The Accidental Florist

cousin Maud. Sally had no brothers or sisters and only one cousin.
    Sally’s inheritance from her late husband was also generous, but she held that back in the will for the welfare and education of her children. And her own welfare in the future.
    During her widowhood, Sally had left the children with their nanny while Sally went to buy groceries one day, and was attacked by a purse snatcher. He’d hit her in the back with something like a pipe to knock her down. She only knew this because Lacy told her when she was sent from the hospital to the nursing home.
    Her memory of Maud’s first visit was still clear in her mind. Maud had come to the nursing home a month after Sally had been moved there and tried to convince the doctor that he should write up a document saying that Sally would never recover and Maud herself should have
    Sally’s late husband’s money as well to raise Bobby and Amanda.
    The doctor refused. “She’s probably not ever going to recover, but she’s healthy except for the spinal injury. She can swallow food and water, she can evacuate her bowels. Her heart is healthy. Her blood pressure is normal.“
    “But she’s a vegetable and always will be,“ Maud claimed. “And she’s stuck me with her children.“
    “What are you suggesting?“ the doctor asked. “That we put her down like a seriously injured pet?“
    “Why not?“ Maud said. “She’ll never be able to get out of that bed on her own. And I need more money to take care of her children.“
    “She’d have to make a new will for that to be done,“ the doctor said and then he took her arm and added, “Go away and never come back here. I’m going to see if I can find someone more honorable to take care of her children.“
    As it happened, after she left, he reflected that he was bound to the conditions of Sally’s will as well. He couldn’t place her children anywhere else any more than Maud could get her hands on Sally’s late husband’s money.
    But after that visit, Lacy moved a camp bed into Sally’s room, to make sure Maud didn’t sneak back in and do harm to Sally. Lacy felt that Maud would do anything to get rid of Sally and claim not only Sally’s money, but that of Sally’s late husband.
    On that day a month after the first year and week had passed, Sally could feel with her fingertips, and her toes could move. A month later she looked at Lacy, and then at her own hand. Lacy did so and started to weep as she felt the strong grip of Sally’s handshake. Sally made her mouth work and said in a husky whisper that was slurred, “Thank you.“
    Lacy wept.
    Jane saved this scene to a backup disk and turned off the computer. She could go back later and make any corrections or additions to the work. She was pleased with the setup. Maud would try again and again to get all the money. Sally would gradually improve. Only Lacy would know when Sally finally took her first step by herself.
    Later in the day, she checked what happened in 1903 and found very few interesting national events; she decided that the location of the hospital and nursing home should be in Virginia, near the Maryland border.
    She made a brief outline of the story line, including Maud trying to kill Sally and Sally breaking Maud’s nose. Lacy pretended that it was she who attacked Maud in defense of Sally when the doctor learned of the incident. Jane made sure not to give away the ending. She’d be paid part of her advance for turning in a brief outline, but she didn’t want anyone to know the ending before reading the whole manuscript. Besides, Jane hadn’t yet decided exactly what the ending would be. Jane, a dinosaur who still used WordPerfect instead of Word, went through what she’d written with the grammar checker, which was nutsy and priggish, and thought that more than one sentence in dialogue made the wrong parentheses. It also wanted to change every who to whom. But it was good at catching is for as, and it’s for its. Fortunately Jane could ignore whatever the stupid grammar checker said.
    As she was finishing up, she realized she didn’t have a title for the book yet. She’d have to do a cover letter explaining this to her agent.
    As she was printing, the phone rang, and Thelma said, “Jane, uu haven’t ssent me an invitation to uu wedding.“
    Jane was taken aback by this slurred message and said, “I’m not inviting you because of what you tried to do to me.“
    “Uu are a bbbad gur,“ and there was a crashing