Christmas Lodge Page #5

But, Mom... I would... I

would've changed for him.

You know that pretending

to be something you're not

wouldn't be good for either of you.

So what do I do now?

Be truthful. Be truthful to

yourself and to the world,

and you'll find the

man who's right for you.

Okay' what if he doesn't show up?

Mom, cuz I'm really

tired of living alone.

Have faith! Have faith Mary,

and the Lord will provide.

Hey' is that Mary?

Go see for yourself.

And she brought the army.

Whoa, this takes me back.

You still remember coming here?

I can already see the lodge

is gonna need a lot of work

to bring it back to the way

I remember it. A lot of work.

Well, that's why we're here.

Mary! Mary!

Whoa, you are a fast healer!

Yeah, nothing that a little

Epsom salt couldn't fix.

That's what Dad always said.

He'd use it on a cracked skull.

It's true! Uh, Jack Rand, you

remember my dad Mike Tobin.

And this is Charlene.

Hi. Little Jackie.

Oh, I haven't been

called that in years sir.

It's a compliment! I remember

you as a kid, lugging suitcases

twice your size up those steps

without breaking a sweat. Big

Jackie used to say there wasn't a man

in these mountains that

couldn't out-haul your dad.

I think he just said

that to keep me moving.

- Jack this is my brother Matthew.

- Hi.

And Charlene, Matthew. And

this is my other brother Pete.

Thanks for coming up

here. Well, here she is.

I was gonna fix her up myself but

uh, last couple of years the blizzards

have been pretty hard on her,

not even close to catching up.

Can't be all that

bad, let's take a look.

Okay, well we have good news

Matthew, the gutters are okay.

- Okay.

- How do the windows look?

Uh... this one's gotta go too.

Okay.

Oh my goodness. This

place is a time machine.

I can still see the family

sitting at this table,

with Grandpa here at the

head, Grandma at the other end

and you kids, as little as

chipmunks sitting in the middle.

Biggest chipmunk.

And Jack, man could your family cook.

And Jack is continuing on the tradition!

Uh, yeah... I'll never be quite as

good as my grandmother was but uh,

I will put my best in the dinner.

Oh, no don't go to any bother, son.

Mother packed provisions in the cooler.

Well I appreciate that sir, but

you've gotta let me make one meal,

that's the least I could do.

Do you know how to make

those sourdough biscuits

that your grandmother used to make?

You know, I might just

happen to have a batch ready

to go in the oven as we speak.

Well then, I think we might

have time for a bite or two!

I still remember these biscuits.

They tasted like... Christmas.

What does that mean?

Pete my boy, there are some

things that can't be explained.

You just have to taste

them for yourself.

Who's that?

That's my grandpa.

So, is that your grandma?

She's in heaven, right?

Yeah, she is.

Can you bring your

grandpa next time you come?

You wanna see him?

Well, ifs just that-.-

I miss my grandpa.

Yeah.

I'll tell you what,

I'll see what I can do.

- Mary.

- Yeah'?

- Can I speak to you?

- Sure. I'll be back.

What's up?

You know, ifs not fair to

that little girl to promise

her something that

isn't going to happen.

Dad, how do you know it isn't?

My father is a very sick man.

Grandpa, he's the strongest

man alive. He'll rally.

That's about as likely as

this lodge fixing itself.

Time takes it's toll Mary,

we have to learn to accept it.

You know, Grandpa,

he taught me to fight,

and I'm not giving up on him.

I'm not giving up either,

I'm just trying to get you

to accept the inevitable.

No, Dad. I don't wanna talk about it.

That's okay. Just promise me

you won't get that

little girl's hopes up.

I promise.

- Dinner is served.

- Wow, here... can I help you?

Yeah.

Before we begin sir, I'd be honored

if you would lead us in Grace.

Dear Lord, we thank you for the

blessing of your divine love,

and the love of family and friends.

And we thank you for the blessing

of this visit to Christmas Lodge.

May it be a place that always

feels like home to all of us. Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Now, pass the biscuits boy

and take one for yourself.

Don't be shy, dig in!

Thanks Dad.

Am I right?

Yeah, like Christmas!

What's your secret ingredient?

To be honest, we've

never been quite sure.

It's either the um... pure

mountain water or the uh,

very well seasoned stove that's been baking

them just right for a very, very long time.

Take that old stove off

the replacement list!

I don't know, I don't think it

has anything to do with the water,

or the stove, I... I think that Christmas

Lodge has a heart of ifs own heart

and it just wants people to be happy.

I like that.

Me too.

Thank you.

I still can't believe

you're doing all this for us.

Well, my grandparents

and my parents taught us

that you don't turn your

back on people that need help.

And I'm sure that your

folks taught you the same.

Oh, they did. But still, it couldn't have

been easy mobilizing your whole family.

They love the challenge.

Plus, they've never

worked on a historic lodge.

I mean, you saw how excited they were

when they checked under the hood.

I think they found more wrong

than I ever could've guessed.

You know, we had an old saying

in historic preservation.

What is it?

Find the problem is the

first step in fixing it.

I like that saying.

So um, what did Kent think

about you coming up here?

Uh, Kent and I, we're

not dating anymore.

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.

So what about you? Does

Mrs. Rand work in the city?

Uh, no. Mrs. Rand passed away

shortly after Charlene was born.

I'm sorry to hear that.

No, it's all right. I firmly

believe she's with the Lord.

You know to be honest, I'm

not sure she liked it up here.

This place can be

really hard on city folk.

You gotta really love the

outdoors to live here year round.

Oh, I know.

You still come up here in the winter?

Especially the winter! I

mean, it's so beautiful...

the snow, the quiet. You

know, I savor the quiet.

Sometimes I snowshoe into

the middle of the park

just to have a legal reason

not to hear a cell phone.

Well we're so remote you don't

even get a cell phone signal.

Even the landline is spotty.

Bliss! I'll have to tell my

dad not to fix that either.

I uh... got the details worked out.

I'm not gonna like this, am I?

Just remember, the

report is the first step.

And we'll help you with the rest.

Thank you.

So, what's, what's the damage?

Well, the good news is the major

structure is largely intact.

They knew what they were

doing when they used cedar

to build this place, it's stronger

than concrete in these conditions.

Now, with a little

patching, the uh, roof

and the walls can be brought up to

code. The trusses and the support

beams are in good shape too,

and the foundation is flawless.

Okay. So, we're all set then!

Uh, not quite! The uh,

electrical, plumbing

and healing systems are

old and beginning to fail.

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