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.”Kelly’s eyebrows lifted in surprise.“I’ll bet that’s it.A lot of people speak Spanish in Florida.I’ll have to figure out which Spanish words he recognizes, if any.Hopefully, he’s not Chinese.That would make it a lot harder.”Her aunt started to say that that would be quite a long-shot, but instead she smiled.“As a new parent of a teenager, I was worried about sex, drugs and alcohol.I guess talking to a macaw is pretty mild.”“I’ll save the sex, drugs and alcohol for later,” Kelly teased.“Great.Something to look forward to.” Aunt Jane’s tone was sarcastic, but she wasn’t really worried.Her sister and brother-in-law had done a good job of raising Kelly, and she didn’t seem likely to get caught up in anything crazy.If only her aunt knew what went on in Scott’s workshop next door, she’d never worry about the normal teenage shenanigans, Kelly thought to herself.“Well, I’ve got to get to work.Is Scott coming over today to help you with the garage?”“He said he was.I’ve got to get things priced.There’s still a lot to do, but it’ll be ready for Saturday.” Kelly looked back at the mess on the patio.“And don’t worry; I’ll get this all cleaned up.”“Call if you need me.Good luck with Nico.” Jane nodded and smiled as she went back into the house.In a second, the door opened and Jane looked out again.“I think there’s a flatter pot that might work better out behind the pool house.You’re welcome to use it.”“Thanks.That should work.”Kelly scanned the trees, trying to catch a glimpse of the big bird.“Nico.Nico,” she called.He probably thought I tried to kill him she groaned as she turned to head back to her room.Just as she opened the door, in tune with the sound of the door’s rollers scraping across the track and debris in the channel came Nico’s unmistakable squawk.Kelly turned and called again, “Nico.Nico.”Nico fluttered in and landed on the glass-topped table between the pool and the kitchen door.He let out another loud squawk.“I’ll fix this, and then you’ll have your own snack bar,” Kelly promised, pleased that the bird didn’t hold a grudge.The electric-colored macaw cocked his head and studied her with his round black eyes.Clearly, and in almost the same tone as her own voice, he echoed, “Nico.”“You know your name!” Kelly was so excited.“Do you have anything else to say?”The pretty bird fluffed out his feathers and shook his head, as if in answer to her question.“That was it, huh?” Kelly’s disappointment was tempered by the delight that he had spoken at least one word.She reached down on the floor and picked up a handful of seed, careful not to include any slivers of pottery and placed it on the table top.“There you go.Don’t tell Aunt Jane.She’s apparently not a bird lover.”She turned and went in the house and closed the drape except for a small opening which she used to spy on the macaw to see if he would come get his seed.After standing there for a couple of minutes she was rewarded as he cautiously looked around, then took a few steps forward and picked up the seeds, adeptly cracking them and spitting out the shells in one smooth motion, one at a time.Kelly smiled and skipped up the stairs to her room.As she dressed, she thought back on the dream and a wave of nostalgia swept over her.It hadn’t been very long ago that it wouldn’t have been a dream.Almost every day, if the weather was good, she had jumped on the broad sleek back of her brown and white pinto horse, Scarlett.Sometimes she didn’t bother with a bridle and saddle but just galloped around the pasture or even just laid back, her head pillowed on the horse’s broad hindquarters and daydreamed while Scarlett grazed.Except for an occasional lashing of the horse’s tail when there was a pesky fly, the horse and the girl had quietly enjoyed each other’s company.And then there had been the sight of her mother in the chicken pen.That had been so typical of almost every day of Kelly’s life.No matter what Kelly was doing, even if it didn’t involve her mother, there had been comfort in knowing that her mother had always been there, somewhere close by.And now she wasn’t.and never would be again.Kelly had known she would eventually grow up, marry and move out of her parents’ home.But as a typically self-absorbed teenager, she had never imagined the possibility of her mother leaving her.In some ways she was angry about it.Usually, Kelly had gone along with her mother to the Farmer’s Market, but that day Kelly had wanted to spend the afternoon with her friend, Gina.Her father had decided to go to the market with her mother instead.She knew it was ridiculous, but she somehow believed that if she had gone instead of her father, she and her mother would have lingered or they would have stopped somewhere else, and the stupid drunk driver that had killed her parents would have crossed that intersection before they had, and the accident wouldn’t have happened.Or she would have been in the car and as dead as they were.The ripple effect of that scenario was impossible for Kelly to wrap her head around.Her big regret was that whatever the trigger or the timing or the karma of that moment, she had been out having fun while her parents had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and hadn’t made it home alive.Worst of all, she had never had the chance to say goodbye.Kelly looked at the framed photo of her parents that was sitting in the place of honor on top of her dresser.As usual, they were smiling.Kelly clearly remembered the day she had taken that picture.Last summer they had repainted the house.Her mother’s dark hair, shorter, but almost exactly the same shade as Kelly’s, was twisted into a loose knot and held on top of her head with a clip.But strands had come loose on one side and had somehow managed to dip into the blue paint she had been applying to the trim.There was a matching swipe of color across the opposite cheek [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]