Page 24 of Believe
“Becky, those aren’t just collectible,” said Susie picking up a delicate hummingbird sitting on a flower, “they’re also highly sought after and expensive.”
“No. That can’t be. We never had a lot of extra money. I mean, we were comfortable but not wealthy.”
“I think Cyrus may have bought these for you before they became so popular. You might want to have those appraised.”
“I wouldn’t even know where to begin,”she gulped.
“I have an idea,” said Susie. She dialed the phone number of her friends back home, asking Ellie and Lily their opinion on the collection.
“Oh my,” said Lily staring at the beautiful birds. “I can assure you that I would be able to find a buyer for those tomorrow.”
“What do you think they’re worth?” asked Susie.
“Well, on first glance,” said Ellie tapping on the calculator, “somewhere around seventy-five to hundred thousand for the collection.”
“No!”gasped Becky.
“Cyrus would want you to take the money and travel. Go to all the places he visited that you never got to see. A sort of pilgrimage. You could take your friend, June, with you,”said Keith.
“June? How did you- Never mind. Travel. I could travel,”she smiled.“Can you help me sell them?”
“I absolutely can,” said Lily.
It didn’t take long to find a collector that wanted the entire collection. Becky Walters was going to travel to all the places her husband had visited. She was never able to travel with him, living vicariously through postcards and photos for all those years.
As the team prepared to leave her, she hugged them all, thanking them once again for bringing closure for her. They wished her well, smiling all the way back to the jet.
“That was one of the best things ever. I hate that she lost her husband but she seems at peace with it all,”said Keith.
“He gave her an amazing gift by buying those birds. She would have been okay in that house but now she’ll truly get to experience the world thanks to those birds,” said Sophia Ann.
“Well, here’s to them,” smiled Eric. “Fifty years of marriage and their love is still growing, even from beyond.” Keith smiled at them all.
“May we all be so lucky.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“How is Madeline doing?” Rory asked Gabi.
“She’s getting stronger every day and we should be able to take her to the pond today or tomorrow. Riley’s doing her post-operative tests today. Her aunt and uncle are just grateful to have the medical burdens off of them. Poor people were drowning and couldn’t get any help at all.”
“I’m glad we could take care of that,” said Rory. “Piper and a few of the other girls were headed to their house to see what they could do to make the home more updated and healthy for Madeline.”
“That’s amazing. How is the children’s playroom at the hospital coming along?” asked Gabi.
“Zulu and a few other guys are up there now. Grant found a way to make it bigger and he was able to find space to make a playroom for the children in critical care, that needed to be separated from other kids and make a playroom for kids in general care. Zulu’s handling that as well.”
“That’s my baby,” smiled Gabi. “You’re all doing great work.”
“So are you, Gabi. You’ve been patching us up and sending us on our way for decades now.”
“Don’t remind me, handsome,” she smiled, standing from the breakfast table. “I’d like to not patch up anyone ever again. I mean, I will if I have to but let’s leave all of this to the children from now on.”
Rory only laughed as Flip, Titus, Axel, and Vince joined him.
“What’s on the agenda for today?” asked Axel.
“We’re headed to the home of John and Ruth Caillet. They have two small children, five and six years old and the man next door said they’re really struggling. He works his fingers to the bone picking up work at bars and restaurants when he can,” said Flip.