Page 53 of The Christmas Lodge
“Well, why would you, believing what you did about Nicholas? I’m sure it must have felt like a burden.”
“It did,” Lacy agreed, remembering back to when the attorney had called her and informed her of her inheritance. “I spent so much time trying to figure out what to do with it, and I only cared about fixing it up so I could sell it and make a profit. Now, though… now I want to finish fixing it up as a way to honor my father and grandfather. To carry on the Spielman legacy.”
“What a beautiful and noble mission, my dear. Nicholas would be so proud.” Emma looked at Lacy thoughtfully, tapping a finger against her chin. “Did you ever consider, though, that perhapsyouare the Spielman legacy? You are the living embodiment of Nicholas and Harv’s goodness.”
Tears formed in the corners of Lacy’s eyes and she felt a lump grow in her throat. Although she hardly felt worthy of such praise, the words touched her nonetheless. She resolved once again to live worthy of that legacy.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her voice choked with emotion. Lacy wiped at her eyes and chuckled in spite of herself. “And here I said I was finished with tears!”
“You’ve had quite the day,” Colette spoke up then, giving Lacy a warm look. “There’s no shame in crying.”
“No, there’s not,” Lacy agreed, “but I meant it when I said I’vegotto get busy working on that party.” With that she rose, reaching out to give both women a hug. “I’ll see both of you soon, okay? There’s someone else I need to go see right now.”
Colette gave Lacy a grin that seemed a touch too knowing and it took everything in Lacy not to blush to the roots of her hair. Emma stood as well, giving Lacy one last hug and admonishing her to visit again soon. Pulling on her coat and gathering the boxes, Lacy promised to do so and, soon enough, she was waving goodbye and hurrying down the front steps to head into town. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Emma and Colette still waving from the window, and she gave them one last wave, her heart full.
It was a bit of a walk from Emma’s cottage back into the main part of town, but Lacy didn’t mind. She had more than enough to keep her mind occupied and the long walk allowed her to burn off some of the excess energy from the visit at Emma’s house.
After all, discovering an enormous sum of money in the box left by her grandfather had sent all sorts of emotions running through her body, and it felt good to stride through the snowy streets and breathe in the icy air, even if it did burn her lungs a little.
Eventually, Winter Run Racing came into view and she headed toward it, more than ready to tell Derek about everything that had transpired in the short time since she’d said goodbye to him.
Derek must’ve caught sight of her from the large front window of his shop, because he pulled open the door before she even had a chance to knock. “Lacy?” His voice was full of surprise but also, she noticed, an excited joy that sent thrills through her. “I didn’t think you’d be back yet!”
“I didn’t think I would either, but here I am,” she announced, smiling up at him.
“Come on in,” he said, stepping out of the way. “I know a certain puppy that will be over the moon about her mama being back.”
“So I’m her mama now?”
“You rescued her. Of course you’re her new mama.”
Lacy’s heart sang at the thought and she was quick to follow him into the kennel room. Derek glanced over his shoulder at her as they walked, taking notice of the two boxes in her arms.
“Here, let me take those.”
Lacy gratefully handed them off, and just in time too. As soon as she stepped foot into the kennel room, Missy barked excitedly and launched herself at Lacy, tail wagging like crazy. Lacy laughed, dropping to her knees and wrapping her arms around the dog, who licked her face over and over. Lacy wrinkled her nose at Missy’s dog breath, but she didn’t stop Missy from licking her, instead just enjoying the moment. She scratched behind Missy’s ears and murmured sweet words to the puppy. When Missy had finally had her fill and wandered off to play with her toys, Lacy got back to her feet to find Derek watching her with a warm expression in his eyes.
“It really is good to have you in town again. I’m glad you’re back early.”
“Me too. I returned early because so much happened while I was gone. Can we sit down? I have so much to tell you I can barely think straight.”
“Let’s go to my office.”
A couple of minutes later they were both settled in the old, mismatched chairs that sat across from Derek’s paper-piled desk. Without preamble, Lacy launched into a description of all that had happened.
She told him about discovering the unopened letters that her mother had hidden from her, about the discovery that she had not been abandoned by her father and Nicholas, of bringing the key necklace and Nicholas’s box to Emma’s house, and about the piles of money and the letter he had left for her.
Derek leaned forward as he listened, his eyes widening at times. When she told him about the unopened letters, his expression held such sympathy for her pain that she could have cried on the spot, but she swallowed back the tears and kept going.
“It was such a surprise to see what my grandfather left me,” Lacy finished.
Derek raked his fingers through his hair thoughtfully. “You know, I’m not that surprised, myself. Nicholas was a planner, and it makes sense that he would leave you with the means to fix up the mansion.”
“Well, it just goes to show that you were right about Nicholas all along.” She sighed. “And I was so very, very wrong.”
“Hey.” He reached out and took Lacy’s hand, threading his fingers through hers loosely. “You couldn’t have known.”
“I know now, though. It’s only made me more determined than ever to make the Christmas party a success. Before, it was a way to showcase the mansion as a venue, but now I want to do it as a way to honor Nicholas. I want it to be amazing.”
