The Christmas Dollar, Part Two

"Merry Christmas!" Dr. Andrea Martin blew through the door of her office the next day with a cheery greeting for her new assistant, Mark Vasquez. With a new fiancee in the picture, he could use all the money he could get. That's why she was delighted with the surprise she had for him. Mark looked puzzled when she held out the envelope.
"I had an emergency call, and it made this possible. Open it."
Mark looked inside. "A Christmas bonus! I've only worked here three months!"
"And made yourself indispensable. Enjoy!"
Mark was more delighted than his employer knew. He had been saving for a really special present, and now he had enough.
He took a tattered clipping out of his pocket. "Lady's pearl necklace," it read. And the price was unbelievable. Imagine Maria's face when he gave her real pearls! He called, and to his joy, the man said he still had the necklace.
That evening Mark hurried to the address he'd been given. A bent old gentleman answered the door.
"Mr. Peterson?"
"Yes, come in."
Mark stepped into the dim house. It smelled faintly musty.
Mr. Peterson shuffled over to an old piano and took down a case from its littered top. When he opened the case, Mark felt dizzy. The two-strand necklace shone as if with its own light. A sapphire hung from it like an angel's tear.
He touched it gingerly. "Are you sure you want to sell this, and for so little?" he couldn't help asking.
Mr. Peterson looked up at a faded portrait on the piano. It showed a glowing young woman wearing the pearls. "I gave them to her for our tenth anniversary." He sighed and turned to Mark. "She can't wear them anymore. Didn't seem right to have them lying about. Some woman will love them like she did."
"My fiancee," said Mark, and something made him get out his wallet to show the old man Maria's picture.
For the first time, Mr. Peterson smiled. He looked years younger. "Lucy would like that," he said simply.
After the young man had left, visibly excited over his treasure, Joe Peterson spread out the bills on the closed piano keyboard. One of them was so tattered it ought to have been reclaimed by the bank. He looked up at the picture and smiled. "I wish we could see her face when he gives them to her, Lucy. What'll I do with this money? I don't need much anymore."
He still hadn't decided when he went to bed that night.