Page 52 of The Christmas Lodge
Colette reached out, knowing Emma’s glasses were in another room. “I can do it,” she said softly.
Lacy handed her the letter and Colette cleared her throat to read aloud.
“My dearest Lacy,” she read. “How I wish I could be there with you to tell you all of this in person. I’m sure you must be filled with confusion and questions, but I’ll do my best to answer them here. My sweet girl, I have watched your growth from afar for many years, and I am so incredibly proud of the woman you have become. The money you will find contained in this box is part of your inheritance, in addition to the mansion. Use it to make the mansion into something beautiful once again—I know you can do it. I wanted you to be the one to do it after watching your successes in the business world. I trust your business sense, my girl, and I know you will make a fine go of it. After all, it runs in the family. I leave the mansion and this money in your care, knowing it is in the best hands. I love you, my dear, more than you will ever know. Love, Your Grandpapa.”
By the end of the letter, Colette was a little choked up and had a hard time getting Nicholas’s tender words out. Lacy was silently weeping as she listened, reaching up now and again to wipe tears off her cheeks. Emma too, cried quietly, though her face was serene and peaceful. Quietly, Colette folded up the letter and returned it to Lacy, who clutched it to her chest for a moment.
“What an incredible gift,” Lacy finally murmured. “I poured my life savings into the mansion, hoping to make it successful, and he lifted the burden I’ve been carrying, just like that.” She shook her head, her eyes wide. “I still can’t believe it.”
“I knew he would do what he could to take care of you,” Emma said, her voice loving. “That was simply always his way.”
“I wish I could have known him. I wish I could have had time with him,” Lacy said, her voice breaking. “I feel so cheated. I lost all those years to have a relationship with him and my father because my mother stole them from me.” She dropped her head, her shoulders beginning to shake. “How could she do that to me? To all of us?”
Almost as one, Colette and Emma rose from their seats to sit on either side of Lacy and wrapped their arms around her, holding her as she sobbed quietly.
“Shh, shh,” Emma soothed. “Let the pain out.”
It took some time, but after a while, Lacy finally straightened, giving them a watery smile. “Thank you. Sometimes the pain just hits all over again, as fresh as when I first discovered the letters, and it’s too much to stand.”
“Your heart will begin to heal in time,” Colette said, barely above a whisper. She knew this from painful experience.
“I hope so,” Lacy responded. “I just wish I knew why she did it.”
“You will never fully know,” Emma said, “but I am certain that your mother loved you. If I were to guess based on what Nicholas told me, she was probably scared and doing what she thought was best to protect you. We all make mistakes when trying to care for the people we love, especially after we’ve been hurt ourselves. I know it’s not my place, dear, but I hope you can forgive her. You deserve to find peace, and you won’t find it if you harbor anger toward your mother.”
Lacy nodded. “I know you’re right, but I also know that it will take time.”
“It will,” Colette said, and reached out to squeeze Lacy’s hand. She barely knew this woman, but she had already come to care for her as a friend.
“At least now I know the truth,” Lacy said, reaching out to gently caress the letter Nicholas had left for her. “That’s something.”
“My dear,” Emma said. “That is everything.”
Lacy nodded, her eyes becoming clear. She straightened her shoulders and took in a shuddering breath. “Well, you two, enough tears for now. After all, we have a party to plan in Nicholas’s memory.”
“To St. Nick,” Colette said, with a soft smile.
The others echoed her. “To St. Nick.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
Lacy’s heart felt like it was swelling as she watched a beautiful smile spread across Emma’s wrinkled features. The old woman clapped her hands together, beaming with joy and she even laughed aloud. Colette reached out and squeezed Lacy’s hand, her eyes speaking volumes about how grateful she was that Lacy had brought joy to Emma and, Lacy suspected, that she no longer believed the worst about Nicholas Spielman.
Although pain still lingered within, Lacy resolved then and there that she would not let the bitterness and anger at losing those years with her father and grandfather drag her down. It would be so easy to stop believing in the goodness of people, to close her heart off and hunker down emotionally to protect her heart from vulnerability and further loss, but she knew that was not the way. She had spent too many years steeling her soul against true connection with most people, angry at Harv and Nicholas for seeming to abandon her. No more, she resolved. From this moment onward she would try to focus on the positives, to allow herself to connect with others in meaningful ways.
Of course,a little voice in the back of her head spoke up,your mother proves that people can hurt you in ways that can never be fixed. Maybe itwouldbe better to keep on protecting your heart…
Lacy shuddered in spite of herself and a spike of anger against her mother crashed over her.
No,she told herself fiercely.No! I will not walk down that road again.
The voice subsided after more of a struggle, and she knew that she would have to wade through that pain more than once before it was healed, but she put it aside for the present moment. As she had just said to Emma and Colette, they had a party to plan in Nicholas’s honor.
“I poured so much of my savings into the house,” she said aloud, running a finger over a stack of money in the box. “It wasn’t enough to fully finish renovating the mansion, but it was a start. I’m just so grateful that now I can finish it and that it can be everything my grandfather always knew it could become.”
“It will be glorious,” Emma declared. “Personally, I’m beside myself with excitement at the prospect of seeing it, especially once it's all decorated for the Christmas party.” She smiled at Lacy fondly. “Nicholas knew what he was doing when he left the mansion in your care.”
Lacy flushed a little. “I have to admit that I didn’t want it at first…”
