Chapter 5
For a split second, she felt guilty for not attending her parents’ upcoming anniversary party.
With the new frame there, the decision was already made in her mind.
She wasn’t going to make it to Colorado after all, but her brothers would understand.
For years, they had been following the saga of her efforts to build the classic bike.
Plus, knowing it would be ready by the time they got to California would be a huge incentive for her brothers to pay her a visit, not that they needed one.
They enjoyed their time with her just as much as she did when they came.
Someday, she hoped she and her mother might have a solid relationship.
The wounds of her past were still too fresh.
She couldn’t bring herself to forgive and forget just yet.
Just because they had a different set of values and didn’t see eye to eye on everything, that didn’t mean she didn’t love both of her parents.
Knowing that going to the anniversary at dinner was a trap, Veronica had still given it a great deal of consideration.
That alone was a testament to her love for the pair.
The bike, though, was where she really wanted to be. Working on it was a dream of hers.
“It’s finally time to get you put together, old girl.”
Even though she was a woman herself, and she never quite understood the fascination with vehicles being female, she wasn’t about to change the tradition.
Her motorcycle was going to be a female as well.
Without wasting any more time, Veronica dove right in.
As the hours slowly slipped by, she felt like everything was coming together exactly how she had hoped it would go.
She had every tool in her shop, including her own, to get the job done.
It didn’t take long for her to get the body parts put together on the frame.
It wasn’t the first two-wheeled vehicle she had assembled on her own, but it was certainly one of the oldest by far.
The fascination she had with the M-72 was something that went back all the way to her childhood.
Veronica continued to put bolt after bolt into the frame and nearly had everything assembled within the first couple of hours.
The motorcycle’s age kept it from having newer technology.
She still knew a lot of the wiring involved was going to be the slowest part of the job.
Rocking away to the music on the radio, she kept pushing forward.
For as long as she could remember, she had been trying to find a way to build one of these motorcycles by herself.
Of the three motorcycles the Red Army had used up to and including the development of the M-72, it was built to last and replace the previous two models.
As she worked, Veronica thought about the roads she’d taken throughout her life that led her to that point.
It had been Nick, her older brother, who had first shown her the joy of mechanics.
Working together on their families’ tractors and pickups, she had found a passion for learning the mechanics of it all.
There was something peaceful about the work she did.
Veronica had first worked on a motorcycle at the ripe age of thirteen when a neighboring boy fell off his dirt bike and bent the handlebars.
He had also punctured the gas tank. Bit by bit, Veronica had rebuilt what was needed until it was running better than before.
After that, she had gotten a reputation as something of a tomboy, an outcast, but a skilled young mechanic as well.
It was the first time her mother had truly started to force her ideals on Veronica.
It was impossible not to think about her past as she worked.
It was one of the reasons she had decided to leave and become a mechanic to begin with.
Every time her mother had forced her out of the garage and into the tearoom with the other girls her age, Veronica’s desire to flee had grown deeper.
Eventually, there was nothing left except a seething dislike for her mother.
Veronica hadn’t looked at the clock since starting to put everything together.
Taking a step back from the project she had in front of her, Veronica could only smile.
The motorcycle was coming together quicker than she ever imagined it would.
She nearly had everything in place, and as far as she could tell, it had only been around three or four hours since Gregory had left.
The mechanical side of everything was going together smoothly.
She had already added fluid to the gearbox and was working her way toward being able to start it when she came across a snag.
At some point during the war, the bike must have hit something that nearly sheared one of the bolt heads off.
After a little grinding and torching, Veronica was finally able to get the bolt out and quickly took on the task of finding a replacement bolt in her spare parts bucket.
It only took her a few minutes to find the one she needed, but it had felt like an eternity digging through all the bolts she had saved over the years. Bolt in hand, Veronica made quick work of installing the fender where the bolt head had nearly broken off.
Veronica had planned on taking the following Monday and Tuesday off to attend her parents’ party in Colorado.
With the bike almost ready now, though, she was certain she was going to make up an excuse not to attend.
Instead, she was toying with the idea of packing a bag and heading off on a road trip for four days to clear her mind.
She had reached the point in her career where a decision needed to be made.
Her skills were advanced enough that she could move up in another company, likely even becoming the shop foreman within a year.
Yet Veronica really liked the people she worked with.
There was so much more than money when it came to picking a career path.
She had left her life behind once; she wasn’t going to do it again.
With the decision made, she returned her attention to working on the motorcycle in front of her.
Though she knew it was getting late, she couldn’t stop.
Years of excitement had culminated into that moment.
By the time she was wrapping up, it would be nearly dawn, but she would only have to get through one more day of work before the next four were free.
Veronica was going to enjoy her time off, riding the vintage bike up and down the coast.
Veronica tried to push her dreams and thoughts off to the side.
She could tell it was starting to dig into the early hours of the morning, and she knew she was going to need to get cleaned up for work soon.
Shaking away the thought and pushing forward with the work that needed to be done, she started tightening the last bolts that needed to be put in place before the body parts were fully attached to the frame.
All the turn signals and electrical wiring were nearly finished, but she didn’t want to connect anything until she had the carburetor in place.
Veronica knew the hardest part was making sure that all the wiring was connected properly.
Still, it brought a smile to her face, knowing she was almost finished with the project.
Aside from the electrical components that needed to be installed and the last bit of wiring put in place, the bike was nearly complete and just as perfect as she had always hoped it would be.
A noise at the other end of the shop made her jump as the door leading outside opened.
Gregory appeared, looking just as shocked to see her as Veronica was to see him.
She cursed under her breath as she quickly snatched up her phone and looked at the time.
Unbeknownst to her, Veronica had worked through the night until the morning hours.
Now, she was already running late for work.
Jumping up so fast that she knocked over her work stool, she grabbed her jacket and keys and darted past Gregory out the door.