Chapter 23: Leighton

He drove in a back way; it wasn't nice and paved like the main entrance. In his old SUV, he hardly noticed the gravel road. It wasn't often that Lucas drove in a back way to his house.

Finally, he stopped by the Carriage House. This was not that close to the main house, but still close. When he bought the estate, it was also in bad shape and needed to be re-done. It now served as a garage and there were two small apartments on the second floor, one used to be the stable hand's quarters and the other the hayloft.

Lucas parked his SUV, shut it off and got out. He walked over to the various sets of double doors. As he stopped in front of one set, he pulled on the padlock to make sure it was stilled secure. He would move on to the next set of doors and do the same thing.

He paused and looked around; the sun was now out fully. It was high in the sky, but it wasn't getting any warmer. It was the coldest sun he had ever felt.

Reaching into his pocket he took out another set of keys and unlocked one of the personnel doors. Walking into the Carriage House, he closed the door behind him. He deactivated the burglar alarm. Walking into the place he looked over the floor than in the past horse-drawn carriages were stored. The nearby stables were long gone, and all that remained were some foundation stones. Now several cars were parked where those carriages were once.

Slowly he walked past the first two, they were Keith's truck and Izzy's car, they were stored while they were away. Every so often Lucas would start them up to make sure the batteries were good, and he would drive them to flow the fluids and turn the tires. Every so often he would check them out, Izzy's not as much as she would use it more since she was in town more often. The third car was sitting there in a state of repair, it was the one he bought for Sawyer and would be her sixteenth birthday present. He would take time and make sure it was good and ready for her.

He removed the canvas cover on his classic Mustang. It was his Uncle Keith's and he inherited it after Keith was murdered. Lucas lovingly maintained it and made sure it was ready to go whenever he wanted to use it. After a smiling approval, he returned the cover to its place.

Finally, he looked at the last car sitting there under canvas. Lucas shook his head and turned around. Setting the alarm, he walked out of the Carriage House and locked the door behind him. Nothing was out of place, he noted. He walked back to his SUV and got into it.

Lucas rested his hand on his heart and took a couple of deep breaths. After taking a few minutes to settle his heart. His doctor told him the bad news last month. So far, he had only told Sawyer and Haley.

Lucas started the SUV and drove down the rest of the drive. He looked over the Georgian Style Mansion, it's walls made of native stone. That was when he felt the wheels ride up onto the hardtop part of the drive. The hardtop drive was about half a mile from the end to the main entrance. He stopped by the main house and looked it over. After a minute he pulled forward and eventually reached the main gate.

He pulled his SUV halfway through the gate. Stopping he parked the SUV and got out of the vehicle. Lucas walked over to the mailbox and pulled out the old mail. Once he was done with the mail he started to walk back to the SUV.

"Well! Well! Well! Lookie who we have here, Lucas Scott, as I live and breathe," A woman's voice said.

Lucas stopped and looked over to where the voice came from. He looked over and saw the woman standing there.

"Hello Meggy," Lucas said to the owner of the neighboring property, "Also, no one says stuff like that."

She laughed, "Well, I was trying to be cute," Meggy Reuter said, and started to walk over to Lucas.

"It's okay," Lucas said.

Meggy nodded, "I've not seen you around, a lot," she said.

Lucas shrugged, "I've been using the back entrance," he said quietly.

Meggy came over to Lucas and looked him over with a smile. Lucas noticed she was holding back a giggle. "Why are you sneaking in a back way?" she asked, "Are you a backdoor man?"

Lucas shrugged, "I don't want to be a bother," he said, "You know, just keep on, keeping on."

Meggy nodded, "I missed seeing you and Sawyer," she said, "I'm jealous Gareth sees you all the time. You should come over for dinner, bring Sawyer, it would be like old times."

"I don't know," Lucas said, "Sawyer is busy, and I really don't want to impose."

Meggy laughed, "Pish, posh, Lucas, you wouldn't be imposing," she said, "I'd love to have you for dinner. Gareth and Sawyer are friends, so I don't see an issue."

Lucas looked at her, "Gareth and Sawyer are fifteen, I don't think they want to have dinner with their parents," he said.

Meggy nodded, "Then you just come over for dinner, have a good home-cooked meal, and maybe some wine, and good conversation," she said.

"I'll take it under advisement," Lucas said. He looked over and saw a young man, around fifteen-years-old, he was bundled up and wearing a watch cap.

"Hey Mom," Gareth Reuter, Meggy's son, said, and then looked over to see Lucas, "Mister Scott."

"Gareth," Lucas said.

"Yes, Gareth?" Meggy asked.

"I wanted to know if you can give me a ride into town," Gareth said.

"Why do you want to head into town?" Meggy asked.

"I just want to, it's boring sitting around the house, Mom," Gareth said.

"Isn't that game streamer streaming today?" Meggy asked.

Gareth nodded, "RavenHussar? Yes, she is streaming today, but I don't want to watch," he said.

Meggy shook her head, "Well tough tacos, Gareth, I guess you're going to have to be bored," she said.

Gareth sighed, "Fine," he said.

Meggy nodded, "Gareth," she said.

"What Mom?" Gareth said.

"I've been trying to get Lucas to come over with Sawyer for dinner, can you help me convince him," Meggy said.

Lucas looked at the young boy as his eyes got wide for a moment, then returned to normal size. "I think it would be a great idea, Mister Scott, we don't get to see you and Sawyer much since…" Gareth started to say.

"Gareth, you see Sawyer and me every day in school," Lucas interrupted.

Gareth shook his head, "It's just not the same, Mister Scott," he said.

"I understand," Lucas said, "I'm just not sure."

Gareth nodded, "Anyways I did want to ask you one thing, Mister Scott," he said.

"No, you can't have an extension on the paper," Lucas said.

"No, not that Mister Scott," Gareth said.

"Then what?" Lucas asked.

"Is there a way I can get a job at Red Bedroom?" Gareth asked.

"Gareth, you shouldn't do that!" Meggy asked.

"It's okay, Meggy," Lucas said, "I don't know if they are even hiring, Gareth. I'm not involved day to day down there."

"Oh, okay, never mind," Gareth said.

"Don't be defeated," Lucas said.

"Why?" Gareth asked.

"What I can do is call down there, and speak with Kayla, she does a lot of the day to day business, and I can ask," Lucas said.

Gareth nodded, "Thanks, Mister Scott," he said.

"You're welcome, Gareth," Lucas said, and looked at his wristwatch, "I'm sorry Meggy, Gareth, I have some running around, so I got to go."

Meggy nodded, "No problem, Lucas, consider my offer," she said.

"Thanks again, Mister Scott," Gareth said.

Lucas nodded and climbed into his SUV. He put it into gear and headed out. Waving to the Reuters as he drove away.