"It'll work out the way it works out," Nikki said.
"I suppose."
"I know you're in a tough spot, Matt. For what it's worth, I think you're handling things terrifically."
"I think I needed to hear that."
"I mean it. You're a great doc and a wonderful man, and I'll tell you that as often as you want to hear it."
"Thanks. You're pretty terrific yourself."
"Say, I almost forgot the reason I called. Yes, Virginia, there is a reason. The neatest thing just happened. I was getting ready to go into the office, but I had a little time, so I took my coffee and Kathy's mandolin out to the porch and played a few licks out toward the mountains. I have a ways to go on the thing to even be listenable, but I'm getting better."
"That's a gross understatement. Remember, I've heard you."
"But wait, that's not the point. While I was playing, this incredibly beautiful little bird flew down and settled on the railing right in front of me. I've never seen anything like it. I kept playing and playing and it didn't move. It just sat there like it was actually listening to my music. It was small, but so red and… and so perfect. What do you think it was?"
Matt swallowed back a fullness in his throat and gazed across the street toward the Hart Building.
"I think," he said, "it was a tanager. A scarlet tanager."