Page 41 of Saving Veronica
“And being starved, he’d do anything to get a meal, but the horses fought him off, then I ended up killing him.”
“Yes,” Hector said. They stood around and it was Gerald who said they needed to make their way into the house. They all watched as Ronnie drove over the ground with no problems, then she stopped and looked at the ramp going into her house, before turning back to her grandfather to glare.
“Temporary, right?”
“Right.” Gerald laughed. They wanted to rush forward and help her, but knew she wouldn’t appreciate it and would have to do it on her own, so they watched, but were ready to step in if she needed them.
Inside, Ronnie became grateful for the renovations she’d done in the house, making it open and airy. She had plenty of room to move around with her scooter. She went around the house, and at the entrance to what had once been a screened-in porch, but was now an atrium, she paused and frowned. She had made the atrium years ago when she’d had her bird, Kip. She had turned it into an indoor tropical paradise for the McCaw.
“Why are the lights on in the atrium? And the sprinklers?” She had shut them all down after Kip had died, only watering the plants by hand. It had been too painful to see Kip’s home on a daily basis. She rolled over to the door, but it took time to open it and enter. She looked around, and suddenly a bird flew toward her, and landed on the front of her scooter. Shocked, she jerked back and stared at the bird.
Looking at each other in shock, the bird flapped its wings, and squawked, “Awk! Ronnie’s home! Awk!”
Ronnie threw her head back and laughed. “Pretty bird.” She reached out with her good hand and was amazed when the bird started rubbing its head against her hand.
“Happy birthday!” Gerald and Maggie said at the same time.
“What’s his name?”
“That’s for you to decide,” Gerald said, as he walked over to them. “We purchased him from a sanctuary over the border. I picked him up the week before your party, but kept him over at our house until this morning. I did with him what you did with Kip. I showed him your picture and kept saying Ronnie’s home. So far, that’s all he knows to say. But you have to be careful, he’s not like Kip.”
“Meaning?”
“His wings aren’t clipped.”
“Oh.” Ronnie studied the red, orange and yellow bird. “He looks young.”
“He is, he was only six months old when I found him, but it took almost that long to get clearance to bring him into the States. So he’ll be a year old next month. I have all his papers over at the house, I’ll bring them over later.”
“Cool,” she said, surprised when she went to move, the bird flew over her head and settled on her right shoulder. Gerald, Maggie and Hector went to remove him, but Ronnie waved them away. “It’s okay. I don’t feel his weight. He can’t weigh more than three pounds.” She went into the rest of the house and watched as the bird flew around.
“Thank you,” Ronnie said, and looked at her grandparents with tears in her eyes. “It’s going to take me a couple of days to come up with his name, but thank you.” They stood around and talked for some time, and Maggie ended up fixing them all lunch. Shortly after, Ronnie said she needed to lie down. The last thing she remembered as she slipped into sleep, was Maggie kissing her forehead, and the bird was perched where her previous bird had always perched when she slept, on his perch at the foot of her bed, keeping watch over her.
Chapter 14
Monday, mid-morning, Finn looked up at the knock on his doorjamb and grinned when he saw the three women standing there. He tossed his pen down and leaned back in his chair. “What do I owe the honor of you lovely ladies knocking on my door?” Standing in his doorway was Sarah, his father’s assistant, Deb from HR, and as he spotted the third person, he jumped to his feet and used one crutch to hurry forward.
“Maggie, what are you doing here? How’s Veronica? Did she make it home okay? Is she settling in?”
“Working, well, yes, and yes.” Maggie laughed as she gave the answers and it surprised her when Finn gave her a hug. “So how are you doing?” She indicated his broken ankle. “I see you’re only using one crutch. Is that allowed?”
Finn laughed and settled back on his desk. “Good, and probably not. I’ve found I can get around faster with only one. So when did you start back?”
“Today. We brought Ronnie home last Friday and settled her into her house. It’ll take some time for her to get accustomed to the chair, but she was doing very well when I left for work this morning. We had to hire a home health aide to come in and help her.”
“I’m sure Dad would give you more time off if you need it.”
“I’m fine, Finn. I don’t want to hover over Ronnie. Besides, Hector’s there and he reports in to Gerald almost every hour, then Gerald calls me with updates. We’re good. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you for finding her.”
Finn saw she started to tear up, and he immediately pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her. After she dabbed her eyes, he hugged her again and held on until they both felt better. “I should come over and see her.”
“I think you’d better wait. She’s busy this week getting her class schedule, her books, and a working schedule with Grady. Plus she has a doctor’s appointment with her local doctor. Patch told her she didn’t need to go back to Mercy every two weeks for x-rays. He could work with the local doctor over the phone and internet.”
“That’s good. But what do you mean, working? Is she supposed to be out of bed?”
“You are, aren’t you?” Maggie frowned at him. Then, by his expression she held up her hand. “One thing you need to know about Ronnie. Nothing ever keeps her down. She’s not bedridden, she’s not wheelchair bound, but she is scooter bound.” She grinned and pulled her phone and showed Deb, Sarah, and Finn, Ronnie riding her scooter in the parking lot at Norm’s shop. As Finn watched, Maggie kept a close eye on him and saw his features tighten when he saw several men surround Ronnie to give her pointers. It surprised her when he started barking out questions about who the men were.
“Friends.” Maggie left it at that and then shortly afterward left to go back to her office.
