Page 11 of The Christmas Lodge
“May I ask what brings you to town? I don’t want to pry, of course!”
“No, no, you’re fine.” Lacy took another sip of her mocha, deciding not to hedge. “Nicholas Spielman was my grandfather, and he left me his house. I’m here to figure out what to do with it.”
Sarah handed back her card, her smile dimming for a moment. “I’m so sorry for your loss. We all loved Nicholas around here, you know.” She twirled her ponytail around her finger for a moment and sighed. “He was such a good man.”
It was only with great effort that Lacy kept herself from raising her eyebrows in obvious disbelief, so she hid her discomfort by taking a bite of her scone, buying herself some time. Luckily, Sarah continued talking without noticing and offered some more information about the man Lacy knew nothing about.
“He and Harv really brought this town to life–-but I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that—by helping so many of us get loans and financing to open our businesses. This main street used to look a lot different. You know, a lot of empty buildings and all that. With Harv and Nicholas’s help, a lot of us got to live out our dreams of opening our own businesses. I wouldn’t have my bakery if it weren’t for their help.” Sarah looked at Lacy, her eyes soft. “They sure left a hole in this town when they passed, and not just because we miss their help with investment and loans.”
Lacy murmured something unintelligible by way of response, but her mind was spinning. Everything Sarah had said went against what her mother had told her of Harv and Nicholas. Her mother had taken pains to tell her, over and over again, how the two men’s shady business practices had led to Harv's bankruptcy and subsequent abandonment of his family.
Could her mother have been wrong? Lacy had never looked into the bankruptcy herself, taking her mother’s word for it…
No,Lacy reprimanded herself, stopping the agitated thoughts before they could take over.Harv and Nicholas must have fooled everyone around here. That’s all there is to it. I bet if I dug around and looked closer, I’d find evidence of something rotten below the surface.
“Lacy? Are you okay?”
Lacy blinked a little and met Sarah’s gaze, plastering a smile on her face. “Yes! I was just… thinking about buying a piece of ginger cake instead of going back to the inn for lunch. Why not? Calories on trips don’t count, right?” Lacy stopped, realizing she probably sounded a bit hysterical, but Sarah didn’t seem to notice, much to Lacy’s relief.
“You can’t go wrong with my ginger cake,” Sarah agreed, all enthusiasm once again. She leaned forward, winking conspiratorially. “In my bakery, calories don’t countever.”
Lacy laughed. “In that case, I’ll be eating all my ‘meals’ here.”
Sarah was just about to grab a piece of cake for Lacy when the bell on the door jingled and a gust of cold air blew in. “Derek! Good to see you,” Sarah called over, waving.
Lacy, who had turned automatically when she heard the door, froze a little as Derek walked in.
She had known he was tall from the previous night, but that had been the extent of things. Now, in broad daylight, she was taken aback by how absurdly good-looking he was. His thick auburn hair, windblown and unruly, framed a tan face, evidence of his outdoor work. A smattering of freckles crossed his fine, straight nose, but what Lacy noticed most of all was his stunning smile. Even wearing snow gear, Lacy could see that he was well-built.
“You want the usual?”
Derek nodded. “You got it, Sarah.”
Lacy, realizing she was staring and whirled back around, took a frantic sip of her peppermint mocha. To her utter horror, the drink went down the wrong tube and she began coughing uncontrollably. Her eyes watered as she struggled to regain control of her breathing and she knew from the heat pouring off her cheeks that she must be blushing a furious red. Finally, wiping at her streaming eyes, she managed to clear her throat. She peeked over and saw Sarah and Derek making a valiant effort to hold back laughter.
“Just let it out,” she groaned. “I know that looked ridiculous.”
Gales of laughter exploded from them, so infectious and without malice that Lacy found herself joining in. The embarrassment that had clutched her began to fade a little. Still chuckling, Sarah handed Derek his coffee.
“Well, Ms. Preston, it seems you’re met with calamity wherever you go,” Derek commented, his eyes twinkling. “It looks like you at least made it back to the inn last night safely.”
Lacy wanted to be annoyed, she really did, but the laughter shining in his eyes made her smile in spite of herself. “Yes, Derek,” she said, the tartness in her voice belied by her smile. “I may be a ‘city girl’ but I did manage the walk back to the inn, fraught with perils and danger as it was.”
“So you two have met before?” Sarah asked, leaning against the counter and looking intrigued. “Do tell.”
“We’ve definitely met,” Derek replied, his eyes still on Lacy. “You could say we ran into each other last night.”
“I wouldn’t sayweran into each other,” Lacy jumped in, eager to defend herself. “Somepeople think it’s perfectly all right to race around the countryside in the dark, risking the safety of good, upstanding citizens who—”
“That’s not the whole story,” Derek interjected, his eyes dancing. “Like I said before, people from this town know not to wander around in the dark without a flashlight or a lantern!”
“Is anyone going to tell me what’s going on?” Sarah’s ponytail swung as she looked from Derek to Lacy and then back again.
“I was taking one of my teams for a night trail run, Sarah, and we happened to be over by Nicholas Spielman’s house. When we came over the hill behind his house, Lacy here was standing like a deer in the headlights. I only just managed to stop my team, and it definitely gave her quite the scare.” He looked at Lacy apologetically now. “I reallyamsorry we scared you.”
“Yes, so you mentioned last night,” Lacy said with a touch of asperity as Sarah threw her head back and laughed uproariously. “All I’m saying is that you could be more careful.”
“Derek is a sledding master in these parts,” Sarah pointed out, wiping at her eyes. “That’s why folks come from other towns to take lessons from him.”
