Page 23 of The Christmas Lodge
Penelope looked disappointed for a moment, but she quickly brightened and cooed at the puppy. “Then let’s get this adorable little thing all the goodies she needs.”
“Sounds good, Penelope. I’m going to need a bag of puppy chow and a collar. Oh, and we’d better throw in some disposable mats, since I don’t know if she’s house trained yet.”
The three walked through the store as Penelope filled a cart for them. To her surprise, Lacy actually liked the odd woman. Normally, she had little patience for personalities like Penelope’s, but with Derek’s calming presence behind her, she found that she didn’t mind at all. Almost before she knew it, Penelope was ringing up the total and swiping Derek’s card. Lacy offered to split the cost, but Derek waved her offer away with a sincere thanks.
“Seriously, don’t worry about it. This puppy will join my sledding teams, which means I can write these supplies off on my taxes. We’re good.”
“If you’re sure…”
“I’m sure.”
Soon, Derek was loading the supplies into the back of the truck and helping her climb back up into the passenger seat. Lacy buckled up, settling the puppy onto her lap. Derek started up the engine and pulled out of the parking lot, heading back toward Lacy’s house. She paused inwardly, realizing that she had thought about the mansion as hers, rather than her grandfather’s, for the first time since she had learned of her inheritance. Not sure how she felt about that revelation, she turned to Derek.
“Do you know everyone in this town? It seems like everywhere we go, people know you by name.”
“It’s a small town,” he pointed out.
“So if we walked into the grocery store right now, you’d know every person we came across there?” Lacy raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“Okay, not everyone, but definitely a lot. Besides being a small town, I host a lot of events through my business, so I meet a lot of folks. It’s nice, most of the time, except when you have to run a quick errand and you’re not looking your best.”
Lacy folded her lips, making a physical effort not to joke about his towel mishap again. As if reading her mind, Derek shot a look at Lacy, raising a hand. “Don’t you dare,” he warned, his eyes already dancing with mischief.
“Don’t I dare, what?” Lacy schooled her features into an innocent expression, inwardly surprised that she and Derek could already joke about her inappropriate reaction to the same story earlier.
“Yeah, yeah, play dumb,” Derek teased, “but I know you were thinking it.”
“You can’t read my mind, Derek Morse, so don’t even try.”
“Is it a dark and twisted maze?”
Lacy rolled her eyes and pulled a face. He didn’t need to know about her painful past. “More like an endlessly running to-do list. Or maybe a massive spreadsheet. I swear I spend most of my working life staring at figures on a spreadsheet.”
Derek pretended to shudder. “Reason number one thousand seventy-six that I’m glad I spend most of my working days outdoors and with dogs. Math and me are not friends.”
“I’ve seen enough to know that your business is doing just fine, so I’m willing to bet you’re better at math than you say.”
“Accountants and bookkeepers are a wonderful help in that department,” he said fervently, pulling the truck to a stop outside the mansion. “Okay, here we are. I hope me and this little puppy didn’t take too much time out of your day.”
Lacy unbuckled her seat belt, suddenly dreading going back to work on the house. She’d been having so much fun with Derek that the time had flown by, and for a split-second she considered fabricating an excuse to keep spending time with him. Horrified, she firmly shut that notion down and reminded herself that she was in Snowy Pine Ridge for one reason only—to fix up the mansion and figure out what to do with it. This trip was about business, nothing more.
Like a familiar piece of armor, she felt herself slipping back into her usual “work” mode—focused with laser-like precision on her goals and ready to work as hard as it took to get there. She knew this mentality like the back of her hand, but she found that it irked her a bit in that moment. Usually her work mode made her feel powerful and unstoppable, but today it felt a bit like an unwelcome restraint, even if it was necessary. Derek, she couldn’t help but notice, was also looking a bit regretful as he took the dog.
“Thanks for your help with her,” Lacy said, opening the door and jumping down. “I appreciate it.”
“No worries. Always room for another dog at Winter Run Racing.” He looked for a moment like he wanted to say more, his eyes searching hers, but then he shut his mouth and waved. “Okay, I’ll get out of your hair. See you around.”
Lacy closed the door and waved, stepping back as his truck tires sent up a soft spray of powdery snow. A moment later, he was gone, the truck disappearing back down the hill.
CHAPTERTWELVE
Lacy had spent Tuesday combing over the mansion with the inspector she’d hired, making note of the issues he had pointed out to her. To her surprise (and relief) the foundation of the house was fine, as was most of the wiring, but he did point out that some of the pipes would need to be replaced by a plumber and, of course, that the broken windows needed to be repaired. Though she had known that the house was potentially hiding some expensive repairs, she still winced inwardly as she began totaling up the potential cost of the repairs in her head.
Wednesday morning, as she began ripping out the already-peeling wallpaper in one of the second floor bedrooms, Lacy considered her next steps.
I’ve already poured so much work into this place, she thought, tugging at a particularly stubborn strip of wallpaper.These new repairs will cost a lot, but that’s part of what comes with an investment. If you do things right, it just increases the value of the investment. This will be worth it in the end.Lacy finally managed to peel the stubborn paper off the wall.Or, at least, I hope so.
She had just settled into a good rhythm, peeling the strips of paper off the walls and throwing them into the waiting trash bag, when she heard the sound of racing steps on the first floor, quickly followed by a resounding crash. Heart in her throat, Lacy sprinted down the stairs and raced toward the back door.
