Their Family Blessing

“Then that leaves us with only one option. We have to follow the dictates of the will.”

Carly leaned back in the chair, her shoulders slumped. “I can’t stay here for two months. I have a life in Atlanta. Besides, what makes you think we can get the lodge open and running again?”

“I already spoke to Dwayne. He says the staff he let go when Wade got sick are all anxious to come back to work. He thinks we can reopen in a week, maybe two. With you and I taking up some of the slack, we can start hosting guests soon after that. He gets calls every day asking when they will reopen.”

Carly tapped her thumbnail against her teeth. “It sounds impossible.”

“I won’t lie to you, it’s not going to be easy. A large hotel chain built a resort-type facility across the lake, which has lured a lot of guests away. Wade was very discouraged.”

“Then what makes you think we can make a go of this place in only two months? What’s the point if we’re only going to sell out at the end?”

“I think there are still a lot of tourists who want a peaceful, calm outdoor experience. The hotel is pricey, their food is pricey and there’s always something going on. Longleaf offers a slower pace, an escape from that kind of environment. It appeals to an entirely different demographic.”

“I’m not convinced.” She crossed her arms. “Why do you want to keep the lodge?”

“I loved it here. I loved your dad. I’d like Lucy to grow up with this kind of home, free to run and play outdoors, and surrounded by a sense of permanence. This has been in your family since your grandfather built the lodge in the seventies. It has a history. Your dad loved this place.”

Carly’s mouth pinched into a tight line. “I know. He loved it more than anything or anyone.”

“What does that mean?”

She brushed off his comment.

Mack’s chest tightened. He was beginning to think Carly would never agree to any plan he suggested. She wanted no part of the lodge and he didn’t understand why unless, like her mother, she was more interested in a luxurious life in Atlanta. He found that hard to accept. He remembered how much Carly had loved the lodge growing up. There had to be a way to convince Carly to at least make an attempt to save the lodge. It’s what Wade had wanted. Maybe he could offer a compromise. It wasn’t exactly honest, but he had to do something to break this logjam they were facing. If he had to fudge a little, then so be it.

He sent up a prayer that Carly would agree to his next suggestion. “What if we work together to get the place up and running? We clean up the grounds and maybe update the interior of the lodge to make it more appealing. Then we would have a better chance of getting top dollar.”

“You would agree to that?”

“It’s not what I want, but I don’t want to stand by and let the place be auctioned off. It would break your father’s heart. We don’t have time to mull this over. We have to make a decision now. If we do nothing, then we both lose. Is that really what you want?”

The shadow of doubt in her eyes gave Mack a ray of hope. Maybe deep down she really did care. He just had to find a way to make her remember.

“I think I can do that. As long as we agree our goal is to make the lodge attractive to prospective buyers, and as long as you understand that I don’t want Longleaf.”

Mack shoved aside his twinge of guilt for misleading her. “I understand.”

“Good.” Carly stood, meeting his gaze and sending a strange longing through him. Seeing her here the way he’d always remembered was a bittersweet moment, and he wanted it to last.

“We should get started in the morning right after breakfast. We need to get an overview of the estate, see the condition of the grounds so we can prioritize the needs.”

Carly looked reluctant. “So soon?”

“We can’t waste any more time. I thought you were anxious to get back home.”

“Fine. I’ll see you in the morning.” She walked off and up the stairs, never looking back.

Mack watched her go, his heart sinking slowly. Dwayne strolled to his side, watching as Carly disappeared.

“How did it go?”

“I had to compromise on the truth a little.”

“How so?”

“I got her to agree to stay and fix the place with the intention of attracting a good buyer.”

“Did you both agree that you want to sell?”

“No. But I’m hoping that after she’s been here awhile she’ll remember how much she loved the place and she won’t want to let it go.”

“I wouldn’t hold your breath. From what I’ve seen so far, whatever chased her away from Longleaf hasn’t softened with time.”

“What was it, do you know?”

“Not really, but it had something to do with her mother, I can tell you that.”

Mack went upstairs to tuck Lucy in, mulling over Dwayne’s comment about Carly’s mom. He had no idea what had gone wrong, but it had changed everything in the blink of an eye. Wade had never been the same after his wife had left him. Carly had only returned once after that, a year later and left suddenly after they’d shared that one unbelievable kiss. He’d forgotten for a moment that she was the boss’s daughter. But he just couldn’t ignore how the moment had seemed so right, and the kiss, as brief as it had been, had shifted his world. So much so that he’d made a date with Natalie Reynolds, his old girlfriend just to forget the whole incident. He’d taken her to the lodge for a canoe ride. Carly had left the next day, leaving him confused and guilt ridden, and with pain he’d never experienced before. The memory could still send tiny pinpricks of hurt along his nerves.

As much as he hated to admit it, Carly was part of his life and always would be. No matter how much he wished he could stop caring. It would be easier to stop breathing.

Carly watched her sleeping daughter. She envied the ability to simply set aside the events of the day and drift off. Her thoughts were too stirred up to consider sleeping. She needed to move, to do something. Slipping from the room, she made her way quietly downstairs, relieved to find the lodge silent and empty.

Carly fingered the key in her hand, fighting the knots in her stomach. She wasn’t sure why she was doing this. She didn’t want to remember the past, but something inside her compelled her to visit the place where she’d grown up.

Inserting the key, she turned the lock and opened the door, stepping into the rooms that had been her childhood home. The west side of the lodge consisted of a two-bedroom apartment, so large and spacious it had never felt like an apartment. With open rooms, a second floor and wide private deck, it had provided a sanctuary for the family away from the constant flow of guests staying at the lodge.

Carly stepped into the rooms, bracing for a barrage of bad memories. What slammed into her, however, were the good ones from when she was small. The winter evenings spent in front of the fire, the Christmas tree sitting by the large windows looking out onto the lake.

She turned when she heard tapping on the doorframe. Dwayne stepped in, a small smile on his lined face.

“It’s good to see you in these rooms again, Carly. They’ve missed you.”

She set her jar. “I doubt that.” She noticed a collection of photographs on the mantel. She picked up one, shocked to see a picture of Ella when she was small. “What are these doing here? How did he get this?”

Dwayne tugged on his ear and grinned. “Your husband sent them. He felt it was the right thing to do. Wade wanted to see his grandchild.”

A hot flush washed through her. Of course her father would want to see Ella. Troy tried repeatedly to convince her to visit her father and bring Ella, but her anger and hurt had run too deep. She never wanted to feel that sense of betrayal again. Yet Troy had betrayed her, too, and gone behind her back.

“Your papa cherished those. It wasn’t all bad, you know. You were happy here. But after your mom came back and took you away, nothing was the same. Especially your father.”

“What do you mean, came back?”

“Don’t you remember? It was that summer you were sixteen. Your mom walked out real sudden-like. She was gone a week, then she showed back up, caused a scene and took you away. Your dad never told me what happened, but it nearly killed him. It took him years to fight through that.”

Carly shook her head. “No. That can’t be true. He caused her to leave. It was all his fault.”

Dwayne studied her a moment. “Maybe things aren’t quite the way you remember them. When we’re young, events don’t always make sense.”