it as a 6523 sq. ft. But I am thinking… this is a lot of house to clean. I
’
ve seen three bedroom houses with about 1300-1500 sq. ft. and if I took the smallest room, gave the girls a master bedroom, and let the boys have the other bedroom… with them gone at school most of the time it
’
d be less work, don
’
t you think?

Tina says:
Well, hmm. There are a few things to consider. Lower sq. ft. is less to clean, but when summer comes, you
’
d have a lot of people in the house all day, which means a lot of messes and no room for them to disappear to. Not to mention they are only going to get BIGGER and take up more space just by existing.

Aggie says:
True.

Tina says:
But with a lower sq. ft., home taxes and insurance are usually cheaper and maintenance is easier…

Aggie says:
Oh, boy. I have no idea what to do. I like less to worry about… with everyone close together, we wouldn
’
t end up getting
“
lost in our own little worlds
”
as much as they seem to here.

Tina says:
Well, a smaller house would make that easier, but I think that
’
s a matter of training and careful planning. It might even have something to do with how you arrange the house.

Aggie says:
Well, I am glad I spoke to you… but you aren
’
t helpin
g
me on size!

Tina says:
Well, for what it
’
s worth, I think I
’
d get something close to the same size. For one thing, the children are accustomed to the room, and I think you
’
d get less grief from Grandmother Dear if you don
’
t put them in something
“
too small.
”

Aggie says:
OH, RIGHT. HER. You have a point. We
’
ll stick with large and hire a
“
mother
’
s helper
”
if I need to.