Chapter 54: Chapter 54
Eventually, Memory managed to get control of herself again, though her throat continued to spasm as she choked stuttered breaths through her constricted airway. She felt around for her phone and found it between two boxes, figuring she must’ve dropped it when Dak had hung up. She didn’t even want to hear his voice at the moment, but she was curious about that second message he said he’d left. Her hands were shaking as she dialed into her voicemail.
“Hey, Mem. Are you okay? I’m at the store, but the door’s locked. It’s not 3:00 yet. I hope you’re not upset about Ellie. I know how much you’re going to miss her. Me, too. Listen, I wanted to tell you in person, but since I don’t know where you are, and you might need some good news about now, you should know, I found something you’ve been looking for at your grandma’s house. I think you’re going to want this piece of paper I have in my hand.... Give me a call.”
He sounded so happy, almost singing those last few sentences, and it reminded her of how much fun she’d had with him, both at the Christmas tree lighting and caroling when he’d even managed to get her to sing—and told her she wasn’t a bad singer. Memory rubbed her hand across her forehead, questioning everything she’d ever believed to be true about herself.
What if he was right, and she wasn’t an awful singer? What if she really did have trouble trusting other people because she felt abandoned by her mother and then by her grandmother? What if the reason she loved this town so much was because it reminded her of both of them? If she never left Christmas Falls, it was always Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year, and then she wouldn’t have to face the bad times. What if she was so busy trying to convince herself that small town life was the best way, she wasn’t able to see that there was good out in the wide world as well?
Memory slumped against a box, not wanting to think about it anymore. Her head hurt from crying, from trying to sort everything out, and from the realization beginning to seep into her mind that she might’ve just overreacted and done something really, really senseless.
Dak had something for her—something from the house. Something she’d been looking for.
“Something that will make it so that I don’t have to worry about paying to replace the roof!” Even as she was speaking aloud to herself, she pushed up off of the stock room floor, headed toward the front door of the store.
A display of Christmas ornaments jutted out into the walkway slightly, obscuring her view until she got around it, but then she saw an envelope on the floor, as well as her key.
Memory’s hands were trembling as she bent down to scoop them up. She dropped the key into her pocket and opened the envelope, holding her breath.
The paper was old and wrinkled, but it was evident what it was as her eyes scanned over the letterhead. “Barton and Barton Insurance Group,” she read, a company she’d never heard of before, based out of Hoboken, where her grandmother had grown up. Her eyes scanned over the small print, lifting the most important parts, “Life insurance policy... Helen Baxter Graham, one hundred fifty thousand dollars... beneficiary... Memory Ann Wilson.”
Refusing to cry again, Memory tipped her head up, the twinkling lights around the ceiling dancing in a haze through her swollen eyes. “Thank you, Grandma Helen,” she whispered.
She would be able to pay for a new roof, and lots of other repairs.... “A new roof....” Dak’s words came back to her, what he’d said in his first message. “This is what he meant—not that stupid contract.” She spun around, seeing it still sitting on the counter in the manila folder Corbin had left. “I’m such an idiot!”
Frantically, she contemplated what she should do. She needed to find Dak before he left for Chicago. She needed to apologize, to tell him he was right about everything—especially the part about her not being able to trust people. But she had just learned the kind of lesson that hits a person right in the gut and stays with them for the rest of their life. She might not be able to trust everyone, but she could trust Dak. She knew that now—an hour too late.